ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan addressing the sit-in gathering on Monday.

Continued on Page 7

Imran’s unwise civildisobedience call................................................Govt should come forwardand act................................................Emaar’s resolve to turnKarachi into Dubai

See Page 04

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Mon-day said that he will lead themarch into ‘Red Zone’ of the fed-eral capital on Tuesday, when hisdeadline expires.

“Because I am worried thatthe police is ours and you arealso mine, and I do not wantany clash with police. That’swhy I have decided I will leadthe march to the Red Zone,” hesaid to the protesters.

“Police will have to decidewhether they will fire at ImranKhan or not. I know the Paki-stani police will not shoot atImran Khan,” he said. To the“Gullu Butts,” he said if theyraise arms against workers,they will have no place to hide.

“The world will witnessthe power of the Pakistani na-

Imran to leadmarch into Red

Zone todayDefends PTI civil

disobedience movementtion tomorrow.”

He asked the party work-ers to promise that they willfollow behind him, and that “ifsomething happens,” he willtake the first bullet.

“You have to promise not toembarrass your leader. You haveto stay peaceful. Do not break asmuch as a potted plant. It will bea peaceful march.” He pleadedto the Islamabad police not toengage in violence tomorrow.Imran Khan felicitated his partyadministration for better arrange-ments of the sit-in on Mondaycompared to past few days. Hesaid a civil disobedience move-ment was the best way to getfreedom from oppressors.

He claimed that the crowdat the sit-in was getting largerwith every passing day. The PTIchief lamented that the poor hasto pay taxes on everything.

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nAwami Tehreek leader, TahirulQadri on Monday announcedthat his party will hold sit-insin all the four provinces of Pa-kistan from this evening.

Addressing the party work-ers of his sit-in continued to bestaged in the capital city fifth

Continued on Page 7

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—The dramatic and electrify-ing moment to moment changes in politi-cal scene has moved a step further to form-ing of a national government.

The unyielding PTI Chairman ImranKhan is reported to have said that he wouldhit a ‘high value target’ at all cost. So far,he has many cards to play to gain maxi-mum ground against Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif in a nerve-racking politicalsituation.

The latest move by PTI to resign fromassemblies has further worried mediatorsbelonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, PPP and

Nerve racking developments

Imran adamant to hit ‘high value target’PTI resignations a step forward for national government

MQM who are trying to find out a mid-way to resolve the crisis which has deep-ened by more aggressive and determinedsit-in of Pakistan Awami Tehrik led byAllama Tahir-ul-Qadri.

When contacted some of the media-tors said they are gradually convergingon common grounds to form a nationalgovernment. There are several propos-als in active consideration includingelectoral reforms, reduction of term ofparliament from five years to three years,constitution of new Election Commis-sion and restriction on govt leaders torun businesses.

They said the national government will

also be responsible for facilitating the newEC to introduce a fool-proof electronicvoting system. After all these reforms, newelections will be held. Another proposal isunder consideration to restrict the presentPML (N) government to three years termonly.

After meeting with Imran Khan, theyare of the view PTI Chief had reached apoint of no return. In this situation, theyare finding it very difficult to convince himto accept the legitimacy of the Parliamentand the government. Formation of nationalgovernment to avert any ‘untoward situa-tion’ is a way forward now to come outfrom present difficult situation.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has de-cided to tender resignationsfrom the National Assembly aswell as Punjab, Sindh andBalochistan assemblies. Deci-sion on Khyber Pakhtunkhwaassembly however has beenpostponed. PTI MNAs havehanded their resignations to theVice-Chairman of the PTI ShahMahmood Qureshi, however,resignations of two MNAs areawaited. As soon as they handedtheir resignations, Qureshi willsubmit them to the Speaker of

Another shock move

PTI MPs toresign en masse

AML, PMLQ likely to join movementthe National Assembly.

This was announced byShah Mahmood Qureshi afterattending the meetings of theparty core committee and par-liamentary committee here onMonday. Talking to media,Shah Mahmood Qureshi saidPTI knocked on every door andit took the matter even to theSupreme Court but justice wasnot administered. “Since May2013 elections were not trans-parent and worst form of rig-ging was practiced in them, wehave decided to tender resigna-tion and go to the people once

Continued on Page 7

Nisar, Shahbazmeet Gen Raheel

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Army ChiefGeneral Raheel Sharif on Mon-day met with Punjab ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif andInterior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan in Rawalpindi,sources said.

Sources told media that itwas agreed during the meetingthat dialogue should be openedimmediately with PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf and PakistanAwami Tehreek to listen totheir demands.

ISLAMABAD—The Supreme Court on Mon-day observed that the ongoing political cri-sis and alleged violation of fundamentalrights ensuing from the impasse between thegovernment and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) are a matter for the government to de-cide. “It is for the government to handle,” afive-member bench headed by Chief Justice

of Pakistan Nasir-ul-Mulk said about theongoing sit-in, during the hearing of a peti-tion filed last week by Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) President KamranMurtaza.

During Monday hearing, Attorney GeneralSalman Aslam Butt had said that fundamental

SC opts out of ‘handling’political crisis

Every measure can’t be left with court

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif shaking hands with Leader of Opposition in National AssemblySyed Khurshid Shah.

Continued on Page 7

ISLAMABAD—The National Assembly onMonday started debate on prevailing politicalsituation in the country.

The motion to this effect was moved byMinister for Science and Technology, ZahidHamid.

Initiating the debate, leader of the opposi-tion, Syed Khursheed Shah said it is our col-lective responsibility to safeguard democraticsystem.

He said they would not allow anybody toharm democracy and uncertainty in the coun-try should be ended.

The Opposition leader said Parliamentaryleaders are ready to hold talks with PTI andPAT for resolution of the issues if Prime Min-ister gives them mandate.

He said if the protesting parties believe inConstitution, democracy and the Parliamentthey will have to come for dialogue to defusethe situation.Taking part in the discussionMahmood Khan Achakzai said it is the primeresponsibility of every political party to standup upholding the rule of law and constitution.

Taking part in the debate, Aftab AhmedKhan Sherpao said the protesting parties aremaking efforts to paralyze the governmentmachinery which is not tolerable.

He said we have to make joint efforts tosteer the country out of crisis. He said weshould also pay attention towards the suffer-ings of IDPs of North Waziristan and expresssolidarity with them.

The Senate also started discussion on thecurrent political situation.

Initiating the discussion, the mover of themotion Farhatullah Babar said a political partyand a religious party have gathered people inthe federal capital in the name of Azadi andInqilab marches attending daily routine life ofthe city. He said due to the marches all shopsnear the site of sit-ins are closed, trafficblocked, attendance in the offices is thin andthe residents are facing huge difficulties.

They proposed that a joint session of theparliament should be summoned to evolve astrategy to address the situation.

Parliamentarians pledgeto protect democracy

Continued on Page 7

CM deploresPTI’s threat

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Minis-ter Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifhas said that the threat by theleadership of Tehrik-e-Insaf per-taining to suspension of powersupply to Punjab from Tarbelatantamount to enmity with thenation and had any minister ofhis cabinet issued such a state-ment, he would have shut himup. He said that Pakistan needsunity and harmony between

Continued on Page 7

PM formsfive-membercommittee to

start talksISLAMABAD–Prime MinisterMian Nawaz Sharif Mondayformed a five-member commit-tee to open talks with ImranKhan and Dr. Tahir ul Qadri.

According to sources, thecommittee comprises of AbdulQadir Baloch, Akram Durraniand Ahsan Iqbal, KhawajaSaad Rafique and IrfanSiddiqui are part of the com-mittee. Sources say that com-mittee will also contact otherparties in a bid to defuse thesituation. Khan and Qadri havebeen camping in Islamabad andcalling for the resignation ofPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The KhyberPukhtunkhwa Minister for In-formation Mushtaq AhmadGhani Monday announced thatthe KP province will not bepaying electricity and gas billsas well as the federal taxes.

The PTI Provincial min-ister, in response to FederalMinister for water and powerKhawaja Muhammad Asif’sstatement that the one whowould pay the electricity billwould get power supply and

Continued on Page 7

PPP, MQM agreeto stabilizedemocracyAAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) and MuttahedaQaumi Movemenet (MQM)have agreed to save democ-racy and play their roles indefusing the heat betweenPakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on one sideand the government on theother.

A PPP delegation headedover by Senator RehmanMalik visited MQM head-quarters Nine-Zero to discussthe current political situation

Two Rangers,civilianinjured inIndian firingSIALKOT—Two ChenabRangers and a Pakistanicitizen were injured in theearly hours of Monday whenIndian Border Security Force(BSF) fired shots across theWorking Boundary into theCharwah and Chaprar sectorsnear Sialkot. There were alsoreports that firing from acrossthe boundary killed severallivestock. Chenab Rangersresponded to the shots and anexchange of fire took placewith the use of heavy weaponsalong the Working Boundary.The firing had begun onSunday night and continueduntil Monday morning.

The incident came daysafter Narendra Modi accusedPakistan of waging a proxywar in Kashmir as he visitedthe town of Kargil in the IndianOccupied Kashmir.—INP

KP not to pay power,gas bills: Minister

those who do not , their sup-plies would be disconnected,further threatened that if utili-ties were disconnected to theprovince, power supply fromTurbela to Punjab will also bestopped.

Ghani, however, said theprovincial taxes will be col-lected as per routine but thepublic will not be paying anyfederal taxes along with elec-tricity and gas bills.

Talking to news men herehe said the civil disobedience

India calls offFS level talksPakistan termsit a ‘set-back’

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—India on Mon-day called off Foreign Sec-retary talks with Pakistanscheduled for August 25 fol-lowing criticism in India onmeeting of Pakistan HighCommissioner Abdul Basitwith Kashmiri leaders.

Reacting to this, Paki-stan described it a set backto the efforts made by Pakleadership to promote goodneighbourly relations withIndia.

Indian Foreign Secretarysaid, “Pakistan HighCommissioner’s meetingwith the ‘so-called’ separat-ist leaders undermines theconstructive diplomatic en-gagement initiated by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onhis very first day in office.”

The Spokesman of Paki-stan Foreign spokes personsOffice said “our High Com-missioner in India has beeninformed by the Ministry ofExternal Affairs that the Gov-ernment of India, taking ex-

Continued on Page 7

Picture on Back Page

ECP rejectsPTI’s allegationsISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan(ECP) Monday rejected theallegations levelled byPakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI)chief Imran Khan regardingprinting of extra ballot papersduring 2013 general electionsby the Provincial ElectionCommission Punjab at privateprinting presses in UrduBazar, Lahore.

Talking to the mediahere, ECP’s AdditionalSecretary Syed Sher Afgansaid the ECP was ready toprove the allegations wrongthrough facts and figures atany competent forum, whichmight be appointed toinvestigate the same.

He said the printing ofballot papers was a highly

Continued on Page 7

Detailed story on Sports Page

Continued on Page 7

Qadri announces ‘grand’expansion of protests

Sit-ins in all provincesday on, Tahirul Qadri said nowthe ‘Revolution March’ wouldno longer remain confined toIslamabad.

He said the Prime Minis-

ter and Interior Minister wouldbe responsible if his support-ers got provoked. “This attitude

of the government is undemo-cratic,” he lamented.

He said his vehicle wasstopped through the use of jam-mers and he had to reach the pro-cession in someone else’s car.

Meanwhile, as Tahirul Qadriwas busy making a speech in histypical emotional mood, one of theloud speakers placed on his right

Continued on Page 7

PR: PML-Nleadership readyto pull Imran out

of swampISLAMABAD—Minister for In-formation, Broadcasting andNational Heritage SenatorPervaiz Rashid Monday said Pa-

kistan Mus-lim League-Nawaz beinga politicalparty wasready to pullPTI Chair-man ImranKhan out of

the quagmire after the failure ofthe long march and sit-in.

Talking to a private newschannel the minister said, “Webeing a parliamentary and po-litical party are ready to pullhim out of the swamp.” Imran

Jayawardenegiven winningfarewellCOLOMBO—Former captainMahela Jayawardene wasgiven a fairytale sendoff in

his last test match asSri Lanka eased to a105-run victory thatcompleted a 2-0 seriessweep over Pakistan onMonday.

The victoryenabled batting stalwartJayawardene to end his 149-test career with a victory onan emotional day for the 37-year-old, who scored 11,814runs at an average of49.84.—AP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Minister for National HealthServices, Regulations and Coordinationtook a serious notice of unprecedentedoutbreak of Ebola Virus disease (EVD) cur-rently speeding in West Africa (Guinea,Liberia and Sierra Leone) with the cases of1,378, including 746 deaths with fatality rateof upto 90 percent.

The Minister informed that the threatand potential for rapid spread in our regionremains high, due to frequent movement ofpeople between the affected countries re-lated to trade and transit etc. Therefore its

Health ministry takes notice of EVD outbreaktravel associated spread and risk of impor-tation of the disease calls for immediate nec-essary measures. Ebola virus disease (EVD)is a severe acute viral illness often charac-terized by the sudden onset of fever, intenseweakness, muscle pain, headache and sorethroat. This followed by vomiting, diarrhea,rash, impaired kidney and liver function, andin some cases both internal and externalbleeding, stated by Minister for NHSR&C

For effective prevention of Ebola virusdisease, the Ministry of NHSR&C has ad-dressed a letter alongwith the advisory tothe Chief Secretaries of all provinces and

relevant stakeholders to take the followingsteps on urgent basis;, Minister stated

a) In the absence of effective treatmentand a human vaccine, raising awareness ofthe risk factors for Ebola infection and theprotective measures individuals can take isthe only way to reduce human infection anddeath.

b) Reducing the risk of human-to-hu-man transmission on the community arisingfrom direct or close contact with infectedpatients, particularly with their bodily flu-ids. c) Close physical contacts with Ebolapatients should be avoided. Gloves and ap-

propriate personal protective equipmentshould be worn when taking care of ill pa-tients at home.

d) Regular hand washing is requiredafter visiting Ebola patients in hospital, aswell as taking care of patients at home.

e) Health-care workers caring for pa-tients with suspected or confirmed Ebolavirus should apply, in addition to standardprecautions, other infection control mea-sures to avoid any exposure to the patient’sblood and body fluids and direct unpro-tected contact with the possibly contami-nated environment.

LOWER DIR: JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazl Ur Rehman addressing the condolence reference in memory of SahabzadaBashir Ahmed at Ouch.

Polio drivelaunched

QUETTA—Three-day antipolio campaign has beenlaunched in Quetta blockhere on Monday.

Earlier, on account of se-curity issues, anti-polio drivescheduled for August 11was delayed in Quetta andPishin.

A polio case reported inKilla Abdullah district haddeprived the Balochistanfrom being a polio free prov-ince for 18 months.

“As many as 476,456 chil-dren below the age fivewould be administrated oralpolio drops during the cam-paign launched in Quettablock,” health official toldAPP.

He noted that over 493mobile teams have been con-stituted besides 54 transitpoints and 95 fixed centershave been established acrossthe Quetta block comprisingQuetta and Pishin. 171 AreaIn-charge have been taskedto monitor the campaign, hemaintained—APP

MIRPUR KHAS: Local Hindus performing religious rituals during celebrations of Janmshtami Festival to mark thebirth of the Hindu god Krishna at local temple at Jhudo.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—KP Chief Min-ister Pervez Khattak hastaken strong exception ofthe sorrowful incident of theself-Immolation of a poorRickshaw driver Sulaiman inCharsadda due to challan ofRs.200 for the 2nd time bythe traffic police and hasasked the IG Police to con-duct an immediate enquiryinto this incident on factualgrounds and submit its re-port to him.

He regretted that theyouthful Rickshaw driveraged 22 could not depositRs.200 for the 2nd time dueto his immense poverty andusing the rented Rickshawon daily wages but the localtraffic police impounded theRickshaw in police station

and compelled the pooryouth to immolate himself atFarooq Azam square ofCharsadda.

Pervez Khattak de-plored that though corrup-tion and political interfer-ence has been eliminatedfrom the police force withthe sole aim to make it pub-lic friendly but such uglyincidents revealed that ourimproving police force alsohad some black sheep in itsfolds that instead of caringabout the poor and makingthem law abiding citizenswith love and affection,sparing no efforts to exploitthe commuters ruthlesslyas he said such stonehearted elements in policeforce had no feelings forthe compulsions of thepoor who usually had no

bread to feed to their chil-dren and sleep hungry inthe nights. Hence he saidthat such elements in po-lice force must be discour-aged with iron hands.

Chief Minister directedthe police department notonly to arrange for completetreatment and financial as-sistance of the poor Rick-shaw driver Sulaiman andbring the cruel police offi-cials to book but also adoptthe policy to deduct the ex-penses and charges in-curred on such kind of inci-dents from the salaries ofofficial committing such of-fences so that they couldnot dare to oppress thepoor citizens in future butrather to make them lawabiding citizens with loveand affection.

SHC extendsAmin Fahim bail

IRFAN ALIGI

Political, religious leaders rejectPTI’s call for civil disobedience

ISLAMABAD—Political andreligious leaders have re-jected PTI Chairman ImranKhan’s call for a civil disobe-dience movement againstthe government. They saidthe move was immature andunworthy of a nationalleader.

Talking to media onMonday, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination RiazHussain Pirzada said it was adangerous move that couldundermine the delicate inter-provincial harmony. He saidit is because of the nature ofpolitics of Imran Khan thatPTI is on one side today andall other political parties onthe other.

He said marches andprotests affect economy ofthe country and industrial-ists also face loss of billionrupees. Minister for Kash-mir Affairs & Gilgit-BaltistanChaudhry MuhammadBarjees Tahir said that PTI’sdecision of civil disobedi-ence movement was against

constitution and democracy. He said this decision is

a failure of PTI’s Azadi marchand they want to derail de-mocracy and economics ofthe country.

Senior Vice President ofAwami National PartyBushra Gohar regretted thatImran Khan is trying to in-cite people whereas many ofhis own party-men are notsupportive of his demands.President Pakistan UlemaCouncil Hafiz Tahir Ashrafisaid people of Pakistan in-cluding political and reli-gious leaders have rejectedthe call of PTI chairman andhe should now come to thenegotiating table to sort outissues.

Senator Haji Ghulam Aliof JUI-F said PTI leadershiphas pushed the party to ablind alley. He said people ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa haveshowed indifference towardslong march of PTI as ChiefMinister of the province andhis entire cabinet team could

only manage to bring abouttwo thousand people toIslamabad.

Industrialist Mirza IkhtiarBaig shows grief over the PTIcall of civil disobediencemovement. He said thesesteps affect the economy, in-dustries and other develop-ment projects of the country.

Pakistan Peoples Partyleader Maula Bux Chandioalso said that country wasfacing a critical situationwhich was perturbing for allpatriotic citizens. Politicalparties always have demandsbut these should be withinthe ambit of constitution.Imran’s workers have startedmoving to cross the red line.If they cross into red zone,the situation can deteriorate,he added. He said Imranshould present his demandsin a political way and heshould come to parliamentand present his demands.Senator Awami National Party(ANP) Zahid Khan on Mon-day rejected Imran Khan’s

announcement of civil dis-obedience movement andtermed it against the Consti-tution and democracy.

Talking to media, hesaid,”We have a well-func-tioning democratic system inthe country with parliamentand other institutions work-ing properly and ANP is infavor of constitution and de-mocracy.” He said PTI hascreated a lot of trouble for thenation.

Zahid Khan said thatrains and winds wroughthavoc in Peshawar whileChief Minister PervezKhattak was participating inprotest rally in Islamabad. AsImran Khan has not been tojail like other politicians sohe has no idea of democraticstruggle in the country, headded.

Ghafoor Haidari also criti-cized Imran Khan for cross-ing moral limits in hisspeeches adding that suchbehavior does not suit a ma-ture politician.—PP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) KarachiChapter Chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman hasexpressed his heartfelt gratitude to the par-ticipants of “Gaza Million March”, includingwomen, children, senior citizens, traders,lawyers, journalists, scholars and others.

In a statement issued here on Monday,JI Karachi Chief Hafiz Naeem said that the

Jamaat lauds Gaza Million March participants

people belonging to different walks of lifewith their participation in “Gaza MillionMarch” have proved that the hearts ofKarachiites beat with the oppressedpeople of Gaza, Palestine. He also laudedthe hard-work of party workers for theirtireless efforts in making arrangements ofMillion March and paid rich tribute to eachworker who took part in holding such amassive rally.

QUETTA—Central leader of Pakistan MuslimLeague-N and former senator, Haji LashkariRaisani Monday said that a Canadian clerichas no right to create anarchy and chaos inIslamabad by putting unconstitutional de-mands and giving timeframe for the so-called‘Inqilab’.

Talking to APP here, he said “PakistanAwami Tehreek Chief, Alama Tahir-ul-Qadrihas been making joke with people of Pakistanby giving timeframe for a so-called revolutionand putting unconstitutional demands to dis-solve the Parliament and elected govern-ments,” he said.

He alleged that Alama Tahir-ul-Qadri was

infact working on a hidden agenda to dam-age national harmony and brotherhood todestabilize the country.

“Ongoing Islamabad show by PTI andPAT would cause anarchy and chaos like situ-ation besides damaging the efforts being putby the Prime Minister Muhammad NawazSharif-led government to achieve goals ofprogress and prosperity for the country,” hesaid. He also opposed the Alama Tahir-ul-Qadri’s demand for demarcation of new prov-inces. He demanded the PAT chief to returnback to his country, Canada instead hatchingconspiracies against democracy in Paki-stan.—APP

‘Canadian cleric has noright to create anarchy’

Khattak takes notice ofself-immolation by driver

PESHAWAR—The affairs ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa prov-ince are being run withoutministers, who are engaged insit-in of PTI in Islamabad, cre-ating grave concern amongpeople and parliamentarians.

Provincial InformationMinister Mushtaq AhmadGhani who had also left forIslamabad on Monday to joinPTI rally, told a private media,“Except me, all the ministersand MPAs are in Islamabadin connection with PTI sit-in.”

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), thecoalition partner of PTI inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)government was surprised ofPTI chief’s announcement ofcivil disobedience; a provin-cial leader of JI told media thatthe party would soon con-vene a meeting to decide thefate of coalition with PTI inKP. Meanwhile, ProvincialPresident of Qaumi WatanParty (QWP) SikandarSherpao said the role of PTIgovernment is very concern-ing, adding that it is givingimportance to protests andrallies instead of welfare ofmasses and prosperity in theprovince. He said the cabinetmembers including Chief

KP Govt affairs beingrun without ministers

Minister are not supposed tostage sit-in rather they are re-sponsible under the consti-tution to pay attention to pro-vincial matters. Awami Na-tional Party (ANP) provincialGeneral Secretary MianIftikhar Hussain said that at-least Chief Minister shouldhave to fulfill his duties, add-ing that it was very unfortu-nate the CM was attendingprotests in Islamabad whilerecently heavy rains was play-ing havoc in the province.

“It is his constitutionalobligation to ensure protec-tion of lives and properties ofmasses, and at time of naturalcalamity,” he said adding thatnot even a single minister paidvisit to hospital to inquire af-ter injured of natural calam-ity.

JUI-F provincial informa-tion secretary Jalil Jan alsodeplored the absence of pro-vincial ministers and said that

they have ample time to at-tend protests but have not asingle minute to pay atten-tion to suffering of KP people.

He urged PTI ministersand CM to use their good of-fices for the services ofmasses as they pledged dur-ing election campaigns. Hefurther said that one year per-formance of PTI governmentin KP is already a questionmark.

ANP senior leaderGhulam Ahmed Bilour saidthat he had not seen suchstyle of politics as was beingdone by PTI.

Meanwhile, PresidentKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Cham-ber of Commerce and Indus-try (KPCCI), ZahidullahShinwari rejected the call ofcivil disobedience of ImranKhan and expressed fearedthat it would be disastrousfor the country and na-tion.—APP

FDI for effectivelegislation onacid attacks

QUETTA—Forum for Dig-nity Initiative (FDI) Pakistanhas called for effective leg-islation in the acid attackcase so that inhuman actsagainst women could becontrolled and the perpetra-tors could be given exem-plary punishment.

FDI Executive Director,Miss Uzma Yaqoob, in astatement issued here Mon-day expressed his concernover the incidents of acidattack in Balochistan andsaid that effective legislationin the laws pertaining to acidattack have become neces-sary. “FDI in its generalbody meeting held inIslamabad showed its con-cern over the increasing in-cidents of acid attack acrossthe country,” she said.

Miss Uzma while stress-ing the need for effectivelegislation stressed that bru-tality in the cases of womenfolk needed to be controlledthrough amendments andeffective legislations.

Referring Mastung andQuetta incidents in whichsix women received burn in-juries, she added.—APP

KARACHI—Sindh HighCourt (SHC) while askingformer federal Ministerand Pakistan People’sParty PresidentMakhdoom Amin Fahimfor submitting a rejoinderextended his bail till Sep15 in Trade and Develop-ment Authority of Pakistan(TDAP) corruption case.

Justice Ahmed AliShaikh and justiceFarooque Shah of thehigher court on Mondayissued this order whilehearing an appeal for ex-tension in bail period andnot arresting Fahim, whichwas filed by his counsel.

Federal InvestigationAgency had meanwhileproduced details in thehigher court that pertainedto 12 cases of corruptionagainst Fahim and ap-prised the higher courtthat further investigationwere being made in othercases.

The higher court hadasked the counsels ofFahim to submit a rejoin-der and extended his bailperiod till Sep 15.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)on Monday forecast mainly hot and dry weather for mostparts of the country during the next 24 hours.

However, rain-thunder-storm is expected at one or twoplaces in Mirpurkhas divisionand Gilgit-Baltistan duringnext 24 hours. According tothe synoptic situation, sea-sonal low was lying overNorth Baluchistan and adjoin-ing areas.

The highest maximum temperatures recorded duringthe last 24 hours were Dalbandin 42 C, Nokkundi, Dadu,Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur 41 C, Rohri and Turbat 40 C.

The maximum temperatures recorded in other citieswere Islamabad 34 C, Lahore 37 C, Karachi 34 C, Peshawar38 C, Quetta 35 C, Skardu 30 C, Murree 26 C, Muzaffarabad36 C, Gilgit 33 C, Faisalabad 38 C, Multan 39 C andHyderabad 37 C.—APP

Hot, dry weatherlikely across country

ISLAMABAD—National Highways &Motorway Police (NH&MP) has taken stepsto control fatal accidents on the Motorwaysand highways.

An official of Motorway Police informedAPP that analysis based strict enforcementagaint major causes of accidents i.e. laneviolation, over-speeding, sleeping at wheeletc. is being ensured by NH&MP onMotorways. Briefing and awareness cam-paigns have been launched regularly to raiseawareness about the major causes ofaccidents,he added. Black spots,the officialsaid, have been determined and special mea-sures have been adopted by installing warn-ing signs, speed limit signs, lane disciplinesigns and other similar road furniture.

The Motorway Police official said thatpatrolling vehicles have been asked tospend sufficient time at the black spots tomake the drivers/commuters alert especiallyat that specific point.

Surprise and random interception ofvehicles is made during night time to en-

sure the vigil level of the drivers and entryof potentially hazardous vehicles i.e. poorbody/engine condition, heavily overloadedetc. has completely been restricted onMotorway.

It is being ensured by NH&MP that nodriver drives a vehicles on motorway with-out valid driving licence.

Deployment of two drivers has beenmade compulsory for all PSVs having routeof more than five hours,and entry of PSVswith commercial loads on their rooftops hasbeen banned on motorway.

He said that overweight vehicles posea great hazard not only to other vehiclesplying on motorway but also cause irrepa-rable loss to the national infrastructure andkeeping these aspects in mind, weigh sta-tions are being operated at almost all themajor entry points of motorway where ve-hicles are properly weighed before theirentry on the motorway. Overweight vehiclesare returned from the interchanges and notallowed to enter motorway.—APP

NH&MP takes measuresto curb fatal accidents

WorldHumanitarian

Day todayISLAMABAD—World Hu-manitarian Day will be ob-served with a renewed com-mitment to life-saving reliefefforts and remembering allthose who died serving thisnoble cause.

In his message, theUnited Nations SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki Moon saidthat last year, more humani-tarian workers were kid-napped, seriously injured orkilled than ever before. Thisis an outrage.

“In recent weeks, dozensof humanitarians - includingmembers of the UN family -have lost their lives in SouthSudan and Gaza.—APP

ISLAMABAD—World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) has said that globally,breastfeeding has the potential to pre-vent 220,000 deaths among childrenunder five each year.

According to WHO, all infantsshould be exclusively breastfed for thefirst six months of life, with continuedbreastfeeding along with appropriatecomplementary foods up to two yearsof age or beyond.

It said that unfortunately actualpractice is low which is only 38% inthe world despite the fact thatbreastfeeding is the best way to pro-vide newborns with the nutrients theyneed. Advocacy officer, The Network

for Consumer Protection, Ms RobinaBhatti said that the implementation andenforcement of International Code ofMarketing of Breast-milk Substitutesand subsequent relevant Health As-sembly Resolutions (the Code) arecritical for an environment that sup-ports proper infant and young childfeeding and for the attainment of Mil-lennium Development Goal 4 (reducechild mortality).

This report summarizes theprogress countries have made in imple-menting the Code. It is based on datareceived from WHO Member Statesbetween 2008 and 2010 and on infor-mation for 2011 from UNICEF, she

added. She said breastmilk promotes sen-

sory and cognitive development, andprotects the infant against infectiousand chronic diseases. Exclusivebreastfeeding reduces infant mortalitydue to common childhood illnessessuch as diarrhoea or pneumonia, andhelps for a quicker recovery during ill-ness, she added.

She said breastfeeding contributesto the health and well-being of moth-ers, it helps to space children, reducesthe risk of ovarian cancer and breastcancer, increases family and nationalresources, is a secure way of feedingand is safe for the environment.—APP

Breastfeeding prevents 220,000 deaths:WHO

PESHAWAR: Secretary Admin Abid Majid inaugurating Toll Free Call Centre set-upat Fata Health Directorate.

F A I S A L A B A D — P u n j a bGovernor Ch MuhammadSarwar on Mondaystressed upon the youth towork hard and hone theirskills for their bright futureand progress of the coun-try. He was addressing the21st Convocation of theUniversity of AgricultureFaisalabad (UAF) at theIqbal Auditorium. Termingthe youth an engine forbright future, he advisedthem to get education withdedication and come upwith the innovative ideasfor the uplift of the coun-try.

He said the countrywas facing difficult timesin terms of the energy cri-sis, water scarcity, low ag-ricultural productivity is-sue and poverty.

He said nature hadgifted us with tremendousresources. “Now it is ourduty to explore and ben-efit from them. It is reallyheart burning that half ofthe population is livingbelow the poverty line,” headded.

The agriculture sectorplays a pivotal role in pov-erty alleviation, he said,adding that UAF scientistsshould expedite efforts tocope with the challengesof food security. He con-gratulated UAF for becom-ing the first-ever Pakistaniuniversity ranked amongtop 100 universities of theglobe. He also praisedUAF for its international-ization and introducing 32new degree programmes.

Honorary degreeswere conferred on Adviserto Prime Minister on Na-tional Security and For-eign Affairs Sartaj Aziz,former Chairman WapdaEngineer Shams-ul-Mulkand father of Indian Green

Youth need to work hard for national progress: Governor

Scientists urged to expedite efforts tocope with food security challenges

FAISALABAD: Punjab Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar giving away degrees to the successful students duringConvocation of the University of Agriculture.

Revolution Dr MSSwaminathan. At the event,2,997 students of 2013 wereawarded degrees and med-als. Over 1,297 students ofgraduation, 1,390 ofpostgraduation, 209 ofMPhil, 19 MS computer sci-ences, and 82 PhDs wereawarded degrees. Thirty-nine students were givenmedals.

Dr Sartaj Aziz said Paki-stan have a lot of potentialin the agricultural sector. Hecalled for doubling agricul-tural production in the nextfifteen years to feed the in-creasing population.

He congratulated UAFfor marvelous contributionto research. He said that re-search could move thecountry to new heights ofprogress and prosperity. Hesaid that food security andglobal warning were areasof concerns for the coun-try.

Dr Shamas-ul-Mulklauded efforts of UAF inagriculture. He said that ifyou educate a man, youeducate a person. But if youeducate a woman, you edu-cate a family.

Dr MS Swaminathansaid that being the first ag-

ricultural institution in thesubcontinent, UAF hadplayed a pivotal role in hun-ger alleviation.

UAF Vice ChancellorProf Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khansaid that in the last fouryears, UAF had initiated 32new demand-drivenprogrammes. A Confuciuscentre is being set up onthe campus with the help ofChina in which Chinese cul-tural and languageprogrammes will be offered,he added.

The governor also laidthe foundation of UAFMain Gate which is being

redesigned and recon-structed for its historicalimportance.

At the event, theGovernor’s birthday wasalso celebrated. The gover-nor also distributedcheques among LaboratoryGirls High School toppers.

Australian Deputy HighCommissioner Paul Molloy,Ali Tahir Secretary Agricul-ture Punjab, Arid Agricul-ture University VC Dr RaiNiaz Ahmad and other dig-nitaries from Pakistan, In-dia, Bangladesh and Af-ghanistan participated.—APP

Greeen-starsupports FATAhealth system

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—A toll free Green-star call center was shifted toHealth directorate of FATA inthe space provided on the di-rectives of the secretaryAdmin and coordination(AI&C) FATA, Mr. AbidMajeed, at a ceremony held atthe premises of FATA secre-tariat here on Monday.

The Green-star Call Cen-ter was established at HealthServices Reform Unit (HSRU)in January 2013 as per the di-rectives of the Governor ofKPK and the Health the sys-tem was supposed to behanded over to FATA secre-tariat for onward utilization andsustainability after the projectcloseout. The call center hasbeen established with the sup-port of Greenstar under theKFW Fund Germany.

Established in 2005 as aprimary source of answeringcustomer queries and cus-tomer questions, the call cen-ter is currently working as a24/7 service point. It receivesnumerous calls daily on a toll-free helpline number 0800-11171 on the issues related toreproductive health, newbornand infant’s health, seasonaldiseases, Emergency contra-ception, family planning andother medical issues.

The call center is wellequipped with all the essen-tial furniture and IT equipmentrequired for the system. Twodoctors (male and female) andone system maintenance en-gineer have been placed in thecenter for catering the callsfrom the community and main-taining its quality.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Ruling out talks with the Paki-stan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), Pa-kistan Muslim League - Quaid (PML-Q)leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Mon-day said negotiations with any committeescan only be held after Prime Minister NawazSharif steps down. He was speak-ing to media representatives along withsenior PML-Q leader Chaudhry PervezElahi.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi saidthe opposition should not respond tothose hurling profanities and added thathe would not comment on Pakistan

Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s callfor a civil disobedience movement againstthe sitting government.

Elahi said the committees expected tobe announced by the federal governmentfor talks with the PTI and PAT leadershipwould only represent Prime Minister NawazSharif, adding that government committeeswould have no independent standing.

Elahi stressed that Nawaz and PunjabChief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should stepdown from their offices.

The PML-Q leader said PAT chiefTahirul Qadri would announce his futurecourse of action after completion of thestipulated deadline.

Negotiations with anypanels can be held afterNawaz resigns: Shujaat

Imran’s unwise civildisobedience call

IN a baffling speech, which he earlier projected as to be the most important one of his political career, PTI leader Imran Khan announced tolaunch civil disobedience movement, asking his workers and party-men

not to pay taxes and electricity and gas bills. But to the dismay of Khan, itwas not only instantly disapproved by majority of those whom he addressedon Kashmir Highway but attracted scathing criticism by almost everyonein the length and breadth of the country.

One fails to understand how and why leader of a political party, whichdreams of ruling the country, can take such a plunge into political darkness.If the option was discussed in any meeting of the party then one can onlylament on the wisdom of such a suicidal collective decision and if it wasimposed by Imran Khan then one can only pray for such a style of gover-nance. The move is totally devoid of sanity and that is why all those whomatter have expressed their surprise and dismay. MQM leader Altaf Hussainhas described it as a joke while leaders of PPP, ANP and others have re-marked that it reflects how desperate Imran Khan has become following hisdisappointment from Azadi March. They were of the view that it is anattempt to wriggle out of the fizzling agitation in the shape of sit-ins. Howand why to go for civil disobedience when it is evident that such tacticswould inflict further blows to the national economy when there is need toforge consensus on economic policies and vision. The issues, as portrayedby Imran and Qadri, are rigging and corruption, and not how to weaken theeconomy, system and the state. Imran Khan has legitimate right to protestagainst, what he calls, ‘Badshahat’ of Mian Nawaz Sharif but there arescores of Constitutional options and methods available to him to registerhis protest and impel the PM to rectify his behaviour and style of gover-nance. The question of civil disobedience movement is not as simple asImran perceives it because it involves tricky issues of centre-KPK financialrelations, NFC and day-to-day problems of the common man. We hopeImran Khan would desist from pursuing the path of destruction for himself,his party and the country, which he aspires and is in a hurry to govern asPrime Minister. We hope he would withdraw his childish announcementthat has already badly dented his image as a national political leader.

Govt should comeforward and act

THE Federal Capital is in the grip of extreme uncertainties in the backdrop of parallel sit-ins by Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan, who are de-

manding resignation of the Prime Minister and dissolution of the Assemblies.Things are totally confused as Qadri has given two day deadline to the Gov-ernment to dissolve Assemblies while PTI’s Chief Minister of KPK has givena firm assurance to JI Amir that the Provincial Assembly would not be dis-solved, a stance that belies party’s demand for dissolution of the NationalAssembly. The situation is so fluid that it could turn any shape any time.

In this backdrop, the belated decision of the Government to form twopolitical Committees and initiate dialogue with PAT and PTI, has been hailedby political leaders and parties. However, we believe that decision couldprove to be non-consequential in view of the gravity of the situation thatdemands urgent fence-mending by the Government. We have been em-phasizing in these columns that the key to solution of the prevailing po-litical deadlock lies with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Instead of resort-ing to the bureaucratic approach of constituting Committees and Com-missions, the PM should have gone for some out-of-the-box solution ofthe problem. People of Pakistan in general and inhabitants of Rawalpindi-Islamabad in particular are feeling heat of the prevailing situation but theGovernment seems to be indifferent. It is understood that the strategy ofthe Government is to exhaust protestors but delay could lead to some dra-matic situation if terrorists strike at the mob or their leaders, the gatheringturns violent or the authorities commit any mistake. Time is running outand something tangible must come from the Government.

Emaar’s resolve to turnKarachi into Dubai

EMAAR Pakistan has expressed its willingness to make Karachi, themetropolitan city of Pakistan even better than Dubai by undertaking

mega construction projects. While talking to media at a function held tolaunch company’s Pearl, Reef and Coral project at Crescent Bay, Karachi,Haji Muhammad Rafique Giga, Director of Emaar said they want to dosomething for Pakistan which is their country.

Emaar has done a lot of construction work in the Gulf including Dubai,which has become centre of attraction for people living all around the world.A few years back Chairman of Emaar Properties said, he believes Pakistanrepresents a great investment opportunity for his company as it goes global.In the back drop of uncertainties and demonstrations, such a fascinatingstatement from Emaar reflects company’s trust in the potential and capacityof Pakistan to absorb big foreign investment. The launch of Pearl, Reef andCoral Towers in the Crescent Bay Karachi will depict marvels of architec-ture and attract the Pakistani investors who are investing in Dubai by pur-chasing Villas. Crescent Bay Karachi is a 75-acre development projectfeaturing high and mid-rise towers for residential and commercial use. Infact Emaar Pakistan is pioneering the concept of master planned commu-nities that integrate residential amenities with schools, healthcare, shop-ping malls, hotels and entertainment to bring a world class lifestyle in thecountry. Emaar has already energized the Pakistani economy with devel-opment projects worth $2.4 billion. The company has also the highlandsproject in Islamabad incorporating Islamabad’s signature blend of naturewith cityscape, a masterpiece of architectural perfection. Haji MuhammadRafique Giga said, they also plan projects all over the country as peopleresponded well to their investment, which is an encouraging development.There is plenty of scope in the construction sector as there is shortage ofresidential and office accommodation. The need of the hour is that con-struction companies with international repute like Emaar should be encour-aged to come in a big way for investment. That would help not only to meetthe shortage but also give a boost to Pakistan’s economy and create jobopportunities. Therefore, we would emphasise that all the requisite facili-ties and enabling atmosphere be created by the government and its con-cerned agencies and give them a free hand to carry out their projects.

Avoid horrifying denouement

TheIslamabad

moment

THE standoff in Islamabad ison a maximalist position.With cricketer-turned-politi-

cian Imran Khan refusing to acceptanything other than Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif’s resignation and re-constitution of the Election Com-mission coupled with fresh polls,the room for a negotiated settlementis getting bleaker with the passageof time. Imran and his contempo-rary, Dr Tahirul Qadri, a scholar ofrepute, who led a mammoth rallyinto the federal capital from Lahorebraving all odds, are staging a sit-in till their demands are met. Qadri,too, is demanding the ouster of gov-ernment, especially the one ofPunjab province where his support-ers were gunned down last month.Though both the rallies were im-pressive in registering their numeri-cal strength and zealousness, themillion-dollar question is how longcan they stay put on the streets? Thebusiness of the state is alreadylocked down with all synergies fo-cused on political agitations.

Efforts on the part of peripheralpolitical forces to broker a deal be-tween Khan and Sharif have hitsnags, as there seems to be nomiddle ground where they couldsettle down. This is where the jinnof Pakistani establishment comeinto action, wherein the armedforces are compelled to move in.But this time around, that doesn’tseem to be a probability with thearmy keeping itself aloof from poli-tics and concentrating on the opera-tion that is underway in the restiveNorth Waziristan territory againstthe dreaded militants. Yet the pos-sibility of army being sucked intopolitics cannot be ruled out if thestandoff turns violent, or an oppor-tunist chord is stuck with the invis-ible power-that-be. That has alwaysbeen the nomenclature of supra-politics in Pakistan and the armyand the intelligence agencies can-not keep themselves away from therealities of state-centric dynamicsfor long. Imran and Qadri, whospeak high of reforming the gover-nance structure in their quest tomake it genuinely representative,cannot achieve their goals throughquick-fix solutions. The dynamicyouth following of Khan and thedisciplined devotees of Qadri haveno choice but to address their ob-jectives in an evolutionary manner.Talk of revolution and overthrow-ing the system, however errant andcorrupt that may be, will breed dis-content and civil strife. A nationreeling under poverty and exposedto the menace of terrorism cannotafford any more adventures. It’stime for Khan and Qadri to hold atête-à-tête with the government torealise their demands and that toowithout torpedoing the hard-earnedcivil supremacy in the country. The‘long march’ has made a pertinentpoint — i.e., Pakistan’s future is nomore with the forces of status quo.Politics of feudalism and dynastyrule will not hold water anymore.It’s time for qualitative, and not cer-emonial, change in the long run.— Khaleej Times

*****

Imran needsto re-evaluate

strategy

THE current political crisis inPakistan is being engineeredby two people, Imran Khan

of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaafand Pakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT)’s Chief Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, fora cause that is vague in its delinea-tion, pushing the country towardsfurther instability.

Khan’s decision to take theroute of least resistance — populistpolitics — rather than bring out thematured politician and negotiator inhim is ticking all the boxes in howto jeopardise Pakistan’s hard-wondemocracy. While the Nawaz Sharifgovernment has yet to quicken thepulse of Pakistanis with any kindof a display of strong governance,it does not mean that political op-ponents must do the unthinkable —loosen democracy’s initial grip ona country that so desperately needsit. Khan and Qadri are putting upmisguided, half-baked protests atcrucial moment in Pakistan’s his-tory. They must stop and the primeminister and his cabinet must begiven a proper time frame to addressthe country’s immediate issues in-cluding a slumping economy, fre-quent power shortages as well asthe Taliban insurgency in the north.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

PAKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) Chairman Imran Khancalled for civil disobedience

and urged Pakistanis on Sundaynot to pay taxes or utility bills tillPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif re-signed. He gave two-day ultima-tum to the government to meet hisdemands. On Sunday, TahirulQadri put forward Charter of De-mands and gave 48 hours deadline,which has expired when these linesare being written. Tahirul Qadripresented the Charter of Demandsto the government and given 48hours’ deadline to meet his de-mands. His demands are: PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif and ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif shouldresign, Sharif brothers be arrestedas per law of the land; parliamentand provincial assemblies be dis-solved as these are formed uncon-stitutionally; a national govern-ment be formed for democraticreforms, the names of the cabinetmembers should be placed on ExitControl List and corrupt politi-cians, technocrats and bureaucratsbe made accountable.

Hectic efforts are afoot to avertthe horrifying denouement of thepolitical crisis emanating fromazadi march of Tehrik-e-Insaf andinqilabi march of Pakistan AwamiTehrik. Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf’sazadi march and Pakistan AwamiTehrik presented a big challengefor the sitting government andLaw Enforcing Agencies, espe-cially when Army had been called

Long March: Expectations & apprehensions

THE Chinese leader, Chairman Mao Tse-tung led hisninety thousand strong

army on a long march of over ninethousand kilometer, consistentlyattacked by the enemy, yet hecould reach the destination withonly seven thousand survivors,who became a symbol of extremecourage, sacrifice and devotion tothe nation. People rallied aroundthem to win the battle for freedom.Imran Khan has earned no suchlaurels to claim victory atIslamabad. In fact due to his shift-ing demands and with some un-expected decisions he has made itappear, that “he may well loose thebattle, before it is joined”.

The primary aim of Imran wasto expose the rigging in the elec-tions by Punjab Government.Nawaz Sharif agreed to the ap-pointment of a Supreme CourtCommission, to probe into the mat-ter, but Imran Khan declined andmade new demands that NawazSharif must resign and a technocratsgovernment should be formed”.These demands are totally un-demo-cratic and unconstitutional, whilethere is a sitting government, sup-ported by an elected Parliament.The court order has warned Imranthat the law of the country wouldnot allow such a move, thus put-ting Imran Khan on the back footand liable for legal action.

On reaching Islamabad withabout thirty thousand or so follow-

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It takes two to tango.

ers, Imran de-manded: “NawazSharif to resign,now, because therewas always a limit topatience and his fol-lowers may get out

of his control, and the Tsunami maysweep across the red zone, reach-ing Parliament house”. This is anopen threat of use of force, whichthe government will counter, usingthe police and the rangers, and ifthey fail, army will be called-in torestore peace. And that is whatImran Khan wants, i.e. to precipi-tate a situation where army takesover as it had done in the past, end-ing up with military take over andregime change. But the circum-stances are now different. Armys’hands are full, dealing with insur-gency in the North Western Regionand Balochistan. Under article 245it will respond to maintain law andorder, in Islamabad but noting be-yond it, Army wants that, courts oflaw, the government Imran andQadri should settle the matter be-tween themselves, as the constitu-tion demands. The Army is at thecentre stage of this juggernaut, yetready to throw cold water on theambitions of our charismatic leaderof freedom and revolution.

Imran appears to have reachedsome understanding with Qadri,which was not becoming of him,because, Qadri has no politicalstanding, and not a single seat inParliament. He is mainly an agita-tor, supported by his madaris. Withan agenda in hand he came to Pa-kistan last year, to ensure that thegeneral elections were not held, sothat Nawaz Sharif was not elected.Mr. Zardari, somehow was able to

convince him to go back, as it wasnot the opportune time to show hishand. Now he is back on the job.Whereas “Imran is trying to enactthe Ikhwan, at Tahrir Square inCairo, which he is not, nor NawazSharif is Hosni Mubarak”. He has an

elected Parliament, backing him up.Imran made no arrangements at

Islamabad for the sit-in by hiscrowd, which by now appears to bethirty to forty thousand strong andcould hardly muster upto a hundredthousand or so, and no more. Badweather and lack of arrangements,would force Imran, to seek decisionin a few days time, which makes

upon to take charge ofsecurity as provided byArticle-245 of the con-stitution. Imran Khanhas now demanded thatPrime Minister NawazSharif should resignand mid-term electionsbe held. There is nodoubt that Imran Khan

waited for more than one year tosee if the government would accepthis demand to open four constitu-encies for verification of thumb im-pressions and recounting. But thegovernment seems to have prevari-cated taking the plea that it was amatter to be decided by the Elec-tion Commission.

The problem is that when Elec-tion Tribunal orders recounting ofthe votes, or decides against anycandidate previously declaredelected, he approaches the court forstay order. Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’sgetting the stay order is a case inpoint. Similarly, PTI’s candidate inPS-93 Karachi had also obtainedstay order from the High Court.Election Tribunal had declared vic-tory of Syed Hafeez-ud-din in PS-93 Karachi as null and void. In fact,Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) was in the line of fire rightfrom its formation. There was de-mand from the entire nation that theECP should perform its constitu-tional role without fear or favor, andfilter out all those with fake de-grees, held dual nationality, evadedtax, defaulted on loans or indulgedin criminal activities. But that wasnot to be. In fact, there is completedichotomy between the outlook ofmembers of the ruling elite and themasses. The former wants morepowers, more perks and privilegeswhereas masses want economic op-portunities and jobs to see some re-spite in their miserable lives.

Some politicians and political

analysts believe that in case thepresent crisis is not resolved ami-cably, democracy could be derailed.The Leader of the OppositionKhurshid Shah has been saying ifdemocracy is threatened or imper-iled the entire political leadershipacross the board would unite anddefend it. But when will politiciansknow that the biggest enemy to de-mocracy in the country is none elsebut the political leadership itself.And if the system collapses noneelse will be responsible but thisleadership across the spectrum.Members of the ruling elite,commentriat, analysts and panelistsday in and day out recount the mer-its of democracy, but who will tellthem that it is plutocracy and nodemocracy. Mostly jagirdars,waderas, khans and sardars maketo the assemblies, who give over-riding consideration to their per-sonal interest over national interest.In fact it is the vested interest ofthe common people that sustainsand lends the system and the gov-ernment stability and longevity. Butthat interest is just not there in thepresent system.

Some of the political playersare trying to draw a political mile-age while the crisis is deepening bythe day. Politicians fearing that thedemocratic system may be derailedsuggest to both sides to hold dia-logue and resolve the matters ongive and take basis to avoid thedeadlock which may lead to politi-cal turmoil in the country. But inPakistan it is sham democracy.People’s democracy or genuine de-mocracy is a form of governmentin which the supreme power isvested in the people, and exerciseddirectly by them or by their electedrepresentatives under a free elec-toral system. Irony of the fate is thatsame elite groups get elected overand over again and election cam-

paigns are held as rituals, becausepolitical parties have become dy-nasties, and top leaderships of theparties have assumed unprec-edented powers by amending theconstitution through 18th amend-ment. Secondly, powerful groupswho regard elections as windowsof business opportunities andopenings to plunder nationalwealth through all possible meansare elected to the assemblies.

Because of the loot and plunderof the ruling elite, the voters’ aspi-rations turn into hopeless ordeal, de-jection and despondency. In thepast, when the elected representa-tives failed to deliver to the people,and gave overriding considerationto their personal interests over na-tional interests; people came out indroves to protest against the poli-cies of the government that resultedin inflation, corruption and plunderof the national resources by them.In a society imbued with demo-cratic traditions and values, andwhere social justice prevails, nobodyentertains ideas of having an auto-cratic or military setup.

But when feudal culture andoutlook pervade all strata of soci-ety; when politicians consider theirparties as personal fiefdoms, andthe state apparatus fall victim topersonal whims of the ruling elite,the people start pinning hopes onanyone who promises to emanci-pate them from economic miseryand want. Having that said, it ishoped that better sense will pre-vail over the government and thePTI and PAT leaderships. Theycould agree on a formula thatwould allow the audit of the con-stituencies as demanded by thePTI, formation of a new electioncommission, and the tenure of thepresent government be curtailed.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

his job all the more difficult andrisky. Imran has made no effortsto protect his “Tsunami maneuver”from external threats. He is chal-lenging the judiciary, the govern-ment, the constitution, the media,the major political parties, and theweather, at the same time. This isbad strategy, seeking failure. Andthe residents of Islamabad arecursing, both, Imran and Qadri, forthe permeating filth and foul smellcaused by the so called revolution-aries and freedom marchers. How-ever, there is a ray of hope forImran, because we have seenNawaz Sharif at official functions,glum and gloomy, as if he is underdepression because of Imran andQadris’ harassing demands. Thatis the pressure point, for Imran tofocus, with his bouncers.

Qadri is “in Pakistan with ajob”. And the job is to actualizethe secular and non-secular con-flict in Pakistan to the desiredend. The political Islam in Paki-stan is not acceptable, as it wasunacceptable in Bangladesh,Gaza, Algeria and Egypt. Thismay lead to a grim struggle, yetwe can find an amicable solution,only through the democratic pro-cess of elections, filtered througha fair free and transparent elec-toral process, demanded, both byImran and Qadri. And this seemsto be taking place with the Su-preme Court Judicial enquirycommission to investigate and re-port on rigging in 2013 elections.Hence the urgent need to correctthe electoral process, and the mo-dalities ensuring inclusivenessand transparency of the elections.—The writer is a Ex-COAS,Pakistan.

— Proverb

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Gen Mirza Aslam BegEmail: friendsfoundation @live.co.uk

POLITICALDEADLOCK

We can findan amicable

solution, onlythrough the

democratic processof elections,

filtered through afair free andtransparent

electoral process,demanded, both byImran and Qadri.And this seems to

be taking placewith the Supreme

Court Judicialenquiry

commission toinvestigate and

report on riggingin 2013

elections.

Voice of the PeopleMany faces of

politiciansSYED USMAN SHAH

Every day we see politicians beingaccused of chicanery, and rightly so.This duplicity on the part of politi-cians has become much more promi-nent due to electronic and socialmedia. They seem to have a face forevery political occasion. There is apre-election face and a post-electionface; a treachery-bench face and aopposition-bench face; a public faceand a private face, and so on.

It can be asked, is this mendac-ity present only in our politicalcreed? Have not every aspect of ourlives submerged in hypocrisy? Arenot we as a society, a society ofmany faces? It is not my purpose togive any kind of justification for thebehavior of politicians. But it is re-ally surprising to see the shock anddetestation of a society –whose ev-ery act of the day to day dealing isdeluged in mendacity and pretense–over the duplicity of politicians.Surely every one of us has a longlist with him, of people who use adifferent face on every different oc-casion. So, if we ‘the Denizens ofthe land of the pure’ have no higherideals or uncompromising prin-ciples, and if our every act is drivenby exigencies; why such tantrum onthe duplicity of politicians? Whatelse should we expect from the po-litical creed that has emerged from‘a society of many faces’ if not de-ceit and duplicity?

These words are by no meansan apology for politicians, but arean effort to induce self reflection. Weneed to quit this shouting and mustlook into our own selves. We oughtto stop the people exhibiting hypo-critical behavior around us, peoplewe know, people we care about.After all, charity begins at home.—Lahore

CSS preparationBHAGWAN BHATTI

CSS aspirants must not follow CSScentres where CSPs teach and guideaspirants for CSS preparation be-cause once they are selected and gotallocated, they are no more in touchwith books and material of subjects.So CSS centres and CSPs must stopplaying with aspirants’ future for onlytheir prestige, publicity and money.

Instead CSS aspirants shouldfollow the competant teachers thosehave background of that subject ingraduation, masters and doctorialand to those competant aspirantswho have high score in those sub-jects. One must go through indi-vidual competant teachers becauseone can grasp and bear the burdenof some subjects easily than all the12 subjects within 3 months periodof CSS centres for one batch.—Hyderabad

Womenexploitation

FARRUKH AZIZ ANSARI

In the present age the more humanbeings have chained themselves upwith the man-made laws, societalrituals, and religious usages, the morethey have fallen into eclipse withscruples and superegos vanishing bythe elapsing of time. The moral val-ues, ethics and humanity are on thebrink of decline and decay.

Eve’s daughter stands on thelowest rung of the societal ladderwhere the quest for bread in herempty-stomach, a harbor on her barehead and an article of clothing forher naked body drives her to red-light district to be stalked upon bythe hard-hearted wild “Ibne Adam”.

The subject justly meritingmuch attention and voice, unfortu-nately has ever been put down assomething taboo, never to betouched upon socially or publically,thus denying the evil prevailing forages, but I find myself tied up withthe moral and legal obligation tobring this issue in limelight.

A few days back, I had a con-versation with a girl, by whose con-sent I am mentioning her, who wascaught-up in the odious professionof prostitution, broached to me herwoebegone saga of the agonizingand dreadful days, she had passedthrough since what she termed asill-twist of fate when she was stillin her teens. What really took meaback was her revelation that evenwhite bearded clerical-typed per-sons paid frequent visits to broth-els. There we go!

The meretricious racket has al-ways been highly booming , less forthe women exploited who arepushed by the financial difficulties,acute poverty, family problems anddiscriminatory socio-economic fab-ric of society, into selling theirhonor, than the co-beneficiaries no-tably police and pimps, extortingfrom them, more than half of whatthey are paid for their services as one

Democracy and disillusionmentHASHIM ABRO

Democracy in Pakistan is accompanied by widespread disillusionment throughout the country. The few political leaders

and their families are the only beneficiaries of what they call “de-mocracy in Pakistan” and not the vast majority of poor voters. Self-serving leaders have hijacked people-centered development for per-sonal aggrandizement. Our political leadership has utterly failed toimplement the democratic principles and human rights enunciatedin the Constitution of Pakistan. A man in the street, a common be-lieves that their representatives in Parliament and in the corridorsof power and politics are inept and incapable of solving their chronicbasic problem. The intelligentsia of Pakistan opines that our cur-rent Parliament is like a soap opera. It is simply a club of rulingelite. In a nutshell, we all as nation shall require a substantially newmanner of thinking if genuine democracy is to flourish and the na-tion is to survive in this age of globalization. Our rulers must haveto be democrat in thought and action to promote democracy anddemocratic culture in the country.—Islamabad

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—Editor

Modi’s hostile posturings

INDIA under its new prime minister, Narendra Modi, seems preparing to take Pakistan head-on.

Since he took over the reins of powerin New Delhi after May 2014 elec-tions, more than 66 unprovoked vio-lations have been made by the Indianside at the Working Boundary as wellas the Line of Control; the most im-portant of all are the statements of MrModi, which are not only indicativeof his government’s aggressive foreignpolicy but also adding fuel to the fire.

Interestingly, Narendra Modi’sbook “Climate Change” suggests hisfocus remains to be Pakistan and that’swhy soon after taking over he choseto visit Srinagar first and on August12 his was the second strategic sojournto Held Jammu & Kashmir area,where he visited Leh and Kargil shortof his planned visit to the Siachenheights. In his strong statement, heaccused Pakistan of continuing proxywar in Kashmir. Observers feel thathis visit to Siachen was aimed at send-ing a strong signal to Pakistan aboutits importance to India.

This was Modi’s second visit toJammu & Kashmir. During his firstvisit he had inaugurated Udhampur-Katra railway line and Uri-II hydro-electric project in Baramulla district.His newly appointed Chief of ArmyStaff Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag visitedon August 10 the world’s highestbattlefield Siachen where he exten-sively interacted with the jawans andofficers of 14 Corps. Already GenSuhag has, after taking over as armychief, issued stern warning to Pakistanfor immediate, stern and adequate re-sponse. Gen Suhaq’s elevation as armychief is said to be Mr Modi’s hostilechoice against Pakistan.

Though Premier Sharif’s visit toNew Delhi to attend Mr Modi’s oath-

taking ceremony was seen as a step inthe right direction, yet it resulted inno concrete headway in terms of re-suming dialogue or resolving the is-sues between the two countries, cour-tesy Mr Modi’s ‘hostile’ gestures. InDr Maleeha Lodhi’s words: “No re-sumption of dialogue between the twocountries was announced, no recom-mitment was made to the broad-basedpeace process, no effort was made toarticulate and reflect Pakistan’s priori-ties and concerns in the PM’s onlypublic pronouncement after his meet-ing with Modi; no mention of Kash-mir was made in the prime ministerialstatement; and no meeting was ar-ranged with the APHC leaders as ithappened to be a norm in the past.”

The appointment of high-pow-ered national security team – HomeMinister Rajnath Singh, DefenceMinister Arun Jaitley, DoNER Min-ister Gen (ex-COAS) V K Singh,External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj, and National Security Ad-visor Ajiy Dowal, RAW’s formerbureau chief – alarms to Modigovernment’s intent on pursuing a“muscular” foreign policy. Threemajor developments add to the im-pression of his antagonist designs:one, the announcement to repealArticle 370 that gives special sta-tus to the state of Jammu & Kash-mir; two, the recent violent rapeincidents in the Gujarat state on thepattern of 2002 incidents which ledto Muslims massacre that claimedmore than 2,000 lives, as well asthe writ petitions filed in the Indiancourts to seek ban on Fajr Azan; andthree, the reported plan to depriveboth Pakistan and Bangladesh oftheir water shares.

Modi during his Leh visit said hisgovernment was committed to mak-ing India self-reliant in defence manu-facturing, a decision to whichPraveen Swami had already referredto in an earlier article. Modi plans tosharpen India’s military teeth; the

2014-2015 interim budget allocatedthe armed forces Rs 2.24b, but just Rs895.88m of that is available for capi-tal expenditure, leaving the forces’acquisition program floundering. Thedeficits are stark. The IAF has only34 squadrons while “it needs 50 tofight a two-front war. Its navy’s acci-dent-hit submarine fleet is shrinkingand its army has critical deficits fromanti-tank missiles and howitzers toassault rifles. Modi has reportedlytaken decision on critical acquisitionsleft hanging by Manmohan govern-ment: a $1.5b deal for attack and $1bfor heavy-lift helicopters, $885m fordesperately-needed 155mm howitzers.The biggest pending acquisition is for126 French Rafale fighters worth$15b.” Modi during his August 12address spoke of the provisions madein the budget towards modernizationand welfare of the armed forces, in-cluding ‘One Rank One Pension’.

While Pakistan, willing to takeinitiatives towards extending hand offriendship to its neighbouring coun-try, needs to take serious the hostilegestures of Modi, the politicians musteschew the path of confrontationalpolitics. One cannot expect from apatriot like Imran Khan to put thecountry into such a dangerous situa-tion where no one would be able tohandle it. Not a single statement hascome out from any of the mainstreampoliticians condemning India’s un-provoked shelling on the workingboundary or LoC where a number ofcasualties have been made as a re-sult. Media in Pakistan is also busyin highlighting and glorifying the socalled political hostility without re-alizing that such a treatment wouldresult in anarchy and chaos.

Media has failed to highlight thevery important arrest of Indian LokSabha member from Nazimabad, KKavitha, who was booked on seditioncharges for declaring that Jammu andKashmir was not part of India. Thefundamentalist Hindutva and hardline

Views From Abroad

Iraq’s last chance

THE country is in your hands,”whispered Iraq’s president,Fuad Masum, on Aug. 11 as

he charged the newly designatedprime minister, Haider al-Abadi, withforming a cabinet. “May God helpyou,” another lawmaker added. In-deed, after last week’s sidelining ofthe country’s long-serving prime min-ister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, Mr.Abadi will need all the divine inter-vention he can get if Iraq is to bespared a descent into all-out civil war.

I was involved in the formationof all five of Iraq’s governments be-tween 2003 and 2010, and I know thatthe coming weeks will be decisive,turbulent and violent, as leaders fromall factions jockey for both power andmoney — to help represent their re-spective communities and to siphonaway billions of government dollarsthrough systemic patronage.

After spending more than $1 tril-lion and losing some 4,500 soldiers’lives, American politicians cannotdare reveal a dirty little secret: Iraqhas since 2003 devolved into a com-bination of Lebanon and Nigeria —a toxic brew of sectarian politics andoil-fuelled kleptocracy. The combi-nation of religious rivalry and en-demic corruption has hollowed outthe Iraqi government, as evidencedby the country’s ongoing electricitycrisis and the collapse of entire IraqiArmy divisions in the face of an ad-vance by the Islamic State in Iraqand Syria, or ISIS, into Iraq’s sec-ond-largest city, Mosul, even thoughthe Iraqi troops vastly outnumberedthe militants.

Over the past century, Iraq hassuffered from regional wars, Britishcolonialism, numerous coups, disas-trous invasions of its neighbours Iranand Kuwait, international sanctions,an American military occupation andnearly four decades of misrule by

Saddam Hussein and Mr. Maliki.Once the capital of Arab culture, phi-losophy and commerce, Iraq is to-day an international pariah and in-cubator of trans-national terrorism,where regional actors are engagedin a bloody proxy war that threatensto spill across borders and destabi-lize the entire region.

Mr. Abadi has inherited a coun-try on the verge of collapse. WhetherIraq will shatter or be salvaged is notin his hands alone. It will depend ona dizzying number of other leaders,political parties, non-state actors, andneighbouring and global powers. Inaccepting the post of prime minister,Mr. Abadi has essentially accepted therole of being the conductor of Iraq’sunruly political symphony. Whetherhe’ll be able to form a national unitygovernment that equitably representsIraqis of all creeds and political ide-ologies will be critical. As with afinely calibrated orchestra, his min-isters will need to work hard as indi-viduals and listen to and accommo-date each other. Iraqi leaders will needto cooperate in a way that they neverhave since the 1958 revolution if theyare to avert a lengthy civil war — onethat would likely precipitate aregionwide Sunni-Shiite holy war.

Like Mr. Maliki, Mr. Abadi is aShiite Islamist Arab and a long timeleader in the Dawa Party, an entitythat was founded to combat Iraq’spre-2003 secular state and create aShiite theocracy. Fuelled by generoussupport from Iran’s intelligence ser-vices, Dawa was motivated to bringabout change by any means neces-sary in the 1980s. Its members stagedterrorist attacks across Iraq and else-where in the Middle East in a bid toweaken Hussein and his Westernbackers. The American and Frenchembassies in Kuwait were bombed;a housing compound of the defencecontractor Raytheon was overrun;and there were countless assassina-tion attempts against Hussein and hissenior deputies. Sensing an existen-

tial threat, the regime declared mem-bership in Dawa to be a capital of-fence and thousands of suspectedmembers were rounded up, torturedand executed.

Increasing Iranian influence hasonly made matters worse. Americasat back and watched in 2010 as Mr.Maliki’s cabinet was formed by Ira-nian generals in Tehran, thereby as-suring its strategic defeat in Iraq.ISIS is a direct outgrowth of thatdefeat. Sensing an Americanvacuum, both Mr. Maliki and his Ira-nian patrons sought to consolidatetheir gains by economically, politi-cally and physically crushing theirSunni and Kurdish rivals. Conse-quently, today’s “Iraqi securityforces” are almost exclusivelyShiite, reinforced by militias fi-nanced, trained, armed and directedby Iran. Given Mr. Maliki’s blatantsectarianism and his complicity inBashar al-Assad’s campaign of geno-cide against Syria’s Sunnis, Sunniradicalisation and the spread of ISISacross the region were predictable.

But if anyone has the potential tounite Iraq and hold it together in theface of ISIS terrorism and Iranianmeddling, it is Mr. Abadi. In a soci-ety where name and upbringing countfor a lot, he comes from a respectedBaghdad family and was raised in anupscale neighbourhood. He studiedat one of the capital’s best highschools, earned a degree from one ofits top universities and later receiveda doctorate in engineering in Britain.

“We’ll give Abadi a real chanceif for no other reason than becausehe’s a Baghdadi — not a thug from avillage like almost everyone elsethat’s ruled us since ’58,” a shadowyfinancier of the Sunni insurgency toldme this week. Indeed, for the firsttime since 2003, Iraq’s top three lead-ers, the Shiite Mr. Abadi, the Kurdishpresident, Mr. Masum, and theParliament’s Sunni speaker, Mr.Jubouri, have all emerged from Iraq’sParliament, where they cooperated

Ali Khedery

Footfalls in the malls..!

WE were driving over thesea-link in Mumbai, along bridge that crosses

the sea and saves a few miles ofdriving through the city; Iwatched the waves fierce and an-gry and leaned against the win-dow fascinated. “It’s a long timesince I’ve visited the beach!” Isaid loudly and saw my driversmile in the rear view mirror.

I wondered why I wasn’t aregular at the beach anymore andrealized we didn’t take our guests

and visitors there anymore. Onceupon a time, any visitor to the citywas treated to an evening at thebeach, an experience I quite lookedforward too.

But it had been years. “Wouldyou like to visit the beach?” wassomething I hadn’t asked in years. Ihad received a call yesterday from afriend in Chicago, “Bob, heardyou’re visiting the States, whatwould you like to do?”

Before I could tell him I’d liketo visit some of Americas naturalsites, he continued, “Will take youto some great malls that have comeup, you’ll love the shopping experi-ence!” And that’s what’s destroyedmy trysts with the beach.

Nobody wants to see the gentlewaves lolling on the beach, the soundof breakers, a far away boat in mak-ing a pretty picture in the horizon. No-body wants to sip a coconut or builda castle in the sand, no one wants tose the waves slowly coming nearerand nearer at high tide, then retreat-ing leaving a watery patch for the sunto dry the next day.

Everybody wants the mall! Isthere so much money to spend? Oris it that money is being spent forthe unnecessary? “Come to me!”says the mall, “Look at the TVs inmy showroom!”

“But I have a TV which is quiteokay!” I say firmly. “But see theones I have!” says the mall waving

its fancy elevators at me. I go in,and go up and down the elevators,look into the fancily done upstores and walk in. “What sizesir?” asks the man at the shoeshop. I tell him. “We don’t haveyour size but see this smaller sizefits you well!”

I walk out guiltily, a shoe boxunder my arm and try to hide it asI enter home, “Hey a new pair ofshoes!” greets the wife. I try it on.It doesn’t fit. “Let’s go to thebeach!” I say. The waves laugh andthe sands chuckle and I smile backeven though the footfalls I makeare slightly painful with a shoe thatis a size too small..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Hindu stance under Modi is flour-ishing where there is no room for theMuslim community to flourish in-cluding that of the Kashmiris. On thedirection of a city court, a First In-formation Report was registeredagainst kavitha, who is also thedaughter of Telangana Chief Minis-ter, K Chandrasekhar Rao, at theMadannapet police station inNizamabad. She was booked underthe charges of sedition, promotingenmity between different groups anddoing acts prejudicial maintenanceof harmony, for statements conduc-ing to public mischief, under vari-ous sections of the Indian Penal code.

According to America’s Asso-ciated Press news agency, the In-dian police took the action nearlya week after a city court directed itto register a case the Lok Sabhamember. Analysts opine thatshowing hostile postures toneighbouring countries, especiallyPakistan, would not help serve MrModi’s priority agenda of economyand governance. Pakistan willsurely look for a constructive en-gagement with the BJP govern-ment and to building a sustainablebasis for normalization, but “noton a partial or single-track agendawhile casting aside contentious is-sues.” Prime Minister NawazSharif will have to deal with Modisarkar keeping in view all this,besides a change in Kabul, after therecent elections in Afghanistan.

Our leadership has alreadytaken major policy decisions in or-der to eliminate the menace of ter-rorism and towards managing re-sources, economy, governance anddefence. Operation Zarb e Azb, thepart of that policy, is successfullyunder way which also needs seri-ousness on part of the politiciansand media alike.—The author is security analystand freelance columnist based inIslamabad.

over the past decade to pass legisla-tion and defuse numerous crises.

ISIS will also have to be de-feated. The root cause of its risewas Sunni disenfranchisement anddisillusionment. If the Sunnis turnon ISIS now, which they’re readyto do, then they risk being obliter-ated by Shiite militants within ayear or two. It won’t be easy to re-peat the “Awakening” of roughly2006-10, when Sunni tribes inwestern and central Iraq turnedagainst the Al Qaeda fighters whowere the forerunners of ISIS.

Sunnis can gain real influencein Iraq’s government only if Iran andits Shiite Islamist proxies allowthem back to the table in Baghdad.And that would require overcomingdeep fears and hatred. To Shiites, itis akin to bringing Hutugénocidaires into the Rwandan cabi-net or appointing apartheid apolo-gists as ministers in the South Afri-can government. Sunnis, in light oftheir suffering since 2003, are nowdemanding the formation of an au-tonomous region like Kurdistan, butIran will almost certainly view thatas a strategic threat.

Iraq should be one of thewealthiest countries on earth, withits human capital, strategic location,vast oil and gas reserves and twomajor rivers in an otherwise barrenregion. It even has tremendous po-tential for ecological and religioustourism showcasing Kurdistan’s sce-nic mountains, Samarra’s historicspiral minaret and the Shiite shrinesof the south. But as human historyhas repeatedly demonstrated, nocommodity is as valuable as vision-ary leadership. Overcoming the lega-cies of Hussein and Mr. Maliki willnot be easy. But it is vital. This reallyis Iraq’s last chance. The writerserved as special assistant to fiveAmerican ambassadors in Iraq andas senior adviser to three heads ofthe Central Command from 2003-10.— Courtesy: The New York Times

F Z KhanEmail:fzkhann@yahoo.com

night bride. In every length andbreadth of the country, these house,or to be more candid, “Bazaar EHusn” , umpteen in number, operateunder the aegis of big guns, kept ani-mated by our so-called society, andwalled up by police.

Prostitution is ugly, detestable,illicit and at the same time, danger-ous; a woman acting as a commodityto be marketed , not only degradesand lowers her dignity as living be-ing equal in all aspects to men, butjeopardizes her life at the hands ofsadistic men who having drunk alco-hol, more often than not, inflict as-sault and torture on her. Further, oncecontracted by a kind of fatal virus viz.,AIDS, TB, hepatitis B, chest cancer,etc, she continues to suffer till the lastmoment of her breath.

For how long Binte Hawa willcontinue to used a commodity for thelust of men is something God aloneknows, but why doesn’t MaulviSahib, ever up to make a mountainout of molehill of minor breach ofnorms, condemn the sell of Eve’sdaughter ? Where are the articles 25,31, 33, 34, 37 and 38, vowing forsocio-economic justice; who willown this depressed and victimizedclass of society, providing themwithin “ Char-Diwari” with the ba-sic standards of life, and who will pullthem out of the current inferno ofdisgrace, agony and humiliation, area dot on the humanness andMuslimism of each and every of us,and on the perfervid champions ofhuman-rights and democracy.—Islamabad

Read writingon the wall

JAVAID BASHIR

In the latest round Dr.Tahirul Qadrihas given the details of his charter ofdemands.The first demand corre-sponds to Imran Khan’s demand. Thetheme of change is common. The sa-lient feature of his charter of demandsinclude drastic changes based on re-forms agenda. He basically wantsSocio economic Justice and allevia-tion of poverty He is in favor of for-mation of , “National Government”.Implementation of these demandswould be its duty.

Chaudhry Shujaat has also calledfor the “National Government” Mostof the politicians have rejectedDr.Qadri’s charter of demands. I donot think there is anything wrongwith this wish list. The only objec-tion is do we have the resources tomeet these demands ?

The Green Revolution has beenunveiled in minute details. He as-sured that this would be a bloodlessrevolution. Here I beg to differ withthe good Doctor. It is not possible tobring the peaceful revolution. Theelite would resist it. He will have togenerate a cadre of revolutionaryforce. Dr. Qadri also demanded theformation of 23 provinces on the ad-ministrative basis.

Session Court has ordered theregistration of FIR of the Model Townvictims. It came as a surprise for all.I think it was just a normal decision.After hearing the arguments of boththe parties the court arrived at theright decision. We should not try toread too much into this directive.Imran Khan reiterated his demand ofresignation of Prime Minister NawazSharif in his speech. He is trying tounnerve the opponent and attackinghim repeatedly. He relentlessly kepton hammering Mian Brothers.Wehave not seen any response to hisrhetoric. The trajectory of his criti-cism hounded both the brothers.

He energized his crowd by hiscriticism of the corrupt incompetentand illegal government. He stressedthat he does not recognize the gov-ernment which has been formed asthe result of rigged election.He de-clared that he would dethrone theKing. The sit in will be continued tillresignation of the government.

Dr. Qadri gave 48 hours to thegovernment to accept his demands.The heat is on. Amir Jamaat -e Islamiis trying to mediate between ImranKhan and the Prime Minister to solvethe crisis. He ruled out the possibil-ity of military intervention. I think heis misreading situation. Army can not

sit on the sidelines for long , it willhave to intervene to save the country.I would advise the government toread the writing on the wall and in-evitable exit before its.—Via email

Fatwa cultureFARRUKH AZIZ ANSARI

I happened to read a “Fatwa” issuedby Jamait E Ulma Deoband Hind,the bastion of Deobandi school ofthought, declaring that Kashmirwas integral to Indian and the con-cerns of Kashmiris needed to be ad-dressed within the framework ofIndian constitution.

Let’s suppose it to be true for themoment. If so, then it is more thanenough a ground for Hazrat MaulanaFazul Rehman to step down as Chair-man of Kashmir committee, a posi-tion equal to a federal minister in sta-tus, thereby relinquishing enjoying itsperks and privileges and all ministe-rial luxuries associated, but contrar-ily, the inane reply, Maulana when be-sieged by the anchorperson, wrylycame up with was “Hazrat girami!Let it not be meddled with. It is be-yond the capacity you make out thethings with, since it is too sensitivereligious an issue.” It does not standto reason to a person with a bit ofcommon sense as how come Kash-mir conflict can be a religious issue.

It is the same Maulana thoughdeeming himself the sole champion,who alone can translate into actionwhat is enshrined in Quran andSunnah and whatever Islam persistsin Pakistan is thanks to his presencein parliament (His devotees believeit), leaves no stone unturned to takehis piece of pie in the national gov-ernment constituted by whateverparty. Neither has bothered to evencarry through its moral obligations ofensuring the subjects two times food,security and justice at their doorstep,let alone enforce Islamic socio-eco-nomic and political order. It thereforewould not amount to any hyperboleto postulate that Maulana has beenthe nitty-gritty of the premeditatedvictimization agenda of the aboveparties, and equally owes account-ability first to the “ Awamunas” andthen to the “Rabil Aalmin” for allthose that are forced by starvation orhunger into giving up the ghosts, andfor all the injustices committed by thegovernment.

The exclusive preserve withinthe ambit of some so-called clericsfor defamation and slander, thesedays is “Fatwa” they issue wheneverand against whomever they like.Hazrat Umar (RA) reports theProphet of Islam (PBUH) saying:“Whoever calls a reciter of Kalima“Kafir” is near to being a kafir him-self.” He admonishing a Sahabi said:“Did you tear his heart open to seewhat was inside it?”

In view of this lucid command-ment, on what ground does MaulanaFazul slander Imran Khan , tagginghim “ Jew and “Proxy for Jews?”Likewise, what justifies the mullahof my neighbouring mosque, declar-ing in Friday sermon Tahir Qadri asecret agent of Bishops? Who onearth gives Maulna Fazul a carteblanche to badmouth a person justbecause he wears the Westernclothes? History bears witness to theworst exploitation of men at thehands of such clerics and bigots inthe name of religion. Our societyalso need direly a Luther’s like re-volt to rebel against them, destroy-ing their deep-rooted mentality ofusing religion as an instrument forpersonal ends. As Habib Jalib puts itdefiantly: “The dealers of faith theseare!” I won’t quote it more.—Islamabad

MATTHEW KUPFER

AT HIS June 7 inauguration, UkrainianPresident Petro Poroshenko gavevoice to an idea that had underpinned

Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution and nowsustained the nation during its dangerousseparatist crisis: the desire to build a demo-cratic state aligned with Europe. “We wantto be free. And living in a new way meansliving freely in a political system that guar-antees the rights and freedoms of the personand the nation,” he said. But lofty ideals of-ten fall victim to practical realities. AsUkraine battles a rebel insurgency bolsteredby Russian commanders and weaponry, itsdemocratic credentials are now at risk. And,surprisingly, the source of that threat is notRussia, but the Ukrainian government itself.

Ukraine finds itself locked in a majorstruggle with Russian media for the hearts andminds of its southeastern Russian-speakingpopulation. Meanwhile, it faces the usual ob-stacle to decisive political action: internal dis-

Ukraine’s Struggle Endangers Its Democracysent. But Ukraine’s efforts to overcome these twoproblems — banning and blocking groups andmedia that it believes threaten the country’s na-tional security — do not bode well for its demo-cratic future. On July 8, the Ukrainian governmenttook aim at one of the fiercest critics of its “anti-terrorist operation” in the east: the CommunistParty of Ukraine. The Justice Ministry filed chargesaccusing the party of providing monetary, politi-cal and military support to the pro-Russia separat-ists. Two weeks later, acting Prime MinisterOleksandr Turchynov dissolved the party in par-liament, and more than 300 criminal proceedingswere opened against members of the party.

All these actions may be legal under Ukrai-nian legislation, but efforts to eliminate the partyare far from democratic and threaten to disenfran-chise Communist Party voters, about 13 percentof the electorate during the 2012 parliamentaryelections. Kiev has also gone on the offensiveagainst Russia’s slanted state media. In March, atthe urging of the National Security and DefenseCouncil, Ukraine’s television regulatory agencyordered cable companies to stop transmitting the

four major Russian state television channels:Rossia-1, Channel One, NTV and Rossia-24.

The channels had wide viewership in theRussian-speaking southeast, but depicted thegovernment as controlled by fascists and fre-quently fabricated information about allegedrights violations. In July, Ukraine banned sev-eral more Russian television channels, ostensi-bly for failing to meet European and Ukrainiancontent standards. Similarly, on Aug. 4, theUkrainian Security Service asked the InternetAssociation of Ukraine to block sites that sup-port violent challenges to the constitutional or-der and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Such sitesare undoubtedly insidious during a raging con-flict, but there is a serious risk that these re-strictions on freedom of information may beextended to nonviolent sites that disapprove ofthe new government in Kiev.

Unfortunately, many of the Ukrainiangovernment’s other recent actions against “Rus-sian propaganda” seem to be intent on imposing anarrow vision of Ukrainian national identity, his-tory and culture. On July 29, Ukraine’s vice pre-

mier, Oleksandr Sych, said Ukraine would im-pose quotas and licensing to limit the number offoreign books allowed on the Ukrainian market.While these restrictions would not be confinedto Russian publications, which make up themajority of the Ukrainian literary market, it wasclear that they were the main concern. Sych evenalleged that Russian books were aimed at “de-stabilizing the situation in Ukraine.”

Even the silver screen was not immune. OnJuly 29, the Ukrainian state film agency refusedto give distribution certificates for the Russianhistorical television series “The White Guard”and the film “Poddubny,” effectively banningtheir showing in Ukraine. The agency allegedthat these films show contempt for the Ukrai-nian language and state, and distort historicalfacts in the interests of Russia. In its struggleagainst an authoritarian state like Russia, Ukrainemust be careful not to become one itself.

—Courtesy: MT[Matthew Kupfer is a writer and gradu-

ate student at Harvard University’s DavisCenter for Russian and Eurasian Studies].

HASSAN BARARI

BY ALL yardsticks, Nuri Al-Maliki had to be sacrificed forthe sake an inclusive political game in Iraq. His last minuteclinging to his post did not discourage others from side-

lining him. Coalition of Shiite parties as well as religious figuresreached the conclusion that Al-Maliki was perhaps the last poli-tician who would end Baghdad political deadlock and save thecrumbing state. Hence, they nominated Haider Al-Abadi to re-place him. Under Al-Maliki, the Islamic State (IS) managed torampage through the north part of Iraq and the central govern-ment looked pathetic. If anything, the nomination of Al-Abadimade it all but impossible for supporters of Al-Maliki to put aworking ruling coalition. Thanks to his sectarian policies andnarrow-minded approach, Al-Maliki fell from grace and evenIran gave up on him. Additionally, the international communitybegan to turn up the heat on Al-Maliki since the IS made itsmajor inroads in northern Iraq in June. Since then, Al-Malikihad failed to reverse the situation and he lost in the process.

Interestingly enough, there has been an international con-sensus that the sectarian policies followed by Al-Maliki sincethe beginning of the Syrian revolution have disenfranchised theSunni minority in Iraq. Some of the Sunni Iraqis turned to themilitancy because they felt they were the prey of Al-Maliki’ssectarian policies. Iraq, which began to show signs of a failedstate, needs a different course of action and Al-Abadi’s key mis-sion now is to reverse the situation and put the country back ontrack. The new prime minister-designate called on Iraqis to uniteagainst the IS. Al-Abadi will make a huge mistake if he thinksthat the security or military approach is the only one that shouldbe employed to overcome the IS challenge. If anything, an in-clusive political process is the key for any enduring success indealing with terrorism and the IS. Any move to circumvent thepolitical process would not pay off.

It is not as if Al-Maliki’s removal will lead to an automaticreconciliation. I think that the new prime minister will need tofocus more on the minority section and convince them that thereis a stake for them in the stability and unity of the state. Theirsupport to Al-Abadi will not be without conditions. Tribal lead-ers and religious figures from the minority community made itperfectly clear that their backing for the new government is con-ditional. There is a deep sense among Sunni Iraqis of injusticebeing done to them. We all remember that the tribal awakeninghelped to no small amount in defeating Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2006-2009. They may be willing to take up arms against the IS pro-vided that their political demands are met. The new prime min-ister should have no illusions. Sunni alienation under Al-Malikicould not be more obvious. Many among them joined the IS inprotest against Al-Maliki’s sectarian policies. Fortunately, keyShiite figures began to understand what it takes to fix the dete-riorating situation in Iraq. Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani spokein public supporting Al-Abadi saying that his appointment of-fered a rare opportunity to defuse the crisis. Additionally, he urgedcontending politicians to rise up to the historic responsibilityand help Al-Abadi to put a working government.

While it is too early to predict whether Al-Abadi will suc-ceed in grappling with the situation, one can say that in a deeplydivided country, the only benchmark for success is to restoretrust among various group and to bring the alienated Sunnis backinto the fold. Short of doing that, Al-Abadi will be set up for afailure. Perhaps, regional powers should act in a positive andconstructive manner to help Al-Abadi implement inclusive poli-cies. I would argue that it is all up to Al-Abadi. If he opts for amore inclusive politics, key important regional power will helphim. Otherwise, he will be running the risk of facing the samefuture like his predecessor.

—Courtesy: Arab News

It’s all up toAl-Abadi now

BAI SHI

ON AUGUST 8-10, the 47th ASEAN (Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers Meeting(AMM) and its related gatherings brought together top

diplomats from 27 nations, including 10 ASEAN member statesand their Dialogue Partner countries, in Nay Pyi Taw, capital ofMyanmar, to discuss political, security and development issuesthat have significant relevance in the region. However, U.S. Sec-retary of State John Kerry stole the spotlight with a premeditatedcollision with China over the South China Sea issue. Kerry, whowas in Nay Pyi Taw to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum, sug-gested on August 9 that all claimants “freeze” provocative ac-tions in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, a delegation of thePhilippines also proposed a three-phase plan during the forum.Both of their suggestions have identified China as the specificobjective, aiming to apply diplomatic pressure in the multilat-eral meeting.

In response, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who wasalso in Nay Pyi Taw, said at a press conference after the China-ASEAN (10+1) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on August 9 thatChina supports and advocates a “dual-track” approach to resolv-ing the South China Sea issue, marking the first clear statementregarding the issue by the Chinese Government. China’s dual-track approach is an apparent setback to the United States andthe Philippines. The final joint statement of the AMM did notinclude the U.S. and Philippine call for a freeze. Dual-track de-tails: Wang expounded on the rationale behind China’s initiativeof the dual-track approach. Firstly, relevant disputes should beaddressed by countries directly concerned through friendly con-sultations and negotiations in a peaceful way. Secondly, peaceand stability in the South China Sea concerns the real interestsof all littoral countries in the region, including China and ASEANmembers, which should be jointly maintained by both China andASEAN countries.

Wang said that China and ASEAN have identified a solutionto the South China Sea issue. According to him, China advo-cates the dual-track approach because holding talks betweencountries directly concerned is the most effective and feasibleway to settle the issue, in addition to being in line with interna-tional law and international conventions. Moreover, the approachis also one of the most important provisions of the Declarationon the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea (DOC), whichwas reached by China and all ASEAN member states on No-vember 4, 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Jiang Zhida, an as-sociate research fellow of the Beijing-based China Institute ofInternational Studies, told Beijing Review that the dual-trackapproach aligns with China’s previous policy stance on the is-sue.

Foreign Minister Wang’s speech shows China’s strong de-termination to safeguard the national sovereignty and territoryin the South China Sea as well as its positive approach to solv-ing the issue through negotiations, Jiang said. He pointed outthat the approach stresses the responsibility and obligation ofboth China and relevant countries to maintain regional peaceand stability. In view of the fact that the U.S. “freeze” proposalwas rejected by most nations during the meeting, “the dual-trackapproach is a successful implementation of the new Asian secu-rity concept that China has always advocated, according to Jiang.“The dual-track approach conforms to common interests of bothChina and all other riparian states in the South China Sea, in-cluding ASEAN countries. Any outsider country should not com-plicate the issue by intervening,” Jiang said. Le Luong Minh,ASEAN Secretary General, said on August 9 that ASEAN for-eign ministers did not discuss the U.S. suggestion because thereis already an established mechanism for resolving the South ChinaSea issue—the DOC— in which the parties agree to exerciseself-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicateor escalate disputes and affect peace and stability.

—Courtesy: Beijing Review

Laying Tracks for Peace

CAIRO—Israeli and Palestinian negotiatorsin Egypt-mediated Gaza truce talks hardenedtheir positions Monday ahead of the expira-tion of a five-day cease-fire, though bothsides appeared reluctant to return to thedeadly all-out fighting that has destroyedlarge parts of the densely-populated coastalstrip. The month-long Israel-Hamas war haskilled more than 1,900 Palestinians, the ma-jority of them civilians, according to Pales-tinian and U.N. officials. Israel has lost 67people, all but three of them soldiers.

Since last week, indirect talks have beentaking place in Cairo through Egyptian me-diators in an effort to broker a substantiveend to the war and draw up a roadmap forGaza. On Sunday, Palestinian and Israeli del-egations resumed the talks following week-end consultations across the Middle East butgaps between the two sides remain wide,with each staking out maximalist positions.

The Gaza blockade, imposed by Israeland Egypt since the Hamas militants tookcontrol of the strip in 2007, remains the mainstumbling block. It has greatly limited themovement of Palestinians in and out of theterritory of 1.8 million people, restricted theflow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtu-ally all exports. A Palestinian negotiator,Qais Abdul Karim, told The Associated Pressthat on Sunday, Israel pressed for guaran-tees that Hamas and other militant factionsin Gaza would be disarmed, while the Pal-estinians demanded an end to the blockadewithout preconditions.

The current five-day cease-fire ends atmidnight (2100 GMT) Monday but ZiadNakhleh, head of the Islamic Jihad factionwithin the Palestinian delegation in Cairo,said he expects it to be extended if a deal isnot reached by then. “The war is behind usnow,” he told the AP. “We are not returningto war.” Hamas has repeatedly said it willnot give up its weapons, while Israel says itneeds to maintain some degree of controlover Gaza crossings to prevent the smugglingof weapons and weapons production materi-

Sides in Gaza talksharden their stances

TEHRAN—Iran has begunimplementing nuclear transpar-ency measures ahead of anAug. 25 deadline agreed withthe United Nations atomicwatchdog, the IAEA, the headof the IAEA said on Monday.

“The implementation ofthese five measures started,”International Atomic EnergyAgency Director GeneralYukiya Amano told reporters at

Iran begins nukestransparency steps: IAEA

Vienna airport on his returnfrom Tehran, where he met se-nior Iranian officials.

“I expect that progress willbe made over the next week,”said Amano, after securing whathe called on Sunday a firm com-mitment to cooperate with theIAEA’s long-running inquiry intoIran’s disputed nuclear program.Iran denies its program has anymilitary objectives.—Reuters

als into the coastal strip.Karim, the Palestinian negotiator, said

Egyptian mediators have pressed the Pales-tinians to present compromise proposals onthe border crossing issue. The Palestiniandelegation was in a meeting in the early hoursMonday over it but the outcome was not im-mediately known. In a possible move to pres-sure Hamas to soften its positions on theblockade and related issues, Norway’s for-eign minister said Monday that his countryand Egypt are planning to co-host a donorconference in Cairo for the reconstruction ofGaza. Boerge Brende said invitations will besent out once there is an agreement in theEgypt-mediated truce talks with Israel.

Also on Monday, Israeli troops demol-ished the homes of two militants suspectedin the abduction and killing of three Israeliteenagers whose deaths sparked the war inGaza, and sealed up the home of a third. “Weare not returning to war.” Hamas has repeat-edly said it will not give up its weapons,while Israel says it needs to maintain somedegree of control over Gaza crossings to pre-vent the smuggling of weapons and weap-ons production materials into the coastalstrip. The demolition is standard Israeli mili-tary procedure in dealing with militants sus-pected of major crimes. According to thepolice, there were 250 policemen at thescene, along with dozens of Israeli soldiers.Minor clashes were reported during thedemolition, with Palestinian youths hurlingrocks and stones at armored Israeli vehicles.

The three teens - Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaarand Naftali Frenkel - were slain in June inthe West Bank. Their killings were followedby the slaying of a Palestinian youth in whatwas a likely revenge attack. The teens’ deathsalso led to wide-ranging Israeli raids in theWest Bank and precipitated the Gaza war,which began on July 8 with an Israeli aircampaign. Nine days later, Israel sent inground troops to destroy Hamas’ under-ground cross-border tunnels constructed forattacks inside Israel.—AP

RISHON LEZION (ISRAEL)—Israeli police on Sunday blockedmore than 200 far-right Israeliprotesters from rushing guests ata wedding of a Jewish womanand Muslim man as they shouted“death to the Arabs” in a sign oftensions stoked by the Gaza war.Several dozen police, includingmembers of the force’s most eliteunits, formed human chains tokeep the protesters from the wed-ding hall’s gates and chased af-ter many who defied them. Fourprotesters were arrested, andthere were no injuries.

A lawyer for the couple,Maral Malka, 23, and MahmoudMansour, 26, both from the Jaffasection of Tel Aviv, had unsuc-cessfully sought a court order tobar the protest. He obtainedbacking for police to keep pro-testers 200 metres (yards) fromthe wedding hall in the Tel Avivsuburb of Rishon Lezion. Theprotest highlighted a rise in ten-sions between Jewish and Arabcitizens of Israel in the past twomonths amid a monthlong Gazawar, the kidnap and slaying ofthree Israeli teens in June fol-lowed by a revenge choking andtorching to death of a Palestin-ian teen in the Jerusalem area.

A group called Lehava,which organized the weddingdemonstration, has harassedJewish-Arab couples in the past,often citing religious groundsfor their objections to intermar-riage. But they have rarely pro-tested at the site of a wedding.The groom told Israel’s Chan-nel 2 TV the protesters failed toderail the wedding or dampenits spirit. “We will dance and bemerry until the sun comes up.We favor coexistence,” he said.

Israeli wedding of Jew,Muslim draws protests

Protesters, many of themyoung men wearing blackshirts, denounced Malka, whowas born Jewish and convertedto Islam before the wedding, asa “traitor against the Jewishstate,” and shouted epithets ofhatred toward Arabs including“death to the Arabs.” They sanga song that urges, “May yourvillage burn down.” A fewdozen left-wing Israelis held acounter-protest nearby holdingflowers, balloons and a signthat read: “Love conquers all.”

Israeli President ReuvenRivlin, sworn in last month tosucceed Shimon Peres, criti-cized the protest as a “cause foroutrage and concern” in a mes-sage on his Facebook page.“Such expressions underminethe basis of our coexistencehere, in Israel, a country that isboth Jewish and democratic,”Rivlin, a member of Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu’sright-wing Likud bloc, said.Lehava spokesman and formerlawmaker Michael Ben-Ari de-nounced Jews intermarryingwith non-Jews of any denomi-nation as “worse than whatHitler did,” alluding to the mur-der of 6 million Jews acrossEurope in World War Two.

A surprise wedding guestwas Israel’s health minister,Yael German, a centrist inNetanyahu’s government. Shetold reporters as she headedinside that she saw the weddingand the protest against it as “anexpression of democracy.”Arab citizens make up about 20percent of Israel’s majorityJewish population, and theoverwhelming majority of Ar-abs are Muslims.—Reuters

5 Libyanmilitants killed

in Tripoliairstrikes

TRIPOLI—An unknown war-plane bombed Islamist mili-tants in Libya’s volatile capitalof Tripoli on Monday, killingfive and injuring several, ac-cording to sources. The fighterjet launched airstrikes on somecamps near the airport highwayin Tripoli where one Islamistarmed group from Misrata sta-tioned, said Alaa Dweik,spokesperson of the militantgroup Central Libya Shield.

Dweik added that five mili-tants were killed and the in-jured had not been counted.Tripoli Medical Center andMitiga hospital also confirmedthat they received a number ofinjured after the airstrikes. It isnot immediately clear about theidentity of the warplane, andsome local media reported thatany of the warring militiagroups in Tripoli do not havesuch powerful war planes.

One Libyan TV channelclaimed that the warplane be-longed to the Italian Air Force,but later Italian Ambassador toLibya Joseph Jerima deniedItaly’s involvement in the inci-dent. Since July 13, clashes be-tween Islamist armed groupsand pro- secular militias in Tri-poli have left at least 102 peopledead and 452 others wounded.Meanwhile, in easternBenghazi, fierce fighting hascontinued between the army andIslamist militant groups, whoare now in control of most ofthe city. As the clashes intensify,a number of countries haveevacuated their embassies andcitizens from Libya.—Xinhua

CAIRO—Egypt out-rightly re-ject the contents of a highlynegative and biased report thataccounts for the violent eventswhich took place in Egypt dur-ing the year 2013, and totallyfails to adequately report on theattacks carried out by the Broth-erhood, as a terrorist organiza-tion, and its supporters. The re-port lacks neutrality while con-ducting investigations, collect-ing evidence and interviewingwitnesses illegally as the HRWhas indeed withdrawn its re-quest for a permit to function inEgypt according to Egyptianlaw # 84 of 2002. This act ofthe Organization constitutes aflagrant violation of the estab-lished principle of state sover-eignty under international law,says a press release Monday.

It says; “The report ignoresthe evidence presented in otherreports by Egyptian civil soci-ety, including the report issuedby the Ibn Khaldun Center, aswell as the report issued by thefact-finding commission estab-lished by the National Councilfor Human Rights. These re-ports objectively tackled theprocedures undertaken by theEgyptian authorities, whichclearly indicate that the dispersal

Egypt rejects HRW reportof the sit-ins was conducted inaccordance with the relevantinternational legal standards,and according to an order fromthe Public Prosecutor’s Office.It is also worth noting that theparticipants of the sit-ins wereprovided with safe passages andmeans of transportation to exitthe area.

The Egyptian governmentregrets the report’s deliberateomission of any reference tothe hundreds of police, military,and civilian victims who fell asa result of the then and stillongoing violent and terroristincidents conducted by thosedescribed in the report as“peaceful protestors”. Theseviolent and terrorist incidentscontinue to take place throughcoordinated and organized at-tacks and bombings by theBrotherhood. Thus the conclu-sions and recommendations ofthe HRW’s report pre-empt theresults of the work of the Na-tional Fact-Finding Commis-sion, and constitute a flagrantintervention in the work of thenational investigative and judi-cial authorities, and an attemptto impinge upon the indepen-dence and integrity of theEgyptian judiciary.”—PR

JERUSALEM—Israel’s Shin Bet securityservice said Monday it had thwarted aHamas coup attempt in the West Bankaimed at toppling Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas, though it offered fewdetails. In recent months, the Shin Bet saidit had arrested more than 90 Hamas op-

eratives, confiscated dozens of weaponsthat had been smuggled into the West Bankand more than $170,000 aimed at fundingattacks. It produced photos of the confis-cated weapons and cash and a flowchartof the Hamas operatives who had beenquestioned.

The Shin Ben said senior Hamas offi-cial Salah Arouri, who is based in Turkeyand enjoys the support of the local officials

Israel claims Hamas WestBank coup attempt thwarted

there, orchestrated the plot. The idea wasto set up cells in major West Bank citiesand Hamas had no immediate comment tothe claim. Hamas overtook the Gaza Stripin 2007 from forces loyal to Abbas. It iscurrently negotiating in Cairo over a cease-fire to formally end the Gaza war. A five-

day cease-fire expired later Monday.The month long Israel-Hamas war has

killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, themajority of them civilians, according toPalestinian and U.N. officials. Israel haslost 67 people, all but three of them sol-diers. The fighting was precipitated by Is-raeli arrests of Hamas members in the WestBank following the abduction and killingof three Israeli teenagers. The Shin Bet said

it uncovered the coup plot due to informa-tion gleaned from the arrests.

The three teens - Eyal Yifrah, GiladShaar and Naftali Frenkel - were slain inJune in the West Bank. Their killings werefollowed by the slaying of a Palestinianyouth in what was a likely revenge attack.

The Gaza war began on July 8 with Israeliair strikes. Nine days later, Israel sent inground troops to destroy Hamas’ under-ground cross-border tunnels constructedfor attacks inside Israel.

Also on Monday, Israeli troops demol-ished the homes of two militants suspectedin the abduction and killing of the threeIsraeli teenagers and sealed up the homeof a third.—AP

Palestinians stand in what is left of the home of Amer Abu Aisheh, one of three Palestinians identified by Israel as suspects inthe killing of three Israeli teenagers, after it was demolished by the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Hebron, Monday.

of the country.PPP delegation was to play

a mediator role to defuse thepossible confrontations be-tween the government and op-posing parties.

Speaking on the occasionthe PPP Senator said that theirvisit was to take all the politicalparties on board to settle the is-sue through a political process.

Rehman Malik said thatPPP Co-Chairperson andformer president Asif AliZardari directed the delegationto have talks with all the po-litical parties of the country andtried to defuse the situation.

He praised MQM chiefAltaf Hussain for his role in thecurrent crisis and said that un-der his thorough guidance, helearnt a lot.

Meanwhile, MQM DeputyConvener Dr Khalid MaqboolSiddiqui said that MQM al-ways endorsed any effort to sta-bilize political process and sup-ported all the democratic prac-tices in the country.

He said MQM chief AltafHussain directed all his workersto defend democracy. DrSiddiqui emphasized on to con-tinuity of the democratic process,people had to be empowered andthe local bodies’ elections shouldbe held without any delay.

He said by empoweringpeople, the government’s re-sponsibilities would be easedbecause they could solve theirissues themselves. Both MQMand PPP demanded the govern-ment and the opposing partiesto show political maturity andgo for dialogue to practice agenuine democracy.

The PPP delegation appre-ciated MQM chief AltafHussain for his continuous roleto defuse the confrontation be-tween the government and pro-testors. MQM also applaudedPPP co-chairperson Asif AliZardari for his role as a media-tor to ease the situation.

PPP, MQMFrom Page 1

again,” he said. About resignations from KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly, he said the deci-sion would be made after consultation with al-lies.

“I have received resignations from all ourparliamentarians except two and as soon as theytender their resignation, I will formally submitthem with the Speaker of the National Assem-bly,” said he.

He deplored that the PTI did not get justicefrom the Election Tribunals, Election Commis-sion and even the Supreme Court. After facingdisappointment from every side now we havedecided to seek our people’s support. “We havenot made the decision sitting in the drawingroom, rather we have taken our voters into con-fidence. We secured maximum seats in thePunjab therefore, we held public meetings inFaisalabad on May 25, Sialkot on June 7 andeven Islamabad on May 11.

Shah Mahmood QUreshi said on May 27 inintense heat we went to Bahwalpur and pre-sented our case before the masses there. Theyendorsed our decision and it is because of ourconfidence in public support we are today go-ing to them once again after tendering our res-ignations, he said.

He said not only Punjab, PTI leadership alsoheld meetings in Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi.People fully endorsed our stance. ShahMahmood Qureshi dismissed the notion thatafter passage of over a year, rigging issues has

lost significance. “This is a very much live is-sue and millions of people’s future depends onit,” he said. Those who have a misconceptionthat people are not with us should come and seeour sisters and mothers and daughters sitting inthe open attending the sit-in in heavy rain andharsh weather conditions. PTI is proud of itsworkers and their spirits are high as they wereon the first of the sit-in, said Qureshi.

About party’s leader Imran Khan, ShahMahmood said Imran Khan did not need to be-come ruler of the country. His politics revolvesaround the interests of the people. PTI’s boathas eminent personalities like Makhdoom JavedHashmi and former bureaucrats whose careerhas remained spotless. This is only because ofthe PTI’s increasing popularity, said MakhdoomShah Mahmood Qureshi.

INP adds: Awami Muslim League (AML)and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ)have also decided to resign from assemblies, fol-lowing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI.

Talking to different television channels af-ter the announcement resignations by PTI, AMLchief Sheikh Rasheed said that if Imran Khanresigns from the National Assembly, he will alsofollow him and will take no time in steppingdown from his membership. Meanwhile, sourcessaid that PMLQ, MNA Jamshed Dasti and someother like-minded independent members of theNational Assembly have also decided to resignfrom their memberships.

PTI MPsFrom Page 1

provinces at this stage rather than dissension. Hesaid that those promoting parochial differencesare doing no service to Pakistan.

He was talking to a delegation of assemblymembers of Pakistan Muslim League-N, heretoday. The Chief Minister said that the talk ofsuspending supply of electricity to Punjab fromTarbela is totally against national interest.

He said that those making such commentsin the existing circumstances, are trying to cre-ate differences between the provinces which isnot proper. He said that Pakistan is the commoncountry of all its citizens and the founding fa-thers of the country had rendered innumerablesacrifices for its creation. Shahbaz Sharif saidthat the statement of Tehrik-e-Insaf leader ImranKhan about civil disobedience has exposed hisdesigns and it is an evil conspiracy to destroynational economy. The Chief Minister said thathe had been pointing out from the day one thatthe real target of long march is to damage na-tional economy and development programmesof Muslim League-N government.

He said that only enemies of Pakistan canbe happy over the statement regarding civil dis-obedience. He said that it was not the ‘biggestannouncement’ of Imran Khan’s life but his big-gest U-turn and the whole nation has unani-mously rejected the call for civil disobedienceas it was totally illegal and unconstitutional.He said that the fate of Imran Khan’s announce-

ment of civil disobedience will not be differ-ent from that of his long march and sit-in.Shahbaz Sharif said time has proved that it isthrough dialogue and not deadline and ultima-tum that issues are resolved in politics.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Water andPower Khwaja Muhammad Asif has said sup-plies will be terminated if consumers will notpay their electricity and water bills in responseto the appeal of PTI Chief Imran Khan for civildisobedience. In a tit for tat, KPK InformationMinister Mushtaq Ghani threatened to discon-nect power supply from Tarbela dam. In aninterview,Khawaja Mohammad Asif said freesupplies of electricity are out of question. Theminister said the government is ready to holdtalks with the marchers but will not compro-mise on law and the Constitution.

Reacting to Khawaja Asif’s comments,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information MinisterMushtaq Ghani said that the province will notbe paying electricity and gas bills along withfederal taxes and if utilities are disconnectedto the province, power supply from Tarbela toPunjab will be stopped. In an interview with aTV channel, Ghani said provincial taxes willbe collected as per routine but the public willnot be paying any federal taxes along with elec-tricity and gas bills. He said the civil disobe-dience movement was against the corrupt andincompetent federal government.

CM deploresFrom Page 1

During their meeting, thearmy chief discussed the‘Revolution March’ and ‘AzadiMarch’ being held in the fed-eral capital. They also dis-cussed the security situation inthe country along with issuesrelated to law and order.

The meeting comes at theheels of the PTI chief ImranKhan and PAT chief TahirulQadri holding rallies inIslamabad.

Nisar, ShahbazFrom Page 1

movement was against the cor-rupt and incompetent federalgovernment and not the govern-ment managing the province.

Responding to a question,Ghani said that if the centerdared to disconnect power sup-ply to KP, the province willhave the right to stop supplyfrom Turbela which falls withinthe provincial jurisdiction. Hedeclared that the civil disobe-dience will be practiced coun-trywide except in KP.

The minister said the KPgovernment has never beenimplicated in any case of cor-ruption which and that was whycivil obedience will not be prac-ticed in the province.

The provincial ministerclaimed that was a peaceful wayto change the government add-ing “We want to register our pro-test without causing any blood-shed. The minister further saidthe PTI government was not ig-norant of its responsibilities.

KP not to payFrom Page 1

conked out due to a short circuit,causing a bang and leaving out aspark. The TV footage showedTahirul Qadri almost springing upfrom his chair as PAT volunteersrushed to save their leader.

Resuming his speech TahirulQadri called for equal distribu-tion of resources among all theprovinces.

He regretted that althoughlocal bodies elections were con-ducted in Balochistan yet pow-ers were not transferred to the

Qadri announcesFrom Page 1

ception to the HighCommissioner’s meetings withKashmiri leaders, has decided tocall off the Foreign Secretarylevel talks scheduled for 25thAugust, 2014 in Islamabad.”

It has been a longstandingpractice that, prior to Pakistan-India talks, meetings withKashmiri leaders are held tofacilitate meaningful discus-sions on the issue of Kashmir.

In India, Congress was highlycritical of the BJP Government forallowing the envoy to meet theHurriyat leader. Basit has report-edly also invited Hurriyat leaderMirwaiz Umar Farooq to meet onTuesday (today).

and illegal demands by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insafand Pakistan Awami Tehreek and terms it a con-spiracy against the Constitution of the country,democratic system and masses”.

It further said that all members of this househave consensus that the resolution of politicalissues lay in political solutions, the Constitu-tion and the law, adding that this house is guar-antor for continuity of democracy at every cost.

“This house takes unconstitutional demandsput by the participants of so-called liberationand revolution march as against the Constitu-tion and law and an insult to people,” the reso-lution said. It strongly condemned all unconsti-tutional and illegal conspiracies being hatchedagainst democratic system.

In a speech, the mover, Nawab Zehri saidthat newspapers in the USA and London pub-lished news stories that conspiracy being hatchedto derail democracy in Pakistan.

“Elements who have no representation inthe Parliament are demanding resignations ofthe elected Prime Minister and Chief Ministerto fulfill the agenda on the pretext of so-calledrevolution,” he said. He said that a Canadiannational could not bring revolution by gettingfifteen thousand people gathered in Islamabad.

He said that it was better if PTI chief ImranKhan pays attention to improve law and ordersituation and provides facilities to people inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa instead creating tension

in Islamabad. He said that PML-N respected themandate of the previous government which com-pleted five years tenure and added that now it isright of the PML-N that its mandate should berespected.

Provincial Minister and National Party leader,Sardar Aslam Bezinjo said that some elementsstaged sit-ins in Islamabad and announced to startcivil disobedience at the time when our armedforces were busy in military operation ‘Zarb-e-Azab’ against terrorists in Wazirstan. He said thathow the government would pay salaries to em-ployees if people do not pay taxes.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F MPA, Abdul MalikKakar said that he on behalf of his party fullysupported the resolution. “The incumbent gov-ernment is a democratic government which camein power after people gave it the mandate. Theunconstitutional long march is insult to thismandate,” he said. The PML-Q Parliamentaryleader, Mir Abdul Kareem Nosherwani also sup-ported the resolution and criticized PTI chiefImran Khan and PAT chief Alama Tahir-ul-Qadrifor staging sit-ins and putting demands what hesaid unconstitutional and undemocratic.

Provincial Minister and PkMAP leader, Dr.Hamid Khan Achakzai said that elements whohave no representation in the assemblies, theyhave no right to demand of the elected PrimeMinister and Chief Ministers to tender resigna-tions.—APP

BA asks CentreFrom Back Page

his request not only came outfrom the airport but also wentto Jinnah Hospital along withhim to enquire about thehealth of his injured support-ers.

Later when Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri requested through hissympathizers especially MQMto Governor Punjab Ch Sarwarto end the siege around Minhaj-ul-Quran Secretariat in order toinitiate his RevolutionaryMarch towards Islamabad,Qadri was granted permissionon the assurance of peacefulmarch and it was Ch Sarwarwhose name came to medialimelight at that time as a guar-antor between PAT and the gov-ernment.

India calls offFrom Page 1

sensitive, huge and complex process havingmany dimensions. “The ECP, therefore, takesmaximum possible security measures to ensurethat every single ballot paper is printed and de-livered to the returning officers in a secure man-ner through a detailed action plan.”

He said the decision to print ballot papersfor 2013 general elections was taken by the ECPin a meeting held with the authorities of thePrinting Corporation of Pakistan Press (PCPP),Islamabad and Pakistan Security Printing Cor-poration (PSPC), Karachi on September 6-7,2012. It was decided to print total 180 millionballot papers, including 112.5 million by PCPPand 67.5 million by PSPP, he added.

Sher Afgan said the ballot papers wereprinted on a special non-market paper, whichwas procured by the PCPP (from two papermills). He said,”The exact number of ballotpapers to be printed for each constituency iscommunicated to the provincial election com-missioners by the returning officers concernedkeeping in view the number of voters in each

ECP rejects PTI’s allegationsFrom Page 1

grass roots level.“Are Baloch people not hu-

mans; don’t they need serviceslike universities and hospitals,”he questioned.

“Whether Sunni or Shia,Deobandi or Barelvi, religiousminded or secular, from any lo-cation or ethnicity…from thisevening onward, all groups willstart protesting.”

The PAT chief claimed that

raids had been conducted at thehomes of Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) workers be-cause the group had announcedon Sunday that they would takeout protests in support of Qadri.MWM Sindh chapter general sec-retary Allama Mukhtar Imami hadannounced that the MWM wouldstage sit-ins from Monday on themain thoroughfares and highwaysin support of ‘Inquilab march’ of

the PAT.Qadri also took time out to

praise the PTI on their “revolu-tion”, claiming the PAT and thePTI movements were workingtowards the same end goal.

“I say Zindabad to the PTIworkers...they are our brothers.I congratulate Imran on announc-ing a two-day deadline” he said.

Tahirul Qadri also applaudedhis supporters’ commitment tothe cause. “Everyone has praisedthe discipline and resolve of theInqilab march,” he said.

After midnight, addressingthe protestors Qadri said the firstdemand of the rally is resigna-tion of Prime Minister NawazSharif and Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif over Model towntragedy. He also demanded thearrest of Sharif brothers as perthe law of the land.

The parliament and provin-cial assemblies be dissolved asthese were formed ‘unconstitu-tionally’. A new national govern-ment should be formed for bring-ing about democratic reforms.

The names of Sharif broth-ers and the cabinet members beplaced on Exit Control List.Corrupt politicians, technocratsand bureaucrats be made ac-countable.

More provinces be createdas there is need of them on ad-ministration basis. Thereshould be 23 provinces in thecountry.

Those who took part in thediscussion include HajiMuhammad Adeel, AfrasiabKhattak, Aitzaz Ahsan, ZahidKhan, Abdul Rauf and SardarAli Khan.—NNI

ParliamentariansFrom Page 1

Qadri declinesFrom Back Page

However, when the Gover-nor Punjab Chaudhary Sarwarreportedly tried to contact DrTahir-ul-Qadri on telephoneseveral times on Monday morn-ing, his request to talk withTahir-ul-Qadri simply declined.

It is also interesting to men-tion here that ChaudharySarwar might be present in adelegation which would dia-logue with PAT leadership toend the political deadlock.

Talking to media on Mon-day, Punjab GovernorChaudhary Muhammad Sarwarsaid there is no other way thandialogue to defuse prevailingpolitical confrontation.

Civil disobedienceFrom Back Page

in LHC Khan was an unconsti-tutional step, adding that the an-nouncement would result intomore violence that will push thecountry to the brink of a civil war.

Earlier, Imran Khan calledon thousands of anti-govern-ment protesters to stop payingtaxes and practice civil disobe-dience until Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif steps down.

He appealed to Imran Khanand Dr Tahirul Qadri to beginnegotiations in a bid to settlepolitical impasse.

constituency under their respective jurisdictionand the former, in turn, sends this number to therespective printing presses.”

The entire record containing the names ofthe representatives of the returning officers alongwith details of exact number of ballot paperbooks handed over to them was available withthe respective printing press, which could be pro-duced as and when required by competent fo-rum, he added.

Narrating the procedure regarding deliveryof ballot papers to returing officers, he said,”Eachballot paper book contains 100 leaves and ballotpaper books of a constituency bear a continuousserial number on their counterfoils so as to havea complete record of each and every ballot paperbook. “The ballot papers thus printed are handedover directly to the returning officer or his repre-sentatives by the respective printing presses. “Onreceipt of ballot papers, the returning officer car-ries out bulk breaking of all sensitive material,including ballot papers and prepares polling- wiseinvoice of the same.—APP

rights are being violated. Dur-ing the hearing, Justice MianSaqib Nisar said, “We are theguardians of the Constitution,we have taken oath under theconstitution. We cannot permitany deviation.

This is our obligation.” Hereferred to Article 4 (relating toloyalty to the state) and Article6 (relating to treason) andasked the petitioner, “Is it pos-sible to violate the constitu-tion?” Justice Jawwad S.Khawaja said that the court isentitled to issue any rulingagainst extra constitutional stepto ensure protection of the Con-stitution, and clarified that ev-ery measure cannot be left withthe court to decide as relevantinstitutions exist.

The petitioner had arguedthat the current political im-passe is adversely affectingall spheres of national life andsuch a situation mayembolden some authorities totake undue advantage of thesituation and to resort to un-constitutional measures, thepetitioner argued.

The case will be taken upagain on Wednesday. Membersof bar associations across thecountry are going to conveneon August 21 to discuss theongoing political crisis and itsrepercussions on democracy.—INP

SC opts outFrom Page 1

Khan, he said, was stuck up ina swamp after failure of longmarch and sit-in and he invitedcriticism by giving unconstitu-tional and undemocratic call ofcivil disobedience.

Replying to a question, hesaid even Pakistan MuslimLeague Nawaz (PML-N) lead-ership was ready to go to theresidence of Imran Khan, sub-

PML-N leadership readyFrom Page 1

ject to PTI chief’s willingnessto listen to their point of view.

He said Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif hadpostponed all political activi-ties for three days after ImranKhan fell from a makeshift liftduring the election campaign inLahore. Nawaz Sharif had vis-

ited the hospital to inquire af-ter his health.

In recent past, he said, thePrime Minister also went toImran Khan’s residence inBanigala as a good will gesture.

Pervaiz Rashid said thatPTI march and sit-in wereflopped shows as the party

could not muster public sup-port. “Besides, the civil dis-obedience call given by PTIchief Imran Khan brought a lotof criticism for him and theparty,” he said. He said all par-liamentary forces were criticiz-ing the PTI’s civil disobediencecall and see it as against con-stitutional and democraticnorms.—APP

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

Kingdonates forPalestiniansJEDDAH—Custodian ofthe Two Holy MosquesKing Abdullah hasdonated $1 million forPalestinians in the WestBank as an additional aidfor humanitarian programsin the territory. It willbenefit 81,000 Palestinians.The donation was given inresponse to a proposalmade by the World FoodProgram, an officialstatement said, adding thatthe aid would be distrib-uted through the SaudiCommittee for the Reliefof Palestinians, reportsArab News. UN humani-tarian chief Valerie Amos,meanwhile, said that itwould take months torepair damage to the UN’sinfrastructure caused bythe Israeli bombardmentof Gaza.—AP

Assange toleaveLondonembassyLONDON—WikiLeaks founder JulianAssange indicated onMonday that he wouldleave Ecuador’s embassyin London “soon” but hisorganisation played downthe comment, saying hewould not depart untilthere was an agreementwith Britain’s government.A pale and beardedAssange, who soughtasylum at the embassy twoyears ago, told a Pressconference that WikiLeaksspokesman KristinnHrafnsson had said hecould “confirm that I amleaving the embassysoon.” His comments cameafter British media re-ported, quoting aWikiLeaks source, that hewas suffering from thepotentially life-threateningheart condition arrhythmiaand had a chronic lungcomplaint as well as highblood pressure.—AFP

Ibad forpatience toget out ofcrisisKARACHI—Former Interior MinisterRehman Malik met SindhGovernor Dr Ishratul Ibadhere on Monday andexchanged views on theprevailing politicalsituation in the country.Rehman Malik alsoinformed the Governorabout his meetings withseveral political leaders.He appreciated the role ofthe Governor in the givensituation to cool down thetempers. Rehman Maliksaid that GovernorSindh’s is given duerespect by all the politicalpersonalities. —INP

ISLAMABAD: Activists of Pakistan Awami Tehreek shouting slogans during Inqilab March on Monday.

QUETTA—The lawmakerspassed a resolution in thesession of the Provincial As-sembly unanimously here onMonday evening demandingof the federal government totake action against the un-constitutional and undemo-cratic activities of PTI andPAT.

Speaker, Mir JanMuhammad Khan Jamali pre-sided over the session. TheChief Minister, Dr AbdulMalik Baloch was alsopresent in the house.

Senior Minister and Par-liamentary Leader of PakistanMuslim League-N, NawabSanaullah Khan Zehri moveda resolution, jointly presentedby him, Provincial Ministerand leader of PashtoonkhawaMilli Awami Party (PkMAP),Abdul Raheem Ziaratwal,Provincial Minister and leaderof National Party (NP), SardarMuhammad Aslam Bezinjo,Provincial Minister and leaderof PML-Q, Sheikh JaffarKhan Mandokhel, Advisor toChief Minister and leader of

BA asks Centre to takeaction against PTI, PAT

PkMAP, Obaidullah JanBabat, Parliamentary leader ofPML-Q, Mir Abdul KareemNosherwani, PML-N MPA,Prince Ahmed Ali, PkMAPMPA, Agha Syed Liaquat Ali,PkMAP MPA, NasrullahKhan Zeeray, PkMAP MPA,William Jan Barkat, NationalParty MPA, Dr. Shama Ishaq

and PkMAP MPA, Spoz MaiAchakzai.

The resolution reads,“This representative houseof Balochistan province ex-presses its deep concern overthe situation emerging in thefederal capital caused by thesit-ins and unconstitutional

Continued on Page 7

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Reiterating Paki-stan Peoples Party’s (PPP)stance on the supremacy ofdemocracy in the country,former prime Minister andcentral leader of PPP YusufRaza Gilani on Monday saidalthough the government isdirect by responsible for thecurrent political crisis in thecountry and despite muchwastage of time there is still achance political issues couldbe resolved through mean-ingful dialogues.

Talking to media personhere on Monday, Yusuf RazaGilani said neither long marchnor sit-in could topple thegovernment but it is the fol-lies and wrong decisions ofthe government which be-

Dialogue only solution to crisis: Gilani

Civildisobediencechallenged

in LHCSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The announce-ment of civil disobediencemovement by PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chair-man Imran Khan has beenchallenged in Lahore HighCourt here on Monday.

The petition has beenfiled by a local lawyerMuhammad Kashif.

In his petition, he statedthat the call of civil disobe-dience movement by Imran

Qadri declines totake Punjab

governor’s callsSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Gover-nor Chaudhary MuhammadSarwar on Monday got hotunder the collar when DrTahir-ul-Qadri, PakistanAwami Tehrik (PAT) chief,reportedly declined to takehis telephone calls on sev-eral attempts.

Governor PunjabChaudhary Sarwar had gota loud applause in publicfrom Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri for hismediatory role to defuse thetension when Dr Qadri’sflight from Dubai toIslamabad was divertedforcibly to Lahore and laterDr Qadri refused to get offthe airplane. When ChSarwar intervened in thematter, Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri at

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Former Presi-dent General (Retd) PervezMusharraf, who had beenstriving for leaving abroadto attend his seriously illmother at a hospital inSharja has decided to stayin the country.

According to sources,the former President de-cided to stay in the countryowing to ongoing politicalscenario in the country. Hismother Zareen Begumwould be brought in thecountry for continued medi-cal treatment.

Sources said thatMusharraf was in closecontact with PakistanAwami Tehreek Chairman Dr

Musharraf to stay in countryamid political scenario

Tahir Ul Qadri and was pre-paring for a full-fledged po-litical role in Pakistan’s poli-tics.

Musharraf was pres-ently at Karachi while hewas being tried for high trea-son charges under Article 6of the Constitution of Paki-stan.Sources claimed that the trialof Musharraf at special trialcourt in Islamabad wouldsoon be decided and hewould be declared as inno-cent because the article 6, ifapplied on him would bedangerous for Sharif gov-ernment. The governmentalso hinted at amicablesettlement of Musharraf ’scase through legal proce-dures.

I S L A M A B A D — S e n a t o rFarhatullah Babar said dueto some recent events thebalance of power hadshifted from Islamabad toRawalpindi and there wasreal and potent threat to de-mocracy. This he said is abad omen for democracyand democratic institutionsand it is imperative that thegovernment geared up tohold negotiations both withPTI and PAT to defuse thetense political situation andpull the country from thebrink of precipice. Speak-ing on the adjournment mo-tion in the Upper House on

Balance of powershifted from Islamabadto Rawalpindi: Babar

Monday,, criticised the atti-tude of the government min-isters treating Imran Khanas an insane and irrationalperson

He said that foreigncapitals had issued traveladvisories, the missions hadsuspended issuance of vi-sas, the world was watch-ing with bated breath as towhat was going to happenin Pakistan and the localtraders had started protestdemonstrations against theso called azaadi and inqilabmarches. He severely criti-cized the civil disobediencecalls. —INP

comes a cause of crisis thegovernments. He said thatthe current political problemis created by the ruling PML-N government and that it isthe government’s ineffi-ciency that the situation hasbecome worse so it shouldcome forward to dissolve thecrisis.

He categorically made itclear that PPP itself believedin this rhetoric that rigging ingeneral elections 2013 wasbeing committed at the mas-sive level and the campaignagainst rigging by PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) was genu-ine and based on moralgrounds. When he was askedwhat was the solution to solvethis deadlock when both thegovernment as well as PTItook the extreme position he

said politics is the art of pos-sibilities and nothing is im-possible and the issuesshould be resolved throughdialogues by showing re-straints from the both sides.He said the country was pass-ing through its critical andordeal stage so under suchsensitive circumstances, se-renity should be prevailedand it must be clear to every-one that the country is not ina position to face anarchy orpolitical disorder. Answeringa question about ImranKhan’s civil disobediencecall, Yusuf Raza Gilani again,criticizing the government forits failure to tackle the politi-cal issues, said the govern-ment should realize the inten-sity of the situation so thegovernment should focus on

dialogues to seek a way outof the current political crisis.

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

FROM park bench pushups and monkey bar lifts to open air runs, fitness experts say the workout pos-

sibilities of playgrounds and parks areworth the consideration of even the mostdiehard gym users. Dur-ing the warm, waningsummer days, fresh airworkouts offer a wealthof new ways to boostthe mood, channel theinner child and evenburn extra calories.

Chris Freytag, a per-sonal trainer and healthcoach with the AmericanCouncil on Exercise,loves the gym but livesin Minneapolis, Minne-sota, a city notorious forbrutal winters. “I’m a bigbeliever in change ofvenue, of getting awayfrom the same treadmill,the same spot. Andthere’s something aboutfresh air and moving inspace,” said Freytag, who leads bootcamp and circuit classes in parks andparking lots during the summer months.

The changing terrain can also inspire thesolitary exerciser to mix it up. “I’m all abouthills: every time you see a hill or steps orstairs, lunge at it,” said Freytag. “Step upand down on curbs and park benches.” Achild’s playground offers core-strengthen-ing possibilities from deep plank pushups,with feet placed on swings, to training withresistance bands slung around poles, tomonkey bar pull-ups, she explained.

Research suggest the outdoor boost can

be mental as well as physical. In a 2014study on indoor versus outdoor activitypublished in the journal Applied Psychol-ogy: Health and Well-Being researchersanalyzed national survey data from Fin-

land. They found that natureprovides an added value tothe known benefits of physi-cal activity and repeated ex-ercise in nature is, in particu-lar, connected to better emo-tional well-being.

In his book “Beat theGym,” Connecticut-basedrunning coach and personaltrainer Tom Holland saidrunning on a treadmill isslightly easier than runningon the ground. “You don’thave to deal with changingterrain, wind resistance,” hesaid, adding that the zeroincline on most treadmills isactually slightly downhill.New York City-based per-sonal trainer JR Allen, saidthe first benefit of the out-

door workout is balance. “You have tobe aware of your surroundings becauseyou could step in a pothole,” Allen said.“It is a less safe, more uncontrolled en-vironment that is more of a strain onyour body.” Allen suggests the new-comer to outdoor exercise shouldstart with a simple walk around theneighborhood. The seasoned exer-ciser should head to the park forsprints, power push ups, in whichhands leave the ground, and walkingplanks, moving side to side and backto back on hands and feet.

Parks, playgrounds offer freshair alternatives to gym workouts

Women workers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek are seen during physical exercise to keepthemselves active during sit-in protest in the capital city.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Artists presenting stage play ‘Qaum ki kahani’ in connection with Independence Day celebrations.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Chairman of the Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khanon the third day of the sit-in (earlyMonday) once again skipped thevenue, thus making a record hat-trickof abandoning thousands of his work-ers.

This time however, he left afterspending a couple of hours with themin the open. Imran Khan has been fac-ing criticism by his own party workersfor leaving them in the lurch.

On the first day (Saturday morn-ing) of the sit-in immediately after hisarrival in the federal capital, Khan madea brief speech and went to his resi-dence the Bani Gala farmhouse. He wasreportedly suffering from high tempera-

Abandoning PTI workers: Khan makes a hat-trick

Imran keeps moving from‘protest gala’ to Bani Gala

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D —Bes idessanitation and civic issues,federal capital is going toexperience immense lossto its greenery and planta-tion as a result of the twinsit-ins. Some unruly pro-testers of the Azadi andInqilab Marches havecaused irreparable damage

to the trees and plantsalong the Khayaban-e-Suharwardi and KashmirHighway.

A number of trees havebeen chopped down, theirtwigs and branches shornfor the revolutionary work-ers needed some sticks tomanage the crowds. In do-ing so they brought downmany green plants without

thinking that these saplingswill one day turn into heavyshady trees. A number offootpaths and pavementsalong the Aabpara Chowkhave been damaged be-cause of the adventurousmotorcyclists who parkedtheir bikes there. Likewisegreen belts in the middle ofthe roads have been cov-ered with polythene bags,

used wrappers and uselessthings like ice cream sticks,pieces of newspapers,empty plastic glasses,grams and stones. Accord-ing to the civic agency, Capi-tal Development Authority,thousands of trees andplants have been damagedand it will take the staffmonths to bring them backin their former state.

Likewise, parts ofbridges are also damaged asmany of the participants ofthe sit-ins have taken bricksout of their protective wallsand rods from the fences.

They in their quest torediscover Islamabad andavoid long way, have formedmany a new path passing onthe green belts. Police andsecurity agencies when

asked them to use the properroute, they shouted at themand waved their batons inthe air.

What have damaged thegreen belts all the more arethe buses and wagonswhich have been parkedthere. The rest of transporthave been parked in front ofthe shops and as a resultmany of the shops and mar-

kets remained closed onMonday. A local traderwhile talking to PakistanObserver said it is a pity thatthe leadership does nottrain its workers beforebringing them to a metropo-lis like Islamabad.

Who can expect fromthese ignorant ruffians tobring revolution in thecountry and lead the nation,

said an infuriated shop-keeper who could notopen his shop in theAabpara as a bus of theInqilab March was parkedclosed to its main shutter.“The driver is somewherelost in the crowd and Idon’t have any hope thatby the evening I would beable to open my shop,”deplored he.

Irreparable loss to flora of Islamabad

Unruly protesters make batons out of tree branches

ture.He returned to the sit-in venue Sat-

urday evening and remained there thewhole night celebrating Jashne-e-Azadi all night. But as the day dawnedKhan woke up and headed towardsBani Gala once again.

The workers of the PTI could beseen wondering what had made theirleader leave them behind at the mercyof the harsh weather and callous or-ganizers. Khan returned to the venueSunday evening at around 7.30 p.m.After taking his party workers and thepublic at large by surprise over his callfor civil disobedience, Imran Khan re-mained with them till late night but af-ter a nap of three hours only, he wentagain to Bani Gala farmhouse at around6 a.m.

This was his third consecutive de-parture from the sit-in site. Imran Khanaccording to the party sources tookheavy breakfast of eggs, butter andate mangoes too as he was feelingweakness after attending till late atnight the sit-in which is called by hiscritics a music gala or ‘protest gala’.

After taking a nap, the PTI chiefwoke up and did his usual exercise andcalled a meeting of his party high ups.Khan’s absence from the sit-in site wascause of panic not only for his work-ers but the newspaper columnists andprivate TV channels’ anchorpersonsalso termed it an unwise decision.

Following Imran Khan’s footsteps,the rest of the leaders of the PTIMakhdoom Javed Hashmi, ShahMahmood Qureshi, Assad Umar,

Naeem-ul-Haq, Dr Shireen Mazari andothers also left the venue for their re-spective comfort zones and returnedonly minutes before Imran Khan.

Imran Khan, according to PTIsources, left the sit-in venue at 6 in themorning. After reaching Banni Gala hehad a shower and took breakfast thatconstituted orange juice, two eggs,and two big slices of bread.

Meanwhile, in the PTI sit-in venue,one could see among others ChachaCricket raising slogans in support ofthe PTI. A large number of local PTIworkers and those from KhyberPakhtunkhwa could also be seen. Ac-cording to police in Tahirul Qadri’s sit-in over 25,000 protesters were presentwhile Imran Khan’s sit-in attracted abit more i.e. around 40,000 people.

ISLAMABAD—The two weeks extension insummer vacations for the students of fed-eral capital due to the prolonged sit-in ofthe participants of Azadi and InqalabMarch is badly affecting their study rou-tine.

The schools and colleges in federalcapital were supposed to open from Au-gust 11 (Monday) after two-months longvacations but the concerned authoritiesannounced more holidays till August 17(Sunday) to save the students from anyuntoward situation due to march.

Again, the authorities announced morevacations till August 24 (Sunday) due tothe prolonged sit-in of marchers and nowthe students would resume their studyroutine from August 25 (Monday).

Students are perturbed over the pre-vailing situation and parents are worriedthat their children would not get goodgrades in the examination due to continu-ous disruption in their study schedule.

The education authorities were leftwith no choice but to close down the edu-cational institutions as the participants oflong march made it clear that they would

go for a prolonged sit-in.The prevailing situation compelled

some educational institutions to resched-ule their ongoing admission tests of dif-ferent classes that would ultimately affectthe compilation of results.

“The closure of institutions and re-scheduling of tests is creating psychologi-cal impact on minds of students” ShabbirKhan, a father said.

The disruption of educational routinewill unsettle the students who were pre-paring themselves for the admission testsfor a new level of studies, he said. IrumAfzal, a teacher at a local college said theprevailing political situation is creatingproblems for the students especially forthe girls who travel daily from far-flungareas. The situation will impact the annualresults of the students if the situation per-vades for long as they will be unable tocomplete their syllabus in time, she said.

“Students suffer psychologicallywhen there is unrest on the roads andsense of insecurity lingers on”, FarhatFatima, a mother of three school-goingchildren said.—APP

Azadi, Inqalab Marchaffects students’ study

Motorist’s stuck in a traffic jam at Express Way after roads were closed with containers.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Boardof Intermediate and Second-ary Education (FBISE) onMonday announced result ofHigher Secondary SchoolCertificat e (HSSC) Part-I an-nual examination, declaringoverall pass percentage of50.90.

According to the result

announced here, a total of51883 regular candidates ap-peared in the exam out ofwhich 27375 candidatespassed with pass percentageof 52.76.

A total of 2603 private can-didates appeared in the examout of which 357 candidatescould pass it with the passpercentage of 13.76.

In Humanities group, a

total of 8219 regular studentsappeared in the exam out ofwhich 3313 passed against 256private candidates out of 1847appeared.

In Pre-Medical group, atotal of 12474 regular candi-dates appeared in the exam outof which 8481 passed againstno one private candidate outof total one appeared.

In Pre-Engineering group,

a total of 14626 regular candi-dates appeared in the exam outof which 9346 candidatespassed while in Science Gen-eral, a total of 11643 regularcandidates appeared in theexam out of which 4637 passed.

In Commerce group, a to-tal of 4729 regular candidatesappeared out of which 1516passed the exam against 101private candidates passed outof total 755 appeared.

In Med-Tech, a total of 192regular candidates appeared inthe exam out of which 82 couldpass it. The result is also avail-able on the federal boardwebsite www.fbise.edu.pk andthe students can know it bysending sms to the unifiedcode 5050 in the formatFBspace[roll number].

This year, six unfair meanscases were reported and re-solved through adopting a ju-dicious procedure. The resultcards of regular candidates arebeing dispatched to the headsof their respective institutionsand those of ex-private candi-dates within country on theiraddresses given by them intheir admission forms. The re-sult cards of overseas candi-dates are being dispatched tothe head of institutions fromwhere they appeared.

FBISE announces result of HSSC Part-I,with 50.90 pass percentage

ISAF Commandercalls on COAS

RAWALPINDI—General Jo-seph Dunford, outgoingCommander InternationalSecurity Assistance Force(ISAF), called on Chief ofArmy Staff (COAS) GeneralRaheel Sharif, today at Gen-eral Headquarters.

During the meeting,matters of mutual interestcame under discussion in-cluding post election situ-ation in Afghanistan andcoordination along Pak-Af-ghan Border.

The COAS particularlythanked the outgoingISAF Commander for hisefforts towards stability inAfghanistan.—NNI

04:50 01:3005:30

09:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

A view of rainwater accumulated on road due to negligence of authority in Rawalpindi.

Policemen standing alert to avoid any untoward incident during PAT Inqilab March.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A meeting of Departmen-tal Promotion Committee of NationalHighways & Motorway Police was heldunder the chairmanship of Deputy Inspec-tor General (HQs) at NH&MP (Headquar-ters), Islamabad.

As per details, 54 Sub-Inspectors, 74head-constables and 99 constables werepromoted to the rank of Inspector/Senior

Patrol Officer, Sub-Inspector/Patrol Of-ficer and Head-constables/Assistant PatrolOfficer respectively. Later, the order wasapproved by the Inspector General,NH&MP, Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema.

The officers were promoted truly onthe bases of merit and seniority. The pro-moted officers belong to all parts of thecountry.

Newly, promoted officers will un-dergo a 02 week special training pro-

gram at NH&MP Training College,Sheikhupura. The capacity buildingcourse will focus on developing and en-hancing traits like honesty, courtesy andintegrity in the incumbent officers.Speaking on the occasion, the Inspec-tor General, Zulfiqar Cheema laudedthe performance and congratulated thenewly promoted officers. He advisedthem to work hard with dedication forthe goodwill of the department.

227 police officers promoted

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The current protests and sit-ins led byImran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri in Federal Capital haveentered fourth day with badly upsetting normal and rou-tine life of residents of the Federal Capital. The busi-ness and educational activities, civil servants and peace-ful citizens saw their routine working disrupted with sit-ins by marchers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) andPakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

Amid this difficult and traumatic situation, peoplebelonging to almost all walks of life feel restive and em-phasized the need for a designated place in Capital forholding public meetings, rallies, and long marches infuture where political parties could press for their de-mands.

Both Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri started their longmarches on August 14 from Lahore and they reached

Islamabad the next day (August 15). The supporters andworkers of Imran Khan along with their transport wereallowed to stage sit-in near Aabpara Chowk while TahirulQadri at Khayaban-e-Suharwardy.

In his comments, President of Islamabad CitizenCommittee (ICC), Ahmad Rana on Monday said thereis growing anger and resentment among the local citi-zens, who see their lives paralysed in Federal Capital inthe wake of Imran Khan and Dr Qadri led sit-ins.

“Our comfort and normal activities have been put atstake, we are the victims of the political agenda beingpersuaded by the two leaders,” he said.

“We are highly perturbed as yet it was not clear, ashow long the sit-ins will continue. We are seriously con-cerned over security risk to our lives during the ongoingsit ins,” Rana said.

He said the mob gathered in heart of city has para-lyzed the routine life, asking how long the citizens could

afford all this disruption which has also caused acuteshortage of food and other items of daily use. He saidproper routes for the citizens should be fixed to enablepeople reach their offices and working places. The dem-onstrators activities and movements in the city shouldbe restricted in order to minimize disruption to their nor-mal life.

The President ICC questioned that how medical andother emergencies would be managed with non-avail-ability of fuel and closure of roads due to processionsand sit-ins. The other major area affected badly due tocurrent sit-ins is education as the summer vacations inCapital’s educational institutions have been extended tillAugust 24.

The educational institutions were scheduled to openon Monday (August 18) but this uncertain situation hascaused sufferings for thousands of students of privateand government schools and colleges. Nazir Ahmed, a

teacher of a private school said protests have badly af-fected the study routine of the students who are alreadyburdened with a lot of syllabus.

Rahim Shehzad, a student of class 10th at a govern-ment school said protests have spoiled his study routine.How could he attend the school when police personnelwho have come from other cities to ensure security, wereresiding in their schools.

Umar Khan, a resident of G-6 Sector, said the resi-dents feel the pain too much all these days and suggestedthat there is a dire need to legislate with the consent ofall political parties that no public meetings, marches orrallies would be allowed in the precincts of the Capitalcity - the most beautiful that we all built - except a des-ignate place or corner.

He said there must be a code of conduct to be ob-served while carrying out political activities, deliveringspeeches, sit-ins, marches and protests etc. at that place.

Sit-ins perturb routine life ofcitizens in Federal Capital

Labourers busy in construction work of Metro Bus Project during development work in Federal Capital.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—A five-day anti-polio drivewould commence in Rawalpindi city, Can-tonment, Tehsil Gujar Khan, Murree andTaxila from August 20.

During the campaign,1365 polio teamswould go door-to-door and administer poliodrops to 500,000 children less than five yearsof age, Executive District Officer (EDO-Health) Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal told reporterhere Monday He said staff deployed for thecampaign has been issued special instruc-tions and informed that no negligence in thisregard would be tolerated.

EDO said,”1365 mobile teams have beenconstituted for door-to-door vaccination ofthe children. Besides that 250 special cen-ters will be set up to facilitate the parents sothat their children could be vaccinated innearby areas. Sufficient quantity of vaccineis available, and no stone will be leftunturned in our efforts to make the campaign

a success”.The Health Department officials have

been directed to remain vigilant, particularlyin those areas where polio-virus was foundduring the last year’s campaign, the Districtprogramme coordinator Javaid Iqbal Ch in-formed. He said all possible steps had beentaken by the Health Department to make thecampaign a success.

The DPC urged the citizens, particularlythe parents, to come forward and play theirrole for the elimination of the crippling dis-ease from society.

“The parents should cooperate with thespecial teams so that the set target could beachieved.”

He said continuous efforts were beingmade to control polio. Special teams havealso been formed to cover areas from wherecomplaints about unattended children areregistered, he said, adding that special ar-rangements have also been made to coverCantonment Board areas of Rawalpindi.

5-day anti-polio drivestarts tomorrow

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Water and SanitationAgency (WASA) claimed that due to ar-rangements made by the authority this year,there is no danger of flood particularly inNullah Lai.

Talking to reporter, Deputy ManagingDirector WASA Akram Soban said thatNullah Lai mainly in low lying areas werecleared of silt and solid waste.

He said the nullah was further widened

No flood danger in Nullah Lehand deepened to save the city from the flooddevastations. Gawalmandi area was espe-cially focused during the cleanliness driveas due to heavily populated locality, a largeamount of garbage and filth is thrown inthe nullah which creates obstacle in thesmooth flow of flood water, he said add-ing, the section of the nullah was cleared.

The flood season in Nullah Lai startsfrom June 15 and remains till Aug 31. CitySadar Road, Dhoke Charg Deen, Pirwadhi,New Katrian and Dhoke Naju were also

critical sections of Nullah Lai which werecleared of silt and solid waste, he informed.

He urged the people to come forwardand play their role in protecting espe-cially low lying areas of the city fromflood devastations, adding, solid waste,garbage, shopping bags should not bethrown in Nullahs particularly in NullahLai as they create blockage in the wayof flood water. Resultantly the floodwater plays havoc with the propertiesand lives of the people, he added.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Ambassador-desig-nate of Switzerland, H.E. Marc P.George, hosted a high-tea at his resi-dence for 14 Pakistani students whohave been awarded postgraduate schol-arships to undertake a PhD or a researchafter Masters or PhD in Switzerland.These students will pursue their stud-ies in various disciplines of differentuniversities.

In 2013, 5 Pakistani students werealready granted a scholarship for study-

ing in Switzerland. These scholarshipsprovide graduates from all fields withthe opportunity to pursue doctoral orpostdoctoral research in Switzerland atone of the public funded university orrecognized institution.

The scholarship programme for Pa-kistan was announced two years agoand aims at enhancing academic excel-lence in Pakistan and promoting ex-change of knowledge and skills at ahigher education level.

The Ambassador-designate of Swit-zerland, H.E. Marc P. George said: “I

am delighted to see a young generationof students and researchers, who areable to go the Switzerland for higherstudies and I am confident that thatthese scholarships will allow them topursue careers in their homeland jobmarket and to open doors for a brightprofessional future in Pakistan.”

The students expressed their appre-ciation and gratitude to the governmentof Switzerland for its contribution tocomplete their postgraduate educationin prestigious academic institutions ofSwitzerland.

Ambassador hosts high-tea forPakistani students

RAWALPINDI—Police under its ongoingdrive against anti-social elements have ar-rested 15 lawbreakers including six gamblersand two drunkards besides recovering 1020grams charras, 26 drums of alcohol, onedrum wine, two pistols 30 bore with sevenrounds, one rifle 44 bore with four roundsand fireworks items from the possession ofthe arrested accused.

According to police, Pirwadhai policeheld Amanat for having 500 grams charraswhile Akash Javed was rounded up for pos-sessing 520 grams charras. Taxila police ar-rested Yasir and recovered 26 drums of al-cohol and one drum wine. Two persons iden-

15 lawbreakers including sixgamblers netted

tified as Bilal and Suleman were sent be-hind the bars as they were allegedly underthe influence of alcohol.

Another accused namely Sajjad Hussainwas nabbed as police recovered fireworksitems from him.

Other accused were netted on recoveryof illegal weapons. Meanwhile, Cantt policeacting on a tip-off conducted a raid in CirosCinema area and held Khurram, Sarfraz,Ilyas, Shabbir, Imran and Javed for alleg-edly being involved in betting while play-ing cards. Police also recovered Rs 2740cash stake money, five mobile phones andother items from their custody.—APP

AIOU offersadmission in M.Phil,

Ph.D in MassCommunicationSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama IqbalOpen University (AIOU) isoffering admission in M.Philand Ph.D in Mass Commu-nication from the current Se-mester Autumn, 2014.

The admission forms andprospectuses can be obtainedfrom its main campus, re-gional campuses and coordi-nating offices all over thecountry and the last date forsubmission of the admissionforms is September 5.

Degree of Ph.D andLLM/MS in Shari’ah hasalso been introduced in theongoing admissions.

Ph.D, MS/M.Phil, M.Sc(Statistics), COL (MBA/MPA) and LLM/MS Shari’ahhave been offered on meritbasis, all those interested foradmissions in theseprogrammes should sendtheir admission form directlyto their concerned depart-ments without admission feeaccording to the procedureslaid down in the prospectus.

The admission forms ofMatric to Master level pro-grams can be submitted along-with prescribed fee in country-wide branches of Bank Al-Falah, Habib Bank Ltd, FirstWomen Bank and Allied Bankand at the nominated branchesof National Bank of Pakistanand Muslim Commercial Bank.

ISLAMABAD—The political sit-ins led by ImranKhan and Dr Tahirul Qadri at two different mainroads of federel city of Islamabad has put thecultural activities to a halt for last one week,which are the hallmark of Islamabad and theseactivities portray the beauty of the country.

The sit-in which started on August 14 hadput a stop to the cultural activities of Islamabadorganized particularly to celebrate IndependenceDay besides academic, commercial and busi-ness activities.

Following the long march of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran led by Dr Tahirul Qadri, andTehreek-e-Insaaf led by Imran Khan, the peopleof Islamabad remained confined to their housessince August 14 to avert any unpleasant inci-dent.

Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA)and Lok Virsa officials while talking to APP,

said that the majority of institutions in the citypreferred to postponed their planned culturalprogrammes organized specially in connectionwith Independence Day celebrations, while vari-ous art galleries had to shut their organized ex-hibitions during the last one week as peoplestayed inside their homes to avoid any untowardsituation.

Law enforcement agencies have blocked theroads also at different places therefore, trafficflow on the road was restricting the smooth pub-lic movement for different destinations, theyadded.

People from different walks of life alsoshowed their deep concern over these sit-ins say-ing that the country was not in a position to bearsuch kinds of activities, as the business commu-nity is losing millions of rupees daily due to thesuspension of business activities.—APP

Cultural activities infederal city on hold

FJWU list ofeligible candidates

for M.PhilSTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Interview listfor eligible candidates whohave submitted their applica-tion forms in Fatima JinnahWomen University (FJWU) forM.Phil leading to Ph.D. will bedisplayed on the universitywebsite and notice boards onAug 29.

The interview will be heldon Sept 4 and first merit list willbe displayed on the website andthe university notice board onSept 10.

Admission 2014 is alsoopen for Bachelors and Mas-ters program including Soft-ware Engineering, ComputerArts, Environmental Sci-ences, Mathematics, Com-puter Science, Communica-t ion and Media Studies,Behavioural Sciences, Busi-ness Administration, De-fense and Diplomatic Stud-ies, Economics, Education,English, Fine Arts, GenderStudies, Islamic Studies,Public Administration andUrdu.

SRINAGAR: Pugwash Secretary General, Prof Paulo being received by the veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani at his residence.

WASHINGTON: AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan and ex-premier AJK Barrister Sultan MehmoodChaudhry addressing Press conference on Monday.

AFZAL SOFI/DANISH ZARGAR

KAUSAR NAAG - “Don’t go intothe lake,” he yelled, shaking hisfists at a group of people on

the banks of south Kashmir’s freshwater lake, Kousar Naag. “This is sa-cred. You will pollute it.” Fifty-year-old Gulzar Hussain, made his way to-wards the group, gave them certaininstructions. Satisfied, he came backto sit cross-legged on the big rock asthe small bluish waves from the lakehit it silently. “The lake has been thesource of life for us at this high alti-tude for centuries. It is pure and sa-cred for us. To maintain its purity andsanctity has been a priority for us.This is what I have learnt from my fore-

Gujjars vow to guard purity of Kausar Naag Lake

RAO ATIQ-UL-AMIN KHAN

MIRPUR (AJK)—Seasoned Kashmiri Aca-demician Dr. Rehana Asghar of the PublicSector Mirpur University of Science andTechnology (MUST), Mirpur has been con-ferred the National Civil Award, Tamgha-i-Imtiazon on 14th August, 2014 in recogni-tion of her outstanding academic achieve-ments and extraordinary research contribu-tions in the field of botany/ biotechnology,official said.

Dr. Rehana Asghar is presently servingas Chairperson of the Department of Bio-technology at the MUST. She served theUniversity of Balochistan, Quetta and AridAgriculture University, Rawalpindi beforejoining the MUST. In AAU Rawalpindi, sheserved for 10 year including 6 year as Chair-person of the Department of Botany.

She did her M.Sc. from the Universityof Balochistan by securing First Class Firstposition throughout the Faculty of Science.She received Ph.D. degree from the Univer-sity of California. She did two Post Doctor-

Dr. Rehana honoured with TIates from the USA. She produced 6 Ph. Dsand 16 M. Phils besides supervising re-search projects of several M.Sc. students.She has over 50 research publications toher credit. She has presented her researchwork in numerous national and internationalconferences.

In recognition of her achievements inacademic and research she has also beenawarded several other awards including theThird World Academy of Sciences Awardin 1998, the Outstanding Student Presenta-tion Award in 1st California State Univer-sity Electron Microscopy Colloquium, USAin 1991, ‘Honour Certificate’ by the GammaSigma Delta Honour Society of AgricultureUSA in 1991, Quaid-i-Azam Scholarship ofthe Government of Pakistan in 1986 and theFellowship for Graduate Studies by theAmerican Association of UniversityWomen Organization in 1991. The ViceChancellor and Faculty Members of theMUST and students of her department havefelicitated Dr. Rehana Asghar for havingreceived the well-deserved award.

fathers,” said Gulzar.Gulzar belongs to the Muslim

Gujjar community from district Rajouriof Jammu and Kashmir, but every yearthey along with their families spendfour months of summer at Seganporavillage located in vast meadowsaround Kousar Naag to graze theircattle. Streams, lakes and springs arelife for these nomadic people who usu-ally construct their small huts usingrocks and mud called Dhokes nearthese water sources to sustain theirlife. “My family has lived here atKousar Naag for centuries. This is mysecond home. I was born here and Iwill die and get buried here like myfather,” said Gulzar, who is head ofthe village.

Like other villagers, Gulzar has al-ways maintained the purity of the lakeand guarded it from pollutants thrownaway by people, who trek to see thelake. “We never wash clothes or uten-sils in the lake. We don’t even do ab-lution from it. When we are in need ofwater we take it out in pots and use itfar away from lake. We don’t eventhrow the water back into the lakeonce it is taken out,” he said. He saidbecause of its purity and sanctity thelake has got the name from the Aabi-Kousar, which according to Muslimis a spring in paradise to which onlyhighly virtuous people can have ac-cess to.

During his life, Gulzar said, he hasseen and heard of many Muslim saints

doing a chilla, a special 40 day prayersdone by spiritual people, on the banksof lake. “My father told me that hehad seen a Muslim saint from Paki-stan, namely Sain Fakhr-ud-din andothers including Baji Ismail Sahib PoniParakh Waley, Katuwaley Sarkar do-ing a chilla on the banks of lake dur-ing his life. Also I have myself seenMoulvi Moin-ud-din from Asmuqamand another saint known as NangaBaba from Bandipora doing the chillain 1970’s,” said Gulzar.

He claims that almost every Thurs-day at late evening the people see asmall candle flame emanating from therock where Sain Fakhr-ud-din is be-lieved to have done his chilla. “Myown peer from Pareakh, Reasi is also

here today. He very often visits herenot to do the chilla but he feels thisplace suitable for doing zikr (remem-brance of Allah). But his father BajiShafi Shah did a chilla here twentyyears back,” said Gulzar. Gulzar andhis locality was not so worried aboutmaintaining the purity of lake till threeyears ago when all of the sudden theHindu community from district Reasicalled Takker declared the lake as theirpilgrimage site and started visiting iton July 29 every year.

“We had never seen this yatrahappening before. These people comeand take a dip in lake along with theirshoes and clothes and pollute it. Wedon’t allow the people of our owncommunity to do it. How can they?”

said Mohammad Shafi, 60, anothermember of the locality who hails fromKalakot. He said that this year againthey to restrained the Hindus fromgoing into the lake, but sometimes theyget helpless as they are accompaniedby police and army, who intervene toavoid any altercation.

“We are not against anyonewho comes here as a visitor, peoplehave been coming here for longtime. But we are againstinstitutionalised yatra which is be-ing proposed under dubious de-signs and has the tendency to pol-lute the lake which is source of wa-ter to vast area. We will defend thelake till we are alive,” said Shafi.

—Courtesy: KR

3 women deadin flash

floods, housecollapse

UDHAMPUR—Two womenwere washed away in flashfloods triggered by heavyrain and another died due tohouse collapse in Rajouridistrict of Jammu and Kash-mir, even as over 30 flood-affected people were res-cued in Samba district, offi-cials said. Two sisters–Narvez Akhtar and BegumAkhtar– were washed inflash floods in Hubbi Rivertriggered by heavy rains inRajouri district yesterday,police and other govern-ment officials said today.

Police and locals recov-ered their bodies during arescue operation lastevening, they said. Mean-while, a mud house col-lapsed due to heavy rains inChemmi Kalaban belt ofSunderbani teshil of Rajouridistrict last night. Due toheavy rains, there was flashfloods in Devak andBasantar rivers in Samba andKathua districts, they said,adding that several villageswere marooned. Police res-cued over 30 villagers nearthe International Border (IB)in Ramgarh sector of Vijaypurtehsil in Samba, they said.

Police also recoveredthe body a 40-year-old manwho was washed away inthe Devak river when abridge collapsed due toflash flood in Udhampurdistrict on Friday, they said,adding that he was identi-fied as Nand Kishore a resi-dent of Chabutra Bazar,Udhampur.—Agencies

Firing in Pulwama;motorcyclist held

PULWAMA (IHK)—Sus-pected militants fired at po-lice personnel manning acheck post in Pulwama dis-trict on Sunday . No one washurt in the incident but po-lice claimed to have arresteda motorcyclist who was“acting as a guide to themilitants,” sources said.

Sources told KashmirReader that a group of mili-tants who were in a privatecar fired upon the cops inAchan area of the district.“The militants were chasedand they left the car behind,but the police arrested a mo-torcyclist who was acting asa guide to the militants,”sources said. “He is beingquestioned and police areinvestigating the attack,” thesources said.—KR

Geelani setto meet PakHC in India

SRINAGAR—Hurriyat Con-ference (G) chairman SyedAli Shah Geelani will meetPakistan’s High Commis-sioner to India ahead of theForeign Secretary-leveltalks between the two coun-tries. “During a meeting ofthe executive council, it wasunanimously decided thatGeelani sahib should meetthe

Pakistan High Commis-sioner and reiterate theHurriyat’s stand regardingthe Jammu and Kashmir dis-pute,” the amalgam said in astatement. Addressing themeeting, Geelani said theHurriyat was not against thedialouge process per se butunless Kashmir was dis-cussed as a “core issue”such an exercise will proveto be futile.

“As seen in the past thebilateral dialogue processbetween India and Pakistanhas proved to be a futile ex-ercise and will continue tobe so until Kashmir istreated as a core issue andresolved as per the wishesand aspirations ofKashmiris .

“For us, implementationof United Nations’ resolu-tions is the only acceptablesolution to the issue and tri-partite talks can lead tothat,” he said. “We want toconvey to the governmentof Pakistan that the peopleof Kashmir will not acceptanything less than completefreedom for Kashmir.—KR

Landslide hitVaishnodevishrine track,

9 hurtRIASI (IHK)—Nine pilgrimswere injured in a landslide,triggered by heavy rains,along the Vaishnodevi caveshrine track in Reasi district,police said late Sunday. Thelandslide occurred betweenAdhkuwari and Bhawan atDevi Dwar in Katra belt latelast night injuring nine devo-tees hailing from Gwalior,Madhya Pradesh, Bihar andWest Bengal.

The injured were takento the base camp at Katrafrom where they were shiftedto the Government MedicalCollege Hospital, Jammu, fortreatment, police said. Later,the track was cleared lead-ing to resumption of the pil-grimage, they said. SinceFriday, Vaishnodevi shrinehas been witnessing heavyrush of pilgrims. On Fridayand Saturday, over 51000and 52000 pilgrims left forthe holy cave shrine fromKatra, officials said.—KR

PAMPORE (IHK)—In what could bea worrying sign for the security es-tablishment, the militant outfits activeacross south Kashmir have devisednew strategy in planning and execut-ing precise and timely attacks over thegovernment forces causing heavylosses to them. This, official sourcesbelieve, is indicated by a spate of cal-culated attacks that started Mondayfrom Pampore town of south Kashmir,a day ahead of Prime Minister,Narinder Modi’s visit to Ladakh regionof the state. In continued attacks sincethen, 2 policemen, 2 BSF troopers anda civilian have been killed. Eleventroopers have also sustained injuriesin the attacks as militants made it safelyto their hideouts.

“The militants are carrying outshort, but precise strikes over the se-curity forces. Before executing the at-tack, the militants ensure safe escaperoutes. Their modus operandi is tocause heavy causalities to the forceswhile taking minimum risk,” a seniorarmy official, insisting not to be named,

Militants make preciseattacks on forces

told Kashmir Reader Saturday. Thespurt in militant attacks, he said, is theoutcome of a better coordination be-tween local and the foreign militants.Foreigners, he said, carry out most ofthe attacks,, while the local militantsprovide cover fire to them.

“The local militants not only pro-vide cover fire to their foreigner asso-ciates but also guide them safely totheir hideouts. The local militants aretaking full advantage of their knowl-edge of the topography,” he said.However, the officer believes that theincrease in attacks is mainly becauseof the casualties suffered by the mili-tants at the hands of the forces. Mostof the recent attacks, he said, havebeen carried out by the cadres ofLashkar-e-Toiba outfit.

“Interestingly, not LeT, but Hizbown these attacks. LeT doesn’t wantto hog headlines since it can causeproblems to their mentors across theborder,” the officer added. An officerassociated with counter insurgencyoperations said that the militants are

gradually shunning communicationequipment like cell phones and wire-less sets which has been helpful tothe forces in tracking and eliminatingthem.

“Instead, the militants prefer to useGPS and satellite phones that maketracking their location a bit difficult.Many militants also use Skype to com-municate with their colleagues andmentors,” the officer said. He said thatthe educated and net savvy youth,who have joined militant ranks recently,were taking a lead in deciding aboutthe communication equipment thatneeds to be used to stay connected.

The officer also rebuffed that Hizbwas executing deadly attacks in southKashmir. He said that the attacks werecarried out by LeT but the credit wastaken by Hizb, which has a very weakbase in the region. “The responsibil-ity of attack is taken on certain con-siderations. Since LeT is a bannedmilitant outfit, they want to keep a lowprofile in Jammu and Kashmir,” theofficer added.—KR

SRINAGAR—Veteran Hurriyet leader, SyedAli Gilani has urged on Pugwash, an inter-national conflict mediation organization, tohighlight human rights violation in Kash-mir and hold result oriented dialogue topave the way for resolving the issue ac-cording to aspirations of the Kashmiris.Syed Ali Gilani was interacting with a teamof Pugwash, which called on him at hisHyderpora residence.

The team led by its Secretary General,Prof Paulo Cotta-Ramusino, discussed vari-ous issues relating to the Kashmir issue withGilani. “I told the Pugwash team that theconferences organized by it on Kashmir inthe past have failed to yield any results. IfPugwash is serious in resolving the dispute,it should hold result oriented dialogue inaccordance with aspirations of Kashmiris andUN resolutions on Kashmir,” he added.

Pugwash urged tohighlight HR violations

“I told the team that Pugwash has main-tained silence over unabated human rightsviolations committed by Indian forces andpolicemen to suppress the ongoing move-ment for right to self-determination and im-pressed it to highlight these atrocitiesthrough conferences,” he said. The veteranleader said the Pugwash team recom-mended dialogue with Kashmiris living onboth side of Line of Control.

“I told the team that the authorities hadsqueezed political space for freedom lead-ers. I have been put under continuoushouse arrest, movement of most of the lib-eration leaders has been restricted and thou-sands of Kashmiri detainees are languish-ing in jails within and outside the state. Inthis situation it is difficult to hold any dia-logue with Kashmiris living on either sideof LoC,” he said.—NNI

SRINAGAR—Hurriyet Conference Jammu and Kashmir leader, Shabbir Ahmad Dar haslauded the role of illegally detained Hurriyet leaders Mushtaqul Islam, Masarrat AalamButt and thousands of innocent youth languishing in jails in promoting the Kashmircause at international level.

Addressing a meeting of Hurriyet workers & activists at Dangiwacha in Rafiabad hesaid, “These leaders’ steadfastness, sincerity and courage will always inspire the free-dom loving people of Kashmir.” He condemned the treatment being meted out toMushtaqul Islam along with other leaders in jails and urged world human rights bodiesto take cognizance of the matter. “The trigger-happy Indian forces are drawing pleasurein targeting innocent people and killing them mercilessly,” he said.—NNI

Shabbir Dar laudsrole of detained leaders

SRINAGAR—Senior Hurriyet leader, ShabbirAhmad Shah has called upon Pakistan andIndia to associate the people of Kashmirwith the dialogue process as a basic partyto the Kashmir dispute. Shabbir AhmadShah in a media interview in New Delhiwelcomed the forthcoming Pak-India for-eign secretary level talks, which are sched-uled to be held in Islamabad on 25th of thismonth.

He, however, cautioned that bilateraltalks on Kashmir had always ended in fail-ure in the past and stressed the need forincluding the true representatives of theKashmiris in the talks to make it more inclu-

Kashmiris are fundamentalparty to dispute

SRINAGAR—The Chief Patron of JammuKashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi, Muhammad AzamInqilabi has stressed the Indian governmentto release all illegally detained Hurriyet lead-ers and activists. Muhammad Azam Inqilabiin a statement issued in Srinagar said, “In1947 according to partition rule Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir had to be partof Pakistan.

Release of Kashmiripolitical leaders stressed

He said that Indian Congress leadersthrough fraud and deceit and with the help offew local collaborators completed the militaryaggression and thus Indian troops landed inKashmir on October 27, 1947. India set asideall norms of justice and fair play by hangingKashmir liberation leader, Maqbool Butt inTihar Jail of Delhi on February 11, 1984, AzamInqilabi deplored.—KMS

SRINAGAR—Indian Minister for Minority Affairs, NajmaHeptullah, has acknowledged that the rigged assembly elec-tions of 1987 triggered armed resistance in occupied Kashmir.Heptullah addressing a conference in Srinagar said, “The elec-tions that were held in 1987 were rigged. I still remember therewas a party called Muslim United Front (MUF), which had astronghold in Bijbehara and Islamabad, but only four of itspeople managed to win. It was only after those elections thatviolence broke out in Kashmir.”

Heptullah said she had made several requests to partyleaders of Congress and National Conference to sit in opposi-tion for better governance, but to no avail. “I told Rajiv Gandhiand Farooq Abdullah that either party should sit in oppositionfor better governance but nobody listened to me and theysigned the accord.—KMS

Indian minister admits1987 Kashmir

elections were rigged

sive and result-oriented.The veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani during aninteraction with a team of Pugwash, a con-flict mediation organization, asked the mem-bers to highlight human rights violations,perpetrated by Indian army and police inKashmir.

The All Parties Hurriyet Conference ina statement issued in Srinagar strongly criti-cized the assertions of Congress Spokes-person, Manish Tiwari wherein he hadraised a hue and cry over the proposedmeeting of Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders withthe High Commissioner of Pakistan in NewDelhi.—KMS

Kashmir hasnever been

part of India:Javed Mir

SRINAGAR—The All PartiesHurriyet Conference(APHC) leader, JavedAhmad Mir has said thatJammu and Kashmir hasnever been part of India andis a disputed territory. JavedAhmad Mir in a statementissued in Srinagar said thatthree bloody wars betweenPakistan and India werefought over Kashmir andthe people of Kashmirwould continue struggle forsecuring their right to self-determination..—KMS

My concern is thatwe live in an

economy in whichstabbing someone

and waiting forthem to complain

before we removethe knife has

become the normalway of doing busi-ness. When did we

lose sight of thefact that it’s not

nice to stab peoplein the first place?

—Simon Sinek

FAISALABAD: Farmer busy in spraying fertilizer on the rice crop.

PIAF spurns PTI civildisobedience moveStaff ReporterLAHORE—PakistanIndustrial & TradersAssociasions Front(PIAF) here Mondayoutrightly rejected the PTIcall for civil disobedienceand termed it a conspiracyto create anarchy in thecountry. The PIAFChairman Malik TahirJaved, Senior VicePresident Khamis SaeedButt and Vice ChairmanAmjad Ali Jawa statedthat business communitywould resist strongly anymove to destabilize thecountry. PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf’s civildisobedience call isagainst the groundrealities and an attempt tofoment a clash betweenthe government and themasses, they added. ThePIAF office-bearers saidthe country is alreadyfacing a number internaland external challenges,while the call for disobedi-ence would add to thecountry’s problems. Theysaid that day-by-dayaffairs of the countrycannot be run withoutcollection of taxes, gasbill, GST and electricitybills etc.

Conversion ratesKARACHI—The follow-ing rates will be appli-cable for conversion intorupees of ForeignCurrency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certificates,Foreign Currency BearerCertificates, Special U.S.Dollar Bonds and profitsthereon by all banks andfor providing ForwardCover on ForeignCurrency Deposits(excluding F.E- 25deposits) by the StateBank on August 19, 2014.The rates are U.S. DollarRs. 100.0101, JapaneseYen Rs. 0.9760, PoundSterling Rs. 167.3569 andEuro Rs. 133.8935.—APP

Port Qasimshipping activityKARACHI—Two shipsC.V MSC Antalyo andM.T Argent Astercarrying containers andphosphoric acid wereberthed at Qasim Interna-tional Container Terminaland Engro Vopak Terminalrespectively at Port Qasimon Sunday. 17th July.Meanwhile two moreships with containers alsoarrived at outer anchorageof Port Qasim during last24 hours. Berth Occu-pancy was observed atthe Port at 50% onSunday where sevenships namely C.V MSCAntalya, C.V Nilgun. M.VM.V Giovanni Bottigieri,M.V Acricana, M.TKarachi, M T Yas andM.T Argent Aster wereoccupied 01 PQA berthsto load/offload contain-ers, canola seeds, iron ore,furnace oil, chemicals andphosphoric Acid respec-tively during last 24hours. Cargo throughputduring last 24 hours stoodat 84,320 tonnes com-prises 68,227 tonnesimports and 16,093 tonnesexports inclusive contain-erized cargo carried in 847Containers (TEUs) ( 1,723imports and 876 exportsTEUs) were handled atthe Port.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—President Pak-China Joint Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) Mr.Shah Faisal Afridi, has urged local SMEs toparticipate in the China International SMEFair (CISMEF) to be held in October thisyear at Guangzhou city of Guangdong. Theevent will provide an opportunity to havean exposure to 1.1 million business groupsof the world, he said, adding: “SME Bureauof Chinese Province Guangdong had in-vited Pakistani SMEs to participate in thesaid fair and a set of preferential incentiveshad also been offered for facilitation of theSMEs who would participate in the fair.”

He appreciated the SME Bureau ofGuangdong for offering 20 free stalls each

AMANULLAH KHAN/ SALIM AHMED

KARACHI/LAHORE—Business community of ma-jor cities including Karachi and lahore on Mondayoutrightly rejected call for civil disobedience andsaid any measure or attempt that is unconstitu-tional would not be acceptable to them. Sharingtheir views with media about the ongoing sit-insby Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf and Pakistan AwamiTehreek, they said they could never be part of anyattempt that may be against the national interest.“What to talk of a call that holds every potential tocreate anarchy in the country,” said ZubairMotiwala, a senior leader of Karachi’s businesscommunity.

Chairman Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Atiq Mir saidmost of the public owned organizations were al-ready running in loss and any compliance to ImranKhan’s call will prove to be the last bolt leading totheir absolute closure. The two traders said coun-try was exposed to difficult situations in almostevery manner and there was needed that thoseenjoying any respect among the masses may comeforward to mediate and help end the deadlock with-out causing any harm to democracy in the country.Rafiq Jadoon, President, All Karachi Tajiraan saidthe civil disobedience call by emotionally chargedImran Khan needed to be pragmatically and effi-ciently challenged, without causing loss of livesand any harm to the public property.

Zakaria Usman, President Federation of Paki-

FPCCI, stock exchanges, chambers,traders reject Imran’s civil disobedience call

‘Economy not to be put on stake for political ego’stan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI)stated that Pakistan is in critical economic and po-litical condition and the political activities havehampered the process of economic and commer-cial developments of the country. Pakistan is bat-tling terrorism and our Army is fighting a decisivebattle in North Waziristan to eliminate terrorism andthe country is incurring huge expenses on waragainst terrorism and in consequences the settle-ment of IDPs is created which is another big prob-lem for us. We being the nation have to be unitedagainst terrorism to eliminate it from our country.

Abdul Qadir Noorani, Jodia Bazaar TradersAssociation said there was absolutely no logicbehind PTI’s call nor issues could be settledthrough mob mentality. He advised the politiciansto get the matter settled through parliament. Presi-dent, Landhi - Quaidabad Traders Alliance, JavaidArsalan said that the call has been made in hasteby PTI chief, Imran Khan and this could prove tobe extremely hazardous for the country and itspeople.

President, Tariq Road Traders Association,Aslam Bhatti said no sensible person can ever giveany attention to Imran Khan’s call and that tradersare in no position to brave any more loss to theirbusinesses. General Secretary of Pakistan AllianceMarket Association, Tanvir Bari said the politicalparties needed to politically settle their disputeswithout bringing any disrepute to the country.

Vice Chairman, All Karachi Anjuman e Tajiraan,

Abdul Samad Khan said the call is against the Con-stitution and is not acceptable to the traders inKarachi. Ilyas Memon of Saddar Alliance MarketAssociation said the emerging situation during thepast few days had caused a halt to business activ-ity and aggravated public misery.

Lahore Stock Market (LSE) has rejected the civildisobedience call by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI), terming it highly detrimental to Pakistan’srecovering economy. The LSE Chief Executive Of-ficer and Managing Director Aftab AhmedChaudhry told media here Monday the PTI gavethe civil disobedience call without having any priorassessment of its adverse impact on country’soverall economy, and the law and order situation.

To a question, Aftab Chaudhry said that gov-ernment functions and delivers on the taxes col-lected from the people and companies on variousaccounts, adding the non-payment of taxes andutility bills will ultimately hamper the government’sfunctioning and subsequently the economy. ThePTI’s call, he added, will also result in consumers’agitation, as they may quarrel with meter-inspec-tors/readers and tax officials, which will definitelycreate a law and order situation and impact nega-tively all sectors of the economy.

The trade and industry while disfavouring PTIscall for civil disobedience has asserted that thenational economy should not be put on stake forthe sake of political ego. Recent call of the protest-ing political parties for Civil Disobedience to na-

tion is not understandable and business commu-nity has condemned it and disfavour of it. Thebusiness community who is the real stakeholdersis against the recent political civil disobediencemove and they do not want to close their busi-ness, industries and take the country to the stateof sick industry and also avoid becoming default-ers to the banks and other organizations. The busi-ness community is the real taxpayers and the gov-ernment is bound to use this money on right direc-tion for the development of the country. Businesscommunity believes that the strikes, harassmentthrough mobs and destruction of the public andprivate properties are the national losses.

All the City trade and Industry Associationsmet under the umbrella of Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (LCCI) and rejected thePTI call for civil disobedience, terming it a con-spiracy to derail economy and defame the coun-try. A resolution to this effect was also passed inthe meeting attended by representatives of 20major trade and Industry associations of Lahore.The prominent trade leaders were Muhammad AliMian, Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Nasir Saeed, Raja HamidRiaz, Ashraf Bhatti, Khalid Pervez, Anjum Butt,Zaheer Bhutta, Rizwan Shamsi and ZafarMahmood. Business community across the Paki-stan, trader associations, chambers authorities andlocal business bodies registered their vote againstthe PTI chief’s call for disobedience and marked itas the anti economic development campaign.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Former LCCI Senior Vice President andformer Chairman of Pakistan Poultry AssociationAbdul Basit has demanded of the PTI ChairmanImran Khan and PAT Chairman Tahir ul Qadri toassociate their sit-ins with the construction ofKalabagh Dam if they are really holding theDharnas for the country. Abdul Basit said that thecountry’s survival lies in Kalabagh Dam and ifthese politicians are sincere with the country orthe nation, they should put the construction ofKalabagh Dam on the top of their respective agen-das but unfortunately the petty issues were givenpreference on Kalabagh Dam.

He said that the whole nation would support thelong march if it is carried out for the cause of KalabaghDam. He said that all those who were opposing theKalabagh Dam were enemies of this country as theywere playing with the country‘s future. He said thatthe only because of government silence overKalabagh dam, country is suffering a loss of Rs 132billion annually. This amount could be saved by ini-tiating construction of Kalabagh Dam. Abdul Basitsaid that there is no threat to Nowshehra city as it is150 feet above the water level.

Abdul Basit said that Kalabagh Dam, was not

Real march requires for Kalabagh Dam constructiononly beneficial to Punjab alone but it would bemore helpful in erasing poverty from KhyberPakhtun Khawa as would irrigate 800000 acres ofcultivable land that is located 100-150 feet abovethe Indus riverlevel in the prov-ince. He said thisland could onlybe brought undercultivation if theriver level israised that isonly possible ifKalabagh Dam isbuilt. He said theother alternativeis to pump thewater which isvery costly. Hecreditable stud-ies have indicated that pumping water for poten-tial cultivable land would cost farmers Rs 5000 peracre per year while canal water after constructionof Kalabagh Dam would cost only Rs400 per acreper year.

He said that the politicians opposing the con-struction of the dam are in fact enemies of the

people of province. He said historical data indi-cates that during past 75 years average 146 millionacres of water is available per year in river Indus.He said the Kalabagh Dam issue has been so much

politicized that a consen-sus would not be possible.The political leadership headded is manipulating theissue for their advantage.He said civil society wouldhave to play a crucial rolein creating a larger consen-sus as new large water res-ervoirs would benefit everyPakistani.

Abdul Basit said thata further delay in gatheringa consensus from all stake-holders on the construc-tion of unduly politicized

Kalabagh Dam will cost this country and its com-ing generations very dearly. He said that all thestakeholders should show some greater maturityon the issue of Kalabagh. It is the high time that allundue stands should be brushed aside to savethe country from that era of darkness. He said thatunlike Pakistan, India is constructing dams at ev-

ery possible site. It has left us decades behindand coming time does not promise any good thingeither. He said that every one knows that the exist-ing dams are constantly silting up leaving everdecreasing capacity to store water. The construc-tion of Kalabagh dam along with other new damsis desperately needed to store adequate water. Ac-cording to a conservative estimate about 30 mil-lion acre feet of water is being wasted into the seabecause the country has no big water reservoirsto store it.

More importantly, as a result of melting of gla-ciers due to global warming, a sword of Damoclesremains hanging over our heads in the shape offloods. An opinion gained widespread supportacross the country that the losses of recent floodsin Pakistan which are estimated to be more than 45billion dollars could have been reduced if big damsand water reservoirs were in place. He said thatanother significant aspect connected with the con-struction of Kalabagh Dam is the surety of suffi-cient amount of electricity at comparatively muchcheaper price. The country’s dependence onpower generated through thermal sources is cost-ing us way too much causing to face insurmount-able challenges to remain competitive both in na-tional and international markets.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Buksh Foundation is success-fully running its transportation lending pro-gram; aimed to empower the underprivi-leged in Pakistan and provide them withmeans for self-sustainable growth. BukshFoundation is facilitating almost 8,000microfinance clients to date, through pro-ductive loans, clean energy loans and as-set creation loans. The goal of Buksh Foun-dation is to help the less fortunate to es-cape clutches of “poverty cycle” with thespirit of entrepreneurship. Foundation iscatering to the micro entrepreneurs and theirtransportation needs.

After a thorough market analysis andkeeping the client needs in mind, Bukshlaunched a unique product in themicrofinance market in Pakistan named as“Transport Loan”. The Transportation loanprovides the clients an opportunity to ownbrand new, high quality motorcycle through

Buksh Foundation’sTransportation lending program

a hassle free and convenient process. Thisloan product has been developed in col-laboration with Ravi Motors, which is theleading local motorcycle manufacturer inPakistan.

4 high-techs, beautiful model are beingextended through this facility and the pre-launch community response has alreadybeen phenomenal. AsimBuksh-ChairmanBuksh Foundation said: “This unique prod-uct is not being offered by any other MFIin the Country yet and we aim to make arevolutionary breakthrough with the realmof microfinance. Its impacts are immenseand far reaching like the Foundation’s otherproducts/services for rural electrificationand poverty alleviation and communitydevelopment.” Fiza Farhan-CEO BukshFoundation said “transport loan is avail-able for both peri-urban and ruralmicrofinance clientele, who face a graveshortage of reasonably priced, secure andconvenient road options.

Local SMEs urged toparticipate in CISMEF

to LCCI and SMEDA to encourage partici-pation of the local SMEs in this trade fair.The offer was made by Mr. He Zouxian,Deputy Director General of the Bureau dur-ing his visit to Pakistan in May last.

Mr. Afridi said that CISMEF-2014 wouldbe creating a number of new export oppor-tunities for various items produced in thelocal SME sector. Especially, the items be-longing to handicrafts, Horticulture, foodand Textile sector would be able to obtainadequate orders for long term export tradein this Fair, as the CISMEF managementwas also going to arrange exclusive pre-sentations’ events for Pakistan in the Fair.Mr. Afridi said it was the top priority ofChinese government to expand trade rela-tions with Pakistan to the optimal level.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for Excise &Taxation, Finance Punjab Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has said that government is ex-tending all out cooperation to the inves-tors for the promotion of industries andtrade. He said that government is takingshort-term and long-term measures in en-ergy sector to minimize load-shedding andpower plants are being set up in variousparts of the province. He said that Punjabgovernment has created vast opportunitiesfor traders and industrialists especially tothe foreign investors.

He said that government has taken solidsteps for the generation of electricity andload-shedding will be completely eliminatedwithin four years when all units of the powerplants which are in pipelines will becomefully functional. While talking to partyworkers at his residence, Mujtaba Shuja urRehman said that the budget allocated foreducation Rs.274 billion which is 26.25 per-

Govt to extend coop forpromotion of industries: Shuja

cent of total expenditures whereas the bud-get allocated for health Rs.121.80 billonwhich is 11.66 percent of total expendituresof the government.

He said that the growth rate of Punjabwill be increased to eight percent during nextfour years and in result of it, more than 70lakh people will be able to live above thepoverty line whereas job opportunities willalso be available to 40 lakh people. He saidthat 36 percent of development budget hasbeen allocated for south Punjab so that maxi-mum development projects will be completedin the less developed districts. MujtabaShuja-ur-Rehman said that priority is beingpaid to education and health sectors anddevelopment budget of current fiscal yearis 17 percent more as compared to previousyear. He said that power generation and elimi-nation of load-shedding is our foremost pri-ority and 1320 megawatt electricity will beavailable on the completion of Sahiwal powerplant which will decrease the industrial andagriculture production cost.

Emirates launches‘early bird’ salesoffer for Pakistan

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Emirates, a glo-bal connector of people,places and economies, to-day launched its latest EarlyBird sales offer for custom-ers in Pakistan, inspiring anew wave of travel aroundthe world. The all-inclusiveoffer is valid to four differ-ent regions of the extensiveEmirates network includingthe Middle East, Far East,Europe and Americas. Book-ings to all these destinationsshould be made betweennow and 31st August 2014,for travel between 11th Sep-tember and 10th December2014.

“As we move into thesecond half of the year andour customers in Pakistanlook to plan their Autumnbreaks Emirates wanted togive this chance to travel-lers in Pakistan to experienceEmirates award-winningproduct and service at evenbetter value for money,”said Khalid Bardan, VicePresident Emirates Pakistan.“These offers give thechance to explore some ourmost popular destinationsincluding the US, UK andMiddle East”

Emirates offer its pas-sengers an unparallelednetwork of destinations tochoose from with the totalcount now up to 144 in 81countries. A total of six newdestinations have beenadded to the Emirates net-work since the beginning of2014 including, Taipei, Bos-ton, and Chicago; withOslo, Brussels andBudapest to join the net-work later this year.

TDAP bossinaugurates

capacity buildingworkshop

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—S M Muneer,Chief Executive, TDAPinaugurated the “NationalCapacity Building Work-shop on the TIR Conven-tion” at the local hotel ofKarachi today.

TDAP chief expressedhis confidence that thisseries of three workshopsat Karachi, Lahore andIslamabad would help cus-tom officials, transportersand freight forwarders togear up to meeting the chal-lenges of internationaltransformation of goodssmoothly. He said that it isthe declared policy of theGovernment of Pakistan toimprove its regional con-nectivity and facilitatetrade with the regionalcountries, especially ECOcountries, many of whichare landlocked.

PSQCA launchescrack down on

counterfeitproducts

KARACHI—Pakistan Stan-dards & Quality ControlAuthority has launchedcrack down against coun-terfeit Products in the bestinterest of Consumers andindustry. Our Task forceteams along with equippedMobile testing laboratoryand consumer NGO’s rep-resentatives, regularly vis-iting Markets, Stores, fac-tories and open bazaars, tocombat unregistered,Counterfeit products.

This was stated by PirBakhsh Jamali DirectorGeneral Pakistan Standards& Quality Control Author-ity (PSQCA) in his speechin Seminar on combatingcounterfeiting on occasionof World Anti Counterfeit-ing Day 2014, jointly orga-nized by Helpline Trust, Theconsumers Eye Pakistan(TCEP) and ConsumerVoice Pakistan (CVP) withthe collaboration of Paki-stan Standards & QualityControl Authority (PSQCA)here. Director GeneralPSQCA assured organizershis full support for their ef-forts against substandardcounterfeit products in thecountry. “I assure you thatPSQCA will not let counter-feiters free or unchecked inPakistan, fully cooperatewith all stake holders re-garding this menace” hesaid. Director GeneralPSQCA acknowledged andappreciated organizers fortheir extra ordinary effortsrelating to protection ofconsumer’s rights.

Pir Bakhsh Jamali, Direc-tor General PSQCA hadbeen invited as Chief Guest,but due to a sudden emer-gency was unable to attendthe seminar and in his be-half, his speech was read inthe seminar by Mr. ShabbirAhmed Qureshi, DirectorQCC, Pakistan Standards &Quality Control Authority(PSQCA). Engr. M.A.Jabbar Honorary Consul ofUkraine, former Vice Presi-dent of FPCCI & ChairmanSITE Association of Indus-try and member Board of Di-rectors PSQCA in his ChiefGuest speech said that Pa-kistan ranks amongst thosecountries of the worldwhere fake goods and adul-terated foodstuffs are soldopenly in markets. —INP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 99.00 98.80

UK 165.63 165.29

Euro 132.63 132.36

Canada 91.00 90.81

Switzerland 109.65 109.43

Australia 92.27 92.09

Sweden 14.47 14.44

Japan 0.9676 0.9656

Norway 16.14 16.11

Singapore 79.52 79.36

Denmark 17.79 17.75

Saudi Arabia 26.40 26.34

Hong Kong 12.77 12.75

Kuwait 349.31 348.61

Malaysia 31.45 31.39

Newzealand 84.13 83.96

Qatar 27.19 27.13

UAE 26.95 26.90

Kr. Won 0.0974 0.0972

Thailand 3.112 3.106

Daily opening& closing ratesPMEX Index 2,984Total Volume (Lots): 16,728Traded Value (Rs): 3,355,428,847

Commodity .......................... Price Quotation ....................Open ..............CloseCRUDE OIL ......................... $ Per Barrel ............................. 95.66 ............... 96.38SILVER ................................. $ Per Ounce ............................ 19.918 .............19.578GOLD ................................... $ Per Ounce ............................ 1,313.3 ............ 1,301.4GOLD ................................... Rs Per 10 gms ......................... 42,184 .............41,823MTOLAGOLD .................... Rs Per Tola ............................. 50,260 .............50,210GOLD ................................... Rs Per Tola ............................. 50,260 .............50,210RICEIRRI6 ........................... Rs Per 100 kg.......................... 3,600 ............... 3,628PALMOLEIN ...................... Rs Per Maund ........................ 4,107 ............... 4,006SUGAR ................................ Rs Per kg ................................. 48.22 ............... 48.17ICOTTON ............................ US Cents per pound ............. 64.01 ............... 63.71WHEAT ............................... Rs Per 100 kg.......................... 3,405 ............... 3,402

The total value traded was recorded at PKR 3.355 billion as compared to PKR 2.587billion registered on Friday, up by 29.69 percent. Number of lots traded increased to16,728 and PMEX Commodity Index closed at 2,984. Major business was contributedby crude oil amounting to PKR 1.815 billion, followed by gold amounting to PKR1.380 billion – up 77 percent and silver at PKR 160 million – up 114 percent.

KARACHI: President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry AbdullahZaki presenting Chamber’s crest to Senior Economic Officer of US Consulate AlexanderOrr during his visit to Karachi Chamber.

LAHORE: Chairperson TEVTA Arif Anwar Baluch is addressing the function in con-nection with Independence Day Celebrations at Govt College of Technology while, GMOperations Hamid Ghani Anjum, DGM Mustafa Kamal Pasha are also present.

PESHAWAR: President KPCCI Zahid Ullah Shinwari briefing Hassan G DarvishavandConsul General, Consulate of the Islamic Republic of Iran during his visit to KPCCI.

ISLAMABAD—Saudi Arabian General In-vestment Authority (SAGIA) is introduc-ing incentives for value-added foreign in-vestments in a forward step to attractmore foreign investors, says a senior of-ficial from the authority. Ayed Al-Otaibi,director of Investment Regulations De-velopment and Procedures, said that Para-graph 3 of Article VIII has now been re-moved to pave the way for investors tobenefit from more incentives, Arab NewsReported.

A series of efforts to attract value-added investments into the Kingdom willeventually contribute to the developmentof national economy, he said. Necessaryamendments have been made upon theapproval of the board of directors ofSAGIA, said Al-Otaibi. These are prima-rily concerned with attracting companiesthat aim at developing their foreign ven-tures in the Kingdom, he explained. The

New SAGIA drive to boostSaudi economy

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Federation of Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (FPCCI) is againstany call made for civil disobedience as itcan have its severe implications on the na-tional economy with direct bearing on thelives of citizens themselves. FPCCI Presi-dent, Zakaria Usman in a statement onMonday said any attempt to encouragecitizens from not paying their utility billsand taxes or asking them to keep on holdtheir business would further compromisethe economy.

He said the country is already pass-ing through a difficult phase and currentpolitical instability complimented by callsfor civil disobedience may trigger loss tothe national economy. “This is somethingthat would not only harm the state butwould have severe implications on theeconomy and consequently on the liveli-hood of the masses, he said. ZakariaUsman said in a situation when Pak Armyis also in a state of war, the country cannot be exposed to any further turmoil andtrouble.

He said that despite the fact that coun-try is presently exposed to severe energycrisis and industrial units could not be madefunctional to their potential capacity thebusiness and industrialist community isstriving hard for the country’s economicstability and progress. The FPCCI Presi-dent, referring to the importance of the op-

Zakaria warns againstimplications of civil disobedience

eration “Zarb e Azb,” and the dislocationof hundreds of registered people from NorthWaziristan during past two months, saidthis was time to overcome political differ-ences and join hands for their rehabilita-tion.

He in his statement urged the parties,behind the ongoing sit-ins in Islamabad,not to turn their constitutional right un-constitutional through call for civil dis-obedience or insistence to enter the des-ignated red zone. “This is time that all ofus join hands and support our army so asto eradicate the menace of terrorism fromour country for good,” Zakaria Usman.He said the business community is al-ready paying a heavy price for the situa-tion in a scenario where the country isbeing significantly managed through thetaxes paid by them.

FPCCI President appealed to all po-litical leaders and parliamentarians to finda solution for the current impass throughtalks and dialogue. Urging the politiciansto rise above their egos, he said that oth-erwise the country and its people in gen-eral would be the ultimate losers. “If thesituation persists the chances of invest-ment in the country would further re-cede,” he said. Zakaria also claimed thatthe country has suffered an estimatedloss of $ one billion under the head ofexports during past two weeks.“Who is answerable and whom shouldwe hold accountable,” he enquired.

new amendments will provide more ben-efits to investors while further improvingthe investment climate in the Kingdom,said Al-Otaibi.

The new regulation will come into ef-fect as soon as the amendments are pub-lished in the official government gazetteUmmul Qura. As the region’s largesteconomy and the world’s 19th largest, thesheer size of the markets that Saudi-basedprojects serve is “a competitive advantage,allowing Saudi businesses to benefit fromeconomies of scale.”

With excellent access to Saudi Arabiaand other MENA markets, as well as the ad-vanced and emerging economies of nearbyEurope and Asia, market exposure for Saudi-based projects is not only vast but alsohighly diversified. Being one of the world’sTop 20 most competitive economies makesSaudi Arabia the perfect investment desti-nation.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Senior Economic Officer of US Consulate inKarachi, Alexander Orr has said that United States wantsto enhance trade and investment ties as Washington iskeen to look for more investment and more trade with Pa-kistan. There are lots of challenges and opportunities ofenhancing trade and United States remains committed to-wards furthering relations with Pakistan, he added whilespeaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry.

“US has remained actively engaged in various eco-nomic activities in Pakistan and we have been supportingPakistan in its drive to effectively deal with energy crisis”,said Alexander Orr, “U.S. Agency for International Devel-opment (USAID) has been cooperating with Pakistani au-thorities in overcoming the energy crisis being faced bythe country.” “Education is one of the highest priorities ofUS engagements in Pakistan. We have heavily invested inPakistan’s education sector and lots of US-funded pro-grams have been undertaken to improve education. ManyPakistani students are already studying in the US and wewould love to see more”, he added.

Commenting on negative perception about Pakistan,Alexander Orr said, “Perception about Pakistan is mustworse than the reality that requires all of us to make effortsas it is our responsibility to send positive message aboutPakistan to the rest of the world while the Pakistani gov-ernment must also utilize resources to clarify these mis-conceptions.” Replying to a question regarding invari-able trade between Pakistan and United States during thelast one decade, he said that although there are some ob-stacles in few sectors that need to be worked out but tradehas been gradually improving between the two countries.Some positive movement in trade between has been wit-nessed, particularly the rise in exports of mangoes fromPakistan. However, Pakistan needs to further promote itsproducts and services in US markets. In this regard, the

Washington wants more investment,trade with Pakistan: Alexander

LAHORE—All Pakistan Textile Mills As-sociat ion (APTMA) here Monday re-jected Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) callfor civil disobedience in the national in-terest.

The APTMA Central Chairman YasinSiddik stated that export-oriented textileindustry cannot afford uncertainty andstaled situation any more, as it is becom-ing difficult for the textile industry tomeet international commitments due tohinderances in the timely shipments andthere is a strong chance that future or-ders can be placed to other countries likeVietnam, Bangladesh etc.

Siddik said that prevailing uncertaintyis affecting the textile exports by $38 mil-lion per day. “We are businessmen and wecannot afford to go into civil disobedience

APTMA votes againstdisobedience drive

and cannot defy the laws of the land. Allwe stand for a stable and peaceful workingbusiness environment so that we may ful-fill our obligations to our country and cli-ents,” he added.

Meanwhile, Punjab APTMA Chair-man S.M. Tanveer said that textile indus-try in Punjab was a direct victim of po-litical uncertainty and present call forcivil disobedience. The APTMA, he said,keenly envisaged to operate textile in-dustry at i ts fullest potential so as toavail opportunities of market access andincrease national exports manifold. TheAPTMA leaders also urged all the par-ties concerned to bring normalcy backto the country in the larger interest ofthe economy to end the stalemate situa-tion at the earliest.—APP

best way of improving trade between the two countrieswas to support companies and promote opportunities, headded.

Speaking on the occasion, President KCCI, AbdullahZaki stressed the need to further enhance trade ties be-tween Pakistan and United States as the existing tradevolume was not depicting the real trade potential. He saidthat Karachi Chamber has remained vibrant in strengthen-ing trade ties and exploring new bilateral trade prospectswith US. KCCI has always maintained the stance that “Wewant Trade not Aid” and emphasized upon the need ofminimizing trade barriers between the two countries. Hepointed out that misconceptions about the security situa-tion of Pakistan must be clarified as the overall securitysituation was not as worse as being imagined by foreignbusinessmen and industrialists mainly due to negativetravel advisories being issued from time to time.

Abdullah Zaki also underscored the need to enhanceinteractions between the business communities with a viewto further improve trade and business relations betweenboth countries.

He also appreciated US government for assisting Paki-stan in overcoming energy crisis, promoting education,helping in increasing economic opportunities, improvinghealthcare services, and supporting development of criticalinfrastructure. Referring to European Union’s GSP Plusscheme to Pakistan, President KCCI stressed that early sign-ing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan andUnited States can help in smooth penetration of Pakistaniproducts into the American markets, besides pave way forenhanced trade volume between the two countries. Presentin the meeting were including President KCCI, AbdullahZaki, Chairman Diplomatic Affairs Sub-Committee KCCI,Abdul Jabbar Dalal, Former President KCCI, Majyd Aziz,Managing Committee members Zafar Saeed Baghpatee, AsifBega, Tanveer Barry and Abid Nisar, Senior KCCI Mem-bers, Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbiand Ateeq ur Rehman were also present at the meeting.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Technical Education and Voca-tional Training Authority (TEVTA) will train0.5 million trainees in four years (2014-15 to2017-18). During the current academic year,TEVTA will train more than one lac students.The vision of Punjab govt. is to provideskills training to the youth to produce em-ployable skilled work force responsive tothe needs of jobs market locally and abroad.Chairperson TEVTA Arif Anwar Baloch saidin his speech on the occasion of mega eventfor the celebrations of Independence Dayhere yesterday (Monday) at Govt. Collegeof Technology Railway Road, Lahore.Large number of male and female students,teachers, Heads of TEVTA Institutes andTEVTA Officers were present on this occa-

TEVTA to train 0.5m traineesin four years

sion. All Zonal Managers and DistrictsManagers were also invited to attend thegrand event.

Arif Anwar Baloch said that TEVTAbeing leading TVET provider in public sec-tor, currently managing 356 technical andvocational institutes, will enhance its train-ing capacity to contribute in achieving theplanned target envisioned by Punjab Govt.A numbers of 220,000 additional traineeswould be trained till 2017-18. He further saidthat skill training is the fastest mode to en-able youth a useful resource for his familyas well as for the economic growth of thecountry. Training the youth will contributesignificantly in poverty alleviation by pro-viding sustainable livelihood chances. Healso said that Pakistan is our identity thatwe have earned through immense sacrifices.

Trade bodies rejectImran’s civil

disobedience move

RAWALPINDI—Trade bod-ies here on Monday re-jected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman ImranKhan’s call for civil disobe-dience. Talking to APP,President Markazi Anjuman-e-Tajran Shahid GhafoorParacha said the call of civildisobedience is tantamountto undermine the country’seconomy and the step willincrease lawlessness andpoverty in the country. Hesaid that the speeches be-ing delivered at the sit in ofImran Khan are not morethan rhetoric and the diffi-culties being confronted bythe masses needs just com-mitted approach which isbeing followed by the in-cumbent government.

President Traders Ac-tion Committee Sharjeel Mirsaid Imran Khan’s civil dis-obedience call is unjustifiedand does not have any sup-port of the citizens particu-larly business community.The stock market, after longand inqlab marches has re-corded billions of rupeeslosses. Traders would notaccept the PTI’s controver-sial call as the traders arefacing huge losses due tothe strikes, long and inqlabmarches, he added.—APP

Oil prices downin Asian trade

SINGAPORE—Oil priceseased in Asian trade Mon-day, but retained supportfrom the latest round of ten-sions between Ukraine andRussia which sparked con-cerns of a full-scale militaryconflict, analysts said. USbenchmark West Texas Inter-mediate for September deliv-ery was down 46 cents at$96.89 while Brent crude forOctober fell 65 cents to$102.88 in mid-morning trade.

Desmond Chua, marketanalyst at CMC Markets inSingapore said oil priceswere supported by news onFriday that Ukraine hadshelled Russian armouredvehicles after they enteredits territory. Moscow deniedthe incursion. UkrainianPresident Petro Poroshenkosaid government artilleryhad destroyed “a consider-able part” of a Russian mili-tary convoy purportedlycarrying humanitarian aidinto rebel-held east Ukraine.

The West and Kiev fearthe convoy could be a “Tro-jan horse” to help the pro-Kremlin rebels, or provideMoscow with an excuse tosend in the 20,000 troops thatNATO says it has massedon the border. The foreignministers of Ukraine, Russia,Germany and France arelocked in talks in Berlin todefuse the tense situation.Hosts Germany said lateSunday the “difficult” talksended with no concrete ad-vances but with “someprogress”. Investors fear afull-blown military conflictbetween Russia and Ukrainewill disrupt Russian energyexports to Europe.—AFP

LAHORE: PU Faculty of Law Acting Dean and Principal Law College Dr Shazia Qureshi giving prize to a player ofSports Gala.

CINCINNATI: Roger Federer with ATP Cincinnati Masters trophy after beating DavidFerrer in the final.

Karachi Whitesteam for Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

namedKARACHI—Selection com-mittee headed by former Pa-kistan Captain Rashid LatifMonday named a 20-mem-ber Karachi White squad forQuaid-e-Azam Cricket Tro-phy Silver League.

Team was picked afterone-day trials held at Na-tional Stadium on Saturday.Former Off-spinner TauseefAhmed and former Testopener Wajahatullah Wastiwere the other members ofthe selection committee.

Selection committeealso announced the catego-ries of the players.—APP

Khushi Khailwins Basketball

trophyBANNU—Khushi Khailclinched the trophy afterdefeating Wazirstan XI inthe final of the Basketballeven part of the ongoingIDPs Games in BabakhailIDPs Camp here on Monday.

Khushi Khail right fromthe start dominated the pro-ceeding and did not givemuch time to Waziristan XIteam to strike back. KhushiKhail XI got the lead in thefirst quarter by 11-9 and didthe same in the second quar-ters at 21-17.

It was the third quarterswhen Waziristan XI stageda comeback by taking thelead at 31-38. Waziristan XItried their hard to maintaintheir lead in the last and de-cisive quarter of 38-32points to win in final butthey were failed and thusKhusi Khail XI teammarched into victory at 52-48.—APP

BANNU—Tappi Khan XI lifted the trophyafter defeating Chashma XI in the thrillingfinal of the football event part of the ongo-ing IDPs Games in Babakhail Camp, Dis-trict Bannu here on Monday.

Chanting slogans, cheering and danc-ing spectators when witnessed the final ofthe volleyball turned up to see the thrill-packed final of the football event playedbetween Tappi Khan XI and Chashma XIteam wherein the former won the match by2-1.

It was hotly contestant encounter andChashma XI attracted great crowd. Havingedge of the cheering spectators, ChashmaXI took the lead through Raza Wazir on thefield attempt in the 7th minute of the matchproceedings.

The early goal gave boost to onrush-ing forwards of Chashma XI and they madesome fine moves but thanks to Tappi KhanXI team goal-keeper Israr Ullah who res-cued his team all the time.

It was in the 17th minute when TappiKhan XI succeeded in leveling the tally 1-1

IDPs Games

Tappi Khan XI liftedSoccer trophy

when Fayyaz slammed in a beautiful goalfrom the top of the box area. It was forcefulkick that did not give Chashma XI goal-keeper a chance to stop. The two teamswere tied 1-1.

In the half-time a demonstration of tra-ditional “Atharn” was also enjoyed by thespectators who too participated in thedance alongside the two teams. After short-break of 10 minutes it was the second ses-sion in which Tappi Khan XI succeeded ingetting a key lead through Zafran Wazir onthe field attempt and the lead of Tappi KhanXI remained till the end of the 70-minuteplay.

Teams of 22 tribes took part in ninegames formed from IDPs camps setup atdifferent areas of the Southern Districts,particularly Bannu. The tribes comprisingKhurmaz, Tappi, Mir Ali, Musa Khai, KushaKhail, Kuddi, Pappi, Kajoori, Dadta Khail,Miran Shah, Banda, PA XI, Asstori,Chasma, Spin Wam, Shahoo, Sapgal,Kamzoni, Razmak, Haider Ali andMalakan.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Asian Bradman ZaheerAbbas dis-a p p o i n t e don the na-tional team’sperformancein the Tests e r i e sagainst SriLanka saidthe way ourb a t s m e nfaced spinbowling waslooking as ifthey didn’tknow how toplay it.

Pak i -stan lost thetwo matches

test series against Sri Lanka. Pakistan willnow be playing three matches ODI seriesagainst Pakistan with the first ODI startingfrom August 23.

Talking to APP, Zaheer said he wasn’texpecting such a bad loss from the Paki-stan side. “The way Pakistan team preparedhere in the training camps prior to the tourto Sri Lanka seemed like they would go thereand whitewash the series but Pakistan teamhas let us down,” he said.

Zaheer while praising Sri Lankan bowlerRangana Herath said Herath proved to bean excellent bowler in the Test series but I

Zaheer disappointed onteam’s loss against SL

am really shocked that our batsmen couldtackle his bowling. “The other reason forour team’s defeat in the series is inconsis-tency in batting.

In one innings our batsmen score 451runs and in the next they are bowled out on180 runs in the first test,” he said.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)CEO Arif Abbasi said he is not at all satis-fied with Pakistan’s current performance.“Pakistan team says they are preparing forthe World Cup then what about these testmatches?” he questioned adding thesematches are of the same importance as theones in the World Cup.

Arif said Sri Lankan bowler RanganaHerath has always troubled the Pakistanteam.

“Herath is a massive finger spinner andhe is very clever,” he said.

While praising Pakistan wicket-keeperSarfraz Ahmed, Arif said Sarfraz has per-formed exceptionally well, but there is noguarantee the selectors would stick withhim or not. “After what they did withTaufeeq Umar and Raza Hasan, I have noconfidence in our selectors,” he said.

Arif said he doesn’t see Abdur Rehmanin the side. “Rehman’s only achievement isbowling three beamers,” he said adding weare lacking a quality left arm spinner.

However Arif felt that Sri Lanka is theonly team that can tour Pakistan. “We havedone many favours to the Sri Lankans andthey owe us,” he said.—APP

BANNU—Spirited Super Waziristan Agencyclinched the trophy after defeating strongGreen XI of Mir Ali in the final of the Volley-ball event part of the ongoing IDPs Gamesat Bakakhail Camps, District Bannu here onMonday.

There were hundreds and thousands ofcrowd witnessed the grant final of the vol-leyball and besides the IDPs of BakakhailCamp, the local people from different vil-lages of Bannu, Bannu City also turned up.

Super Waziristan Agency team facedtough resistant at the hands of strong GreenXI team of Mir Ali. The two teams werestretched to five sets battle.

Super Waziristan XI team won the firstset by 25-21 but failed to click in the sec-ond won by Green XI of Mir Ali at 23-25.After 1-1, the players of both SuperWaziristan XI and Green XI Mir Ali pro-vided great thrill for the cheering specta-tors.

This time Green XI Mir Ali won the setby 20-25 but on the other hands Super

Rashid-Tehsinwins Nishan-e-Haider Pairs

BridgeKARACHI—Pakistan topinternationals Rashid-ul-Ghazi-Tehsin Gheewalacompeting from East-Westdirection, outscored othersand came at the top of theladder with a handsomescore of 65.21 percent inNishan-e-Haider PairsBridge Tournament on Sun-day evening.

According to KarachiBridge Association (KBA)on Monday in presence ofsome big names, it was oneof the largest, toughest andexciting gathering at theDefence Service Club DHA.

The event was spon-sored by Maj (Retd) SaadatA Khan, which has shownhis love and attachment tothe Pakistan Army and thecountry.

Ghazi and Gheewalatopped the 25-pairevent.There had been a verycompetitive game through-out which kept the posi-tions fluctuated by everyround.—APP

LONDON—James Anderson has said thefall-out from his row with Ravindra Jadejahelped him star in a 3-1 Test series win overIndia.

England wrapped up the five-matchcontest with a colossal innings and 244-run victory, completed inside three days, atThe Oval on Sunday.

Spearhead seamer Anderson wasnamed England’s man-of-the-series aftertaking 25 wickets at an average of 20.60 ashe made inroads into an ever-more fallibleIndia top order. Anderson’s sparkling formprompted a succession of increasingly lowtotals that culminated with the tourists’humiliating 94 all out in their second inningsat The Oval. But had India had their way,Anderson would not have been playing atall by that stage. Indian managementbrought a Level Three charge under the In-ternational Cricket Council’s code of con-duct, alleging he had “abused and pushed”Jadeja in a pavilion incident during thedrawn first Test at Trent Bridge. Thecharges were dismissed by ICC code ofconduct commissioner Gordon Lewis, whoalso rescinded the 50 percent match fee fineimposed on Jadeja by match referee DavidBoon, the former Australia batsman. How-ever, what did emerge from the hearing wasAnderson’s fondness for some pretty crude‘sledging’ or verbal abuse of opposition

Anderson channels his angerbatsmen out in the middle. And in the lightof that,A n d e r s o nsaid he hadtried to lethis bowling,above allelse, do thetalking forhim.

“ P o s s i -bly, in thelast fewgames, Ihave con-c e n t r a t e dmore on be-ing aggres-sive with theball ratherthan my mouth,” Anderson said. “I think Itried to be as aggressive. Whether I tried tosay any less, I don’t know. But I think theJadeja incident made me more determinedto perform on the field. “At Southampton,when the stuff was going on around beforeand after the game (the Lancashirepaceman had his hearing the day afterEngland’s series-levelling victory), we wereso focused on winning that game, and sincethen we’ve not let India back into the se-ries.”

Spirited Super Waziristanclinches Volleyball trophy

Waziristan Agency staged a strong come-back and won two consecutive sets by 27-25 and 15-13 to seal the fate of rivals at 3-2.

The sobbing skipper of Green XI MirAli when received the runners-up trophyfrom the chief guest Director Sports FATAFaisal Jamil Shah he received thunderingapplauses from the sitting spectators.

“It was do or die battle and our teamplayed excellently but luck did not favourus and we lost the final, Inam Ullah Wazir,hailing from Miran Shah city”, he told toldAPP.

There were jubilations in the rank ofdancing Super Waziristan Agency team ofwinning the final. Shamus Ullah, the skip-per of Super Waziristan Agency, expressedhis jubilations.

“My team proved that we are SuperWaziristan team. Despite losing the final,Green XI Mir Ali joined the victorious Su-per Waziristan Agency in a traditional dance“Athan” and enjoyed it with great fun”, headded.—APP

PFF completeScrutiny of

clubs inMardan

PESHAWAR—The PakistanFootball Federation team ofscrutiny headed by DirectorTechnical Wing Com-mander (Retd) Pervez SaeedMir completed scrutiny of25 clubs affiliated with Dis-trict Football AssociationMardan on Monday.

Vice President PakistanFootball Federation andformer IGP MuhammadSaeed Khan, Secretary Gen-eral Khyber PakhtunkhwaFootball Association BasitKamal, Scrutiny InspectorPFF Muhammad Sageer,Chairman DFA Mardan AliGohar, office-bearers of theclubs, more than 450 play-ers were also present dur-ing the scrutiny.

The scrutiny committeethoroughly assess thewhole documentation of theall the 25 players and askedquestions to 450 playersassociated with these clubsbefore clearing the clubs.Talking to APP on phonePervez Saeed Mir said thatthe players date, clubs work-ing affairs, holding of tour-naments by the DFA andparticipation of the clubswere par excellent in DistrictMardan. He lauded the of-fice-bearers of the club formaintaining the wholerecord and proper playerdata.

He said Mardan is con-sidered a key unit of the Pa-kistan Football Federationas far as promotion of foot-ball is concerned. He alsoappreciated MuhammadSaeed Khan, a representa-tive from the DistrictMardan in PFF.

He said all clubs ap-peared before the scrutinycommittee has been givenclearance certificates. Thenames of the clubs compris-ing Hatian club, SuperGreen, New English, Mardanclub, Blue Stars, Nationalclub, Young United, Janbazclub, Shah Said Club,Shaheen club, Lukky Stars,Haider club, Akhakhail club,Toro Club Mardan, MardanUnited club, Young BlueStars, Amazai club, andIftikhar Club.

Talking to this agency,Chairman DFA Ali Goharlauded the efforts of thescrutiny committee for vis-

CINCINNATI—Roger Federer won his 80thcareer title with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win over DavidFerrer in the final of the ATP CincinnatiMasters on Sunday.

The world number three from Switzer-land claimed his sixth Cincinnati title, ham-mering six aces and winning an impressive76 percent of his first serve points in theone hour, 42 minute match.

Federer, who turned 33 earlier thismonth, nows owns a 16-0 record againstthe sixth-seeded Ferrer dating back to theirfirst meeting in Vienna in 2003.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams won herfirst Cincinnati title Sunday with a con-vincing 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ana Ivanovic,just a week out from the defence of her USOpen crown.

World number one Williams, 32, nowhas 62 career WTA titles, but lifted the tro-phy in Cincy for the first time in her sixthattempt.

She won nine of the last 10 gamesagainst Ivanovic to roll to victory in justover an hour.

Williams has won both of her summerhardcourt events played in the UnitedStates, taking the Stanford title last month.In between she reached the semi-finals inToronto, losing to her sister Venus.

Federer wins Cincinnati Masters“I was just so excited for this final,”

Williams said. “I just really felt like I hadnothing to lose. So I was able to relax.

“It truly feels good.I didn’t expect tocome here and win or have such a goodsummer.I’ve just been trying to go withthe flow and be positive and it’s workingout.”

The American finished with a love gameagainst Ivanovic, a former world numberone who will now return to the top 10 in therankings for the first time in five years.

Williams took advantage of her sched-uling good luck after playing the after-noon semi-final on Saturday, whileIvanovic had to work for nearly threehours the night before to battle past MariaSharapova.

“It’s definitely very, very quick, youknow.” Ivanovic said of the turnaround.“Despite all that, I really tried my hardest.She just played too good today.

“This is the biggest final I’ve been in ina while and it felt good to be part of it,” sheadded. “I just want to keep working hardand keep improving in the areas that I can.

“There are still a few points in my gamethat I feel I need to work on for the US Openand also for the end of season. Definitelyexciting times.”—AFP

PESHAWAR—Kajore Stars and Waztan XIhave setup their final showdown after elimi-nating their respective rivals in the semi-finals of the Cricket event part of the on-going IDPs Games being played at spe-cially prepared ground near BabakhailCamp.

In the first semi-final Kajore Stars de-feated Karwan by 8 runs in a dramaticallyended match. Kojore Stars won the tossand elected to bat first by setting up 114runs after playing the 20 overs wherein Tahirand Abdullah scored 43 and 30 runs, noneof the other batsmen could cross the doublefigures.

Tahir smashed eight boundaries whileAbdullah Wazir hit another five boundaries.For Karwan XI Ibrahim, Suleman and Khalidtook two wickets each.

In reply, Karwan bundled out 106 runsin the last overs. Karwan needed just eightruns in one over with four wickets in handsbut lost all four wickets in the last overs atthe hands of excellent bowling by AbdullahWazir.

For Karwan Suleman and Yasir were the

Kajore Stars, Waztan XI toclash in Cricket final

main contributors. Suleman scored 30 runsand Yasir was not out on 39 runs includingfive boundaries and one six. Sulemansmashed four boundaries. For Kajore StarsAbdullah Wazir claimed five wickets, fourwickets in one over, including a dashinghat-trick and guided his team to a key vic-tory.

In the second semi-final Waztan XI beatChashma by four wickets. Chashma XI wonthe toss and elected to bat first by setting121 runs for the loss of eight wickets afterplaying the allotted 20 overs.

For Chashma Taimur Khan (31), Usman(23) and Umar not out 41 runs were the keycontributors. For Waztan XI Siraj, Haris, BilalWazir and Javed Ullah took two wicketseach.

In reply to 121 runs target, Waztan XIchased the target for the loss of seven wick-ets with opener Faheem Ullah struck an el-egant knock of 42 runs including five bound-aries. Jan Ullah Wazir made 30 runs includ-ing three boundaries while Bilal scored notout 33 runs. For Chashma Umar and Usmantook three wickets each.—APP

South Africaunlikely toexperiment

against ZimbabweBULAWAYO (Zimbabwe)—South Africa will ignore thetemptation to experiment andinstead plan to field what theybelieve is their first-choice XIwhen they meet Zimbabwe inthe second of three one-dayinternationals against Zimba-bwe on Tuesday. The Proteascruised to a 93-run victory overtheir hosts in the first matchon Sunday, with Hashim Amlascoring his fourth one-dayhundred in six innings.

The gulf between thetwo sides was clearthroughout the match, butparticularly in the first in-nings when a strong SouthAfrican batting line-up putan inexperienced Zimba-bwean bowling unit con-taining three debutants tothe sword in racking up 309for three.—AFP

PU Law Collegeorganizes sports

eventsMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—On the direc-tives of Punjab UniversityFaculty of Law Acting Deanand Principal Law CollegeDr Shazia Qureshi the Uni-versity Law College has or-ganized sports gala in con-nection with IndependenceDay in the college premises.

Secretary General, Paki-stan Karate FederationShamim Hashmi, NationalCoach Fayyaz and employ-ees were attended the cer-emony.

In sports events, Em-ployees Cricket Team beatLaw College Cricket Teamand Raja Sanwal was thebest player of the matchscoring 35 runs. In tug-of-war, College Library Teambeat rest of College employ-ees’ team. In badmintondouble competition,Waheed-ur-Rehman andShahmeer beat Shahzad andMuzammil in an excitingmatch. A karate competitionwas also arranged.

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Kiran Pal Singh, the father ofTeam India’s 25-year-old pace-bowlerBhuvaneshwar Kumar believes that the In-dian winners of the Man of the Match orMan of the Series awards be not given thechampagne bottles.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was India’s Manof the Series (nominated by England coachPeter Moores) and all winners were pre-sented with the cheques and bottles ofchampagne.

“I watched the presentation ceremonyafter the Test match on Sunday. The huge-margin defeats (in the series) hurt more thanBhuvi winning the MoS award”, he saidover telephone from Meerut.

“My son is a teetotaller and don’t knowwhat he would do with this bottle. Bhuvidoes not smoke, or even touches a glass ofwine. I don’t think this practice of giftingchampagne bottles exist in other countries.It should be stopped”, the dad, who was aformer Police Inspector (opted for VRS lastyear) in UP, added.

Pl don’t gift champagne bottle to myson, says Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s dad

“Yes, till now, Kumar has not touchedthe wine bottle”, Rekha, Bhuvaneshwar’selder sister, endorsed. “But my brother ismatured enough now and will take his owndecision on this champagne bottle.Whether to gift it to the team or keep it as anhonour in the cupboard will be his own de-cision”.

However, it is a tradition in England,says ECB’s official. “The champagne bottlesare supplied by sponsors. It is traditional inmany countries not just England. Cham-pagne is also celebratory in other sportssuch as motor racing”, Colin Gibson, theECB’s Media Director, said from London.

“This has / had been a practice in Aus-tralia, South Africa, West Indies, NewZealand and at some ICC events. In Indiathere is sometimes something like a motorcycle from the sponsors which is not likelyin England”, Gibson added. “Earlier Aus-tralia too used to do it during some of theirODI tournaments. Eng does it often. It isprovided by their sponsors”, MohandasMenon, and Kersi-Meher Homji, the game’sIndian statistician and Australian historianalso say in exclusive chats.

PITTSFORD: LPGA champion Inbee Park gets doused after winning a sudden deathplayoff.

PITTSFORD (United States)—Park In-Beedowned Brittany Lincicome with a par at thefirst playoff hole to win a second-straightLPGA Championship title.

The South Korean star claimed the fifthmajor title of her career.

Three of those came in her stunning six-win 2013 campaign, but she hadn’t notcheda win in 2014 until the Manulife FinancialClassic in Canada in June.

“I’m very happy to defend my title andactually have a second win of the year,” saidPark, who couldn’t match Lincicome’slength off the tee but was able to compen-sate with other aspects of her game at Mon-roe Golf Club.

“I think I had to hit a lot of shots closerfrom longer distance, obviously,” Park said.“I had to make a lot of putts.”

Park, who started the day tied for sec-ond with Suzann Pettersen one stroke be-

Park retains LPGA Championshipcrown with playoff win

MADRID—Chris Froome will leadTeam Sky at the Tour of Spain afterovercoming the hand andwrist injuries which forcedhim to abandon his defenceof the Tour de France lastmonth.

The 21-stage Tour getsunder way on Saturdaywith a team time trialthrough Jerez de laFrontera.

Froome was forced toretire from the Tour deFrance after just five stagesfollowing three heavycrashes in two days and iskeen to make amends forthat disappointment overthe next month in Spain.

“This is exactly the sortof challenge that I need af-ter the disappointment ofwithdrawing from the Tourde France,” he said.

“You can’t dwell on dis-appointment, you have tomove on quickly to nextthing and the Vuelta has become theperfect race for me to focus on.”

Froome’s breakthrough on theGrand Tour stage came at the Vueltawhen he finished second back in2011.

Froome back to lead Sky at Tour of SpainHowever, he faces stiff competi-

tion if he is to win the event for a first

time as Colombian Nairo Quintana willbe full of confidence after winning theGiro d’Italia earlier this year, whilsttwo-time Tour de France winnerAlberto Contador has also overcomeinjury to take part.

“I’ve always really enjoyed rac-ing at the Vuelta, it’s a tough race but

a great opportunity for thewhole team,” addedFroome.

“I know that the level ofcompetition will be incred-ibly high this year, butwe’ve got a strong line upso we hope to be as com-petitive as possible.”

Froome will be joined byfellow Brits Peter Kennaughand Luke Rowe with PhilipDeignan, Mikel Nieve, VasilKiryienka, KanstantsinSiutsou, Christian Kneesand Dario Cataldo makingup the nine-man strongteam.

“Chris Froome will be ourteam leader and it’s great tohave him back on the bikeand focused on the chal-lenge ahead,” said SkyTeam Principal DaveBrailsford.

“He was obviously verydisappointed after having to withdrawfrom the Tour de France but Chris hasrecovered and trained well since theinjury. He’s now more determined thanever to get back to what he does best- riding Grand Tours.”—AFP

Pak-Bahrainto meet in a

football seriesI S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nwill be playing a friendlyfootball series againstBahrain scheduled to beheld in Bahrain from Au-gust 22 to 30.

Talking to APP, PFF’sSecretary Col Ahmed YarLodhi said the serieswould prove a landmark inthe football ing relat ionsof both the countries. “Itshows that the PFF is do-ing its best efforts for thegame and to give exposureto the players,” he said.

Lodhi said Pakistanwill also be hosting thefirst ever SAARC WomenFootball Championshipwhich was granted to themon special request to theSouth Asian Football Fed-eration.

Speaking of the diffi-culties faced by the PFFin promoting the game,Lodhi said we are still us-ing equipments and otherstuff that was used 100years ago.

“Now the game of foot-ball has become very fastand in order to keep pacewith it we need money,” hesaid.—APP

CO L O M B O—It took Sri Lankajust under an hour on the fifthmorning to wrap up the Pakistaninnings and kick off the celebra-tions at the SSC. A 2-0 win in hisfinal series in the presence of hisfamily, fans and team-mates - cur-rent and former, a s i lken-shot

S Lanka 1st innings:320Pakistan 1st innings:332S Lanka 2nd innings:282Pakistan 2nd innings:Khurram b Prasad ....... 10Shehzad lbw b Prasad .. 8Azhar Ali b Herath ...... 10Younis lbw b Herath ....... 8Misbah b Herath ........... 3Asad Shafiq b Herath . 32Sarfraz c Sangakkarab Welegedara ............... 55Abdur Rehman lbw bPerera .............................. 5

Wahab Riaz c Silva bHerath ........................... 17Saeed Ajmal not out ..... 3Junaid Khan absent hurtExtras: (b 4, lb 7, nb 3) 14Total: (all out) ............ 165Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-21,3-31, 4-39, 5-50, 6-105, 7-122,8-151, 9-165Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WWelegedara ........ 9-4-22-1Prasad ................. 8-0-29-2Herath ............ 22.1-2-57-5Perera ................ 13-1-46-1

Herath scripts perfectfarewell for Jayawardene

laden final innings - MahelaJayawardene could not haveasked for a better farewell after aglittering 17-year-old career. Thefirecrackers were set alight themoment Wahab Riaz top-edged asweep off Rangana Herath to be-come the bowler’s 14th wicket in

the match.E m o -

tions ranhigh asJayawardenewas carriedaround theground byhis team-mates ontheir shoul-ders, the SriL a n k a nP r e s i d e n tM a h i n d aR a j a p a k s aamong thehordes offans who

had come over to say theirgoodbyes to the legend. The Pa-kistan team, led by their coachWaqar Younis, joined in con-gratulating the batsman.

Saeed Ajmal got away with anofficial warning for a Level 1breach on the fourth day of theSSC Test. The on-field umpiresreported him for using obscenelanguage in the 105th over of SriLanka’s second innings. Level 1breaches carry a maximum pen-alty of 50% of the match fee.The result of the match was notin doubt once Pakistan had lostseven wickets in the last sessionof the fourth day but heavy show-ers on the f if th morning hadthreatened a delayed start . Theclouds parted just in time for thegroundstaff to get the groundready but it still took 40 minutesfor Sri Lanka to break a stubbornstand between Sarfraz Ahmedand Wahab.

Sarfraz, Pakistan’s best bats-

man in the series with a half-cen-tury in each innings, sweptChanaka Welegedara’s first ballin the 10th over of the daystraight to deep square leg and,with Junaid Khan unavailable, itwas a matter of time before SriLanka closed the game. Fittingly,it was Herath who picked the lastwicket to complete yet anotherfive-wicket haul and make it 23wickets in the two Tests - a recordfor a two-match series. His 14-184were also the second-best figuresby a bowler against Pakistan.

From a Pakistan perspective,the margin of defeat in the serieswas not a true reflection of howclose the matches were. Playingtheir first Test in seven months,the team fought hard both inGalle and Colombo, but sufferedsecond-innings collapses. Theseries loss meant they alsodropped from third to sixth posi-tion in the ICC Test rankings.—AFP

COCLOMBO: After scoring 11814 runs and 34 centuries in 149 matches, MahelaJayawardene bid farewell to Test cricket at the SSC on Monday.

hind Lincicome, fired a two-under par 70 fora 277 total.

She birdied 17 and drained a long parputt at the last to keep the pressure onLincicome, who could have won in regula-tion with a par at the final hole but bogeyedthe 72nd to cap a 71 and fall into the playoff.

They returned to the par-four 18th forthe first hole of the sudden death deciderand both failed to find the green with theirsecond shots. Lincicome’s chip rolled six feetpast the hole while Park chipped up to aboutthree feet.After Lincicome’s par effortburned the edge but failed to drop, Parkrolled in her tournament-winner.

New Zealand’s 17-year-old Lydia Ko fin-ished third after a 70 for 280.

It was a further two strokes back toSpain’s Azahara Munoz, who signed for a70 and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, whonotched a 71 for 282.—AFP

Shaharyarelected PCB

Chairmanunopposed

K A R A C H I — S h a h a r y a rMuhammad Khan waselected as the Chairman ofPakistan Cricket Board(PCB) on Monday unani-mously, an announcement

by PCB said.“Under Paragraph 7 (2)

& (3) of the Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) Constitution2014, a special meeting ofthe Board of Governors(BOG) of PCB for the elec-tion of Chairman PCB washeld on Monday August 18,at National Cricket Acad-emy, Lahore,” PCB said in astatement.

“It is notified thatShaharyar M. Khan, thesole candidate for the office,has been unanimouslyelected as Chairman PCBand shall assume charge at4:00 pm this afternoon saida news release issued byPCB Election CommissionerJustice Muhammad Sair Ali.

Shaharyar Khan aformer diplomat has beenelected Chairman of theboard for the second timeafter serving PCB from 2003to 2006.—APP

PARIS: England Women team celebrate winning the Women’s World Cup Rugby Cham-pionship.

PARIS—England ended a run of threestraight final defeats with a 21-9 victory overCanada to be crowned women’s World Cupchampions.

The Red Roses, also champions in 1994,were beaten by New Zealand in the finals ofthe last three tournaments (2002, 2006, 2010).The Black Ferns missed out on this year’sshowdown after a shock defeat by Irelandin the pool stages.

With abbreviated rugby sevens to makeits Olympic debut for men and women at the2016 Rio Olympics, the 15-a-side final wasperfect publicity for the sport’s world gov-erning body, the International Rugby Board(IRB).

In front of a near-capacity 20,000 crowdat Stade Jean Bouin, home to Top 14 clubStade Francais in western Paris, the two sidesproduced a game that, while perhaps not atits flowing best, featured no little skill, un-abashed hard-nosed aggression and tacti-cal nous.

England, however, will be left ponder-ing how they didn’t put the game out ofCanada’s grasp after building up an 11-0 leadand completely dominating possession andterritory in the first half.

Rugby: England beat Canadato win women’s World Cup

The Canadians, appearing in the final forthe first time, proved to be doughty oppo-nents whose confidence grew as their packpressed for set-piece dominance.

But out of nothing, outstanding centreEmily Scarratt jinked her way out of a weakcouple of tackles and skipped away for a tryshe converted to put England out of dangerwith seven minutes of the game remaining.

It was Scarratt who had got thescoreboard ticking with a 11th minute pen-alty after a tight opening period.

Katherine Merchant then had two clearchances, the first thwarted by a fantastictackle by Canada flanker Karen Paquin, thesecond time the winger knocking on withthe line beckoning.

Livewire scrum-half Natasha Hunt wasthen denied a try by the video referee, Paquinagain on hand with the crucial tackle, butEnglish pressure mounted and Scarrattadded a second penalty soon after.

With Canada looking distinctly leaden-footed in defence, full-back DanielleWaterman crossed for the first try of thematch after 33 minutes following a show-and-go by lock Tamara Taylor and goodhands in midfield by Margaret Alphonsi.—AFP

Ajmal warnedfor breachingICC Code of

ConductI S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a noff-spinner Saeed Ajmalhas been reprimanded andwarned for a Level 1breach of the Interna-t ional Cricket Council(ICC) Code of Conduct forPlayers and Player Sup-port Personnel during thefourth day’s play in thesecond cricket Testagainst Sri Lanka at theSinhalese Sports Club(SSC) on Sunday.

Saeed was found tohave breached Article2.1.4 of the Code, whichrelates to “using languageor a gesture that is ob-scene, offensive or insult-ing during an Interna-tional Match”, said an In-ternational Cricket Coun-cil press release issuedhere.

The charge related toan incident after the 105thover of Sri Lanka’s secondinnings when he used badlanguage, which waspicked up by the stumpmicrophone and heard ontelevision.

The charge was laid bythe on-field umpires IanGould and RichardIllingworth, and third um-pire Bruce Oxenford, allfrom the Emirates Eli tePanel off InternationalCricket Council Umpires.

All Level 1 breachescarry a minimum penaltyof an official reprimandand a maximum penalty of50 per cent of a player ’smatch fee.—APP

FROM park bench pushups and monkey barlifts to open air runs, fitness experts saythe workout possibilities of playgrounds

and parks are worth the consideration of eventhe most diehard gym users. During the warm,waning summer days, freshair workouts offer a wealthof new ways to boost themood, channel the inner childand even burn extra calories.

Chris Freytag, a per-sonal trainer and healthcoach with the AmericanCouncil on Exercise, lovesthe gym but lives in Minne-apolis, Minnesota, a citynotorious for brutal winters.“I’m a big believer in changeof venue, of getting awayfrom the same treadmill, thesame spot. And there’ssomething about fresh airand moving in space,” saidFreytag, who leads bootcamp and circuit classes inparks and parking lots dur-ing the summer months.

The changing terrain can also inspire thesolitary exerciser to mix it up. “I’m all abouthills: every time you see a hill or steps or stairs,lunge at it,” said Freytag. “Step up and downon curbs and park benches.” A child’s play-ground offers core-strengthening possibilitiesfrom deep plank pushups, with feet placed onswings, to training with resistance bands slungaround poles, to monkey bar pull-ups, she ex-plained.

Research suggest the outdoor boost can bemental as well as physical. In a 2014 study onindoor versus outdoor activity published in thejournal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-

Being researchers analyzed national surveydata from Finland. They found that natureprovides an added value to the known ben-efits of physical activity and repeated exer-cise in nature is, in particular, connected to

better emotional well-being.In his book “Beat the

Gym,” Connecticut-based run-ning coach and personal trainerTom Holland said running on atreadmill is slightly easier thanrunning on the ground. “Youdon’t have to deal with chang-ing terrain, wind resistance,” hesaid, adding that the zero in-cline on most treadmills is ac-tually slightly downhill. NewYork City-based personaltrainer JR Allen, said the firstbenefit of the outdoor workoutis balance. “You have to beaware of your surroundings be-cause you could step in a pot-hole,” Allen said. “It is a lesssafe, more uncontrolled envi-ronment that is more of a strain

on your body.”Allen suggests the newcomer to outdoor

exercise should start with a simple walkaround the neighborhood. The seasoned ex-erciser should head to the park for sprints,power push ups, in which hands leave theground, and walking planks, moving side toside and back to back on hands and feet.Daniel Taylor, author of the book “Condition-ing to the Core,” thinks outdoor training isgreat as long as people take some precautions.“People who utilize children’s playgroundequipment ought to double check it. Make surebars aren’t slippery,“ he said. “One of the rea-sons we go to the gym is it’s safe and dry.”

Parks, playgrounds offer freshair alternatives to gym workouts

Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui presiding over a meeting regarding overloadinglaunches operating between Keamari and Manora at his office.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah addressing a seminar on ‘Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto & Islamic World’ organised by PPP Youth Wing SindhChapter at Arts Council.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—At least 11 million peoplesuffer from deadly disease of Hepatitis Cwhile around 120, 000 died of diabetesrelated complications yet no break throughdrug as allowed to these fatal disease inPakistan for over a decade.

Globally, new drugs are coming downthe pipeline promising help to patientswith serious medical conditions but un-fortunately Pakistan is a unique case whereseveral issues put together have incapaci-tated the potential of Pharma companiesto launch new drugs and therapies in thedomestic market.

A senior official of a local pharma-ceutical company requesting anonymity,stated that Pharma sector is paying 3% oftheir revenues for central research and de-velopment fund for more than a decade

now but rather than taking initiatives thatare crucial to strengthen this sector, con-cerned authorities’ negligence and lack ofunderstanding for overcoming the pend-ing issues has left pharmaceutical compa-nies unable to launch breakthrough drugswhich are the results of extensive research.

He added that it is impressive to seehow continuous research worldwide ischanging the quality of life and bringinghope to people but the attitude of Paki-stani government has brought disappoint-ment to both the pharmaceutical sector andthe patients.

He mentioned that recently U.S. FDAgave green signal to 27 new drugs, for dis-eases that include hepatitis C, breast can-cer and multiple sclerosis whereas, the out-look for 2014 is promising as there arechances that pharmaceutical and biotech-nology companies could launch as many

as 76 new drugs worldwide. The officialsaid, “imagine what wonders these break-through drugs can do for Pakistan. Takethe case of Hepatitis C in Pakistan wherenearly 11 million people suffer from thisdeadly disease. Introducing a promisingdrug in such a situation can reduce themortality rate. It can not only acceleratethe treatment time but it can also stop theoutbreaks in future too.”

Moreover, in a scenario where around120,000 people die in Pakistan every yearas a result of diabetes related complica-tions and many more are being incapaci-tated, a drug which is expected to belaunched by a world renowned pharma-ceutical manufacturer in 3rd quarter of2014 in US, could provide much neededsolution to the diabetes problem in Paki-stan. He regretted that four world re-nowned international pharmaceuticals,

who are racing to launch the promisingdrugs globally, have already left Pakistandue to irrational pricing mechanism,plethora of pending issues pertaining tolicensing and registration, and unfriendlypolicies..

It is worthy to mention that these glo-bal giant are working on “immuno-therapy” drugs that would use the body’simmune system to fight the cancer.

If the government would have facili-tated this sector by providing incentivesand formulated prudent policies, Pakistanipatients would have benefitted from thesedrugs. But business viability is so bad thatthese companies are not launching theseproducts in Pakistan, he said.

While commenting on the finalizationof pricing policy in the coming months,he said that DRAP may have realized thegrowth and progress agenda for which it

came into being and its the right time forwithout DRAP’s efficient and effectiveworking these leading pharmaceutical andhealthcare companies can not introducethese breakthrough products in our mar-ket.

He questioned that given the viabilityof business in Pakistan, why will any com-pany market/launch these drugs and thera-pies, when it knows that there will be noreturn on investment despite spending be-tween 15 to 20 percent of the revenue onresearch and development to introduce thenew products?

The official added that pharmaceuti-cal industry is not very optimistic aboutthe upcoming pricing policy as it considercost plus mechanism which would requirethe regulatory body to individually deter-mine the cost structure of nearly 600manufacturers. He further added that

Implementing such a system seems be-yond reality and practicality and wouldlead to pick and choose environment thusculminating the transparency of the sys-tem.

He argued that already lowest profit-ability margins in Pakistan have pushedmany locals and multinationals to consideroptions beyond Pakistan. If the situationcontinues like this, government will losepharmaceutical industry which is servingas a pillar to economic development by cre-ating employment for university graduates(direct, indirect, or induced), tradeopportunities(through imports and exports),spending on research and development, andtechnological capacity building.

He concluded that it is now criticalfor government to curb the crises that areadversely affecting this sector as industry’ssurvival is beneficial for the patients.

11m suffer from Hepatitis-C, diabetes kills 120,000 every yearin Pakistan: Yet no breakthrough drug allowed for a decade

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Prominent speakers fromcivil society, who had gathered at KarachiPress Club condemned the ongoing politi-cal drama created in the capital that hasnot only stalled the everyday governanceof the state, it is directly challenging thepolitical choice and the system of democ-racy that the people of Pakistan haveachieved after so much sacrifice.

Those, who spoke at the press confer-ence were Karamat Ali of PILER, Dr RiazShaikh (Educationalist), Habib Ud DinJunaidi (Trade Unionist), Saeed Baloch(Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum) and LateefMughal (Trade Unionist, Peoples LabourFederation).

It is an established fact that democ-racy has not been allowed to flourish inthis country by forces committed to keep-ing Pakistanis in a dark age where they areunable to seek their political, economic andcultural rights by way of civil and politi-cal engagement. These forces have eithersought to rule the people directly or haveintervened in the democratic process co-vertly or overtly. Their actions have un-necessary created and kept the country, itspeople, and its resources, engaged in re-

gional and global conflicts After the sign-ing of the Charter of Democracy in 2006and the transfer of powers by one electedcivilian government to the next in 2013, ahealthy tradition of democratic norm wasestablished in the country. The previousparliament achieved a milestone in the his-tory of the country by introducing consti-tutional reforms, empowering provincesand hence people to chart out their ownpolitical, economic and cultural develop-ment course. The said reforms were a defacto journey towards making Pakistan atrue federation.

The national and provincial govern-ments established by different politicalparties, following the 2013 elections, re-flected Pakistan’s journey towards a ma-ture democratic process. The positive po-litical environment that emerged after theseelections gave confidence to the people thatthe doors for their participation in the po-litical and development process are finallyopen. However, unfortunately develop-ments of the last few weeks are reflectiveof the situation that the non-democraticforces are out to undermine people’s choiceonce again.

It is the right of all political entities toprotest and conduct political campaigning

to promote their legitimate agendas. How-ever, no one can be given the right to de-rail the democratic process in the country.The people of Pakistan have battled hardfor democracy that they rightly see as theonly means of upholding and protectingtheir interests and their right as citizens ofthe country.

A few adventurous and politically im-mature characters that are now directlychallenging people’s choice of an elec-toral and representative system werenever a part of the real struggles that thecommon person of the country had to faceall these years.

The civil society of Pakistan along withtrade unions, academicians, student com-munity and professional societies stronglycondemn the undemocratic approachadopted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafand the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, and theirallies. We strongly denounce any deliber-ate attempt to derail the democratic pro-cess in the country. It is unfortunate thatthese parties are inciting people to resortto violence and defy the rule of law throughfollowing on their so-called civil disobe-dience, setting a negative culture of politi-cal confrontation and rebellion against thestate over non-issues.

Civil society vows to defend people’sright to a legitimately elected Govt

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Karachi Traffic Police estab-lished special counter for the issuance ofInternational Driving License at TrafficLicense Branch Nazimabad. It was thesecond special counter at Karachi for theissuance of International Driving Licenseunder one window operation at Karachi.

Karachi Police Chief Additional In-spector General (IG) of Police GhulamQadir Thebo inaugurated the counter onMonday. He was accompanied byDeputy IG Traffic Ahmed Yar Chohanand Superintendent of Police NazimabadZulfiquar Maher.

While speaking on the occasion,Thebo said for 20.5 million inhabitantsof Karachi, just one facility for drivinglicense was functional at Clifton and inorder to meet the demands for the issu-

ance of International Driving Licenseunder one window operation wasactualised at Nazimabad for which nec-essary equipment worth Rs2 million werefixed. A third branch would shortly beestablished at Korangi while options werebeing considered for more branches atDistrict Malir and District West of the city.

The Karachi Police Chief said thatall driving license branches had beenfully computerised after which the ap-plicants might visit any of the branchesfor driving license. However, Wednes-day would be reserved for women ap-plicants only so that they could completethe process in a comfortable manner.

Thebo said that mobile facility forissuance of driving license for the youthwould also be launched shortly. Licenseform and informative booklet would begiven to all the applicants fre of cost. The

charges for license would include Rs30as special welfare fund while Rs 15would be for license issuing personneland Rs15 for Police development fund.The share up to 50 percent from amountto be earned from fine imposed on traf-fic rues violators would be for the traf-fic warden and the violators would beprovided with the Easy Paisa facility topay the amount of penalty on the spot.

He said that special divining-relatedawareness courses would be conductedat school level while drivers would beeducated for traffic rules and regulationsthrough roadside advertisement.

In reply to a question, he said thatthere were elements in the city thatwanted to sabotage the ongoing tar-geted operation against criminals andterrorists but they would fail in theirvested designs.

Thebo opens 2nd internationaldriving Licence Branch at Nazimabad

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Minister for Food JamMehtab Hussain Dahar has said that there isno room for corrupt officers in Food Depart-ment and departmental action is being takenagainst corrupt officers.

This he said while presiding over a per-sonal hearing against corrupt officers. Hearingwas also attended by Secretary Food SaeedAhmed Awan and Additional Secretary AghaZaheer. On this occasion he ordered to issuefinal show cause notices to Zia Ud Din Shaikhformer district food controller Shaheed

Benazirabad who intentionally with collabo-ration of centre in-charge Ghulam SarwarMehar destroyed wheat worth of more thanRs40.14 million during year 2009-10.

The Minister said, ‘if these officers do notdeposit required amount in government treasury,then they must be taken to task.’ Jam Mehtabdirected Secretary Food Saeed Ahmed Awan tocomplete ongoing inquiries against corrupt of-ficers at the earliest. He said that no corrupt of-ficer to be spared. It is mentioned here that formerDFC Zia Ud Din Shaikh and Centre in-chargeGhulam Sarwar Mehar made corruption of morethan Rs40 million during the year 2009-10.

Action taken againstcorrupt officials in SFD: Jam

Bilawalgreets Parsison NaurozSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Bilawal BhuttoZardari, Patron-In-Chief, Paki-stan People’s Party has extendedgreetings to Parsi community inPakistan and the world over onthe Nauroz, the beginning ofNew Year of the minority com-munity.

Congratulating the Parsison the Day of Nauroz, BilawalBhutto Zardari also appreciatedthe role of this minority com-munity in the development ofthe Pakistan since independenceespecially in the fields of busi-ness and education.

NAB openscomplaint counter

at Sindh officeIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) ondirectives of Chairman of theBureau established a special re-ception counter at NAB Sindhoffice at Karachi where peoplemight go for registration of theircomplaints.

The said special receptioncounter would receive publiccomplaints between 11 a.m-1pm daily except public andgazetted holidays.

FROM park bench pushups and monkey barlifts to open air runs, fitness experts saythe workout possibilities of playgrounds

and parks are worth the consideration of eventhe most diehard gym users. During the warm,waning summer days, freshair workouts offer a wealthof new ways to boost themood, channel the inner childand even burn extra calories.

Chris Freytag, a per-sonal trainer and healthcoach with the AmericanCouncil on Exercise, lovesthe gym but lives in Minne-apolis, Minnesota, a citynotorious for brutal winters.“I’m a big believer in changeof venue, of getting awayfrom the same treadmill, thesame spot. And there’ssomething about fresh airand moving in space,” saidFreytag, who leads bootcamp and circuit classes inparks and parking lots dur-ing the summer months.

The changing terrain can also inspire thesolitary exerciser to mix it up. “I’m all abouthills: every time you see a hill or steps or stairs,lunge at it,” said Freytag. “Step up and downon curbs and park benches.” A child’s play-ground offers core-strengthening possibilitiesfrom deep plank pushups, with feet placed onswings, to training with resistance bands slungaround poles, to monkey bar pull-ups, she ex-plained.

Research suggest the outdoor boost can bemental as well as physical. In a 2014 study onindoor versus outdoor activity published in thejournal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-

Being researchers analyzed national surveydata from Finland. They found that natureprovides an added value to the known ben-efits of physical activity and repeated exer-cise in nature is, in particular, connected to

better emotional well-being.In his book “Beat the

Gym,” Connecticut-based run-ning coach and personal trainerTom Holland said running on atreadmill is slightly easier thanrunning on the ground. “Youdon’t have to deal with chang-ing terrain, wind resistance,” hesaid, adding that the zero in-cline on most treadmills is ac-tually slightly downhill. NewYork City-based personaltrainer JR Allen, said the firstbenefit of the outdoor workoutis balance. “You have to beaware of your surroundings be-cause you could step in a pot-hole,” Allen said. “It is a lesssafe, more uncontrolled envi-ronment that is more of a strain

on your body.”Allen suggests the newcomer to outdoor

exercise should start with a simple walkaround the neighborhood. The seasoned ex-erciser should head to the park for sprints,power push ups, in which hands leave theground, and walking planks, moving side toside and back to back on hands and feet.Daniel Taylor, author of the book “Condition-ing to the Core,” thinks outdoor training isgreat as long as people take some precautions.“People who utilize children’s playgroundequipment ought to double check it. Make surebars aren’t slippery,“ he said. “One of the rea-sons we go to the gym is it’s safe and dry.”

Parks, playgrounds offer freshair alternatives to gym workouts

A delegation of Toba Tek Singh Bar Association with Chief Justice Lahore High CourtJustice Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmed.

Activists of Centre for Human Rights Education Pakistan holding a protest in support of democracy.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Advisor to ChiefMinister on Health Kh SalmanRafique has directed all con-cerned departments to acceler-ate dengue surveillance activi-ties for eradicating dengue lar-vae. He said that strict monitor-ing of surveillance teams shouldbe ensured in those union coun-cils from where dengue larva isnot being reported.

He was presiding over ameeting of Cabinet Committeeon Dengue Control, here Mon-day.

Member National Assem-bly Shaista Pervaiz Malik,Member Punjab Assembly PirAshraf Rasool, Ch. Akram,Begum Lubna, Faisal NawazChauhan, Secretary Health, Dr.Ijaz Munir, Director GeneralHealth Punjab Dr. ZahidPervaiz, Secretaries of con-cerned departments, AdditionalSecretaries, District Coordina-tion Officers of Gujranwala,Lahore and Faisalabad,Incharge Chief Minister’s Den-gue Research Cell, Prof. WasimAkram, Dean IPH, Prof. MuazAhmed, Director General PITB,Rescue-1122, DIG SpecialBranch, EDOs Health of vari-ous cities as well as other se-

nior officers were present.The meeting was given a

briefing on the measures takenby various departments forchecking the breeding of den-gue larva. Secretary Health Dr.Ijaz Munir informed that 11 con-

firmed cases of dengue havebeen reported in Punjab duringthe last eight months and allpatients have recovered. Dr.Ijaz Munir informed about in-

door and outdoor dengue sur-veillance activities by the HealthDepartment. Senior officers ofdifferent departments informedthe meeting about the search fordengue larva in graveyards,junkyards, tyre shops, construc-

tion sites, mosques and otherplaces and its eradication.

The meeting was informedthat during surveillance, denguelarva has been found mostly in

room coolers. Prof. WasimAkram told that use of roomcoolers has stopped after thechange in weather, therefore,people should drain out waterfrom water coolers so thatbreeding of dengue larva could

be checked. Dr. Somia Iqtidarof Dengue Expert AdvisorGroup informed that privatehospitals are taking much inter-est in dengue courses and a few

doctors of private hospitals aretaking part in case managementtraining. Kh. Salman Rafiquedirected that action should betaken under the law against theprivate hospitals not participat-ing in training courses.

DIG Special Branch pre-sented a report regarding perfor-mance of various departmentsand institutions and also pointedout shortcomings.

Accelerate dengue surveillanceactivities for eradicating dengue larvae

Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on DengueControl on Monday.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Despite presenting the copyof court orders by the session court tolodge a case against Prime Minister NawazSharif, Chief Minister Punjab ShahbazSharif and other PML-N big guns in thewake of Model Town tragedy, Faisal TownPolice Station, reluctantly, received thecopy of the court orders but refused to reg-ister an First Information Report (FIR) andforward the petition to the legal branchfor legal advice.

According to the details, when thelawyers of Minhaj-ul-Quran led by advo-cate Mansoor Afridi reached the policestation, the Station House Officer (SHO)Sharif Sindhu was not present. The law-yers thenceforth called the SHO and re-quested him to file the case in the light ofcourt orders. The argument between thepolice and the lawyers continued for a long

time. Lawyers said that there is no uncer-tainty in the verdict of the court so theircase should be registered for the applica-tion filed on June 19.

The clerk of the station said thatthough the court orders have been receivedbut they cannot proceed immediately inthe absence of SHO whereas the lawyerssaid that there is no way that the policecould back out from filing the case afterclear orders from courts have been issued.

Earlier, the session court of Lahorehearing Model Town tragedy case on Sat-urday ordered to book Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif and Chief Minister PunjabShahbaz Sharif for the casualties ofMinhaj-ul-Quran workers that took placeon June 17 in Model Town Lahore.

The court ordered to file chargesagainst the key accused including thenamed police officers. Director Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) Jawad

Hamid had taken the plea before Addi-tional Session Judge Lahore that PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif, Chief MinisterPunjab Shahbaz Sharif, Interior MinisterNisar Ali Khan, Railways Minister SaadRafique, Former Law Minister PunjabRana Sanaullah, Defense MinisterKhawaja Asif, Information MinisterPervez Rasheed, Principal Secretary toCM Punjab Tauqeer Shah, IG PolicePunjab, Former CCPO Lahore ShafeeqGujjar and SSP Rana Abdul Jabbar wereamong the 21 accused people who alleg-edly ordered police to murder 12 peoplein Model Town.

The MQI petition maintained thatinstead of launching the FIR on MQI’sbehalf, police registered the FIR by itself,which is unconstitutional. The petition saidthat Police did not take the right legalcourse and therefore, all these people werealso named among the accused by PAT.

Model Town tragedy: Case notregistered despite court orders

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for Excise& Taxation, Finance Punjab MujtabaShuja-ur-Rehman has said that govern-ment is extending all out cooperation tothe investors for the promotion of indus-tries and trade.

He said that government is takingshort-term and long-term measures in en-ergy sector to minimize load-shedding andpower plants are being set up in variousparts of the province. He said that Punjabgovernment has created vast opportunitiesfor traders and industrialists especially tothe foreign investors.

He said that government has takensolid steps for the generation of electricityand load-shedding will be completelyeliminated within four years when all unitsof the power plants which are in pipelineswill become fully functional.

While talking to party workers at hisresidence, Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman saidthat the budget allocated for educationRs.274 billion which is 26.25 percent oftotal expenditures whereas the budget al-located for health Rs.121.80 billon whichis 11.66 percent of total expenditures ofthe government.

He said that the growth rate of Punjabwill be increased to eight percent during

next four years and in result of it, morethan 70 lakh people will be able to liveabove the poverty line whereas job oppor-tunities will also be available to 40 lakhpeople.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said thatpriority is being paid to education andhealth sectors and development budget ofcurrent fiscal year is 17 percent more ascompared to previous year. He said thatpower generation and elimination of load-shedding is our foremost priority and 1320megawatt electricity will be available onthe completion of Sahiwal power plantwhich will decrease the industrial and ag-riculture production cost.

All-out cooperation to investorsfor promotion of trade

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Punjab Education MinisterRana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has saidthat the government had adopted a policyto make institutions of higher learningself-sufficient and using extra land forcommercial purposes will enable univer-sities to stand on their own feet.

He was addressing a ceremony to signMemorandum of Understanding betweenPunjab University and Lahore Develop-ment Authority for construction of road tolink Maulana Shaukat Ali Road andWahdat Road through Punjab University.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr MujahidKamran, Khawaja Ahmed Hassan,Mustafa Imam, Director General LDAAhad Cheema, Registrar PU Prof DrMuhammad Amin Athar, elected mem-bers of PU Syndicate and administrativeofficers were present on the occasion.Addressing the ceremony, RanaMashhood Ahmed Khan said that it was

Chief Minister Mian MuhammadShahbaz Sharif’s vision to provide easyaccess to adjacent area and easy trans-portation facilities by connecting majorarteries of the area through university. Hesaid that the road would not only savetime and fuel of the people but reducetraffic pressure on Morr Bhekewal, Cam-pus Bridge, Canal Road and other con-necting roads.

He said that both PU and people ofLahore would benefit from the project ofpublic welfare. He lauded PU VC DrMujahid Kamran, Members of Syndicate,Khawaja Ahmed Hassan and AhadCheema for making efforts for approvalof the project. PU Vice Chancellor ProfDr Mujahid Kamran said that the projectwould be a milestone in the history ofPunjab University. He said that PU met67 percent of its expenditures throughown sources but because of increase insalaries and other reasons, the burden onuniversity’s budget was increasing.

He said that PU needed funds to con-struct laboratories, purchase equipment,provision of residential facilities to fac-ulty members, faculty members’ training,provision of various facilities, scholar-ships and subsidies to students etc, PUwas facing financial difficulties but it wasmanaging the situation. He expressed thehope that with the money from commer-cial activities on both sides of the road,PU will become the first Pakistani uni-versity which will meet all its expendi-tures through its own sources.

Khawaja Ahmed Hassan said that theagreement had been reached after con-sensus on both sides and both Punjab Uni-versity and people would benefit from thedecision. Ahad Cheema said that theproject, including main road, side roads,underpass on Canal Road etc will cost1.7 billion and the work on the projectwill start after two weeks. Earlier, PU VCDr Mujahid Kamran and DG LDA signedthe agreement.

Universities to be madeself-sufficient: Rana Mashhood

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan Industrial & Traders As-sociations Front (PIAF) has out-rightly re-jected call for civil disobedience and termedit a conspiracy to create anarchy like situa-tion in the country. Business communitywould resist highly against any move to de-stabilize the country.

Chairman PIAF Malik Tahir Javed, Se-nior Vice President Khamis Saeed Butt andVice Chairman Amjad Ali Jawa said that callfor civil disobedience is against the ground

realities and an attempt to have clash betweengovernment and masses.

They said that country is already facing anumber internal and external challenges whilecall for disobedience would add fuel to thefire. How could day-by-day affairs of coun-try could be run if taxes, gas bill, GST andelectricity bills etc were not paid, they ques-tioned. They said that national economy is al-ready in bad shape. The politicians shouldsolve their differences through talks and par-liament keeping in view the best interest ofthe country.

PIAF out-rightly rejectscall for civil disobedience

Drive againstprofiteeringcontinuesSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Price ControlMagistrates of the district ad-ministration continued driveagainst hoarding and profiteer-ing in the city and challaned 78shopkeepers besides imposingfine worth Rs 79,700 on viola-tors of Price Act.

Special monitoring teamsMonday conducted raids on655 shops in various areas ofthe provincial capital and in-spected prices of commoditiesat local level. Seven personswere arrested after lodgingcases in different police sta-tions.

DCO Capt. (R)Muhammad Usman issued di-rections to the price controlofficials to continue crack-down against the hoardersand profiteers.