If Quaid was alive today................................................Listen to Modi’s arrogant taunt................................................Swiss to exchange informationon black money

See Page 04

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Joint Chief of Staff Committee General Rashad Mahmood andChief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif listening to National Anthem on the occasion of Independence Day celebrationson August 14.—APP photo

MUZAFFAR ALI/ ASHRAF ANSARI

LAHORE/ ISLAMABAD— Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan vowed onWednesday that he would go ahead with his planto march on Islamabad.

In its verdict, the LHC ruled that “PTI andPAT are meanwhile restrained from launchingAzadi March, Inqalab March or hold dharna atIslamabad in any unconstitutional way keepingin view the sanctity of Independence Day and

the current chaotic and uncertain situation pre-vailing in the country. Reacting to Lahore HighCourt’s decision, Khan said that his party wouldlaunch the march which was constitutional anddemocratic.

“Under which law, 300 PTI workers havebeen detained by the government,” he asked.“We have neither done anything unconstitu-tional,” he stated. Khan said that PTI wouldpresent its demands within the framework of lawand constitution.

March to go on, comewhat may: Imran

March, sit-in allowed within parameters of law:Nisar Lahore, Islamabad HCs order removal of

containers LHC rejects plea for Qadri’s arrest

Continued on Page 7

IndependenceDay todaySTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The nation willcelebrate the 68th Independence

Day onT h u r s d a y(August, 14)with enthusi-asm andcommitmenttowards na-tion buildingas per visionof Quaid-e-

Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.The Day will dawn with 31-gunsalute in Federal and 21-gunsalute at the provincial Capitals.

Continued on Page 7

Dar rejects PTI white paperon budget as untrue

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Finance Minis-ter Ishaq Dar has rejected thewhite paper of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on thefinancial budget 2014-15 as apack of lies saying it carriesrelief measures for all segmentsof the society particularly theyouth.

Addressing a news confer-ence here Wednesday, the Fi-nance Minister said theeconomy has over performedduring the last one year as a re-sult of prudent and sagaciouspolicies of the government.

This year’s budget, he said car-ries not only measures for pro-

motion of industrial and busi-ness activities but also for the

agriculture sector. Five hun-dred billion rupees have beenallocated in the budget for dis-bursement of loans amongst thefarmers besides subsidy hasbeen given to them on agricul-ture inputs.

Livestock and crop insur-ance schemes are other majorinitiatives for the growth of ag-riculture sector. Rejecting theimpression that the budget ispro-elite, he said it is propeople and envisages youth ori-ented programs which will helpgenerate employment opportu-nities.

Continued on Page 7

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—The evolving situation inIslamabad as a result of impending Marchbeing launched by PTI and PAT today has

ISLAMABAD—Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif Wednesday urged the nation tomake a pledge on the Independence Day not tolet any harm come to the supremacy of the con-stitution, rule of law and continuity of the demo-

cratic system in the country.“We cannot do justice with objectives of the

independence unless Pakistan gets deliverancefrom all kinds of chaos, adventurism and con-

PM calls for pledge to protectconstitution, rule of law, democracyPays tribute to soldiers at Independence Day parade

worried diplomats.The heads of missions have directed their

staff to restrict their movement in view of

Diplomats worried about Islamabad situationContinued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Political uncertaintyhits rupeeKARACHI—The ongoingpolitical turmoil is taking itstoll on the economy as therupee fell Wednesday to hitthe psychological 100-to-a-

Continued on Page 7

Today’s issue of PakistanObserver carries a 4-PageSpecial Report on 68th Inde-pendence Day.

ISLAMABAD—President MamnoonHussain has stressed upon the na-tion to reiterate its pledge on the In-dependence Day that we would con-tinue to uphold democracy, consti-tutionalism and rule of law.

In a felicitation message to thenation on 68th Independence Day,the President said ‘let us reiterateour commitment to follow the prin-ciples of Unity, Faith & Discipline asour strength and guide towardsreaching our ultimate destination.’

A state created through demo-cratic means to witness supremacyof democratic process, rule of lawand constitutionalism is being gov-erned today by a democraticallyelected government, he added.

The President called upon ev-ery Pakistani to stand firm and unitedand work diligently for a progres-sive, prosperous and peaceful Paki-stan.

“Let us prove ourselves worthyinheritors of the invaluable rewardthat we have been bestowed by Al-mighty through untiring struggle ofour forefathers,” he added.

He said the Independence Day

President pledge to upholddemocracy, constitutionalism

PM urges nation for building Pakistan as envisioned by Quaid-i-Azam

JI reluctant to joinhands with PTI in

long marchMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Jamat-e-Islami (JI) is still reluctant to decidewhether it should announce its active participation in thelong march of PTI or detach itself completely from it.

Interestingly, JI Ameer Sirajul Haq, during his presstalk with the media persons admits that all the demands putforward by PTI were genuine and there was no slight dif-ference between the two parties on this issue but if therewas any difference it existed on the issue of modus oper-andi, vis-à-vis, what kind of method should be adopted toachieve these demands.

Although JI was not against the peaceful long march, asit conceives a political and democratic right of PTI but itdoes not rule out the sound of thumping of ”double march”at the result of this single march. When JI Ameer Sirajul Haqwas asked to shed light on the double march and what washis meant on this, he replied with a smiling face that every-one knows very well what is the meant of double march. Hecategorically made it clear that JI would not be a part of anyundemocratic move and would defy any attempt of imposi-tion of marshal law in the country. He warned the politicalplayers be sagacious and cautious lest the democracy wouldbe rolled back and politicians would be sent back to theirhomes. “If such unwanted incident happens, politicians aswell as the privileged class would continue to enjoy theirperks but it would be the poor masses which would be badlyeffective,” adding he said in the large interest of the countryboth the parties should sit together to chalk out a plan whichwould be acceptable to both the parties.

Sirajul Haq’s the whole media talk was Islamic socialist-based pedagogy, in which he pointed out the flaws of thepresent political system of the country. He said the presentpolitical system rotated around money and a man with amplewealth could contest and win elections while the doors ofthe parliaments were closed to the poor men of the country.

PN unmannedaircraft crashes

STAFF REPORTER

THATTA—An unmannedaircraft of Pakistan Navycrashed near the newlyformed Sajawal District ofSindh on Wednesday morn-ing.

According to police, theincident occurred in SajawalDistrict where the remote-controlled Navy aircraftcame down in the open fieldWednesday morning.

Fortunately, no loss oflife was reported in the inci-dent.

HYDERABAD: Participants displaying paintings during the Independence Day celebration organized by IMSA Institute at Sindh Museum.

3 injured in bomb blast

Policeman killsparents, son overdomestic dispute

KOHAT—A policeman onWednesday shot dead hisparents and son over do-mestic dispute in Mianghancolony in Kohat. Accordingto police sources, the ac-cused named Bilal who is apolice constable in Saddarpolice station opened fire athis parents and eight yearsold son over domestic dis-pute, killing them on thespot.

The accused managed toflee from the scene after com-mitting the crime. Policeshifted the deceased to hos-pital for postmortem and reg-istered a case against the ac-cused. Police started searchfor arresting the accused.Quetta: At least three per-sons have been injured in abomb blast in the provincialcapital, here on Wednesdayevening.

Police said that unknownmen carried out bomb explo-sion at a shop in mini marketin Satellite Town area, leavingthree persons injured.The res-cue teams rushed to the siteand shifted the injured to civilhospital.—Agencies

ISLAMABAD—The Execu-tive Committee of PakistanMedical and Dental Coun-cil (PMDC) has decided tostart disciplinary actionagainst substandard medi-cal and dental colleges andinstitutions.

According to PMDC,the council executive com-mittee meeting chaired byPresident PMDC Prof. Dr.Masood Hameed Khan hasdecided to upgrade the stan-dard of medical and dentaleducation to ensure qualityhealth services to generalpublic.

Due to gross deficienciesand lacking faculty, it was de-cided that these colleges willnot be allowed to admit stu-dents until the rectification oftheir deficiencies and approvalof the Executive Committeeafter inspections included Al-Razi Medical CollegePeshawar, Sahiwal MedicalCollege Sahiwal, Muhammadbin Qasim Dental CollegeKarachi, Bhittai Medical andDental College Mirpur Khas,Hashmat Medical & DentalCollege Gujarat, Federal Medi-cal College Islamabad,Mohiuddin Islamic MedicalCollege, Mirpur, AJK,Abbottabad InternationalMedical College Abbotabad,Independent Medical CollegeFaisalabad, Women MedicalCollege Abbotabad, Pak RedCrescent Medical CollegeLahore, Mohtarma BenazirBhutto Shaheed Medical Col-lege, Mirpur-AJ&K and AJ&KMedical College,Muzaffarabad-AJ&K.

The Executive Commit-tee has decided to call uponthe owners or principles ofmedical and dental collegewhich don’t have their ownteaching hospitals includedWah Medical CollegePeshawar, Altamash Insti-tute of Dental Medicine,Bahria University MedicalCollege Karachi, Founda-

PMDC starts disciplinary action againstsubstandard institutions

NAB approvesreference

against ex-DG,BCDA, others

ISLAMABAD—The ExecutiveBoard Meeting (EBM) ofNational Accountability Bu-reau (NAB) held here onWednesday approved to filea reference againstMuhammad Azam Pathan,ex-Director General (DG),Balochistan Coastal Devel-opment Authority (BCDA)and others.

In this case the accusedpersons manoeuvered thetendered process for con-struction of Dam Jetty infavour of M/s Agha GulConstruction Company,misappropriated publicfunds, misused the author-ity and caused a loss of Rs.243.59 million to the nationalexchequer.

The Board meeting, pre-sided over by ChairmanNAB, Qamar ZamanChaudhry authorized twoinvestigations.

First investigation wasauthorized against RanaMuhammad Azam KhanTikka and Hammad KhanTikka in M/s Aglam GlobalLinks (Pvt) Ltd case (Qasr-i-Zauk case).

The board also can-celled the Plea Bargain (PB)in this case against thesetwo accused.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Minister (CM)Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that in addition tocontrolling the irregularities through admin-istrative steps, schemes of remodeling, re-habilitation and restructuring of irrigationsystem have been conceived to enhancethe capacity of irrigation system and resolvethe problem of water shortage upto tail endon permanent basis.

He directed the Sindh Irrigation andDrainage Authority (SIDA) Managementfor formation of farmer originations as perrules and to ensure that each F.O must havechairman from the tail end area.

He directed the management to registerF.I.R against those, who are involved inwater theft and irregularities without anypolitical discrimination and to ensure watersupply at tail end. This he directed whilepresiding over meeting to review the irriga-tion system run by SIDA at lower Sindh.

Sindh Minister Syed Ali Mardan Shah,Sindh Minister Dr Sikandar Mendhro,MNAs Mir Munawar Talpur, Nawab YousifTalpur, Kamal Khan Chang, Madam ShaziaMari all MPAs of Mirpurkhas division, dis-trict Badin, Secretary Irrigation BabarAfandi, SIDA Managing Director (MD)Zahid Junejo, Chief Engineer Sukkur Bar-

rage Ahmed Junaid Memon, Divisional Com-missioner Mirpurkhas Sajid Jamal Abro, DIGand SP Mirpurkhas and other concernedofficers attended the office.

The CM said that Irrigation water waslife line for the people of Sindh.

He said that soon after complaints offarmers he himself conducted tour of theaffected areas of lower Sindh to get firsthand information from the growers.

He said that during the meeting withfarmers and visit of different canals he ob-served mismanagement on the part of ad-ministration concerned and issued spot in-struction for taking sever action against theelements involve in the water theft.

He directed the officers to lodge FIRagainst the water thieves and also to runthe SIDA as per its rules and regulation.

SIDA Managing Director Zahid HussainJunejo told the meeting said that he has twoArea water Board, where complaints regardingwater shortage mostly have been resolved withthe help of local Administration. However hesaid that his management still facing some tech-nical problem to take the water up to tail end insome areas like sultan Wah.He said thatschemes have been conceived to overcomethese faults and if funded the same accord-ingly, the water could be made available to tailend at each areas under his control.

is the most auspicious occasion inour national calendar as it remindsus of the great sacrifices of our fore-fathers that were made for securingour socio-economic, religious andcultural freedom.

It also provides us an opportu-nity to reiterate our pledge to thoseideals that led to the creation of anindependent and sovereign state, headded.

He opined that the day is an oc-casion to pay tribute to the valiantstruggle of all the proponents andworkers of Pakistan Movement andalso a moment to recognize, honourand appreciate all those sons of thesoil who have been safeguarding ourideological and geographical bound-aries.

The Day is also an occasion toreflect on our past, ponder over thepresent and plan for the future, headded.

“It is indeed a matter of greatsatisfaction to note that despitemany political upheavals of the past,natural calamities and other chal-lenges, we have achieved significantmilestones in our journey towards a

democratic, prosperous and progres-sive nation,” he added.

Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif has urged the nationfor building a Pakistan, which theQuaid-i-Azam had envisioned to bedemocratic, moderate and progres-sive.

The Prime Minister, in his mes-sage on the occasion of 68th Inde-pendence Day, said,”Sadly, too of-ten in our short and turbulent his-tory, we have fallen short of livingup to this ideal. So let us, on thisday, redeem our pledge to build theQuaid’s Pakistan.”

The Prime Minister extended hisheartfelt felicitations to all Pakistanison the auspicious occasion and saidthis day was a powerful reminder ofthe heroic struggle undertaken bythe Muslims of the Sub-continent fora separate homeland where theycould live their lives with freedomand dignity, in harmony with theirreligious and cultural values.

“Our forefathers underwentgreat trial and tribulation, with mil-lions suffering the travails of dispos-session and exile, and hundreds of

thousands laying the ultimate sacri-fice at the altar of freedom - so thatour children may have a country tocall their own, where they could builda prosperous and secure future forthemselves,” said the Prime Minis-ter.

He said,”The day should alsorecall to us the ideals and aspirationsthat inspired Quaid-i-AzamMohammad Ali Jinnah and DrAllama Mohammad Iqbal.

“We should not forget that Pa-kistan was the culmination of a longand arduous constitutional struggle.It was made possible only becausemillions of Muslims exercised theoldest, most basic democratic right -the right to vote for their own fu-ture,” he added.

Nawaz Sharif said that to dothis, “we must first reclaim our coun-try from the forces of darkness andobscurantism.”

The operation Zarb-e-Azb was astep in that direction, and it was astep taken with great caution, evenreluctance, and only after every otheroption had been exhausted, headded.—APP

tion University Medical Col-lege, Rawalpindi, LahoreMedical College Lahore,Jinnah Medical CollegePeshawar, Central Park

Medical College Lahore,Continental Medical Col-lege, Lahore, IslamabadMedical and Dental CollegeIslamabad, University Col-

lege of Medicine and Den-tistry Lahore, Islamic Inter-national Medical CollegeRawalpindi and MargallaCollege of DentistryRawalpindi.—APP

Qaim says steps conceived forsupply of water to tail-end growers

QUETTA—Leaders of different political partieshave lauded the Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif address to the nation and an-nouncement to set up Supreme Court Commis-sion to conduct probe into allegations of rig-ging in general elections 2013.

Pashtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party CentralGeneral Secretary, Akram Shah said that PrimeMinister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s announce-ment to set up a three-member Commission ofthe Supreme Court to conduct probe into allega-tions of rigging in general elections 2013, was adecision taken up in right direction.

“ All political parties want smooth flourish-ing of democracy and no one would be allowedto damage democracy,” he said.

Jamaat-e-Islami Balochistan chief, AbdulMateen Akhunzada said that long march andprotest could not derail democracy. He welcomedthe Premier’s announcement of setting up SCCommission and emphasized the need to takemore steps to make the Election Commission fullyindependent.Pakistan Muslim League-NBalochistan leader, Haji Lashkari Raisani saidthat nations’ survival lying in democracy andconspiracy to derail democracy is like that ofdamaging the country.

“ Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharifhas offered PTI chief Imran Khan for holdingdialogues to find out way to remove his res-ervations. There is no justification of longmarch and rallies after the PM announced thathis government is going to request the ChiefJustice of Supreme Court to set up a three-member Commission to conduct probe intoallegations of rigging in general elections2013,” he said.

He urged PTI leadership to wait for findingsand decision of the SC Commission.

Islamabad: MNA Ghulam Ahmed Balour,the Parliamentary leader of ANP on Wednes-day said that Chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-

All political parties welcome SC commission to probe alleged rigging

Imran urged to call off agitation afterfulfilment of election probe demand

Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan must called off hisagitation plans after the announcement of athree-member commission of Supreme Courtmandated to probe the allegations of riggingin Election 2013.

Talking to APP, he said that PTI chief shouldpresent rigging proofs before the commission.

He said that Imran Khan must show confi-dence on Supreme Court and steer out the coun-try from current impasse.

Peshawar: Provincial President of PMLN PirSabir Shah has said that no justification left withthe PTI for conducting Azadi March after forma-tion of judicial commission announced by thePrime Minister in his televised address to thenation.

Talking to APP he said that Prime Ministertruly represented the aspirations of the 180 mil-lion people of the country and people knew aboutthe motives of the PTI behind the uncalled forprotest march on Independence day.

He said the PMLN government started his-toric mega projects while some elements did notwant the country to progress and wanted to pushthem back in era of poverty and ignorance.

Advisor to PM Amir Muqam said that NawazSharif has invited Imran Khan for talks whichspeaks of his respect for democracy. He said thePMLN believed in political stability as it was aprerequisite for development.

PMLN KP general secretary Rehmat SalamKhattak said the formation of judicial commissionby the PM indicated that his government wasserious and sincere in national development.

Sajjad Khan PMLN Malakand leader said thePTI should now give up its proposed call formarch so that country’s national economy couldrestart once again. The PMLN has launchedmega projects as it wanted to make the countrystrong and stable among comity of nations.

JII(F) leader Jal i l Jan termed the PMspeech balanced, saying that some elements

were opposed to political stability. The PMhe said outlined the salient features of hisdevelopment strategy in the address to thenation. He said JUIF was against change ofdemocratic government through unconstitu-tional and unethical ways.

The ANP leader Ghulam Mustaf welcomedthe formation of judicial commission for prob-ing polls rigging through judges of the Su-preme Court. He said PTI should now aban-don its azadi march plan as parliamentarycommittee has started work to re-tune theelectoral reforms.

Lahore: Jamaat e Islami (JI) Pakistan DeputySecretary General Dr Farid Ahmad Piracha haswelcomed the Prime Minister Muhammad NawazSharif’s initiative to probe the allegations of elec-tion rigging by a three-member Judicial Commis-sion comprising Supreme Court judges.

Dr Farid Piracha talking to APP here Tues-day termed the PM’s speech as a positive steptowards the right direction. He added thatgovernment’s decision to constitute judicial com-mission will not only address the election issuebut also will benefit the democracy.

JI leader was of the view that governmentshould have taken this decision earlier to probelection rigging in Karachi, Balochistan and Fata,however it is not too late.

He urged the government not to restrictpeaceful protest by the political parties.Karachi: Karachiites have appreciated PrimeMinister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s announce-ment to form a judicial commission comprisingthree judges of the Supreme Court to probe alle-gations with regard to rigging in the polls heldin 2013. In their reaction to the PM’s addressto the nation, late Tuesday during which he an-nounced to request the Chief Justice of Paki-stan to constitute a commission, they said thedecision though a little late was better than nosuch decision.—APP

CHAMAN: Afghan children sit on a truck at Pakistani check post on Friendship Gate at Pak-Afghan border waiting for the security clearance forgoing to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

BAHAWALPUR: Federal Minister for Education, Training and Standards in HigherEducation, Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman viewing the historic photographs regardingPakistan Movement at an exhibition in collaboration with Sir Sadiq Muhammad KhanLibrary Islamia University of Bahawalpur.

FAISALABAD: Faisalabad CPO Dr Sohail Tajik addressing a press conference.

JI: Imran’s PMresignation demand

unconstitutionalSWAT—Amir Jamaat IslamiKPK Prof. MuhammadIbrahim has termed the de-mand of the Pakistan Tehrike Insaf (PTI) from Prime Min-ister to resign was uncon-stitutional.

“JI is not supporting thePTI’s call for Azadi March.”

Talking to media men af-ter distributing cash com-pensation among the NWAIDPs at Swat Press Club, hesaid the system should notbe derailed, adding, JI’s can-didates in Swat, Buner dis-tricts of KP and Karachiwere defeated through rig-ging but we do not want toharm the democratic system.The JI will never support theanti democratic forces comewhat may, he vowed.

The country was pass-ing through difficult timeand we will oppose the ele-ments working againstdemocratic system, he said.

The JI leader contendedthat there was no room forimposition of martial law inthe constitution. He said thedemands of Qadri and ImranKhan were separate as thelater was talking about revo-lution while the former trum-peting rigging in polls.

To a question he said, hisparty would take toughstance if former President wasallowed to go abroad withoutpresenting him before thecourt. He said the PervezMusharraf was the main fac-tor behind the present unrestand mess in the country. Theformer dictator is the real cul-prits as the entire country wasin a state of disarray due tohis policies today.

He said operation Zarbe Azb should be completedas soon as possible so thatIDPs repatriation processcould be started withoutany delay. The MuslimUmmah he said should uniteagainst the atrocities beingperpetrated over the inno-cent Palestinians.—APP

Imran a sportsman,not politician: NasimCHARSADDA—Veteran politician and central leader of ANP(Wali) Begum Nasim Wali Khan has said that Imran is agood sportsman, administrator and ‘Khudai Khidmatgar’but not a good politician.

Addressing a gathering of her party workers here, shesaid that holding protest rallies was the right of politicalparties, however, the ruling party should also avoid re-sorting to undemocratic means for halting the marches.

Tahirul Qadri, she said, was a “fasadi leader” who had noagenda except putting thecountry into anarchy andchaos. She ruled out the possi-bility of martial law in thecountry.She held AsfandyarWali and his cronies respon-sible for the party’s destructionin KPK saying the party whichhad won 42 seats in the previ-ous elections was restricted toonly three in the 2013 elections.

Meanwhile, Awami Na-tional Party Senator ShahiSayed has said Parliament isthe only constitutional plat-form to enact reforms in theelectoral process and that protests cannot achieve thatobjective. Sayed, who is in the United States for a privatevisit, said his party favors electoral reforms but opposesmoves like Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf’s planned protests onthe Independence Day as the ANP believes in continua-tion of the democratic system.

“The PTI can introduce amendments to the constitu-tion for election reforms in the Parliament”, he opined,speaking at an event organized by The Commongrounds,an organization dedicated to fostering understanding be-tween societies.—APP

Rain, thundershowerat isolated places

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan Meteorological Department(PMD) Wednesday forecast chances of rain-thunder-shower at isolated places ofPunjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand Kashmir on Indepen-dence Day (Thursday).

The PMD said moderatemonsoon currents were likelyto penetrate in northeast Pa-kistan in next couple of daysthat would produce isolated rain-thundershowers inIslamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha,Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar divisions and Kashmir onThursday.—APP

IS L A M A B A D—National Highways Au-thorities (NHA) will start physical workon Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9)Project soon.

An official of NHA informed APP thatthe implementation on the M-9 projectwas priority of the authority and SindhGovernment has been facilitating NHA inadministrative matters to ensure better,qualitative communication service to thepeople.

He said that 136 km long Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway was an importantproject not only in the perspective tohave better communication facilities tothe people of both cities but is a part ofKarachi-Lahore Motorway (KLM) projectto facilitate the people of the entire coun-try.

He said that almost all work exceptmutation of 200 acres of land at DistrictJamshoro has been completed and hope-fully physical work on this project will bestarted within calendar year 2014.

The official said that this projectneeds 6868 acres of land for its reservedRight of Way out of which 5296 acres ofland has so far been mutated in favour ofthe NHA while remaining land expect 200at Jamshoro is ready for mutation.

To a question, he said that presentlySuper Highway was in dilapidated condi-tion due to heavy traffic and expiry of itsdesigned period.

He said for repair and improvement ofthe highway, NHA approved periodicmaintenance schemes under AnnualMaintenance Plan (AMP) 2013-14amounting to Rs 305.28 million.

It is worth to mention here that twice

NHA to start work on M-9 soonin the past few years the NHA awardedthe contract to two firms on BOT basisbut both failed to complete financial closeas per conditions of the contract and theircontracts were terminated.

The project will cost Rs 6.3 billion andthe scope of work includes expansion ofthe road from four to six lanes and provi-sion of service areas.

In September 2006,the Authority hadsigned a concession agreement for con-struction of the 136 km M-9 with Stan-dard Construction but the contract wascancelled next year as the firm failed tocomplete financial close in time.

In 2011 the NHA awarded the con-tract of construction of Carica-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) to Malay-sian Construction Company M/s BinapuriHolding, on BOT basis with concession-aire period of 28 years. However the NHAwas forced to terminate the contact inSeptember 2012 as the said firm failed tocomplete financial close in stipulated time.

The Super Highway begins north ofCarica at the end of Mohammad Ali JinnahRoad, near junction of Carica NorthernBypass (also known as M-10). It is con-nected with the Carica Northern Bypasswith a trumpet interchange. Then it con-tinues out of the city. From there it con-tinues on a north-east track and forms ajunction with the N-5 via a link road. Thehighway ends outside of Hyderabad,inthe suburban town of Kotri with a clo-verleaf interchange where it merges intothe N-5.The M-9 Motorway will haveseven interchanges, two service areas atthe midway points and 16 toll plazas onentry and exit points.—APP

KP, UNICEFto hold globalbreastfeeding

weekPESHAWAR—Department ofHealth KhyberPakhtunkhwa in collabora-tion with United NationsChildren Fund (UNICEF)would celebrate globalbreastfeeding week in lastquarter of August and hasplanned many activities forpromotion of breastfeedingin the community.

This year the theme forWorld Breastfeeding week is“Breastfeeding A winninggoal for life.”

Theme for this year re-sponds to the latest countdowns by assert ing theimportance of increasingand sustaining protec-tion, promotion and sup-port of breastfeeding inpost 2015 agenda and tohighlight the link of Mil-lennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) andbreastfeeding.

Pakistan is a signatoryof MDGs that are meant tobe achieved by 2015. Al-though some progress hasbeen made towards achiev-ing these MDGs but thereis still a lot of unfinishedbusiness.

According to PakistanDemographic Health Survey(PDHS) 2012-13, exclusivebreastfeeding rate in Paki-stan remained 38 percentwhile that of bottle fed is 42percent.—APP

PTI workers leavefor Islamabad tojoin Azadi March

GUL HAMAAD

FAROOQI

CHITRAL—Hundred work-ers of Pakistan TahreekiInsaf (PTI) left for D squareIslamabad to joined inde-pendent march on the callof Imran Khan PTI Chief.PTI convey was leading bydistrict president PTI AbdulLateef, Lady MPA MissFauzia Bibi and Haji Sultan.

Addressing to theworkers on the eve of de-parture Abdul Latif saidthat PTI workers alwaysready for any sacrifice onthe call of its chief. He saidour workers participated inmarch against Drone attackin the country, Lahore andPeshawar march. And nowthey are going toIslamabad only for real de-mocracy and strengthen-ing the country.

Workers of PTI fromDrosh also joined the con-vey. Talking to this scribeAbdul Lateef, Haji Sultan,Muhammad Qasim andMiss Fauzia Bibi said thatwe are not against the de-mocracy but we want realdemocracy not kingdom.They said that we alwaysagainst of fake voting andsupport transparent elec-t ion. They said that de-spite difficulties and re-mote locality a large num-ber of party workers go-ing to Islamabad to jointhe march.

PESHAWAR—Chairman Pakistan Red Cres-cent Society Lt.Gen Muhammad HamidKhan Wednesday visited the camps set upby his organization for the NWA IDPs inBannu district.

The Chairman PRCS reviewed the reliefactivities and health units at the camps andapprised himself of the problems facing theIDPs.

On this occasion he said relief activitieswould continue till the total rehabilitationof the affectees.

PRCS chief visits IDPsrelief camps

He also called for further expediting therelief measures. He also directed for provi-sion of ten more electric cooler for Baka KhelIDP camp.

The PRCS Chairman was informed thatso far 43808 patients have been providedfree medicines and treatment at the six healthunits of the society.

Moreover 8000 non-food items, 3110food packages have been provided to theIDPs. Similarly it set up 81 latrines and 2750water tanks.—APP

If Quaid wasalive today

THE nation is celebrating its 68th Independence Day but what a shamein what conditions and circumstances. Nations anywhere in the worldcelebrate national days with joy and hope but people of Pakistan are

in a state of gloom and despair, thanks to the successive leaders and govern-ments who squandered resources, mismanaged and pushed the country backevery now and then on this or that excuse.

It is a pity that instead of hope and vigour, there is depression anddisappointment among people about present state of affairs and what isin store for the country for the future. There are uncertainties of all sortsand no light is visible at the end of tunnel like the darkness that hasgripped the country for the last seven years in the shape of ignominiousload-shedding and shortage of gas. It is no occasion to accuse A or Band hold them responsible for the prevailing depression-ridden envi-ronment but, broadly speaking, all of us are to be blamed for the kind ofsorry state of affairs that the country finds itself in. Leaders are sup-posed to be role model but unfortunately with negligible exceptions,the successive leaders preferred to remain self-centred and did eithernothing or very negligible for the cause of the country – be it securityand law and order; economy or foreign relations. No society can thinkof prospering without rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution buthere it is for the poor and ordinary citizens to follow laws while influ-ential segments of the society and rulers are above law and frequentlymake mockery of it. We are sure that if Quaid-e-Azam was alive todayhe would have been the most depressed personality on the earth. Anyhow, at the same time, on the occasion of Independence Day, we wouldlike to give a message of hope as well. Ups and downs come in thehistory of the nations and going by the fact that Pakistan has inherentstrength and potential to embrace multi-dimensional challenges, we areconfident that the country would come out of the messy situation un-scathed and move towards its cherished goals.

Listen to Modi’sarrogant taunt

IN a clear reference to Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modihas alleged that the ‘neighbouring country has lost the strength to fight a

conventional war, but continues to engage in the proxy war of terrorism’.The accusatory statement comes just two weeks ahead of the scheduledmeeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries to revive thestalled peace talks.

Diplomats and analysts rightly apprehend that the statement puts atrisk the peace efforts that began when Pakistani Prime Minister NawazSharif attended Modi’s inauguration in May this year and also extendedolive branch to New Delhi on different occasions. It is, however, ironicalthat the Pakistani leader is getting negative response from the other side,dampening hopes for a thaw in relations. Leaving aside the mantra of‘terrorism’ by Pakistan, which has been the favourite subject of almost allIndian leaders – past and present – we would like to draw attention of ourleadership towards the ground reality that the Indian PM has pinpointedi.e. Pakistan’s inability to fight conventional war. There was a time whenthe difference between Pakistan and India in terms of troops and conven-tional weapons capability was one to two, but with the passage of timethe gap has increased alarmingly. India has not only increased the size ofits three forces significantly but also amassed weapons of all sorts bothfrom Russian and Western sources and has embarked upon an aggressiveprogramme for local manufacturing of most of the arms and equipmentneeded by its forces. It was because of this supremacy that India startedtalking about crushing Pakistan after second nuclear tests in 1998, forc-ing Pakistan to go nuclear. It is a matter of pride for the country thatdespite weakness on the conventional front, it is far ahead of India innuclear technology and the delivery system and it has acquired the capabil-ity to reach to every nook and corner of India in case of existential threat tothe country. However, we would urge those at the helm of affairs that con-ventional balance is highly tilted in favour of India and steps should betaken to bridge the gap as far as possible. We are a peaceful country anddon’t want to engage in arms race but at the same time we cannot remainoblivious to impending threats to our security and survival.

Swiss to exchangeinformation on black moneySWITZERLAND, a country famous for the anonymity it provides in

equal measure to the rich, the famous and those who want to hide theirmoney, is coming under increasing pressure from many countries and has,therefore, made key changes in its local laws governing assistance to foreignnations in their pursuit of black money allegedly stashed in Swiss banks.These amendments would allow third world countries including Pakistan tomake group requests for information about suspected black money hoarders.

Reports have frequently been appearing in the print media that manyPakistanis have also deposited their ill gotten money in the Swiss Banksand demands are made off and on to bring back that money back as thecountry is in dire need of foreign exchange. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar hasrecently said that talks would be held with the Swiss government in Augustto bring back $200 billion from Switzerland but it could take three to fouryears. Reports suggest that government can access information about theamount deposited illegally under the new law of Swiss banks. Under strongUS pressure, the Swiss made painful concessions first to American authori-ties to provide information about the secret accounts of Americans. Nowthe country was bracing new onslaught on their cherished bank secrecyrules from European Union and third world countries. While the Swissauthorities would disclose some of the information requested by differentgovernments, the Swiss banks are quietly setting their “New Safe Haven”solution to their rich clients around the world to protect their interests andmake more money. Investors in search of extra security are discreetly in-vited to store large quantities of high value 1,000 Swiss francs bank notes insafe deposit boxes instead of secret accounts. While the Swiss governmentstep is appreciable, it needs to be fine tuned so that information is availableabout the safe deposit boxes to the concerned governments.

I saw making of Pakistan

Statesovereignty,up for grabs

COUNTRIES, like individuals, resist giving up even aportion of their sovereignty.

Their very identity relies on retain-ing autonomy and honouring the in-violability of national borders. Yetin just the past few years, state sov-ereignty – a now-universal conceptestablished in 1648 by Europe’sTreaty of Westphalia – has latelybeen put to a severe test. Here arerecent examples of the challengesto such sovereignty:

In March, Russia took theCrimean Peninsula by force. Formore than a year, Chinese ships andplanes have encroached on islandscontrolled by other Asian nations,even ramming foreign vessels. Andin countries from Iraq to Nigeria,bands of terrorists from differentcountries have taken over chunksof territory and declared Islamicentities. None of these actions weredone for humanitarian reasons, inthe name of self-defence, or withlegal authority from the UnitedNations. Yet so far they have notdrawn any major military responsebut rather sanctions and other lessermeasures. This stands in stark con-trast to what happened after Iraq’sinvasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Just a quarter century ago,President George H.W. Bush wasable to muster a UN-approved coa-lition of national forces and rollback Iraq’s takeover. At the time,he offered this justification: “Nopeaceful international order is pos-sible if larger states can devour theirsmaller neighbours.... Vital issuesof principle are at stake. SaddamHussein is literally trying to wipe acountry off the face of the earth.”These days, state sovereignty hasbecome a bit mushier as nations arefaced with difficult cross-borderchallenges, such as stateless terror-ists, mass migration, climatechange, rapid financial crises,weapons proliferation, and cyberthreats. In 2009, President Obamacould declare: “More than at anypoint in human history, the interestsof nations and peoples are shared.”

For sure, the European Unionhas shown just how much sover-eignty nations are willing to giveup for economic and social pur-poses. Membership in the UN andother international bodies requiresa nation to give up some controlover its affairs. And since 2005, theUN has endorsed the use of forceon sovereign powers that fail in theirduty to protect their own people.The 2011 bombing of Libya was thefirst case under that new doctrineof “responsibility to protect.” Otherrecent challenges contribute to amuddled future for the notion ofsovereignty.

NATO bombed Kosovo in1999 without UN consent. The2003 US invasion of Iraq was doneunder dubious legal justification.For its defence against Al Qaeda,the United States uses predatorydrones in Pakistan (and also killedOsama bin Laden) without approvalfrom its elected officials. And theUS violated Iran’s sovereignty bysending the Stuxnet computer virusinto the Natanz nuclear power plant.Mr. Obama also threatened to uni-laterally bomb Syria last year afterits uses of chemical weapons on ci-vilians, citing international law.Nearly five centuries after theTreaty of Westphalia, it may be timeto forge a new consensus on themeaning of state sovereignty.

At its base, the concept rests ona group of people being able to de-fine their cohesion and integrityaround a set of values, such as sub-jects declaring loyalty to a monarchor citizens united around demo-cratic ideals. These days, however,Russia under President VladimirPutin declares sovereignty over anygroup of Russian-speakers. Chinasets its boundaries based on ancientroutes used by Chinese traders. Is-lamists try to set up a caliphate, orIslamic state, anywhere they can.By its response to such challenges,the world is allowing sovereigntyto be redefined by default – withvalues it may find create an unstableinternational order. The Westphaliasystem of nation-states has largelyhelped humanity flourish since the17th century. The world must notabandon it so lightly.— The Christian Science Monitor

MEDIA WATCH

IT was around 7 am on August20, 1947 in what was thenknown as Mohallah

Pirzadgan,Ambala East Punjab.My mother was preparing break-fast comprising parathas with desighee (butter oil) for my brothersand two sisters. My elder brotherKhurshid, was in the Indian Armyand had been a prisoner of war inSingapore when he was taken asa POW by the Japanese in duringthe WW11.Everyone in house wasenjoying the breakfast when at7.45 am suddenly there were loudbangs at our doors which were onthe front side of the big court yard.We rushed to the door and foundthat brother Khurshid in militaryuniform running short of breathwas shouting,” Ama ,Ama((mother) hurry up we have toleave right now”. Leave forwhere? Asked Ama .”For Paki-stan” was the reply of brotherKhurshid .He said that this was theonly time he could get an armytruck for taking us to Pakistan andafter that we would have to go bytrains which were transporting ‘Pakistanis to Lahore’. The idea oftraveling by trains was horrifyingas these were attacked in the In-dian Territory by our new foundfriends and erstwhile enemies,Sikhs. Most of the people travel-ling by trains and some trainsreaching Walton , Lahore did notcarry even a single soul alive.Blood trenched trains werewashed at Walton which wasturned into a refugees camp forpeople coming from India.

Reflections on 67th Independence Day

FOR the sane in Pakistan thefight is about protecting thevalues, the humanity has de-

veloped in the course of thousandsof years, from the political andreligio-political witchcraft, whichit is intent upon destroyingthoughtlessly. How the time-testedvalues were trashed (and are be-ing trampled even this moment)when Pakistan came into being isa saga of ruthless fights betweenthe politicians continuing to thisvery day, the August 14.

The greatest deceptive lessonsthe politicians taught the citizensderive their justification from themisconception that a state may bebased on this or that faith, or ide-ology. That also hints at the infatu-ation that a theocratic state is a po-litical possibility; whereas historyhas no such example to show butthe only ones which ultimatelyproved tyrannies and relaxed inpolitical absolutism.

In addition to such ideologi-cal adventures, another fevergripped the nation’s mind from thevery beginning; that is the notionof an omnipotent welfare state. Thepolitics exclusively revolvingaround the slogan of such a stategave rise to a state which startedfeeding itself on the hard-earnedmoney of the citizens. Thus, not onlybecame the state a handmaiden inthe hands of every types of crimi-nals under the leadership of politi-cians, but gradually it turned out tobe the cruelest enemy of the citizensof Pakistan itself.

Resultantly, the state of Paki-

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Weekly Magazine

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

Man is the onlyanimal that canremain onfriendly termswith the victimshe intends to eatuntil he eatsthem.

stan became a goldminefor the elite classes, andin order to appropriatethe resources which thestate happens to possessand generate, thereemerged a new class,

which the writer has termed as theState Aristocracy (RiyasatiAshrafiya) and which he has elabo-rated upon in his Urdu book, Paki-stan Mein Riyasati Ashrafiya KaUrooj (The Rise of State Aristoc-racy in Pakistan). This class ofRiyasati Ashrfiya thrives and sur-vives by its capture of the institu-tion of the state and its resources,and use the slogan of democracy tobefool the citizens of Pakistan. Thatis why the Pakistani RiyasatiAshrafiya is thoroughly againstconstitutionalism, rule of law, andan independent judiciary, and thelatest evidence in this regard comesfrom the Parliament’s efforts to givemore powers to the ParliamentaryCommission vis-à-vis the JudicialCommission as far as appointmentof the judges for the higher courtsare concerned.

Despite the emergence of thisnew class of Riyasati Ashrafiya inPakistan, the political elites remaindivided and at dagger-drawn to-wards their own tribes. That’s whatis happening today in Islamabad.It’s actually a ruthless fight to cap-ture the state of Pakistan. But whydoes this fight continue even afterabout 7 decades have seen Pakistango from bad to worse? What’swrong with Pakistan, and its politi-cal elites or the new class ofRiyasati Ashrafiya?

Philosophically, the chroniccancer may be diagnosed and ex-plained thus: whenever any size ofcommunity forms, in order to livetogether the members of it agree tofollow certain values, i.e. sort of a

code of conduct. Never ever anycommunity did come into being onthe basis of a faith or an ideology.It was always an agreement or acontract to abide by certain valuesand rules which with the passageof time were abandoned; and whatremained to be followed and im-posed by this group on that grouphad only the semblance of a faithor an ideology leaving its moralcore behind to rot. This complexphenomenon may be simplified byproposing that the abandonment ofmoral principles or values or rulesof conduct served the interests ofthe elite classes who and/or theircohorts, without conspiring, politi-cized the faith or ideology of theircommunity to perpetuate their ruleand appropriate the resources of thekingdom or the state they happenedto rule. The same took place whenthe state of Pakistan was institutedin 1947 on this day of August 14.

Integral to this is another propo-sition: When a community formstogether, it invests certain personswith powers to give protection oflife, property, and personal freedomto each and all of its members with-out any discrimination. Also, partof this function is the provision ofjustice and that to all equally. Thatis what comes to be instituted andknown as a state. From the day one,Pakistani citizens were bereft ofthis protective role of their state andto this moment remain so. Theirlife, property and personal freedomare more than ever vulnerable to-day to the whims both of state andnon-state actors. The ordinary Pa-kistani citizens were never that in-secure in Pakistan as the presentday Pakistan has forced them to be!

All the more reason to despairtoday is that the same political elitewhich is ruthlessly fighting for thecapture of the state of Pakistan is

We were pushed onto the truckwithout being given any to changeor collect our belongings. I was ex-cited as I had never been abroad anyvehicle .It all happened so fast andsudden that no one thought of ex-tinguishing fire of chula (oven) orlocking the house. The doors wereleft flung open and no locking ofthe house. Perhaps our elders knewthat this was the end of our life inthat house as we would never comeback .The government servantswere allowed to exercise option ofserving either in India or Pakistan.Our father who working in Rail-way Mail Service had opted forPakistan as new country for us. Heused to say that creation of Paki-stan was the fulfillment of a dreamof Muslims of India to lead theirlives according to tenets of Islam(this is unfortunately is now beingmade a subject of controversy byso called secularists). Our fatherand eldest brother, Syed RiazAhmed Pirzada who was serving inGHQ, New Delhi got down fromthe truck near the famous AmbalaMuslim High School to go Delhi tohand over their offices.

As soon as we left Ambala tor-rential rains greeted us all the wayto our dream land, Lahore. Therewas a barrier near Ghanta Ghar inLudhiana where Sikh police mencame to search for jewelry andunstitched cloth but found nothingas we had none of it .Any how theydetained us for several hours forreasons unknown to us .One thingwas clear that they could not causeus any harm as three Muslim armymen armed with machine guns weremounted on the truck to protect us.The rains, in fact a cloud burst, didnot seem to end and we had noth-ing to save us from pouring water.

To make the things worst the truckhad no roof or canvass. There wasone sheet of water as for as wecould see.It was surely the exper-tise of the driver to keep drivingon the road which only he knewwhere it was . The weather wasbiting chilly and three of us includ-ing our youngest brother ,Sarfrazgot fever .Sarfraz was only 20 daysold at that time.

After a few hours of journey Isaw something moving up anddown along the waves of floodwater .What I saw was horrifyingsight .There were two swollen bod-ies of women with their hairssprang up on back sides and manyparts of their fronts had a numberof cuts with sharp knives or swordsNothing more could can be de-scribed for obvious reasons .Oneof them had some Arabic scrip-tures attached with her handwhich indicated she was a Muslims.It was such a traumatic experiencethat keeps me haunting even todayin my dreams.

There was no joy reachingLahore because at Walton washingplate form we saw trains comingfrom Attari were full of blood andhuman parts scattered all over .Iwent there looking for youngerbrother, Mahmood who was silentlygazing at the gruesome scene .Whatwas his experience he never told ustill his death. After a few days ofstay in Lahore we came toRawalpindi where my father wasposted in a federal government de-partment .The eldest brother RiazAhmed Pirzada joined GHQ,Rawalpindi. While some were for-tunate to see Pakistan, others gavetheir lives in quest of a country ofMuslims of India .Their sacrificeswould never go in vain and would

be remembered if any institutionis raised for paying them homage.We used to feel very perturbedwhen some people in Rawalpidicalled us ‘punahgazeens’(shelterseekers).I would tell these peoplethat we came to Pakistan bychoice. We were never forced toleave India .Ambala remained apeaceful city without incidents ofkillings or bloodshed .Hundreds ofthousands of others made innumer-able sacrifices for living a countrywhich was carved out by thefounder of the nation for the Mus-lims of the Sub-continent.

It speaks volumes of sacrificesby the Muslims of India made foran independent and sovereign Pa-kistan ,a dream come true .Whatis ailing Pakistan today is not whatQuaid e Azam and other foundersof Pakistan wished to see. Thepoliticians, military dictators andbureaucracy dictated by their lustfor power played havoc with thecountry. Forty years of militaryrule out of 60 years of our life de-stroyed national institutions andrendered the country into an un-solvable mess with utter uncertain-ties for future of our next genera-tions. I have been to several coun-tries where national debates focuson future planning .But unfortu-nately Pakistan is the only coun-try where people usually ask aboutviability and survival of the home-land .This is because people donot find the leaders trustworthy .It is never too late to amend andsalvage the wrongs committed bythe successive governments byengaging the saner and non - con-troversial figures and seek theiradvice. May Pakistan live forever.—The writer is a columnist/analyst/former diplomat.

exhorting the ordinary citizens,and spending millions to celebratethe Independence Day! What isthere to celebrate? Celebrate thestate of Pakistan, which has badlyfailed in protecting its citizens’person and property and their per-sonal freedom! Or celebrate thethoughtless fight for the capture ofthe state of Pakistan?

Must we ask what is there tocelebrate on this 67th day of inde-pendence? What did we achievethrough these 7 decades? Should wecelebrate that chronic disease calledDisagreement, or the lack of con-sensus? That lack of consensus be-tween the political elites which didnot allow a constitution take shapeand secure Pakistani citizens theirconstitutional freedoms during thefirst 25 years or so after Pakistanwas established. For the next 40years, the citizens knew they had aconstitution, but never enjoyed thesecurity of their person, propertyand personal freedom.

Instead, what the ordinary citi-zens witness today is that despitethe existence of a constitutionwhich is verily in enforcement,certain political elites are adamantto give it up for an Anti-Constitu-tional Revolution which will makethem capture the state of Pakistan!That means Pakistan virtually hasno constitution to run the state ofPakistan. The fight for the captureof the state is still raging on the67th Independence Day. It is thepolitical elites which are demean-ing the state and the constitutionof Pakistan. That delivers a mes-sage for the citizens of Pakistan toheed: Demean the political elites!They are their culprits!—The writer is Lahore-basedpolitical analyst and author ofThe Rise of State Aristocracy inPakistan (Urdu) and other books.

—Samuel Butler British writer

Dr Khalil AhmadEmal:khalilkf@gmail.com

Ayaz Ahmed PirzadaEmail:ayazpirzada@hotmail.com

Voice of the People

Revolution forreal democracy

JAVAID BASHIR

Violence leads to more violence. Toevery action, there is an equal andopposite reaction. The laws ofNewton hold till this day and arerelevant to the human conditions.Geographical boundaries have inmany countries from Iraq to otherArab countries. The Arab Springswept away the powerful dictatorsentrenched for ages.

They have fallen like tin pins.We all agree on one thing that thepresent system does not representthe real democracy. Democracy hasbeen transformed into tyranny orcivil dictatorship in Pakistan. Soonit will degenerate into mobocracy,which would be a dangerous trend.The crack down to stop the AzadiMarch and TUQ’s revolutionarymarch can result in greater turmoil.

The government is making hec-tic preparation to diffuse the precari-ous situation. It has ordered inten-sive crack down, sealing the citiesand confiscating the motorcycles.These harsh steps might turn thesituation into ugliness. It seems thegovernment has panicked and is try-ing to bust the party workers.

Nothing can stop these march-ers. Imran Khan and Dr. Qadri aredetermined to move forward. ImranKhan says their aim is to win free-dom and restore real democracy inthe Country. Dr. Qadri will not sparethe Sharifs in any case. He is goingto fight till the end of this corruptregime. PTI and PAT workers havebeen mobilized by their leaders.

The entire nation is eagerlywaiting for the outcome of this in-cessant struggle for the real democ-racy. Would the government succeedto avert the avalanche? Imran Khanwill stay on course. Dr. Tahir ulQadri’s relentless rhetoric for revo-lution seems to be bearing fruit.Revolution would serve as the ve-hicle to bring the real democracy.—Via email

Language problemin Pakistan

TEHSEEN ASLAM KHAN

Language is a mode of communi-cation and source for transmissionof information and knowledge. Itvaries from country to country butinternational languages are few.English is an international languageand it is also an official language ofPakistan but unfortunately in thecountry like Pakistan this languageis well known only among somespecific groups of people. Only theyhave proficiency on this languageand rest of the people even educatedare unable to speak English. It isbecoming a problem for the peopleof Pakistan and indulging them intoinferiority complex.

Here are some important fac-tors, which are making this languagean issue. One of most significantreason is our schooling system. Atpresent, three types of school sys-tems are working in Pakistan andthey are subdivided into Urdu me-dium and English medium. Almost70% schools in Pakistan are Urdumedium. Their whole syllabus andenvironment follow the Urdu struc-ture. No doubt Urdu is Pakistan’snational language but internationallyand officially it is not acceptable inPakistan. Not only Urdu basedschool systems are responsible forthis emerging problem but, in sec-ond category, majority of Englishmedium systems are also equallyresponsible for this deficiency ingenerations after generations.

The reason is, the lack of qual-ity education, encouragement andproper effective environment forstudents. These days in every nextstreet people are sitting to openschool with the label of Englishmedium but they are actually do-

A man who knew Pakistan’s futureFARRUKH AZIZ ANSARI

Among the formidable adversaries of the Pakistan’s movement was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, aveteran Indian nationalist and a celebrated religious scholar who set his face against the break-up

of the United India based on the notion of “sacred-profane land”. Maulana Azad artfully portrayed acrystal clear picture, ahead of the birth of Pakistan, of the repercussions, consequences and obviouslythe perpetual crises it was going to be encumbered with, and warned the Muslim League leaders of thenewly built state being confronted with never-ending civil war and political turmoil shortly after itsemergence. Despite the titles and labels of “Yes-Man of Congress” or “Toy boy” given by the ones whosepie was at peril in the undivided India, Maulana Azad’s concern for the Muslims of Pakistan has provedtrue, and his prediction and the profound insight into the fate of Pakistan exactly correspond to theplight of today’s Pakistan, marked with the incalculable issues of multi dimensions. Azad’s viewsand analysis as documented by the press, of the storm of unceasing exigency, Pakistan would be throwninto, on purpose by the self-serving politicians, hold water, the incompetent leadership would pave theway for the military coups; class war would engulf the region leading to the gross exploitation of thepoor classes; internal unrest and regional conflicts, loot of national wealth by a certain class wouldplague the nation, the East Wing would break away, all do corroborate with the current scenario. Whatmade Maulana Azad thwart the formation of Pakistan were these impending dangers, though he andthe founding fathers of Pakistan, both had an attachment and a soft spot for the Muslims, and the onlydifferences between them were of orientation as how to secure the Muslim of India a rightful and re-spectful status. Pakistan eventually came into being, but it is now the turn of our politicians to translatethose ideals, which served as a milestone in the Pakistan movement and the independent sovereign statewas carved out. It is for the ruling class, be the law-making or law-executing or the judiciary to playtheir due role, and cognize their onus to demonstrate that Pakistan today stands where it was destinedfor by the forefathers, hence confuting the predictions of Maulana Azad.—Via email

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Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

THE articles, columns andletters are published on thesepages in good faith. However,the contents of these writingsmay not necessarily match theviews of the newspaper.

—Editor

March towards Islamabad

AS the country is celebrating67th Independence day, alleyes are set on the long march

and the ensuing political changes. Po-litical agitation in the country hastaken a sharp turn. Imran Khan andDr. Tahirul Qadri, the men calling fora change are all set to march towardsIslamabad. Imran Khan, Chairman ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) willlead the ‘Azadi March’, while theChairman Pakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT), Dr. Tahirul Qadri will head a‘Revolution March’.The demandsput forth by Imran are “recountingof votes in four National Assemblyconstituencies (Lahore, Sialkot andLodhran), fresh parliamentary elec-tions, reconstitution of the ElectionCommission and electoral reforms”.Dr. Qadri’s demand is simply “demo-lition of the current system”.

PML (N) won the last parliamen-tary elections with a majority vote,but in one year’s time the tide hasturned against them. The answer tothis lies in the bogus policies of theruling party. Since it came to power,the party’s sole agenda seems to bebuilding roads and flyovers. Seen at

the societal level, abject poverty,acute energy crisis, unemploymentand injustice are the prime irritants.The current situation, in which PTIand PAT are being seen as parties fora political change offer hope to thefrustrated, jobless youth of the coun-try. “70 percent of the youth underthe age of 30 years is with Imran”.

These youngsters see ImranKhan as a charismatic leader, who asa cricketer won the world cup andbrought good name to Pakistan.Khan’s non-political background andsocial work; building of ShaukatKhanum is also being idealized.People see him as a leader who couldset the trend of merit oriented poli-tics, thus, ending decades old systemof dynastic politics, in the country.The other personality which has mo-bilized a large number of masses, in-cluding women is Dr. Qadri, Chair-man PAT. Dr. Qadri through his reli-gious talk has won over the hearts andminds of the people; the people re-gard him as a spiritualist. Primarily,the main driving force which hascompelled the masses to the streets/roads is the sense of insecurity andlack of trust in the current form ofgovernment. People want a just soci-ety and in a hope for a better futurehave joined hands with PTI and PAT.In view of the recent political devel-

opments, one thing is apparent thatthe PTI and PAT will not give up un-less their demands are addressed.Besides, their supporters are also de-termined; they are even ready to con-front police as was seen in Lahore.

Dr. Qadri has instructed his work-ers “to storm the houses of police-men if they misbehave with them ortry to kidnap them”.In this backdrop,how would the establishment react?Will the ruling party give up office?or would try to block the PTI Chieffrom entering Islamabad? or wouldarrest Imran Khan? Besides, if thepolice and army refuse to obey gov-ernment orders and let the demonstra-tors go their way; government wouldbe left with no option but to stepdown. Therefore, the fate of PML (N)largely depends on the Islamabadpolice and army. Another alarmingscenario threatening the rulinggovernment’s survival and also con-sequential for the democracy is thealliance of PTI and PAT. This situa-tion would lead towards military in-tervention. All these scenarios areunanswered till the August 14. Butwhatever the situation is, the rulinggovernment will have to take a deci-sive action and give up its obstinatestance. Currently, Pakistan is pass-ing through a critical phase; with astruggling economy, the country is

Views From Abroad

Pivoting away from Asia

WHAT do PresidentObama’s decision to authorize airstrikes against

the Sunni militants of the IslamicState and his previous commitmentto send American military advisorsand trainers back into Iraq have todo with his “pivot” to Asia? Every-thing and nothing. Nothing in thesense that the battle in Iraq has littlebearing today on what China mightdo in the South China Sea tomor-row. But everything in the sense thatthe underlying assumption thatdrove Obama to pivot away from theMiddle East toward Asia — to “re-balance,” as it was later called — isvery much in question.

When the rebalance toward Asiawas officially confirmed as adminis-tration policy in January 2012 by thePentagon’s release of a new strategicpolicy guidance, the underlying im-petus was clear: Defence resourcescould no longer support the long-standing US strategy of maintainingthe capability to fight two major con-flicts at the same time — the “two-war standard.” With no apparent po-litical prospects for closing the gapin military resources, the administra-tion made a strategic decision to sta-bilize an increasingly problematicsituation in Asia.

The logic for paying more atten-tion to Asia was apparent. The region

was seen as a key area of expansionfor the American economy. Politi-cally, it was home to populous lib-eral democracies, India and Indone-sia; a newly vibrant South Korea; andlong-standing friends and allies, likeTaiwan and Japan. It was also home,of course, to a rising China. Initially,the Obama team had hoped to cre-ate a new dynamic with Beijing.Putting aside tension-inducing con-cerns such as China’s human rightsrecord, the plan was to develop avirtual smorgasbord of agenda itemsthat would reflect overlapping inter-ests between the two countries. Theadministration was doubling downon a policy of engagement.

As Obama discovered when theChinese delegation upended his ef-forts to salvage the 2009 Copenhagenclimate change summit, overlappinginterests are not the same thing ashaving the same priorities. China’sleaders were undoubtedly concernedabout the country’s environmentalproblems, but their more pressingconcern was making sure that thecountry continues to grow economi-cally. More stringent carbon emissionstandards were, they believed, at oddswith that more immediate need. Asthe administration pivoted away fromEurope and the Middle East, our ad-versaries have become emboldened— and more than willing to fill thevacuum left behind.

As the Obama team also discov-ered, its attempts to engage moredeeply with Beijing were compli-

cated by the government’s reaction.Beijing read these efforts as an im-plicit signal that a war-weary and re-cession-ridden Washington wasscrambling to make the best of itsdeclining global position. Instead ofaccepting the administration’s offerof a new “G-2” condominium,China’s ambitions seemed to grow— not recede — as it continued amilitary build-up and became evenmore assertive with neighbouringstates. It was principally this dete-riorating state of affairs that the ad-ministration rightly wanted to ad-dress with the rebalance.

It also coincided with theadministration’s perspective that con-tinuing to draw down military forcesin Europe was reasonable in the ab-sence of any perceived security prob-lem facing the continent. It alsosquared with the president’s own de-termination to end, as much as pos-sible, military involvement in theMiddle East and North Africa. Two-war capability isn’t needed if your fo-cus is really on only half the globe.But this does not take into account akey strategic reason for maintainingtwo-war capability.

In other words, power does ab-hor a vacuum. If the United States isnot there to deter, would-be aggres-sors will probably take advantage.Isn’t this the situation the countryfaces today? As the administrationpivoted away from Europe and theMiddle East, our adversaries — bethey Russia, Iran or the jihadists —

Gary Schmitthave become emboldened and morethan willing to fill the vacuum wehave left. Ironically, the Obamateam harshly criticized the previousadministration for foreign policiesit viewed as off target — they ac-cused the Bush administration ofspending too much time focused onthe wars in Iraq and Afghanistanand far too little on American dip-lomatic, economic and security in-terests in Asia. Yet today the veryhot spots that are consuming thecurrent administration’s attentionand dominating Secretary of StateJohn F. Kerry’s travel schedule areprecisely those areas the ObamaWhite House has wanted to disen-gage from militarily.

Without question, givinggreater attention to Asia is called for,but if it comes at the expense ofother key parts of the globe, it prob-ably will be counterproductive. Asthe president is discovering,America’s resources and attentionwill continue to be drawn back intothose areas as the security situationworsens. A true rebalancing is nei-ther possible, given the state oftoday’s US military, nor likely tobe sustainable if planned defencecuts are not reversed. The reality isthat the United States cannot rebal-ance on the cheap. The writer is di-rector of the Marilyn Ware Centrefor Security Studies at the Ameri-can Enterprise Institute.— Courtesy: The Los AngelesTimes

Passion, it’s free..!

AM in New York at the moment and decided to spendyesterday watching a base-

ball game between the Yankeesteam from New York and theDetroits. There were forty thou-sand people in the Yankees Sta-dium when I entered, and theywere all in a holiday mood, beerspilling over frothing glasses, menloud and boisterous and womenequally loud in their hugs and

kisses which they gave liberally totheir men at the drop of a hat. WellI’m quite used to the average Ameri-can but to see forty thousand of themat one time seemed quite an intimi-dating experience: The smell of pop-corn filled the air, mixed with theenticing aroma of hotdogs and candy.

And then the game began, theYankees team is New York’s favor-ite, though not that of the rest of thenation, because the players are thebest paid some even signing contractsof over a hundred million dollars,which other poorer states can ill af-ford to pay. So theirs an attitude prob-lem, but to the New Yorkers this was

their home team, and the applause andcheering that rose when the hitter hitthe ball was resounding.

Suddenly I was not in New Yorkanymore and sitting in India in anIPL match, the noise, the energy, thefocus, it was all the same. It was thethrill of the game, the hope that thein a normal moment the spectacularwould happen.

The man selling beer, the hotdogvendor, the ice cream seller were allignored as one and all the New York-ers rose in unison, sighed in frustra-tion and crescendoed their applauseas their beloved boys in the centre hitor missed or pitched or caught.

What was familiar was passion. Youcould smell it, taste it, feel it.Ah pas-sion it’s the fuel of achievements,alive, vibrant, pushing energy, moreexplosive than a nuclear bomb,more laser focused than a ray oflight. That’s the stuff that makesheroes of the ordinary, changescowards to brave men and women.That’s the petrol makes the BillGates of the world.

Passion is there for all of usto use, whatever your call, what-ever your job, it’s free, just fillyour tanks, build speed, take onthe world..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

ing a business in the form of schoolsand making only money out of this.Even today, in third category, a num-ber of well-known schools in Paki-stan are also earning money at higherlevel without thinking about the fu-ture of students but it is also true thatrelatively they produce confidentstudents in the end who also havecommand on English language.

Another important cause of thisproblem is the behaviour of peoplearound. They discourage the personwho tries to speak in English. Ratherto support him/her, people usuallymake fun of him, discourage him andtry hard to stop him to convey in En-glish. Other than this, the way toteach English as a language is stillnot correct in Pakistan. It is alwaystaken as a subject but not as a lan-guage. This also creates confusionand leaves students impotent to speakeven after the completion of theirwhole educational career. The gov-ernment should promote the samemedium of instruction in educationalsystem all over the country to end thisdiscriminatory classification becauseit’s dragging our nation in complexand losing their confidence. Alongwith government, the public shouldalso play its positive role to encour-age each other and make English asjust a mode of communication but notthe problem of the country.—Lahore

Serving theself-interest

HASHIM ABRO

Being a student of political sconceand law, like many others, I have readin several books that the civil servantsand public officials, technocrats,among others are expected to main-tain and strengthen the public’s trustand confidence in government, bydemonstrating the highest standardsof professional competence, effi-ciency and effectiveness, upholdingthe Constitution and the laws, andseeking to advance the public goodat all times but whatever is happen-ing in this my beloved country andwhatever has happened since its gen-esis is not hidden from anyone. Theseblood suckers came and went butserved their ‘self”, their own self andnot the public interest. Had these de-viant souls served the public and pub-lic interest my country would nothave in this sordid state of affairs?—Islamabad

Last kicks of adying horse

SRH HASHMI

When a group of men basically cow-ards and weaklings, tries to posestrong and act tough, it starts behav-ing stupid because there are oppo-site streams working within suchpersons and that is what seems to behappening at the moment, with mat-ters having made much worse withadded arrogance and revengeful dis-position. Take the example of AsifAli Zardari. Despite having far fewerseats, he managed to complete fiveyears and during his rule, Dr. TahirulQadri’s march to Islamabad did notproduce any ugly scenes like we areseeing now.

And what we have seen so far isonly the trailer, with the main filmstill to come. Sharif brothers were notexactly the brightest lads on earth tostart with and their years of lazy lifein Saudi palaces have blunted furtherwhatever skills they had. And today’sPakistan is far more complicated ascompared to what it was like whenthey left, or were made to leave. Ivaguely remember that on assumingoffice, Nawaz Sharif said that he hadnot expected things to be so bad. Justimagine the predicament of a personwith not even half the talent requiredfor the job, reduced further to perhapsone-tenth due to his lazy, carefreeyears, facing a task which has multi-plied many times in complexity. And

Amna Ejaz RafiEmail:amnaejazrafi@gmail.com

battling the terrorists in the tribalareas (Operation Zarb-e-Azab). Atthe political front; the discordwithin the political parties have fur-ther aggravated the law & ordersituation of the country. Though thetime was not opportune for a politi-cal agitation, but the leadership’signorant attitude has compelled themasses to come out. If seen opti-mistically, this political unrest couldbe an opportunity to reform the elec-toral system and make it transpar-ent, and trustworthy.

How the Azadi March and theRevolution March would proceed isyet to be seen. However, claimantsof the democracy should know thatto settle their differences through ne-gotiations is the essence of thedemocratic culture.As claimed bythe PTI leadership, the march is notaimed to “derail the democratic pro-cess”, and is an endeavour towardsa just society. Therefore, those lead-ing the march towards Islamabadshould demonstrate peace. Simi-larly, government should refrainfrom ordering arrest of PTI or PATleaders/members as this is againstthe spirit of democracy and wouldonly lead to anarchy.—The writer is a Assistant Re-search Officer, Islamabad PolicyResearch Institute (IPRI).

Fata people face discrimination

TRIBALS people of FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas(FATA), contributed a lot to

Pakistan Movement and to stabilityof Pakistan and worked as soldierswithout pay on Afghanistan Pakistanborder. The most important roleamong Tribals played by patrioticTuri Bangash tribes of ParachinarKurram Agency whose elders evenbefore the formation of Pakistan metQuaid-i-Azam in Delhi. This historicmeeting was reported at that time inDawn newspaper. That is whyQuaid-i-Azam and her sister FatimaJinnah loved Parachinar, the para-dise on earth, and visited the placeseveral times.

After Quaid-i-Azam and her sis-ter death patriotic Turi Bangashtribes of Parachinar faced and still

facing step mother treatment espe-cially in era of Gen Zia who wantedto commit Genocide of this areapeople with the help of then CIAJihadis now a days Taliban militants.Quaid-i-Azam had promised withpatriotic Turi Bangash tribes ofParachinar that the local Turi Militiaof FC will be deployed in Parachinar,but Zia regime shifted Turi Militia FCto other areas like Wazirstan andBajur. In 1996 PPP especially its in-terior Minister Gen Nasurulah Babar(R) used Parachinar as launching padfor Militant Taliban rule in Afghani-stan and after 9/11 in name of waragainst terror Parachinar was onceagain used by Gen Pervaz Musharafby victimizing patriotic Turi Bangashtribes of Parachinar.

The issue of FATA Medical Col-lege is once again in on print and elec-tronic media after decades. Thereforeit is necessary to mention the need aswell as facts and figures of this megaProject to new governor of PML (N)

who seems to be supporting Projectson merit. Decades ago federal gov-ernment announced that Fata Medi-cal College will be built at Parachinaras soon as possible with the aim thatthis educational institute on one sidewill benefit the medical studentswhile on other side in the form ofteaching hospital and medical collegeprofessors asst professors, specialistsDoctors and Surgeons will be avail-able for millions of population of bothPakistan and Afghanistan tribalpeople. Federal Govt was aware ofthe geographical and strategic impor-tance of Parachinar, becauseParachinar is the only tribal areaswhich touches four provinces of Af-ghanistan i.e, Paktia, Nagarkhar,Khost and Paktika while the Afghani-stan capital Kabul is at the shortestdistance from Parachinar .

The FATA Medical College onone side can be helpful in friendly re-lationship with four provinces ofneighboring Afghanistan as well as

could provide basic medical facilityto the inhabitants of Kurram Agencyand surrounding Tribal areas and dis-tricts by decreasing load from gov-ernment and private hospitals atPeshawar far away from ParachinarKurram Agency. It is worth mention-ing that hundreds of patients fromParachinar Kurram Agency and sur-rounding areas including neighbor-ing Afghanistan covering 10 to 25hours hard journey to PeshawarKTH & LRH government hospitalsas well as Private Clinics at Dabgari& Hayatabad Peshawar. Duringlong hard and risky journey fromhome town to Peshawar many seri-ous patients expires that is why Govtof Pakistan announced this crucialproject in Parachinar Kurram Agencyon merit . The govt can boost ties withneighboring Afghanistan by announc-ing FATA Medical College atParachinar as gift to tribal’s peoplewith addition to surrounding fourprovinces of Afghanistan.

Sajid HussainEmail:afpak.affairs.expert@gmail.com

when it comes to important positions,instead of appointing people on merit,Sharif brothers are in the habit ofobliging their relatives, friends andfavourites in violation of laid downprocedures and allegedly, even in vio-lation of court orders. I remember themess Nawaz Sharif had made duringhis last stint when the foreign ex-change reserves were nearly wipedout and the government had resortedto confiscating foreign exchange heldlegally by Pakistanis in their foreigncurrency accounts, paying rupeeequivalent later.

And all rules and regulations, likepublic procurement rules and laiddown procedures are being bypassed.And there is a great hurry to sell ofstate-owned entities, even those thatare earning handsome profits. And hissons often join him while he is onforeign tours, despite having no offi-cial capacity. And important projectsare being started without thoroughvetting. Obviously, all these thingscreate serious questions as to the in-tegrity of those in power.

And now nearly the whole coun-try was shut off to stop Holy Quranrecitation at Minhaj ul Quran pre-mises in the memory of those whogot martyred at Minhaj ul Quran Sec-retariat and also for the Armed forcespersonnel who laid down their livesfighting militants and terrorists so thatwe may have a better future. Therewas really no need to get so panickybecause Dr. Tahir ul Qadri had prom-ised that the occasion would be peace-ful, and his march to Islamabad hadproved that he has exemplary capac-ity to control his followers.

And now the PML-N seems tobe enlisting the support of even reli-gious people who we are unfortunateenough to have as leaders, in order tocome out of its grave self-created cri-sis. A Maulana, who would fetchgreat value if sold by weight, pro-vided some one was prepared to buyhim on that basis, was on televisionattacking Dr. Tahir ul Qadri, equat-ing him with Lal Masjid clerics. So,PML-N is employing just about ev-ery trick in order to neutralize Dr.Tahir ul Qadri.

With all the developments thatare taking place, PML-N predicamentin future is likely to prove worse thanthe present, I think the situation isbeyond Sharif Brothers’ capacity tohandle and it is definitely time forthem to throw in the towel.

With all the wealth amassed bySharif brothers, which is more thanenough to enable them to live in royalstyle for the rest of their lives, andtheir children also having similarlyprospered, they should now retirefrom politics and spend time enjoy-ing the comforts that their wealth canbuy, instead of just trying to grabmore wealth and in the process,snatch even the morsels from starv-ing people, and being constantlychased by people who have rejectedthem totally. If Sharif brothers werereally popular, their opposition wouldhave just fizzled out without themhaving to take all the measure in or-der to restrain it. And the main thrustfrom Imran Khan is still to come.

There were newspaper reports thatSharif brothers are trying to secureAmerican visas for their domestic ser-vants which, I think, is a wise move.And if they have decided to leave,which they would have to do even ifthey don’t want to do so, then whycreate all these animosities that couldhaunt them even in the future, makingtheir retirement life unpleasant?—Karachi

In this image taken from video a convoy of white trucks with humanitarian aid leaves Alabino, outside Moscow Tuesday,Aug. 12, 2014. The convoy of 280 Russian trucks headed for eastern Ukraine after agreement was reached on an interna-tional humanitarian relief mission.

RIYADHIA—secretary Gen-eral of the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation, IyadAmeen Madani, on Mon-day 11 August 2014 metwith the Foreign Ministerof the Republic of Sudan,Ali Ahmed Karti, who wason an official visit to theOIC.

Both sides discussedbilateral relations betweenthe OIC and Sudan andhow to further improvethem in various fields.

They also exchangedviews on how to strengthenthe presence of the OIC inthe international arena andconfront the growing chal-lenges facing the Muslimworld, notably the dangerof growing sectarian polar-ization, the widening circle

OIC SG meetsSudan’s foreign

ministerof terrorism in many re-gions of the Muslimworld, and developmentalchallenges facing govern-ments and peoples ofMuslim countries.On another hand, the Sec-retary General discussedwith Foreign MinisterKarti the unfolding eventsin the Gaza Strip and theongoing preparations toconvene and extraordi-nary meeting at the levelof foreign ministers onIsrael’s aggression on theGaza strip, which wouldtake place at the OIC Gen-eral Secretariat.

This is the secondministerial meeting beingconvened within a monthby the OIC on the Israeliattack on Gaza—PR.

Iran president underfire for brandingcritics ‘cowards’

TEHRAN—Iran’s presidentcame under fire from MPsTuesday for branding his crit-ics as “political cowards” andurging them “go to hell” if theyinsist on opposing his policies.

President HassanRouhani’s remarks 24 hoursearlier were aimed at hardlineconservatives who have bridledat his efforts to improve rela-tions with the West and securea nuclear deal. But denouncinghis opponents prompted abacklash from dozens of MPswho signed a letter demandingthat Rouhani come to parlia-ment to explain himself.

One conservative law-maker said that 200 of theparliament’s 290 memberswould eventually sign the let-ter. According to another MPquoted on Iranian media, par-liament speaker Ali Larijanitold a closed meeting thatRouhani’s words were “inde-fensible and unacceptable”.

But Larijani went on tourge lawmakers “not to makea big deal of it because thecountry’s economic problemsare significant” and more wor-thy of their attention. ViewgalleryIran's parliamentspeaker Ali Larijanigestures …

I ran’s par l iamentspeaker Ali Larijani ges-tures during a press confer-ence on the sideline of the…In his fiery speech, Rouhaniattacked the hardline fac-tions within parliament whohave consistently opposedhim, part icular ly on thenuclear issue, since he tookoffice after a surprise elec-tora l v ic tory las t year.“Some of them chant slo-gans but they are politicalcowards,” he said of thosewho are sceptical or againsta nuclear agreement.

“As soon as we negoti-ate they start shaking. Go tohell and find somewhere tostay warm,” Rouhani toldhis opponents. A moderatewhose tenure has so far fo-cused on economic and for-eign policy, Rouhani saidIran faces three phobiasabroad: I ranophobia ,Is lamaphobia andShiaphobia—AFP.

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s caretaker premier Nuri Al-Maliki said Wednesday it will take a court rul-ing for him to leave power, defying thepresident’s decision to task a rival with form-ing a government. “I confirm that the govern-ment will continue and there will not be a re-placement for it without a decision from thefederal court,” Al-Maliki said in his televisedweekly address.

The two-term premier has accused Presi-dent Fuad Masum of violating the constitutionby approving the nomination of Haidar Al-Abadi, a member of his Dawa party, to form agovernment, and vowed he would sue.

Iraq’s Al-Maliki says will not quit without court rulingHe also said Al-Abadi’s nomination “had no

value.” In a televised speech, Al-Maliki said ev-eryone should accept a federal court ruling on anobjection he filed against Abadi’s appointment.But the prospects of Al-Maliki — who told AFPin 2011 that he would not seek a third term —succeeding in his quest to cling to office appeardim. Whatever ruling the court might deliver, ana-lysts say Al-Maliki has lost too much support tostay in power. And international backing has mean-while poured in for Abadi, including from bothWashington and Tehran, the two main foreignpower-brokers in Iraq. The political transitioncomes at a time of crisis for Iraq—Arab News.

Iraq, Syria, Ukraineand Gaza are falling

apart and John Kerry’snot helping

PETER VAN BUREN

IN what is almost certainly his last job in public service, Secretary of State John Kerry is bumbling his way around theworld, ricocheting from crisis to crisis. The idea of the last

chapter of his biography portraying him as a punch line can’t sitwell. But is it Kerry’s fault, or is he simply being swept up in anAmerican foreign policy in historic disarray?

America lashed out after the September 11, 2001 attacks,and a decade later has substituted strategic incoherence for idi-otic decisiveness. A common meme is that Kerry is at worst abad actor stuck in an even worse movie, contributing little to liftit up but at the same time not baring any real responsibility forthe flick’s failure.

There’s truth in that, but it misses Kerry’s genuine capacityfor haplessness. Over decades, this kind of serial failure just didnot happen to previous secretaries of state. Not Schultz, not Baker,not Powell, not Albright, not Clinton.To understand John Kerry’s near-unique failures as secretary ofstate, it is important to look at how a secretary’s trips abroad areconducted, and how secretaries in the past have used the StateDepartment to accomplish their goals. I know, because duringmy own 24-year career at the State Department, I was on thereceiving end of many of these visits.

A secretary of state visit is planned in excruciating detail,both by Washington staff (known to insiders as “The Line”) andby the embassy on the ground. Short notice just means morepeople stay up later to prepare. Senior people at State doing thiswork have likely been in government since the Reagan adminis-tration, as Foreign Service Officers are not political appointees,and serve both Democratic and Republican administrations overtheir careers. “Use the building,” the rank-and-file always say toincoming secretaries, “take advantage of the expertise of the sixfloors below your office.” Nobody can know everything.

“Talking points” are a key planning item used to pull in allthat expertise. The points ensure a tired and busy secretary doesnot need to know everything, and neither leaves out somethingimportant nor strays from policy. When a superpower’s interests— never mind world markets and the possibility of war — areon the line, precision of speech is critical. An example of Kerry’sunintended consequences? An offhand remark by the secretary,less than a year ago, saying that Syria could avoid U.S. airstrikesif they turned in their chemical weapons propelled Vladimir Putininto the role of unlikely peacemaker. He failed to do what mostneed to be done in a crucial situation — just read the cards.

Another Kerry failing is not using his many deputies to setthe stage for his visits. In the spring, Kerry flew out on what wasintended to be his signature diplomatic achievement, a peaceagreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel’s announce-ment a few months later canceling a release of prisoners endedthat; didn’t anyone arrange ahead of time for Israel’s acquies-cence? The use of deputies not only lays the groundwork for atriumphant secretarial visit, it prevents such equal-scaled secre-tarial failures. If things go smoothly with the deputies, great. Iftalks break down, well, the secretary wasn’t directly involved. Itis much harder to succeed in the other direction — juniors rarelycan get the toothpaste back into the tube. At best the embassy isleft scrambling to ensure high-level stumbles don’t derail worka-day issues.

A secretarial visit has traditionally not been to initiate smallsteps, but to cap off big efforts; he or she otherwise appears weak,or inconsequential.

But this secretary parachutes himself into each crisis in agame of global whack-a-mole. Iraq tumbles into civil war, andKerry contributes a short visit, emerging only with empty assur-ances of unity. Following accusations of election fraud, JohnKerry zooms out to Afghanistan to broker a hasty agreement,which now seems headed into crisis. Why is Kerry nowhere tobe seen afterward until a new crisis-within-a-crisis, a murderedgeneral, pops up? Because he has been to 36 countries in lessthan the last eight months, more than one stop a week. Somedays seems like Kerry is the only senior official left at State witha government credit card allowing for international trips.

Kerry seems to confuse effort for outcome; the State Depart-ment obsessively tracks his travel time as if it was billable hours.His frantic diplomacy (the last two weeks for example, India for72 hours; Africa Civil Society Forum in Washington, August 4-6; an unannounced trip to Afghanistan; a six-day trip to Myanmar,Australia, the Solomon Islands and Hawaii) leaves him little timeto follow-up on past efforts. As the United States finds itselfplaying catch-up to Putin in the Ukraine and the Islamic State inIraq, Kerry is literally adrift mid-Pacific.

“At least you know you’ve made that effort to try to sparelives and to find a legitimate way forward,” the secretary saidfollowing his most recent failures over Gaza. “That’s our job, totry to do that.”

—Courtesy:By Reuters.

OSAMA AL SHARIF

THE coming few hours will be crucial indetermining if a political solution willbe found to end the war between Pales-

tinian resistance forces in Gaza and Israel.A new three-day truce has been agreed

upon and the Israeli delegation is back in Cairoto deliver its response to Palestinian demandsthrough the Egyptian intermediary. But thegap between the two sides remains wide andPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is resist-ing pressure to give Hamas anything that canbe interpreted as victory. Instead he is push-ing for acceptance of his condition that a wide-range political deal must include the demilita-rization of the Strip.

Failure to achieve an agreement means thathostilities will flare up again and both sideswill be drawn into a war of attrition.The cost will be high for both. Netanyahu’scoalition is divided between those who believethe military option is no longer suitable andthat Israel should engage in a political deal,and those, on the far right, who think the armyshould finish the job even if it meansreoccupation of Gaza. Netanyahu would rathergive nothing to the Palestinians and return tothe status quo ante i.e. keeping the blockadeand maintaining a long-term truce.

Gaza solution must be inclusiveFor Hamas and other resistance groups

such an option is off the table. It means thatIsrael had won and that the heavy price paidby civilians in Gaza was all for nothing. Fur-thermore, it would gravely unsettle Hamas,both politically and militarily, and take offarmed resistance from the equation of Pales-tinian-Israeli conflict. But most of all such anoption is not realistic. Gaza has been destroyedin over a month of Israeli bombardment; itsinfrastructure has collapsed.

There is an ongoing humanitarian crisis,which requires regular and unimpeded flowof aid and goods into Gaza from all sides.Gazans will not accept anything less than thefull lifting of the economic blockade. It is hardfor Israel to acknowledge that it did not win inthis latest confrontation. The political price willeventually be paid by Netanyahu and the topbrass in the military and intelligence.

And as a result Israel must now accept thatit cannot force a humiliating settlement onGaza. Going back to the pre-July 8 flare up isno longer tenable. Even US President BarackObama agrees that Gaza’s isolation should end.

Allowing the war to resume will provedetrimental to both sides. Israelis are gettingfed up with having to head to shelters everytime a rocket is launched from Gaza. Theeconomy has suffered and there is limited sup-port for an extended operation that will involve

full-fledged occupation. Israelis are coming togrips with the fact that their army has lost theweapon of deterrence.

But most importantly, perhaps, is the factthat Israel’s image abroad has been tarnishedas a result of using excessive violence againstPalestinian civilians, including children.Israel’s month-long onslaught against Gazanshas boosted support for Palestinians worldwideas demonstrated by public rallies held in manycountries.

Public pressure on western governments,which had supported Israel’s operation in Gazainitially, is mounting forcing leaders to openlycriticize the use of force against civilians andcalling for an end to hostilities. Continuing topound Gaza will no longer be acceptable bythe US and others and Israel’s window to carryout more bombings has already closed.

On the other hand, Hamas, Islamic Jihadand others continue to enjoy the support ofthe majority of Gazans, despite the heavyprice. But this may change if the war re-sumes and the humanitarian disaster ex-pands. Meanwhile, no one really knowswhen the stockpiles of rockets will run outor how long can the resistance maintain itswar of attrition. With the ongoing blockadeit will be impossible for the resistance toreplenish its stocks of rockets. But it seemsto reassure its enemy that it’s in it for the

long run.Egypt’s role in bringing the twosides closer is crucial. Perhaps this role willassume more importance following the re-cent visit by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisito Saudi Arabia where he discussed the Gazacrisis with King Abdullah. Both countriesnow see an opportunity to find a long-termpolitical solution to the Gaza issue.

One immediate step would be to encour-age the Palestinian Authority (PA) and theEuropeans to take over the border crossing ofRafah, on the Palestinian side. This wouldensure the regular flow of goods and passen-gers and would alleviate the humanitarian cri-sis. One thing that needs to be stressed by theArabs now is the Gaza conflict cannot be sepa-rated from the entire Palestinian issue. The corechallenge here is the ongoing Israeli occupa-tion and the failure so far to find a politicalsettlement.

Israel would loath to see international pres-sure gathering to force it to meet its obliga-tions as an occupying power. But if stabilityand security is to be guaranteed Israel’s occu-pation must end. The coming hours thereforeare crucial. The Palestinians should remainunited in their position and demands. TheEgyptian mediator, backed by the Arabs,should push for a more comprehensive ap-proach to the conflict

—Arab:News.

Kremlin’s PeacekeepersWon’t Bring Peace

ALEXANDER GOLTS

LAST week, the UN Security Council held an emergencymeeting in New York at Russia’s request. There, Russianrepresentative Vitaly Churkin spared no effort in describ-

ing the humanitarian catastrophe in southeastern Ukraine.Besides the nearly 1,500 deaths, several hundred thousand refu-gees including children and the elderly have been left to the mercyof fate. This requires immediate intervention from the globalcommunity, Churkin said. Kiev, at least according to Moscow,has failed to provide safe passage for non-combatants, and soRussia should step in to lead convoys of humanitarian aid forthose trapped in the conflict zone.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently vis-ited the 15th Motorized Rifle Brigade, a military unit specifi-cally created for peacekeeping operations. He praised the sol-diers’ training, and noted significantly: “The world has changeddrastically. As you know from past incidents, including the ex-perience of this brigade, peacekeeping units can be called uponunexpectedly.”

At practically the same time, troubling announcementscame out of various Western nations. Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk said he had information that the risk of directmilitary intervention by Russia in Ukraine had risen sharply.NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in an official state-ment that Russia had amassed about 20,000 troops on its bor-der with Ukraine and could use the pretext of humanitarianaid or a peacekeeping mission to send them into its neighbor’sterritory.

Kiev, however, has been ignoring this ploy and continuingmilitary actions, regardless of losses among its troops or the deathsof civilians. And although it’s highly unlikely that Ukraine willachieve a smooth military victory, the separatists have nothinggood to look forward to in the coming weeks.

The likely chaos of the next few weeks could, though, pro-vide the pretext needed for Russia to send in troops under theguise of protecting humanitarian convoys. Military accompani-ment for a convoy will force Ukrainian troops into a temporarycease-fire, giving the “militants” a breather.

But who exactly is Moscow trying to fool, calling a Russianinvasion “peacekeeping”?

—Mascow: Times.

Putin needs an‘Off-Ramp’ forUkraine’s crisis

UKRAINE—Putin will staylocked into the logic of escala-tion, risking the need to com-mit ground forces to counterthe Ukrainian army’s advances.Having released a wave of na-tionalist, patriotic emotion inRussia, Putin’s main difficultyis that he cannot afford to loseor, at least, be seen to lose.

But this does not mean thatoutright conflict with Ukraineis the only option. The secu-rity of gas supplies for Ukraineand the European Union thiscoming winter is about to rearits head again and may providefresh impetus for Russia andUkraine to resolve their differ-ences. Negotiations betweenMoscow and Kiev on the pricefor Ukraine’s gas imports fromRussia remain deadlocked,with Ukraine not currentlybuying gas from Russia. Thisis not a sustainable position foreither side because Russianeeds to guarantee flows of gasthrough Ukraine to its Euro-pean customers while Ukrainerequires sufficient gas to sur-vive the winter. Neither sidehas a feasible alternative.

But although Putin will un-doubtedly want to use the gasissue to Russia’s advantage, italso provides an opportunity forthe EU to bring Kiev and Mos-cow to the table since all partieshave a strong vested interestedin ensuring reliable deliveries ofgas. The standoff between Mos-cow and Kiev on gas needs tobe resolved as part of a broadersettlement of the Russia-Ukraineconflict. First, Russia prevails onseparatist forces to halt the in-surgency in return for an end toKiev’s anti-terrorist operationand guarantees of stronger rep-resentation of the eastern regionsin government, including directelections of governors and in-creased regional autonomy. Kievcan do nothing less, in any case,if it is to provide the populationof the east of Ukraine with a fu-ture.

Second, Kiev commits not topursue NATO membership with-out the support of an overwhelm-ing majority of the population. Inreturn, Moscow drops its objec-tions to Ukraine pursuing its re-lationship with the EU and agreesnot to impede the implementationof the EU association agreement.It also agrees to charge Ukraine afair price for its gas without spe-cial discounts that can be with-drawn arbitrarily.

Third, Kiev guaranteescontinued protection of theRussian language in Ukrainewith preservation of some ele-ments of the 2012 language lawthat made it an official lan-guage in the south and east ofthe country. Again, Kiev willhave little to lose on the issueof language since it needs toshow a degree of flexibility toRussian speakers in the east inorder to secure their loyalty.

In short, there is space forRussia and Ukraine to agree ona deal that does not undercutKiev’s sovereignty while alsoallowing Putin to show to aRussian audience that he hasachieved his aims.

In turn, Kiev has every rea-son to want to stabilize relationswith Russia and prevent the es-tablishment of a “frozen conflict”in the east of the country. Ofcourse, Putin is not a man whobelieves in win-win outcomes.But faced with the prospect ofbeing seen in Russia to have losthis battle with the West overUkraine, he cannot be insensitiveto the increasingly urgent need tochange his game plan and find away out—Mascow Time.

ABHA—Indian maids to arrive in 3 monthsMiteb: No foreign troops on northern KSA bor-der11 Philippine schools to take part in Bahraininterschool competition Joint team to protect do-mestic labor rights

Cheated Indian women workers stillstranded More Ten people were killed and 18injured when the car in which they were travel-ing overturned on a road in the Asir region onTuesday morning, said Ahmed Asiri, Asir’s RedCrescent spokesman.

“Eleven rescue teams from the Red Cres-

Car crash kills 10, injures 18 in Abhacent and surrounding hospitals were immedi-ately dispatched to the site to assist Civil De-fense authorities and security forces in rescueoperations,” the spokesman said.

“Upon arrival, teams had found the ToyotaSequoia overturned with everyone inside.”The fatal crash had occurred on a road inTathleeth. The injured were transferred to theTathleeth General Hospital for treatment.The driver was one of the victims, while four ofthe survivors are said to have sustained severeinjuries.Road accidents in the Kingdom claimthousands of lives every year—KMS.

BEIRUT—Jihadists from the Islamic State(IS) group have taken control of a stringof villages in the northern Syrian provinceof Aleppo, a monitoring group said onWednesday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said the extremist grouphad managed to seize the six villages northof the city of Aleppo, and not far from theborder with Turkey. Fighting was ongo-ing for control of another village in thearea, Arshaf, the group said.

The Observatory said the group tookthe areas “after fierce clashes with rebelsand Islamist battalions that remained in thearea after Al Nusra Front and other Islam-ist battalions withdrew at the end of July”.Al Nusra Front, which is Al Qaeda’s Syr-ian branch, joined moderate and Islamistrebel groups in a coalition that began fight-

Islamic State advances in Syria’sAleppo province

ing the Islamic State in January. But inrecent weeks, Al Nusra has also foughtother rebel groups, further complicatingthe status of the armed opposition in Syria.The Observatory said the IS capture of thevillages was a strategic prize, because itwould open the way for the group to at-tack the towns of Marea and Azaz. Mareais a stronghold of the Islamic Front, a coa-lition of Islamist groups that is amongthose fighting against IS.

Azaz sits next to the border crossingwith Turkey, which would be a valuableasset to IS as it seeks to expand its self-declared “caliphate” in the territory it holdsin Syria and neighbouring Iraq. The Is-lamic State emerged from Al Qaeda’s one-time branch in Iraq, and initially foughtalongside Syria’s opposition, includingmoderate rebels and Al Nusra fighters. But

its abuses against civilians and rival fight-ers, as well as its bid to dominate controlof captured territory, sparked a backlash.

The group was pushed out of much ofthe territory it held in Aleppo province bythe coalition of moderate and Islamistrebels that turned against it in January.

But it has been able to recapture someof that lost ground, and is advancing inAleppo while consolidating its hold in itsstronghold of Raqa province and sweep-ing forward in Iraq.

The Observatory said its advances inAleppo had been assisted by the decisionof the Islamist Dawud Brigade to pledgeallegiance to the Islamic State.

More than 170,000 people have beenkilled in Syria since the conflict beganthere in March 2011.

The government under exponentiallymounting pressure has finally agreed uponpermitting the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)for its long march in Islamabad.

According to details, Information Min-ister Pervez Rasheed while acting upon spe-cial directives by the Prime Minister NawazSharif, telephoned the chief of Jamate Islami(JI), Siraj ul Haq and informed him that thegovernment has decided to permit PTI tocarry on with its long march.

He told the JI ameer that the permissionwas mainly given due to his repeated con-sultation.

The Lahore High Court on Wednesdayrestrained Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from ‘il-legally and unconstitutionally’ taking out‘Azadi march’ (independence march) inIslamabad on Aug 14.

The court observed that, “We also wantprotection of people, hence the court cannotallow closure of the country”. The court is-sued these directives while hearing a peti-tion against placement of containers on dif-ferent points of Punjab by administration forsecurity purpose.

The PTI lawyer Ahmed Owais also saidcourt did not bar the party from carrying outAzadi march. He added that decision oncourt’s verdict will be taken after consulta-tion with party members.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said onWednesday that the marches have nothingto do with the army referring to PTI’s ‘Azadi’march and PAT’s ‘Inqilab’ march to the fed-eral capital on August 14.

Talking to the media in Islamabad, Nisarsaid that hurdles will not be created to ob-struct any political activities that take placewithin the ambit of the Constitution, addingthat ”some elements” are threatening thedemocratic process and instigating themasses against the state.

He added that at a time when the Paki-stan Army is fighting a war against militantsin North Waziristan, the focus of the nationhas shifted to a long march.

March to go on, come what may: ImranFrom Page 1

Finance Minister saidImran Khan’s demands are ex-tra-constitutional, which can-not be fulfilled.

He said the PrimeMinister’s proposal should beaccepted and let the judicialcommission investigate aboutthe rigging allegations. He saidfor next elections, all partiesneed to focus on bringing elec-toral reforms to make electionprocess more credible. FederalMinister for PrivatizationCommission Zubair Omar,who was present in the pressconference said no interna-tional or local institution hadpredicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s victory in 2013 elec-tions. He said victory of PML-N on 130 seats was predictedby various international orga-nizations including Free andFair Election Network(FAFEN).

Finance Minister Ishaq Daron Wednesday claimed the on-going political crisis has causedRs300 billion worth of lossesat the Karachi Stock Exchange.“Imran Khan knows very wellthat his demands for caretakersetup are unconstitutional; theprime minister cannot be re-moved according to hiswishes” Dar stated. The financeminister made it clear thatImran and the Azadi Marchwould be dealt with politically,while Tahirul Qadri would bedealt administratively.

Dar rejectsFrom Page 1

security threats. The localstaff working in those mis-sions have also been directedto be cautious and preferablyfollow instructions of Work-at-Home.

Talking to this scribe ontelephone, some of the diplo-mats complained that theirscheduled meetings with thegovernment representativeshave been cancelled.

“ Diplomatic norms donot allow to comment on po-litical situation in Pakistan,but at the same time “we areworried about a state of insta-bility. We want Pakistan astable, prosperous and for-ward looking state,” theysaid.

Security threat to themwill also increase due to in-stability, they said.

DiplomatsFrom Page 1

Referring to the Lahore High Court’s(LHC) decision that no party will be allowedto hold an “unconstitutional long march” orany “unconstitutional sit-in”, Nisar said thatas long as any party respects this decisionthey can carry on with their marches afterasking for due permissions.

He said that the PTI should write to thedistrict administration seeking permission fortheir march.

Referring to PTI chairman Imran Khan’sdemands that Prime Minister Nawaz Sahrifshould resign, Nisar said that an elected pre-mier cannot resign on the request of violentcrowds.

Attacking Imran’s claims that he is lead-ing a march to the federal capital to ensurefree and fair elections, Nisar said that if thatwas Imran’s agenda then he should have ac-cepted Nawaz’s offer to form a three-mem-ber judicial commission to probe rigging al-legations.

Defending the road blockades and im-position of Article 245 in Islamabad, Nisarsaid that the government had intelligencereports from local and international intelli-gence agencies pointing towards serious se-curity threats to the long march and that someleaders were the targeted. Hence, the deci-sion was taken to implement strict securitymeasures.

“We were damned if we did and we weredamned if we didn’t,” he said.

Further, Nisar said that PAT chief DrTahirul Qadri has “no right to protest” andhe has given the “license” to kill to his sup-porters which is unconstitutional.

He also raised concerns over PTI andPAT’s decision to march together since nowthey could not differentiate who was who.

A full bench of the Lahore High Courton Wednesday issued a short order whichprohibits unconstitutional long march and sitin. The Court restrained PTI and PAT from“ launching the Azadi March, Inquilab Marchor holding a dharna at Islamabad in an un-constitutional way keeping in view the sanc-

tity of independence day and the chaotic anduncertain situation prevailing in the coun-try.”

However, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)leader Shireen Mazari said, the march wouldgo ahead regardless of the court order.

The short order issued by the high courtsaid that any march that causes anarchy isunconstitutional and not allowed.

The court dismissed the petition regard-ing the arrest of Pakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri.

PTI lawyer Ahmed Owais, however, saidoutside the court that Irman Khan’s marchis not unconstitutional.

Additional Attorney Genereal NaseerBhutta said the long march and sit-in areunconstitutional and the government can useall resources to stop them.

The petition was filed by a citizen againstthe PTI’s decision to hold its ‘Azadi march’on independence day in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, the full bench of LahoreHigh Court (LHC) on Wednesday orderedPunjab government to remove containers andbarriers placed to block roads in the prov-ince.

The bench comprising Justice MahmoodAhmad Bhatti, Justice Arshad MahmoodTabassum and Justice Ch MuhammadMasood Jahangir passed the short orderwhile allowing a petition filed by GoharNawaz Sindhu, a member of Insaf LawyersForum, and an intra court appeal byMuhammad Alamgir against arrest of PTIworkers and containers barriers placed acrossthe province.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel arguingbefore the court submitted that the peoplewere being affected due to containers in-stalled to block roads across the province.He pointed out that many wedding proces-sions (barats), patients and others were fac-ing problems as a result of roads closure.

He said that the step was a violation offundamental rights including freedom ofmovement. He pleaded the court to issue di-

rections for removal of barriers. To a courtquery, Advocate General Punjab (AGP)Muhammad Hanif Khatana produced a docu-ment notification of police authorities for in-stalling barriers to secure life of ordinarypeople.

To another court query about containersin Model Town area the AGP replied thatresidents could come and go in area. How-ever, the bench observed that the police or-ders were a sort of internal arrangement andit could not be held as an order.

The court observed as to how these or-ders were communicated to general public.The AGP replied that the plan was adver-tised in all newspapers for information ofpublic. He further said that all fundamentalrights were subject to reasonable restrictionswhereas there were threats to life of Dr Tahirul Qadri.

The court observed that if there werethreats to Dr Tahir ul Qadri thenarrangements should be made for his securityinstead of closing the area. However the AGPreplied that the government was taking allsteps in the public interest as there wereapprehensions of terrorism. He further saidthat Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) sit-inwas also causing problems for residents ofthe area. He said that these sit-ins were beingobserved to dislodge an elected government.

Ahmad Owais, counsel for PTI said thatPTI was agitating within constitutional lim-its against alleged rigging. He contended thatfundamental rights of people were affecteddue to installation of containers. InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP) Punjab MushtaqSukhera told the court that district policeofficers had ordered to install containers bar-riers in their respective districts as per po-lice rules in the prevailing circumstances.

The bench questioned AGP why PTI wasnot being allowed to protest if they werepeaceful. The AGP replied that they wantedto topple the elected government.

The bench after hearing arguments of allparties announced a short order for removal

of containers in the province. The Punjabgovt filed review petition against the courtorder. The court deferred its decision.

The Punjab government filed a reviewpetition against the Lahore High Court’sorder to remove containers placed on ma-jor arteries across the Province.

The review petition was rejected by theLHC.

The review petition had stated that thecourt did not have authority to interfere inthe provincial government’s security andadministrative matters.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) alsodirected the government to reopen the en-try points of twin cities blocked with con-tainer ahead of two protest marches.

The IHC issued its ruling on a petitionfiled by President District Bar Association,directing the authorities to remove barri-cades and containers placed on main entryand exit points of Islamabad andRawalpindi.

The court in its ruling described theblockade as violation of fundamental rights.

The Lahore High Court on Wednesdaydismissed a petition calling for arrest of Pa-kistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief DrTahirul Qadri on charges of ‘inciting vio-lence’. The petition, filed by citizenKhursheed Alam, called for the issuing ofan arrest warrant against Qadri.

The petitioner pleaded that despite reg-istering an FIR against Qadri, the policehad not yet arrested him.The LHC bench rejected the plea forQadri’s arrest, saying that in the currentpolitical crisis, the arrest of any politicalleader may lead to further unrest. The benchadded that arresting any political leader wasthe job of the police, therefore the courtwould not give any judgment on the issue.

Earlier the Lahore High Court onWednesday inquired Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) advocate Ahmed Owais overthe possibility of a special and protectedvenue for the long march.

IndependenceDay today

From Page 1

Special prayers will be of-fered for prosperity, integrity andsolidarity of the country, unity ofthe Muslim Ummah and for suc-cess of the long drawn struggleof the Kashmiris. There will be apublic holiday day throughout thecountry on Thursday.

The traditional flag hoistingceremony will be held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad, wherePresident Mamnoon Hussainwill hoist the national flag.

Prime Minister,Muhammad Nawaz Sharif willalso be present on the occasion.The ceremony will be attendedby services chiefs, foreign am-bassadors, members of parlia-ment along with other key per-sonalities of the country.

The flag hoisting ceremo-nies will also be held at provin-cial Capitals and district Head-quarters besides other impor-tant national institutions.

frontation,” he said addressingcolourful independence daycelebrations here at the Parlia-ment House.

Nawaz Sharif said it wasimperative for safeguarding ofindependence that Pakistanprogresses in all fields of life.

“It is essential that damsare constructed, industries areset up, highways, sea portseducational institutions arebuilt, energy projects aresetup, employment opportuni-ties are created and the wholecountry becomes prosperous,”the Prime Minister said.

He however regretted thatunfortunately the countrycould not focus on this missionin past 68 years.

The ceremony that beganwith the recitation from theHoly Quran was followed byNational songs, and tableauxdepicting the supreme sacri-fices rendered by the nation incountry’s struggle for indepen-dence.

PM calls for pledge to protect constitutionFrom Page 1

dollar level in the currency mar-kets.

Following a free fall at theKarachi Stock Exchange theother day, the rupee has alsocome under severe pressuredue to uncertain political situ-ation ahead of planned ‘Azadi’and ‘Inqilab’ marches on thecapital scheduled for tomor-row, Thursday. Currency mar-ket dealers said that there issome heavy dollar buying fromimporters in the interbank mar-ket forcing the rupee to lose 70paisas to hit 100-rupee levelagainst the greenback.—INP

Political uncertaintyFrom Page 1

Govt requestsFrom Back Page

probe allegations of rigging inlast year’s elections.

In a letter addressed to theSupreme Court Registrar,Law Secretary BarristerZafarullah Khan said that thegovernment has decided toconstitute a ‘commission ofinquiry’ under the PakistanCommissions of Inquiry Act,1956 (VI of 1956), consistingof three sitting judges, to in-quire into the allegations lev-eled by certain political lead-ers regarding the general elec-tions of 2013 with the follow-ing Term of Reference.

Speaker National Assem-bly, Chairman Senate, Cabinetmembers, leaders of all politi-cal shades, members of na-tional and provincial assem-blies and Senate, ServicesChiefs, diplomats, senior serv-ing and retired government of-ficials participated in the cer-emony held in the spaciouslawns of the ParliamentHouse, with the illuminatedPresidency building in thebackdrop.

The Prime Minister in hisaddress congratulated the na-tion on the auspicious occa-sion of the Independence Dayand said “the day reminds usof the sacrifices rendered bythe Muslims under the leader-ship of Quaid-e-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnah for in-dependence.”

He said the day also re-vives the memories of thegreat poet Allama MuhammadIqbal whose poetry inculcatedthe sense of liberation among

the Muslims and gave the con-cept of an independent Mus-lim state.

He said the IndependenceDay also reminds us of themartyrs who sacrificed theirlives to protect the indepen-dence and for the defense ofPakistan.

Mentioning the ongoingOperation Zarb-e-Azb inNorth Waziristan, the PrimeMinister said governmentmade a sincere effort to re-solve the issue through dia-logue with the militants but thedesired objective could notyield results.

He said after this, an ef-fective operation had becomeinevitable for elimination ofterrorism.

“Our valiant armed forceslaunched Operation Zarb-e-Azb that is going on success-fully. This operation will con-tinue till the terrorism is com-pletely rooted out,” NawazSharif expressed his resolve.

He said the nation salutesthe officers and the soldiers ofarmed forces who sacrificedtheir lives during this opera-tion.

“These martyrs are ourbenefactors who sacrificedtheir lives to protect lives andproperties of 180 million Pa-kistanis and for country’speace. The Ghazis who sur-vived this operation also de-serve equal applause for show-ing exemplary bravery intough conditions,” he re-marked.

He said the governmenthas dedicated this year’s Inde-pendence Day celebrations tothe Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Be-sides civilians and armedforces, the personnel of theFC, Rangers Police, securityagencies as well as the lawenforcement agencies werealso contributing to this waragainst terrorism. “Today, wealso pray for these brave sonsof the soil,” he added.

The Prime Minister saidhundreds of thousands of resi-dents of North Waziristan hadto leave their homes for resto-ration of peace and eliminationof terrorism from the country.

The highlight of the cer-emony was the march past by acontingent comprising the threeservices. It was probably for thefirst time ever that a militaryparade was held inside the Par-liament building, marking theIndependence Day celebrationsas the clock stuck midnight. Theimpressive parade by a contin-gent of Pakistan Army, Navyand Air Force on the beat of‘Mard-e-Mujahid Jaag Zara’enthralled the audience.

The contingent presenteda salute to the Prime Minister.he also reviewed the guard ofhonour.

Following an impressiveperformance by the drummersthe army contingent the PrimeMinister joined the partici-pants and the nation in recit-ing the national anthem as theclock stuck midnight.

It was followed by a flypast of the jets of Pakistan AirForce, throwing illuminatingflares, lighting up the darkskies overhead.

The flypast comprised fourF-16 and four Mirage fighters.It was followed by four Bell412 helicopters and and equalnumber of Mi-17 helicopterswith their navigation lightsswitched on, while the leadinghelicopter carried a large greenand white national flag underits belly, illuminated with itssearch lights.

The programme endedwith a superb display of fireworks as thousands of red,green, white and yellow flares,lit up the entire ConstitutionAvenue, with a thunderousspectacle that left the hugecrowd in an awe.

At the end of the ceremonythe Prime Minister warmlyshook hands with the partici-pants and greeted them overthe Independence Day cel-ebrations.—APP

Demand fortechnocratgovt‘undemocratic’Staff ReporterI S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nPeople’s Party leader andlegal expert Aitzaz Ahsanhas said the demand to formtechnocrat government was‘undemocratic’. Speaking tomedia, Aitzaz Ahsan said:“the constitution of Pakistandoes not permit formation oftechnocrat’s government.”He said if the parliament isdissolved, the interim gov-ernment would be formedwith the consultation ofleader of the house and theopposition leader. He said:“It is the sole discretion ofthe prime minister to dis-solve National Assembly”,adding that no body couldforce the PM to resign ordissolve the parliament.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD–Pakistan onWednesday dismissed as“baseless rhetoric” claims byIndian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi that it waswaging a “proxy war” in dis-puted Kashmir.

India’s Hindu nationalistleader made the remarks onTuesday shortly before visit-ing Kargil, a remote area ofKashmir that was the sceneof a deadly conflict betweenthe nuclear-armedneighbours in 1999.

Pakistan´s foreign minis-try said Modi was “repeatingbaseless rhetoric against Pa-kistan”, in a statement re-leased on Wednesday, andurged Delhi to adopt a more

Modi’s accusations‘most unfortunate’: FOPakistan rejects Kashmir ‘proxy war’ claims

constructive approach.“The press reports of In-

dian accusations, at the high-est political level, are most un-fortunate,” the statement said,stressing Pakistan´s desire for“good neighbourly relations”.

“It would be in thelarger interest of the regionalpeace that instead of engag-ing in a blame game, the twocountries should focus onresolving all issues throughdialogue and work together topromote friendly and coop-erative relations.”

Modi’s visit came a dayafter Pakistan summoned asenior Indian diplomat over across-border firing incidentnear the eastern city of Sialkotat the foot of the Kashmir hills,which the foreign ministry

said killed at least one civil-ian.

On August 12, Modi hadlanded in the remote Hima-layan town a day after the twosides traded accusations ofceasefire violations on theirborder in Kashmir.

Referring to Modi repeat-ing the baseless rhetoricagainst Pakistan regardingterrorism, the Foreign Officespokesperson Tasnim Aslamsaid on Wednesday that Pa-kistan has always condemnedterrorism of any form.

According to the pressrelease, Tasnim Aslam saidthat “Pakistan is the biggestvictim of the menace,” add-ing that the country has lostthe lives of 55,000 people be-cause of terrorism.

Qadri likely tobe arrested after

long marchMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Whether Paki-stan Awami Tehrik (PAT) chiefDr Tahir-ul-Qadri to be al-lowed to participate in thelong march or not, the Punjabgovernment is not so muchconfident about its ownstrategy how to handle thisCanada-returned religiouscleric; however, it is learntfrom some reliable sourcesin the Punjab governmentthat the government hasput the arrest warrants ofDr Tahir-ul-Qadri in a pi-geonhole for a while anddecided to arrest him afterthe long march of 14th Au-gust .

Although the Punjabgovernment and some cer-tain federal ministers inpublic announced to dealwith Tahir-ul-Qadri withiron hands and would notlet him allow spreading an-archy in the country at thename of revolution but thepresent scenario prevailing inLahore tells something totallycontrary to what the govern-ment was planning in regardof Tahir-ul-Qadri.

The Punjab police havenow opted not to arrestQadri as he is currently using‘women and children’ as hu-man shield, a source said add-ing the government wouldnow arrest him after August14 when the situation normal-ized.

The decision has beentaken to avoid direct confron-tation with PAT workers,sources said.

As it is very hard to con-trol different mobs gatheredin different localities of thecity.Continued on Page 7

Govt requestsnomination of 3judges to probe

rigging allegationsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The federalgovernment has written tothe chief justice of Pakistanrequesting him to nominatethree judges for a judicialcommission, as a follow-upof the prime minister’s callfor the Supreme Court to

HEALTHCARE providers, particularly dentists, frequently miss opportunities to advise patients

about ways to stop smoking cigarettes,a new study shows. Since 1996, the U.S.Public Health Service has been urging allhealthcare workers toask every one of theirpatients if they smokeand to counsel smokersto quit, said senior au-thor Amy Ferketich, aprofessor at the OhioState University Collegeof Public Health in Co-lumbus.

But when she andher colleagues analysedsur-vey data from 2010,they found that less than12 percent of smokerswho visited a dentalworker and only half ofsmokers who saw a doc-tor reported receivingguidance about how tobreak the habit. To-bacco researcher Stanton Glantz calledthe find-ings “quite striking.”

“Dental schools and other profes-sional schools are not doing enough toteach how to deal with the issue,” he toldReuters Health. “It’s just a continu-ousslog to try to get time in the curriculum.”Glantz directs the Centre for TobaccoControl Research and Education at theUniversity of California, San Fran-cisco,and was not involved in the currentstudy.

Researchers analysed 2010 NationalHealth Interview Survey data from 3,612smokers who had visited a healthcare

provider within the prior 12 months.They reported their findings in a pub-lica-tion of the Centres for Disease Con-trol and Preven-tion (CDC) called Pre-venting Chronic Disease. The studyfound that only 50.7 percent of smokers

who saw a physician saidthe doctor counselled themto quit.

Dentists scored farworse. Just 11.8 percent ofsmokers who saw a dentistor dental hygienist re-ported receiving advice onhow to stop. Ferketich toldReuters Health the strikingdifference between doctorsand dentists surprised her.“Dental students as well asmedical students should getsome training as to how toaddress the smoking issue,”she said. “Provider adviceto quit is quite powerful. Inthe end, the healthcare sys-tem can save money be-cause patients will quit,” she

said.Counselling combined with nicotine-

withdrawal pharmacology – in the formof patches, gum and lozenges – works,Ferketich said. Since 1964, when thesurgeon general first reported a link be-tween smoking and lung cancer, 8 mil-lion Americans have been saved frompremature smoking-related deaths, an-other 2014 study found (see ReutersHealth story of January 7, 2014 here:reut.rs/XET2nh).

Smoking nonetheless remains theleading cause of preventable death inthe United States, according to the CDC.

Dentists miss chances tourge patients to quit smoking

City Reporter

I S L A M A B A D —Pres iden tMamnoon HussainWednesday said the nationcan confront all internal andexternal challenges by fol-lowing the dictum of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad AliJinnah of Unity, Faith andDiscipline.

Addressing the firstconvocation of the ShaheedZulfiqar Ali Bhutto MedicalUniversity (SZABMU) hereat the Pakistan-ChinaFriendship Centre, the Presi-dent mentioned the series ofdevelopment projects in theareas of energy, infrastruc-ture and communicationsaimed at bringing in an eraof prosperity to the coun-try.

In this regard the Presi-dent mentioned the Eco-nomic Trade Corridor fromKashgar to Gwadar Port andsaid it would significantlyboost country’s trade withChina, Iran, India, CentralAsian Republics and theMiddle East.

President MamnoonHussain addressing thegraduating students, theirparents and the faculty saidthe nation needs to standby those whom they knowwere able to deliver on theirpromises of developmentand progress of the coun-try.

He also regretted thedecline of performance invarious professions, owingto the poor policies of thegovernments of the pastand urged that for the

Convocation of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University

Nation can confront internal, externalchallenges with unity: President

President Mamnoon Hussain addressing at the 1st Convocation ceremony of ShaheedZulfiqar Ali Bhuttoo Medical Univeristy at Pak-China Frendship Centre.

progress of the countrythey need to work with hon-

esty, devotion and dedica-tion.

He said the nation hashigh hopes from the

125 policemenon azadi march

duty fall illISLAMABAD—Dozens of po-licemen fell ill from food poi-soning Wednesday as unhy-gienic and stale food wasserved to them by local ad-ministration ahead of the Pa-kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)Azadi March and PAT’sInqilab March in Islamabadon Independence Day.

According to a privatenews channel, as many as 125policemen from Azad Kash-mir, who were posted alongthe Azadi March route, werehospitalized at PolyclinicHospital after they consumedunhygienic food.

These policemen com-plained about lack of facilities,saying they were served withstale food besides spendingthe whole night under theopen sky. Following the in-flux of policemen, the clinicadministration said that therewas no more space availablefor other patients at the emer-gency ward. —INP

Detained on I-DayZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Unlike the previous indepen-dence days, 2014’s independence day is dif-ferent and…disturbing as people of the fed-eral capital find themselves on this fine morn-ing (today) detained in their houses. All roadsleading to various big and small markets havebeen closed, public transport off the roadsand vendors and daily wage earners nowhereto be seen. The 68th Independence Daybrings in its wake premonition of a storm inthe making.

“This has never occurred in the Capital’shistory. Neither the government nor the op-position are in mood to relent. They are onthe path of confrontation and no one elsebut the common man is to pay the price,”said Nayab Hassan Gardezi a senior lawyerof the Supreme Court of Pakistan and formerPresident of the Islamabad High Court BarAssociation (IHBA) while talking to PakistanObserver on the eve of independence.

A large number of his colleagues, bureau-crats, in service and retired officers and se-nior citizens, those who claim to be presentat the time of Islamabad birth are perturbedat this situation. “Present situation desertedroads and blocking of routes or closure ofshops and markets are not the cause of myworry, I am anxious about what lies next,”said Ijaz Iqbal a retired CDA officer.

We have seen the city grow and glowand take pride in its beautification but nowwhen we see drenches and containers beingbrought in and armed forces patrolling thecity to prevent any untoward incident, wefeel pained deep inside,” he said.

Meanwhile, trucks carrying FC person-nel, reserved police force and paramilitaryforces kept arriving in every nook and cor-ners of the city. By Wednesday night they(forces) had taken their positions and todayis a ‘rest day’ for the Isloos.

Mothers’ big worry is the loss of pre-cious time of their kids. “This is time for thestudents to get books for new classes andstart studies with full devotion. When theyare told that schools are closed for indefi-nite period, obviously they feel happy butfor parents it is not something to cherish,”said Afshan Farooqi a teacher and motherof a son.

She said the work gets piled up and thestudents as well as the teachers have to doextra work in order to compensate for thelost hours. At Karachi Company (G9/4)around one dozen of Islamabad police offi-cials were dropped by a police van who tooktheir positions in the green belt situated onMurree Road. Similarly, along Korang Road,Bani Gala, more than a dozen police officialswere deployed on both sides of the road.This road leads to Imran Khan’s residence.Korang Road was also dug at the entry pointwhere it meets with Murree Road, leavingjust a small patch intact, so that only onevehicle could pass hardly.

The noise of choppers roaming aroundthe capital for aerial surveillance made theatmosphere more freighting. Due to the pres-ence of law enforcement agencies, the roadsof the city became deserted and markets wereclosed early. The tuck shops of fuel stations,which normally attract a large number ofpeople, were without customers.

An illuminated view of Zarai Tarqiati Bank building decorated with colourful lights inconnection with Independence Day celebrations.

country’s youth and particu-larly the women who consti-tute over half of the popula-tion. He urged the parents toensure that their girls getgood education as it wouldhelp them bring up a refinedfuture generation.

President MamnoonHussain said the SZABMUhas achieved a milestonewith its first convocation andlauded the hard work of itsfaculty who in a short periodof time imparted quality edu-cation and over 100 studentsgraduated successfully.

He recalled that whetherit was the Ojhri Camp blast,the horrifying earthquake,floods or Internally Dis-placed Persons, the teachinghospital of SZABMU - Paki-stan Institute of Medical Sci-ences has come to the foreto serve the masses.

04:50 01:3005:30

09:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

City ReporterISLAMABAD—President of Pakistan hasconferred Non-Operational Military awardsupon 33 Officers of Pakistan Air Force onthe occasion of Independence Day of Pa-kistan. The awards include 02 Hilal-i-Imtiaz(Military), 10 Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military) ,15Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military), 02 Sitara-i-Basalat and 04 Tamgha-i-Basalat. Follow-ing Pakistan Air Force officers’ names wereannounced for the respective Non-Opera-tional Military Awards:-

Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military)S No Rank Name

1 Air Marshal Javaid Ahmed2 Air Vice MarshalMuhammad SalmanSitara-i-Imtiaz (Military)1 Air Vice Marshal A h m a rShahzad2 Air Commodore I m r a nKhalid3 Air Commodore S y e d

Noman Ali4 Group Captain Muhammad Aamer5 Group Captain Muhammad Atif6 Group Captain Tariq Yasin7 Group Captain Muhammad WaseemKhan8 Group Captain Asad Amir Pirzada9 Group Captain Tariq Usman Abbas10 Group Captain Arshad Wasim KhanTamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military)1 Group Captain Rashid Habib2 Group Captain Ronald AfzalKhokhar3 Group Captain Jawad Majid Khan4 Group Captain Muhammad AsimAhsan Khan5 Group Captain Syed Salman Khalid6 Group Captain Hassan Kashif7 Group Captain Shahzad Ahmad8 Wing Commander Arif SalamQazi9 Wing Commander Z e e s h a nSaeed10 Wing Commander Syed Imran

Ali 11 Wing Commander MoazzamSiddique Piracha12 Wing Commander R i z w a nAhmed13 Wing Commander ChaudhryMansoor Iqbal14 Wing Commander T a h i rMahmood15 Wing Commander S EjazHayderSitara -i-Basalat1 Wing Commander S y e dOmer Shah2 Wing Commander J a m a lAkbar Afridi (Posthumous)Tamgha -i-Basalat1 Wing Commander G h a z iSalah-Ud-Din2 Wing CommanderMuhammad Jahanzeb Khan3 Squadron LeaderMuhammad Noman Ali Khan4 Flight Lieutenant S a a dSalman (Posthumous)

President confers non-operationalmilitary awards upon officers of

Pakistan Air ForceRAWALPINDI—Minister for Manpower andLabour, Raja Ishfaq Sarwar said on Wednesdaythat no one would be allowed to derail democ-racy through undemocratic means.

Talking to newsmen at the flag hoisting cer-emony held here in connection with the Indepen-dence Day celebrations,Raja said “Our forefa-thers had got a separate homeland through ademocratic and constitutional process instead ofprotests and long marches.”

He said the entire nation united under thedynamic leadership of Prime Minister NawazSharif to render any sacrifice for protection ofideological frontiers of the country and coping

Democracy will not bederailed: Raja Ishfaq

with the challenge of terrorism.He said renowned international economists,

media and organizations had acknowledged thatPakistan was moving fast towards economic sta-bility and prosperity.

He said the PML-N did not believe in vandal-ism as the forefathers of its workers had made anundaunted political and democratic struggle for thehomeland instead of blaming others and holdingprotests Members National Assembly Ibrar Malik,Tahira Aurangzeb,Member Provincial AssemblyRaja Hanif,Tehsin Fawad and local leaders of citychapter Sardar Naseem,Sh Arslan and Dr JamalNasir were also present in the meeting.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Rawalpindi Arts CouncilWednesday staged an informative andconstructive play, ‘Hum Zinda QaumHain,’ based on patriotism in connectionwith Independence Day celebrations.

The main theme of ‘Hum Zinda QaumHain’ was to prove that Pakistanis are abrave nation and ready to face any diffi-cult situation.

Addressing at the occasion, SardarNaseem Divisional Convener Taqrebat-e-Azadi Committee said that the drama re-flected the beautiful culture of all the prov-inces of the country, says a press release.

He said that war against terrorismwould be fruitful if we get united againstit. He also appreciated RAC efforts for

‘Hum Zinda Qaum Hain’

Enough supplyof petrol intwin cities

ISLAMABAD—The petrolpumps owners in twin cities ofIslamabad and Rawalpindi onWednesday said that they werehaving routine supplies ofpetrol without any hindrance.

When contacted, the own-ers of petrol pumps they saidthat a number of vehicles canbe seen getting fuel from thepumps.

They said that rumourswere spread few days ago thatpetrol pumps to be shut downwhich is in correct and enoughpetrol is available in the pumpsfor public consumption.

Motorists talking to APPsaid that the petrol is availableat all the petrol pumps of fed-eral capital as well.

The ministry of Petroleumand Natural Resources has alsodispelled all rumours regardingsuspension of petrol supplies tothe fuel stations. —APP

City Reporter

ISLAMABAD—Residents of twin cities of Rawalpindi andIslamabad were facing difficulties on Wednesday ahead of AzadiMarch due to lack of public transport on roads.

All the roads were clear as police took strick measures forsecurity of citizens but limited public transport on roads cre-ated problems for the people to reach their destination.

“There is a situation of uncertanity all around and no oneis sure what is going to happen”, said Asad a bank employee.“We celebrate Independence Day every year with zeal andfervour but this year everyone is worried about the circum-stances which affected the real spirit of our national day”, headded.

The choas created by some section of media regarding seal-ing of twin cities has confused the public for last three days,said Dr. Zahid Ali a doctor who runs at private clinic.

Shopkeppers of a shopping plaza at Muree road said , thereis no customer on the shop since morning and they are worriedabout their business.

“We will not open our shops on 14th so that no one coulddamage our shops or broke glasses because it is not easy tocontrol mob”, said a shopkepper Asad Ibrahim.

Most of the private and public offices observed thinattendence and staffers who have their own transport face nodifficulty in reaching their workplaces but people who travelthrough public transport remained absent.

Women also faced severe difficulty and wait for hours atbus stops. Asia Zainab an employee of a United Nations Chil-dren Fund (UNICEF) said, “I am waiting for more than oneand a half hour but no transport available”, adding, “I have noidea what will be the situation in the evening”.

Police cops are deployed at all the entry and exit points ofthe capitals and strict security checking of vehilces is going onbut no resident is stopped to travel, said a onduty police officerat Faiz Abad.

He said, “it is our duty to ensure safety of citizens and forthat security has been beefed up but we donot want to stopmovement of residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad”’ he added.

Residents of twin cities facingdifficulties due to road blocks

Residents of twin cities face deep problem due to roads blocked with containers.

conducting of programs of IndependenceDay celebrations.

RAC Resident Director WaqarAhmed addressing the ceremony said thatthe drama, ‘Hum Zinda Qaum Hain’, wasaimed to provide neat and clean entertain-ment to the people of Rawalpindi andIslamabad along with a strong message.

The story was started from a teahouse owned by Pashto speaking but thepeople from other provinces like Punjab,Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistanlived near the tea house and used to taketea on loan.

But after some days some miscreantelements succeeded to get separate themand try to use them for their evil purpose

but later on they all are get united again. A large number of people from the

twin cities watched the play and ap-plauded the efforts of Rawalpindi ArtsCouncil.

The play was written and directedby senior artist, Anjum Malik. SapnaShah, Yar Muhammad, Saleem Afandi,Salman Sunny, Hameed Baber and DildarKhan, Imran Rushdi, Ismael Bshir,Pervaiz Agha and Shehzad Papu werecast in the leading roles of the drama.

Sardar Naseem Divisional ConvenerTaqrebat-e-Azadi Committee accompa-nied by Naheed Manzoor and RAC Resi-dent Director, Waqar Ahmed was guestof honor at the occasion.—APP

ISLAMABAD—People especially youngstershave adorned their vehicles with national flagand stickers to celebrate Independence Day withzeal and fervor.

Bicycles, Motorcycles, cars, coasters, vansand buses are seen decorated with national flagsand buntings in twin cities of Rawalpindi andIslamabad while few of them also used colorfulbunting for beautifying their vehicles.

Asif Azhar a student of BCS sharing hisremarks said, “Me and my friends decorated ourmotorbikes with flags because we are proud tobe an independent nation and want to celebrateour independence day”.

“Everywhere, the world celebrate the In-dependence day with enthusiasm so why do not

we do it with the same spirit”, he added. Our nation is facing a difficult time due to

war on terror and it is time to realize our newgeneration with the importance of our country,said Irfan Ali a lecturer who hoist a big flag onhis car.

Few boys have painted their bikes withgreen and white colours while cars covered withgiant flags were also witnessed in the capital.

Asma Niazi, a government officer said, “Icovered my car with flag and also hoist a flagon my house to apprise my children with theimportance of the independence and history ofthe country”. “It gives me happiness and feel-ing of being a citizen of a free country so I do itevery year”, she said.—APP

People adorn vehicleswith national flag, stickers

Frequentprocessions threatto peaceful civic,

commercialactivities

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadCitizen Committee (ICC) hasexpressed concern over the fre-quent processions and demon-strations that disturbd and cur-tail normal civic life in the twincities of Islamabad andRawalpindi.

President, ICC, LatifAhmad Rana in a statementsaid, “We at ICC are seriouslyconcerned that upcoming ralliesof August 14 which has alreadyparalyzed the whole city, add-ing as a result, the residents ofIslamabad are suffering.

He asked for how long thenation could afford all such dis-ruption. He said the leaders ofpolitical parties must ensure thatnormal civic and commercialactivities are not disrupted, add-ing that they also must ensurethat no public or national prop-erty is damaged or destroyed, orelse, they will tarnish their ownimage and popularity. Besides,it is a national loss as well.

“In this respect media hasits own responsible role to play,”Latif Ahmad Rana said.

He requested governmentto make adequate security ar-rangements in order to ensurethat normal life and commercialactivities are not affected.

He also proposed chiefcommissioner Islamabad to fixroute and a permanent place forrallies and demonstrations, fromresidential and commercial ar-eas in order to minimize disrup-tion of normal life.

The President ICC said thatgovernment should consult allpolitical parties in this regardbuild national consensus on thespecific place.—APP

RAWALPINDI—Central Secretary General,Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Pakistan, Allama Syed RiazHussain Shah has said that Tashakar week forpromoting love and peace will be observed atnational level in connection with the Indepen-dence Day Celebrations.

In a statement here he said that on Aug 13

night, Nawafil-e-Shukrana (thanks-giving-prayers) will be offered. Quran Khawani wouldbe arranged while floral wreaths would be laidon the graves of founder of Pakistan MohammadAli Jinnah, Mufakkir-e-Pakistan, Allama Iqbal,Tehreek-e-Pakistan leaders and graves of mar-tyrs of Pak Army.—APP

Jamaat Ahle Sunnat tooffer Nawafil-e-Shukrana

People busy in purchasing national flags and other related items from vendors to celebrate Independence Day.

Police officials under treatment in Federal Government Services Hospital. Dozens of policemen fell ill from food poisoningas unhygienic and stale food as served to them by local administration.

MUZZAFARABAD: Azad Kashmir President Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan meeting NAB chairman Raza GhazanfarAli on Wednesday.

MUZAFFARABAD: A little girl waving Pakistan flag on the eve of Pakistan Independenceday on Wednesday.

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the APHCChairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani and other lib-eration leaders have felicitated the governmentand the people of Pakistan on the eve of theirIndependence Day.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in his messagethanked the government and the people of Paki-stan for their unflinching support to the Kash-mir cause. Syed Ali Gilani in his statement saidthat a strong Pakistan was very vital for the reso-lution of the Kashmir dispute. Shabbir AhmadShah said that Pakistan made every effort tohighlight the sufferings of the people of Kash-mir at the international level.

Hurriyet leaders, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani,Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Zafar Akbar Butt,Firdous Ahmad Shah, Mir Shahid Saleem,

Kashmiri leaders felicitatePak on Independence Day

Yasmeen Raja and Zamruda Habib while con-gratulating the people of Pakistan on the eve oftheir Independence Day hoped that Pakistanwould continue to support the Kashmiris’ rightto self-determination through thick and thin.Kashmiri leader, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, in a state-ment issued in Washington greeted the peoplein Pakistan in general and those residing inAmerica in particular on the 68th Independenceanniversary of their country.JKLF Chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik,Mukhtar Ahmad Waza and Javed Ahmad Mir intheir interviews and statements said that NewDelhi was using corruption and coercion to sup-press dissenting voices in occupied Kashmir. Onthe other hand, complete shutdown was observedin Shopian town against the highhandedness ofpolice in the area. Call for the strike was givenby Syed Ali Gilani—KMS.

Arrest warrantsissued againstSSP in fake

encounter caseSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, a court in Srinagarordered issuance of arrest war-rant against Senior Superinten-dent of Police (SSP) Jammu,Uttam Chand, for not appear-ing in the 2007 Gandarbal fakeencounter killing case that waslisted for hearing, the other day.Principal District and SessionsJudge, Abdul Rashid Dar or-dered an arrest warrant againstUttam Chand for his non-ap-pearance in the fake encounterkilling of Abdul RehmanPadroo, a carpenter, by Indianpolice and Army in 2007.

The Director General ofPolice has been directed toserve the warrant to the officerand bring him before the courton 29th of this month. Chandwas the chief investigating of-ficer of the Special Investiga-tion Team (SIT) that probed thekilling of Padroo, who waspicked up by the then SSPGanderbal, Hans Raj Parihar,and his accomplices and sub-sequently killed to earn med-als and promotions—KMS.

Railway cop killedin Pulwama

SRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, unknown gunmenshot at and critically injured aHead Constable of RailwayPolice, Rajinder Singh, on therailway track at Malangpora inPulwama.The injured cop was shifted toa hospital in Pampore where hesuccumbed to his injuries, apolice statement said—KMS.

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, pro-freedom leaders including APHC Chair-man Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF Chair-man, Muhammad Yasin Malik and seniorHurriyet leader, Shabbir Ahmad Shah havereiterated in unison that Kashmir is a po-litical issue, which cannot be resolvedthrough economic packages.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a media in-terview in Srinagar cautioned that the po-litical problems needed to be addressedpolitically. He said that New Delhi mustaccept the reality and shun the attitude ofsloganeering of development while under-mining the core issue of Jammu and Kash-mir. “Reality cannot be replaced with roadsand bridges. It needs serious deliberationsand dialogue must be initiated so thatKashmir is resolved,” he stated.

The APHC Chairman reacting to IndianHome Minister, Rajnath Singh’s statement

Modi urged to accept reality over Kashmirexpressing desire for permanent solution tothe Kashmir issue within the ambit of hu-manity, Mirwaiz termed it as “only wayahead” and rejected any solution to the dis-pute within the framework of Indian consti-tution. “There must be dialogue with all thestakeholders of Kashmir dispute includingthe real representatives of Kashmir. All threeparties of the dispute must be taken on boardso that the dispute could be resolved perma-nently or else it would be futile if the dia-logue is held under the framework of Indianconstitution,” the Mirwaiz warned.

Muhammad Yasin Malik in his inter-view said that New Delhi was using cor-ruption and coercion to suppress dissent-ing voices in Kashmir. He said that peopleof Kashmir had always seen the IndianPrime Ministers coming here from NewDelhi with ‘money bags’ and history stoodwitness that the same could never dilute

the ongoing freedom movement.Senior leader of Hurriyet Conference

Jammu and Kashmir (HCJK), ShabbirAhmad Shah reacting to the recent state-ments of Indian Prime Minister, NarendraModi, and Home Minister, Rajnath Singh,said, the Kashmir dispute is an issue ofthe future of more than 15 million peoplewith three stakeholders India, Pakistan andthe people of Kashmir. “The solution tothis long-pending issue lies neither withinthe ambit of Constitution of India nor inutilizing the natural resources of theValley.”APHC leader, Javed Ahmad Mir,in his statement said that the assertionsmade by Narendra Modi and RajnathSingh were self-contradictory.The leaders were reacting to Indian PrimeMinister Modi’s promise for issuing grantfor road connectivity during his visit toJammu and Kashmir—KMS.

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani and seniorAPHC leader, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi have expressed grief and sorrow over thedeath of an Islamic and pro-freedom scholar, DrMuhammad Sadiq, who recently passed awayin Srinagar. At a condolence meeting that washeld in Srinagar with Syed Ali Gilani in the chair,special prayers were offered for the departedsoul.

Speaking on the occasion, Gilani describedDr Muhammad Sadiq as an eminent Islamic andpro-freedom personality who always lived as atrue believer. Agha Syed Hassain Al-Moosiv Al-Safiv in a statement paying tributes to the de-ceased said that Dr Sadiq was a great social and

Condolence expressed overdeath of Dr Sadiq

religious personality, whose services for thecause of humanity would always be remem-bered. The Supreme Commander of UnitedJihad Council, Syed Salahuddin also expressedgrief over the demise of Dr Sadiq. A delegationof Jamaat-e-Islami of occupied Kashmir led byits Ameer, Muhammad Abdullah Wani visitedthe residence of the deceased at Zainakot inSrinagar and expressed solidarity with the be-reaved family. Quran Khwani was held inRawalpindi that was attended by a good num-ber of Kashmiris from all walks of life. DrMuhammad Sadiq was the father of Syed AijazRazwi and maternal uncle of Khawaja ShujaAbbas. The deceased was an intellectual and theauthor of many books on religion—KMS.

WASHINGTON—Kashmiri leader, Dr GhulamNabi Fai has said that the Kashmir question isone of the oldest unresolved international prob-lems in the world and prevails under interna-tional law and by the United States as a dis-puted territory.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai in his statement issuedin Washington while facilitating the people inPakistan in general and those residing inAmerica in particular on the 68th IndependenceDay of the country reminded that when theKashmir dispute erupted in 1947-1948, theUnited States championed the stand that the fu-ture status of Kashmir must be ascertained inaccordance with the wishes and aspirations ofthe people of the territory.

The United States was the principal spon-sor of the resolution # 47 which was adopted bythe Security Council on April 21, 1948 andwhich was based on that unchallenged principle.“According to the international agreements be-tween India and Pakistan, negotiated by theUnited Nations endorsed by the Security Coun-cil, the territory’s status is to be determined bythe free vote of its people under U.N. supervi-sion,” he added. Now is the time for PresidentObama to listen to Candidate Obama who saidon October 30, 2008, “We should probably tryto facilitate a better understanding between Pa-kistan and India and try to resolve the Kashmircrisis.” He said, “Much is being made of thefact that six decades have passed since the prin-

Kashmir oldest unresolvedinternational issue: Dr Fai

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyetleaders and organizations including Syed AliGilani have felicitated the people of Pakistanon their 68th anniversary of independence andhave prayed that Pakistan touches new heightsof peace, progress and prosperity.

The veteran Hurriyet leader, Syed AliGilani in a statement issued in Srinagar said,“It was due to the support of the Islamic Re-public of Pakistan for the right to self-deter-mination of the Kashmiri people that we holdthis country dear and pray for its peace andstability.” “A strong Pakistan is very vitalfor the resolution of Kashmir dispute,”Gilani said. “We do not have any enmity withIndia or its people but against its rulers andpolicy makers who have snatched our free-dom,” he added.

APHC leaders, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, Zafar Akbar Butt, MukhtarAhmed Waza, Yasmeen Raja and Mir ShahidSaleem, in their statements and addresses con-gratulating the people of Pakistan on the eve of

Pakistan felicitated on eve ofIndependence Day

their Independence Day, appealed them to safe-guard the ideological boundaries of their coun-try. They also said that India had no right to cel-ebrate its Independence Day in occupied Kash-mir as it had usurped all the basic rights of thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir.

The leaders of Hurriyet Conference Jammuand Kashmir, Shabbir Ahmed Shah and NayeemAhmad Khan, in their statements thanked Paki-stan for extending continued support to theKashmiris’ ongoing struggle for securing theirinalienable right to self-determination. They saidthat India had no moral ground to hold its Inde-pendence Day functions in occupied Kashmirbecause it had never been its part.

The Chairman of Jammu and KashmirPeoples Freedom League, Muhammad FarooqRehmani, in his statement emphasized theneed to work together and with unity for theuphill task of building a democratic and wel-fare Islamic state according to the politicalvision of the father of nation, Muhammad AliJinnah—KMS.

Mushtaq re-arrestedimmediately after

releaseSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, police re-arrested lib-eration leader, Mushtaq-ul-Is-lam soon after he was releasedon bail on court orders.Mushtaq was presented beforethe Executive Magistrate, FirstClass, Baramulla, who on theoccasion issued orders for hisrelease on bail. However, po-lice immediately re-arrestedMushtaq and took him back tosub-jail, Baramulla, said astatement issued by JKML,condemning his re-arrest.

Meanwhile, MuhammadYousuf Mir in a statement con-demned spurt in selective arrestof pro-freedom leaders and ac-tivists ahead of August 15, theIndia’ Independence Day,which the Kashmiris observe asBlack Day every year.He also condemned the deten-tion of party district secretary,Shopian, Tariq Ahmad Gana—KMS.

cipled solution for Kashmir was formulated bythe United Nations with almost universal sup-port. Mere passage of time or the flight fromrealities cannot alter the fact that these resolu-tions remain unimplemented until today. TheUnited Nations resolutions can never becomeobsolete, or over taken by events or changedcircumstances.”

“The passage of time cannot invalidate anenduring and irreplaceable principle – the rightof self-determination of the people of Kashmir.If passage of time were allowed to extinguishsolemn international agreements, then theUnited Nations Charter should suffer the samefate as the resolutions on Kashmir. If non-imple-mentation were to render an agreement defunct,then the Geneva Convention in twenty-first cen-tury in many countries is in no better state thanthese resolutions.”“There are no insuperable obstacles to the set-ting up of a plebiscite administration in Kash-mir under the aegis of the United Nations. Theworld organization has proved its ability, evenin the most forbidding circumstances, to insti-tute an electoral process under its supervisionand control and with the help of a neutral peace-keeping force. The striking examples of this areNamibia and East Timor which were peacefullybrought to independence after seven decades ofoccupation and control by South Africa; andthree decades of occupation of Indonesia respec-tively,”—KMS.

JKMLChairmanre-arrested

immediatelyafter release

SRINAGAR—Police re-ar-rested the Muslim LeagueJammu and Kashmir Chair-man, Mushtaq-ul-Islamsoon after he was releasedon bail at court orders inIndian Held Kashmir.Mushtaq was presented be-fore the Executive Magis-trate, First Class,Baramulla, who issued hisbail orders, KMS reported.However, police immedi-ately re-arrested Mushtaqand took him back to sub-jai l , Baramulla, said astatement issued by JKML,condemning his re-arrest.

Meanwhile, JKML act-ing Chairman MuhammadYousuf Mir in a statementcondemned spurt in selec-tive arrest of pro-freedomleaders and activists aheadof August 15, the India’ In-dependence Day, which theKashmiris observe as BlackDay every year.He alsocondemned the detention ofparty district secretary,Shopian, Tariq AhmadGana—APP

ISLAMABAD—Chairman AllParties Hurriyat Conference(APHC), Mirwaiz Umar Farooqhas welcomed the resumption ofcomposite dialogue between In-dia and Pakistan on 25th August.Addressing a function in Srinagar,he said that Kashmir being animportant part of the compositedialogue process, both the coun-tries should show political will infinding the solution to the Kash-mir issue.

Mirwaiz welcomesresumption of

Pak-India dialogue

Police useforce on

employees’protest march

SRINAGAR—Police resortedto brute use of force on aprotest march and arrestedscores of employees to foilthe march in Indian Occu-pied Kashmir. The marchwas organized by Jammuand Kashmir Non-GazettedHorticulture EmployeesUnion, KMS reported. Theprotesters were demonstrat-ing against anti-people andanti-employees policies ofthe authorities.

Hundreds of protestersassembled in Srinagar andraised pro-justice slogans.

They said that they hadbeen raising their demandfor the last decade. “How-ever, our pleas have fallenon deaf ears,” they deplored.

“We demand re-organi-zation of the department andremoval of pay anomaly,”said Latief Ahmad, a pro-tester.

Police swung into ac-tion as the protesters tried tomarch towards ResidencyRoad. The cops used lathi-charge to disperse them anddetained scores to foil themarch—APP

The APHC chairmanadded that Kashmir is a hu-manitarian issue, a matter oflife and death of hundreds andthousands of people and there-fore needs to be addressed ac-cordingly.

He said on one hand, In-dia is asking youth to adoptpeaceful methods while on theother pushing them to the wallby putting them in jails and tor-turing them , he added.—APP.

Shutdown observedin Shopian againstpolice brutalities

SRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, complete shutdownwas observed in Shopian townagainst the highhandedness ofIndian police in the area.

Call for the strike was givenby the veteran Hurriyet leader,Syed Ali Gilani. All shops andbusiness establishments re-mained closed while traffic wasvery thin on roads. Syed AliGilani in a statement said thatpolice were resorting to randomarrests of youth in the town andthey had arrested Hurriyet leader,Muhammad Yousuf Falahi, fromthe court premises.—KMS

DR GHULAM NABI FAI

AT the outset, let me felicitate thepeople of Pakistan in general andthe Pakistani Americans in particu-

lar on their 688h anniversary of indepen-dence. Let us hope and pray that Pakistanovercomes its turbulences and instabilitiesand touches new heights of peace, pros-perity and happiness!

As Americans of South Asian heritage,let me remind you that when the Kashmirdispute erupted in 1947-1948, the UnitedStates championed the stand that the fu-ture status of Kashmir must be ascertainedin accordance with the wishes and aspira-tions of the people of the territory. TheUnited States was the principal sponsorof the resolution # 47 which was adoptedby the Security Council on April 21, 1948

Happy Independence Day: Pakistanand which was based on that unchallengedprinciple.

So, the Kashmir question is one of theoldest unresolved international problemsin the world. It prevails in what is recog-nized - under international law and by theUnited States - as a disputed territory. Ac-cording to the international agreementsbetween India and Pakistan, negotiated bythe United Nations endorsed by the Secu-rity Council, the territory’s status is to bedetermined by the free vote of its peopleunder U.N. supervision.

Now is the time for President Obamato listen to Candidate Obama who said onOctober 30, 2008, “We should probablytry to facilitate a better understanding be-tween Pakistan and India and try to resolvethe Kashmir crisis.”

Much is being made of the fact that

six decades have passed since the prin-cipled solution for Kashmir was formu-lated by the United Nations with almostuniversal support. Mere passage of timeor the flight from realities cannot alter thefact that these resolutions remainunimplemented until today.

The United Nations resolutions cannever become obsolete, or over taken byevents or changed circumstances. The pas-sage of time cannot invalidate an endur-ing and irreplaceable principle – the rightof self-determination of the people ofKashmir.

If passage of time were allowed to ex-tinguish solemn international agreements,then the United Nations Charter shouldsuffer the same fate as the resolutions onKashmir. If non-implementation were torender an agreement defunct, then the

Geneva Convention in twenty-first centuryin many countries is in no better state thanthese resolutions.

There are no insuperable obstacles tothe setting up of a plebiscite administra-tion in Kashmir under the aegis of theUnited Nations. The world organizationhas proved its ability, even in the most for-bidding circumstances, to institute an elec-toral process under its supervision andcontrol and with the help of a neutralpeace-keeping force.

The striking examples of this areNamibia and East Timor which werepeacefully brought to independence af-ter seven decades of occupation andcontrol by South Africa; and three de-cades of occupation of Indonesia re-spectively.

—Courtesy Kashmir Watch

MIRPUR—All is set to cel-ebrate the 68th IndependenceDay of Pakistan on August 14,with traditional zeal and fervoracross Azad Jammu & Kash-mir (AJK). The day will dawn withspecial prayers in Mosques forstability, prosperity, securityand progress of the country andearly success of Kashmiris’ in-digenous struggle for their le-gitimate right of self determi-nation. The National flag hoistingceremonies, rallies, proces-sions and colourful functionsunder the aegis of various pub-lic and private sector, socialand political organizations, inall small and major towns andcities of the state, will be the

All set to observeIndependence day in AJK

hallmark of the day. It will be a gazetted holi-day across AJK while the ma-jor National flag hoisting cer-emony will be held in the capi-tal city Muzaffarabad. Similar flag hoisting ceremo-nies will be held in all other ninedistrict headquarters of AJK in-cluding Mirpur, Kotli, Bagh,Sudhanoti, Bhimbher,Rawalakot, Havaili, Hattiyan andNeelum valley. The national flaghoisting ceremonies will also beheld at all tehsil headquarters aswell as subordinate towns and vil-lages. Great enthusiasm is beingwitnessed among the masses whoare seen busy in purchasing na-tional flags of Pakistan for hoist-ing atop their houses and vehicleson the national day.—APP

On the simplestlevel,

telecommutingmakes it harder forpeople to have the

kinds of informalinteractions thatare crucial to theway knowledge

moves through anorganization. Therole that hallway

chat plays in driv-ing new ideas hasbecome a cliche ofbusiness writing,but that doesn’t

make it less true.

—James Surowiecki

Port Qasimshipping activityKARACHI—Five shipscarrying containers,cement and edible oilwere berthed at QasimInternational ContainersTerminal, Multi PurposeTerminal and LiquidCargo Terminal respec-tively. Meanwhile sixmore ships carryingcontainers, edible oil andrape seed also arrived atouter anchorage of PortQasim during last 24hours.—APP

Conversion ratesKARACHI—The follow-ing rates will be appli-cable for conversion intorupees of ForeignCurrency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certifi-cates, Foreign CurrencyBearer Certificates,Special U.S. DollarBonds and profitsthereon by all banks andfor providing ForwardCover on ForeignCurrency Deposits(excluding F.E- 25deposits) by the StateBank on August 15, 2014.The rates are U.S. DollarRs. 99.9408, JapaneseYen Rs. 0.9753. —APP

KCCI delegationleaves for UKKARACHI—KarachiChamber of Commerceand Industry’s (KCCI)delegation has left forUnited Kingdom toparticipate in Pakistan-UK business festival inManchester. Accordingto a press release issuedhere the four-daybusiness festival willstart on August 14. Thedelegation includesSenior Vice PresidentKCCI), Muffasar AttaMalik, Vice PresidentKCCI, MuhammadIdrees, Chairman of Fairs,Exhibitions.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Dr. Cyrill Nunn, German Ambassador in Pakistan calledon Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar at the Finance Ministry,Wednesday to discuss bilateral economic relations between the twocountries. The Finance Minister informed the Ambassadorthat the government has introduced economic reforms in thecountry and all the economic indicators are reflecting posi-tive trends. The Finance Minister said that Pakistan attachesgreat importance to its friendly relations with Germany.

“As we are tested friends, there is a great possibility tolearn from Germany’s experiences in areas of cooperation”,he added. He indicated that Pakistan is keen to explore newavenues for cooperation in energy, commercial and economicfields for mutual benefit of both the countries.

The Ambassador appreciated the economic initiativesundertaken by Government of Pakistan and called forstrengthening trade and economic ties between two coun-tries. The Ambassador discussed details about the PrimeMinister’s visit to Berlin, later this year and proposed that ahigh-level business delegation from Pakistan should also beincluded for interaction with the business leaders in Ger-many. He also shared ideas of enhancing cooperation dur-ing the forthcoming Secretary level bilateral talks inIslamabad.

He further informed that in order to foster economic ener-gies, the German businessmen are launching “Pakistan Gate”in Berlin on August 24, 2014 and it will provide business con-tacts between the two countries. He was of the view that jointforums for the promotion of ties and trade in different fieldscould bring healthy results and both the countries could availmore chances easily to strengthen the cordial relations between bothcountries. He reaffirmed that Pakistan can count on Germany as itspartner in development of the country. The Finance Minister appreci-ated the idea of Pakistan Gate and observed that it will provide anopportunity to Chambers of Commerce and Industries of the two coun-tries to explore possibilities of trade. He assured the Ambassador thatnecessary steps will be taken to promote people to people contact and

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Germany Dr Cyril Nunn called on Federal Minister forFinance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar.

German ambassador, Dar discuss bilateral economic relationsexchange of business delegations between the two countries. Themeeting was also attended by Saleem Sethi, Secretary EAD and seniorofficials of the Finance Ministry.

Ishaq Dar said the PTI in its white paper titled “In Plain Sight’,made a feeble attempt to find faults with the performance of thegovernment. It relied on incorrect data and questionable assump-tions to substantiate its viewpoint. There was very selective use ofdata, ignoring up-to-date data currently available on the relevantgovernment websites, he added.

The white paper, he said, insinuated that the Pakistan Bureau ofStatistics intentionally presented incorrect data in order to show thegovernment in a good light. But the paper, he added, used question-

able data from various sources for the purpose. The ministeron the occasion gave response to main accusations levelledby the PTI in the white paper. Referring to the allegation thatthe PML-N budget perfectly reflected “of the elite, by theelite, for the elite” priorities of its creators, Dar said socialprotection schemes always remained an effective policychoice for the government to address poverty and vulner-ability.

He said the schemes like Zakat, Bait-ul-Mal, micro-finance,skill development, loans for unemployed youth, laptops toeducated youth, targeted subsidy through cash transfersand subsidy through utility stores etc. were initiated by thegovernment and then further strengthened with the aim toprotect the poorest of the poor from the economic shocksand inflation. These policies and interventions, he added,helped in raising income of poor households, controllingthe variance of income of all households and ensuring equi-table access to basic services.

The biggest ongoing initiative in this direction, theminister said, was Income Support Programme, which re-mained in focus and became the main vehicle to reach thepoorest of the poor. He said the allocation for BISP in2008 was Rs 34 billion, which was arisen to Rs 40 billion(Rs 30 billion cash grant and Rs 10 billion non-cash) in2012-13. It was increased to Rs 75 billion (Rs 55 billioncash grant and Rs 20 billion non-cash) in 2013-14 and toRs 118 billion (Rs 97 billion cash grant and Rs 21 billion

non-cash) in 2014-15, he added. Dar said the cash grant remainedRs 1000 per month from 2008 to 2013, which was increased to Rs1200 in 2013-14 and to Rs 1500 in 2014-15. This represented a 50%increase since July 1, 2013, he remarked. The beneficiary families,he said, were 4.3 million in 2012-13 and 4.8 million in 2013-14,which would increase to 5.3 million in 2014-15.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr.Khurram Dastgir Khan on Wednesday said that Pakistanwants Australian companies to invest in the Halal food

sector of Pakistan and use their expertise to bring latesttechnology and value-addition to this sector. The Minis-ter made these remarks, in a meeting with the Pakistan

Ambassador-designate to Australia Ms. Naila Chohan,who will be assuming her new responsibilities in Septem-ber, a press release of the Ministry said. The Ministerdirected the ambassador to establish close liaison withthe Pakistani community settled in Australia and seek pro-posals to enhance Pak-Australia trade, which will be in-corporated in the final strategy adopted by the Ministry

Pakistan wants Australian investment inHalal food sector: Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan meetingwith Ms Naila Chohan, Pakistan’s Ambassador designate to Australia.

MUHAMMAD NADEEM BHATTI

PAKISTAN is an industrial country unfortunately crisis of energy are not helping its industries to be flourished and not getting able to exportable. In any soci-

ety General increase in the price of goods and servicesRise in prices is called inflation.During the recent years the risehas abnormal and it has en-dangered the stability of oureconomy nationally and indi-vidually. More over In Paki-stan inflation has become anunending disease to oureconomy. According to meonce a state is caught in thecircle of inflation then it will bedifficult for that state to get ridof it.Inflation means that the gen-

eral level of prices is going upthe opposite of deflation. More

money will need to be paid for goods like a purchase ofgrocery and services like getting a haircut at thehairdresser’s to count inflation measurement regularly toknow an economy’s state. Inflation changes the ratio ofmoney towards goods or services; more money is neededto get the same amount of a good or service, or the sameamount of money will get a lower amount of a good orservice. There are various factors that contribute to therise in prices. Some are natural factors like unfavorableweather conditions which affects example as like rainingseason of Karachi no out flow of drainage system in theplanning good develop roads so horrible conditions hadto face. The food production and lead to the shortage ofcommodities in the market. With more money chasingfewer goods, the prices take to the wings. Besides this

Inflammatory reasons of inflation in Pakistannatural problem there are man-made problems like hoard-ing, which contribute to the rapid increase in prices.

The trading community, which senses a shorting ofcertain commodities, especially the essential commodities,they resort to large-scale hoarding. They release the hoard-ing products after increase in the prices and make a neatmargin over. Their investment in the hoarded products theyget so much profit but it enhance inflation. The rise ofprices in Pakistan can also be attributing to the despicableacts of traders. Their only motive is to get maximum profitand so they try to charge lots of money from the customersas much as possible. This has created a class of peoplewho are becoming richer day by day and the other class isbecoming poorer. Hoarding is also playing a bad role inescalation of prices in the commodities. One of the mostimportant reasons for inflation is the deficit budgeting. Inorder to cover the gap Pakistan has been printing morepaper currency because foreign aid and taxes cannot coverup the deficit. Therefore there will be greater circulation ofpaper money. There will be hike in prices of domestic usedproducts as the purchasing power of the people has in-creased. Wrong taxation policy has also been responsiblefor the rise in prices. The hike in taxes results in greaterdesire to avoid taxes. Thus public takes wrong way of notpaying taxes and there will be escalation in prices.

Whenever a product is bought or sold beyond its realprice for it’s worth, then Inflation of money occurs. TheCost-Push inflation theory says that when the cost ofmaking goods (which are paid by the company) go up,they have to make prices higher to still make profit out ofselling that very product. The higher costs of makinggoods can include things like workers’ wages, taxes to bepaid to the government or bigger costs of getting rawmaterials from other countries.

Almost everyone thinks inflation is bad. Inflation af-fects different people in different ways. It also depends onwhether inflation is expected or not. If the inflation rate is

equal to what most people are expecting (anticipated infla-tion), then we can adjust and the cost is not as high. Forexample, banks can change their interest rates and workerscan negotiate contracts that include automatic wage hikesas the price level goes up. Problems arise when there isunanticipated inflation. Creditors lose and debtors gain ifthe lender does not guess inflation correctly. For thosewho borrow, this is similar to getting an interest-free loan.Uncertainty about what will happen next makes corpora-tions and consumers less likely to spend. This hurts eco-nomic output in the long run. People living on a fixed-in-come, such as retirees, see a decline in their purchasingpower and, consequently, their standard of living. The en-tire economy must absorb reprising costs (“menu costs”)as price lists, labels, menus and more have to be updated. Ifthe inflation rate is greater than that of other countries,domestic products become less competitive.

Inflation is an artificial curse generated by rough poli-cies so everybody is being affected in the light of thissituation industry or industrialization will be unable to pro-duce healthy growth of domestic production although coun-try exists through a lot of crisis and not in the position tobear inflammatory inflation. Another dangerous situationof inflation the local industry produces on high prices moreover with other ways of bring in things in to the countrythat called smuggling which helps you generate a bad im-pression to local industrialization lot of ways of corruptionorganized by different departments which do not enhancethe actually assets in the shape of taxes so in helplesscondition country had to bear the miserable clauses of in-ternational monitoring fund which play a vital role to dis-burse the economic condition during their memorandum.

Pakistan’s government has been making a great effortto check this inflation. The rate of interests has been in-creased in order to encourage savings and withdraw ofcurrency. The government is making efforts to increaseindustrial outputs so that the level of consumption is lev-

eled with that of output. But unfortunately the govern-ment has not met with success in getting rid of inflation.Big cause of depress the industrial movement the depart-ment of WAPDA especially meter readers are not takingthe exact reading of electricity meters so another headhas been opened of corruption and noble industrialistbeing suffered worst especially in the small and mediumindustrial area of band road Sami town Lahore. We cansee the example in local industrial billing. Units are beingembossed to 40 percent more. Somehow WAPDA is notfulfilling their requirement accordingly and billing overregularly. TMO’s and inspectors are not drawing exactpictures of Sunday/jumma bazaars and not able to serveall things by traders this is the main cause traders suc-cess to generate the inflation and the poor man doesn’thave access to make a change. Consequently the infla-tion works rapidly and rise in prices goes non-stopped.There should be demonetization of currency but the gov-ernment thinks that it is an irregular method and will cre-ate doubts in the minds of the public about the stability ofthe government. The rise in the prices of petrol has af-fected the prices in our country.

Pakistan is not producing more than 20% of its totalrequirement of oil. So we have to import a huge amount ofoil every year. Moreover no step has been taken againstthe traders who are mainly responsible for unreasonablerise in the prices. With the helping hand to government OfPakistan trading community centers like chambers which isflock of traders but do not think upon to help governmentof Pakistan to control of prices instead of receiving chequesupon any time of disaster chief minister of Punjab shouldstress upon these chambers of commerce and industry tofurnish price control committees with magisterial power toget rid of this social curse for inflation free happy Pakistan.

—(The author is Chairman of Federation PakistanChamber Garments Industry email:figure786@hotmail.com)

of Commerce to augment Pakistan’s trade with Australia.He said the draft for Pakistan Halal Food Authority

prepared by the Ministry of Science and Technology inconsultation with Ministry of Commerce and other rel-evant organizations will be presented to the Parliament

soon for approval. This willresolve the issue of certifica-tion of Pakistani Halal foodand provide a new impetus toPakistan’s Halal sector, whichsees great potential of enhanc-ing exports to the Muslimcountries, especially theMiddle East, he added.

The Minister furtherasked her to compile a reportby closely studying the mar-keting and trading models fol-lowed by other countries com-peting with Pakistan in Aus-tralia and make proposals onthe basis of its findings. Ms.Chohan said that twelve Aus-tralian companies will partici-pate in the Expo Pakistan 2014scheduled to be held inKarachi in October which en-hances the probability of theirinvestment in Pakistan.

She also apprised theMinister about the meeting ofupcoming Pak-Australia Joint

Trade Commission to be held on September 18th in Aus-tralia and said this will provide a great boost to bilateraltrade. The Minister said that efforts should be made tomeet Australian Chambers of Commerce, Government offi-cials and their Parliamentary Committee on Commerce tostrengthen the case of Pakistan trade with Australia.

Ms. Chohan added she would hold meetings with Pa-kistani Chambers of Commerce and provincial Boards ofInvestment to understand their viewpoint and help projectPakistan’s case of trade and investment in Australia.

PIA acquiresthird A320

AirbusSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The nationalairline inducts the third A320latest Airbus into its fleet tomark the 68th IndependenceDay in the befitting manner.PIA has taken the deliveryof the third A320 aircraft onwet lease, which increasedthe operational fleet to 28aircraft.

Managing Director PIA,Shahnawaz Rehman, whilediscussing the efforts tobuild up image of the na-tional airline said that ouraim is the revival of PIA asdesired by the Prime Minis-ter of Pakistan, MianMuhammad Nawaz Shareefand under the guidance andsupervision of Mr. ShujaatAzeem, Advisor to the PrimeMinister on Aviation, theairline is moving in the rightdirection.

With the induction ofthese latest technologyfuel efficient aircraft, theairline will be in a betterposition to offers servicesto its passengers and at thesame time will benefit PIAin terms of fuel savingswhich is a major cost fac-tor for the airline. It may bementioned that PIA will re-ceive the fourth A320 air-craft in October and it isexpected that PIA will have7-10 more aircraft inductedin its fleet by December,this year 2014.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Pakistan’s Am-bassador to United ArabEmirates (UAE), AsifDurrani has said thatPakistan’s exports to UAEcan be doubled from the ex-isting $3 billion to $6 billionby focusing on improvingthe overall supply chain ofgoods being exported toUAE, particularly the perish-able products. Talking toPresident KCCI, AbdullahZaki and KCCI ManagingCommittee members duringhis visit to Karachi Cham-ber, Asif Durrani pointed outthat currently it takes around72 hours of duration for Pa-kistani goods to reach UAEwhich can be reduced tojust 24 hours by takingsteps towards improvingthe transportation systemalong with refrigeration fa-cilities.

He said that Pakistaniexporters must maintaincold chain during transit ofperishable goods, whichwould surely help in en-hancing exports to UAE.Furthermore, the horticul-ture sector of Pakistan hasthe potential to capture size-able share in UAE marketsbut unfortunately Pakistan’sexports of horticulture prod-ucts to UAE were almostinexistent, he added. TheAmbassador, while high-lighting the significance of

Improved supply chain candouble Pak exports to UAE

value-addition, stressedthat Pakistani exporters whoare willing to enhance theirexports, must also focus onsending high quality prod-ucts with proper processingand packaging to UAEwhich would further raisedemand for Pakistani prod-ucts in UAE markets.

He pointed that around1.3 million Pakistani expatsare working in UAE, ofwhich more than 80 percentare blue-collar workerswhereas the remaining 20percent are either white-collar workers or Pakistaniinvestors. “Pakistani in-vestors have investedaround $25 billion mostlyin UAE’s real estate sec-tor”, he added. AsifDurrani said that Pakistanbusinessmen and industri-alists must seriously focuson enhancing trade tieswith their counterparts inUAE, which has emergedas the hub of entire Gulf re-gion.

He informed that totaltrade volume between Pa-kistan and UAE was $9 bil-lion, of which Pakistan’stotal imports stood at $6billion while productsworth $3 billion were be-ing exported, depicting atrade deficit of $3 billionbut this deficit offsets asPakistan received workers’remittances of $3 billionfrom UAE.

FBR issuesnotices to

117K potentialtaxpayers

ISLAMABAD—Federal Bu-reau of Revenue (FBR) hasso far issued notices re-quiring filing of return to117,000 potential taxpay-ers during last financialyear, aimed at bringingthem to tax net. In re-sponse to these notices14,182 persons have filedreturns up to May 2014.According to data issuedby FBR here on Wednes-day, provisional assess-ments in cases where theperson did not respond tonotice have been framedin more than 22,296 cases.

A tax demand of Rs.8,222 million has beenraised in such cases, theFBR said and added tax ofRs. 139 million have beenpaid with return and Rs.110 million have been col-lected out of demand cre-ated. The proceedings inremaining 80,318 cases isin process, it added. Asper details, FBR haslaunched an initiative tobring persons who are li-able to pay income tax inthe tax net and for thispurpose data is being col-lected regarding personspurchasing real estateproperty in posh areas,expensive motor vehicles,incurring heavy utilitybills and school fees orengaged in taxable busi-ness activities. —APP

PakWheels.comcelebrates 11th

anniversaryISLAMABAD—PakWheels,the largest automobilewebsite in Pakistan, cel-ebrated the company’s 11thanniversary. The anniver-sary marked the exciting jour-ney of PakWheels.com,which was founded in 2003,and has now become thelargest community basedautomobile website in Paki-stan. Around 18 Millionpages are viewed on the siteevery month, with peoplesearching classifieds, re-searching about brand newcars and motorcycles, dis-cussing auto-related issueswith other members, sharinginformation, pictures, vid-eos, etc.

Today, the website hasbecome the number oneauto portal in the country.With thousands of poten-tial buyers visiting everyday to buy used cars, it istruly amazing how the com-pany has grown to becomeone big family over theyears. A huge number ofenthusiasts now rely on theinformation provided byPakWheels.com. Speakingon this exciting occasion,Suneel Sarfraz Munj, Chair-man, PakWheels said, “The11th anniversary ofPakWheels is a tremen-dous milestone for the com-pany. Over the past elevenyears, we’ve introduced in-credible innovation in theindustry. We’ve alwayslooked for better ways tobuild things, whether it’s bydesigning web-portals, or-ganizing automobileshows, training sessionsfull of knowledge and sup-port of societies throughcontributing in socialcauses, PakWheels.comhas always strived to givethe best serving for thecountry.—PR

Currency Selling Buying

USA 98.90 98.70

UK 166.19 165.86

Euro 132.18 131.91

Canada 90.52 90.34

Switzerland 108.94 108.72

Australia 91.78 91.60

Sweden 14.38 14.35

Japan 0.9668 0.9649

Norway 16.00 15.97

Singapore 79.12 78.96

Denmark 17.73 17.69

Saudi Arabia 26.37 26.32

Hong Kong 12.76 12.73

Kuwait 349.14 348.44

Malaysia 31.00 30.94

Newzealand 83.33 83.16

Qatar 27.16 27.10

UAE 26.93 26.87

Kr. Won 0.0962 0.0960

Thailand 3.093 3.086

Daily opening& closing ratesPMEX Index 3,005Total Volume (Lots): 7,270Traded Value (Rs): 1,389,300,878

Commodity .......................... Price Quotation .................. Open .............. CloseCRUDE OIL ......................... $ Per Barrel ........................... 97.28 ............... 97.40SILVER ................................. $ Per Ounce .......................... 20.082 ............. 19.932GOLD ................................... $ Per Ounce .......................... 1,311.6 ............ 1,307.4GOLD ................................... Rs Per 10 gms ....................... 41,922 ............. 41,782MTOLAGOLD .................... Rs Per Tola ........................... 50,208 ............. 50,052GOLD ................................... Rs Per Tola ........................... 50,208 ............. 50,052RICEIRRI6 ........................... Rs Per 100 kg ........................ 3,603 ............... 3,602PALMOLEIN ...................... Rs Per Maund ...................... 4,123 ............... 4,112SUGAR ................................ Rs Per kg ............................... 48.26 ............... 48.24ICOTTON ............................ US Cents per pound ........... 64.27 ............... 63.45WHEAT ............................... Rs Per 100 kg ........................ 3,408 ............... 3,407

The total traded was PKR 1.39 billion and number of lots traded was reported at7,270. PMEX Commodity Index closed at 3,005. Major business was contributed bygold amounting to PKR 714 million – up by 41 percent, followed by crude oil at PKR620 million and silver at PKR 56 million.

INJAZ, NEW-G launchPakistan BusinessStartup ProgramSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—INJAZ Paki-stan, initiated and incubatedby the Aman Foundation to-day, launched Pakistan Busi-ness Startup program in col-laboration with the NationalEntrepreneurship WorkingGroup (NEW-G). The compe-tition provided a platform tostudent companies for pre-senting business ideas to po-tential investors, collaboratorsand mentors.

The Business Startup isINJAZ Pakistan’s most ad-vanced entrepreneurshipprogram. It aims to bridge thegap in seed funding, eco-sys-tem support and mentorship,thereby offering fresh gradu-ates who have no prior busi-ness experience and otheryoung entrepreneur’s com-prehensive support to set upprofitable small businesseswith high potential forgrowth. In collaboration withthe National Entrepreneur-ship Working Group (NEW-G), the business startup pro-gram aims to support andstrengthen Pakistan’s entre-preneurship ecosystem byserving as a multi-stakeholdernational forum to foster pub-lic-private dialogue and shareideas, information, andknowledge.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Ms. Azra Masood, CEOINJAZ Pakistan said,“Entrepreneurism is the keycomponent of growth in theeconomy. We are here to de-velop fresh minds, to guideand provide comprehensivesupport to set up profitablesmall businesses with highpotential for growth.” RizwanRazvi, President, NEW-Gsaid, “Following up on ourconference of November2013, this collaboration withINJAZ Pakistan is a continu-ation of NEW-G’s mission tostrengthen Pakistan’s entre-preneurial ecosystem.

OBSERVER REPORT

SHARJAH—Air Arabia (PJSC), the largest low-cost car-rier (LCC) operator in the Middle East and North Africa,announced its financial results for the second quarterending June 30, 2014, underlining the airline’s market lead-ing position, strong business model and consistent per-formance. Air Arabia’s financial results for the secondquarter of this year exceeded analyst expectations, withthe airline recording an outstanding net profit of AED 173million for the three months ending June 30, 2014, an in-crease of 128 percent compared to AED 76 million re-ported in the corresponding period of 2013. In the sec-ond quarter of this year, Air Arabia posted a turnover ofAED 915 million, an increase of 15 percent compared toAED 797 million in the same period of 2013.

The airline served over 1.6 million passengers in thesecond quarter of 2014, an increase of 8 percentcompared to the 1.5 million passengers carried in the sameperiod of last year. The airline’s average seat load factoror passengers carried as a percentage of available seatsduring the second quarter of 2014 stood at an impressive84 percent. The 2014’s second quarter financial resultsrepresent an all-time high for the airline and were drivenby Air Arabia’s unique and innovative business prac-tices, especially its dynamic fuel management policy andunrelenting focus on cost management.

“Air Arabia’s outstanding start to 2014 has acceler-ated in the second quarter as the investments made intoour operational capacity and cost management have con-tinued to deliver results,” said Sheikh Abdullah BinMohammad Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia. “We haveseen an 11% increase in capacity in the first half of thisyear, yet we have sustained a high average seat factorand seen first half turnover increase by 15 percent. Theaverage yield for the first half of 2014 has also increasedby 6%, a record that is not only among the highest in the

industry but that also reflects the true low cost manage-ment practices that Air Arabia follows.”

Air Arabia’s 2014 first half financial results have alsoexceeded analysts’ expectations reporting a net profit of AED248 million for the first half ending June 30, 2014. This com-pares with AED 134 million in the corresponding period of2013, an increase of 85 percent. The carrier’s turnover for thefirst half of 2014 stood at AED 1.74 billion, an increase of 15percent compared to AED 1.52 billion reported in the sameperiod of 2013. More than 3,366,046 passengers flew withAir Arabia in the first half of 2014, an increase of 11 percenton the same period last year and another record for thecompany; while the average seat load factor for the first halfof this year stood at an impressive 83%.

“As we look to continue this momentum of businessgrowth in the second half of the year, Air Arabia willremain focused on its ceaseless cost management opera-tion and dynamic fuel management policies, while adopt-ing new innovative services and measures that will addeven more value to our customer-centric strategy. Welook forward to serving many more passengers in themonths and years to come,” concluded Al Thani.

Air Arabia, recently voted amongst the 10 most prof-itable Low Cost Carriers (LCC) in the world by AirlineBusiness, has seen its route network in the first half ofthis year increase to 97 destinations in total, includingthe additions of Cairo in Egypt, and Antalya in Turkeyfrom its main base at Sharjah International Airport.

Earlier in the first half of 2014, Air Arabia opened itssecond hub in the UAE and fourth worldwide at Ras AlKhaimah International Airport following a long-term stra-tegic partnership with Ras Al Khaimah Department ofCivil Aviation. The first flight took off on May 6 and thecarrier is currently offering direct services to seven citiesfrom the hub, including Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Cairo inEgypt; Muscat in Oman; Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawarin Pakistan; and Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Air Arabia’s 2nd quarter profitrises 128pc to AED 173m

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech and sug-gestion for resolving the prevailing political crisis in thecountry is highly commendable. Lahore Traders Associa-tion (LTA) Patron-in-Chief Anjum Mahmood Butt, the LTAChairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Pace Traders AssociationPresident and Gulberg Traders Board’s Vice President HajiMuhammad Azeem stated this, while talking to media hereWednesday.

Anjum Butt said that formation of Supreme Court Com-mission to sort out the alleged rigging in the general elec-tion 2013 as a vital decision on the part of the governmentthat would definitely help settle down the reservations ofthe agitating political parties. He said that LTA reposedfull confidence in the government’s performance, as eco-nomic indicators are improving, which will lead to pros-perity of the people and development of Pakistan. TheLTA Patron-in-Chief said that Prime Minister has wiselydecided to resolve the issue through dialogue and the SCCommission. The protest, sit-in and long-marches wouldnot yield any good result but stuck up the business andindustrial activities.

The LTA Chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh also expressedsatisfaction over the country’s economic direction andsaid that now Pakistan economy is recovering fast be-cause of foreign investment in multiple new projects espe-cially the energy sector. The PML-N government, he said,

was also giving top priority to the power generationprojects, citing that availability of sufficient energy willkeep the industrial wheel on the move as well as help flour-ish the trade and businesses. He said that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) should follow the constitutional way andsit on the dialogue table, adding that PML-N governmentand the Prime Minister are ready to remove their reserva-tion but in a peaceful manner.

While, Gulberg Traders Board Vice President HajiMuhammad Azeem was of the view that negative politicsalways pushed the country’s economy to the wall and haltthe trading activities. The political parties resorting to agi-tation are earning bad name for Pakistan and the foreigncountries and investors will not turn up here for invest-ment. Haji Azeem said that peaceful and amicable solutionto any problem has always worked and appreciated worldover. Imran Khan must show political sagacity and someflexibility for pulling the country out of present politicalcrisis in a decent manner. “Yes, I agree with Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif that political and other issues should be de-cided in the parliament instead of resorting to violenceand street protest,” he added.

Haji Azeem said that aggressive and stubborn attitudeof the PTI leadership and Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT)Chief Tahirul Qadri has compelled the government to takestringent measures just to protect the people lives, andpublic and private property. He added that PAT and PTIare responsible for disturbing public life.

LTA hails PM speech to resolvepolitical confrontation peacefully

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The tagline of advertising cam-paign of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP)on Independence Day is “Pakistan Our FirstIdentity”. It is a 360-degreecampaign covering print, elec-tronic media, social media andbillboards. The foundation ofthis great nation is based onUnity, Faith and Discipline.Whichever religion, sect or province webelong to and whatever profession we pur-sue, we should put our country first be-cause Pakistan is our first identity.

The need of the time is that on Inde-pendence Day all the Pakistanis showcomplete unity and pledge to stand to-gether with the spirit of patriotism, soli-darity and devotion. NBP advertisementswill be printed in all leading English, Urduand regional publications on 14th August2014. Commercials will also be aired on all

NBP promotes patriotismcampaign for Independence Day

the leading news, entertainment and re-gional language channels. The bannersin English and have been displayed at HeadOffice, Regional Offices and branches inKarachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Banners

are also based on NBP’s In-dependence Day campaigntagline “Pakistan Our FirstIdentity” and in Urdu thetagline is “HamariPehchanPakistan”.

The banners displayed at Head Officeare also based on the theme of our printmedia advertisements. In addition to thatnew skins based on this year’s theme havebeen installed at gantries on I. I.Chundrigar Road, Karachi. IndependenceDay is celebrated with zeal and vigorthroughout the country by every indi-vidual and organization. National Bank ofPakistan being Nation’s Bank has madespecial arrangements to celebrate the daywith a distinction.

SBP remindsto exchange

decimal coinsSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—State Bank of Pa-kistan (SBP) has reminded thegeneral public to exchange thedecimal coins of Paisa1,2,5,10,25 & 50 from the fieldoffices of SBP BSC and com-mercial / microfinance banksbranches by last working dayof September 30, 2014. Forawareness of general public,SBP has advised the Commer-cial /Microfinance Banks todisplay posters/banners atvisible places of their branchesfor exchange of decimal coins.It may be recalled that the fed-eral government has alreadynotified that coins of Paisa1,2,5,10,25 & 50 will cease tobe legal tender on October 1,2014. However, it can be ex-changed from the field officesof SBP BSC and branches ofbanks till September 30, 2014.

ISLAMABAD—The prices offruits and vegetable havewitnessed increase due toprotests calls on August, 14in federal capital by PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) andPakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT). The vendors of fruitsand vegetable expressedconcerns over the protestsdemonstration, which hasinterrupted the normal life ofthe citizens.

The vendors said thatthe PTI and PAT are re-sponsible for hike in theprices of fruits and veg-etable, saying that theirprotests calls have noclear agenda. SarwarKhan, a fruit vendor saidthat the prices of fruitshave increased due toshort of supply in the fruitmarkets. He said that thelocal administration

Fruit, vegetable priceswitness vital increase

should specify separatelocations for these kindsof protests, which arecausing loss of their smallbusiness.

Meanwhile, the laborcommunity also expressedconcerns over the protestsdemonstration and de-manded that the politicalparties should avoid pro-tests calls, which are cre-ating problems forcommonman. Shafiullah, adaily wager labour saidthat he has failed to getlabour due to these pro-tests calls and it is not fairwith them (Labours) by thepolitical parties creatingchaos and uncertainty inthe country. Inter-citytransporters also ex-pressed displeasure overthe PTI and PAT longmarch. —APP

KARACHI: Managing Director PIA Shahnawaz Rehman alongwith PIA Director Engi-neering Maqsood Ahmed and Director Flight Operations Capt Qasim Hayat briefingthe media on the induction of third A320 aircraft.

SIALKOT: Prominent industrialist Sheikh Riaz-ul-Din addressing the IndependenceDay party at Chamber of Commerce and Industry in connection with Independence Dayof Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan is a big market withmany needs in all sectors and the Frenchbusinessmen are keen to have a joint venturesubject to specific précised and concreteprojects in any sector and also for SMEs.This was stated by Francois DALL’ORSOthe Consul General of France during his visitto the Federation of Pakistan Chambers ofCommerce and Industry. The French diplo-mat added that despite a strengthened tradeand economic relation with Pakistan there isa room to work more to enhance trade tiesbetween both the countries.

He said that economic section in em-bassy of France will work together withFPCCI based on our friendship and is readyto play a role as media between the busi-ness communities of both countries. Speak-ing on the occasion Zakaria Usman, Presi-dent FPCCI said that the bilateral trade andeconomic cooperation between Pakistanand France will increased with the enhance-ment of people to people contact throughfrequent exchange of trade delegation fromboth ends. The meeting was also attendedby Mr. Shaukat Ahmed, Sr. Vice President

France Consul General visits FPCCI

and Sheikh Imtiaz Ahmed, Vice Presidentof FPCCI.

Zakaria Usman further said that Paki-stan has trade potential in many sector par-ticularly in our specialized sectors like tex-tile, leather, sports and surgical. Pakistanis also 5th largest milk producing countryin the world. Besides, Pakistan’s pharma-ceutical sector has also great potential forFrance. He further said that the current gov-ernment is also keen to resolve the prob-lem of energy shortage so that our indus-trial sector could run in full capacity. Heexpressed his hope that after two year theproblem of energy would be resolved.

He requested the Consul General ofFrance to assist FPCCI in exploring theFrench market by organizing Pakistan’sSingle Country Exhibition in France. ThePresident FPCCI informed the Consul Gen-eral of France that a trade delegation ofFPCCI would visit Holland in the next monthalong with Commerce Minister and if theFrench Embassy can manage some meet-ings of our delegation we can also visit Parisfrom Holland. The Consul General appreci-ated the consent of the FPCCI and assuredhis fullest cooperation in this regards.

ZURICH: Britain’s Lynsey Sharp checks the scoreboard as she wins her women’s 800m first round heat ahead of,Poland’s Joanna Jozwik, Bulgaria’s Vania Stambolova and Czech Republic’s Lenka Masna during the EuropeanAthletics Championships.

ZURICH: Poland’s Joanna Fiodorow makes an attempt in the women’s hammer throwqualification during the European Athletics Championships.

Misbah backs Ajmal to comeclean on suspect action

Pakistanbeat Libyain Chess

OlympiadKA R A C H I —After threestraight defeats, Pakistanchalked out their first winwhen they beat Libya 2.5-1.5 points in 10th round of41st World Chess Olym-piad in Tormso (Norway)on Wednesday.

Veteran InternationalMaster Shahzad Mirza’sstruggle ended at the fagend when he beatC.Ibrahim after 55 moves.

International MasterMahmood Lodhi was heldto a draw by Libyan FIDEwhile Master MuhammadYounus defeated SabriHussein.

Newcomer SyedAhmed Ali suffered hissecond defeat whileYounus Khan won hisgame against SabriHussien.

Earlier in the 9th roundPakistan’s 14-t ime Na-tional Champion, Lodhi,who had been strugglingin the earlier rounds, pro-duced his best to play adraw against SadorraCatilino having the FIDErating of 2590.

Un-rated Syed AhmedAli also continued his finerun in the event when heplayed a draw againstDersamina Paulo.

However veteran In-ternational MasterShahzad Mirza andMuhammad Younus suf-fered defeat against theirfancied opponents.

Pakistan jumped to93rd after their victoryagainst Libya.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Former Pakistan fast bowlerShoaib Akhtar feels the national playersneed to show more courage and spirit ifthey want to win the Second Test againstSri Lanka at Colombo.

Pakistan will play its second test againstSrli Lanka on August 14 (Thursday). ShoaibAkhtar said the team’s performance was be-low par in the first Test which Pakistan lostat Galle. “Our players showed neither heartnor courage in the first Test,”Pakpassion.net quoted him as saying.

The fast bowler said Pakistan presentlylacked quality world class players. “Whatis worrisome is we don’t have much qualitytalent coming through from domestic cricketat the moment. In such circumstances theplayers need to put in a huge collective ef-fort to do well and that was missing on Sun-day against Sri Lanka,” he said.

Akhtar said at present besides YounisKhan he doesn’t see any batsmen equal tothe caliber of Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela

Shoaib wants players to showmore courage in the 2nd test

Jayawardene. “We don’t even have a playerwho can tackle the game according to thesituation,” he said.

Akhtar said at the end of the day tech-nique does not matter as much heart andspirit of a player on the field in pressuresituations. “Against Sri Lanka in the sec-ond innings our players didn’t try to attackthe bowling and it was disappointing towatch such a performance,” he said.

Akhtar said Test cricket had changedin the last few years since the advent ofT20 cricket. “Pakistani players are playingat such a slow rate that they hardly managea run rate of 3 in tests while the other teamsnowadays start off with run rates of plusthree and even four,” he said.

Akhtar, however, while supporting thepresent team management said give themone, two or even three years and stick withthis management and let them get the re-sults. “This chopping and changing onlycomplicates the situation,” he said.—APP

BANNU—Slogan as “Smile through Sports”Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) of theNorth Waziristan Agency Sports Festival be-gan amidst joys, fun and tight security mea-sures taken by security forces here under theaegis of the Directorate of Sports FATA atQazi Mohib Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Director Sports FATA Faisal Jamil Shahwas the chief guest on this occasion whoformally announced opening of the 16-daygames.

Besides him APA FR Bannu Javed UllahMasood, Agency Sports Managers from vari-ous agencies, officials, more than 3000 play-ers, and hundreds and thousands of specta-tors were also present.

The colourful opening ceremony wasstarted with recitation of the Holy Quran by astudent from North Waziristan Agency SaeedRasool, followed by National anthem andsmart March Past of all the participating con-tingents of 22 tribes.

The teams of 22 tribes are taking part innine games formed from IDPs camps setup atdifferent areas of the Southern Districts areparticularly Bannu.

The contingent comprising Khurmaz,Tappi, Mir Ali, Musa Khai, Kusha Khail,Kuddi, Pappi, Kajoori, Dadta Khail, MiranShah, Banda, PA XI, Asstori, Chasma, SpinWam, Shahoo, Sapgal, Kamzoni, Razmak,Haider Ali and Malakan.

Soon after his announcement for the open-ing of the colourful games, pigeons, balloonsand placards inscribed with different sloganswere released in the air. The fold dance per-formed by a team from Dadakhel and Chasmaenthralled the sitting spectators.

The slogan of the Sports Festival is “Smilethrough Sports” wherein the players of vari-ous participating teams also enjoyed the folk

IDPs Sports Festival beginsamidst joys, fun at Bannu

dances.The aim and objective of the 16-day

Sports Festival is to involve the trauma-tize youth of North Waziristan Agencyinto a health and entertaining activitieswherein more than 3000 thousands youthcould be part of the Festival carrying ninedifferent games comprising Football,Cricket, Volleyball, Basketball, Hockey,Athletics, Martial Arts, Table Tennis andBadminton besides Tug-of-War, Archeryand some of the traditional and indig-enous Games.

In his address Faisal Jamil Shah laudedGovernor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa SardarMehtab Ahmad Khan for extending all outsupport in holding the Games.

He said it was the special directives of theGovernor KP to involve the youth of NorthWaziristan Agency so that to bring smile ontheir faces again through sports.

He disclosed that the players have pro-vided full uniform with tract-suite, shoes andgames equipments while a kit-bag each to allthe 45 participating cricket teams, 36 footballteams, 25 volleyball teams, 15 teams each ofthe Table Tennis and Badminton, 15 teams ofthe hockey event and more than 100 athleteswould vie for the top honor.

Cricket, volleyball, basketball, tug-of-warwere also held on the opening day with NorthWaziristan Agency, Datakhail, Chasma, MirAli were declared as winners on the openingday.

It is expected that Governor SardarMehtab Ahmad Khan will grace the occasionas chief guest at the final and prize distribu-tion ceremony. The Festival would also helpin identifying good talented lot to be groomed,coached and provided training under quali-fied coaches of the Directorate.—APP

COLOMBO—Pakistan are not worriedabout Saeed Ajmal’s reporting for asuspect bowling action and are confi-dent that the ace off-spinner will becleared, captain Misbah-ul-Haq said.

Match officials reported Ajmal tothe International Cricket Council (ICC)for a suspect bowling action follow-ing the first Test defeat by Sri Lankain Galle but is permitted to bowl untilhis bowling is scrutinized further.

The 36-year-old, who has taken174 wickets in 34 Tests at an averageof 27.79, was also reported for thesame offence in 2009 but was latercleared by the ICC.

“As far as the main bowler Saeed

Ajmal is concerned it has been donebefore and that’s not a worry for us,”Misbah told reporters on the eve ofthe second test in Colombo.

“He’s been through this processbefore and I hope he will be fine. Wewill just concentrate on our game andlook forward to playing good cricketand try to win this Test.”

Misbah blamed the lack of consis-tency from his side for their seven-wicket loss at Galle.

“We played well in patches. Onand off we performed well and welacked consistency and could not winevery session,” the 40-year-old said.

“We want to make sure in this test

it doesn’t happen with our batting andback ourselves with good bowling andfielding. We have to improve in all de-partments.”

The Pakistan bowlers struggled tobowl the hosts out in Galle but thecaptain backed his bowlers to comegood.

“Their batsmen know these con-ditions very well. Players like KumarSangakkara, who is world class and ingood form, when he gets set it will bevery difficult for any team to handletheir bowlers,” said Misbah.

“These are the reasons why it’snot easy to get these batsmen out ingood batting conditions.

“We should not alwaysblame our bowlers in goodbatting conditions, some-times you play into thehands of the batsmen.”

Sangakkara scored histenth double hundred in SriLanka’s first innings tomove second to DonBradman in the all-time listof Test double centuries.

Misbah was also awarethat getting the wicket ofMahela Jayawardene, whowill play his final Test, wouldbe crucial for his side.

“Everybody knows thathe is a class player and inthis particular ground he hasscored so many runs and somany centuries. As a teamwe want to get him early,”Misbah added.

“He’s a kind of playerwho can be a dangerouscustomer. You just can’t goon the records that he hasnot scored heavily againstus. We have to be really fo-cused on him.”—AFP

COLOMBO: Saeed Ajmal and bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed talk during a practicesession.

KARACHI—One of country’s premier golf-ing event - Faysal Bank 16th Sindh OpenGolf Championship carrying a lucrativepurse of Rs two million to start at the pic-turesque Arabian Sea Country Club(ASCC) here from Friday.

Around 200 golfers including country’stop professionals, amateurs, seniors withladies, juniors, seniors, veterans will be tak-ing part in the three-day golf gala.

Details of the event were unveiled atjoint news conference by President of SindhGolf Association (PGA) Asad I.A.Khan,Chief Executive ASCC Arif Ali KhanAbbasi, Marketing Director Faysal BankAhmed Rehman and others.

“Country’s best professionals likeShabbir Iqbal, Muhammad Munir,Muhammad Siddique, Shafiq Masih, AmjadYousuf will be star attraction in the cham-pionship,” Asad said.

“ASCC is the home of Sindh Open andprofessionals and amateur enjoy playingtheir game and produce their best on thefairways and green of the club,” he com-mented.

Muhammad Siddique of Faisalabad willbe defending his crown in the event.Salman Jehangir of rural Palm Club Lahorewill be defending his amateur title in 3-day54-hole competition.

“Joining of Faysal Bank as the spon-sors will be taking the golf to new heights,”Arif Abbasi said.

He praised the contribution of spon-sors in promoting sports and offering hand-

Sindh Open Golf from todaysome cash prize to them.

Arif Abbasi the club was providing thebest possible facilities to the golfers to bringbest of them.

Ahmed Rehmani of Faysal Bank saidtheir main objectives to sponsor the golfwas to support and promote sports.

He said their bank was already promot-ing and sponsoring domestic cricket.

“We are providing platform to theplayer to excel. We are looking forward toexcitement in Sindh Open at resort likeASCC,” he said.

SGA President said both professionalsand amateur events will be played over 54-hole while senior pros and senior amateurswill play 36-holes with ladies and juniorswill be playing on 18 holes.

Siddique will be facing a stiff challengefrom Pakistan number one MuhammadShabbir Iqbal, Matloob Ahmed, ShafiqMasih, Muhammad Munir, WaheedBaloch, Aadil Jehangir, Shahid Javed Khan,Javed Inayat, Akhtar Ali, Muhammad Tariqand others. In the meantime MuhammadMunir and Aadil Jehangir enjoyed a 18- holetraining session at the club

“Fairways are not in great conditionsbut greens are in fantastic condition andwe enjoying putting their,” a former SindhOpen Champion, Munir of Islamabad GolfClub, said.

Pakistan’s top golfer Shabbir Iqbal, whohad won the Sindh Open for half a dozentime, will be reaching later on Thursday andhave a training session instantly.—APP

LAHORE—Former Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has claimedthat he rescued the sinking ship that boardwas fast becoming by generating profitsworth 800 million rupees during his tenure.

Sethi, who stepped down from his postlast week as the board prepares for fresh

elections onAugust 18to elect anew chief,said theamount wasthe highestpretax prof-its since2011 againstb u d g e t e ddeficit of 366million ru-pees for thisfiscal yearthat endedJune 2014.“Iwas aghastat the con-

tinuing budget deficit eating into our rev-enues,” PTI quoted Sethi as saying.

“I have emphasised on increasing in-vestment income as compared to previousyear and budget and in a complete stop-over of massive capital expenditure that wasoriginally budgeted for two billion rupeeshas been reduced to 196 million rupees andthis as saved millions for PCB and greatlycontributed towards enhanced liquidity ofPCB,” he added.

According to Sethi, when he first tookcharge the chief financial officer of the PCBwarned him of a possibility of the boardgoing bankrupt unless decisive measureswere taken.

Sethi said the cleanup first started at

‘I survived the snake pit andput the PCB back on track’

home and there was a 12 percent reductionin administrative costs in his tenure com-pared to previous year.

“This entails mainly reduction of staff,elimination of unnecessary travel, elimina-tion of unnecessary advertisement andpromo expenses.”

“Till I remained chairman I took no sal-ary from the board. I just took some allow-ance for my car and that too I have returnedto the board,” he said.

Sethi, who is now on the governingboard of the PCB, said 657 million ru-pees were budgeted for matches at neu-tral venues but actual expenses were 500million, leading to a reduction of 24 per-cent while there was also a reduction of17 percent in expenses on tours outsidePakistan.

He also took a shot at his predeces-sors, the previous two PCB bosses.

“PCB was in the dumps when I camealong. Fellow ICC administrators used tojoke about some of our ex-chairmen. Onewas alleged to fall asleep during meetings.Another wasn’t able to understand the fineprint or argue in English.

And so on. The constant ins and outsof the Chairman were terribly unsettling forthem. Thank God all that is behind us now.”

“I survived the snake pit and put PCBon the rails again!”

Sethi also threw his weight behindformer PCB chairman diplomat ShahryarKhan in the upcoming elections.

“I hope ex-Foreign Secretary and ex-Chairman PCB, Mr. Shahryar Khan, iselected as the next Chairman. With his vastcricket and diplomatic experience, he willbe an asset to PCB like he was as a memberof the Management Committee of the lastyear or so,” he told cricket websitepakpassion.net.—Agencies

Azadi marathonrace to be held

on IDFAISALABAD—A 10-kilome-ter Azadi marathon race willbe held on Thursday.

According to a spokes-man of district sports asso-ciation, the marathon racewould start from main gateof University of AgricultureFaisalabad (UAF) at 7 amand the participants willhave to cover a distance of10 kilometers up ThathaBridge through AbdullahPur Chowk.

The people of all age in-cluding males and femalesare eligible to take part inthe marathon race, headded.—APP

Asian Team,6-Red Snooker

offers cash prizein Rs.2.3 million

K A R A C H I — H a n d s o m ecash prizes to the tune of Rs2.3 million will be offered inthe second Jubilee Insur-ance Asian Team and 6-RedSnooker Championshipwhich will be played here atKhorshed Hall of HotelAvari Towers from August17 to 23.

Details of the champion-ship and prize money wereannounced during PakistanBilliards and Snooker Asso-ciation (PBSA) press con-ference at the venue hereWednesday.

Former World ChampionJahangir Khan, Commis-sioner Karachi ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui, PBSAPresident Alamgir Shaikh,Managing Director JubileeInsurance Tahir Ahmed andother officials spoke on theoccasion.

A total of 42 players rep-resenting 21-nations will bebattling for top honors inthe week-long continentalgala.

Alamgir Shaikh ex-pressed his doubts aboutthe partipation but added allefforts are on for the cham-pionship.

He said teams will startarriving here from Fridaywhile Treasurer of AsianConfederation of BilliardsSports Joseph Lou and chiefreferee will be reaching hereon Thursday.

Winners of the team titlewill get a gold medal $6750,runners- up will pick up asilver $4500 while third po-sition team will collectbronze medal and $2250.

In 6-Red contest thewinner will take $5250 andgold medal, runner-up a sil-ver medal and $2625 whilelosing semifinalist grabbronze medal and $750each.—APP

Sindhswimmingtrials fromtomorrow

KA R A C H I—Two-day tri-als to select Sindh juniorsquad for National AgeGroup Swimming Champi-onship wil l be held atKarachi Gymkhana fromAugust 16 from 2.00 to4.00 p.m, Sindh SwimmingAssociat ion (SSA) an-nounced here Wednes-day.

Secretary of SSAMuhammad AliShishmahal advised all theinterested boys to reportfor the trials.

The 19th Boys Na-tional Juniors SwimmingChampionship is scheduleto held in Peshawar fromSeptember 5-7.

He said trials will beheld for three age groups,12, 14 and 16 years at KGon August 16-17 in Free,Back, Breast, Butter, Indi-vidual Medley and free &medley relay events.

Those children whoare not registered or theirswimming registration hasexpired need to fill the reg-istration form.

Registration form re-quirement attested copiesof CNIC “B” Form, birthcert if icate, four recentcoloured photographs.

Data required includedpassport number (if any),height , weight , bloodgroup, Allergies, address,contact details, educationqualifications and Schoolname.—APP

CARDIFF: Real Madrid players pose with the trophy after winning the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between RealMadrid and Sevilla in Cardiff City Stadium.

PA R I S—Luis Suarez will f ind out onThursday whether he has been success-ful in his appeal to have a four-monthban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini atthe World Cup reduced.

The Uruguayan str iker last weekpleaded his case to the Swiss-basedCourt of Arbitration for Sport, which an-nounced that it will deliver its verdict at1300 GMT on Thursday.

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS) will announce its decision in thematter Luis Suarez, FC Barcelona and theUruguayan FA on Thursday 14 August2014 at around 3pm (local time). This casewas heard on 8 August 2014 at the CASoffices in Lausanne,” a statement re-leased on Wednesday said.

“At the request of the Appellants andwith the agreement of FIFA, the CAS hasconducted an expedited arbitration pro-cedure. As a consequence, the CASPanel has accepted to render its deci-sion within a short period of time butwith grounds to follow later.”

Suarez, who has two previous

Football: Suarez to learn CASban appeal verdict today

lengthy bans for biting opponents, wasbanned from all football-related activityfor four months after biting Chiellini onthe shoulder during a World Cup groupgame in the Brazilian city of Natal.

He was also suspended for nineinternationals and fined 100,000 Swissfrancs (112,000 dollars), FIFA orderingits exemplary punishment becauseSuarez at first showed no remorse—helater made a full apology to Chiellini.

He subsequently left Liverpool forBarcelona in a 95-million-euro ($127 mil-lion) deal but as it stands will have towait until late October before he can playfor his new club.

However, Suarez has been backed inhis appeal bid by world players’ unionFIFPro and his lawyers said last weekthey were confident of obtaining a re-duction of the ban to two months, mean-ing the former Liverpool striker wouldbe available to play from August 25, andfor him to be al lowed to train withBarcelona for the duration of his sus-pension.—AFP

Japan, Iran sign‘partnership’

dealTOKYO—Asian championsJapan and rival Iran havestruck a deal to cooperatein promoting football athome, with a focus on thewomen’s game, the JapanFootball Association (JFA)announced Wednesday.

The so-called partner-ship agreement would see thecountries share and ex-change personnel, includingcoaches and referees, as wellcooperate in areas such assports medicine and profes-sional league management.

The association said itsigned the deal with its Ira-nian counterpart in Tehranon Tuesday with plans towork together on “invigorat-ing women’s football,” asIran reportedly plans tolaunch a female league nextmonth.

Japan won the 2011women’s World Cup as thefirst Asian nation to lift theglobal football trophy foreither sex, having come along way since it launcheda women’s league in 1989.They also lifted their firstwomen’s Asian Cup thisyear.—AFP

Colombia’sArmero joinsMilan on loan

ROME—AC Milan onWednesday announced thesigning of Colombia full-

back Pablo Armero on loanfrom Italian rivals Udinese.

Armero, who spent thesecond half of last seasonon loan at West Ham Unitedin England, joins Milan on anew loan deal, although theRossoneri have the optionto eventually make the movepermanent.

“I spoke to (new Milancoach Filippo) Inzaghi, whoas a player loved to win andwill want to do the same asa coach,” Armero told theMilan Channel before un-dergoing a medical.

The 27-year-old left-back played in all ofColombia’s games duringtheir run to the World Cupquarter-finals last monthand scored in their opening3-0 win against Greece.

His arrival will helpMilan in a position wherethey have seen DutchmanUrby Emanuelson andGuinea’s Kevin Constantdepart this summer for Romaand Trabzonspor respec-tively.—AFP

Five climbersdie on France’s

Mont BlancLYON—Five French climb-ers were found dead onWednesday on Mont Blanc,Europe’s highest mountain,with a sixth member of thegroup still missing, localauthorities said.

The six climbers, includ-ing one guide, had been re-ported missing since Tues-day evening after they failedto return to their shelterwhen bad weather hit themountain.

The group had set outto climb the “Aiguilled’Argentiere” peak on theMont Blanc massif, whichstands at 3,902 metres(12,802 feet).

There have been severaldeaths this climbing seasonon the mountain, sparkingfears among professionalguides that Mont Blanc isfast becoming a tourist“free-for-all”.

Two Belgians werefound dead on August 2 andsix climbers died betweenJuly 15 and 30—two Irish,two Finns, a German and aFrench person.

A US climber sparkedoutrage earlier this monthwhen he tried to climb themountain with his nine-year-old son and 11-year-olddaughter and got caught inan avalanche.

The family escaped un-injured, but video footage ofthe incident in a spot knownas the “Corridor of Death”caused an outcry when itwas broadcast in the UnitedStates last month.—AFP

LONDON—Wayne Rooney has been namedManchester United captain by new man-ager Louis van Gaal, the club announced

Tuesday.T h e

28-year-oldE n g l a n dstriker suc-c e e d sN e m a n j aVidic afterthe Serbiadefender leftUnited at theend of lastseason tojoin InterMilan.

“ F o rme it’s al-ways veryi m p o r t a n tthe choice of

captain,” said van Gaal in a club statement

Rooney named United captain by Van Gaalissued after United’s 2-1 friendly winagainst Valencia at Old Trafford on Tues-day.

“Wayne has shown a great attitude to-wards everything he does. I have been veryimpressed by his professionalism and hisattitude to training and to my philosophy,”the Dutchman explained.

“He is a great inspiration to the youngermembers of the team and I believe he willput his heart and soul into his captaincyrole.” Rooney, who could now also be-come captain of England following StevenGerrard’s retirement from international foot-ball, said: “It is a huge honour for me—andfor my family—to be named captain of thisgreat club.

“It is a role I will perform with great pride.Team spirit has always been very high inour dressing room and I am very grateful tothe manager for the faith he has shown inme. I look forward to leading the team outon Saturday at our first match of the newseason.”—AFP

CINCINNATI—Novak Djokovic pulled hischampionship tennis back together after lastweek’s early exit, beating Gilles Simon 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters here Tuesday.

The world number one was ambushed atthe same stage in Toronto a week ago byeventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

But Djokovic made sure he did not com-mit the same error twice as hebegan a bid to win the onlyMasters 1000 title missingfrom his resume.But he wastested by his French oppo-nent, who took the contestinto a final set.

Djokovic went down aservice break in the openingset but got it back and addedanother to take the earlylead.In the second set, hewent up a break for 2-1 butcould not stay the course. Abreak for 4-3 in the third kepthim on the road to recovery.

He ended on his secondmatch point after more thantwo hours.

Four-time Cincinnati fi-nalist Djokovic improved hisrecord over France’s Simon to 8-1. He is play-ing the pre-US Open Masters tournament forthe tenth time.

In the only other second-round matchplayed, Australian Open winner StanWawrinka was broken while serving for vic-tory but pulled out a win over German Ben-jamin Becker 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).

Toronto winner Tsonga crashed backdown to earth in his opening match, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

The 29-year-old 12th seed found himselfback on court 48 hours after beating RogerFederer to win the title in Toronto, the secondat the Masters 1000 level of his career.

Tennis: Djokovic outlastsSimon to advance at Cincinnati

But he failed to find the inspiration hehad in Toronto—where he also beat Djokovicand Andy Murray—with canny veteranYouzhny taking full advantage of the physi-cal state of last week’s champion.

“It’s never easy, you have to get used tothe conditions really quick,” said Tsonga.

“I was not able to hit yesterday becausethe rainstorm.

“But that’s not the main thing. I just giveeverything on court, but I didn’t have enoughtoday to compete at the good level.

“I gave everything last week. Before thematch I believed I was able to play at a goodlevel, but on the court I realised it’s gonna beimpossible.And it was. “I gave my best and itwas tough.” Latvian Ernests Gulbis neededa pair of tiebreakers to advance over IvanDodig 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4).

Croatian 14th seed Marin Cilic advancedinto the second round over Toronto semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 while Britishqualifier James Ward surprised SpaniardGuillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.—AFP

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Grand farewell has beenplanned by the old students of NalandaCollege for Mahela Jayawardena, who willbe playing his last Test beginning tomor-row on his home ground (Sinhalese SportsClub ground) against Pakistan.

“Mahela was a student of our collegeand large number of our college boys-past and present-will be at the Stadiumfor all five days”, Milinda Dharmasena,the old student of the college said overtelephone from Colombo.

The college has produced few morecricketers like Kumara Dharmasena andRoshan Mahanama, who are ICC’s um-pire and match-referee respectively.

“Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board hasgiven us 600 invitations free of charge(normal ticket price is Rs 2,000/-) for all 5

SLC provide free invitationsto Mahela’s college students

days. Since it’s a limited number, we havebeen distributing the tickets on 1st come1st serve basis”, he added.

‘“We have organized a special spec-tator stand exclusively for all theNalandians and their familiy-members towitness the Test match with severalother activities planned during the Testmatch”.

“We have arranged many activitiesand events including Guard of Honour toMahela, play Nalanda anthem, present anappreciation award, an oration aboutMahela, hoist College flags, display ban-ners, play a papare band and many moresurprises all 5 days at the SSC grounds”,he further added.

“Limited number of T-shirts has beenprinted and will be sold at the match. Youwill find old and new college students inthese T-shirts which have Mahela’s nameand photo”

CARDIFF—Cristiano Ronaldo up-staged new team-mates Toni Kroosand James Rodriguez and homecom-ing hero Gareth Bale as Real Madridbeat Sevilla 2-0 in Cardiff to win theUEFA Super Cup.

World Cup stars Kroos andRodriguez were making their Madriddebuts, while Bale was returning tohis hometown, but it was Ronaldo,characteristically, who hogged thespotlight with a brace in the Welshcapital.

The Portugal captain claimed a30th-minute opener from Bale´s crossand then slammed home a second goalshortly after half-time to earn the Eu-ropean champions what could be thefirst of six trophies this season. “Weknew this would be a complex game,but we played well and created goal-scoring opportunities,” said Ronaldo,who was named man of the match byhis former Manchester United mentorAlex Ferguson.

On Kroos and Rodriguez, headded: “These are two crucial playersfor us. They played well and theyhelped the team win this important tro-phy.

“While 80-million-euro ($108 mil-lion) new recruit Rodriguez had a mod-est debut, Madrid´s new-look attack— which cost roughly 310 million eu-

Ronaldo double clinchesSuper Cup for Real Madrid

ros to assemble — showed ominousflashes of quality.

Victory gave Madrid only their sec-ond Super Cup, after a maiden triumphin 2002, and enabled Carlo Ancelotti´sside to avenge a costly 2-1 loss at thehands of Europa League winnersSevilla in La Liga last season.

While Ancelotti named both Kroosand Rodriguez in his starting XI,Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno wasomitted from his side´s match-daysquad amid reports he is on the vergeof joining Liverpool.

With Kroos sitting in front of theback four and Rodriguez to his left ina 4-3-3 shape, Madrid quickly as-sumed control of the game at theCardiff City Stadium.

Bale and then Ronaldo, with a free-kick, saw efforts deflected narrowlyoff-target, before Bale´s outside-of-the-foot volley from a Rodriguez left-wing cross was blocked by a defender.

A misplaced pass by DanielCarvajal gave Sevilla winger Vitolo achance to shoot at goal, obliging IkerCasillas to save at his near post, butMadrid were soon back on the frontfoot.

After Federico Fazio headed a de-flected cross from Fabio Coentrao offhis own line and Sevilla goalkeeperBeto blocked sharply from Ronaldo,

Madrid´s lavishly assembled forwardline clicked into gear for what their fanshope will be the first goal of many.

When a Sevilla attack broke down,Ronaldo flashed a pass inside toRodriguez, who immediately sprayedthe ball wide to Bale on the left flank.

The Cardiff-born Welshman tooka touch before sending a fine, search-ing cross towards the back post,where Ronaldo powered in to volleyhome.

Moments later, a shanked clear-ance from Rodriguez meant thatCasillas had to save from DanielCarrico, but Madrid were good valuefor their half-time lead.

Ronaldo doubled his side´s lead,and his personal tally, four minutesinto the second period, gathering apass from Karim Benzema and wallop-ing a left-foot shot past internationalcolleague Beto.

Beto prevented Madrid from ex-tending their lead by clawing away ashot from Benzema and then brilliantlyblocking a crisp strike by Colombiastar Rodriguez, who made way for Iscowith 18 minutes to play.

Beto also produced a late flyingsave to thwart Bale, who was unableto crown his return to Cardiff with agoal, but who has now won three titlesin his first 12 months at Madrid.—AFP

Martino takes reins of World Cuprunners-up Argentina

South Africalose pacemanHendricks for

one-dayersHARARE—Fast bowlerBeuran Hendricks is out ofSouth Africa´s three-matchone-day international serieswith Zimbabwe that startson Sunday.

Hendricks has a backstrain, suffered while tour-ing Australia with the Ateam, Cricket South Africasaid in a news release onTuesday.

He will not be replacedin a squad already missingrested pace trio Dale Steyn,Morne Morkel and VernonPhilander.

Kyle Abbott, RyanMcLaren, Wayne Parnell,Marchant de Lange and un-capped Mthokozisi Sheziare to fill the fast bowlingroles.

South Africa meet Zim-babwe in three ODIs inBulawayo before Australiaarrive for a triangular tour-nament in Harare that startson Aug. 25.—AFP

BUENOS AIRES—Argentina named formerBarcelona coach Gerardo Martino as thenew manager of the national soccer team onTuesday following Alejandro Sabella’s de-cision to step aside in the wake of their WorldCup final defeat in July. Martino, who wonthe Argentine league title with Newell’s OldBoys in June 2013 before taking the reins atBarca, will make his debut in a Sept. 3 friendlyagainst Germany in Duesseldorf.

The Germans beat Argentina 1-0 afterextra time in the World Cup final at Rio de

Janeiro’s Maracana on July 13, after whichSabella decided against accepting the offerof a new contract from late AFA PresidentJulio Grondona.

“The Rosario-born coach GerardoDaniel Martino will take office as the newcoach of the national team, succeeding MrAlejandro Sabella, who completed his con-tract with the AFA after the end of the WorldCup Brazil 2014,” the Argentine FA (AFA)said in a statement on its official website(www.afa.org.ar).—APP

ZURICH: Kai Kazmirek of Germany competes in the high jump event of the men´sdecathlon during the European Athletics Championships at the Letzigrund Stadium.

HEALTHCARE providers, particularly dentists, frequently miss opportunities to advise patients about

ways to stop smoking cigarettes, a newstudy shows. Since 1996, the U.S. PublicHealth Service has beenurging all healthcare work-ers to ask every one oftheir patients if they smokeand to counsel smokers toquit, said senior authorAmy Ferketich, a profes-sor at the Ohio State Uni-versity College of PublicHealth in Columbus.

But when she and hercolleagues analysed sur-vey data from 2010, theyfound that less than 12percent of smokers whovisited a dental workerand only half of smokerswho saw a doctor re-ported receiving guidanceabout how to break thehabit. Tobacco researcherStanton Glantz called the find-ings “quitestriking.”

“Dental schools and other profes-sional schools are not doing enough toteach how to deal with the issue,” he toldReuters Health. “It’s just a continu-ousslog to try to get time in the curriculum.”Glantz directs the Centre for TobaccoControl Research and Education at theUniversity of California, San Fran-cisco,and was not involved in the current study.

Researchers analysed 2010 NationalHealth Interview Survey data from 3,612smokers who had visited a healthcare pro-

Dentists miss chances tourge patients to quit smoking

National flags and buntings displayed for sale at a road side stall on the eve of celebrat-ing the Independence Day.

vider within the prior 12 months. They re-ported their findings in a publica-tion of theCentres for Disease Control and Preven-tion(CDC) called Preventing Chronic Disease.

The study found that only50.7 percent of smokers whosaw a physician said the doc-tor counselled them to quit.

Dentists scored farworse. Just 11.8 percent ofsmokers who saw a den-tist or dental hygienist re-ported receiving advice onhow to stop. Ferketich toldReuters Health the strikingdifference between doc-tors and dentists surprisedher. “Dental students aswell as medical studentsshould get some training asto how to address thesmoking issue,” she said.“Provider advice to quit isquite powerful. In the end,the healthcare system cansave money because pa-

tients will quit,” she said.Counselling combined with nicotine-

withdrawal pharmacology – in the formof patches, gum and lozenges – works,Ferketich said. Since 1964, when the sur-geon general first reported a link betweensmoking and lung cancer, 8 million Ameri-cans have been saved from prematuresmoking-related deaths, another 2014study found (see Reuters Health story ofJanuary 7, 2014 here: reut.rs/XET2nh).

Smoking nonetheless remains theleading cause of preventable death in theUnited States, according to the CDC.

Hameed Haroon President APNS addressing during Executive Committee Meeting. FaisalZahid Malik Editor Pakistan Observer, Sarmad Ali Secretary General, Mujeeb-ur-RehmanShami President CPNE are also seen in the picture.—PO Photo Sultan Chaki

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The All Pakistan Newspapers So-ciety paid tributes to Majid Nizami, Publisher /Chief Editor, Nawa-i-Waqt Group of Publica-tions. The Executive Committee members of-fered Fateha and expressed their profound griefover the sad demise of veteran colleague. TheExecutive Committee members across the coun-try noted with concern that the Federal Gov-ernment has failed to honour its commitmentsmade by the Federal Information Minister inwriting. The Federal Government has assuredto clear the dues of member publicationsagainst the Ministry of Information and theoutstanding bills of devolved ministries.

The Executive Committee of the APNSconsidered the report of the Punjab Commit-tee and noted that despite the directives ofMian Shahbaz Sharif, CM, Punjab, the com-mittee formed by him has held deliberationswithout consulting APNS which is a clear vio-lation of the written directives issued by theCM, Punjab. The Committee has noted thatthe DGPR was allocating provincial adver-tisements to non-APNS publications withoutadhering the advertisement policy.

\The Executive Committee members flayedthe Punjab Government on the levy of SalesTax on the newspapers contrary to the assur-ances made by the Chief Minister, Punjab.The Executive Committee also considered thereport of Balochistan Committee wherein it

APNS pays tributesto Majid Nizami

was noted that the Balochistan Governmenthas not yet evolved any advertising policy.

The Executive Committee noted that theindifference of the Sindh Government to clearthe long outstanding dues of member publica-tions contrary to the commitments made bythe Chief Minister. The members based inSindh, reported that the advertisements arebeing released by the Sindh Information onthe personal whims and wishes of the officials.

The meeting was attended by the fol-lowing:

Hameed Haroon, President, Sarmad Ali,Secretary General, S.M. Munir Jilani, Joint Sec-retary, Mumtaz A. Tahir (D/Aftab), BilalFarooqui (D/Aghaz), Dr. Jabbar Khattak (D/Awami Awaz), Rahmat Ali Raazi (WeeklyAZM), Shahab A. Zuberi (D/Business Re-corder), Umar Shahzad Khan (D/Business Re-port), Najamuddin Sheikh (D/ Deyanat), Aijaz-ul-Haq (D/ Express ), Kazi Asad Abid (D/Ibrat),Javed Mehr Shamsi (D/Kaleem), Mian AkbarAli (D/Khabrain), Aamer Mahmood (M/Kiran),Mushtaq A. Qureshi (M/ Naey Ufaq), RameezaMajid Nizami (D/ Nawa-e-Waqt), SalmanQureshi (M/Naya Rukh), Faisal Zahid Malik(D/Pakistan Observer), Dr. Waqar YousufAzeemi (M/Roohani Digest), Humayon Gulzar(D/Sayadat), Mr. Irfan Ather (D/Tijarat) and RiazAhmed Mansuri (M/The Cricketer).

Mujib-ur-Rahman Shami, President(CPNE) and Masood Hamid of Daily Dawnattended the meeting on special invitation.

Youth holdinnovativedemo for

their rightsSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A group ofaround 20 youth staged aninnovative demonstrationin front of Sindh assemblyand attracted a huge au-dience for its unique wayof campaigning urgingparents and caretakers toguide them during grow-ing up years.

Sit t ing betweencolourful stuffed toys theyouth were holding plac-ards saying that theyshould not be treated liketoys and their right to in-formation and well-beingbe respected by their par-ents and caretakers.

A number of MPAsvisited the demo and reit-erated their support forthe cause. The act ivi tywas arranged by a na-t ional awareness cam-paign ‘EHAD’ that is seek-ing parents and caretakersto provide appropriateknowledge to youngsters,in the l ight of Islamicteachings and culturalvalues.

Major reshuffling inpolice department

on cardsIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Rampant kill-ings of Police officers andcops in Karachi had dissi-pated waves of seriousconcern among the law en-forcing authority at higherlevel, which might shortlybe translated into speedyreshuffling in postingsand transfers on Police of-ficers of high cadres. Inaddition to fast deteriorat-ing law and order in the me-tropolis, federal govern-ment had also despatcheda report to Sindh govern-ment, which laid dueweight on forthcoming de-cision regarding major re-shuffling in Police Depart-ment.

According to sources,Deputy Inspector General(DIG) of district South, DIGEast, Senior Superinten-dent of Police (SSP) Cen-tral, South and Anti-Vio-lent Crime Cell had beenshort listed for immediatetransfers.

Conversely, changeswould also be made atlower ranks and stationhouse officers of policestations would also be re-placed.

Sources in Police De-partment said that the re-

shuffling in Police Depart-ment would be for over-coming certain flaws andproblems pertaining to theongoing-targeted opera-tion in the city.

Meanwhile, SindhHome Department had im-posed section 144 of thePakistan Penal Code (PPC)in Karachi.

The section 144 hadbeen imposed with imme-diate effect for Aug 13 and14 so as to prevent anyuntoward incident in thecity on the eve and day ofthe Independence Day.

In this regard, KarachiPolice Chief Additional In-spector General of Police,Sindh Ghulam Qadir Thebosaid that the section 144was being imposed in thecity in lines with securityconcerns in the city.

HEALTHCARE providers, particularly dentists, frequently miss opportunities to advise patients about

ways to stop smoking cigarettes, a newstudy shows. Since 1996, the U.S. PublicHealth Service has beenurging all healthcare work-ers to ask every one oftheir patients if they smokeand to counsel smokers toquit, said senior authorAmy Ferketich, a profes-sor at the Ohio State Uni-versity College of PublicHealth in Columbus.

But when she and hercolleagues analysed sur-vey data from 2010, theyfound that less than 12percent of smokers whovisited a dental workerand only half of smokerswho saw a doctor re-ported receiving guidanceabout how to break thehabit. Tobacco researcherStanton Glantz called the findings “quitestriking.”

“Dental schools and other profes-sional schools are not doing enough toteach how to deal with the issue,” he toldReuters Health. “It’s just a continuousslog to try to get time in the curriculum.”Glantz directs the Centre for TobaccoControl Research and Education at theUniversity of California, San Francisco,and was not involved in the current study.

Researchers analysed 2010 NationalHealth Interview Survey data from 3,612smokers who had visited a healthcare pro-

Dentists miss chances tourge patients to quit smoking

A beautiful view of Punjab Assembly building decorated with colourful lights in connection with Independence Day celebrations.

A view of containers parked in Model Town while Lahore High Court full bench Wednesday ordered Punjab govern-ment to remove containers, barriers placed to block roads.

vider within the prior 12 months. Theyreported their findings in a publication ofthe Centres for Disease Control and Pre-vention (CDC) called Preventing Chronic

Disease. The study foundthat only 50.7 percent ofsmokers who saw a physi-cian said the doctor coun-selled them to quit.

Dentists scored farworse. Just 11.8 percent ofsmokers who saw a dentistor dental hygienist reportedreceiving advice on how tostop. Ferketich told ReutersHealth the striking differ-ence between doctors anddentists surprised her.“Dental students as well asmedical students should getsome training as to how toaddress the smoking issue,”she said. “Provider adviceto quit is quite powerful. Inthe end, the healthcare sys-tem can save money be-

cause patients will quit,” she said.Counselling combined with nicotine-

withdrawal pharmacology – in the formof patches, gum and lozenges – works,Ferketich said. Since 1964, when the sur-geon general first reported a link betweensmoking and lung cancer, 8 million Ameri-cans have been saved from prematuresmoking-related deaths, another 2014study found (see Reuters Health story ofJanuary 7, 2014 here: reut.rs/XET2nh).

Smoking nonetheless remains theleading cause of preventable death in theUnited States, according to the CDC.

Citizens are purchasing national flags to celebrates Independence Day.

Pakistan facing problemsdue to defying its ideology

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab University Vice Chan-cellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has said thatPakistan was facing problems because ithas defied the ideology on the basis ofwhich it came into existence. He said thatlack of education and non-participation increation of new knowledge had created theproblems the Muslims were facing today.

He was addressing a seminar organizedby Punjab University Library at Jinnah Au-ditorium after inauguration four-day bookexhibition on Pakistan Movement here onWednesday. Addressing the ceremony, Dr

Mujahid Kamran said that a cabal of bank-ing families was behind East India Companywhich enforced wars throughout the worldand also funded Bolshevik Revolution.

He said that these bankers were behindall major unrests in the world while usurywas prohibited both in Islam and Christian-ity. He said that Muslims and Christians hada common enemy and these usurers wantedto enslave humanity. He said that Pakistanhad no future without education and cre-ation of new knowledge. Addressing theceremony, Dr Rafique Ahmed said that wewere zero when Pakistan came into beingbut unfortunately we could not progress.

UVAS Pet Centrestarts 24-hour

clinical servicesLAHORE—The Pet Centreof the University of Veteri-nary and Animal Sciences(UVAS) has started 24-houra day, seven days a weeknon-stop clinical services.This round-the-clock ser-vice has been started on theCity Campus to facilitate thepet lovers, said InchargePet Centre Dr Asim KhalidMahmood adding that theCentre providing all kinds ofmedical, treatment, surgery,diagnostic and advisoryservices to all kinds of petsincluding dogs, cats, rab-bits and all kinds of birds,etc.—APP

44 shopkeepersfined for

overchargingLAHORE—Special teams ofthe City District Govern-ment Lahore (CDGL) con-tinued drive against hoard-ing and overcharging andchallaned as many as 44shopkeepers for violatingPrice Act. CDGL teamsconducted 537 raids in thecity on Wednesday and gotarrested 2 shopkeepers af-ter lodging cases.

The district administra-tion also imposed fineworth Rs 43,000 on viola-tors of price act. DCO Capt(R) Muhammad Usman is-sued directions to the pricecontrol officials to con-tinue crackdown againstthe hoarders and profi-teers.—APP

LAHORE—National Highways & MotorwayPolice (NH&MP), Central Zone on Wednes-day has organized a flag march on highwaysto mark the Independence Day’s celebrationswith national spirit and zeal. Zonal Com-mander DIG Bashir Ahmed Memon led themarch while all Sector Commanders (SPs)including Chief Patrolling Officer and per-sonnel of NH&MP also attended the flagmarch in their areas concerned.

The officers of the mobile education

NH&MP organizeflag march on highways

unit and education teams distributed na-tional flags, flowers along with briefingmaterial and pamphlets with road safety slo-gans at Toll Plazas. The DIG said small giftspacks, flag leaflets and pamphlets bearingmessages related to occasion, would bedistributed among the road users at all tollplazas, adding that national flag would alsobe displayed on all official vehicles includ-ing patrolling mobiles of NH&MP from 12to 14 August.—APP

LAHORE—Leaders of various politi-cal parties have rejected the PTI’slong march after the government’sdecision of setting up a judicial com-mission to probe rigging allegations.Talking to APP on Wednesday, Paki-stan People’s Party Punjab generalsecretary Tanvir Ashraf Kaira urgedImran Khan to call off his long marchas his basic demand was acceptednow and let the judicial commissiondo its work.

Welcoming the decision, he saidthat now ball was in the court of Imranto save democracy and termed the deci-sion of Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif as a good beginning.

PTI’s march has lost validityafter formation of Commission

Awami National Party secretary generalAhsaan Wyne said that the ANP hadalso reservations on rigging in election2013 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but theparty did not want to derail democracy.

He said Imran Khan’s demands hadbeen accepted so there was no need oflong march. He urged Imran Khan shouldshow flexibility in his stance as well andhold negotiations with the governmentto resolve all the issues. “It was the demo-cratic right of any party to protest but itshould be within the parameters of lawand constitution,” he added.

PML-N parliamentarian ShaistaPervaiz Malik said, “Decisions shouldbe made in parliament and that democ-

racy should keep going.” JUI-F Punjableader Maulana M Amjad Khan saidthe PM had given a good proposalwhich fulfilled Imran Khan’s demands.Chairman Pakistan Ulema CouncilMaulana Tahir Ashrafi said now theissues were not complicated as the PMNawaz Sharif has given Imran Khan achoice for a way out by setting up ju-dicial commission. He said that ImranKhan’s undemocratic reaction to de-mand elected PM’s resignation wasunconstitutional and unlawful.

He said that no one should be al-lowed to hijack public mandatethrough bringing few hundred activ-ists on the roads.—APP

LAHORE—The Punjab EmergencyService has completed its prepara-tions for month-long IndependeceDay celebrations which includesdecorations of Rescue 1122 Head-quarters & Emergency ServicesAcademy. Display of national flagsas well as hoisting of flags on all

Rescue 1122 to remainhigh alert on I-Day

Rescue Stations in 36 Districts ofPunjab and flag marches will be ar-ranged during the current month.

In a directive issued by DG Res-cue 1122 Dr Rizwan Naseer onWednesday all the District EmergencyOfficers (DEOs) are directed to ensuredisplay of national flags on district

rescue stations and emergency ve-hicles as well as to display nationalflag badges on uniforms. It is alsodirected to continue organizingawareness seminars, speech con-tests and other competitions amongthe rescuers to commemorate Inde-pendence Day. —APP