Terrorism: Committees andcommittees! Please act................................................PPP puts up poor show................................................World should do justice toPalestine

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PM callsAction Plan

review meetingSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has summoned

JAKARTA—Indonesia called off until first lighta search for an AirAsia plane with 162 peopleon board that went missing on Sunday after pi-

Indonesian plane with 162passengers goes missing

lots asked to change course to avoid bad weatherduring a flight from Indonesia’s Surabaya city

Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—A horrible fire,which was extinguished after

150 shops, 300 houses burntin Karachi Timber Market fire

10-hours, hectic effort, gutted150 shops and 300 houses inKarachi’s Timber Market onSunday.

Traders at the marketclaimed losses worth billion of

ISLAMABAD: Mir Hasil Bazinjo of National Party speaking on the occasion of National Advocacy Conference onNational Action Plan on Sunday.

Govt, Army laying foundation for peaceful Pakistan; Good Taliban are tools in hands of enemies

Victory is only option against terror war ISLAMABAD—President of the National Party (NP) Sena-tor Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo on Sunday said Governmentand Army are paving way for a peaceful Pakistan so thatgenerations to come can prosper. We are against usingtorture to end atrocities but we supported military opera-tions against terrorists as we ran out of all other options.

State can only help provide economic, social and cul-tural rights to the subjects if it survives, he said whilespeaking at a National Advocacy Conferences on Interna-tional Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rightsorganized by National Organization for Working Commu-nities.

Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said that the victories of mili-tary has a positive impact on the moral of nation and thatthose militants who want to join mainstream can be givenlast chance. He said that has faced military courts and NPsupported military courts to ensure peace but if thesecourts disappointed us we will again start our struggle.

Mr. Bizenjo called upon the government and PTI toend deadlock over election reforms as nation is passingthrough a critical phase. The veteran politician said thatwe welcome change in thinking of establishment whichwill benefit billions living in the region.

The ongoing war is a test case for government andmilitary in which victory is the only option, he said addingthat the so called good Taliban were tools in the hand ofenemies of Pakistan therefore they were also bracketedwith the bad ones.

“We must end terrorists as well as their lethal ideologyotherwise the war would not be won,” he underlined.

He lashed out at EU and UN for expressing their con-cerns on capital punishments terming it an unwarranted,ill-timed and groundless move.

The purpose of ‘National Advocacy Conference’ wasto engage stakeholders in consultative process and fol-low up with the recommendations of ‘Civil Society Posi-

tion Paper’ and proposed ‘National Plan of Action’ onICESCR exclusively and to provide joint platform for inter-action among concerned stakeholders including decision

makers, political parties, civil society actors. The partici-pants gave proposals for overall betterment of the situa-tion and provision of basic rights to the people.—INP

PESHAWAR—Another con-victed terrorist in Musharrafattack case is likely to beexecuted in next 24 hours.

Niaz Muhammad, con-victed for attacking theformer president general(retd) Pervez Musharrafalong with other accom-plices in Rawalpindi, is nowin a death row.

Niaz was incarcerated ata jail in Haripur. He has nowbeen shifted to Peshawar jailfor execution.

His death warrants have

already been issued. Afterthe deadliest terror attack ata military-run school inPeshawar, Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif ended the six-year moratorium on thedeath penalty, reinstating itfor terrorism-related cases.

Interior ministry hasfinalised the cases of 500convicts who have ex-hausted all the appeals, theirmercy petitions have beenturned down by the presi-dent and their executionswill take place soon.—NNI

Another convict inMusharraf attackcase to be hanged

Now it’s time of disintegration ofIndia, not of Pakistan: SM Zafar

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—‘Now it’s the time of disin-tegration of India where more than 30separatist movements are in struggle’it is predicted by Senator S.M. Zafar,former Federal Law Minister whilespeaking at TECH Society Club on thetopic: ‘incidences of 16 December 1971and 2014’ on Sunday.

Dr. Muhammad Sadiq, ZubairSheikh, Jameel Gishkori and former Sec-retary Foreign Affairs ShamshadAhmed Khan also spoke on this occa-sion. Senator S.M. Zafar said “fortu-nately now Pakistan is fully equippedwith the best Army of the world havingnuclear capability too which have madeit undefeatable”, adding he said asstated by some people “Pakistan is be-ing run by three As (American, Armyand Allah) but now another A that isAwam (the masses) has emerged whichis the most influential for a positivechange in the country”. Pakistanpeople are more aware now and soonthey will through away corrupt peoplefrom Pakistan.

Senator S.M. Zafar said he was sat-isfied that all political parties haveunanimously supported the decision tosetup military courts which is the needof the hour. “Pakistanis are rich in ca-pabilities but capabilities without

PESHAWAR: Ladies along with young girls on the wayback while carrying fire-wood as there is great shortageof gas across country.

knowledge don’t lead to the success,”S.M. Zafar added. He said positive signswere being observed by him like ap-pointment of Dr. Abdul Malik as Chief

Minister of Balochistan instead ofSardars who were using financial re-sources for their personal interests,youth taking active part in Dharnascontinuously for 4 months irrespectiveof effects of heat and cold waves andunity showed by Pakistanis after mas-sacre of 16 December 2014.

Discussing the incidence of 16 De-cember, 1971 S.M.Zafar said it was oc-curred due to the India-Russia influence,internal conspiracies and weaknesses

of politicians. He predicted that “soonBangladesh and Pakistan will becometwo states but one in contrast to In-dian expectations”. Senator S.M. Zafarsaid there was no danger to the soli-darity of Pakistan as it was came intoexistence forever.

Shamshad Ahmed Khan, formerSecretary Foreign Affairs said “in thepresence of article 245 Pakistan Armydon’t need any further powers as it canintervene to defend Pakistan bothagainst internal and external threats inaid of civilian government”. He said inspite of facing many crises Pakistan’ssurvival has made it clear to the worldthat it will remain forever”. Internalthreats are more dangerous in Pakistanas compared to external enemies, headded. He showed hope in Pakistaniyouth to transform Pakistan into a suc-cessful nation who have the capacityto fight with the corrupt elements ofthe society”.

Describing ingredients of a success-ful foreign policy Shamshad AhmedKhan said “the word national interest isactually the foreign policy and withoutensuring good governance no state canhave a good foreign policy”. Shamshadsaid “mere change of faces of politicalleaders cannot ensure development butchange of system was the key to suc-cess”.

QUETTA: Security personnel seen at high alert as they guard Quetta District Jail.

PTI holdsdemo againstMS hospitalOUR CORRESPONDENT

LANDIKOTAL—The leadersand volunteers of PakistanTehrk-e-Insaf Landikotalstaged a protest against theadministration official ofagency headquarters hospi-tal (AHQ) of Landikotal hereon Sunday.

The activists of PTIchanted slogans against theMedical Superintendent(MS) of the hospital. Accom-panied by a dozen of PTIworkers and other tribesmen,the PTI Landikotal chapterleaders Zarbullah Shinwari,Fakhruddin Shinwari andJamshaid Shinwari hold ademonstration in front ofLandikotal Press Club.

Addressing the protest-ers, Zarbullah Shinwari saidthat Medical Superintendentof AHQ hospital has turnedhis residence into a labourroom where his wife who wasnot a gynaecologist was re-ceiving huge money frompoor patients.

Rs 3m beingspent on church

renovationFAISALABAD—The districtgovernment is spending Rs3 million on repair and main-tenance of an old church onRailway Road.

According to officialsources, the district govern-ment was implementing ondifferent projects to pre-serve national heritage in thedistrict under the LyallpurHeritage Foundation.

They said repair andmaintenance of more than 45historic and cultural build-ings was ongoing across thedistrict.

Meanwhile, DCONoorul Amin Mengal visitedchurch on Railway Road andviewed its renovation.Bishop of Faisalabad DrJozaf Arshad, DO buildingsAbdul Khaliq and other alsoaccompanied.—APP

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Chief Minis-ter, Pervaiz Khattak hassought the inquiry reportof Timergara incident inwhich eight family mem-bers were killed when a carfell into a deep well nearDanwa area.

The Chief Minister tak-ing serious notice of theincident directed districtadministration to launch athorough inquiry and sub-

mit a report after compilingthe facts. He also ex-pressed grief over the inci-dent and directed to takemeasure for avoiding suchincidents in future.

It is worth mentioninghere that mishaps and in-cidents of injuries were alsoattributed to the well in thearea. Yesterday a carveered off and fell into thewell killing eight people inthe mishap.—APP

CM calls Timergaramishap inquiry report

One dies, severalinjured as vanfalls into ditch

THATTA—A passenger waskilled and several others in-jured when their van, com-ing from Karachi to Thattaskidded of the NationalHighway and fell into a ditchon Sunday.

The deceased was iden-tified as Ahmed Din Jokhio.The body of the deceasedand the injured were shiftedto Civil Hospital at Makli.

Police has started inves-tigations. Police arrestedtwo men accused of resortto firing at the house of acontractor Kaka ShabbirMemon in Makli HousingSociety here Saturday night.The firing had also disturbedarea residents.—APP

JAND—Member ProvincialAssembly (MPA) MalikZafar Iqbal on Sunday saidthat the top priorities ofPunjab government is to fa-cilitate and development ofevery sector and for this pur-pose million of rupees arebeing spent.

He said this during acheque distribution cer-emony where he handed overa cheque worth of Rs 1 millonfor the provision of missingfacilities on behalf of ChiefMinister Punjab MianMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif .The President Tehsil Bar JandAdvocate Malik S a j j a dAhmad,DCO Attock ChHabib Ullah, Vice PresidentTehsil Bar Jand MuhammadEjaz Khan and ExecutiveMember High Court Bar Ad-vocate Azmat Ali Khattakwas also present.

MPA Zafar said thisamount of Rs 1 mln has beenreleased by CM Punjab forprovision of missing facilitiesto Jand Bar. He said CM hastaking keen interest in provi-sion of basic facilities to theresidents of Jand tehsil andin this regard different devel-opment schemes of watersupply, construction ofroads, health facilities and

Govt for developmentof every sector: Zafar

missing facilities in schoolsare being ensured, ZafarIqbal added.

President Tehsil Bar JandSajad Ahmad thanked CMand MPA Malik Zafar Iqbalfor releasing grant for JandBar. Earlier, Member of theNational Assembly (MNA)Malik Aetbar Khan said saidthe establishment of militarytrial courts was unavoidablein the wake of prevailing se-curity situation in the coun-try. The country had beenbearing the brunt of terroristactivities since long and thedecision to set up militarycountry should have beentaken much earlier curb thismenace, he said while talkingto APP.

He said Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif hadtaken a bold step with the con-sensus of the country’s po-litical leadership, which waslaudable. The courts, he said,would deal with militants andterrorists. He said the PakistanArmy was playing a vital rolein the fight against terrorism.He said the terrorists did notbelieve in Islam and Pakistanand the attack on Army Pub-lic School Peshawar was anattack on the entire na-tion.—APP

Nation’s supportvital to endterrorism:

Khurshid ShahS U K K U R — O p p o s i t i o nLeader in the National As-sembly Syed Khurshid Shahhas said issue of militarycourts would be discussedonce the draft is presented

Speaking to media hereon Sunday, he said that elimi-nation of terrorism was onthe top of Pakistan People’sParty’s priority list and it willnot only fight against themenace but will render sac-rifices as well. He said thatterrorism could not bestopped without nation’ssupport. Replying to a query,he said that people knewwhat Asif Ali Zardari meantwhen he mentioned “Billa”during his speech.—Online

BDS diffusessuspicious suicide

vest in QuettaQUETTA—Quetta Police onSunday foiled an attempt ofterrorist activity by defusinga suicide vest near BaroriRoad in Quetta, officials said.

As per details, on gettinginformation from the resi-dents of the area, policealong with Bomb DisposalSquad reached the area anddefused the suicide vest. Aday earlier, security forcesdefused several bombsplanted under railway linesin restive province.—Online

KARACHI—While blasting the Sindh government for ig-noring plights of people, the Mutahidda Qaumi Move-ment on Sunday said the PPP-led government nowhereexisted to take prompt action in getting blaze at Karachi’stimber market doused that erupted on Saturday night.

Goods worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashesin the blaze. All those who lost their property and goodsin the timber market fire were now begging for assistance,said the MQM leader Qamar Mansoor at a press confer-ence here.

He asked whether the chief minister and informationminister will tender their resignations on the matter. He

said Karachi was burning while leaders keep on sleeping.There is no existence of disaster management system

to cope with such emergency situations, he added.Mansoor regretted that fire brigade officials were alsosacked from their jobs. “Four fire dousers bought recentlyby the administration have gone out of order.”

He demanded allocation of funds for revamping city’sfire department. Speaking on the occasion, MQM seniorleader Farooq Sattar said neither the Chief Minister Qaim AliShah nor Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon ap-proached the affectees to inquire about the losses and healtheir wounds.—Online

Will Qaim, Sharjeel resign overKarachi blaze: MQM

FESCO issuesshutdown

menuF A I S A L A B A D — T h eFaisalabad Electric SupplyCompany (FESCO) has is-sued shutdown programmefor necessary repair, main-tenance and expansion ofelectricity lines.

According to the pro-gram issued by the com-pany, power supply fromWanbachran, Golaywala,Mohar, Muzaffar Pur, Nariand New Cchadro feedersemanating from 132-KVWanbachran grid stationwill remain suspended from10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. whileSohal feeder originatingfrom 132-KV Thikriwala gridstation will observe shut-down from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00p.m. on Monday (December29).

Similarly, electricity sup-ply from Kamalia Roadfeeder emanating from PirMehal grid station,Sherwala, Cchadro, MusaKhail, Aba Khail andHarnauli feeders originatingfrom Mianwali grid stationwill also remain suspendedfrom 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.whereas all feeders of 132-KV Chak Jhumra grid sta-tion, Wapda Academy, RazaTown and Hamdard feedersemanating from 132-KVNishatabad grid station, DryPort and Rasool Pur feedersoriginating from 132-KVChiniot Road grid station, 240Mor feeder emanating from132-KV Jaranwala grid sta-tion, Agri University, IqbalStadium and State Bank feed-ers originating from 132-KVUniversity grid station willobserve load shedding from9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on De-cember 29.—APP

ABBOTTABAD: Policemen showing alleged terrorist Essa Khan to mediamen who was involved in bomb blast andterrorist attacks in Peshawar.

ISLAMABAD—Very cold anddry weather is expected inmost parts of the countryhowever, dense foggy con-ditions would continue inplain areas of the countryduring next 24 hours.

Met office reported hereon Sunday that continentalair is prevailing over mostparts of the country.

In Punjab cold and dryweather conditions wouldcontinue in Gujranwala,Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan,Bahawalpur and Sahiwal di-visions, while fog inSargodha, Rawalpindi,D.G.Khan divisions in (nightand morning) would prevailduring next 24 hours.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,very cold and dry weather isexpected in most parts of theprovince, however, foggyconditions are expected inPeshawar and D.I.Khan divi-sions in (night and morning)during next 24 hours. InSindh cold and dry weatheris expected in most parts ofthe province, however,foggy conditions are ex-pected to prevail over upperSindh during next 24 hours.

In Balochistan, very coldand dry weather is expected

Cold, dry weather inmost parts of country

in most parts of the provinceduring next 24 hours. InKashmir and Balochistanvery cold and dry weather isexpected in most pats ofKashmir during next 24hours.

The lowest MinimumTemperature recorded duringlast 24 hours was, Skardu -11øC, Astore -10øC, Gilgit,Hunza, Kalat -07øC, Gupis,Parachinar, Quetta -06øC, Dir,Kalam -04øC, Lower Dir,Dalbandin, Rawalakot -03øC,Zhob, Bunji, Murree -02øC,Saidu Sharif, Bannu,Mirkhani and Drosh -01øC.

While in other cities therecorded temperature isIslamabad 0.0øC, Lahore3.0øC, Karachi 12.0øC,Peshawar 3.0øC, Quetta -6.0øC, Skardu -11.0øC,Murree -2.0øC,Muzaffarabad 0.0øC, Gilgit -7.0øC, Faisalabad 2.0øC,Multan 6.0øC, Hyderabad9.0øC. —APP

FAISALABAD/NOWSHERA/SWABI—Incountry wide search operation againstterrorists, the security forces arrested195 suspects including seven terror-ists and 13 Afghan nationals.

The police also recovered handgrenades, explosives, other heavy am-munition and Afghan sims from theircustody.

According to details, police andintelligence agencies in a joint searchoperation in Nowshera, arrested 31suspects including 13 illegal Afghannationals and recovered arms and Af-ghan sims from their custody.

More than fifty suspected personswere arrested in Kalu Khan, Shamloand Barki areas of Swabi from the refu-

gees camps. In Quetta, police and FCin a search operation in Saryab areaarrested four members of a terroristorganisation including their com-mander.

In Faisalabad, police searched theAfghan abadis around central jail andarrested 32 suspects. Police arrestedmore than seventy suspects fromMianwali’s Datta Khel, Muslim colonyareas during search operation.

In Sindh, police arrested three ter-rorists who were planning terroristactivity. Police recovered four kilo-grams of explosives and five handbombs from their custody.

Similar search operations are be-ing carried out by police with the help

of other law enforcement agenciesacross the country to rid the countryof the menace of terrorism.

62 criminals nabbed in Multan:Police claimed on Sunday to have ar-rested 62 criminals, including 41 pro-claimed offenders, during raids in thedistrict.

According to sources, police alsoapprehended 13 drug peddlers andfour illegal weapon holders besides re-covering 104 litre liquor, 1.747kg hash-ish, three pistols, one revolver and fourrounds.

Similarly, police arrested four gam-blers and recovered stake money Rs3,100. Separate cases have been reg-istered against the accused.—APP

195 suspects including 7terrorists, 13 Afghans held

Motorists asked to drivecarefully during fog

RAWALPINDI—City Traffic Police (CTP) hasurged the motorists to drive carefully onthe roads observing road safety rules andavoid unnecessary travel on motorways andhighways during foggy weather.

The motorists should avoid applyingsudden brakes and use fog lights duringtraveling said Chief Traffic Officer (CTO)Rawalpindi Senior Superintendent Police(SSP) Shoaib Khurram Janbaz on Sunday.

He said the Education Wing of CTP isholding on ground training workshops tospread awareness about driving duringfoggy weather. He informed that the motor-ists were guided on Airport Road, Mall Road,Peshawar Road and other main roads of the

city to exercise more caution when driving inadverse weather conditions such as fog.Motorists should be more attentive duringthe season because of an increased likeli-hood of traffic accidents due to fog, said theCTO. CTP has taken numerous safety mea-sures to make travelling safe for the roadusers and to avoid accidents.

He said, CTP is also holding workshopsat schools and colleges to spread awarenessamong the students about traffic rules androad safety. The drivers must be aware ofdriving principles and drive vehicles accord-ing to the rule of law. They will be the bestdriver, only if they follow the traffic disci-pline, he added.—APP

SHEIKHUPURA—Federal Minister for De-fence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain hassaid that military courts were the joint deci-sion of military and political leadership andnobody should have any reservation on it.

Addressing a public meeting after in-augurating development schemes in IqbalTown Kot Abdul Maalik, some 20 km awayfrom here on Sunday, he said the aim ofmilitary courts was to try terrorists and thesame would not be used for political pur-pose.

He said, there would be a great differ-ence between the proposed military courtsand the courts established during martiallaw.

He said that PPP co-chairman AsifZardari should demonstrate the same spiritin establishment of military courts just likehe supported the government in this regard.He hoped that Pakistan would be purgedof all kind of terrorism.

It is need of the hour that every indi-vidual should play his role for the progressand prosperity of Pakistan by setting aside

Military courts not be usedfor political purpose: Rana

their differences, he added. “We will givenews within few days about the success oftalks with the PTI,” he added. MPA Pir AshrafRasool also spoke on the occasion.Ch Shahbaz Gujjar and elite of the town werealso present on the occasion. Secretary Gen-eral Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM)Raja Nasir Abbas has hailed the decision ofsetting up military courts for speedy trial ofterrorists, aiming to establish peace in thecountry.

Addressing a press conference here atlocal seminary Sunday, he stressed the needfor unity to cope with the menace of terror-ism. He said the time was riped that politi-cians re-evaluate their preferences, addingthat non-issues must not be produced likeissues. He termed the first preference of thegovernment should be rooting out terrorismfrom the motherland. He criticized former PPP-led rule for moratorium on death penalty.

The MWM leader wanted to get crack-down against terrorists in Pakistan, espe-cially safe heavens of South Punjab posinga threat to peace of the country.—APP

WAH CANTT—Candle light march was heldin Wah Cantt on Saturday night to pay trib-utes to Peshawar’s Army Public School vic-tims who were killed in a barbaric Talibanattack.

The candle light march led by MianMateen Aslam chairman Pakistan NationalCircle was organized near Aslam Market.People from all walks of life participated inthe candle light march.

From officers, Police, Prominent Citi-zens, Media Fraternity, Bar Association,Social, Religious Organizations, NGOs, stu-dents, children to general public, all partici-pated in candle light march. T w ominutes silence was observed as a mark ofrespect. Participants prayed for the peaceof the departed souls and for the patienceof the bereaved families to bear this irrepa-rable loss.

Mian Mateen Aslam while offering con-dolence said, “It is extremely sad and tragicto know that kids can also be targeted likethis. We all feel the pain for those innocentlives that were finished off for no fault.” Headded the perpetrators of such incidentshave no religion and know no borders; they

Tributes paid to APS victims

Khattak wants review of foreignpolicy to make country fully secure

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—KP Chief Minister PervezKhattak has said that reviewing policyabout Afghan refugees and foreign af-fairs was need of the hour to make Paki-stan fully secure in wake of Peshawartragedy whereas deployment of suffi-cient FC platoons on FATA borderswould protect not only KhyberPakhtunkhwa but entire country frominfiltration of unwanted and terrorist el-ements on which PTI-led coalition govthas clearly apprised center of its prin-cipled stand.

On the other hand, he said, his govtwould ensure internal security of theprovince and would make foolproof se-curity arrangements for all cities undersafe city project as well as proper legis-lative cover would also be provided toall such measures wherein responsibili-ties of public, private institutions and

individuals would also be fixed accord-ingly. He assured that besides identify-ing role of various segments of society,affordability would also be taken intoaccount in this regard.

He said this while chairing high levelmeeting about legislation on Securityof Sensitive Installation & VulnerablePlaces Bill at Conference Room of KPAssembly and later talking to journal-ists in backdrop of the recent gruesometerror act of APS carnage. The meetingtook stock of draft of the Bill and ap-proved it in light of the proposals andrecommendations of the participantswherein it would be tabled at floor of theassembly for formally enacting it.

Both the treasury and oppositionmembers welcomed the comprehensivelegislation on protection of the peopleand besides assuring all out supportalso expressed the hope that all theselaws would be made transparent enough

to avoid chances of misusing it any-where.

Chief Minister reiterated that wecould emerge a glorious nation if all andsundry including the legislators andpeople strictly abide by the constitutionand laws. He regretted that the acts ofterrorism and subversion traced backover two decades but no proper atten-tion was given to external or internalsecurity measures in the past nor suffi-cient legislation was made to address itaccordingly.

He deplored that most of terrorismrelated damages could be avoided andculprits apprehended if adequate se-curity steps could be taken, CCTV cam-eras installed at important installationand latest technology was used well intime. He agreed that security of all pub-lic and private installations, buildingsand sensitive places was impossible forthe govt alone.

WAH CANTT: Activists of Pakistan national circle lighting candles to protest againstattack on Army Public School and Degree College Peshawar.

should be dealt with the strictest law of theland. Terming this violence an assault onentire humanity Mateen stated that we allshould learn a lesson from such incidentsand take oath to provide such educationand moral values to our children so thatthey become responsible citizens of thecountry and this sort of unfortunate inci-dent doesn’t repeat in near future in anypart of the world.

Meanwhile, in Peshawar thousandsflocked to Army Public School in Peshawaron Sunday to mourn the 149 people – mainlychildren – massacred by Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan and demand action against militants.Men, women and children from Peshawar andother cities visited the army-run institution tooffer prayers for those killed in the country’sdeadliest-ever terror attack.

Mourners placed flowers, bouquets, plac-ards and lighted candles at various places inthe school in front of photos of murderedstudents. Masons laid bricks and poured ce-ment to raise the height of the wall around theArmy Public School as mourners chanted slo-gans such as “Death to terrorists”, “Longlive Pakistan Army”.—INP

Behaviour ofBISP Staff andChitral police

lamentedGUL HAMAAD FAROOQI

CHITRAL—Unequal distri-bution of Benazir IncomeSupport Program (BISP)Cards, Inhuman behaviorof BISP and nepotism ofChitral police werestrongly lamented duringa public meeting of All Pa-kistan Muslim League(APML) called by MemberNational Assembly ChitralShahzada Iftikharuddin.The meeting was called tostrengthen the party, tobrief the public about theprogress of MNA and tosought opinion of partyworkers as well as to listengrievance of public. Thepublic meeting was pre-sided over by Capt retiredFarooqul Azam.

Addressing on the oc-casion the speakersstrongly condemned un-equal distribution of BISPcard and inhuman behav-iors of BISP staff. They saidthat there is no separatewaiting room for womenfolk and people comingfrom far-flung areas ofChitral even from border ar-eas are badly treated byBISP staff at Chitral office.They snub and insult thesepoor people who visitingthe office regarding re-newal and activating ofmissing and blocked cardsof BISP.

Traffic jamirks passengers

in KahutaISLAMABAD—The citizens ofKahuta had faces the lot ofproblems of traffic jam in dailylife demands the concernedauthorities to take solid stepsto resolve the issue of trafficjam. Most of the passengers,particularly females and chil-dren irks due to heavy traffic,when crossing the roads, heremarked.

Another commuter,Ahmad said that traffic jamcould be seen at the bus stopswhich waste the time of stu-dents and working class.

Talking to APP Awais, aresident of Kahuta, here onSunday said that several am-bulances stuck-up in the longtraffic roads.

Block roads due to heavytraffic create problems forcommuters and it is routinematter on several chowks, headded. Another citizen Khalilsaid Traffic wardens were notfound on their duty points.

The citizens have calledon the authorities to outlinea comprehensive plan tosolve traffic congestion in thecity as heavy traffic jam oncity roads especially atChanni Bazar and MatoreChowk.—APP

Rs 0.4 milliondistributed

FAISALABAD—The govern-ment was taking steps forwelfare of deserving peoplefor which financial supportwas being providing tothem, said Chairman Stand-ing Committee for Housingand Works MNA HajiAkram Ansari.

He was distributingcheques worth Rs 400,000among deserving familiesfor marriages of theirdaughters under the aegisof the Auqaf department.

He said the Punjabgovernment was implement-ing different welfareprojects and providing themfinancial aid transparently.

MPA Madiha Rana saidPunjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shabaz Sharifwas taking keen interest fordevelopment and welfare ofwomen in the province.

The financial aid pro-vided to women will helpthem in fulfilling their needs,she said.— APP

FATAholds medical

campsPESHAWAR—Directorate ofFATA Health Services onSunday arranged free medi-cal camps to provide healthcare facilities to people re-siding in remote areas ofMohmand Agency.

The camps were ar-ranged on the directives ofGovernor, KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Addi-tional Chief Secretary inPandyali, Had Koor,Khoezai, Lakaroo and PrangGahr areas.

Qualified teams of medi-cal professional examined atotal of 7779 patients be-sides conducting 69 diag-nostic tests. 42 patients suf-fering from eye ailmentswere operated upon whilecomplicated cases were re-ferred to nearby hospitals.

Program Manager, Dr.Uzma appreciated the coop-eration of Political Admin-istration and Agency Sur-geon and said that director-ate would continue its ef-forts to mitigate the suffer-ing of those who cannot af-ford the expenses of healthcare facilities.—APP

Efforts on toimprove SU

STAFF REPORTER

HYDERABAD—Vice-Chan-cellor Sindh University (SU)Prof. Dr. Imdad Ali Ismailisaid on Sunday that effortsare being made to make theUniversity a distinguishedinstitution in the regionrecognised for its global per-spective and diverse andsupportive learning environ-ment, besides having inter-national reputation in re-search and creative discov-ery.

He was addressing theparticipants of two differentM.Phil seminars of Informa-tion Technology here at hisoffice, said a statement hereon Sunday.

Academic excellencewas top priority of his ad-ministration, he said, addingthat it had provided modernfacilities and suitable envi-ronment to the teachers andstudents.

Dr. Ismaili said his var-sity, a future oriented andunique institution, was com-mitted to achieving excel-lence in undergraduate andgraduate education, re-search and public service.

The University, he said,provided superior and com-prehensive educational op-portunities through doctoraland special professionalprogrammes.

He further said the Uni-versity of Sindh contributedto advancement of the soci-ety through research, cre-ative activity and scholarlyinquiry.

“The university pro-motes arts, benefits nationaleconomy, serves the citizensthrough public programmesand is dedicated to produc-tion of quality human re-source for the knowledge-driven development of thecountry,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor saidover 10,0000 studentsthrough affiliated collegeswere enrolled with the Uni-versity while 27,000 regularstudents were studying onthe campus.

“Being in a competitiveera, there is no option to re-search.

CHINIOT: A view of road engulfed by dense fog on Sunday.

Terrorism:Committees and

committees! Please act

WHILE Pakistan army is duly concerned and keen for eliminationof terrorism and with passage of every day, it is moving aheadwith a well conceived plan killing dozens of terrorists, the gov-

ernment is caught in Is-lamabad’s typical bureaucratic web to delay resolu-tion of issues by form-ing committees. The Prime Minister on Saturdaychaired a meeting of the committee to oversee implementation of the Na-tional Action Plan against terrorism and directed the revival of NACTA, yetformation of over a dozen committees give a clear impression that tradi-tional methods are being applied which would certainly delay action in-stead of going all out to crush the ugly head of terrorism.

Though the committees have been tasked to come up withrecommenda-tions to deal with various issues and they will be answer-able to the Prime Minister and Interior Minister but we strongly believethat it requires resolve and determination to put into action decisions takenby the political and military leadership. It is not time to form committeesand commissions but to act with speed because the delay is sending anegative signal and inviting criticism on different counts. Already certainpolitical parties are expressing reservations about establishment of mili-tary courts stressing that these be used only against terrorists and there isevery likelihood that in the coming days some other objections may beraised. There should be no doubt that military courts or the constitutionalamendments to be made would be for dealing with terrorism but somepolitical parties are not satisfied over it as they fear that the courts may beused against them. Different departments of the government are alreadyworking to deal with the issues and the committees would depend agreat deal on their inputs and as such their formation is wastage of re-sources and time. As the Prime Minister stated in his various statementssince the Peshawar tragedy that it is an extra ordinary situation and requiresextra ordinary response to the terrorists, therefore there is need for quickaction rather than moving through routine handling of an urgent issue. Thereis a na-tional consensus that menace of terrorism must be dealt with ur-gency and thus it is time to act rather than forming committees.

PPP puts up poor showTHE assassination of Benazir Bhutto on 27th December, 2007 was a

terrible event which would continue to impact country for a long timeto come. It was a sad day and every Pakistani mourned her sudden death, asshe was a brave charismatic leader and first democratically elected femaleleader of a Muslim country.

The PPP has been observing her death anniversary every year withmass participation of party leaders and activists yet the meet-ing at GarhiKhuda Bakhsh the other day on her 7th death anniver-sary was not an im-pressive show in many respects. The absence of some of the party stalwartsfrom Punjab and other provinces was note worthy while the gathering toowas not impressive and enthusiasm was visibly lacking. Above all absenceof her son and Chairman of PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was felt by all andsundry and different theories are being advanced as to why he did not makeit to the all important event. First it was reported that he would be unable toundertake the journey to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh due to doctors advice andthen it was said that there were security concerns and was advised not toattend the death anniversary of her mother. This gave credence to rumoursalready in the media that there were differences between father and the sonover handling of party affairs. Though former President and co-chairman ofPPP Asif Ali Zardari vehemently denied it, reassuring workers that therewere no cracks and it was only propaganda of the oppo-nents, yet otherparty leaders were seen making lame excuses. Mr Zardari’s speech on theoccasion was also brief and had no clear cut message though in the pasthe had made fiery speeches giving message of hope to the leadership andthe workers that the PPP would carry on the mission of Zulfikar Ali Bhuttoand Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. The whole event reflected thatthe PPP is in the midst of different challenges and one may say that it wasdue to discontentment among the workers. Anyhow, as PPP is still one ofthe two major political parties of the country, we are sure it will come outof the present dilemma, address grievances of leaders and workers andmotivate them to attain vast appeal among electorates.

World should dojustice to Palestine

OVER the last one year, a number of governments have recognised Palestine and several European parliaments have voted in favor of its rec-

ognition which is more than just a symbolic gesture. Now the UN SecurityCouncil is set to vote on a draft resolution Monday calling for the recogni-tion of the Palestinian State which is the right of the Palestinian people whohave been struggling for the cherished goal for the last over six decades.

Palestinian Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters that some revi-sions were made to the Jordanian drafted text before sending it to the Secu-rity Council. Palestinian are seeking to create an independent state on theterritories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem Al Quds and the besieged GazaStrip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied territo-ries. In November, 2012 the UN General Assembly voted to upgradePalestine’s status at the UN from non member observer entity to nonmember observer state despite strong opposition from Israel and the US.It is a rec-ognized fact that the United States is delaying the resolution ofPalestinian dispute as it is under strong pressure of the jewish lobby andthus cannot force Israel for a permanent settlement of the issue. The merefact that more and more countries want to recognize Palestine approach-ing statehood one expects that except for the US every member of theSecurity Council would back the resolution. The happenings in Gaza whereIsrael security forces committed crimes against unarmed Palestinians andthe sufferings of the people demand that justice be done to them and wewould urge the international community that after Palestine is recognizedas a State, attention be paid to address the Kashmir issue.

Another New Year beckons!

Pakistan’smilitarycourts

PAKISTAN’S fight againstterrorism has entered a crucial phase. It neither has a

choice nor the luxury to step asideand ponder over its policies, as itconfronts a deadly enemy. TheTaliban and the like have playedhavoc and are out to maim thepeople at large to fulfill their self-concocted ideology. Though thecountry has been a victim of terrorfor more than two decades, what hasbrought it to a zero-tolerance levelis the carnage that a school inPeshawar witnessed last week, inwhich more than 144 children andstaff lost their lives. Thegovernment’s subsequent decisionto lift a moratorium on capital pun-ishment and try the terror suspectsin military courts reflects the re-solve to defeat terrorism. This movehas been overwhelmingly wel-comed from all sections of societyand even a couple of political voiceswho take an exception at militarycourts believe that there aren’t manyoptions left in this critical hour.

Now as culprits on death row arehanged and suspects tried, authori-ties have to ensure that the vigil isnot lifted and the security agenciessucceed in hauling up all unscrupu-lous characters without any bias ordiscrimination. It has to ensure thatwheelers and dealers who have actedas patrons for the extremist elementsare also rounded up, and a speedytrial is conducted to prosecute them,accordingly. It is, however, unfortu-nate that the rejuvenated judiciary,which the nation rests its hopes onhad failed to deliver timely justice.That is why apparently the politicalintelligentsia had to take the unpopu-lar decision of setting up military tri-bunals. The trend in the judicial fra-ternity, especially among a sectionof the lawyers, to plead the cases ofpotential suspects who had been con-victed by lower courts should be dis-couraged, and should be consideredas an anti-state activity. Similarly, thepetitions filed before the apex courtto outlaw parallel courts of justiceunder military tribunals should alsobe scrapped by the judiciary, becauseit is an extraordinary move under ex-traordinary circumstances. The ratio-nale is to dispense speedy justice andnot to undermine the judiciary itself.As Winston Churchill, the formerBritish prime minister, once said, ifjustice is done even in times of war,then the society can hope to live onfor a new era. Pakistan is in similardifficult circumstances today. Untiland unless speedy justice is dis-pensed and the culprits are pros-ecuted and punished, the tendencyto opt for gunrunning and terror tac-tics will go on. It’s time to crush theroot cause of injustice and chaos insociety. — Khaleej Times

*****

Maritime rights

THE UAE is at the heart of theglobal economy that relies onthe free movement of goods.

The UAE’s ports are an integral partof the maritime network that movesmore than 90 per cent of all globaltrade. Almost nine billion tonnes ofgoods are carried every year byships that link all the world’s trad-ing nations.

It is, therefore, vital that thelaws underpinning the security ofthis essential part of the modernworld are fully endorsed. The UNConvention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) regulates nationalrights over coastal waters, but alsocreates the framework for the freemovement of goods on the highseas. Uniquely among the world’smajor nations, the US has refusedto sign the Law of the Sea. It ispartnered in its rejection of this es-sential law by Eritrea, Israel, Peru,Syria, Turkey and Venezuela, andnine landlocked states. The Law ofthe Sea has repeatedly come in frontof the Senate for ratification, but hasconsistently failed. The danger isthat while the US ties itself up infoolish isolationism, the Chineseare taking a predatory interest incontrolling the crucial Asian mari-time trade routes through the SouthChina Sea, East China Sea and Seaof Japan, and maybe the MalaccaStraits as well. Beijing has observedthat Washington has ignored theframework of international lawwhen it suits its own interests, andit’s therefore ready to do the sameand simply enforce its will on theinternational trade routes. As partof its pivot to Asia plan, the US mustratify the Law of the Sea and en-dorse the rule of law. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

AS another New Year beckons, the proverbial man-in-the-street is learning to

scrape through the hard way.Whether or not he comes throughunscathed or even survives the ex-ercise is the moot point. There islittle on offer in the nature of conso-lation. Amidst the clamour for a‘new Pakistan’, his yearning contin-ues to revolve around where hisfamily’s next meal is going to comefrom. Bereft as he is of the knowl-edge of higher economics – macroor otherwise – and shorn of practi-cally all that man is supposed to liveby, his principal concern is less toachieve the next notch in ‘per capitaincome’ and more to keep body andsoul together until the next salvo.The question is: where does he gofrom here, if anywhere?

Looking over the shoulder, theman in the street recalls the distantrosy promises (read statistics) hurledhis way. And yet he somehow nevercould get rid of the queasy feelingat the pit of the stomach that “thereis something rotten in the Kingdomof Denmark”. He could feel that hislot was sinking rather than rising.With the prices of everyday com-modities shooting up through theceiling, he lived on hopes that theywould come down with the fall of theinternational price of crude oil. Theydid not. As he now decides on the

Final wake-up call to nation

ALTHOUGH various kindsof terror attacks have beenconducted by the Tehreek-

e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and itsbanned affiliated groups in the pastfew years, yet the massacre of 132school children at Army PublicSchool and College in Peshawar onDecember 16, this year proved awatershed, as it has given a finalwake up call to the nation to uniteagainst these ruthless terrorists.

In this regard, the armedforces of Pakistan have conductedseveral successful military opera-tions against the terrorists; themost recent one being operationZarb-e-Azb, which has success-fully broken the backbone of mili-tants. Frustrated by their failures,these insurgents are resorting tocoward acts like attack on inno-cent children in Peshawar.

Taking note of the school at-tack, Chief of Army Staff Gen.Raheel Sharif has himself startedsupervising the military actionagainst terrorists, and as part of theoperation, several terrorists havebeen killed during air strikes inTirah Valley in Khyber Agency.Gen. Raheel also stated, “We areextremely saddened, but our re-solve has taken new height”, andadded “We will continue to go af-ter the inhuman beasts, their facili-tators till their final elimination.”

In this context, Gen. Raheel ac-companied by the DG of Inter-Ser-vices Intelligence agency (ISI),rushed to Kabul on December 17.During his meeting with his Afghancounterpart, President Ashraf Ghaniand the ISAF commander, he pre-

It is easy tobe wise afterthe event.

sented evidence of thePeshawar massacre’s linkagewith TTP sanctuaries in Af-ghan provinces of Kunar andNuristan. He also asked theextradition of MullahFazlluah, and handing over to

Pakistan. In response, they assuredhim to take action against the TTP.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s valiantforces, law-enforcing and securityagencies including ISI have accel-erated their operations against theTaliban and other terrorists who arebeing hit or arrested all across thecountry. They have also capturedheavy arms and explosive-material.

However, the Peshawar schoolincident demands that the politics ofdisharmony, indecisiveness, expedi-encies and indifference should cometo a grinding halt. For the purpose,leaders of all the top political partiesincluding PTI Chief Imran Khan at-tended a meeting of the parliamen-tary parties convened by Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif after the deadlyattack at a school in Peshawar. Set-ting aside his differences, Imran Khancalled off the December 18 country-wide shutdown, ended PTI’s 126-daysit-in at Islamabad to give a clearmessage that the whole nation standsunited against terrorism. Besides, allthe leaders are cooperating with thegovernment against terrorism, andunanimously formed a parliamentarycommittee to chalk out a ‘NationalPlan of Action’ in seven days, whichis likely to be approved by the politi-cal and military leadership.

In the aftermath of the Peshawarschool attack, there arose the needof immediate execution of outstand-ing cases of death penalty to terror-ists. In this respect, it is good signthat Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif re-voked the ban on capital punishmentin terrorism cases following whichthe terrorists facing death penalty arebeing executed. It is also indication

that judicial body is also playing apositive role in fight against terror-ists. So, judicial order should beimplemented and national gracemust be restored.

Nevertheless, the inhuman grue-some tragedy in Peshawar requiresthat the government, leaders of theopposition and religious parties in-cluding various segments of societyand general masses must unite byplaying their role against these fero-cious terrorists.

And, Pakistan’s religious clerics(Ulema) who have condemned theterror attack at Peshawar schoolmust continue issuing joint or sepa-rate fatwa against these brutal mili-tants, as from time to time, they haveclarified that “killing of innocentpeople, target killings and suicidebombings including sectarianism areagainst the spirit of Islam…the ter-rorists’ self-adopted interpretation ofIslam was nothing, but ignoranceand digression from the actual teach-ings of the religion.” Religious ele-ments/groups should keep on check-ing the activities which are instigat-ing intolerant tendencies.

Besides, media should be sen-sitized to play its positive role inthe war against terrorism. It mustbe on low profile to avoid nationaldemoralization, as careful reportingby media without glorifying terror-ist acts is need of the hour. For thepurpose, extremist people likeMaulana Abdul Aziz (Lal Masjid)and Hafiz Saeed may not be givenundue space by the media.

No doubt, media’s role is ofgreat importance in creating a har-monious environment in the coun-try. They have to ignore their busi-ness interests, differences and rat-ings and support Pakistan in strik-ing back anti-state elements andtheir sympathizers.

Some analysts opine that like theprevious anti-terrorism law, the ‘Na-

unkind cuts in his family’sdaily intake, can one blamehim for wondering whatwent wrong and where?

Meanwhile, looking atthe macro picture, povertykeeps on increasing, just asthe rich keep on gettingricher. Add to this the factthat the economic czars of

the country have long been workingin a frenzy to paper over the cracks,rather than tackle the malaise, and youhave a picture that is getting murkierand murkier with every passing day.Fuel, electricity and gas are in shortsupply. The water crises – alternat-ing between scarcity and surfeit – takea heavy toll. The cost of living is sky-rocketing, just as the purchasingpower of the common man remainsprecariously close to rock bottom.

The portents hardly look prom-ising. The price of property hasboomed to high heavens; corruptionhas touched hitherto unachievedhighs and shopkeepers merrily keepon raising the prices of necessities atwill, GST or no GST. Sources ofwater supply are being contaminatedwith impunity, while the price ofbottled water and imported bottleddrinks spiral steadily upwards. Par-ents are denied places for their chil-dren in public sector schools, whilethe Higher Education Commissionhas poured millions into hair-brainedschemes to produce a handful ofPhDs. Private universities are sprout-ing like wild mushrooms to cater tochildren of the chosen few who havetheir visions fixed across the frontiers.

What is the man-in-the-street togive credence to then: the hogwash ofthe statisticians/economists in the payof the authorities, or the facts of life?The priorities of the nation appear to

have gone horribly awry. Should ourplanners, - such as they are - not bepaying attention to curing the ills be-setting the common man rather thannurturing illusory statistics?

The man-in-the-street under-standably feels let down. He finds heis being shortchanged at every step.The web of statistics and the rosy pic-ture of the distant future macro-eco-nomic development spun before himnotwithstanding, what is he to makeof the contradictory statements com-ing his way in the field of the secu-rity of the state, he has loved and cher-ished? Needless to add, it is he alonethat is called upon to bear each bur-den. The powers that be appear tohave made a hash of the nationalpriorities.At the time of the infamousU-turn, the man in the street was toldthat the country’s salvation lay downthe CBM path. He swallowed the glibtalk of the spin-doctors and the For-eign Office spokespersons – hook,line and sinker. Time and again, hewas informed that there was more tothe ‘composite dialogue’ than meetsthe eye. In his naiveté, he not onlyswallowed that line but also enthusi-astically applauded every time theoracles informed him that light wasdiscernable at the end of the tunnel.

And now, he is left groping, won-dering where the mirage of honourablepeace with our neighbour that had beenflashed before his tired eyes has van-ished. All that he can discern is tat-tered bits of tape that had been used topaper-over the ever-widening cracksin the otherwise rotten edifice.

The country, meanwhile, isplunged up to its neck in an open-ended war for the spoils. Ham-handedattempts at ‘creating’ a new Pakistan,interspersed with calls for restoringthe Quaid’s dream are making every-

one dizzy. Makes the man in thestreet wonder where the self-respectof this once proud nation has gone.

We are all what we have beenbrought up to be. Such is the waywith all species. One can hardly ex-pect fish to thrive in desert sands.The problem is that we have to dealwith not natural environment butcontrived and man-made environ-mental conditions. When a segmentof the people is brought up inbubbles, so to speak, where the veryatmosphere is conveniently con-trolled to the optimum degree, sub-jective rather than objective consid-erations take hold.

One is neither an economistnor a planner. Nevertheless, onehas come to believe that no peoplecan either survive or prosper on adiet of statistics alone. Mere per-centages thrust down the throatsof common folk just will not do.When targeting the man-in-the-street, let our advisers and plan-ners eschew the habit of talkingof macro or micro-economic indi-cators or of strewing statistics inhis path. Let them, instead, mea-sure the progress of the country interms of easy to understand (andassimilate) targets. What intereststhe common man is the trickle-down effect of the economic poli-cies, not mere platitudes.

Be that as it may and as dema-gogues indulge in earth-shaking ora-tory promising the moon, thewretched man-in-the-street stillholds on to the shreds of hope thatthe future would bring good cheer.Optimism dies hard. Here’s wish-ing him a Happy New Year!— The writer is a formerambassador and former assistantsecretary general of OIC.

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—Proverb

tional Action Plan’ will not be imple-mented in its true letter and spirit.But, now the nation demands thatwhile taking solid measures,counter-terrorism strategy or theNational Action Plan must be imple-mented without losing more time.Political leadership is required toshun their differences and createunity amongst them to combat ter-rorism and extremists.

In fact, the menace of terror-ism cannot be tackled with politi-cal expediencies, but with clear,firm and decisive policies, as on thetragic killing of 132 innocentschool children, Pakistan muststrike back terrorists and their sym-pathizers with zero tolerance.

It is mentionable thatPakistan’s Armed Forces have al-most defeated the terrorists, par-ticularly of the TTP by clearing theareas of North Waziristan Agencyby military operation Zarb-e-Azb.Now, the operation which has beenextended to other tribal areas needssupport of the nation.

Undoubtedly, Peshawar schooltragedy is a final wake up call to thewhole nation, and now Pakistan hasto decide firmly that barbarity of theterrorists will not be tolerated anymore. So, all the segments of soci-ety including politicians, intellectu-als, media, religious elements andthe general masses need to endeavorharmoniously—to check the prolif-eration of extremist tendencies. In-stead of verbal statements, they mustdisplay practical unity against thesezealots who seek to create anarchyin the country to accomplish theirself-motivated agenda at the direc-tion of Pakistan’s enemies. There-fore, every patriot Pakistani must co-operate with the security forces, law-enforcing and intelligence agenciesin fighting this war.—The writer is Lahore-basedfreelance columnist.

Khalid SaleemEmail: binwakeel@yahoo.com

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Sajjad ShaukatEmail: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

Voice of the PeopleThar catastrophe

MARIYA DADA

Everyday, in almost every news-paper, there is news about chil-dren dying in Thar. The countsvary from 2 to 4 children every-day. Sometimes the death tollgoes up to 9 to 11 children a day.On the other hand, there is hardlyany news about policies beingimplemented or actions beingtaken by the government to re-solve the issue.

A headline in a leading news-paper reads “Thar famine claims219 lives in 80 days” the first partof which is enough to leave any-one shaken, yet no remedial stepsare being taken. We have lost in-nocent lives in the Peshawar car-nage and we continue to lose in-nocent lives in Thar. I fail to un-derstand how humanity works. Islosing 2 lives everyday not worththe attention of the policymakers?Are deaths due to natural disastersacceptable? Is the number of liveslost the only criterion for a trag-edy? Let us not forget that everylife matters.

Let us not wait for drastic un-fortunate events to shake us intoaction. Let us not lose lives whichcan be saved by taking some pre-emptive measures. Let us not for-get that what is a number to us inthe newspaper is an end to dreamsand hopes at a future for familiesof the affected. Let us not forgetthat every life not saved is a lifetaken by those who can and shoulddo something about the situationbut are not doing so.

I sincerely hope the relevantauthorities shall look into this andtake appropriate measures to savethe valuable lives which are stillamongst us.—Karachi

Economic lossAISHA AFTAB

Pakistan is facing a period of eco-nomic depression. This means thatby the passing time the scarce re-sources are getting more scarceand wants of people are increas-ing rapidly. The increasing sce-nario of cutting natural resourceslike trees or harming animals forthe sake of testing products by bigbusinesses without applying anyenvironmental measure, only forthe sake of earning profit.

This has made the non renew-able resources even more scarceand thus expensive. This has in-creased the ratio of poverty and in-flation too. We must acknowledgethe problems at macro level ofeconomics for the sake of upcom-ing generations.—Kotli

Child labourAFSHAN RAZA

Childhood is the most innocentstage in a human life. It is thatphase of life where ‘ChildLabour’. There are various causesand effects of child labors. Childlabors is one of the biggest chal-lenges that the whole world isfacing.

A child is free from all the ten-sions, fun-loving, play and learnsnew things, and is the sweetheartof all the family members. But thisis only one side of the story. Theother side is full of tensions andburdens. Here, the innocent childis not the sweetheart of the fam-ily members, instead he is anearning machine working the en-tire day in order to satisfy theneeds and wants of his/her fam-ily. This is what is called Childlabors includes working childrenwho are below a certain minimumage. This practice is going onsince long and is one of the worstforms of child exploitation. Childlabors not only causes damage toa child’s physical and mentalhealth but also keep him depriveof his basic rights to education,development, and freedom.

The main causes of child la-bor include poverty, unemploy-ment, and excess population.Among these, poverty is the pri-mary cause of child labour. Youmust have observed that poorfamilies have more number ofchildren, so it becomes very diffi-cult for them to survive on the in-come of only one family memberwhich is also quite less. So theymake their small children theirsource of income.

There are various organiza-tions which are fighting againstchild labour by helping childrenand imparting education amongthat part of society from wheremajority of the child labour comes.Let us all take some step in thisdirection so that we can bringsmiles to many faces and makethis world a beautiful place for achild to live in....Ameen.— Islamabad

Violations of traffic rulesSYED ZAMAN ALI KAZMI

In Rawalpindi, thousands of motorcycles will make one realisethat there are no traffic laws for them. The traffic police have

totally failed to implement any rules and regulations. Their twoand three day drives to disseminate awareness among bikers havedone little to change their behavior in any way. The blatant disre-gard for life or limb is amazing; these daring youths are seen ridingon pavements, jumping the signals, rushing between cars and theone wheeling not only endangers their lives but the passersby aswell. The behavior of the unruly bikers could be improved througheducation; they can be taught basic traffic rules and ethics in theirsyllabus. They should be exposed to various threats and penaltiesfor violation of traffic rules. Revamping the traffic warden systemmight also pay the dividend.—Rawalpindi

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View From Abroad

Fighting human-induced climate change

THE purpose of the global financial system is to allocatethe world’s savings to their

most productive uses. When thesystem works properly, these sav-ings are channeled into invest-ments that raise living standards;when it malfunctions, as in recentyears, savings are channeled intoreal-estate bubbles and environ-mentally harmful projects, includ-ing those that exacerbate human-induced climate change. The year2015 will be a turning point in theeffort to create a global financialsystem that contributes to climatesafety rather than climate ruin. InJuly, the world’s governmentswill meet in Addis Ababa to ham-mer out a new framework for glo-bal finance.

The basics are clear. Climatesafety requires that all countriesshift their energy systems awayfrom coal, oil and gas, towardwind, solar, geothermal, and otherlow-carbon sources. We should

also test the feasibility of large-scale carbon capture and seques-tration (CCS), which might en-able the safe, long-term use of atleast some fossil fuels. Instead,the global financial system hascontinued to pump hundreds ofbillions of dollars per year intoexploring and developing newfossil-fuel reserves, while direct-ing very little toward CCS.

Many investments in new fos-sil-fuel reserves will lose moneyowing to the recent fall in worldoil prices. And many of the fos-sil-fuel reserves that companiesare currently developing willeventually be “stranded” (left inthe ground) as part of new globalclimate policies. The simple factis that the world has far more fos-sil-fuel resources than can besafely burned, given the realitiesof human-induced cl imatechange.

Though market signals are notyet very clear, this year’s moresuccessful investors were thosewho sold their fossil-fuel hold-ings, thereby avoiding the oil-price crash. Perhaps they were

just lucky this year, but their di-vestment decision makes long-term sense, because it correctlyanticipates the future policy shiftaway from fossil fuels and towardlow-carbon energy. More govern-ments around the world are nowintroducing carbon pricing to re-flect the high social costs inher-ent in the continued use of fossilfuels.

As more countries and com-panies introduce carbon pricing,the internal accounting cost ofcarbon emissions will rise, invest-ments in fossil fuels will becomeless attractive, and investments inlow-carbon energy systems willbecome more appealing.

With international oil pricesdropping, this is an ideal momentfor governments to introduce car-bon pricing. Rather than let theconsumer price of oil fall by thatamount, governments should puta carbon tax in place.

Moreover, new revenues fromcarbon taxes would be a boon forgovernments. High-income coun-tries have promised to help low-income countries invest in climate

Start again..!

SOMETHING I believe allparents should teach theirchildren is to get up when

they fall. This is not just a les-son that we should teach themwhen they play games, but ineverything that happens duringchildhood: ‘So you’ve comelast in the class, now study hardand come first!’

“Saw you being beaten inthe 800 meter dash, now prac-tice so you become better andbetter!’ There are also many ofus who have already grown upand never had mothers and fa-

thers who taught us to get up andtry again. Hear about the animalkingdom: Baby giraffes never goto school. But they learn a veryimportant lesson rather early inlife. A lesson that all of us woulddo well to remember: The birth ofa baby giraffe is quite an earth-shaking event: The baby fallsfrom its mother’s womb, someeight feet above the ground. Itshrivels up and lies still, too weakto move.

The mother giraffe lovinglylowers her neck to smooch thebaby giraffe. And then somethingunbelievable happens. She liftsher long leg and kicks the babygiraffe, sending it flying up in theair and tumbling down on theground. As the baby lies curled

up, the mother kicks the babyagain and again until the baby gi-raffe, still trembling and tired,pushes its limbs and for the firsttime learns to stand on its feet.

Happy to see the baby stand-ing on its own feet, the mother gi-raffe comes over and gives it yetanother kick.

The baby giraffe falls onemore time, but now quickly re-covers and stands up. Mama Gi-raffe is delighted. She knows thather baby has learnt an importantlesson: Never mind how hard youfall, always remember to pickyourself up and get back on yourfeet! Why does the mother giraffedo this? She knows that lions andleopards love giraffe meat. Sounless the baby giraffe quickly

learns to stand and run with thepack, it will have no chance ofsurvival.

Most of us though are notquite as lucky as baby giraffes.No one teaches us to stand upevery time we fall. When wefail, when we are down, we justgive up. No one kicks us out ofour comfort zone to remind usthat to survive and succeed, weneed to learn to get back on ourfeet.

This message goes out toeach and everyone who hasn’tgiven up and those who will al-ways have the courage to getback; dust everything off andstart again..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

What does peace prize do for world peace?

T HE obvious answer is‘nothing’. A glance at thelong list of peace prize

winners shows how this is thecase. People chosen for the Nobelpeace prize have been chosen tofrom the point of view of statusquo, i,e, uphold the power equa-tion in the world, the interest ofUS and Western powers in differ-ent regions which is the main rea-son for war and conflict. That wasthe case when Obama orMenachim Begin were chosen;that was the case when pro-West-ern politicians like Aung San SuuKyi from Burma was given theprize for her clinging to ‘democ-racy’ - a political system the spiritof which she can not understandgiven her support for ethniccleansing and violence in hercountry. Shirin Ebadi, an Iraniananti-government activist was cho-sen to bug the Iranian Ayatullahs,the Dalai Lama was chosen to bugthe Chinese. Sometimes, rarelyknown activists have been chosenwho have worked in their commu-nities for betterment when no bigpolitical shot needed the boost ofa Nobel peace prize. The contri-bution of all these people to worldpeace is more than only question-able from the point of view of theThird World countries.

This year’s Nobel peace prizeseems to be a combination of thetwo mainstream intentions. Bychoosing Malala Yusufzai, aPathan teenager from the Paki-stani Swat valley where she un-der the direction of her father whowas a school teacher and wasworking for girl’s education onthe secular NGO model. He hasbeen chosen by the West to useas a tool for implementing theirmillennium agenda, which is nowfully exposed. She was shot at bythe Taliban as a symbol of theiranti-western stance and they haveadmitted and they are sorry for it.The hero mongering initiated byWestern media that has been go-ing on with high profile projec-tion of Malala has been criticizedeven by her own people in SaiduSharif with school girls resentingtheir school to be named afterMalala saying that the movewould make them a target formilitants and endanger their lives

while Malala had left Paki-stan and was comfortably en-joying security in Great Brit-ain with her parents.

Another argument wasthat so many other girlsfought for girl’s education

who never got even the supportof the administration or the Westand that it was uncalled for tosingle out one girl only. We haveto admit that BBC plays a mainrole as an effective media tool inmodern psychological warfare tofulfill Corporate agenda of theWorld Jewry, one case is of GulMakai dairy by Malala, then Dr.Shakeel and polio drama, a Chi-nese doctor friend of mine pro-tested at Karachi airport when theairline staff was forcibly admin-istering the grown-up passengersto drink polio drops, which ac-cording to her is given to littlechildrens and for grownup itcould cause problem with bodyharmones.

Then the Video-documentary“ Islamic Bomb” that was re-leased in early 1979 while the PC-1 of the project was yet to be ap-proved. Pakistani intelligentsiahas to understand all these gim-micks before falling again in theirtrap.

The second person chosen forthis year’s peace prize is an In-dian social worker KailashSatyarthi. Satyarthi, who foundeda consumer campaign in the 1980sto combat child labour in thehandmade carpet industry. He wasgiven the prize for his fight forchild rights again under politicalexpediency.

The outside India rather un-known 60-year-old activist headsthe ‘Global March Against ChildLabour’, a combination of some2,000 social groups and union or-ganizations in 140 countries. Heis credited with helping tens ofthousands of children forced intoslavery by businessmen, land-owners and others to gain theirfreedom.

The Norwegian Nobel Com-mittee said the duo had been cho-sen for their struggle against therepression of children and youngpeople and “for the right of allchildren to education”.

There is no doubt that childlabor is a bane in many countriesof the world especially when it ispreventing children from gettingeducation. Fact remains that evenin United States there are Chil-dren forced to work in certain ar-eas especially in agriculture and

garment sectors. Human rights or-ganizations have documentedchild labor in USA. According toa 2009 petition by Human RightsWatch “hundreds of thousands ofchildren are employed as farmworkers in the United States, of-ten working 10 or more hours aday”. Asian countries face theboycott of goods from industrieswhere poor children earn theirlivelihood due to economic ex-ploitation by multinational con-glomerates. But child labour ishardly disturbing world peace.

And education is not a guar-anty for world peace ei ther.Agreed - people in the West areeducated; but are they peaceful?Do they resent war and conflictbeing perpetuated and created?Some do, most don’t. If educationwould make you a peace activistthe Western world would be acitadel of peace.

But it isn’t. It is the West thatis dominating the world by itsmilitary power and its economicexploitation through organiza-tions like UN, NATO, IMF, WorldBank and others – all used to up-hold the Western primacy andmillennium agenda.

Cultural imperialism of theWest is exporting Western ideasthrough education into the rest ofthe world and everywhere thereare people like Malala and herfather who think through promot-ing Western education and West-ern ideas and values in their coun-tries and societies will also oneday prosper and be as rich as theWest is today.

This is so naïve and it is sowrong because it did work for hisfamily but people of Swat suf-fered a lot on account of this.Western domination comes fromcolonialism in all its forms; domi-nation and exploitation has fi-nanced the scientific and indus-trial revolution in the West and ithas made western values whatthey are: materialist, irreligiousand selfish. Is this what will pro-mote world peace?

Another thing to be mentionedis the choice of countries for thepeace prize - India and Pakistan– at a time when India is launch-ing a low-intensity war at theworking border with Pakistan thathas killed and injured many Pa-kistani civilians living in the vil-lages close to the border line.

This undeclared aggression isviolating a ceasefire that had beenagreed to both countries yearsago. The message of choosing an

Jaffrey D. Sachs

Indian and a Pakistani seems tobe ‘sort out your problems’ – astance which ignores the fact thatthe Indo-Pakistani conflict isalong standing one that origi-nated from the partition whichwas a British responsibility, whyBritish failed or was it pre-planned historians will one daybring the truth out and that it isIndia under the BJP Modi gov-ernment that is disturbing thecease fire now to suit the West.It is the unresolved Kashmir con-flict that is in the background ofthe years of tension and theUNSC since 1948 has failed mis-erably to solve the conflict asthey have failed in Palestine. Un-resolved conflicts like the Kash-mir and Palestinian conflicts area major source of war and mili-tancy by the people sufferingfrom those conflicts. The inter-national community would havedone better by engaging activelyin those conflicts than give use-less peace prizes thus ignoringthe real cause of war and hatredby getting the bottlenecks re-moved.

The peace prize is financedfrom Mr. Nobel’s money thestock of which is producing riba(interest) each year and only theriba is distributed by Nobel foun-dation. Malala should considerthat aspect also when acceptingthe price money.

The Nobel peace prize, thus,is a hoax. This can be seen fromthe life and activities of thefounder also.

Alfred Nobel, a Swedish in-ventor, made his money by in-venting dynamite – not a verypeaceful invention. The Nobelfamily factory of his father hadalready produced armaments forthe Crimean War (1853–1856);he together with his brothers ex-plored oilf ields along theCaspian Sea and became rich.

By the time of his death in1896 he had established 90 arma-ments factories that were produc-ing the weaponry for the wars tocome including World War I.Wikipedia writes that he was apacifist – but does that reallymatter after what he had donethroughout his life? Even hislegacy – the money made fromselling weaponry and explosives– cannot produce peace as his-tory of the Nobel Peace prize hasshown. God bless hyumanity andPakistan.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

Students’behaviour in class

SYED HUSNAIN NAQVI

It has been observed that most ofthe students do not take their stud-ies seriously. Distractions, such asmessaging, gossiping, socializing,surfing social networks spoil mostof their time. Their presence in theclass is merely for attendance pur-pose rather than learning or educa-tion. They prefer updating theirFacebook status, uploading picturesrather than paying attention to whatis being taught by the teachers. Nowthe main concern is why do studentsyawn or sleep in the class?

The first reason seems to bestudents’ lack of interest in anyparticular subject as well as theway our teachers teach? There aresome students who don’t want tostudy at all, either they are forcedto study or they think that theyshould study, so that they can havethe label of being educated. Manystudents believe that they can pass,without paying any attention inclass, by studying the night beforethe exams.

Some teachers are to be blamedas well, for their poor grip on thesubject coupled with unprepared-ness for the lecture; hence they cannot maintain interest. They pay noattention to the fact that the studentsare not interested in what knowl-edge they are imparting, they justtalk and leave! There should be cri-terion that promotes class activitiesthat make the students participatethus ensuring their attention and co-operation. This can result in gain-ing more marks and if teachers startmaking class environment friendly,they can surely prevent studentsfrom yawning in classroom.—Azad Kashmir

Harmful radiationof cell phones

LARAIB HAMEED

It is really alarming to know thatmany people have lost their livesdue to the harmful radiation emit-ted by the cell phones, which havebecome the most important part ofour life in past few decades. Peoplehave reached the ultimate extent ofmisusing this great invention likegiving prank calls, cyber-bullysand uploading photographs andvideos which are not appropriateand hence spoil the future of vari-ous people who have been the vic-tims of cyber crime.

The people addicted to cellphones are prone to a number ofdiseases like: blurred vision, ear-ache, heart attack, hypertensionand many which are even worsethan these and are even hard toimagine. Cell phones have madehumans so batty that they eventend to filch money just to buy ex-pensive mobiles to flaunt about itin the society. My conclusion mayseem humorous since everybody iscell-crazy and mobile has broughtconvenience and numerous advan-tages to the world but it is some-thing worth a thought begging,social evil.—Rawalpindi

Globalisation impacton Pak culture

MAHEK SHAKEEL RAJPOOT

The traditional concept of home-cooked food in the Pakistani cul-ture is being replaced by fast foodmeals from renowned restaurantslike KFC, Pizza Hut andMcDonalds. The increased use offast growing inorganic chicken andpoultry comes in vogue as the con-cept of organic meals slowly dis-appears from the lives of the popu-lation. Pakistani dishes which werefamous for their taste, hardly seemto find acceptance amongst theyouth. We see cold drinks beingused to such an extent that they arepart of almost every meal, even informal dinners. The introduction ofenergy drinks also has played apart in diminishing the use of ourtraditional drinks.

Urbanization, a natural conse-quence of globalization, is one of

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

the factors leading to changelifestyles and increased income andindependence of young people. Thefast food industry, originally con-ceived in Southern California dur-ing the 1940s, not only altered theeating habits of Americans, but alsothose in many other countriesaround the world including Asiancountries. In Pakistan first, Fastfood centre was opened in 1997 thatwas KFC and just after one year in1998 McDonalds started its firstoutlet in Pakistan. Now Fast foodcenters are found on the corners ofstreets, off the side of interstates,airports, malls, schools, gas sta-tions, local shopping centers, andeven in hospitals.

The impact of globalisation onPakistani culture is quite visiblewith almost all the cultural phe-nomena now moving towards post-modernism, including film, theatreand media. Local media has nowstarted showing global trends andprogrammes on current affairs,along with hourly news broadcastthat have gained appreciation ofthe audience. So, most of the en-tertainment TV channels appear tobe the imitation of alien channels.The print media in Pakistan alsomade it a point to publish globalnews and matters of internationalconcern. The increase in the num-ber of English newspapers andtheir circulation is a clear sign thatPakistan has undergone as a resultof globalization.

Placed in the context of global-ization, violence and insecurity canspill out since now they can travelfurther, just as people, goods and ser-vices can. For “winners” of the pro-cess, globalization becomes an in-tegrating phenomenon—one thatbrings together markets, ideas, in-dividuals, goods, services and com-munications. For the “losers”, it canbe a marginalizing phenomenon.Just as the winners come closer toeach other they become more “dis-tant” from the losers. The depen-dence within society on each otherbecomes diminished as trans-bound-ary dependence increases.— Via email

Corruptionand social trust

MAHA KHALID

Countries that score highest on so-cial trust also rank highest on eco-nomic equality, namely the Nether-lands, and Canada. Second, thesecountries have put a lot of effort increating equality of opportunity, notleast in regard to their policies forpublic education, health care, labormarket opportunities, and (more re-cently) gender equality.

The argument for increasing so-cial trust by reducing inequality haslargely been ignored in the policydebates about social trust. Socialcapital research has to a large ex-tent been used by several govern-ments and policy organizations tosend a message to people that thebad things in their society arecaused by too little volunteering.

Low levels of trust and socialcapital that plague many countries arecaused by too little government ac-tion to reduce inequality. However,many countries with low levels ofsocial trust and social capital may bestuck in what is known as a socialtrap. The logic of such a situation isthe following. Social trust will notincrease because massive social in-equality prevails, but the public poli-cies that could remedy this situationcannot be established precisely be-cause there is a genuine lack of trust.This lack of trust concerns both “otherpeople” and the government institu-tions that are needed to implementuniversal policies—Islamabad

safety, both in terms of low-car-bon energy and resilience againstcl imate shocks. The math issimple. High-income countriesemitted around 18 billion tons ofCO2 this year — roughly half ofall global emissions. If thesecountries earmarked just $2 perton of CO2 for global financingorganizations like the new GreenClimate Fund and the regional de-velopment banks, they wouldtransfer around $36 billion peryear.

By using part of that moneyto mobilize private sector financ-ing, the full $100 billion of cli-mate financing could be reached.

Both Big Oil and Big Financehave made major mistakes in re-cent years, channeling funds intosocially destructive investments.In 2015, these two powerful in-dustries, and the world as a whole,can start to put things right. Wehave within our reach the makingsof a new global financial systemthat directs savings where they areurgently needed: Sustainable de-velopment and climate safety.—Courtesy: Arab News

Merkel and Putin focusing on how to end Ukraine crisis.

RAMZY BAROUD

IN terms of losses in human lives, 2014 hasbeen a horrific year for Palestinians, surpassing the horrors of both 2008 and 2009,

when an Israeli war against the Gaza Stripkilled and wounded thousands. While someaspects of the conflict are stagnating betweena corrupt, ineffectual Palestinian Authority andthe criminality of Israeli wars and occupation,it would also be fair to argue that 2014 wasalso a game-changer to some degree - and it isnot all bad news. To an extent, 2014 has beena year of clarity for those keen to understandthe reality of the “Palestinian-Israeli conflict”but were

sincerely confused by the contrasting nar-ratives. Here are five reasons that support theargument that things are changing. Althoughthe two leading Palestinian parties, Hamas andFatah, agreed to a unity government in April,little has changed on the ground. Yes, a gov-ernment was officially established in June, andheld its first meeting in October. But Gaza iseffectively still managed by Hamas, which hasbeen largely left alone managing the affairs ofthe Strip after the Israeli war in July-August.Perhaps Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Author-ity is hoping that the massive destruction willweaken Hamas into political submission, es-pecially as Egypt continues to seal shut theRafah border.

But while the factions are failing to unite,the Israeli war on Gaza has inspired a newimpetus of struggle in the West Bank. Israeliplans of targeting holy sites in Jerusalem, par-ticularly the al-Aqsa Mosque, coupled with thedeep anguish felt by most Palestinians over themassacres carried out by Israel in Gaza, are

2014 a game-changer in Palestineslowly reverberating into a wave of mini-up-risings. Some speculate the situation will even-tually lead to a massive conflict that will en-gulf all of the territories. Whether a ThirdIntifada takes place in 2015 or not, is a differ-ent question. What matters is that the long-or-chestrated plot to divide Palestinians is break-ing apart and a new collective narrative of acommon struggle against occupation is finallyforming. The debate regarding what form ofresistance Palestinians should or should notadopt is being sidelined and settled, not by in-ternational do-gooders, but by Palestiniansthemselves. They are opting to use whatevereffective form of resistance they can that coulddeter Israeli military advances, as resistancegroups have actively done in Gaza.

Although Israel’s latest war killed nearly2,200 and wounded over 11,000 Palestinians thatwere mostly civilians, nevertheless, it has stillfailed to achieve any of its declared or impliedobjectives. It was another reminder that sheermilitary strength is no longer the only overridingfactor in Israel’s conduct towards Palestinians.

While Israel brutalized civilians, the re-sistance killed 70 Israelis, more than 60 ofwhom were soldiers; this was also an impor-tant step testifying to the maturity of Palestin-ian resistance, which had previously targetedcivilians during the Second Intifada and re-flected more desperation rather than a winningstrategy. The legitimization of the resistancewas to a degree, reflected in the recent deci-sion by the European court to remove Hamasfrom its list of terrorist organizations.

Resistance in the West Bank is taking onother forms. Although it is yet to mature into asteady campaign of anti-occupation activities,it seems to be forming an identity of its own

that takes into account what is possible andwhat is practical. The fact is that the “one sizefits all” modes of resistance debate is becom-ing less relevant, giving way to an organicapproach to resistance devised by Palestiniansthemselves.

Another form of resistance is crystalizingin the Boycott, Divestment and SanctionsMovement (BDS) which continues to grow,gathering steam, supporters and constantachievements. Not only was 2014 a year inwhich BDS managed to win the support ofnumerous civil society organizations, acade-micians, scientists, celebrities and to reach outto people from all walks of life, it did some-thing else that is equally important: It normal-ized the debate on Israel in many circles aroundthe world. While any criticism of Israel wasconsidered a taboo in yesteryears, it has beenforever broken.

Questioning the morality and practicality ofboycotting Israel is no longer a frightening sub-ject, but is open for debate in numerous mediaoutlets, universities and other platforms. 2014 hasbeen a year that made the discussion of boycott-ing Israel more mainstream than ever before.While a critical mass is yet to be achieved in theUS, the momentum is constantly building upbeing led by students, clergy men and women,celebrities and ordinary people. In Europe, themovement has been hugely successful.

While, traditionally, much of the southernhemisphere offered unconditional support forPalestinians, the West conceitedly stood withIsrael. Following the Oslo accords, a bewil-dering European position evolved, where theyflirted with finding the “balance” between anoccupied nation and the occupier. At times, theEuropean Union (EU) timidly criticized the

Israeli occupation, while continuing to be oneof Israel’s largest trade partner, providingweapons to the Israeli army, who then use themto carry out war crimes in Gaza and sustain itsmilitary occupation in the West Bank.

This debauched policy is being challengedby citizens of various European countries. TheIsraeli summer war on Gaza exposed Israel’shuman rights violations and war crimes likenever before, revealing along the way EU hy-pocrisy. To relieve some of the pressure, someEU countries appear to be taking strongerstances against Israel, reviewing their militarycooperation, and more boldly questioning theright-wing policies of Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu.

A spate of parliamentary votes followed,overwhelmingly voting to recognize Palestine asa state. While these decisions remain largely sym-bolic, they represent an unmistakable shift in EUattitude towards Israel. Netanyahu continues torail against European “hypocrisy”, assured, per-haps, by Washington’s unconditional support. Butwith the US losing control over the tumultuousMiddle East, the Israeli prime minister might soonbe forced to rethink his obstinate attitude. Fordecades, Israel defined itself as both a democraticand Jewish state. The objective was clear: tomaintain Jewish superiority over Palestinian Ar-abs, while continuing to present itself as a mod-ern “Western” democracy - in fact, “the only de-mocracy in the Middle East”.

—Courtesy: Asia Times[Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndi-cated columnist, a media consultant, an au-thor and the founder ofPalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is MyFather Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Un-told Story, Pluto Press, London].

KAI BIRDDEC

ISRAEL has an identity problem. Is it a Jewish state thatprovides legal and material preferences for citizens of Jewish ancestry? Or is it a secular nation-state, but one that hap-

pens to be rooted in Jewish culture and the Hebrew language?For more than six decades Israeli politicians have maintained auseful ambiguity about this deeply existential question. But nolonger.

In elections in March, Israel’s voters will be forced to confrontstark choices about the country’s national identity. In the absence ofa formal, written constitution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuhas embraced a game-changing “nation-state” bill that would award“national rights” only to Jewish citizens. The outcome of this cross-roads election is by no means certain. Continue reading the mainstory Initially, polls suggested that Mr. Netanyahu might well ce-ment his hold on power and accelerate Israel’s rightward drift. Butthe recent forging of a new political coalition between Isaac Herzog,leader of the left-center Labor Party, and Tzipi Livni, leader of theHatnua, a small center-right party — who was sacked from the cabi-net earlier this month, as Mr. Netanyahu called for new elections —suggests that there may be a viable electoral alternative.

Mr. Herzog and Ms. Livni oppose the Jewish nation-statebill. They are old-fashioned Zionists, wedded to the notion thatall of Israel’s citizens, Jewish or otherwise, are entitled to equaldemocratic rights. And unlike Mr. Netanyahu, they both under-stand that Israel’s continued control over the post-1967 occu-pied territories threatens its democratic character.

Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence guarantees “completeequality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespec-tive of religion, race or sex.” So Israel may be a “Jewish state” in acultural sense, but at least no more so than America can be called a“Christian state.” Israel was never intended to be a theocracy. It isalso home to less than half of the world’s people who claim Jewishancestry. Twenty percent of its citizens are not Jewish, but ratherMuslim, Christian and Druze. And this minority is growing.

Furthermore, most of Israel’s citizens who do claim Jewish an-cestry are in fact secular, nonpracticing Jews. A large majority of itsmillion-plus Russian immigrants are not even recognized as Jewishby the Orthodox rabbinical courts. A Jewish nation-state law woulddiscriminate against these non-Jewish citizens — but it could alsoprovide the quasi-judicial pretext for denying Palestinians citizen-ship if the ultraright get their way and Israel someday annexes theoccupied territories. This is a bad idea in every conceivable way.

In reality, Israel is a multiethnic, vibrant and largely secularsociety. This is clearly not a tragedy. It is actually what most ofthe country’s original Zionist founding fathers envisioned — anew, modern state in ancient Palestine where those Jews who sodesired could become citizens of a nation like any other modernnation-state. “Israelis” would be seen not as members of the Jew-ish Diaspora, but Hillel Kook (1915-2001), an early Zionist leaderfrom the Revisionist wing, thought of the new Israeli state as a“Hebrew Republic” — a place where Jews could leave behindthe Diaspora. Instead of being Jewish Americans or JewishFrenchmen, their identity would be defined in the first instanceby their chosen citizenship in the new Israeli state — and nottheir Jewishness. They would be Israelis first — and would chooseor choose not to practice their ancestral religion, just as mostFrenchmen are Catholics who never attend Mass.

Over more than six decades Israelis have created a distinctnational culture, largely based on their language — always a keyingredient to any national identity. And this cultural identity iswholly separate from mere religiosity. This definition of Israeliidentity — one based on the Hebrew language and culture ratherthan religion — is a very good thing for the prospects of peace.

The Palestine Liberation Organization and most Arab lead-ers already recognize the reality of the Israeli state. So why wouldIsraeli leaders now want to define their identity from their neigh-bors’ in religious terms? Why does Mr. Netanyahu want to de-fine his nation-state with precisely the same phrases used byHamas, a nonsecular, fundamentalist party dedicated to the for-mation of an Islamic republic? Mr. Netanyahu himself is a secu-lar politician. His insistence on a “Jewish state” seems to beonly a prescription for endless conflict with his “Muslim” neigh-bors — and perhaps today a tactic to postpone further negotia-tions on the creation of a Palestinian state.

—Courtesy: NYT[Kai Bird is the author, most recently, of “The Good Spy: TheLife and Death of Robert Ames].”

Israel, a JewishRepublic?

ENGINEER HILAL AHMAD WAR

THE daily Hindu reported in September 19, 2014 editionthat in Rajasthan a two and half year old girl, Khushboowas buried alive in Nat Mohallah village Kumher

Bharatpur by her parents after being pronounced an incarnationof goddess. The Site of grave have turned into a shrine. Despiteglobal campaign and efforts of International Institution forwomen’s empowerment in all sectors, Indian society is still back-ward and rife with ancient beliefs that haunt women and girlswhile adversely affecting the already underprivileged women inIndia. Indian has to go long way to educate majority of its ruralpopulation to avoid such barbaric primitive practices in the nameof sacred Hindu religious rites.

Under the Modi government, Hindu fanaticism is witnessing asharp rise of ancient and rotten beliefs being promoted by none otherthan the sitting Prime Minister Narindera Modi. While inaugurating ahospital funded by the Ambani family of Reliance, one of India’sbiggest industrial groups in Mumbai, he claimed that plastic surgeryand genetic science were existing and in common use thousands ofyears ago in ancient India. Quoting the ancient Mahabharat epic, hesaid “Our ancestors made big contributions” in such areas and thatthose capabilities needed to be regained. We can feel proud of whatour country achieved in medical science at one point of time. We allread about Karna in Mahabharat. If we think a little more, we realizethat Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb.This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is whyKarna could be born outside his mother’s womb. Hindu‘s worshipLord Ganesh. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that timethat got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and beganpractice of plastic surgery.” It illustrates how Hindu nationalist viewsare moving to center stage in present BJP regime.

Modi’s support for theories such as Ganesh’s head, is wellknown. He has spoken about them before and propagated them inschools when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. During NDArule in Delhi, between 1998 and 2004, the BJP-led governmentmade unrelenting attempts to change the school curriculum andrewrite history by appointing communal academicians and histo-rians in some of the important institutions that formulate educa-tional policies. BJP started teaching the Hindu mythology in his-tory curriculum in the aforesaid institutions thereby trying to provethat myths in Ramayana and Mahabharata are true validated his-tory and India has always been a Hindu nation. By this way hardcoreand fanatic upper caste Hindu policymakers have attempted toshow that the Muslims and other minorities have never been partof Indian history. The whole idea was to capture the mind of youngHindu and teach them a history, which does not reflect the diver-sity of Indian society and portray India as a purely Hindu Nation.Infiltration into education by re-writing curriculum is part of thelarge game plan of converting the secular India into a radical HinduState and undermining the religious diversity of the Indian nation.This is the brainchild of Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS),the ideological godfather of the BJP. They are also reaching out totribal groups for indoctrinating them with specific Hindu religiousteachings and sowing the seeds of religious animosity in the secu-lar society.

—Courtesy: Kashmir Watch[The Writer is Foreign Affairs Expert and Chairman, PPPJammu & Kashmir]

Death of Secular India

HAVANA—Cuba’s most prominent dissidents saythey have been kept in the dark by U.S. officialsover a list of 53 political prisoners who will be re-leased from jail as part of a deal to end decades ofhostility between the United States and Cuba. Foryears, dissident leaders have told the United Stateswhich opponents of Cuba’s communist governmentwere being jailed or harassed, but they say they werenot consulted when the list of prisoners to be freedwas drawn up or even told who is on it.

The lack of information has stoked concern andfrustration among the dissidents, who worry thatthe secret list is flawed and that genuine politicalprisoners who should be on it will be left to lan-guish.“We’re concerned because we don’t agree with thesilence, because we have a right to know who theyare. Who are they?” said Berta Soler, leader of theLadies in White dissident group, which marches inHavana on Sundays to demand the release of pris-oners.

“There are not just 53 political prisoners, thereare more, and we are concerned that the U.S. listmight have common criminals on it,” she toldReuters in Havana. U.S. officials have so far beentight-lipped about how the list of 53 was assembled

53 prisoners become mysteryin US-Cuba swap

and who was consulted inside Cuba. It also is notclear if some prisoners were kept off the list be-cause the Cuban government refused to release them.

A U.S. official said on Saturday that Washing-ton had asked Cuba to release a specific group ofpeople jailed on charges related to their politicalactivities, but declined to answer further questions.Neither the U.S. nor the Cuban governments havesaid when the prisoners would be released. Cubadeclined to comment on why more details have notbeen publicly released.

The dissident Cuban Commission on HumanRights and National Reconciliation, which keepstrack of activists in the different opposition groups,counted in June a total of 114 political prisoners,although it includes 12 who are on parole after be-ing released from jail plus several others who havesince been released. The group’s veteran leaderElizondo Sanchez, who also spoke with Reuters,says at least 80 peaceful dissidents are on that list,including some whose only crime was to demon-strate or scribble anti-government graffiti. Othersinclude soldiers who deserted with their weapons,former government officials, people who tried tohijack an airplane to the United States and eight mili-tants jailed for entering Cuba from the United States

and trying to start insurrections.U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new

era in U.S.-Cuba relations on Dec. 17, saying theywould restore diplomatic ties broken more than fivedecades ago and he would begin to unravel eco-nomic sanctions that were aimed at forcing the com-munists from power. U.S. officials said that Cubaagreed as part of the deal to release 53 people thatWashington considered political prisoners. Somedissidents say that, so far, none of the 53 have beennamed and no one has been freed since the deal wasannounced.

Reuters spoke with five of the most influentialdissident leaders in Cuba - Sanchez and Soler aswell as Jose Daniel Ferrer, Martha Beatriz Roqueand Guillermo Farinas. All said U.S. officials havebeen in contact with them but have given them noinformation about the 53 prisoners. Ferrer, leader ofthe Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) dissidentgroup, told Reuters he has been in close contact withdeeply concerned relatives and that some inmateshave called from prison to see if they are likely to bereleased. The wife of one prisoner called Ferrer lateon Friday. “She asked me if I thought her husbandwould be among those to be freed, and I told her thesame thing I told other families: We don’t have any

certainty and no clues to reach a conclusion aboutwho they are,” Ferrer said.

UNPACU describes 42 of its activists as politi-cal prisoners. Cuba says it has no political prisonersbut, announcing the deal with the United States,President Raul Castro said his government wouldbe releasing some inmates who were of interest tothe United States. It has said nothing else about themsince. Cuba denounces the dissidents as mercenar-ies working for the United States in a campaignagainst Cuba, and the opposition groups have lim-ited popular support. While Cuba has faced pres-sure on its human rights record over the years, noneof those currently in prison have drawn significantinterest internationally.

Within Cuba, one who has generated popu-lar interest is hip-hop artist Angel Yunier Remon,alias “The Critic,” who had actively demon-strated against the government. He has been inprison since his arrest in March 2013 after a con-frontation with police and pro-government dem-onstrators. Prosecutors are seeking an eight-yearprison sentence, Sanchez’s commission says.Three members of the Ladies in White groupwere freed on Dec. 9, eight days before the jointU.S.-Cuban announcement.—Reuters

BEIJING—An AirAsia passengerplane with 162 people on boardlost contact with ground controlSunday after departing fromSurabaya in Indonesia toSingapore. On board the AirbusA320-200 aircraft are 155 passen-gers, two pilots, four air stewardsand one engineer, the Malaysia-based budget airline said in a state-ment. The QZ8501 flight lostcommunication 42 minutes aftertaking off at 5:35 a.m. in staff atIndonesia’s Surabaya airport.

The following are a list ofmajor aircraft crashes and acci-dents that took place worldwidein recent years. On July 24,2014, an Air Algerie flight, aMD-83 aircraft, crashed in Mali,killing 110 passengers and sixSpanish crew. On July 23, 2014,a ATR-72 plane crashed on

Major air accidentsin recent years

western Taiwan’s Penghu Islandamid stormy weather, killing 48people and injuring 10 others.On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Air-lines flight MH17, a Boeing 777en route from Amsterdam toKuala Lumpur, went down ineastern Ukraine, killing all 298people on board. On March 8,2014, Malaysia Airlines flightMH370 vanished with 239people aboard, while en routefrom Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.On Feb. 11, 2014, 76 peoplewere killed when a C-130 Her-cules military plane belongingto the Algerian Air Forcecrashed in the country’s easternOum El Bouaghi province. OnJune 3, 2012, a Dana Air planefrom Nigeria’s capital cityAbuja crashed in a residentialarea in the Lagos.—Xinhua

Extradition treaties,anti-terror coderatified in China

BEIJING—China approvedtwo new extradition treatiesand the Shanghai CooperationOrganization (SCO) Counter-Terrorism Convention at thetop legislature’s bimonthlysession on Sunday. The newextradition treaties weresigned with Afghanistan andIran, bringing the number ofextradition treaties adoptedby the Standing Committee ofthe National People’s Con-gress (NPC) to 36. They an-nounced the SCO Counter-Terrorism Convention doesnot currently include HongKong Special AdministrativeRegion. Chinese Deputy For-eign Minister Liu Zhenmin,on behalf of China, signed theextradition treaty with Af-ghanistan on Sept. 27, 2013in Beijing.—Xinhua

Kuwaiti deputyPM in Iraq to

boost tiesBAGHDAD—The Kuwaitideputy prime minister arrived inthe Iraqi capital Baghdad on Sun-day for an official visit aiming toboost cooperation and bilateralties, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry of-ficial said. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, alsoKuwait’s foreign minister andstate minister for cabinet affairs,is expected to meet with IraqiPrime Minister Haider al-Abadiand other top Iraqi officials to dis-cuss ways of enhancing mutualcooperation and promoting bilat-eral relations at all levels and ar-eas, the official said.

Kuwait, a close ally of theUntied States, has been makingprogress in mending ties withIraq since 1990, when formerIraqi President Saddam Husseininvaded his southern neighborand set off the first Gulf war.The thaw in relations betweenthe two countries has picked upmomentum since 2012, reflect-ing their political will to end dif-ferences.—Xinhua

Hamas barsGaza children

from Israel tripGAZA—Gaza’s Hamas rulersprevented a group of childrenfrom entering Israel on Sundayfor a postwar conciliatory tripmeant to foster peace, Hamasand organisers said. The 37children, most of whom havelost a parent in fighting be-tween Hamas and Israel, wereto enter Israel on Sunday andspend a week visiting Jewishand Arab communities, a zoo,and travel to the West Bank fora meeting with the Palestinianpresident.

But a bus carrying the chil-dren and their adult chaperoneswas turned back when itreached the main crossing be-tween Israel and Gaza. Hamasspokesman Eyad Bozum saidthe decision to bar thechildren’s entry was made “toprotect the culture of our chil-dren and our people” fromnormalising relations with Is-rael. He said Hamas wouldmake sure such a trip “willnever happen again.”

Israel and Hamas fought abrutal 50-day war this summerthat killed 2,100 Palestiniansand destroyed parts of the im-poverished coastal enclave. Onthe Israeli side, the fightingkilled 72 people. Yoel Marshak,one of the trip’s organisers, saidthe visit was meant to a show apositive side of Israel and pro-mote peace between Israelisand Palestinians. “These chil-dren will one day be the lead-ers of Gaza and they wouldhave remembered this trip andknown that we can live inpeace, side by side,” he said.“The trip was meant to be a bighug for them.”

Marshak said he receivedwritten approval for the tripthree weeks ago from Hamasand that the cancellationcame as a surprise. He saidhe and other organisers wereworking to reorganise thetrip.

Malik Frai j , anotherorganiser, said he was disap-pointed that Hamas chose toprevent the children’s entryfor “political reasons.”—AP

COLOMBO—Sri Lanka’s larg-est Muslim political party onSunday defected from Presi-dent Mahinda Rajapaksa tosupport the opposition candi-date in next month’s presiden-tial election. The announce-ment by Sri Lanka MuslimCongress will be a major blowto Rajapaksa’s campaign for athird term in office, with morethan 20 lawmakers and minis-ters defecting to the opposition.Ameer Faaiz, a leader of theparty that represents minorityMuslims in overwhelminglyBuddhist Sri Lanka, cited theRajapaksa administration’s “in-tolerance toward religious mi-norities” and disagreementwith his style of rule.

Sri Lanka’s largestMuslim party defects

from governmentHe said the party consulted

its supporters, who were of theoverwhelming opinion that theycould no longer stand withRajapaksa and would throw theirsupport behind his rivalMaithripala Sirisena.

An attack on Muslims in Junethat was provoked by a SriLankan Buddhist ultranationalistand left three dead and dozensinjured exacerbated ethnic ten-sions in the aftermath of a de-cades-long civil war against TamilTiger rebels that ended in 2009.

Rajapaksa’s government hadcome under heavy criticism inrecent years for backing extrem-ist Buddhist groups and turning ablind eye to the recent anti-Mus-lim violence. —AP

150 shops, 300 houses burnt inKarachi Timber Market fire

From Page 1

to Singapore.Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, an

Airbus 320-200 carrying 155 passengersand seven crew, lost contact with Jakartaair traffic control at 6:17 a.m. (2317 GMTon Saturday). No distress signal had beensent, said Joko Muryo Atmodjo, an Indo-nesian transport ministry official.

On board were 155 Indonesians, threeSouth Koreans and one each fromSingapore, Malaysia and Britain, plus aFrench pilot, the airline said in a statement,correcting earlier information.

Tatang Kurniadi, head of Indonesia’sNational Committee of Safety Transpor-tation, expressed hope of locating the air-craft quickly and said it was too early todetect any of the so-called electronic pingsfrom its black box recorder.

“We are using our capacity to searchon sea and land. Hopefully we can findthe location of the plane as soon as pos-sible,” he told a news conference. “What Ineed to emphasize is until now, we havenot found out how the plane fell or whatkind of emergency it was.”

Indonesia AirAsia is 49 per cent owned

Indonesian plane with 162passengers goes missing

From Page 1

by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia,which has had a clean safety record sinceit began operating 13 years ago. TheAirAsia group also has affiliates in Thai-land, the Philippines and India.

The aircraft had accumulated approxi-mately 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600flights, according to Airbus. The pilots ofQZ8501 “was requesting deviation due toen-route weather before communicationwith the aircraft was lost,” the airline saidin a statement.

Singapore, Malaysia, Britain, SouthKorea and Australia offered to help in thesearch and any investigation.

Malaysia said it was sending vesselsand a C130 aircraft while Singapore hadalso sent a C130. Australian Prime Minis-ter Tony Abbott said a P3 Orion aircraftwas on standby if needed.

Flight QZ8501 was between TanjungPandan on Indonesia’s Belitung island andPontianak, in West Kalimantan provinceon Borneo - almost halfway betweenSurabaya and Singapore - when it wentmissing.

There was bad weather over Belitung

at the time and the aircraft had been flyingat 32,000 feet before asking to fly at 38,000feet to avoid clouds.

In both Surabaya and Singapore, anx-ious relatives of people on the planeawaited news. Louise Sidharta was atSingapore’s Changi Airport waiting for herfiance to return from a family holiday.

“It was supposed to be their last vaca-tion before we got married,” she said.

A man named Purnomo told TVOne inSurabaya of a lucky escape. “I should havebeen on the flight,” he said. “We, sevenpeople, had planned to go to Singapore forvacation but this morning I had an emer-gency. I had my passport in hand.”

Tony Fernandes, chief of Malaysia’sAirAsia, said he was heading to Surabaya.“My only thoughts are with the passen-gers and my crew. We put our hope in theSAR (search and rescue) operation andthank the Indonesia, Singapore and Ma-laysian governments,” he said on Twitter.

AirAsia swapped its distinctive brightred logo for a grey background on itswebsite and social media accounts.—Reuter

Punjab IT Board and Secretary Finance,Government of Punjab.

This requirement ensures thatthere are no hidden future costs thatthe Bank may have to incur if it optedto procure the Core Banking softwarealone (for example, escalating hard-ware costs).

The allegation leveled in the con-troversial article that the cancelationof the second bidding process was notnotified to the bidders is based on sur-mises and conjectures; as the Bank hasa written record of the vendors ac-knowledging receipt of their bidbonds.

It is further alleged in the articlethat both the Punjab Information Tech-nology Board (PITB) and the PunjabFinance Department colluded with theBank to “engineer” an RFP favouringOracle/Techlogix.

The sole evidence of this alleged

BOP straightens facts on acquisitionof Core Banking System

From Back Page

collusion is that the Chairman PITBand the Secretary Finance in their ca-pacity as members of the Board ofDirectors of The Bank of Punjab, sug-gested that the Bank float a turnkeyRFP on the basis of Total Cost of Own-ership.

The repeated allegations of biasand “difficult” conditions are relianton this sole complaint.

What is not noted is that on therequest of bidders including AutoSoftDynamics, several relaxations were in-troduced in the most recent RFP. Mostimportantly, the Board of Directors(which specifically included IT andFinance experts) felt that only a TotalCost of Ownership based RFP wouldcorrectly reflect the true cost of ac-quisition of the Core Banking solution.The Bank was all the time consciousof making the process as transparent,fair and efficient as possible while

seeking the best economic value formoney in this transaction.

Finally, the Bank would like tomention that it had requested the au-thor of the controversial article pub-lished in daily Dawn on 26.12.2014namely Mr. Khalid Hasnain, to meetwith the Bank so that the relevantdocumentary record could be shared.On Wednesday, December 24, Mr.Hasnain agreed to meet with the Bankon Monday December 29. It is highlyunfortunate that the paper chose topublish one sided story without meet-ing with the Bank and two days in ad-vance of a scheduled meeting and thattoo without thoroughly probing intothe matter.

The Bank of Punjab would havebeen spared from all this unnecessaryhassle had the best practices of report-ing and journalism been followed im-partially.

US General John Campbell (2L) opens the flag of Resolute Support during a ceremony marking the end of ISAF’s combatmission in Afghanistan at ISAF headquarters in Kabul on December 28, 2014.

rupees in the sad incident.Prime Minister Mian Muhammad

Nawaz Shariff has expressed his griefover the sad incident and ordered Sindhprovincial government for quick responseon such incidents.

As per detail, a fire was broke out ina compound located in the city’s timbermarket and engulfed hundreds of shopsand houses in the surrounding. The firefighters were called out from across thecity to overcome the fire.

The people came out of their housesand tried to extinguish the fire by them-selves but all in-vein. A large number ofshopkeepers also reached at the fire siteand tried to minimize the losses by initi-ating a rescue operation.

When fire went out of control,Karachi Metropolitan Corporation(KMC) sought help of Karachi Port Trust(KPT) DHA and others institutions firestaff to join them in the rescue operation.Due to shortage of water, the fire engulfednearby shops and houses, which increasedfinancial losses.

Thousands of the people, who wereresiding in the upper portion of the ware-houses and surrounding the unfortunatecompound, have become homeless. Many

of them shifted to their neighbours resi-dence while others took refuge in the lo-cal mosques.

“They tell there is no water. Our en-tire homes have been burnt and we arenow on the streets hindered the fire fight-ing action.

“There is nothing left. We do noteven have a roof over our head. Whereare we going to stay?” said another resi-dent.

Karachi Commissioner ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui visited the affected areaand left without providing any answerspertaining to concerns expressed by theresidents.

Sindh Information Minister SharjeelInam Memon has ordered to utilize all re-sources to bring fire under control inwood godown. He contacted Karachi Ad-ministrator in this regard and ordered himto provide water to fire tenders at the ear-liest.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)chief Altaf Hussain has condemned theincident and urged the officials concernedto make necessary arrangements to putout the inferno. He expressed outrageover the Sindh government, saying thatthe ministers were sleeping after taking

pills.MQM chief further said the provin-

cial government had no such arrange-ments to douse the fire. He appealed gov-ernment officials and water tanker office-bearers to come forward to protect thelives of masses.

“It was a third-degree fire,” ChiefFire Officer Ehteshamuddin said. “Thefire was overcome in ten hours and nowcooling process is underway,” he added.“We (the fire fighters) tried our best toextinguish the fire at the earliest to mini-mize the financial losses,” he claimed.Replying a question he accepted that lackof water hindered the fire fighting action.

“The inferno gutted 150 shops and300 houses,” All Karachi Tajir Ittehad(AKTI) chief Ateeq Mir said. “There aretotal 800 shops in the market and the firewas erupted in the compound within themarket,” he said, adding that “The scrapof ships was sold in the compound whilemany other shopkeepers deal with newfurniture.”

He said the estimate of the financiallosses would cross one billion rupees andurged the federal and provincial govern-ments to compensate the affected resi-dents and the traders.

LAHORE: Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Siraj-ul-Haq leading the Awami Rickshaw Union rally at Mall Road.

PM calls Action Plan review meetingFrom Page 1

an important meeting on Tuesday to reviewprogress on the National Plan of Action (NAP)to curb terrorism.

The meeting will be attended by InteriorMinister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief ofArmy Staff General Raheel Sharif, DirectorGeneral Inter-Services Intelligence GeneralRizwan Akhtar and other high officials.

The prime minister had spent Saturday inmeetings aimed at devising a concerted strat-egy to ensure the effective implementation ofthe 20-point NAP, agreed upon by all politicalparties.

Interestingly, Tuesday is also the deadlinefor all 15 sub-committees on the National Ac-tion Plan to submit their recommendations aswell as the road maps of the implementation tothe premier as well.

Sources said the prime minister, on Tues-day, might also direct the authorities concernedto carry out the roadmap of implementation

within a fixed time period.Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz

Sharif called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifin Lahore on Sunday to discuss the counter-ter-rorism strategy and its implementation inPunjab.

In a meeting at Jati Umra, Raiwind, the chiefminster briefed the premier on decisions takenby the provincial committee, which the chiefminister is heading himself, to implement theNational Action Plan.

The committee comprises corps commanderLahore, inspector general Punjab police, homesecretary, among others.

Sources said that Shahbaz had sought draftlegislation from the law department to addressevery angle of extremism, terrorism and funda-mentalism from the province.

The legislation, once finalised, will bepresented in the Punjab assembly for ratifi-cation.

IranianFrom Back Page

officer known to have beenkilled outside Iran since thedevastating 1980-88 war withIraq, in which he fought and inwhich he lost his father and abrother.

The Guard said Taqavi wasassisting Iraqi troops and Shiitevolunteers defending Samarra,a city north of Baghdad whichis home to a major Shiiteshrine. It did not provide anydetails on how he was killedbut said a funeral processionwill be held in Tehran on Mon-day.“Taqavi played a valuable andunforgettable role in counteringthe enemies of Islam,” theGuard said, without elaborat-ing.

Iran says it has played a keyrole in rolling back the IslamicState group following the ex-tremists’ summer blitz, inwhich they captured much ofnorthern and western Iraq, in-cluding the second largest cityMosul. But Tehran insists itsofficers are only providingmilitary advice and training.Those efforts have been led byMaj. Gen. Ghasem Soleimani,commander of the Guard’s eliteand secretive Quds Force. Inrecent months pictures havesurfaced showing Soleimanimeeting with Iraqi command-ers on various battlefields.

Meanwhile, Iran has sentmore than 1,000 military advi-sors to Iraq since June to com-bat the Islamic State of Iraq andSyria. Tehran has also spentover $1 billion on military aidto the country, The WashingtonPost reported Sunday.The reporthighlights the fact that U.S. andIranian forces are stationed inthe same country fighting thesame enemy, despite longstandhostilities. —AP

Military courtsFrom Back Page

thinking with Pakistan against terrorism.Earlier Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and

National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid said on late Saturdaythat war against terrorism was against every group, which wantedto impose its agenda on the nation forcefully through arms.

No one would be allowed to impose his agenda over themasses through force, he said while talking to a private TV chan-nel. Even those who wanted to get materialized their politicalaims and interests through the use of force would also meet thesame fate, he added.The minister said no armed group would beallowed to use the country’s soil to spread terror and unrest nei-ther within Pakistan nor in any other country.

Pervaiz Rashid said it was being witnessed that Pakistanhad changed its direction and this was made possible only withthe consensus of all political parties. There were doubts aboutowning the war but now all the parties had agreed that “this isour war and we are fighting it for our coming generations,” headded. Replying to a question, he said operation was under wayin Karachi against the militant groups. All the political partieshad the consensus that action should be taken against such groupseven if they were using the flag of any party.

The minister cleared that there was no concept of good orbad taliban as now all the Talibans are bad Talibans.

Those who provide logistic, financial or any other supportto militants would also fall in the same category, he maintained.

Responding to another question, Pervaiz Rashid said Mediamay conduct interview of any person who did not spread hatred,promote sectarianism and fans provincialism besides try to in-dulge the state in war with any other state. He said the stepstaken by the government now against terrorism and extremismwould not only be for the protection of journalist but for everyother citizen. The stance of the Prime Minister was clear overthe issue of terrorism from day one, he added. The minister saidthere were three Es in the manifesto of PML-N including Ex-tremism, Economy and Energy with Extremism being at the top.

He said better relations with neighbors were necessary forsuccess in the war against terror. The Prime Minister visited Af-ghanistan right after coming into power for this purpose and nowwas following the same course with the newly formed govern-ment of Afghanistan, he underlined. Today Afghanistan was readyto cooperate with Pakistan in thye fight against terror.

Replying to a question about Metro Bus, he said the projectwas launched for those people who could not afford their owntransport. To another query, he was of the view that there shouldbe no division of Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi or Pakhtun as all werePakistanis.The minister said allout efforts would be made tostrengthen NACTA, the anti-terrorism institution.—APP

PTI setsFrom Back Page

negotiations continue to bedeadlocked over 3 critical is-sues on which the govt had ear-lier agreed,” the PTI said.

PTI’s Core Committeeasked the govt to move towardsagreement as the PTI cannotshow any more flexibility.PTI’s conciliatory approach inthe national interest should notbe taken as a sign of a lack ofresolve to have the elections2013 investigated by an inde-pendent Judicial Commission.

tions continue to be dead-locked over 3 critical issues onwhich the govt had earlier hadagreed.

Islamabad highlyFrom Back Page

have been rounded up. Someresistance was offered in street54 of F-11/4 during such raids.

The officials said combingoperation will be picked up af-ter approval of National Planof Action by the civilian lead-ership.

The officials are also wor-ried about presence of a largenumber of unregisteredMadrassahs in and aroundIslamabad. Out of about 300Madrassahs, fifty percent ofthem are unregistered, officialssaid.

These Madrassahs belong-ing to different sects are beingcontrolled by Nazims andteachers from Mansehra, AzadKashmir, Bannu, FATA andSouth Punjab. Officials are try-ing to find out whether theyhave any direct and indirectlinks with terrorists.

US, NATOFrom Back Page

against the Taliban, who ruledfrom 1996 until 2001.When numbers peaked in 2011,about 130,000 troops from 50nations were part of the Natomilitary alliance.“I hope you take great pride inthe positive impact you’vemade and will continue to makeupon the Afghan people,”Campbell said in a speech re-leased by ISAF on Twitter aslive broadcasts were banned forsecurity reasons.

“The road before us re-mains challenging, but we willtriumph.” Sunday’s ceremonycompleted the gradualhandover of responsibility tothe 350,000-strong Afghanforces, who have been incharge of nationwide securitysince the middle of last year.But recent bloodshed has un-dermined claims that the insur-gency is weakening and hashighlighted fears that the inter-national intervention has failedas Afghanistan faces spirallingviolence.

The United Nations saysthat civilian casualties hit arecord high in 2014, jumpingby 19% with 3,188 civilianskilled by the end of November.

Afghan’s police and armyhave also suffered a grim deathtoll, with fatalities soaring tomore than 4,600 in the first 10months of 2014 — far higherthan all ISAF deaths since2001.

“The US and Nato missionwas an absolute failure astoday’s ceremony shows,”Taliban spokespersonZabihullah Mujahid toldAFP.“They are fleeing fromAfghanistan. —AFP

ATHENS —Air crews began lifting passengersoff a burning ferry adrift in the Adriatic Sea onSunday, racing to rescue as many of the hun-dreds trapped on board as possible before night-fall as storms hampered seaborne operations.

Helicopters were taking passengers off theItalian-flagged Norman Atlantic in pairs andtransferring them to a nearby vessel, officialssaid.

There were no confirmed reports of casual-ties and differing accounts of how many peoplehad been rescued from the ferry, which was car-rying almost 500 passengers and crew when itsent a distress signal early on Sunday after firebroke out on its lower deck.

Greek authorities said 131 people were clearof the danger zone while an official said 150had managed to get off the ship aboard a rescueboat.Each air transfer was taking around 15minutes per helicopter, according to a Greekdefence ministry official. Another official saidtwo Italian and two Greek helicopters were in-volved in the rescue.

Coastguard spokesman Nikos Lagkadianos

Hundreds trapped on burningItalian ferry in heavy sea

said the heavy rain that was hampering the res-cue had helped contain the fire although the shipwas still burning. Two tugboats were present,one of which had managed to approach the shipto try to extinguish the blaze.

Greek Shipping Minister MiltiadisVarvitsiotis said the very bad weather, withwinds of up to 55 miles (88 kilometres) per hourearlier, made the operation extremely difficult.

“We are doing everything we can to savethose on board and no one, no one will be lefthelpless in this tough situation,” he told report-ers. “It is one of the most complicated rescueoperations that we have ever done.”

Coastguard officials said the Norman At-lantic, which was also carrying more than 200vehicles, was 44 nautical miles northwest ofthe island of Corfu when it radioed for help.It was travelling from Patras in westernGreece to the Italian city ofAncona.Lagkadianos said 56 people had beensuccessfully transferred from the rescue boat,on which 150 people had escaped to the con-tainer ship Spirit of Piraeus.—Reuters

LAHORE—The Bank of Punjabstrongly rejects the one-sided, inac-curate representation published in thedaily Dawn on December 26, 2014under the headline “BOP likely toaward contract to higher bidder”.

This article is flawed from the verybeginning starting with the headlinesuggesting that the higher bidder isbeing awarded the Core Banking con-tract referred to in the aforesaid ar-ticle. In fact, the Bank of Punjab pub-lished a Request for Proposal (RFP)under Punjab Procurement Regula-tory Authority (PPRA) Rules in March2014. After a transparent bidding pro-cess in which local vendors repre-senting the two top most Core Bank-ing Systems in the world participated(Oracle Corporation of USA andTemenos Corporation of Switzerland),the bid for Oracle solution throughtheir partner, Techlogix Pakistan, wasevaluated as the lowest bid.

It may be noted that five otherbanks in Pakistan have selectedOracle as their Core Banking solution(including Askari Bank, Bank ALHabib and NRSP Microfinance Bank)while six other banks in Pakistan haveselected Temenos as their Core Bank-ing solution (including Allied Bank,Bank AlFalah and Meezan IslamicBank). As is clear, the two bids re-ceived in response to the RFP wereboth for world class solutions with

BOP straightens facts on acquisitionof Core Banking System

an extended and successful trackrecord in Pakistan and with a longhistory of vigorous competition witheach other globally and in Pakistan.Thus, the allegation in the article thatTemenos solution was “brought al-legedly by the administration in the2014 bid to show it a competitor ofthe Techlogix” is utterly false andfrivolous.

The main thrust of the allegationsis that the RFP conditions were ma-nipulated and “engineered” to favourone specific party, Oracle/Techlogix.The strongest evidence against thisallegation is that in the third RFP,when Oracle/Techlogix was the solebidder, under PPRA Rules, the Bankcould have awarded the contract toOracle/Techlogix. However, the Bankchose not to do the same in order tokeep the entire process fair and trans-parent and to achieve the best eco-nomic value.

Indeed the Bank not only can-celled the RFP but called a meeting ofother prospective bidders to under-stand their concerns due to whichthey did not participate in the bid-ding (this meeting included AutoSoftDynamics). This makes it clear thatthe Bank has consistently attemptedto create an environment of competi-tion amongst the bidders. At thismeeting of prospective bidders, theBank accepted three recommenda-

tions from the bidders: a) that bids beallowed in foreign currency since theBank was requiring a turnkey solu-tion which included imported com-puter hardware, b) that the Bank paya mobilization advance so that suchhardware could be easily imported andc) the bid money was reduced from2% of the bid amount to 0.1% in or-der to create a level playing field forlocal/software vendors.

Again, these changes were madeto increase the competition and indirect response to the requests fromthese prospective bidders includingAutoSoft Dynamics whose CEO hasbeen quoted in the article published indaily Dawn on 26.12.2014.

The “difficult and discrimina-tory” conditions alleged by Mr.Lutfullah Khan, CEO of AutoSoftDynamics, pertain to requirement fora turnkey solution (i.e. one includ-ing software and hardware on a tenyear Total Cost of Ownership basis)as is directly alleged in the contro-versial article.

This approach, adopted in thethird and fourth RFPs, was specifi-cally recommended by the Board ofDirectors of Bank of Punjab and therelevant Board Committee which in-cluded the Chairman

Continued on Page 7

KABUL—Nato formally ended its warin Afghanistan on Sunday, holding alow-key ceremony in Kabul after 13years of conflict that have left the coun-try in the grip of worsening insurgentviolence.

The event was arranged in secret dueto the threat of Taliban strikes in the Af-ghan capital, which has been hit by re-peated suicide bombings and gun at-

US, NATO end war in Afghanistan

Continued on Page 7

tacks over recent years.“Together… we have lifted the Af-

ghan people out of the darkness of de-spair and given them hope for the fu-ture,” Nato commander US General JohnCampbell told assembled soldiers.“You’ve made Afghanistan stronger andour countries safer.”

On January 1, the US-led InternationalSecurity Assistance Force (ISAF) com-

bat mission, which has suffered 3,485military deaths since 2001, will be re-placed by a Nato “training and sup-port” mission.

About 12,500 foreign troops stay-ing in Afghanistan will not be involvedin direct fighting, but will assist theAfghan army and police in the battle

Iranian Brig.Gen Taqavikilled in Iraqfighting ISIS

TEHRAN — A senior com-mander in Iran’s powerfulRevolutionary Guard hasbeen killed during a battleagainst the Islamic State ex-tremist group in Iraq, theGuard said Sunday.

Brig. Gen. Hamid Taqaviwas “martyred while perform-ing his advisory mission toconfront ISIS terrorists inSamarra,” said a statementposted on the Guard’swebsite.Iran says it has sent militaryadvisers to assist Syria andIraq in battling Sunni-ledrebels and extremist groups,but has denied sending anycombat forces to either coun-try. Taqavi is the highest rank-ing

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Min-ister for Information andBroadcasting Pervaiz

Rashid onS u n d a ysaid that inthe pastm i l i t a r ycourts wereformed toend democ-racy, how-

ever, this time their purposewas to save democracy andeliminate terrorism.

In a statement here, hesaid there were elements inPakistan who wanted to im-pose their agenda by thebarrel of a gun which wasunacceptable. The informa-tion minister said democ-

Military courts formedto save democracy: PR

racy and terrorism are atopposite ends and cannotgo together.

He said if fear was ex-hibited at this time, terror-ists would turn Pakistaninto a graveyard. “We haveto save our future genera-tions from these animals,”he said.

Rashid also remarkedthat peace in Kabul was asimportant as peace inIslamabad. He said both thecountries would fight ter-rorism together as peacewas a common asset of theregion.

The information minis-ter said Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif played an im-portant role in bringing Af-ghanistan to a common

Merkel’sappeal toRussiaBERLIN—GermanChancellor Angela Merkelappealed to the Russiangovernment on Sunday touse its influence onseparatists in easternUkraine to implement aceasefire plan agreed inMinsk in September aimedat ending the conflict.Planned talks involvingRussia, Ukraine and theOrganisation for Securityand Cooperation in Europeto further the ceasefirearrangements have not yettaken place. “(Merkel said)A stabilization of thesituation can only come ifthe agreed contact linesare finally implemented,”said a spokeswoman in astatement.—Reuters Continued on Page 7

KARACHI: A man carrying kids as he walks near debris after fire erupted at old Haji Camp Timber Market.

Continued on Page 7

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Dotted with highlyvulnerable forty shanties, Islamabadin recent days has emerged fragileand exposed to extreme threat of ter-rorism and extremism putting secu-rity apparatus of the country in astate of confusion and topsy-turvyness.

With the influx of thousands offamilies from FATA and disturbed ar-eas of KP during the last ten or soyears, the new makeshift areas in andaround Islamabad and even on

Death knell

Islamabad highly vulnerableto grave terror threat

Margallah hills has perplexed the al-ready grave security situation in thecapital which was once a peacefulabode for its residents. Drug -ped-dlers, outlawed and terrorists havesneaked into these safe -havens.

The story does not end here, evenin posh areas of F-sectors, the strang-ers with unknown or fake identitieshave purchased properties or livingin rented houses offering heftyamounts to further their designs inclandestine ways.

According to security officials

privy to the recently carried out comb-ing mission in the capital, Islamabadhas become highly dangerous placewhere two terror acts——one in dis-trict court and other in Sabzi Mandihad already taken heavy toll. Theyhave found sleeper cells in these slumsand some posh areas threatening thenerve s centre of the country.

On some tips, raids were con-ducted in Bara Kahu, Bani Gala,Turnol, Afghan Basti and somestreets in F-11 and F-10. Suspects

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

ASHRAF ANSARI

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTehreek-e-Insaf sourcessaid, the party will show noflexibility over its demandfor a judicial commission toprobe rigging in 2013 gen-eral elections. The sourcestold Pakistan Observer thatif the govt failed to strikeaccord with PTI by 4 Janu-ary 2015, it would launchnew protest to press on itsdemands on 14.

The PTI Core Committeemeeting on Sunday said itssupport to the govt’s anti-terror measures should notbe taken as a sign that it wasin any way moving awayfrom its demand of an inde-pendent inquiry into theMay 2013 electoral rigging.PTI’s negotiating team hasshown as much flexibility aspossible in talks with thegovernment. The PTI lead-

Insistence on Judicial Commission

PTI sets Jan 4deadline for govtProtest to begin on 14th in absence of accord

ership withdrew from itsoriginal demand for PM’sresignation.

The Core Committeeunanimously decided thatPTI had gone the extra milein accommodating the govt

in this time of crisis so thatPTI should not be seen im-peding the national cohe-sion to fight terrorism.

“At present the

EATING a lot of oily fish or consumingomega supplements may not be good fora man’s health. New research reveals that

males with high blood concentrations ofomega-3 fatty acids are at a higher risk of de-veloping prostate cancer.The finding comes from alarge prospective study pub-lished in the Journal of theNational Cancer Institute. A71 percent increased risk ofhigh-grade prostate cancerand a 43 percent increase forall prostate cancers were as-sociated with high concen-trations of EPA, DHA, andDPA.

These results are consis-tent with a 2011 study car-ried out by the same re-search team which foundthat high concentrations ofDHA more than doubled therisk of high-grade prostatecancer. The researchers wereshocked to find that higherblood levels of omega-3fatty acids, usually promoted as good for theheart, were associated with a higher risk ofaggressive prostate cancer. The consistency ofthese findings could mean that “these fatty ac-ids are involved in prostate tumorigenesis andrecommendations to increase long-chainomega-3 fatty acid intake, in particular throughsupplementation, should consider its potentialrisks.”

For years, omega 3 fish oils have been rec-ommended by health organisations to help re-duce heart disease. The paper’s senior authorand member of the Fred Hutch Public HealthSciences Division, Alan Kristal, Dr P.H said:“we’ve shown once again that use of nutritional

supplements may be harmful.” TheodoreBrasky, PhD, a research assistant professorat The Ohio State University Comprehen-sive Cancer Centre, added, “What’s impor-tant is that we have been able to replicate

our findings from 2011 and wehave confirmed that marineomega-3 fatty acids play a rolein prostate cancer occurrence.It’s important to note, however,that these results do not addressthe question of whether omega-3’s play a detrimental role inprostate cancer prognosis.”

Dr. Iain Frame, director ofresearch at Prostate CancerUK, says men reading aboutthe results of this researchshould not panic about theiromega-3 intake. Dr. Framesays: “Omega 3, such as isfound in oily fish, has been thefocus of a large amount of re-search in recent years, the ma-jority of which points to it hav-ing wide-ranging health ben-efits when eaten as part of a

balanced diet...” “Much larger and morecomplex studies will need to take place be-fore we will fully understand how the risksof a diet high in Omega 3 balance againstthose benefits.”

“Therefore, we would not encourage anyman to change their diet as a result of thisstudy, but to speak to their doctor if they haveany concerns about prostate cancer.” Dr.Kristal’s study compared the blood levelconcentrations of omega-3 fatty acids in 834men who had been diagnosed with prostatecancer with samples from 1,393 men fromthe Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Preven-tion Trial (SELECT).

Omega 3 fish oils linked toprostate cancer risk

Members of Pakistan blind cricket team during its visit to Al-Shafa Trust Eye Hospital,Rawalpindi.

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The city is be-ing decorated and the prepara-tions are in full swing to celebrate“Eid Milad-un-Nabi” in a befit-ting manner and with religiousfervour. The roads, streets andbuildings in the city are beingdecorated by the faithfuls withcolourful lights and buntings. Anumber of programmes are be-ing chalked out to celebrate thebirth of Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (PBUH) with greatreverence and devotion as differ-ent Naat committees in the cityare organizing Naat competi-tions. Like every year, the gov-ernment and religious organiza-tions have planned a number ofactivities to celebrate the annualevent.

“Eid Milad-un-Nabi” will beobserved with religious fervorand respect on January, 4 (Sun-day) and traditional Milad-un-Nabi processions would be heldin all areas of the city.

Strict Security arrangementswould be made to ensure secu-rity of the processions of EidMilad-un-Nabi. Punjab govern-ment has directed to all Districtand Tehsil administration officers to takestrict security measures in this regard. Themain procession of “Eid Milad-un-Nabi”will start in the morning from JamiaMasjid Road, Bunni Chowk in the cityand after passing from Circular road,Waris Khan, Murree road, Committee

City being beautifully decoratedto celebrate Eid Milad-un-Nabi

Chowk, Iqbal road, Fowara Chowk, RajaBazaar would culminate at central JamiaMosque Rawalpindi. Another big proces-sion of Rawalpindi Cantt area would startfrom Chungi No 22 and after passingthrough its traditional route would culmi-nate at the starting point.

The district administration has final-ized security plan for the security of thefaithfuls. The entry of Tractor trolley,trucks and other heavy vehicles would beprohibited in the city routes as per plan.

It has also been decided that Ulemaand people belonging to all sects would

play their role in maintaining law and or-der and would foil nefarious designs ofmiscreants. The city district governmentwill set up a control room for the surveil-lance of the processions and for review-ing security arrangements. The controlroom will work 24 hours.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan saysits anti-terrorism campaign isfocused on all militant outfitsoperating in the country, with-out distinguishing between“good” and “bad” Taliban.Adviser on national securityand foreign policy, Sartaj Aziz,in an interview tells VOA thepolicy has resulted in improvedcounter-terrorism cooperationwith neighboring Afghanistan.

Since the visit of new Af-ghan President Ashraf Ghanito Pakistan last month, bothsides have reported increasedeconomic and security coop-eration to promote regionalpeace efforts. Pakistani ad-viser on national security andforeign policy Sartaj Aziz says

the recent attack on a military-run school in Peshawar was thefirst incident to test the resolveof the two countries to jointlytake on militants threateningthem.

The brutal school assaultcarried out by seven suicidebombers killed 150 people,mostly children. The PakistaniTaliban claimed responsibility.Aziz tells VOA that Islamabadswiftly shared evidence on thehandlers in Afghanistan of thebrutal school attack with Kabulat the highest level and Afghanauthorities responded appropri-ately.

“This was the first sort ofevent which called upon thatmechanism to come into place,”

said Aziz. “So, there were veryhigh-level exchanges betweenthe two countries and, therefore,a coordinated action was taken.And I think in the next fewweeks the mechanism will befurther strengthened and there-fore I hope that in future we willbe able to deal with such eventseven more systematically andmore rapidly. But it is a goodindication that the cooperationthat had started after the Presi-dent Ghani’s taking over is nowtaking shape.”

Leader of the PakistaniTaliban, Mullah Fazlulllah, hasallegedly taken shelter in areasaround the eastern Afghan prov-ince of Kunar after fleeing mili-tary operations across the bor-

der. Afghan security forcesstarted conducting offensives inthe area soon after the Peshawarattack, killing many fugitive in-surgents.

For many years, Afghani-stan has urged Pakistan to denysanctuaries to the AfghanTaliban and its ally, the HaqqaniNetwork involved in deadly at-tacks against local and U.S.-ledinternational forces. It has beenalleged for some time that whilethe Pakistan military is attack-ing the Pakistani Taliban wag-ing an insurrection against thecountry, they are not denyingsanctuaries to the AfghanTaliban because they do notpose a threat to Pakistan andinstead could be used to counter

rival India’s influence in theconflict-torn country. Afghanauthorities even have linked arecent spike in deadly insurgentattacks in and around Kabul tomilitants hiding on the Pakistaniside of the border.

But Sartaj Aziz suggests hisgovernment has long abandonedthe policy of “good” and “bad”Taliban. “We are not makingany distinction (between goodand bad Taliban) and I think thisquestions does not arise that weare helping anybody as far as at-tacks (in Afghanistan) are con-cerned,” said Aziz. “(But) evennow in the Afghan media some-times, any (insurgent) activitythat takes place (in Afghani-stan), fingers are pointed at Pa-

kistan but we are doing our bestto dispel such impression be-cause we have no interest in cre-ating instability in Afghanistan.In fact, stability in Afghanistanis absolutely critical forPakistan’s own stability. So, Ithink these are past perceptionsand some of them still lingeron.”

Afghan and U.S. officialsbelieve top leadership of theHaqqani network remains in Pa-kistan after moving out fromtheir safe haven in NorthWaziristan where a majorcounter-insurgency operationhas been under way since thispast June. Aziz did not rule outthe possibility that some Afghanmilitants may have taken shel-

ter in parts of Pakistan beforethe Waziristan offensive waslaunched, citing the mountain-ous terrain.

Pakistan has long insistedthat the Afghan Taliban is astake holder in the peace andreconciliation efforts in Af-ghanistan. However, Aziz ap-pears to be backing away fromhis country’s traditional stancethat used to be a major irritantin bilateral ties.

“I think it is for Afghanistanto decide and my own feeling isthat President Ashraf Ghani hasinvited them for a dialogue,” saidAziz. “Some have respondedsome have not, so I think the pro-cess has to be allowed to con-tinue. We can of course support

the process to the extent we canby sharing information by shar-ing advice.” The United Statesalso acknowledges the positivetrend and increased coopera-tion between Pakistan and Af-ghanistan and has promised tocontinue its support in bring-ing the two even closer to en-sure regional peace.

Following the withdrawalof the bulk of internationalforces from Afghanistan bythe end of this month, analystssee often rocky ties betweenIslamabad and Kabultransitioning from a relation-ship of mistrust into greatercounter-terrorism cooperationand restoration of mutualtrust.—NNI

Improved Pak-Afghan relationship key to fighting Taliban: Sartaj

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A farewell darbar was ar-ranged in the honour of Inspector GeneralZulfiqar Ahmad Cheema at Kherabad andChakri. DIG Zubair Hashmi and DIGMuhammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan, SSPFarhan Baig, SSP Munir Masood Marth, SSPAbbas Ahsan, SP Khurram Shahzad SP Dr.Mian Saeed and large number of officers /officials of Motorway Zone were present onthe occasion. Inspector General ZulfiqarAhmad Cheema offered special prayer forthe martyrs of Peshawar massacre and con-demned the brutal incident. He said that of-ficers of Motorway Police are known by theirdistinctive traits like; lawful earnings, hon-esty, courtesy, help to distress and equal ap-plication of law. “We will uphold the saidstandard at all cost” he added. DIGMuhammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan said IGPZulfiqar Cheema ensured merit and trans-parency in Motorway Police.

“Cheema Sb brought about extraordi-

nary betterment and eliminated VIP cultureand assured the rule of law practically andplayed a historic role for the betterment ofthe department,” he said. Recruitment of asmany as 1000 officers, provision of 250 newpatrolling mobiles and commencement oflicensing system are the vital steps taken byCheema, he stated. He said personality ofthe IGP Zulfiqar Ahmed Cheema is in him-self an institution and it’s a matter of greathonour and pride to serve under his com-mand. The standard set by him would be keptmaintained at all costs.

DIG Zubair Hashmi while paying trib-utes to Zulfiaqar Cheema said IGP hadstrengthened the department by providing newresources. “He improved the department’sefficiency, honesty, courtesy and help. He alsotook many steps for the welfare of the force.He guided and encouraged us at every stage.He eliminated inner weakness of the depart-ment, listened criticism and did effective re-forms and made the department to achievehigh standard of performance. The DIG said

that he treated his subordinates equally and ifever been harsh, that was only for the sake ofthe department. As a leader of high altitude,Cheema had mad Motorway Police a rolemodel. SSP Abbas Ahsan said IG ZulfiqarAhmad Cheema had inculcated basic valuesof NH&MP in the minds of the officers andguided all ranks of Motorway Police wher-ever needed. As a result each member of theforce is performing duties enthusiasticallywithout fear and favour.

SP Khurram Shahzad said all hurdles inperforming professional tasks went awayaway under distinctive guidance of IG ZulfiqarAhmad Cheema. He has taken concrete stepsfor the welfare of the force and rule of law.

SP Dr Mian Saeed said police force wasproud of working under the command ofZulfiqar Cheema. His legacy of principle andrule of law is a beacon of light for us.

SSP Munir Masood Marth said thatZulfiqar Cheema’s pivotal role in makingMotorway Police a role model will be re-membered forever.

Cheema termed a role model for entirepolice department

NH&MP outgoing IGP given resounding farewell

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Federal police have once againsought complete details of the residents from theproperty owners/landlords, management of hotels,motels and guest houses directing them to submittheir tenants/guest records to relevant police stations.They have also been directed to update police be-fore or at the time of changing their tenants/guests.

Last week too such details were sought but nopositive response was seen by the general public.According to a spokesman of Islamabad police, asearch operation was conducted on Saturday in thevicinities of Khanna, Koral, Iqbal Town, ShehzadTown Hummak and in the surrounding areas againstproperty owners and tenants.

During this search operation, particulars of thetenants were collected and under section 144 caseswere filed against 26 property owners who did notprovide details about their tenants before renting outtheir properties. Islamabad police have adopted a

very simple procedure for the property owners andtenants, said the spokesman. Two notebooks havebeen placed at the police stations.

In one, particulars of property owners and inthe other particulars of tenants are being noted. Boththe property owners and tenants will be provided aregistration number after receiving their particulars.SSP Islamabad Asmatullah Junejo has said the abovestep was taken to tackle with the present critical situ-ation and to ensure safety of citizens. He appealedto citizens to provide complete details to the policestations about their tenants before putting their prop-erties on rent.

He said legal action will be taken against thoseproperty owners who will not provide particulars oftheir tenants. The SSP said search operation will beundertaken in other areas of Islamabad as well.Name of a citizen who will provide any informa-tion regarding the criminal elements or activity, willbe kept secret and will be provided complete pro-tection, he added.

Property owners in trouble for notproviding tenants particulars to police

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The active projects ofCapital Development Authority CDA,Sector C-15, C-16 are of prior signifi-cance. International developers interna-tionally recognized national institutionswill carry out the development works ofthe project.

For the extension of these sectors3000 canals more land has been ac-quired by the CDA authority says Mem-

ber Admin Amir Ahmed Ali. Accord-ing to the sources , these two new sec-tors will be settling in the landscape ofMargalla Hills. In term of location, thearea is rich in God gifted scenic beautyand natural environment while the de-velopment of Margalla Avenue work isin progress and 80% have been com-pleted.

Islamabad enjoys the top positionin the country regarding its civic com-munity, which continued to increase

housing demands in the city, to meetthis; CDA Chairman Maroof Afzal istaking special initiatives and has sched-uled the opening of the two sectors inearly 2015.

In this connection under the super-vision of Member Admin, CDA admin-istration is ensuring the successfulopening event. In this regard the grandinauguration ceremony of these twosectors will be the New Year gift forthe citizens of Islamabad.

CDA launches two new sectors forworld-class housing facilities

3000 canals more land has been acquired in sector C-15, C-16

Delay in completionof new

Islamabad Airportenhances its cost

ISLAMABAD—The delay andalleged irregularities incompletion of the NewIslamabad International Airporthave enhanced cost of theproject from Rs 37 billion to Rs85 billion causing an additionalburden of Rs 48 billion to thenational exchequer. Theproject, supposed to be com-pleted in 30 months, was an-nounced in January 2005 withan estimated cost of Rs 37 bil-lion and construction began inApril 2007, when funding be-came available.

Later, PC-I of the projectwas revised in March 2012 ata cost of Rs 66 billion.

The expenditure was onceagain revised to Rs 95 billion andOctober 2016 was the anticipatedcompletion date of the project.However, the official sources ofthe CAA were reluctant to giveexact figures regarding the cost ofthe project and the reasons behindthe delay.—APP

People seen at Urdu Bazaar where vendors displayed decorative items of Jashn-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAW).

06:25 01:3003:45

07:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

Pir Mohammad Naqeeb-ur-Rahman, Custodian of Eidgah Sharif and Pir Hassaan Haseeb-ur-Rehman inauguratingthe Iqbal Palace in Dhamyal Camp. Cyclists on the way after collecting dry wood for domestic use due to shortage of Sui Gas.

Naat Khawans sitting on the stage during All Pakistan Jashn-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAW) conference at Gulshanabad.

December 29-31Drama workshop

PAKISTAN National Coun-cil of Arts (PNCA) will orga-nize a three-day drama work-shop from December 29 to31. PNCA would provide acomplete forum to theyoungsters through thisworkshop for polishing theirskills in the field of dramaand theatre.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman NAB Mr. QamarZaman Chaudhry has chalked out a strat-egy to actively pursue all corruptioncases without any fear and favour. Hesaid that beside enforcement, our mainfocus is on awareness and preventionaspects of NAB strategy to control cor-ruption and corrupt practices with thehelp of civil society.

He said that corruption is the great-est obstacle to economic and social de-velopment around the world. It impedescompetitiveness, stifles growth, hindersdevelopment and contributes to the ero-sion of stable societies. Desperatelyneeded development funds are misap-propriated / embezzled by corrupt indi-viduals and resultantly poor people get

robbed of the education / health carefacilities and other essential services.Corruption paints a dismal picture of thestate of affairs and is a vital factor in thedraining of resources and plummetingof economies of under developed coun-tries. Addressing the menace of corrup-tion becomes imperative in order toachieve socio-economic uplift and po-litical development. Anti-Corruption,nowadays is a top priority of NAB’sAwareness and Prevention Strategy.

Together with the civil society andthrough formation of character buildingof four thousand societies, seminars,workshops etc, NAB is striving hard toensure the implementation of NationalAnti Corruption Strategy (NACS), pro-posals and to promote model frameworksto combat corruption. National Account-

ability Bureau (NAB) is endeavouringto effectively implement the universallyaccepted strategy of Awareness, Preven-tion and Enforcement to combat corrup-tion. Since its inception, NAB has beenprimarily enforcement oriented. Thisapproach was adopted as the need ofthe hour. However with evolution it wasrealized that in order to address thecauses of corruption it is necessary toadopt a holistic approach of Awareness,Prevention and Enforcement.

Under the new strategic thrust un-der Chairman NAB, Mr. Qamar ZamanChaudhry, National Anti-CorruptionStrategy (NACS) has been launched byNAB, the process for engaging all theintegrity Pillars has been initiated byNAB. The integrity pillars comprise ofLegislature, Civil Society, Judiciary,

Media, Executive, Public Accountabil-ity Bodies, Public Sector and Anti Cor-ruption Agencies. NACS has been iden-tified as one of the best anti-corruptionpreventive model for Pakistan. The spiritbehind this endeavor is to eventuallyrid the prevailing system from the illsrampant in civil society and public of-fices. This will go a long way in strength-ening NAB’s efforts for eradication ofcorruption. The motive behind this ex-ercise is to revamp the working of ser-vice delivery departments so that theyserve the public at large in a more effi-cient and effective way.

The NAB has resolved to do across-the-board accountability in an objectiveand impartial manner. Inquiries and in-vestigations have been initiated againstall those against whom credible and cor-

roborative evidence is available withoutany political or personal malice.

According to Transparency Report,Pakistan has achieved the best corrup-tion perception index rating in last 20years. The improvement in CorruptionPerception Index (CPI) rating of Pakistanhas been possible due to the consistentefforts of NAB that has consistentlyfighting against the menace of corrup-tion from Pakistan.

Chairman NAB has directed the au-thorities to further speed up their effortsvigorously for recovery of looted moneyso as to return the money to its genuineaffectees at the earliest. He said that NABis committed to carry out its cause andmandate of rooting out corruption andcorrupt practices from the country with-out any influence, stress or pressure.

NAB actively pursuing graft cases

Authorities directed to speed uprecovery of looted money

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Traffic officers havebeen directed to take strict actionagainst those found indulged in rashand negligent driving on vehicles andmotorcycles especially on new yearnight. According to City Traffic Po-lice (CTP), action in accordance withthe law would be taken against one-wheelers and they would be sent be-hind the bars under section 99/A.

CTP have launched a special driveagainst wheelie and made several ar-rangements to curb the activity espe-cially on New Year night.

CTP spokesman said though, the

activity was already being checked bytraffic officials deputed on the cityroads but special arrangements havebeen made to control rash and dan-gerous driving on New Year night withdeployment of special squads.

He said traffic police officers havebeen directed to keep a vigilant eyeon the one-wheelers so that action inaccordance with the law could betaken against them.

Under special arrangements, traf-fic officials have been deployed atvarious points. The traffic officers andcircle heads have been directed to takestern action against the one-wheelerswithout discrimination and no one

should be spared if found involved inthis dangerous act, which is a causeof deaths and severe injuries for theriders.

He said one-wheelers are not onlyplaying with their own lives but theyare also a threat for other road users.He said the traffic wardens have beendirected to take effective measures inthis regard. Under efforts to curb theactivity, those found engaged in one-wheeling are also being fined.

He said the citizens particularlyparents should come forward and playtheir role to curb the activity as onewheeling, rash and negligent drivingare the main causes for fatal accidents.

Traffic rules violators to bebooked on new year night

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama Iqbal Open Uni-versity (AIOU) will turn its existing li-brary into model one to promote self-learning and make it a major source ofknowledge for research work. TheAIOU’s library will be number one in thecountry and will be available to generalpublic. Its whole system has beenswitched over to latest software version,ensuring accessibility of the book, re-search Journals and thesis at the read-ers’ door-step, said vice-chancellor Prof.Dr. Shahid Siddiqui.

Speaking at a training workshop that

held here at the University’s main cam-pus, for library’s and IT staff, he said thelibrary will be linked with modernizedand automation system, so that readersfeel comfortable in equipping them-selves with latest knowledge. The read-ing material will meet the contemporaryneeds, he assured.

The library, he said will be a big sup-port to researchers, who will be able toaccess the reading material throughonline automatic digital system. All pos-sible efforts are being made to upgradethe library facilities, he added.

Timing of the library has been ex-tended forthwith, and the now it will re-

main open from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm on allworking days, including Saturday. Dur-ing the summer, the library will remainopen till 8 pm. The books’ data of thelibrary will be made operational throughadvanced software system. There willbe also automatic system for circulationof books among the readers. Radio fre-quency identification system will be in-troduced for the safety of the books.Dr. Shahid Siddiqui said the AIOU libraryis first-ever in the country which hasscanned around 4,000 theses of PhD,M.Phil, Ms and Masters’ level and madeavailable to the students with full text,through online digital system.

AIOU to build a model libraryfor promoting self-learning

Capital residentsdrinking

unhygienic waterISLAMABAD—Due to thecarelessness of Capital De-velopment Authority(CDA), residents of capitalare drinking unhygienic wa-ter. Despite CDA’s pressure,Pakistan Council of Re-search Water (PCRW) ser-vices have remained limitedto Parliament House andParliament Lodges.

However, all other filtra-tion plants of water are notmaintained whereas peopleare drinking unhygienic wa-ter.

PCRW gave 40 chlorina-tors to CDA but unfortu-nately 38 0f the chlorinatorshave been broken due to thecarelessness of former. Inaddition, 5 of the waterplants in Islamabad areclosed whereas water of 22other filter plants are notworthy of drinking.

Though, strict actionsare needed to be takenagainst the people who arenot maintaining the purity ofwater.—Online

Traffic jamirks passengersISLAMABAD—The citizensof Kahuta had faces the lotof problems of traffic jam indaily life demands the con-cerned authorities to takesolid steps to resolve the is-sue of traffic jam. Most ofthe passengers, particularlyfemales and children irks dueto heavy traffic, when cross-ing the roads, he remarked.

Another commuter,Ahmad said that traffic jamcould be seen at the busstops which waste the timeof students and workingclass. Talking to APP Awais,a resident of Kahuta, here onSunday said that several am-bulances stuck-up in thelong traffic roads.

Block roads due toheavy traffic create prob-lems for commuters and it isroutine matter on severalchowks, he added. Anothercitizen Khalil said Trafficwardens were not found ontheir duty points. —APP

ISLAMABAD—The twin cities of Rawalpindiand Islamabad are facing shortage of bus stopsbesides dearth of civic facilities there whichcausing enormous inconvenience to commut-ers. Hundreds of passengers visit Pirwadhai,Pak secretariat, Karachi Company andFaizabad every day, but the number of wash-rooms established at these bus stops is notsufficient to fulfil their requirement and are notin good condition. A large number of vendorsalso spend the whole day at these stops toearn their livelihood.

Muhammad Rauf, a passenger at Faizabadtold APP that he came here from Faisalabadwith his family and heading towards Taxila andwas waiting for a free toilet for half an hour.

Most of the passengers, particularly fe-males and children suffer worst due to the prob-lem, he remarked. The passengers travelingthrough public transport daily, complained re-garding shortage of dust bins at these stops

which compelling the commuters and shop-keepers to throw garbage at road side.

“A number of fruit vendors earn theirlivelyhood at these bus stop, and buyers areleft with no option but to throw the garbage atroad side due to lack of dust bins,” said AzeemAhmed at Zeropoint bus stop.

Another commuter, Saeed said that garbageheaps could be seen at the bus stops whichgive an ugly look. Bilal Ahmed, another passen-ger at G-9 Karachi Company bus stop said thatthe fruits waste scattered at different placescould pose a hazard to the commuters, like ba-nana skin due to which people might be injured,but the concerned authorities paid no heed to-wards it.

Moreover shortage of chairs could be wit-nessed at almost every bus stop of the twincities. The Commuters urged the concernedauthorities to provide civic facilities at busstops on priority.—APP

Shortage of civic facilities atbus stops anger passengers

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad police has decided toset up security and surveillance committees ofcitizens in neighbourhoods to ensure safetyof people. According to Islamabad policespokesman due to prevailing situation, policewith the cooperation of the people has formeda strategy to tackle the criminal elements. Pub-lic can play an important role in dealing withmiscreants in the present situation. Accordingto this strategy, Islamabad police have appealedto the youth to submit their details in relevantpolice stations to become part of security andsurveillance committees. Those women whowant to be part of these committees shouldprovide their details at the Women Police Sta-tion Sitara Market.

Police will provide special cards to the citi-zens who will be members of the committees.The task of the members will be to keep a close

watch on their surroundings and inform rel-evant police station or Rescue 15 about sus-pect things, people and vehicles.

Talking about the police strategy, Inspec-tor General Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan saidcitizens can play an important role in eliminat-ing crime from the society. He said citizensshould perform their responsibility in thepresent circumstances, identify the criminalelements and completely cooperate with thepolice. He said police with the cooperation ofthe public will eradicate the menace of terror-ism from society.

The federal government is utilizing all pos-sible resources to ensure safety of citizens andtackle the criminals elements, the IGP said. Hevowed to make Islamabad a peaceful city withthe help of the citizens. He said name of a per-son who will provide information about a sus-pect, will be kept secret and he will be providedcomplete protection.

Police to set up citizens committeesto protect neighbourhoods

ISLAMABAD—The working women employedin different government, semi government andprivate organizations and students are facingsevere residential problems in federal problemsdue to lack of hostels and affordable and de-cent living opportunities in federal capital.

A limited number of working women hos-tels are offering residential facilities at afford-able rates including one Fatima Jinnah Hostelunder ministry of Housing and Works, Work-ing Women Hostel under Ministry of Law Jus-tice and Human Rights and Social WelfareHostel under Establishment Division.

Besides that a number of private hostelare running in different areas of the city but

the residents always complain about their highrates and poor living facilities creating a num-ber of problems for them. The inmates of pri-vate hostels informed this scribe that they arepaying for 8000 to 10,000 as rent in a roomsshared by at least two to three girls besidesmess charges. The hostels were a long-stand-ing demand as private hostels are not onlyover saturated but also very expensive andliving condition is far from ideal.

A large number of working women andstudents come from far-flung villages in searchof jobs and for studying in better educationalinstitutions but the first problem they faced isto find a suitable shelter for living.—APP

Working women, students facingacute residential problem in capital

Scenes from a serpentine traffic jam near Nandni on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Sunday.

MUDDASIR ALI

THE diametrically opposed political ideology of political parties coupled with fractured and “confusing” mandate the elec-

tion delivered is posing a serious challenge forgovernment formation in J&K as the stalematecontinued for 5th straight day on Saturday withno breakthrough in sight.

“In this fractured mandate, the surprisingthing is that two parties (PDP and BJP) got man-date which are ideologically poles apart,” saidpolitical analyst Prof Gul Muhammad Wani ofKashmir University. He said PDP’s Self-Ruleformula for resolving Kashmir, its focus on Indo-Pak dialogue process, cross-LoC trade and evenShariat banking in its poll manifesto stands com-pletely opposite to the ideology the BJP standsfor.

“The BJP has an ideology that is fundamen-tally shaped by Kashmir imagination and itsproject of nation building is partially rooted inKashmir project which is politics of assimila-tion and Indian-isation, constitutional and po-litical integration of Kashmir,” said Wani. Theelection results saw PDP emerging single larg-est party with 28 seats followed by BJP with 25.National Conference and Congress, who ruledthe state for past six years, got 15 and 12 seats

Kashmir Political Scene: Stalemate?respectively. While PDP has a larger social baseis Kashmir and the party is panning out to otherregions and sub-regions of J&K, the BJP got themandate from Jammu.

“Today there are issues in Jammu and Kash-mir like Hindu CM, Rotational CM, and if anyparty takes BJP as partner who will represent 20percent Muslims of Jammu, Udhampur andKathua and then Muslims of Chenab Valley andPir Panjal range. The refugees living in Jammuare vote bank for BJP,” said another politicalanalyst. He said the BJP-National Conferencecombination would face same ideological chal-lenges. “The party (NC) might talk about hav-ing won some representation in mainland Jammubut the larger question for them is their standthat Autonomy being the only viable solution toKashmir. During his tenure the Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah vociferously talked about the dia-logue between India and Pakistan the only solu-tion to resolve Kashmir and then there is NC’sstand on issues like AFSPA. This stand of NC iscompletely in contrast to BJP’s ideology,” saidthe analyst.

He said the supposition that the PDP andNational Conference should come together toform the government was also faced with the“mandate problem.” “How will you bringJammu and Ladakh on board in such a combi-

nation and what about the mandate the Jammuhas given,” the political analyst said.

All the four political parties - National Con-ference, Peoples Democratic Party, Congress andBhartiya Janta Party- who swear by poles-apartideologies of their own, were engaged in a racein the run-up to the Assembly polls to outscoreeach other and pinpoint “wrongdoings” of oth-ers. The poll campaign saw leadership of oppo-site political parties making attacks on others toscore points. During his poll campaign OmarAbdullah on December 12 targeted BJP andtermed its “Mission 44-plus a hidden agenda toweaken socio-political status of J&K”.

“It is not that the BJP is eying the 44-plusseats of the legislative Assembly, but their ac-tual mission is to erode the special status enjoyedby the state and they want to end the state-sub-ject law,” he said during his campaigning inSonwar constituency which he lost to PDP. ThePDP poll campaign revolved around its oft-re-peated statement that it was the “only party whichhas the strength to stop BJP’s communal agendain J&K.” The party, during the poll campaign,took the NC-Congress coalition head-on for“mis-governance and corruption”.

“BJP is running a communal agenda in J&K.Only PDP and Mufti Sahib can stop this agenda,”Mehbooba told an election rally on November

18. The Prime Minister who held election ralliesacross J&K repeatedly attacked Abdullahs andMuftis for “nourishing dynastic rule” in J&K.During his December 8 rally in Srinagar, Modiattacked the parties “run by Baap-Beta and BaapBeti” for the “corruption and mis-governance inthe state.”

Even the ruling coalition partners didn’tspare each other. During one of his rallies onDecember 16, Omar attacked the Congress say-ing “questionable performance and conduct ofits leaders has rendered the Congress’ Hand frac-tured.” He even blamed senior Congress leaderGhulam Nabi Azad for “fuelling communal ha-tred and regional frenzy as chief minister in 2008and putting Jammu and Kashmir in a situationof uncertainty and confusion”.

Two days later, on December 18, Azadhit back at Omar describing him as “greatopportunist”. The Congress party, on thesame day, issued a statement saying “Omarowes his political existence to Azad.” “Thisbitter onslaught not only exposed the dif-ferences that run deep among the partiesagainst each other but has also put an extrapressure on them even when there is a talkof different parties coming together to formgovernment,” said the political analyst.

—Courtesy: Greater Kashmir

SRINAGAR—Asserting that it was keen toform government in JK, the BJP has saidthe party doesn’t want to sit in oppositionand hectic parleys are on with variousstakeholders. The party said that all its 25legislators have submitted a detailed pro-posal on formation of government includ-ing the issue of rotational Chief Ministerto BJP president Amit Shah for taking afinal call.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, BJP’s JKaffairs in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna saidthey were not satisfied with the delay ingovernment formation. “We don’t want tosit in the opposition for obvious reasons—our vote share and the number of legisla-tors,” he said. “We are seriously talking tomany leaders of various parties in Kash-mir so that a stable government is formed.Our stand is clear that we will be having aCommon Minimum Program that will re-volve around development of the State.”

On whether the CMP has a mentionof AFSPA revocation, Khanna said the is-sue is purely a prerogative of the army.

Don’t want to sit inopposition: BJP

“Army has to take a final call on it, not theBJP. People’s feedback is also must on thisissue. Why should we keep this issue inour CMP,” he said. Khanna, who was over-seeing election affairs in JK, said perhapsthey couldn’t convince the people of Kash-mir during the election campaign. Inter-estingly, BJP drew blank from Kashmirand Ladakh regions. It won all its 25 seatsfrom Jammu region.

“May be our assessment about Kash-mir and Ladakh was wrong. We will findout what went wrong,” Khanna said. Aboutwhat were the main conditions of BJP forforging an alliance with regional parties,the BJP leader said that there are certainconditions that they have put forth beforeregional parties. “As far as the question ofrotational chief minister is concerned,these issues are discussed on table,” hesaid. Another BJP leader, Ramesh Arora,said all the 25 legislators of the party haveforwarded a detailed proposal to BJP chiefon government formation. “We can’t ig-nore and annoy what our legislators want

and what our voters in Jammu want. Yesthere is a demand for having a Chief Min-ister from BJP and this all has been sent toAmit Shah in the form of a proposal,”Arora said. “Now the ball is in Shah’scourt. We are waiting for the final deci-sion within a couple of days.”On whether BJP was ready to sit in theopposition, he said if they would fail inexploring the options of government for-mation, they would feel proud to sit inthe opposition. “This too will be decidedby the party chief,” he said. “I person-ally believe that such a situation won’tarise as talks are on and would bear somefruit within a few days.” He said BJP’sCMP was to ensure development of allthe three regions of the State. Perti-nently, BJP’s National General SecretaryRam Madhav recently held talks withsenior PDP leader Muzaffar Baig andmany leaders of various political partiesand later stated that preliminary parleyswere positive though no final consensushas been reached yet.—GK

SRINAGAR—Prof Amitabh Mattoo, an influen-tial Kashmiri with connections to the corridorsof power in Delhi, has claimed that the NationalConference will not be a partner in any new gov-ernment and that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed willbe the next Chief Minister of the state. “NC andPDP will never form an alliance for a variety ofreasons, including the fact that they compete forthe same space”, Mattoo said.

He said that the NC will not be a partner in anynew government. “No one today can afford to touchit. It is the only untouchable party today, given itsperformance in the election (even though margin-ally better than predicted) and its track record of thelast 6 years. The challenge for the NC will be tokeep its flock together over the next 6 years,” Mattoosaid. Matoo according to CNS said that the PDPwill form the next government with MuftiMuhammad Sayeed as chief minister. “The PDP’sgreatest challenge will be to reach out to Jammuand Ladakh. Two possible ways for PDP are to reachout to the BJP rebel from Udhampur, and make three

PDP to form nextgovt: Mattoo

of its Jammu stalwarts, including Rangeel Singh anda Sharma and a Thakur ministers straight way bymaking them part of the Legislative Council in thenext 6 months.”

Former Vice Chancellor Jammu University saidthat the BJP will sit in opposition and offer outsideissue-based support to the PDP and seek delimita-tion and greater empowerment of Jammu. “The Con-gress will seek to be part of the government, butmay settle for supporting the PDP from outside,” hesaid.

He according to CNS said that Sajad Lone,Hakim Muhammad Yasin, M.Y Tarigami (if hisparty allows him), and Engineer Rashid will be partof the new government. He said that the new gov-ernment in Jammu and Kashmir will have the fullsupport of Prime Minister Modi and his govern-ment on all developmental issues.

“This government will, however, have theshortest possible honeymoon period, and willhave to show that it means business within thenext 6 months,” he said.—KO

KULGAM, IHK—CPI (M) State Secretary,M Y Tarigami, said BJP should not form gov-ernment in the State and that all the inde-pendent candidates and Congress must uniteat this crucial juncture to keep the saffronparty at bay. Addressing media Tarigami,who won from Kulgam Assembly segment,said his apprehensions are real as the ‘pasthistory of RSS is there.’ “The BJP today isnot BJP, it is pure and simple RSS and un-like the BJP of old times,” he said. “My ap-peal to political leadership in Jammu andKashmir, those having a good number of sup-port in the legislature like PDP, NC and Con-gress and independents as well, please tryto understand the serious implications.”

Tarigami said he had not received any in-vitation from any party to support it. “Someyears back, in its Haryana conclave, RSS hadadopted a resolution for separate statehoodfor Jammu and allying with such a party willbe a historic blunder of disastrous magnitude.I want to caution those who are holding par-leys with the RSS on government formationthat RSS agenda of separate state for Jammuwill lead to the bifurcation of the state. Arethey ready to face it?” he asked.

The CPI (M) leader said he was in favourof a non-BJP secular government in the state

BJP must be keptat bay: Tarigami

and was in talks with other independentsover the issue. Tarigami said he was in touchwith Hakim Yaseen and Engineer AbdulRashid. “We have commonality that there areother options which should be explored. Andwhich can at least promote the unity ofJammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said. “Ipersonally believe that I would support anynon-BJP government.”Appealing the secular parties to rise to theoccasion and to understand the “dangersahead”, he advised them to see the larger in-terests of the state and not just their partisaninterests. “My appeal to those who matter inthe situation and have the electoral strengthbehind them is to rise to the occasion andcome out of their partisan interests,” he said.Tarigami said the RSS, in the garb of BJP,was trying hard to impose its agenda on thepolity of the state and any such effort wasfraught with “dangerous consequences” and“fatal” for the future of the state and integ-rity of the country.” “The results of the As-sembly elections are complicated and frag-mented and it is a highly polarised mandate.What we are learning from whatever has comein media, it seems BJP is seriously trying andin fact RSS is trying hard to impose its agendaon the polity of JK,” he said.—GK

SRINAGAR—As the stalemate on governmentformation continues in Jammu and Kashmir, Na-tional Conference working president and ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah has left for London tobe with his parents amid suspense whether hisparty would side with BJP or not. Omar hadbeen vocal after the election results were de-clared by stating that he was ready to side withPDP to form the government. The development

Omar off to Londonhad stirred hornet’s nest leaving the PDP in adilemma.“Seated & strapped in. London here I come,”Omar wrote on micro blogging site Twitter Sat-urday morning. This is Omar’s first visit to Lon-don after his father Dr Farooq Abdullah’s suc-cessful kidney transplant on December 14. DrFarooq’s wife Molly had donated her kidney forthe surgery.—GK

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the Voice ofVictims, a local human rights watchdog, has saidthat Indian police had arrested more than 1100youth including a large number of teenagersduring the sham assembly elections in the terri-tory. The rights body in a statement issued inSrinagar, today, said that these youth were pickedup from Srinagar, Baramulla, Sopore, Badgamand Islamabad, and majority of them were stillin police custody.

APHC leader, Syed Bashir Andrabi address-ing a group of people in Islamabad town said thatIndia could not divert peoples’ attention from theliberation struggle through arrest and detentionof Hurriyet leaders, activists and youth. AnotherAPHC leader, Zafar Akbar Butt in a statementsaid that Kashmir was a living reality and its settle-ment in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspira-tions as per UN resolutions was imperative forpeace in the South Asian region. Hurriyet leader,Mohammad Azam Inqilabi in a statement inSrinagar urged Indian rulers to abandon obdu-racy on Kashmir and adopt a realistic approachtowards settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

The High Court Bar Association of occu-pied Kashmir in a statement issued in Srinagarrevealed that they had received letters fromKashmiri detainees in jails that the inmates wereforced to take impure water, lifted directly fromJhelum River. Meanwhile, famous Dal Lake andother water bodies froze partially as cold waveconditions intensified with mercury plunging tominus 5.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar. Daldwellers, using their oars, were seen breakingthe layer of ice at several places to make wayfor their shikaras to reach the banks of the lake., December 28 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir,

1,100 youth arrested during sham polls Inqilabi urgesIndia to adoptrealistic policy

on KahsmirSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the patron of Jammuand Kashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi,Mohammad Azam Inqilabi hasurged the Indian rulers to aban-don obduracy on Kashmir andan adopt realistic, rational,pragmatic and objective ap-proach towards the Kashmirdispute.Mohammad AzamInqilabi in a statement issuedin Srinagar said that Kashmirisduring the past 67 years offeredthe sacrifice of about six-lakhpatriots including the iconicleaders like Molvi Farooq,Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone,Jaleel Andrabi, Dr Qazi Nisar,S. Hameed and Sheikh AbdulAziz. He said that Indian im-perialists used all the meansand methods of expansionisticmachination to neutralize therole of Pakistan in Kashmir. Headded that history testified thatPakistan despite Dhaka fall in1971, did not renege on itscommitment to Kashmir cause.Condoling the death of the motherof senior Hurriyet leader, ShabbirAhmad Shah, he said.—KMS

Nighttemperatureplummets to

season’s lowestin Srinagar

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kash-mir, famous Dal Lake and otherwater bodies froze partially asSrinagar city witnessed the cold-est night of the winter with mer-cury plunging to minus 5.6 de-grees Celsius. Dal Lake was par-tially frozen as cold wave condi-tions intensified with mercuryplunging nearly 1.5 degrees tosettle at the season’s lowest mini-mum temperature so far.Daldwellers, using their oars, wereseen breaking the layer of ice atseveral places to make way fortheir shikaras to reach the banksof the lake.

While the freezing cold addedto the woes of the residents, thetourists were happy to witness it.A Gujrati couple, who had cometo the Valley after visiting MataVaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu,said they were lucky to see thefrozen Dal Lake. “It is our goodluck that the lake froze when wewere here.

The feeling is indescribable,”Madhu Bhai, a Gujrati business-man settled in Mumbai, said. Thecold wave led to freezing of manyother water bodies and drinkingwater taps in the city while earlymorning motorists. —KMS

ISLAMABAD: AJK Prime Minister Ch. Abdul Majid and Health Minister Sardar Qamar Zaman discussing some political point in their meeting hereon Sunday.

ISLAMABAD—Renowned Is-lamic scholar and Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Jammu andKashmir’s senior leader, Pro-fessor Aleefuddin Turabi diedafter protracted illness inIslamabad, today. ProfessorAleefuddin Turabi, an eminentArabic scholar, writer andteacher, passed away thismorning at his residence inIslamabad.Professor Turabihad a great contribution toKashmir’s liberation struggle,and had a hundreds of articles

the Voice of Victims, a local human rights watch-dog, has said that Indian police had arrested morethan 1100 youth including a large number ofteenagers during the sham assembly electionsin the territory.

The rights body in a statement issued inSrinagar, today, said that these youth were pickedup from Srinagar, Baramulla, Sopore, Badgamand Islamabad, and majority of them were stillin police custody. APHC leader, Syed BashirAndrabi addressing a group of people inIslamabad town said that India could not divertpeoples’ attention from the liberation strugglethrough arrest and detention of Hurriyet lead-ers, activists and youth. Another APHC leader,Zafar Akbar Butt in a statement said that Kash-mir was a living reality and its settlement in ac-cordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations as perUN resolutions was imperative for peace in theSouth Asian region.

Hurriyet leader, Mohammad Azam Inqilabiin a statement in Srinagar urged Indian rulers toabandon obduracy on Kashmir and adopt a re-alistic approach towards settlement of the Kash-mir dispute. The High Court Bar Association ofoccupied Kashmir in a statement issued inSrinagar revealed that they had received lettersfrom Kashmiri detainees in jails that the inmateswere forced to take impure water, lifted directlyfrom Jhelum River.

Meanwhile, famous Dal Lake and otherwater bodies froze partially as cold wave con-ditions intensified with mercury plunging to mi-nus 5.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar. Dal dwell-ers, using their oars, were seen breaking the layerof ice at several places to make way for theirshikaras to reach the banks of the lake.—KMS

Religious scholar, JI AJKleader Prof Turabi passes away

and books in Urdu and Arabicto his credit to promote theKashmir cause in and outsidePakistan, particularly in theArabic world.

The JI AJK leader was acardiac patient and had beenrestricted to the bed for thepast some years, but he kepton writing magazines, ar-ticles and books on the Kash-mir cause. Thousands ofpeople attended his funeralprayers, held in Islamabadthis afternoon.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The High CourtBar Association of occupiedKashmir has expressed con-cern over supply of impuredrinking water to detainees atBaramulla sub-jail. The HCBAGeneral Secretary MuhammadAshraf Butt in a statement is-sued in Srinagar said that the

Baramulla sub-jail inmates beingsupplied impure water: HCBA

Association had received a let-ter from inmates of the jail thatthey were forced to take im-pure water, which was lifteddirectly from JhelumRiver.“Due to this, the inmatesinformed that most of them aresuffering from serious kind ofacute infections. —KMS

S Korea Novstore sales fall

SEOUL—Sales at SouthKorea’s top departmentstores fell in November bythe fastest pace in nearlytwo years on an annual ba-sis, official data showed onSunday, adding to con-cerns that Asia’s fourth-largest economy is losingsteam.

Combined sales lastmonth at department storesrun by the top three chainoperators fell 6.5 percentfrom a year earlier, accord-ing to industry and energyministry data.

That was the biggest de-cline since January 2013.

November was the thirdmonth in a row that salesdropped, and the annual fallwas further than the 5.6 per-cent estimated by the financeministry on Dec. 9. Salesdeclined 2.2 percent in Oc-tober and 6.3 percent in Sep-tember.

South Korea’s top threedepartment-store chain op-erators are Hyundai Depart-ment Store, Lotte Shoppingand Shinsegae Co.

The industry ministryalso said sales at major dis-count-store chains fell acombined 4.7 percent in No-vember from a year before,worse than a 3.9 percent lossestimated by the ministryearly this month and also athird consecutive monthlydecline.

South Korea’s quarterlyeconomic growth quickenedto 0.9 percent in July-Sep-tember from 0.5 percent inthe previous quarter thanks tostimulus measures, butdoubts have been risingabout growth prospects.—Agencies

Gulf stockmarketsshrug off

weaker oilDUBAI—Gulf stock marketsrose in early trade on Sun-day, shrugging off a freshdecline in the price of oil af-ter Saudi Arabia’s govern-ment said at the end of lastweek that it would maintainspending at high levels in2015.

Brent crude fell backbelow $60 per barrel onFriday as the dollarstrengthened and as a sup-ply glut in top consumerUnited States trumpedworries about falling ex-ports from Libya.

But in the wake of theSaudi state budget, inves-tors in Gulf appear to beless worried about oil pricemoves. Dubai’s index rose1.6 percent as most stocksgained.

Shares in retail start-upMarka jumped 4.0 percentafter it said it had agreedto buy sporting goods re-tail firm Retailcorp fromDubai World for 220 mil-lion dirhams ($60 mill-ion).

The move will makeMarka, which listed this year,operationally profitable in2015, it said.

Abu Dhabi’s indexedged up 0.7 percent on theback of blue chips such asFirst Gulf Bank and Etisalat, up 1.2 and 0.5 percent re-spectively.

Qatar’s bourse rose 1.6percent. Property firmsEzdan Holding and BarwaReal Esatate were the mainsupport, surging 5.3 and 4.2percent respectively.—Agencies

Currency Selling Buying

USA 100.40 100.20

UK 156.20 155.89

Euro 122.67 122.42

Canada 86.42 86.25

Switzerland 102.03 101.82

Australia 81.53 81.37

Sweden 12.88 12.85

Japan 0.8349 0.8333

Norway 13.50 13.47

Singapore 75.97 75.82

Denmark 16.49 16.46

Saudi Arabia 26.75 26.70

Hong Kong 12.94 12.91

Kuwait 342.97 342.28

Malaysia 28.79 28.74

Newzealand 77.71 77.55

Qatar 27.57 27.52

UAE 27.33 27.28

Kr Won 0.0914 0.0912

Thailand 3.054 3.048

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Chairman of the United BusinessGroup Iftikhar Ali Malik and Patron SM Muneeron Sunday said that a new era ofdemocracy will begin in theFPCCI tomorrow after the elec-tions.

From tomorrow, the FPCCIwould not be a tool in the handsof few but would serve the busi-ness community of Pakistanwithout any distinction, theysaid.

They said this while speak-ing to the business community.Presidential candidate for FPCCIMian Idrees, candidate for SVP AstorybdulRahim Janoo and others were also present onthe occasion.

Iftikhar Malik and SM Muneer said that theperformance of FPCCI has deteriorated and its

Days of dictatorship inFPCCI over: Iftikhar Malik

role in enhancing exports has remained zero inthe last eight years.

“We would send genuine businessmen indelegations and discourage those who want to

visit foreign countries withoutany purpose but vacation,” theysaid.

They lauded the role ofbusiness community of Karachiand said that they are proud ofservices of Memon community.

Government must launch awar on corruption in public andprivate institutions after winningthe ongoing war against terror-ists, they demanded.

Lashing out at EU and UNover their opposition to capital

punishments, the business leaders said thatcriminals deserve punishments not medals. EUcan take all the criminals to their soil if they areso concerned about their welfare, they said.

DesertConservationmoot in FebSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—First PakistanMoot on Desert Conservationto engage youth in social andscientific research Cholistandesert will be held in the midof February next, said MunirAhmed, Director DevelopmentCommunications Network hereSunday.

Munir Ahmed said with theincreasing impact of the cli-mate change the poor commu-nities such as of the desert arebecoming more vulnerable. So,there is need to focus on vul-nerable communities with so-lutions support by the civil so-ciety and the academia.

KARACHI: The Pineapple brand launched its outlet at Emerald Tower the other day. Photoshows chief guest Prof Dr Mehboob Ali Shaikh with organizer Shahnawaz Shaikh, models,designer, and beautician.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan and China havesigned 25 commercial MoUs to promotebilateral cooperation in the IT sector, fol-lowing IT Forum held in Chinese city ofShenzhen, says a press release receivedhere on Sunday.

Out of 25 MoUs, 15 were by the Pa-kistani private enterprises and 10 by theCOMSATS IT delegation. This was thefirst-ever Forum of its kind held betweenthe two countries, which was attended by63 participants from Pakistan and about200 from the Chinese side.

The Forum was organized by the Con-sulate General of Pakistan, Guangzhou,China, in collaboration with ShenzhenScience, Technology and Innovation Com-mission, Shenzhen Software Park,Shenzhen Hi-Tech Park, Shenzhen Scienceand Technology Business Platform andShenzhen Software Industry Association.

Participants from Pakistan includedPakistan Software Export Board (PSEB)represented by its Managing Director, Mr.Asim Shahryar Husain, whereas theCOMSATS Institute of Information Tech-nology (CIIT) was led by its Pro-RectorDr. Haroon Rashid. Enterprises from Pri-vate Sector Software Industry and mem-bers of CIIT’s various Software Houses,Telecommunication Study Center, Infor-mation Technology Services also attendedthe Forum.

In his welcoming remarks, the ConsulGeneral Babar Amin thanked all the Chi-nese Government organizations and pri-vate sector Associations which rendered

their indispensable support to host the Fo-rum. The purpose of the Forum was tobring Pakistan and Chinese counterpartsin Software and IT industry together tocreate a synergy between them. He em-phasized that Software and IT industry inboth the countries can benefit from eachother’s complementary strength in thisfield, to achieve a win-win outcome.

Director General of Shenzhen Science,Technology and Innovation Commission,Mr. Lu Jian in his opening remarks in-formed that Shenzhen’s IT products out-put in 2013 was worth RMB 1.2 trillion(US$ 200 billion) and its Software prod-ucts valued RMB 600 billion (US$ 1 bil-lion). Shenzhen’s Software revenue ac-counted for 1/10th of the total nationaloutput.

Welcoming the Consulate General ofPakistan’s initiative to host the Pakistan-China Software and IT Forum, Mr. LiuJian expressed confidence that it would laysolid foundation for future cooperation. Hesaid that not only was Pakistan a strategicpartner, it also offered cost effective ad-vantage and favourable policy environ-ment.

A key note address was delivered byChinese Software Industry Veteran leader,former President of China Software As-sociation and its current Advisor, Mr. ChenChong. He said that Pakistan’s potentialin Software field is not very well knownin China and this Forum was the first ma-jor breakthrough in bringing Software en-terprises of the two countries together. Mr.

Chen assured full support of Chinese Soft-ware Industry, to enhancement businessties with Pakistan in the Software and ITfields.

Managing Director PSEB, Mr.Hussain presented salient features ofPakistan’s IT Industry and areas of its Soft-ware expertise. He briefed the participantsas to why Pakistan should be a preferreddestination for Chinese Softwareoutsourcing and joint collaboration. Pro-Rector CIIT Dr. Rashid highlighted the In-stitutes Software capabilities and how co-operation can be done with the Chineseenterprises on ‘Academia- Industry Col-laboration’ model. Representatives of Pa-kistan Software Houses Associations(P@SHA), Sultan Hamdani presented thestate of Pakistan’s Software Industry andthe opportune business advantages offeredby it.

The Pakistani participants also visitedShenzhen based major Software and ITcompanies such as E-Soft, Kingdom Tech-nology Company, ZTE, Huawei, Tencentand Kingdee, on 15-16 December, 2014.

China being the second biggest globalSoftware and IT market, offers huge po-tential for Pakistan. Simultaneously Chinacan enormously benefit from Pakistan’sSoftware expertise, especially for EnglishLanguage interfacing and cost effectivesolutions. It is expected that enhanced in-teraction between the relevant enterprisesfrom the two sides will generate signifi-cant business in this non-traditional areaof the two countries’ trade.—INP

Pakistan-China sign 25 MoUs topromote cooperation in IT sector

TEHRAN—Pakistan Petroleum MinisterShahid Khaqan Abbasi has said thatIslamabad and Tehran have reached someagreements on the gas pipeline project.

Talking to Iranian official IRNA newsagency, Abbasi said that some officialsfrom Iran’s NIOC (National Iranian OilCompany) would visit Islamabad in fewdays to meet ISGS people to discuss theway to implement the project and talkabout the remaining issues.

He further added that the exact date forNIOC-ISGS meeting to be announced soon.

Regarding a recent interview with theFinancial Times, he totally rejected someremarks attributed to him that he “Paki-stan has convinced Iran to step back fromdemanding $200m a month from January01 to compensate for Islamabad’s failureto begin receiving gas from Iran”.

Abbassi reiterated that he had neversaid such a statement in his recent inter-view with the Financial Times.

The UK-based newspaper had re-ported the energy-starved Pakistan hasconvinced Iran to step back from demand-

ing $200m a month from January 1 to com-pensate for Islamabad’s failure to beginreceiving gas from Iran’s South Parsgasfield, according to the country’s min-ister for petroleum.

Pakistan has in the past said the Ira-nian gas is the cheapest option availableas its own reserves in the country’s southand southwest dry up. However, officialshave complained of continuing US pres-sure on Islamabad to keep the arrangementwith Iran on hold until US-led internationalsanctions on Tehran are lifted.

The FT had earlier quoted Abbasi assaying, “We have a new understandingwith Iran. There will be no penalty appli-cable from January 1.”

The “new understanding” between thecountries revealed by Abbassi removes fornow a “take or pay” obligation on Paki-stan to compensate Iran whether or not itreceives anything under a contract linkedto the pipeline, FT reported.

Pakistan produces about 4bn cubic feetof gas per day but officials say the coun-try needs at least 8bn cu ft. The country’s

worsening energy supply shortfall has beenhighlighted in recent days with anxiousconsumers complaining of gas shortageswhile the winter chill sets in. The prob-lem has forced Pakistan to halt the sale ofcompressed natural gas at petrol stationsso the gas can instead be diverted forhousehold use.

A Pakistan foreign ministry officialspeaking on condition of anonymity saidthe agreement revealed by Abbassi wasimportant to keep relations intact betweenIslamabad and Tehran.

Energy experts said gas from Iranwould form a substantial part Pakistan’senergy mix.

Sakib Sherani, a former adviser to thefinance ministry in Islamabad, said gasfrom Iran was “a very significant sourceof future gas supplies to Pakistan. We can’tgive up this project.”

Mr. Abbassi said a planned terminalfor converting imported liquefied naturalgas to gas near the southern port city ofKarachi would be “up and running” byMarch 2015.—NNI

Pakistan, Iran reach agreements ongas pipeline: Khaqan

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry has slammed the govern-ment decision to impose 60 paisa/unit additionalsurcharge in monthly power tariffs from Janu-ary 2015 and called for urgent withdrawal ofthis increase as it would prove detrimental tothe growth of business activities and make thelives of common man miserable.

Muzammil Hussain Sabri, President,Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industrysaid that in the wake of hefty decline in interna-tional oil prices, business community was de-manding for proportional cut in power tariffs,but instead of accepting our demand, govern-ment has opted to increase the price of electric-ity in order to appease the IMF, but ignored thefact that this move would further enhance thecost of doing business and bring more problems,especially to the poor people.

He said the NEPRA had slashed power tar-iffs by Rs.2.97/unit for November 2014 undermonthly fuel price adjustment, but the govern-ment has deprived the consumers of sufficientrelief by passing on to them only Rs.2.37/unit,which was unjustified.

He said the power consumers were alreadypaying huge surcharge in the range of 50 paisato Rs.1.50/unit along with experiencing longhours of load shedding and with the imposition

of 60 paisa/unit additional surcharge, they willnow have to pay more than Rs.2/unit surcharge.Thus they would have to bear the additionalburden of Rs.4-billion to Rs.6 billion everymonth which would greatly squeeze their pur-chasing power in addition to badly affecting thetrade and industrial activities in the country.

Muzammil Sabri said our country was indire need of reviving the economy and the bestway to achieve this goal was to facilitate thegrowth of business activities by making maxi-mum possible reduction in the cost of doingbusiness. However, the existing average powertariff in Pakistan including GST and CED wasaround Rs16.95/unit, which was highest in theregion while the average power tariff in Indiaand Bangladesh for the same unit was report-edly Rs7.36 and Rs5.47 respectively putting ourexporters at a great disadvantage to regionalcompetitors.

He said country’s dependence on furnace oilfor power generation has greatly enhanced thecost of doing business apart from crushing thepoor people. He urged the government to re-view the pro-furnace oil policy and make allpossible efforts to exploit the cheaper alterna-tives for electricity production in order to de-crease production cost, facilitate growth of busi-ness activities, attract more investment, promoteexports and reduce inflation bringing more re-lief to the general public.

ICCI slams additional surchargein power tariffs

SHANGHAI—China’s trade will grow 3.5 percent in 2014, implying the country will fall shortof a current 7.5 per cent official growth target,according to a report on the Ministry ofCommerce’s website that was subsequently re-vised to remove the numbers.

The initial version of the report publishedon the website on Saturday, which quoted Min-ister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, was replacedwith a new version that had identical wordingbut with all the numbers and percentages re-moved.

The Commerce Ministry did not answercalls requesting comment on the reason for thechange.

China’s trade figures have repeatedly fallenshort of expectations in the second half of thisyear, providing more evidence that China’seconomy may be facing a sharper slowdown.

Foreign direct investment will amount to$120 billion for the year, the earlier version ofMinistry of Commerce report said, in line with

official forecasts. The earlier version of the re-port also said outward non-financial investmentfrom China could also come in around the samelevel.

That would mark the first time outwardflows have pulled even with inward investmentflows in China, and would imply a major surgein outward investment in December given thatthe current accumulated level stands slightlybelow $90 billion.

The earlier version of the report also pre-dicted that retail sales growth would come in at12 per cent for 2014, in line with the currentaverage growth rate.

In a separate report, the Chinese Academyof Social Sciences predicted that real estateprices in Chinese cities would continue to slidein 2015, with third- and fourth-tier cities hithardest. But it said the market would have asoft landing as local governments take actionto provide further policy support to the mar-ket.—Agencies

China total trade togrow 3.5pc in 2015

OBSERVER REPORT

WASHINGTON—OPEN (Organization for Pa-kistani Entrepreneurs of North America) hasawarded “Entrepreneur of The Year Award” toMuhammad Azfar Ahsan, founding CEO ofPakistan’s leading conference management or-ganization NUTSHELL FORUM in recognitionof his contribution academics the Event Man-agement sector.

OPEN also awarded 8 individuals in 8 cat-egories. The awardees are Ishrat Hussain, Di-rector, Institute of Business Administration andFormer Governor, State Bank of Pakistan aca-demics, Women Entrepreneurship SultanaSiddiqui, President, HUM TV, Advertising S.Masood Hashmi, Managing Director, Orientm

McCann Erickson & President, Marketing As-sociation of Pakistan), Information TechnologyJehan Ara, President, Pakistan SoftwareHouses Association for IT & ITES), Food &Beverages Sikandar Sultan, Chairman, ShanFoods Limited, Innovation Farhan Masood,Director, SoloInsight, Healthcare Dr FarhanEssa, CEO, Dr. Essa’s Laboratories and So-cial Entrepreneurship Air Commodore ShabbirAhmed Khan, Founder, Rashid Memorial Wel-fare Organization.

OPEN is a not-for-profit organizationpromoting Entrepreneurship and BusinessLeadership. OPEN a non-political organiza-tion was formed in 1998 by a group of Paki-stani American entrepreneurs and corporateexecutives.

OPEN award for Azfar

FAISALABAD: Textiles industry is again in problem due to indefinite gas loadshedding.Thousands of labourers are facing unemployment due to gas issue.

KABUL—Deputy of Afghanistan Chamber ofCommerce and Industries Khanjan Alokozai saysimport of merchandized from Pakistan to thecountry have decreased. In an interview, Alokozaiconsidered the reason of the reduction as furtherwithdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan,increase of unemployment, stopping of construc-tion projects and lack of money in market, say-ing that importing merchandized of Pakistan hasreduced by $ 2.8 billion comparing to first sixmonths of 2013. Nevertheless, Alokozai said ex-ports of Afghanistan to Pakistan have increased5% comparing to last year.

He added that reduction of import of mer-chandized of Pakistan to Afghanistan has notput impacts on economic and social conditionin the country, but necessary commodities wereimported from all other foreign countries.

“$ 6 billion had been assisted annually toAfghanistan through Provincial ReconstructionTeams of a number of foreign countries and cur-rently the assistance has ended and the country’seconomy has been deteriorating,” Alokozai as-serted. He said if current condition continued,import from Pakistan to Afghanistan would de-crease by 50% by end of the year.—INP

Pakistan exports toAfghanistan decrease

NE W YO R K—Falling commodityprices, particularly oil prices have ad-versely impacted leading oil exportersto varying degrees. While some coun-tries such as oil-dependent Venezuelahas been dragged down the path of re-cession and potential debt default, Rus-sia is facing a currency crisis as a directfallout of oil price decline and Westernsanctions.

A monthly survey by Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch earlier this month showedfund managers increasingly favour the

dollar and cash over risky assets and com-modities. Money is flooding back into theUS as the dollar gains in anticipation ofhigher interest rates. The greenback hasjumped nearly 10 per cent on a trade-weighted basis this year.

Analysts say a stronger dollar, weakeroil and capital-flight pose the biggest threatto Russia. Hard hit by lower oil prices, therouble lost almost a fifth of its valueagainst the dollar.

On the one hand, leading oil import-ing emerging markets are seen to gain on

their balance of payment and currency ac-count positions from the decline in oilprices but many are facing the prospect ofcapital flight in the context of a rising dol-lar and fund managers moving assets toless risky options such as the US treasur-ies.

But some analysts say resilience isrelative even among exporters some ofwhich have accumulated surpluses andstrong external balances, while some ofthem are already facing fiscal defi-cits.—Agencies

Oil, dollar offer a mixed bag for emerging markets

Sharjah IslamicBank upgradesphone banking

SHARJAH—The move comesin line with the UAEgovernment’s strategy to shiftinto smart government applica-tions and to keep up with tech-nological advancement and therevolution in communicationtechnology experienced by theUAE.

Sharjah Islamic Bank(SIB) has launched a packageof phone banking services inthree languages — Arabic, En-glish and Urdu — through its24/7 call centre, as part of itsstrategy to ensure its custom-ers are receiving high qualityservice.—Agencies

CHRISTCHURCH: Trent Boult of New Zealand celebrates with team-mates after dismissing Kumar Sangakkara fora second time in the 1st Test on Sunday.

LAHORE: Bodybuilders with trophies on the occasion of body building event held at Al-Hamra under the aegis ofPakistan Body Building Association.

ISLAMABAD: Madrassa students playing football in sector E-7, on Sunday.

PESHAWA R—Secretary KhyberPakhtunkhwa Tennis Association and vet-eran Tennis player Umar Ayaz Sunday saidthat the first Begum Kalsoom Saif UllahNational Ranking Tennis Tournament willbe commencing from January 2, 2015 un-der the aegis of Pakistan Tennis Federa-tion.

He said after the successful holding ofthe Senior Ranking Tournament, the PTFdecided to hold another National rankingevent in which all top ranking players inthe individual as well as Team Champion-ship would take part. He said teams fromall four provinces and departments wouldvie for the top honour.

The Championship, he said, wouldcarry seven different events like Under-12, Under-14, Under-18 Boys, Men Singlesand Doubles and veterans doubles with45-years and above. He said PTF has taken

Begum Kalsoom Saif Ullah NationalRanking Tennis from Jan 2: Umar

a right step in the right direction for pro-viding competitive exposures to the play-ers associated with the game all across thecountry.

He also lauded the efforts of the Presi-dent PTF Salim Saif Ullah Khan and Secre-tary General Khalid Rehmani for removingthe entry fee besides increasing TD, DAfor the players to Rs. 600 per day from 300per day.

He said removing of entry fee and in-creasing in the daily allowance of the play-ers would certainly encourage more andmore players toward Tennis.

He said there will be no registrationfee for the new players. He also advised tothe players to bring form-B with two pass-port size photograph and those above 18-year-old should bring original CNIC cardand its with two passport size photographsfor registration.—APP

Eleven Stars moveinto quarters inShahjee Cricket

Gold CupP E S H A W A R — O p e n e rKaleem Ullah steeredEleven Stars to move intothe quarter-finals after hit-ting a cracking knock of 95runs laced with 11 bound-aries in the ongoing 5thShahjee Cricket Gold Cupbeing played here at Uni-versity Campus ground onSunday.

Kaleem Ullah was thekey in guiding the team toreach a good target of 204runs for the loss of ninewickets after playing 30overs. Kaleem struck 11boundaries and two sixes inhis elegant knock of 95runs, just five runs shortfrom his very deservingcentury.

Jehangir made 22 runsand Munsif scored 20 runsfor Eleven Stars after win-ning the toss and electedto bat first. Thus setup 204runs target for the loss ofnine wickets. For STC clubNouman, Ahmad Shah,Muhammad Naeem claimedtwo wickets each whileYasir got one wicket.

In reply, STC clubbundled out for 166 runs af-ter playing 27.3 overs.Naeem made 38 runs andwas the only top runs con-tributor. Ahmad Shahscored 29 runs, Ihsan Ullahscored 19 runs. For ElevenStars Waheed Ullah claimedthree wickets, Waseem,Shah Fahad, Khalid andKaleem Ullah got onewicket each. Nadir Khanand Jaffar supervised thematch while Sher Jamalacted as scorer.—APP

PESHAWAR—Shama club took berthinto quarter-finals after defeatingMalik Club by 127 runs in the pre-quarter-final match of the PeshawarDistrict Cricket Association Inter-Club Championship being playedhere at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadiumon Sunday.

Shama club skipper Hammad-ul-Hasan won the toss and elected tobat first by setting up 257 runs forthe loss of five wickets in the allot-ted 30 overs.

Opener Shoaib Khan hammereda cracking 68 runs including fiveboundaries and two sixes, ZohaibKhan made another vital 56 runswith five boundaries and one six,Adil Amin made a superb knock of53 runs including seven boundariesand Kashif Hayat made 30 runs withthree boundaries.

For Malik Sports MuhammadJali l , Muhammad Ibrahim and

Shama Club, ICMS reach Q-finalin PDCA Inter-Club Cricket

Muhammad Faizan got one wicketeach.

In reply, Malik Club bundled outfor 130 runs after playing 27.3 overswith Muhammad Ibrahim made 51runs including six boundaries andone six, Muhammad Jalil made 46runs, none of the other batsmencould add any worthwhile score tothe team total.

For Shama club Aslam Qurashiclaimed three wickets, Shahid Khangrabbed two wickets, Adil Amin,Muhammad Ayaz, Ahmad Nadeemand Arsalan Khan took one wicketeach. Sajjad Akhtar and ArshadIqbal supervised the match whileAamir Khan acted as scorer.

Meanwhile, ICMS entered intothe quarter-f inals after defeatingFrontier Foundation in the pre-quar-ter-finals of the Peshawar DistrictCricket Associat ion Inter-ClubCricket Championship being played

here at Gymkhana ground on Sun-day.

ICMS won the toss and electedto bat first by setting up 201 runsfor the loss of eight wickets withShiraz Safi hammered a cracking 50runs including six boundaries andone six, Irfan Sarfaraz made 45 runswith three boundaried and one sixand Ubaid Ullah scored 22 runs.

For Frontier Foundation clubFarid Ullah, Aftab Hussain, AbidRaza and Awais took two wicketseach.

In reply, Frontier Foundati8onbowled out for 133 runs withMuntazir Shah hit a superb 50 runsoff 24 balls including nine bound-aries, Mudassir scored 25 runs.

For ICMS Aziz Ullah, Fayyaz,Muhammad Zubair and Shirazclaimed two wickets each and UbaidUllah and Mehfooz Sabri got onewicket each.—APP

Yachting: WildOats XI winrecord eighth

Sydney to Hobarthonours

SYDNEY—Supermaxi WildOats XI won its eighth linehonours in the Sydney toHobart race Sunday, offi-cials said, to become themost successful yacht inthe history of the compe-tition.

The Mark Richards-skippered 100-footercrossed the f inish l ineahead of American new-comer Comanche in thegruelling 628 nautical mile(1,163 kilometre) racedown the east coast ofsouthern Austral ia ,organisers said.

“An historic 8#RSHYR line honours -Thank you for al l yoursupport ,” the crewtweeted, after crossingthe line at Battery Point inan unofficial time of twodays, two hours and twominutes.

Wild Oats XI, one offive supermaxis—the big-gest and fastest yachts—in this year’s race, was alsofirst across the line everyyear from 2005 to 2008 andin 2010, 2012 and 2013.

But choppy seas dur-ing the race meant theleaders were unable tobreak the record set byWild Oats XI in 2012 ofone day, 18 hours, 23 min-utes and 12 seconds.

The 70th Sydney toHobart bluewater classicdrew i ts biggest f leetsince 1994 with 117yachts .—AFP

CHRISTCHURCH—A duck in the firstinnings. His team following on amidconsistent movement for the seamers.The deficit humongous and the pres-sure applied made it seem larger. Thesewere the conditions DimuthKarunaratne beat to register hismaiden Test ton.

The dream would have been to batout the day, but Trent Boult matchedKarunaratne’s fitness and concentra-tion to deliver the strike New Zealanddesperately needed in his 26th overof the innings. The pace was up at 140kph and the delivery would have leftmost swing bowlers envious - anglingto leg, curling through the air to pitchmiddle and seaming further away totopple off stump. A fitting delivery toend the highest score by a Sri Lankanwhile following-on; the deficit wasonly 10 but the visitors had only fivewickets remaining.

There are only two recognisedbatsmen left for Sri Lanka - AngeloMathews batting on 53, and PrasannaJayawardene - to push for a meaning-ful lead.

Karunaratne’s patience and asteadfast knowledge of his off stumpfrustrated New Zealand’s seamers andtheir slip cordon through the day. Theodd ball fizzed past his outside edge,as was bound to happen consideringthe quality of bowling he was facing,but his ability to shrug that off andget back into his bubble was striking.He made 28 off 88 deliveries in themorning, 39 off 102 in the afternoon,and 36 off 64 in the evening to finish152 off 363 and ensure Sri Lanka re-covered from a poor start.

The ball was 35 overs old at thestart of the third day. It wouldn’t swingas readily anymore. Sri Lanka’s open-ing partnership was nearing their Test

South Africa 1st innings ................New Zealand 1st innings: .......... 441Sri Lanka 1st innings: ................. 138Sri Lanka 2nd innings (following on)Karunaratne b Boult ................... 152Silva c Watling b Southee ........... 33Sangakkara c Watling b Boult ....... 1Thirimanne c Watling b Neesham25Mathews not out .......................... 53Dickwella c Neesham b Boult ........ 4Kaushal not out .............................. 5Extras: (lb 19, nb 1) ........................ 20Total: (5 wickets) ......................... 293Fall of wickets: 1-85, 2-94, 3-181, 4-277,5-287Bowling: ........................... O-M-R-WBoult ................................... 30-8-62-3Southee .............................. 25-5-54-1Wagner ............................... 27-6-67-0Craig .................................. 34-10-67-0Neesham ............................... 7-2-20-1McCullum ............................... 1-0-3-0Williamson ............................. 1-0-1-0

SCOREBOARD

1st Test: New Zealand on topdespite Karunaratne 152

record when following-on. You couldalmost imagine Southee and Boulthaving a smirk at each other and say-ing, “challenge accepted”.

Kaushal Silva was nipped out withthe sixth ball of the day - a scrambled-seam delivery from Southee finding theoutside edge - and KumarSangakkara’s contribution in thematch was limited to 7, Boult showinghis ability to work a batsman out.Sangakkara’s previous single-figureaggregate in a Test was in December2011.

Sangakkara did not want to repeathis first-innings dismissal, when he hadnicked to slip. He waited for thestraighter ball to get off the mark, butwas beaten by two terrific deliveries inbetween. Boult realised the length hadto be even fuller and closer to off stump.The drive came again, the edge wastaken again, and Boult claimed braggingrights over a batsman who had made atleast fifty in each of his last nine Tests.

Run-scoring became secondary -Sri Lanka made 47 in 30 overs in thefirst session - and the only thing thatmattered for Karunaratne and LahiruThirimanne was reaching lunch withtheir wickets intact.

Having reached his fifty,Karunaratne knew it was his respon-sibility to mitigate the early damage.He was happiest on the back foot, butwith time at the crease he began lean-ing forward. He did not, however, letthe bat stray too far from his body.Out came punches down the groundand flicks through square leg asKarunaratne performed the job of tir-ing the bowlers and giving Sri Lanka’sbatting some structure.

He added 87 runs for the thirdwicket in 45.3 overs with a determinedThirimanne, who was coming off a

poor stretch of form and batting inMahela Jayawardene’s position. Thesecond new ball broke their union, butKarunaratne remained solid and thecaptain Mathews made a counterat-tacking half-century to lead his teaminto another day.

“We had a bad session. But welearn a lot from that innings, now it’stime to show what you learn. Nevergive up guys. Fight hard” Karunaratnehad tweeted yesterday. Today hecame out and played a knock thatspanned over eight hours to ensureSri Lanka would not go down withouta fight. His dismissal and that ofNiroshan Dickwella late in the day toBoult, however, left the game in NewZealand’s control.—AFP

GUANGZHOU—China on Saturday said itdoes not have the “best chance” to winthe 2015 Asian Cup, held in Australia inJanuary, after its 23-man squad was un-veiled.

“We are not the favourite, we do nothave the best chance,” China’s head coachAlain Perrin said in response to a ques-tion from AFP. “What I know is that theplayers are ready to give the best theycan,” Perrin said, adding that “anythingwas possible”.

China survived a scare before scrap-ing into the Asian Cup on goal differencethanks to a late penalty in their 3-1 defeatto Iraq in March.

That defeat made for a shaky start forthe newly hired former Lyon boss, after hewas selected following a lengthy searchto replace Spaniard Jose Antonio Camacho.

“I hope that the efforts the playersmade during these few months of prepara-

China has a slim chance ofwinning Asian Cup: Perrin

tion, and the team spirit of that group, willallow us to get past the first round,” Perrinsaid.

The Frenchman was speaking to re-porters after the players, all wearing suitsand in high spirits, were introduced on atelevision programme from a studio in thesouthern Chinese city of Guangzhou. The2013 Asian player of the year Zheng Zhi,who plays for club giants GuangzhouEvergrande, will bolster the midfield.

Zheng, the team’s captain, was a hitwith fans during nearly three seasons atCharlton Athletic and a year with Scottishgiants Celtic before returning to China tojoin Evergrande.

China has a woeful record at a nationallevel. The team won only two of their sixqualifiers and has their work cut out at nextyear’s tournament with tough competitionin the form of South Korea and defendingchampions Japan.—AFP

SYDNEY: Wild Oats XI won its eighth line honours in the Sydney to Hobart race tobecome the most successful yacht in the history of the competition.

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Former left-arm pace bowlerWasim Akram, 49, became a father for a

third time on Saturday as his Australianwife Shaniera Akram delivered a baby-girlin Melbourne yesterday. This was re-vealed by his manager Arsalan Shah.

Speaking exclusively over his mobilefrom Dubai, the manager said, “The healthof newly-born baby and her mother are

Wasim’s Australian wifegives birth to a baby girl

very good. Mrs. Akram will be dischargedfrom a private hospital on Sundayevening”.

“The exact weight of the baby girl isnot known but from the photograph ofher shows she is likely to be of 7-8 lbsweight. The family has kept her name asAilya”.

Wasim, myself and our boys wouldlike to thank everyone for welcoming ourlittle princess Aiyla into the world. Wecouldn’t be happier”,Akram’s wifetweeted from the hospital.

Wasim Akram has been in Australiawith his two sons born from his first wife(Huma), who died some five years ago.

“Taimur and Akbar have Christmasvacation and therefore Akram took themwith him to Australia. The elder sonTaimur plays guitar well and Akbar likesto play Table tennis”, the manager in-forms.

“Akram will enjoy fatherhood morethis time because when his two sons wereborn, he was travelling a lot for cricket”,the manager added.

“In fact, Akram was to do commen-tary (from studio in India) for the ongo-ing Test between India and Australia buttook off (from Star Sports) for the familycommitments. He obliged his earlier com-mitments”, the manager further added.Sadly, Akram’s father is no more to see thenew arrival in the family. Akram’s dad(Chaudhry Mohammad Akram) had passedaway in Lahore in May earlier this year.

MELBOURNE—India counter-punched their way back into the thirdTest reckoning on the back of centu-ries by Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahanein a record stand at the MelbourneCricket Ground on Sunday.

A hot and occasionally hot-tem-pered third day at the MCG had numer-ous fluctuations. First Australia pros-pered with a pair of early wickets tohasty strokes from Cheteshwar Pujaraand M Vijay, and later they did so againthrough Nathan Lyon’s perseveringspin and a sharp spell of reverse swingfrom the admirable Ryan Harris.

But its centrepiece was a stand of262 between Rahane and Kohli, a unionthat was both substantial enough toleave Steven Smith wondering wherehis next wicket was coming from butalso swift enough to keep open the pros-pect of an outright result in this match,which India must win to stay in con-tention for the Border-Gavaskar Tro-phy.

Rahane set the tone of the partner-ship, skating past 30 at better than arun a ball to shift momentum away fromAustralia. Kohli was a little more col-lected, but carried on beyond the lossof his partner and other members ofIndia’s exceedingly collapsible tail to169, his highest Test score. It was notuntil the last over of the day that Kohlifell, his edge clasped by a diving BradHaddin.

The second exceptional Haddincatch of the day contrasted with somerather indifferent fielding by Australiathrough mid-afternoon, when at leastthree chances went down. Nathan Lyonmissed the gentlest of return catchesfrom Rahane in the final over beforethe second new ball became due, andafter Mitchell Johnson took it an edgefrom Kohli’s bat was grassed by ShaneWatson, diving to his left and into ter-ritory commonly reserved for Haddin.

Rahane, Kohli tons asIndia close on Australia

Australia 1st innings: ........... 530India 1st innings (overnight108 for 1)Vijay c Marsh b Watson ........... 68Dhawan c Smith b Harris .......... 28Pujara c Haddin b Harris ........... 25Kohli c Haddin b Johnson ...... 169Rahane lbw b Lyon .................. 147Rahul c Hazlewood b Lyon ......... 3Dhoni c Haddin b Harris ........... 11Ashwin c and b Harris ................ 0Shami not out ............................... 9Extras: (lb1, w1) ............................ 2Total: (8 wickets) ...................... 462Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-108, 3-147,4-409, 5-415, 6-430, 7-434, 8-462Bowling: ........................ O-M-R-WJohnson ...................... 29.2-5-133-1Harris ............................... 25-7-69-4Hazlewood ...................... 25-6-75-0Watson ............................ 16-3-65-1Lyon ............................... 29-3-108-2Smith .................................. 2-0-11-0

Australian frustration with theRahane-Kohli partnership was illus-trated when Johnson fired a return atthe stumps and caught Kohli in thelower back - words were exchanged atother times, and any visibleacknowledgement of the Indian pair’shundreds could best be described aslow key. They were more generous toRahane upon his departure, and Kohliwas applauded by all sections of theground as he led the players off atstumps.

Pujara had seemed unusually ea-ger to see bat on ball, and from Harris’second ball of the morning he aimed anuncharacteristic cut/glide to a ball hewould have often left. The edge wasthick and Haddin flew through the air,the milestone dismissal among hismore spectacular, atoning for droppingthe same batsman the previousevening.

Kohli was greeted by some faststuff from Harris and Mitchell Johnson,but it was Vijay who was struck by thelatter on the helmet with a short ballthat reared up in defiance of an easy-paced pitch. Vijay shrugged off theblow, though its proximity to the rearof his head and neck made for a queasyreplay viewing.

He had played and missed at morethan his share of deliveries during an-other innings of otherwise calm tem-per, but he became impatient whenteased by Watson’s line and mediumpace. Aiming a cut shot similar toPujara’s, he too offered a thick outsideedge that this time sailed as far asShaun Marsh at first slip.

This wicket seemed to tilt the morn-ing towards Australia, but Kohli andRahane responded with a counterat-tack of considerable verve. Rahanewasted very little time, and after a for-tunate first boundary which bisectedHaddin and Watson from a Lyon away-

drifter, he struck a quartet far more con-vincing to help raise a 50-stand in asmany minutes.

They went on with it in the after-noon, mixing some handsome and in-ventive strokes with eager running be-tween the wickets and manipulationof Smith’s fields. The certainty withwhich Rahane and Kohli playedseemed to work against Australianconcentration, so when chances ar-rived they were not quite sharpenough to take them.

Lyon in particular will wonder for along time how he managed to hashRahane’s bunted return catch: in the80th over of the innings it would havebeen a pivotal blow. But the miss al-lowed the stand to go on past tea, andto a point where India began to pondera first-innings lead.—AFP

MELBOURNE: Ajinkya Rahane played a series of upper cuts during Australia vs India 3rd Test’s 3rd day on Sunday.

PORT ELIZABETH: AB de Villiers’ off stump goes flying during South Af-rica vs West Indies 2nd Test’s 3rd day on Sunday.

Oman namesquad for

Asian CupOMAN—Goalkeeper Ali AlHabsi will lead Oman’s 23-man squad at next month’sAsian Cup as they bid to ad-vance to the knockout stageof the tournament for the firsttime.

Coach Paul Le Guen andthe squad will reach theirCanberra base on Sunday andplay warm-ups against Qatarand China before starting theircampaign for continental gloryin Group A against South Ko-rea on Jan. 10.

The ‘Red Warriors’, whowere unbeaten through quali-fying, will have a tough taskto make it to the knockoutstage with Australia and Ku-wait the other members of thegroup.

Squad: Goalkeepers: AliAl Habsi, Mazin Al Kasbi,Mohannad Al Zaabi Defend-ers: Abdul Salam Amir,Mohammed Mussallami, SaadSuhail, Jaber Owaisi, AhmedSaleem, Nasr Al Shimli, Ali AlBusaidi Midfielders: AhmedMubarak, Eid Al Farsi, AliSaleem, Raeed Ibrahim, Ali AlJabri, Hassan Mudhafar,Mohsin Johar Forwards: ImadAl Hosni, Abdulaziz Muqbali,Saeed Al Razaiqi, MohammedAl Siyabi, Yakoob Abdulkarim,Qasim Saeed.—APP

PORT ELIZABETH—A blazing half-century from Dale Steyn and twinstrikes from Morne Morkel with min-utes to go for tea put South Africafirmly in control of the second Test,wrenching away whatever initiativeWest Indies had gained on an other-wise promising third day. At tea, WestIndies trailed by 358 runs with eightwickets in hand.

Rain allowed only six overs on daytwo and a wet outfield further delayedthe start of day three, but the Testmatch moved quickly once play re-sumed, with West Indies scythingthrough South Africa’s middle orderbefore Steyn hastened the declarationwith a 28-ball 58. Starting with Faf duPlessis’ dismissal on the second morn-ing, South Africa lost five wickets for74 runs, in rain-freshened conditionsthat the seamers exploited with someprobing bowling. Steyn launched abreathtaking counterattack thereafter,and South Africa declared aftertonking 48 runs in five overs afterlunch.

West Indies began solidly in re-ply, moving past 50 without loss be-

Steyn, Morkel ruin West Indies’ dayfore Morkel arrived to ruin the taste oftheir tea. Coming on as first change,Morkel hit Devon Smith on the side ofthe helmet with a bouncer in his sec-ond over, but otherwise stuck to afullish length, angling the ball into theleft-hander from around the wicketand getting a couple to seam away.Smith, front foot striding hesitantly tothe ball, poked at one of them andedged a catch to first slip. Morkel thensuckered Leon Johnson, another left-hander, into driving away from hisbody at an even fuller ball and duPlessis at third slip took an excellentlow catch.

Those two balls from Morkel mir-rored the impact Steyn had made atthe start of the second session. Clear-ing his front leg against Jerome Tay-lor and stepping confidently down thetrack to Sulieman Benn, he freed hisarms and struck the ball with ferociouspower. He swatted Taylor for two bigsixes either side of a clanging drivedown the ground for four, before tak-ing a painful blow on the left forearmat the non-striker’s end when Vernon

Philander attempted to partake of thefun with a meaty straight hit. Thatdidn’t hamper Steyn in any way,though, as he carved Benn for a fourand two big sixes in the arc betweenextra cover and long-off, before hol-ing out attempting another big hit.Hashim Amla declared as soon as Ja-son Holder wrapped his hands aroundthe ball at long-on.

Till that blitz, it had been WestIndies’ morning. There are few moredaunting sights for a bowling side at289 for 3 than Hashim Amla and AB deVilliers walking out to bat, but theseamers found help from the atmo-sphere and the pitch to dismiss both inthe space of seven balls. Amla strucktwo trademark fours off Taylor in thefirst over of the morning - a forcing shotoff the back foot and a whip off the pads- but Holder brushed away the ominoussigns with a ball that nipped back to gethim lbw. There seemed to be doubts overthe line of impact and the height, butAmla was shown to be right not to re-view, with Hawkeye saying umpire’s callon both counts.—AFP

South Africa first innings (Over-night 289-3)Petersen c Johnson b Gabriel . 17Elgar c Ramdin b Peters ........ 121Plessis c Ramdin b Taylor ..... 103Amla lbw b Holder ................... 33A. de Villiers b Taylor .............. 10Bavuma c Ramdin b Gabriel .... 10S. van Zyl c Ramdin b Peters . 29V. Philander not out ................. 13Steyn c Holder b Benn ............ 58Extras: (b4, lb5, nb8, w6) ......... 23Total: (8 wkts dec, 122 overs) 417Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-226, 3-274,4-300, 5-304, 6-325, 7-348, 8-417Bowling: ...................... O-M-R-WTaylor ........................... 30-7-114-2Peters ............................. 20-7-69-2Holder ............................ 22-7-43-1Gabriel ............................ 21-0-80-2Benn ............................. 28-4-102-1Samuels ............................. 1-1-0-0

EATING a lot of oily fish or consumingomega supplements may not be good fora man’s health. New research reveals that

males with high blood concentrations ofomega-3 fatty acids are at a higher risk of de-veloping prostate cancer. Thefinding comes from a largeprospective study published inthe Journal of the NationalCancer Institute. A 71 percentincreased risk of high-gradeprostate cancer and a 43 per-cent increase for all prostatecancers were associated withhigh concentrations of EPA,DHA, and DPA.

These results are consis-tent with a 2011 study carriedout by the same research teamwhich found that high concen-trations of DHA more thandoubled the risk of high-gradeprostate cancer. The research-ers were shocked to find thathigher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, usually promotedas good for the heart, were associated with ahigher risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Theconsistency of these findings could mean that“these fatty acids are involved in prostate tu-morigenesis and recommendations to increaselong-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake, in par-ticular through supplementation, should con-sider its potential risks.”

For years, omega 3 fish oils have been rec-ommended by health organisations to help re-duce heart disease. The paper’s senior authorand member of the Fred Hutch Public HealthSciences Division, Alan Kristal, Dr P.H said:“we’ve shown once again that use of nutritionalsupplements may be harmful.” Theodore

Omega 3 fish oils linkedto prostate cancer risk

Masjid Kanzul Eman seen decorated with lights ahead of Jashn-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAW).

Brasky, PhD, a research assistant professor atThe Ohio State University ComprehensiveCancer Centre, added, “What’s important isthat we have been able to replicate our find-ings from 2011 and we have confirmed that

marine omega-3 fatty acidsplay a role in prostate canceroccurrence. It’s important tonote, however, that these re-sults do not address the ques-tion of whether omega-3’splay a detrimental role inprostate cancer prognosis.”

Dr. Iain Frame, director ofresearch at Prostate CancerUK, says men reading aboutthe results of this researchshould not panic about theiromega-3 intake. Dr. Framesays: “Omega 3, such as isfound in oily fish, has been thefocus of a large amount of re-search in recent years, themajority of which points to ithaving wide-ranging healthbenefits when eaten as part of

a balanced diet...” “Much larger and more com-plex studies will need to take place before wewill fully understand how the risks of a diethigh in Omega 3 balance against those ben-efits.”

“Therefore, we would not encourage anyman to change their diet as a result of thisstudy, but to speak to their doctor if they haveany concerns about prostate cancer.” Dr.Kristal’s study compared the blood level con-centrations of omega-3 fatty acids in 834 menwho had been diagnosed with prostate can-cer with samples from 1,393 men from theSelenium and Vitamin E Cancer PreventionTrial (SELECT).

People face inconvenience due to sewerage water accumulated on road in Liaquatabad No4 which needs attention of concerned authorities.

People seen perturbed due to blocking of road by residents of old Vegetable Market Nishtar Basti during their protestagainst loadshedding.

MQM, PPP engagedin blame game

Memon vows to compensate victims’ lossAAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) and Muttaheda Qaumi Movement(MQM), the two major shareholders ofSindh, indulged in a blame game afterfire that gutted hundreds of shops anddozens of houses in Karachi’s TimberMarket. MQM has emphasized that thefire in the timber market area near OldHaji Camp proved failure of the pro-vincial government. On the other hand,PPP accused MQM of land grabbing inthe metropolis.

“People kept on pleading whiletheir lifelong savings were burnt. Therole of the provincial government wasregretful and criminal,” said MQMleader Qamar Mansoor during a pressbriefing here on Sunday. The fire kept

on raging while members of the pro-vincial government remained in slum-ber ” he added.

It took ten hours to extinguish thefire at the Timber Market which eruptedlate Saturday night. The fire engulfedseveral timber warehouses and nearbyresidential buildings located in the area.The fire was difficult to extinguish dueto narrow streets, no electricity and wa-ter.

Residents stood by helplessly asthey saw their lifelong savings go up inflames. MQM leader Farooq Sattar saidthe fire had shown that Karachi is a citywhich has been abandoned. “KhawajaIzharul Hasan, Faisal Sabzwari andMQM MPAs tried to contact provincialministers, chief minister, provincial andcity administration the whole night,” he

said, adding that “Last night’s eventshave proven that Karachi is a city oforphans.”

Sattar added that over 100 shops,warehouses and residential buildingshad been completely destroyed in thefire. He estimated that the loss from thefire would be in billions. Reacting tothe press conference of MQM, SindhInformation Minister Sharjeel InamMemon said Dr Farooq Sattar, in whoseconstituency the Timber Market fireerupted, arrived at the site after theflames were doused.

“A number of employees of Baldiadid not reach office, turning a deaf earto the directives of Altaf Hussain,”Sharjeel Memon said while addressinga press conference. He said MQM chiefAltaf Hussain himself went on record,

admitting the members of MQMRabitta Committee were engaged inland grabbing. “Did MQM ministersever tender resignations over happen-ing of big tragedies in the city,” he ques-tioned.

Sharjeel Memon said Sindh govern-ment will compensate the loss of trad-ers and residents caused by the fire thaterupted in Karachi’s Timber Market.

Provincial Minister of InformationSharjeel Memon stated that the Sindhgovernment has formed a committeecomprising of Commissioner KarachiShoaib Ahmad Siddiqui and Adminis-trator Karachi Rauf Akhter to estimatethe loss caused by the fire.

He further vowed to provide reliefto the traders and residents by compen-sating their loss.

KARACHI—Inspector General of Po-lice - Sindh, Ghulam Haider Jamali hasasked district police officials to ensureclose coordination with specialisedunits of the department in order tostreamline special security measuresbeing adopted for “Eid Milad-un-Nabi”.

In his directives issued on Sundayhe said drill must be immediately con-ducted to ascertain fool-proofness and

IG orders coordination betweendistrict police, specialised units

efficacy of the security arrangementsmade for Rabi- ul- Awwal, 12.

“This is crucial for efficient execu-tion of the plan as and when required,”said the Sindh police chief. He said thatseries of processions would be taken outby different organisations while miladsharif and mahafil-e-naat would also bearranged therefore it was extremely cru-cial to see that no lacunae is left in thearrangements made for security of the

masses and the participants of theprogrammes across the province.

IGP - Sindh said as per the reportprepared by the department, with regardto Rabi- ul- Awwal 12 arrangements,property agents alongwith all owners andoccupants of houses and shops locatedon the routes of processions and sites ofmahafil, have been scrutinised and takeninto confidence vis a vis security arrange-ments.—APP

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The MohajirRabita Council (MRC) whilelambasting the Sindh govern-ment over the criminal negli-gence in Timber Market firetragedy said the arson hadcaused the owners of shops andresidential units in the closevicinity of Timber Market to

MRC urges President, PM, COASto take notice of PPP’s conspiracies

lose all they had earned throughdecades-long toiling.

The Sindh government haddeliberately turned a blind eyeand allowed their property toturn into smoke and ashes,which was a horrendous dis-play of criminal negligence.The Sindh government hadtreated the timber merchantsand the residents as foster sons,which was proof that the Sindhirulers did not considerMohajirs as their brethren andPakistani nationals.

The MRC said theMohajirs had been on protestsince decades against the tyr-anny and oppression and hadalso been demanding the fed-eral government and othershaving strength and capacity to

address their grievances. How-ever, it looked as if Mohajirswere helpless and did not haverights as citizens of Pakistanand hence Mohajirs had noother choice except to rise fortheir rights.

The MRC said Mohajirshad in protest to the oppres-sive treatment started de-manding for the creation of aseparate Mohajir Provincebut the overall response of thepower corridors was quitefrigid and they did not evenshowed any interest on theirjust demand.

In this regard, the MRCGeneral Secretary (GS) ArshadSiddiqui while addressing thePresident Mamnoon Hussain,Prime Minister Mian

Muhammad Nawaz Sharif,Chief of Army Staff GeneralRaheel Sharif and human rightsorganisations demanded to takenotice of conspiracies beinghatched against Mohajirs bythe Pakistan People’s Party andcontrol the party failing whichMohajirs would be constrainedto and take decisions for theirrights and would be compelledto take to streets, which wouldnot be in the interest of the sov-ereignty of the country.

The MRC GS ArshadSiddiqui had categorically saidthat the city of Karachi waspredominantly the city ofMohajirs, which resourceswere being occupied by thepeople, who had hailed fromother provinces.

KarachiVarsity issuesadmission listsKA R A C H I—The KarachiUniversity has issued a list ofcandidates granted admissionon merit to its bachelors andmaster courses under Morn-ing Programmes.

Karachi University Di-rector for Admissions, Prof.Khalid Iraqi has advised thecandidates, having the namesin the list for bachelor levelcourses, to deposit their feesbetween December 30 toJanuary 2 at the CouncilRoom of Social Sciencesfaculty, between 9:30 a.m to1 p.m.

Whereas those having theirnames in the merit list for Mas-ters courses will have to deposittheir fees from January 5 to 8at the Council Room of SocialSciences faculty from 9:30 a.mto 1:00 pm.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—IA Rahman, Secretary General,Human Rights Commission of Pakistan(HRCP) has asked the trade unions and hu-man rights organizations to work together fora social change and implementation of all thefundamental rights and International Conven-tions, otherwise, the’ National Security’ para-digm in Pakistan would create hindrances indispensation of the fundamental rights.

He was speaking at the first day of two-day Regional Conference ‘Global Trade andLabour Compliance: South Asian Perspective’jointly organized by Pakistan Institute ofLabour Education and Research and FriedrichEbert Stiftung (FES) at a local hotel on Sun-day. The speakers from Bangladesh and SriLanka spoke via Skype and a speaker fromNepal gave a presentation about the situationof labour in their countries. Key leaders ofthe trade unions, federations and Confedera-tion attended the conference.

In his presentation on “Human Rights Vio-lation: Can there be a Silver Lining,” the cen-tral leader of the key human rights body inPakistan pointed out that the visiting Euro-

HRCP SG for implementationof international conventions

pean Union delegation had also met with himon the issue of capital punishment. The EUdelegation regretted that the government’sattitude in this regard is “rude”.

The only silver lining left is implementa-tion of the GSP-Plus conditionality. But forthat the civil society should work together forbringing a social change. In this regard, hesuggested setting up a permanent coordina-tion committee of the citizens to work for asocial change.

The human rights organsiations and tradeunions are able to collectively discuss andpush for implementation of 27 InternationalConventions, which include eight core-labourrights of International Labour Organisation(ILO) and seven human rights Conventionsand Covenants of the United Nations.

“Now the government would not be ableto cheat us at the time reporting to the UnitedNations. Earlier, the government used to re-port falsely about implementations of differ-ent Conventions and Covenant at the UnitedNations,” Rahman said adding that now thecivil society organizations would be able tocontribute in reporting methods as a compli-ance of GSP Plus conditionalities.

EATING a lot of oily fish or consumingomega supplements may not be good fora man’s health. New research reveals that

males with high blood concentrations ofomega-3 fatty acids are at a higher risk of de-veloping prostate cancer. Thefinding comes from a largeprospective study published inthe Journal of the NationalCancer Institute. A 71 percentincreased risk of high-gradeprostate cancer and a 43 per-cent increase for all prostatecancers were associated withhigh concentrations of EPA,DHA, and DPA.

These results are consis-tent with a 2011 study carriedout by the same research teamwhich found that high concen-trations of DHA more thandoubled the risk of high-gradeprostate cancer. The research-ers were shocked to find thathigher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, usually promotedas good for the heart, were associated with ahigher risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Theconsistency of these findings could mean that“these fatty acids are involved in prostate tu-morigenesis and recommendations to increaselong-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake, in par-ticular through supplementation, should con-sider its potential risks.”

For years, omega 3 fish oils have been rec-ommended by health organisations to help re-duce heart disease. The paper’s senior authorand member of the Fred Hutch Public HealthSciences Division, Alan Kristal, Dr P.H said:“we’ve shown once again that use of nutritionalsupplements may be harmful.” Theodore

Omega 3 fish oils linkedto prostate cancer risk

Pakistani origin boxer Amir Khan showing World Boxing Championship belt to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday.

Brasky, PhD, a research assistant professor atThe Ohio State University ComprehensiveCancer Centre, added, “What’s important isthat we have been able to replicate our find-ings from 2011 and we have confirmed that

marine omega-3 fatty acidsplay a role in prostate canceroccurrence. It’s important tonote, however, that these re-sults do not address the ques-tion of whether omega-3’splay a detrimental role inprostate cancer prognosis.”

Dr. Iain Frame, director ofresearch at Prostate CancerUK, says men reading aboutthe results of this researchshould not panic about theiromega-3 intake. Dr. Framesays: “Omega 3, such as isfound in oily fish, has been thefocus of a large amount of re-search in recent years, themajority of which points to ithaving wide-ranging healthbenefits when eaten as part of

a balanced diet...” “Much larger and more com-plex studies will need to take place before wewill fully understand how the risks of a diethigh in Omega 3 balance against those ben-efits.”

“Therefore, we would not encourage anyman to change their diet as a result of thisstudy, but to speak to their doctor if they haveany concerns about prostate cancer.” Dr.Kristal’s study compared the blood level con-centrations of omega-3 fatty acids in 834 menwho had been diagnosed with prostate can-cer with samples from 1,393 men from theSelenium and Vitamin E Cancer PreventionTrial (SELECT).

Woman walks between Tailways tracks which can cause a mishap due to fog which hasreduced visibility at Mughal Pura.

Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Siraj-ul-Haq leading the Awami Rickshaw Union rally at Mall Road.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LAHORE—UK-based Paki-stani Boxer Aamir Khan calledon Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif,here Sunday. Aamir Khan con-demned the Peshawar tragedyand expressed deep sense ofsorrow and grief over the mar-tyrdom of innocent childrenand teachers. Prayers were of-fered for the departed souls ofmartyrs on this occasion.

Speaking on the occasion,the Chief Minister said everyPakistani is grieved overPeshawar tragedy. He said thatbeasts committed a heinouscrime by killing innocent chil-dren.

He said that there is no ex-ample of such tragic incidentin the history of the world. Hesaid that the children martyredin Peshawar school are the chil-dren of the entire nation andeach and every drop of theirblood would never go un-re-venged.

The Chief Minister saidthat the entire nation has unitedagainst terrorism. Political, re-ligious and military leadershipare united for curbing terrorists.The country would be purgedof terrorists with the force ofunity and terrorists will find noplace to hide in Pakistan.

The Chief Minister whilecongratulating boxer AamirKhan on becoming champion ofSilverlight Welterweight Cat-egory of World Boxing Councilsaid that Aamir Khan has wonlaurels for Pakistan in the fieldof boxing. He said that there is aneed of modern training for Pa-

Boxer Aamir calls on Shahbaz,condemns Peshawar tragedy

kistani boxers in boxing.He said that a modern box-

ing academy is being set up inLahore in collaboration with

World Boxing Council andPunjab Sports Board to providetraining to Pakistani boxers.

He said that President and

Vice President of World Box-ing Council will visit Pakistannext month in this regard. TheChief Minister offered Aamir

Khan to impart training to Pa-kistani boxers in boxing acad-emy being set up at SportsComplex Ferozpur Road.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Minister for Excise& Taxation, Finance and Law MujtabaShuja ur Rehman has said that in orderto achieve the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs), Rs.2 billion has beenreserved for current fiscal year as thePunjab government considers educationas a tool to development and a recordfunds have been provided for school andhigher education.

He said that fashion & design, paint-ings and fine arts competitions help topolish talent of the youth. He said thatPunjab government is utilizing all outresources for the promotion of educa-

Punjab govt considers educationa tool to development: Mujtaba

tion specially in the field of technical edu-cation and an amount and huge amount isbeing utilized for the promotion of educa-tion sector.

While talking to a delegation of stu-dents and teachers of a private Institute ofFashion and Design, Mujtaba Shuja urRehman said that due to practical measuresof Punjab Chief Minister, the enrollmentof students in government schools hadbeen enhanced to 11.273 million.

He said that Head of DFID RichardMontgomery has maintained that text-books have been provided in schools forthe first time before the start of new aca-demic session which is a splendid achieve-ment of Punjab government and an ex-

ample of good governance. He said thatBritish educationist Sir Michael Barberwhile lauding the efforts of Punjab gov-ernment, said that the attendance ofteachers in schools has considerablyimproved due to implementation of thereforms programme being jointly imple-mented by Punjab government andDFID and the rate of attendance of teach-ers in schools of the Punjab has reachedup to the level of the British schools.

Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman said thatcooperation and grants are also providedto educational institutions for the promo-tion of designing fine arts and other joboriented education besides extracurricu-lar activities.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Spokesman of Health Depart-ment Punjab has said that no child dieddue to negligence or shortage of staff,medicine and oxygen in District Headquar-ters Hospital Sargodha. He said that theauthorities are strictly monitoring the per-formance of the hospital whereas DCOdaily visits District Headquarters Hospi-

No child died due to negligence orshortage of staff, medicines at DHQ

tal Sargodha for checking of staff andmedicines and reviews its performance.

The spokesman while clarifying saidthat 114 babies were brought in the nurs-ery of the hospital in a serious conditionduring one month, out of which, lives of91 babies were saved due to best effortsof doctors. Moreover, a team of expertsfrom teaching hospitals of Lahore visitsDHQ Hospital Sargodha twice a week and

also reviews the facilities, he added.The spokesman told that taking notice

of the news in this regard, on the directionof Chief Minister Punjab MuhammadShahbaz Sharif, Director General HealthDr. Zahid Pervaiz has also left forSargodha and after further reviewing thesituation will immediately submit his re-port and in the light of his report, furthersteps will be taken for improvement.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Education Foundation (PEF)has launched the expansion phase 6 of its new schoolprogramme (NSP). The purpose of this expansionis to extend the opportunity of free school educa-tion to more deserving students in different districts.

‘According to details, 225 suitable sites for set-ting up partner schools under the NSP in differentdistricts have been identified and offered to the in-tending partners to establish schools for giving freeeducation to the needy students in partnership with

PEF launches expansion phase6 of its new school programme

the PEF. The prospective partners have been dividedinto ‘individual’ as well as in ‘NGOs’ category;NGOs are required to have running at least 50schools, they must be registered along-with fiveyears relevant experience. The individual categoryrequires that the person must be at least intermedi-ate as well as a non PEF partner.

The NSP is public private partnership basedprogram of free school education for the needy stu-dents in remote and far-flung areas of the province.Under this program, PEF provides monthly fee andtext books to the partnering schools students.

Shahbaz visitsMaqsood Butt’s

residenceSTAFF REPORTER

LA H O R E—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif went to theresidence of Maqsood Butt,Chief Reporter of daily Jangand expressed condolenceswith the family membersover the death of his brother.The Chief Minister also of-fered Fateha for the departedsoul.

Eid Miladon January 4

LAHORE—The Eid MiladunNabi (PBUH) will be celebratedwith traditional fervour and spiriton January 4, Sunday, under theauspices Central Committee Cel-ebrations Eid Miladun Nabiacross the country.

About 10,000 processionswill be taken out throughout thecountry on the occasion of EidMiladun Nabi (PBUH) andSearatun Nabi (PBUH) confer-ences will be held in 4000places.—APP

LAHORE—Green Town police claimed to have ar-rested a person on the charge of giving loans to peopleon interest. On a tip-off, a police team headed bySPO Township raided at Mian Chowk Green Townand arrested the accused identified as Abdusalam.The police recovered two motorcycles, two files of

Man held for giving loan on interestmotorcycles, documents of rickshaw, blankchequebooks and other valuables from his posses-sion. During preliminary interrogation, the accusedhas confessed that he had been running this busi-ness for the three years. Police have registered acase against him and started investigation.—APP

LAHORE—Operations wing of Lahorepolice along with other law enforcementagencies checked 1,191 suspected ve-hicles and 3303 motorcycles during gen-eral hold-up at important roads, aimedto maintain law and order in the city.The police impounded 394 motorcyclesduring the hold-up. The police registered

1191 suspected cars, 3303 motorcycles checked

LAHORE—Punjab Highway Patrol claimed tohave arrested 76 criminals for possessing illegalweapons, narcotics and involved in heinouscrimes during a week. The PHP arrested 27 crimi-nals of having illicit arms and recovered 3 rifles,5 guns, 16 pistols and 964 bullets from their pos-

two cases of having illegal weapons be-sides recovering two pistols from the ac-cused.

However, police also registered twocases against illegal green number platesand tinted glasses vehicles. DIG Opera-tions Dr Haider Ashraf directed the police-men deployed on the pickets to remain

vigilant and keep their eyes on suspects.He directed the officials to beef up

security and deploy additional force inall entrance and exit points of the city.However, the CTO has also been di-rected to make elaborative arrange-ments for maintaining smooth flow oftraffic.—APP

PHP arrest 76 criminals last weeksession. The PHP arrested 23 criminals of nar-cotics and recovered 255 litres liquor, 60 bottlesliquor and 300 grams chars. Besides arresting 26criminals of other offenses and also recovered770 Kg unhygienic meat, stolen electric wireworth Rs 150,000, stolen cattle etc.—APP