Celebrating IndependenceDay in a big way................................................Democracy is notdelivering in Muslim world................................................Bomb of educated-unem-ployed may explode

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AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Finance Minister Senator IshaqDar has said that National Food Security Coun-cil is in the pipeline to strengthen the agricul-ture sector in this significant role of economicgrowth, employment generation and ensuringfood security.

He was addressing annual meeting of Ag-ricultural Credit Advisory Committee where theGovernor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) DrAshraf Wathra also set an Agriculture CreditDisbursement Target of Rs 500 billion for thebanking sector in 2014-15 to facilitate growthin agricultural production.

The annual meeting of the AgriculturalCredit Advisory Committee (ACAC) held atSBP, Lahore. The Finance Minister of Pakistan,Mr. Ishaque Dar graced the occasion after themeeting to encourage all stake holders and thebanking community for their support to agri-cultural sector.

National Food Security Council soon: DarBanks to meet Rs 500 b Agri target: Wathra

GAZA/JERUSALEM—Thou-sands fled their homes in aGaza town on Sunday after Is-rael warned them to leaveahead of threatened attacks onrocket-launching sites, on thesixth day of an offensive thatPalestinian officials said haskilled at least 160 people.

“Those who fail to complywith the instructions will en-danger their lives and the livesof their families. Beware,” reada leaflet dropped by the Israelimilitary in the town of BeitLahiya, near the border withIsrael.

Militants in the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip kept up rock-ets salvoes deep into the Jew-ish state and the worst bout ofIsrael-Palestinian bloodshed intwo years showed no signs ofabating despite mounting inter-national pressure to cease fire.

A Palestinian woman anda girl, aged 3, were killed inIsraeli air strikes early on Sun-day, Gaza’s Health Ministrysaid. Hours earlier, the minis-try said 18 people were killedwhen the house of Gaza’s po-lice chief was bombed from theair in the single deadliest attackof Israel’s offensive.

Despite intensified Israelimilitary action - which in-cluded a commando raid over-night in what was Israel’s firstreported ground action in Gazaduring the current fighting -militants continued to launchrocket after rocket across theborder.

A long-range salvo on Sun-day morning triggered air raidsirens at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurioninternational airport, which has

Israeli commandos raid Gaza beachas deadly air assault continues

Thousands of Gaza civilians flee after warning Leaflets warn of large-scale bombing

A Palestinian woman gestures as she stands behind a missile which witnesses said was fired by Israeli aircraft, at a shackbelonging to Bedouins in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

not been hit in the hostilitiesand where flights have beenoperating normally, and somecity suburbs.

Giving details of the navalcommando operation early onSunday, Lieutenant ColonelPeter Lerner, an Israeli militaryspokesman, said four membersof the force were wounded inexchanges of fire with militantsbut the long-range rocketlaunching site they attackedwas hit.

Hamas said its fighters had

fired at the Israeli force off-shore, preventing them fromlanding. Lerner said the forceshad “completed their mission”.

On Saturday night, Hamas- the Islamist movement thatrules Gaza - made good on athreat to send rockets streakingtoward Tel Aviv at 9 p.m. (2.00p.m. EDT) and other areas inheavily populated central Is-rael.

Hundreds of thousands ofIsraelis sought shelter as Pal-estinians in the streets of Gaza

City cheered the launchings,the biggest strike yet on the TelAviv metropolitan area.

Those rockets and the onesunleashed on Sunday were in-tercepted by the Israeli-built,and partly U.S.-funded, IronDome missile defense systemthat has proved effectiveagainst Hamas’s most power-ful weaponry.

No one has been killed bythe more than 800 rockets theIsraeli military said has beenfired since the offensive began,

and during Saturday night’sbarrage, customers in Tel Avivbeachfront cafes shouted theirapproval as they watched theprojectiles being shot out of thesky.

The Gaza Health Ministrysaid at least 160 Palestinians,including about 135 civilians -among them some 30 children,have been killed six days ofwarfare, and more than 1,000have been wounded.

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The finance Minister saidthat the key to improving agri-culture productivity is access tohigh yielding inputs and marketsand most importantly the accessto credit whenever it is needed.Therefore, keeping in view thevital role of agriculture in en-suring food security, reducingpoverty, generating economicgrowth and complementing theindustrialization as most of ourindustries acquire major inputfrom agriculture sector the gov-ernment is committed to de-velop a sustainable & profitableagriculture sector. It has been decided to estab-lish a National Food Security Council for thispurpose. The council will be responsible forensuring policy coordination across provincesand relating to productivity improvements,market reforms, value addition and prices that

ensure stable incomes forfarmers. Further, a package ofincentives and support has al-ready been approved by thegovernment for the agriculturesector which include CreditGuarantee Scheme for Small &Marginalized Farmers, en-hancement of the scope of CLIpremium reimbursementscheme up to 25 acres landholding, Livestock InsuranceScheme for all farmers gettingfinancing for up to 10 cattle,initiating regulatory mecha-nism for establishment of a

warehousing clearing system and Receipt Fi-nancing Mechanism, and Incentives for Pro-cessing Industries of Special Areas such asMakran Division, Gilgit-Baltistan, Swat Dis-trict and FATA regions. These steps will facili-tate the farming community as well as banks to

increase financial outreach in the sector.Addressing the meeting, Governor SBP, Mr

Wathra said the Finance Minister and the gov-ernment have keen interest and high commit-ment to upgrading this vital sector of theeconomy, which is essential for achieving thebroader national objectives of rapid economicgrowth and alleviation of poverty.

Highlighting the role of agriculture in Pa-kistan, he said that agriculture sector is an es-sential component accounting for around 20percent of GDP and employs nearly half of thelabor force. The sector directly supports three-quarters of the population and contributes alarge share of foreign exchange earnings to thecountry. The Governor also emphasized that toincrease agriculture production and foster itsgrowth we need to increase productivitythrough optimum utilization of resources anduse of advanced farming techniques. The sec-tor has a lot of potential which can be better

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TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The Pakistan AirForce (PAF) planes poundedterrorist positions in Mir AliTehsil of North Waziristanagency Sunday destroying fivehideouts of the militants andmowing down eighteen insur-gents as the Operation Zerb-e-Azb continued in the region onthe 29th consecutive day.

The Military Operationtitled Zerb-e-Azb, initiatedagainst the terrorists challeng-ing the writ of the governmentfor the last many years andearning a bad name to the coun-try on June 15 when the PAFplanes struck hard on the mili-tants positions in Degan area ofTehsil Datta Khel of NWA kill-ing as many as 100 alleged ter-rorists with large number offugitives, according to militarysources, was advancing effec-tively as majority of the troublemakers have either been killedor flushed out from the NWAheadquarters Miran Shah.

The PAF birds that havebeen pounding the militant’shideouts in the agency some-times with a pause of day or so

18 militants killed infresh bombing, fivehideouts destroyed

have so far killed over 400 hun-dred miscreants besides de-stroying around a hundredmilitant’s hide outs. Likewisethe ground operation was alsostarted on June 30th and thePak Army lead security forceshave seized number of bomband other explosives manufac-turing factories of the terroristsin various parts of the agenciesas they successfully continuedtheir advancements against thetrouble makers.The PAF birds that have killed13 miscreants and destroyedseven of their hideouts inSaturday’s blitz, resumedstrikes on Sunday in Mir AliTehsil by incessantly bombingmilitant’s sites and destroyingat least five more hideouts ofthe insurgents and killing num-ber of trouble makers. Besidescache of arms and ammunitionswere also destroyed in the freshblitz.

“As many as five terroristhideouts were destroyed whilemany more terrorists werekilled in aerial strikes on Sun-day in Mir Ali, NorthWaziristan”. The Inter-Services

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LAHORE—Information Minister Pervaz Rashidhas said that those talking about revolution weretrying to fail Zarb-e-Azb operation.

Talking to media here on Sunday, the Infor-mation Minister reiterated that Pakistan Mus-lim League-Nawaz had no link with the safeexit deal for Musharraf, addingthat the PML-N would not be aparty to any move against theconstitution and the law.

In reference to the statementof former prime minister YusufRaza Gilani regarding deal withMusharraf, Pervaiz Rashid saidthat the PPP leaders were them-selves divided over the issue ofdeal with Musharraf. He saidPervaz Musharraf had himselfrejected the claims made by PPPleader Gilani. This debate mustnow end.

Rashid again criticized PTIchief Imran Khan and PAT chief Tahirul Qadri,saying they are anti-democratic parties and wantto derail the system but they will fail.

Referring to the statement of ShahMahmood Qureshi, saying that he feared of an-other Model Town tragedy if the long march

Revolution talkers tryingto fail Zarb-e-Azb: PR

PML-N not part of any unconstitutional step;PPP itself divided on Musharraf deal issue

was stopped, Rashid questioned the PTI vice-chairman as to how he knows everything be-forehand?

To a question regarding IDPs, he expressedthe hope that soon they will return to their homesin North Waziristan after restoration of peace

in their region. He said the gov-ernment is committed to fulfillall the requirements of armedforces of the country.

Responding another queryof journalist, the informationminister said the terrorists hadmade North Waziristan deni-zens as hostages.

Regarding the power loadshedding, he said the sittingPML-N government is takingsteps to address the issue.“PML-N government is takingevery possible step to addressthe issue of power load shed-

ding and a number of solid measures have beentaken in this direction”, he told media.

To a question regarding cross border firingincident in Bajaur, the minister said Pakistanhas launched a strong protest with the Afghan

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Pak hails ‘amicablesolution’ to Afghan

election impasseSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan wel-comed on Sunday the “ami-cable solution” to the politicalimpasse in Afghanistan thathad gripped the country sincethe second round of the presi-dential elections on June 15.

“We welcome the amicablesolution that has reportedlybeen worked out, and appreci-ate the efforts of everyone whocontributed to this outcome,”Foreign Ministry spokespersonTasnim Aslam said.

“Pakistan has emphasisedthe importance of peacefulresolution of all issues throughdialogue,” she said in a textmessage when Pakistan’s reac-tion to the important develop-ment was sought.

She had earlier stated thatPakistan supports a peacefuldemocratic transition in Af-ghanistan and has also consis-tently emphasised that it wouldrespect the democratic choiceof the Afghan people.

Afghanistan plunged into apolitical crisis after leadingpresidential candidate DrAbdullah Abdullah rejected the

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PM livid overlong hours ofload shedding

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif took the noticeof unannounced load sheddingSunday and expressed greatannoyance with the situation ofpower cuts in the country dur-ing the holy month of Ramzan.

Prime Minister has orderedthe Ministry of Water andPower to present a report tohim on the reasons of such ex-tensive load shedding in thecountry. Prime Minister alsoasked the ministry to presentbefore him the load sheddingschedule.

Moreover, Nawaz Sharifasked the ministry to share withhim a detailed report about thesystem issues that cause unan-nounced load shedding. He or-dered to complete the upgrad-ing process of the transmissionand distribution systems asearly as possible.

He also said that instead ofgiving relief to the commonpeople, load shedding is givingthem sleepless nights. He saidthat the issue must be resolved

KARACHI— Pakistan People’sParty senior leader SenatorR a z aRabbani hassaid thatformer Presi-dent General(retd.) PervezM u s h a r r a fhad resignedto escape im-peachmen tmotion. “PPP made no dealwith Musharraf for his resigna-tion as President,” said Rabbaniwhile addressing a press con-ference at the PPP’s Media Cellhere on Sunday.

“Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N) leader IshaqDar was also a member of thecommittee which held talkswith Musharraf,” he explained.

“PPP had made it clear toMusharraf that Parliamentwanted to impeach him.”

To a question, he said thatPPP supports government’sdecision to try Musharraf forhigh treason. On Friday, formerprime minister Yousuf RazaGilani had said that Musharraf

PPP controversy over Musharraf

Rabbani rejects ex-PM’s claim,Gilani stands by his statement

was given a safe passage un-der a deal.

Meanwhile, Former primem i n i s t e rSyed YousufRaza Gilanion Sundaymaintainedhis stancer e g a r d i n gtrial of ex-p r e s i d e n t

Pervez Musharraf.“I stand by my statement

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Bilawal snubsparty leaders

LAHORE—Pakistan People’sParty Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari has asked the partyleaders not to make irrespon-sible statements in the case offormer President PervezMusharraf. Sources in the PPPsaid that Bilawal Bhutto tooka serious notice of the situationemanating following Yusuf

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Iraq parliamentpostpones decisionon new leadersBAGHDAD—Iraq’s dead-locked parliament failedSunday to overcome thedeep divisions hamperingthe formation of a newgovernment, making noprogress on choosing newleaders who could help holdthe nation together andconfront the Sunni militantblitz that has overrun muchof the country.

The legislature is underpressure to quickly choose anew speaker of parliament,president and prime minister— the first steps toward anew government. Theinternational community haspressed lawmakers to puttheir differences aside, whilethe United Nations haswarned of chaos if thepolitical impasse drags on fortoo long.—AP

France wrappingup militaryoperation in MaliPARIS—France’s defenseminister says the Frenchmilitary operation in Mali“fulfilled its mission” and isbeing reorganized into aregional force againstterrorists across northwestAfrica.

France intervened 18months ago after al-Qaida-linked extremists seized aswath of the former Frenchcolony. Operation Serval wasrepeatedly extended to helpMali’s government regaincontrol, and is expected toend soon — perhaps thisweek when French PresidentFrancois Hollande visitsAfrica.

While French-led forcesdispersed extremists and theU.N. established a peacekeep-ing force, sporadic violencecontinues. Meanwhile,concern has mounted about

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PTI turnsdown

Saad’s appealSTAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokes-person Shireen Mazari said onSunday that PTI has resortedto ‘Azaadi march’ after thor-ough consideration, adding thatthe party had already exhaustedall its options including takingthe issue to tribunals, courtsand the parliament, DunyaNews reported.

In a statement issued fromthe federal capital, Mazari saidthat PTI had already exhaustedall its options including takingthe matter of alleged rigging inelections to the tribunals, courtsand even the parliament. Shesaid Khawaja Saad Rafique ischampion of words, adding thatthe ‘rigging minister’ should

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Continued on Page 7Russia warnsUkraine ofconsequencesMOSCOW/KIEV—Russiathreatened Ukraine onSunday with “irreversibleconsequences” after a manwas killed by a shell firedacross the border fromUkraine, describing theincident in warlike terms asaggression that must be metwith a response.

Although both sides havereported cross-bordershootings in the past, theincident appears to be the firsttime Moscow has reportedfatalities on its side of theborder in the three-monthconflict which has killedhundreds of people inUkraine.

Kiev called the accusa-tion its forces had fired acrossthe border “total nonsense”and suggested the attackcould have been the work of

Younis distributerelief goodsamong IDPs

PESHAWAR—Shahid AfridiFoundation and Umair SanaFoundation Sunday distrib-uted relief goods, Eid giftsand sports gears among theInternally Displaced Personsof North Waziristan Agencyin function arranged by Al-Khadmat Foundation in arelief camp at Bannu.

Cricket celebrity andreknowned Test cricketerYounis Khan, ProvincialMinister for Local Govern-ment Inyat Ullah and SeniorJournalist Talat Hussaingraced the occasion asguests and distributed reliefgoods among the IDPs ofNorth Waziristan Agency.

Speaking on this occa-sion, KP Minister for LocalGovernment Inayat Ullahassured the IDPs that thewhole nation stood by them.He appealed to the peopleto come and unit for jointcause. “We will not let theIDPs alone and will utilize allits resources to facilitiesthem in this hour of need,”he added. He also lauded theefforts of star cricketerShahid Khan Afridi, Testcricketer Younis Khan forextending all out support theIDPs of North WaziristanAgency. He said we took it achallenge to get rid of themenace of terrorism.

He also appealed to thepeople to pray to AlmightyAllah for save return of theIDPs to their home in a dig-nified way. He said the op-eration of the Pakistan Armywould reach to success. Heexpressed the hope that thepeace as a result of the on-going operation would berestored.He said the IDPs arealso facing load sheddingproblems and a request in thisconnection has been made tothe concerned quarters toavoid load shedding in thecamps so that a relief shouldbe provided to the people whoare already suffering. At theend, Younis Khan along withothers distributed Eid gifts in-cluding bangles, hina’s cloths,edibles items and other reliefgoods among IDPs.—APP

HYDERABAD: Students of different universities holds a protest against Israeli terrorist activities in Palestine.

ANF recovers4204 kg charas

ISLAMABAD—Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) has recovered4,204 kg charas from Tehsil Gulistan District Qilla Abdullah,Balochistan. On special instructions of Director GeneralANF Major General Khawer Hanif, the force has boostedits efforts along western border, said a press release is-sued here on Sunday. Within a week, ANF has recoveredapproximately 11 ton narcotics from Baluchistan, whichexcludes other seizures from rest of the country.

According to details, ANF Quetta conducted a raid nearKilli Hajram, Tehsil Gulistan District Qilla Abdullah and recov-ered 4,204 kg charas. The consignment was concealed at adumping site in mountainous area for handing over to nextgang. As per intelligence reports the consignment was to besmuggled to Iran via Mashkhel by next night. ANF Quettaraiding party remained at an ambush site close to South-Eastof Mashkhel, at Iranian Border for about 20 hours.

The raiding party comprised of 18 individuals. The pro-longed stay encompassing night and day hours, made itdifficult to disguise the raiding party. However, the narco-gang vehicle appeared at the site, but halted at a far distanceand opened fire. Resultantly heavy exchange of fire tookplace between ANF raiding party and narco-smugglers.

Since no re-enforcement was possible at distant location,so narco-smugglers fled away taking advantage of darknessand mountainous terrain. No damage has been reported onboth sides. ANF Rawalpindi and ASF staff have intercepted2.8 kg heroin from the luggage of passenger Haji Ahmed r/oTehsil Kharian District Gujrat at Benazir International Airport.He was to travel for Italy via Doha by Qattar Airways FlightNo. QR-615.

ANF Rawalpindi conducted a raid near Airport and re-covered 4 kg charas from personal custody of Fazal urRehman r/o Charsada. Presently the accused was living inRailway Scheme no.1, Rawalpindi and belongs to AfghaniCast. ANF Rawalpindi apprehended an accused Amjad Alir/o Gujrat and recovered 4 kg heroin from car parking ofBenazir Bhutto International Airport. The accused intendedto take off for Doha by Qatar Airways Flight No.615.—APP

Rationalizationof teachers

completed: AsifJAND—Deputy District Of-ficer Education Jand,Muhammad Asif has saidthat recent rationalization ofthe teachers has been com-pleted to use services of theteachers in abetter way.

Talking to APP, he saidthat all possible efforts arebeing made to provideteachers as per the strengthof the students in schools.

He said the rationaliza-tion of the process has beencompleted in a transparentway. However, he said rightof appeal has been given tothose teachers who havetransferred under rationaliza-tion. He said after the processof rationalization now noschool in Jand would beteacherless.

He said before this pro-cess many primary schoolswere working without perma-nent teacher or teachers wereperforming duties on tempo-rary basis. While replying aquestion Asif said that thoseprimary schools wherestrength of the students isless than twenty will bemerged into near byschools.—APP

Sports minister’s vehicle snatchedQUETTA—An official vehicle of Provincial Minister forSports and Culture was snatched at Double Road area ofprovincial capital on Sunday.

According to police sources, Provincial Minister forSports and Culture Mir, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman MuhammadHasni’s vehicle was on way to civil hospital when armedrobbers intercepted it. Armed bandits forced the driver toget off before they took away the vehicle.

However, Provincial minister was not in the car at thattime.Police registered a case against unknown robbers andstarted investigation.—APP

Protest march does’tbehove PTI on Pak Day

LAHORE—Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique hassaid Pakistan Army is fighting decisive battle in NorthWaziristan to eliminate terrorism.

Addressing a press conference here, Khwaja Saad Rafiqsaid the celebrations for Pakistan’s Independence will beheld across the country including Islamabad and the Paki-stan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan will also beinvited to take part.

He said the whole nation and all political parties areunited against anti-state actors.

“The tradition of Inde-pendence Day celebrationsgoes back to 66 years. It is nota Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) event but anational event for Pakistanand it cannot be changed,”the PML-N leader said

The Minister urged thepolitical leadership of thecountry to remove their dif-ferences and get united.

Khwaja Saad Rafiquecalled upon all the politicalleadership to fly national flagsinstead of those of their re-spective parties on the upcoming Independence Day toboost the morale of the armed forces.

This is not the time to engage in personal fights; ratherit is a time to stand behind the defenders of the country asPakistan battles a war for its survival, the Minister said.

He urged PTI Chief Imran Khan not to make Indepen-dence Day controversial by holding protest march on theday. He asked Imran Khan to change the date of his sched-uled long march on the Independence Day.

“Imran Khan is at liberty to stage a protest but he isrequested not to bring the Independence Day into a con-troversy,” he said.He said the government neither had anyintention to use force nor put anyone’s life in jeopardy.

He added that Imran should not turn the celebrationinto a day of agitation and urged him and Pakistan AwamiTehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri to be careful of “rabble-rousers” such as Pervez Illahi and “gossip-mongers” suchas Sheikh Rashid. The Railways Minister said it would bebetter Pakistan Awami Tehreek leader Tahirul Qadri’s expe-rience and expertise could come in positive use.—NNI

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak chairing meetingon beautification of Galyat areas under GDA.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—KP Chief Minister PervezKhattak has asked for improved facili-ties in all scenic hill stations in the prov-ince especially in Galyat areas to let thetourists see vivid difference than everyprevious season.

He further directed for visible secu-rity measures in all such places so thatpublic confidence building of people intheir institutions is maintained anyhow.He underlined need of creating environ-ment of competition with that of adja-cent hil ls range Murree for providingmaximum facil i t ies to the tourists inGalyats.

He asked for changing the greencolour of food huts and cabins alongroad sides with orange, yellow and otherbright colours right from Mochi Dara toBarian to make it attractive and visiblefrom long distance.

He was chairing meeting on beautifi-cation of Galyat here wherein al l theproblems and issues about tourism in

Khattak wants improved facilitiesin all scenic hill stations

Galyat were discussed threadbare andnecessary decisions taken. ProvincialMinister for LG&RD Inayatullah, Chair-man DDAC Abbottabad & MPA from thearea Sardar Muhammad Idrees, ChiefSecretary Amjad Ali Khan, Principal Sec-retary to CM Muhammad Ishfaq Khan,DG GDA Nazar Hussain Shah and otherconcerned authorities attended the meet-ing.

Pervez Khattak expressed satisfactionon anti-encroachment drive, spirit of co-operation on part of local community inthis regard, cleanliness and water sup-ply endeavors.

He hoped that all other issues willalso be managed in such manner to makeit source of maximum public recreation,income and tourism economic activityplaces. Similarly he directed for all theconstruction works in Galyat under thebuilding codes.

He also asked for trimming the exist-ing buildings under the rules and codeswith sufficient availabilities of parkinglots .

MRP system at 33missions installed forpassport, visa issuance

ISLAMABAD—Ministry of Interior has so far installed Ma-chine Readable Passports (MRP) System at country’s 33Foreign Missions to facilitate overseas Pakistanis regard-ing issuance of passport and visas.

Besides, the authorities are in process of deployingthe MRP system at four other Pakistani Foreign Missionsand would be completed by this month.

According to Ministry of Interior here on Sunday, cur-rently, the government is providing MRP facilities to over80 percent of Pakistani community residing abroad. It hasalso planned to deploy MRP system at 50 Foreign Mis-sions in current financial year and 22 in next financial year2015-2016 in a phased manner.

Regarding number of Directorate General Immigration& Passports (IMPASS) employees posted at Pakistan Mis-sions, the Ministry said it is 52 and they are posted onmerit.

It said a committee comprising of 3 to 5 officers of Min-istry of Interior and IMPASS finalizes selection of officers/officials for posting at Pakistan Missions. Their perfor-mance is also evaluated on the basis of fitness-cum-se-niority.

Professional qualification and experience are primaryfactors in selection of employees.

The recommendations of the Committee are submittedto Competent Authority i.e.the Secretary, Ministry of Inte-rior for soliciting approval.—APP

CHAGHI—Iranian security force have handed over 29 Paki-stani to Levies force on Pak-Iran border in Taftan area. Leviesforce said that these Pakistani workers had been arrested inIran for not having valid traveling documents.—APP

HYDERABAD: Polio drops being administered to a child during anti-polio campaign at Resham Bazaar.

BANNU: Workers of Minhaj Welfare Foundation distributing relief items among theIDPs at a camp.

Youth killed,father injured in

road accidentFAISALABAD—A teenagerwas killed while his fatherand his friend were seri-ously injured in a road acci-dent in Chak Jhumra policelimits.

Police on Sunday saidZafar Hussain of ChakNo.115-RB Titran Walialong with his 15-year-oldson Mubasshar and hisfriend Muhammad Esh, wasriding a motorcycle when aspeeding tractor-trolley hitthem near Chak No.195-RBJandanwala Phatak.

As a result ,Mubasshar died on thespot whereas his fatherZafar Hussain and friendMuhammad Esh wereshif ted to hospital in acritical condition. Quetta:Unknown armed mengunned down a wagondriver at Musa Colonynear Sariab area of provin-cial capital on Sunday.

According to police, thevictim Manzoor Ahmad wasstanding near a bus stopwhen armed assailantsriding a motorbike openedfire on him and fled from thescene.

The reason of killingcould not be ascertained sofar. Police have registered acase.

Meanwhile, an unknownarmed men gunned down awagon driver at MusaColony near Sariab area ofprovincial capital on Sun-day.

According to police, thevictim Manzoor Ahmad wasstanding near a bus stopand wagon stop whenarmed assailants riding amotorbike opened fire onhim and fled from thescene.—APP

MULTAN—Five universities from SouthernPunjab and rural Sindh have agreed to forman inter-university consortium on socialsciences, arts and humanities to partnerwith national and international organiza-tions.

The inter-varsity consortium is aimedat fostering cooperation for faculty ex-change, workshops and research collabo-rations, an official source at Higher Educa-tion Commission (HEC) told APP on Sun-day.

Heads of Islamia University ofBahawalpur, Bahauddin Zakariya Univer-sity Multan, Shah Abdul Latif UniversityKhairpur, COMSATS Institute of Informa-tion Technology Vehari Campus and GhaziUniversity D G Khan have inked a memo-randum of understanding ( MoU) recently,the source added.

Priority areas identified by the mem-ber institutions include: culture studiesand Sufism, human rights, women empow-

5 varsities form consortium on humanrights, sufism, women empowerment

erment, civic education, agriculture busi-ness, rural development, poverty allevia-tion and political economy, said thesource.

The MOU was signed by Vice Chancel-lor, Islamia University Bahawalpur andGhazi University Dera Ghazi Khan, Prof DrMuhammad Mukhtar, Vice Chancellor,Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan,Prof Dr Syed Khawaja Alqama, Vice Chan-cellor, Shah Abdul Latif UniversityKhairpur, Prof Dr Parveen Shah, and Direc-tor, COMSATS Institute of InformationTechnology Vehari Campus. Prof Dr Khairuz Zaman.

He said the heads of member institu-tions hoped that the consortium would begreatly helpful in creating awareness aboutvarious socio-economic issues throughnational and international collaborationsand vowed to undertake various collabora-tive activities for bringing about positivechanges in society.—APP

Ex-MC head held onwidow’s complaint,

released on MNA’s orderBUREWALA—Model Town Police booked and arrestedSaturday night ex-Chairman Municipal CommitteeBurewala Pir Muhammad Iqbal Shah on the charges ofreceiving bribe from a widow to get her house vacatedfrom the tenants but the influential former chairman gotreleased with the help of a sitting MNA.

According to details, Naseem Bibi widows of Wazir Aliresident of Street No. 3 Yousaf Block Marzipura reportedto the police that she is a widow and had rented her houseto Khalid Hussain etc about one and half year ago but thetenants are now refusing to vacate her house.

She said that some local people asked her that Ex. Chair-man Municipal Committee Burewala Pir Muhammad IqbalShah is an influential person and he will get her housevacated from the tenants. She said that Pir Iqbal Shahdemanded Rs. 25 thousand rupees as a bribe to get herhouse vacated and she paid the money to him but hecouldn’t fulfill his promise and later police helped her tovacate the house from tenants.

Afterwards, she said when she approached Pir IqbalShah to get her money back he abused her publicly andgiven threats of dire consequences. Naseem Bibi said thatshe approached the police officials and registered a caseagainst him and police last night arrested Pir Iqbal Shahon the charges of receiving bribe and registered a caseagainst him.

Shah however got released from the police custodywith the support of sitting PML-N MNA. The aggrievedfamily member Saleha daughter of Naseem Bibi said thatthey would not compromise with him and continue theirstruggle for justice and return of their money.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Executive Director,United States Educational Foundationin Pakistan (USEFP), Ms.Rita Akhtarhas said that the foundation was pro-viding a noble opportunity to the tal-ented Pakistani students to get edu-cation at the US colleges and univer-sities.

In an interview with APP, she saidPakistan has rich and huge talent andthe USEFP felt proud in supportingits education sector.

She explained that the foundationwhich had offices in Islamabad, Lahoreand Karachi, could not establish itscenters in Peshawar and Quetta dueto security reasons.

Ms. Rita Akhtar said that the USeducational system was different anddifficult as compared to Pakistan’seducational system, as a result, Paki-stani students would have to put inextra efforts to compete while being inAmerica.

She informed that the USEFP wasproviding equal opportunity to needy,eligible and talented student of Paki-stan coming from remote areas.

The USEFP had various alumni in

USEFP provides equal opportunityto remote areas’ talented students

Pakistan who were extending supportin educational activities under thebanner of the foundation.

To a question, she said under theeducation programs of the foundation,more than 5,000 students would besent to the USA for higher educationin one year spending millions of dol-lars on each student.

She said the orientation programsfor selected students are also arrangedto teach them as how they should ad-just in the US educational system aswell as the culture.

Acknowledging the talent of Paki-stani youth and recognition achievedby Pakistani students, she said in theabsence of education centres inPeshawar and Quetta, some alumni inboth provinces were in touch with theUSEFP.

The vice chancellors of all univer-sities of Pakistan were also providingcooperation to us, she added.

“Recently, we arranged a programin Sindh University Jamshoro to offerMasters and PhD programs. Pakistanistudents got admission in the univer-sities of Washington, New York, Ohio,

Pennsylvania, Texas, California,Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Vir-ginia and other states universities,”she said.

The USEFP Executive Directorsaid that the program would continueand eligible students should provethemselves to get selected to avoidusing any political influence orsources in this regard.

Replying to yet another questionabout provision of foreign educationto the students at religious seminar-ies, she said they were trying to pro-vide scholarships to such studentsand called for media’s support to helpfind out talented students from semi-naries and remote areas of the coun-try. She said as the USEFP has not ac-cess to every part of the country,hence the media could easily helpthem discover the talent and needystudents to help them out for theirbright future.

Ms.Rita congratulated the stu-dents selected for higher education inthe USA and hoped that they wouldfurther add to already diverse classesand institutions of the USA.—APP

Artist’s Islamicartwork to go ondisplay in Berlin

ISLAMABAD—An exhibitionof Islamic calligraphic art-work by Anjum Ayaz, a Paki-stani artist and sculptor, willopen in Berlin on Monday.

A total of 27 pieces of cal-ligraphic artwork artisticallyinscribed with selected versesfrom the Holy Quran havebeen put on display. The exhi-bition will continue till July, 17.

The artist has speciallycreated these pieces of art in acomplete new style combin-ing the modern art and the clas-sical calligraphy for this exhi-bition during the holy monthof Ramzan, organized by thePakistan Embassy, said a mes-sage received here Sundayfrom the Pakistan’s Embassyin Berlin, Germany.—APP

SI A L K O T—Water and Power andDefence Minister KhawajaMuhammad Asif on Sunday saidthe Zarb-e-Azb operation had beenlaunched for complete eliminationof terrorists.

Talking to APP, he said the na-tion was supporting the operationand the Pak Army for getting rid ofterrorism and maintain peace in thecountry.

He said it was very unfortunatethat some political elements weretrying to sabotage the operat ionand undermining national interestsfor their personal gains, adding thatpeople would not allow any politi-cal element to sabotage the opera-tion.

Kh Asif said, “At this criticaljuncture, unity has become more im-perative and people should forgeunity among their ranks to foil evildesigns of anti-state elements be-cause some political elements weretrying to create chaos in the coun-

Asif advises political leadersto avoid holding ‘road shows’

Operation to continue till elemination of terrorists: Zahid Hamidtry but the government will fulfill itsresponsibilities for maintaining lawand order.”

Political leaders should refrainfrom holding “road shows” becausethe parliament was the best forumfor discussing all issues and lead-ers should use it for resolving allissues, he said.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister forScience and Technology ZahidHamid has urged all political andreligious parties to shun their dif-ferences and be united on a plat-form.

He said this while addressingparty workers in Pasrur city aftervisiting Ramzan Bazaar on Sunday.

MPAs Rana Liaqat Ali , ChMunawar Ali Gill and others werealso present.

The minister said Zarb-e-Azboperation would continue till com-plete elimination of terrorism fromtribal areas.

Zahid Hamid said the govern-

ment was committed to weed out ter-rorism from the country as thew h o l en a t i o ns t o o du n i t e da g a i n s tt e r r o r -ism andw a sr e a d yfor ev-ery sac-rif ice tosave them o t h e r -land.

H esaid theg o v e r n -ment was fully aware of problemsbeing faced by the internally dis-placed persons (IDPs) as an earlyrehabilitation and repatriation of theIDPs would be priority of the gov-ernment.—APP

FAISALABAD—The price control magis-trates fined Rs 139,500 to 135 profiteers onSunday. The magistrates visited 91 mar-kets in a district and 201 inspections werecarried out on different staff.

During the inspection some shop keep-ers were involved in over charging andthey were fined on the spot. Vegetable andfruit markets are real places from whereprices of edibles go up making it difficultto buy them.

Additional District Collector Ali UnanQamar while talking to APP here on Sun-day said the district administration was try-ing its level best to control high rates offruit and vegetables during Ramazan.

To a question, he admitted that brokers(Artees) were the one who finalize prices of

135 profiteers finededibles in the market and added that whentomato coming from Peshawar was avail-able at Rs 40 per Kg, it was needless toplace its order in Quetta. Tomato comingfrom Quetta was being sold at Rs 70 per kgin the market.

Today, he had purchased 100 crates ofTomato from vegetable and fruit market andput them in Ramazan Bazaars to give reliefto the shoppers, he informed.

To another quest ion about muttonrates, he disclosed that it was not pos-sible for butchers to sell it on controlledrate of Rs 450 per kg adding that theyhad checked from every angle afterslaughtering and weighing meat by them-selves, it was difficult to sell it on thesaid rate.—APP

Hot weatherlikely tocontinue

ISLAMABAD—Meteorologi-cal Department expects thecurrent dry spell to persistin most parts of the coun-try during the next 24hours. A shallow westerlytrough is also prevailingover upper parts of thecountry, he said.

It predicted isolatedrain with thundershower inIslamabad, Rawalpindi,Gujranwala, Hazara divi-sions, Gilgit-Baltistan andKashmir. While, theKarachi MeteorologicalDepartment Sunday fore-cast partly cloudy weatherfor Karachi during the next24 hours.

According to the MetOffice, the maximum tem-perature will remain between34 and 36 degrees Cel-sius.—APP

CelebratingIndependence Day

in a big wayTHE government’s decision to celebrate the 67th Independence Day

of the country in a big way spanning over two weeks would be welcomed by the patriotic people. Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid

Saturday said that all political leadership would be invited to the occasionto display national unity, solidarity and oneness.

The decision is very timely as the country is in the midst of fight againstmilitancy and establishment of law and order to provide people with a senseof security as was envisioned by the founders of the country. It is the mostappropriate time that the nation with renewed passion and abiding commit-ment resolve to safeguard the country against any threat and re-dedicateitself towards nation-building in accordance with the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. For its part, the government has the reasonsto spread the celebrations starting from Ist of August, 2014 and culminatingon 14th August to revive the spirit of independence movement. In our viewnot only in Islamabad but also in the provincial capitals and big and smalltowns, appropriate functions may also be arranged as there is need to createa sense of awareness among the young Pakistanis about the reasons andobjectives behind the creation of a separate homelands for the Muslims. Wemust inculcate among the youth the circumstances, which forced the de-mand of Pakistan and the people who struggled for it. There is no denyingthe fact that prejudices based on cast and creed were deeply rooted in reli-gious Hindus and were at their extreme manifestations against Muslimsduring the Congress ministries, formed in 1937 until they resigned in 1939.The reason for the creation of Pakistan was not to promote religious ex-tremism but to defend the people’s right to freedom of belief and to savethem from oppression and discrimination on that count. Hence Pakistanwas created for the common, oppressed people, and not for extremist viewsand the nation needs complete unity to rid the country of those extremistswho have made lives of the people miserable through acts of terrorism andbrought bad name to this country created in the name of Islam.

Democracy is notdelivering in Muslim worldIT is rather ironical that democracy by and large has not emerged as a

stabilising factor becoming a source of division and tension in the Mus-lim world where opposing political parties and candidates are levelling al-legations of all sorts against their opponents and hell bent to discredit themfor committed or uncommitted sins.

In Indonesia, both the presidential candidates Joko Widodo and formerarmy General Prabowo Subianto are claiming victory and congratulatingtheir supporters for giving them mandate to lead the nation. Similar is thecase in Afghanistan where both the presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullahand Ashraf Ghani have been blaming each other for rigging and after USSecretary of State John Kerry’s lengthy talks with both in Kabul, they agreedto abide by the results of the largest most comprehensive audit of the elec-tion runoff ballots. In several other Muslim countries like Tunis and Egypt,after the Arab spring, elections were held by they were never accepted. MrMoorsi took over as President in Egypt but was removed by the army and itis now once again former Army Chief, who got himself elected as Presidentand is running the country through iron fist. Tunisia will be having secondelections in October and November since long-serving ruler Zine al-AbidineBen Ali was ousted in 2011. The country has been hit by turmoil since then,with the moderate Islamist Ennahda party - which won the first poll - battlingto assert its authority. By passing Pakistan, democracy is not delivering, as itshould be as the democratic system could not march forward. Thus it israther unfortunate that not many Muslim countries, barring a few like Ma-laysia and Turkey, have been successful to practice the system which isconsidered as the best in the present day world. This phenomenon has raisedthe question that democracy does not suit the genius of Muslim people. Butin spite of all creeping uncertainties, we would say the world has not up tillnow produced a better alternative system to democracy. Then what to do?

Bomb of educated-unemployed may explodeWORLD over unemployment has become a problem which the gov

ernments are trying to address but the situation is particularly worri-some in developing countries including Pakistan, where population is in-creasing at the highest percentage in the world and the economy is notkeeping pace to create jobs. Many Pakistanis are leaving their country insearch of greener pastures for a better future for themselves and their fami-lies but a vast majority of educated-unemployed are either technically notsuitable or they have no resources to tap jobs overseas.

Though Prime Minister’s Youth business loan scheme has been intro-duced so that the younger generation could create jobs for themselves andothers, but only time will tell how far it would achieve the desired results.While millions of youths are graduating from universities and colleges everyyear, the jobs in government department have almost diminished for themand the private sector is still limping and unable to give some hope to them.As a result when applications are invited for one post, thousands of candi-dates apply and failing to get the job, they get frustrated. There is danger thatthis frustration could explode one day if immediate remedial measures are nottaken. The problem during the PPP regime was that they gave jobs to closerelatives of party leaders and during the present government, recruitmentis banned except for special jobs and that too, after approval of the PrimeMinister. So the question is where the educated youth having no approachor resources should go? It is because of this frustration that, many youths arecommitting suicide or turning to illegal means of generating resources to feedtheir families like joining the ranks of extremists or thieves. Therefore we wouldappeal to the Prime Minister to lift ban on recruitment, allow concerned de-partments to fill their vacant posts instead of centralizing the recruitment be-cause that gives a free hand to a few people who indulge in corrupt practicesand this had happened in the past and allocations of more than a dozen reliefinstitutions like Baitul Maal, BISP and Zakat fund be channelized to set upindustries to create jobs and address the issue of unemployment.

Zarb-i-Azb: Challenges & opportunities

The newera ofurban

humanity

MUMBAI (formerlyBombay) is the world’smost densely populated

city, known for its chaos and pov-erty. Yet all the vibrancy of thisIndian city allows it to thrive asthe centre of the world’s largestfilm industry (“Bollywood”).

Tokyo, which was destroyedtwice in the 20th century (earth-quake and American fire-bomb-ing) is today the world’s mostpopulous city at nearly 40 millionpeople. Such superlatives aboutsupersized cities help explain whya critical threshold has now beenreached in the 10,000-year historyof urban civilization.

On Thursday, the United Na-tions declared for the first timethat more than half of the peopleon the planet live in cities. Only70 years ago, less than a third did.And by 2050, two-thirds of peoplewill be living in cities.

The rapid pace in urbanizationhas many causes, such as bettertransportation and a rise in manu-facturing. China, for example, hasseen the world’s largest migrationas more than 150 million ruralpeople have moved to cities inrecent decades for factory jobsand better education after thecountry embraced a marketeconomy.

But a deeper cause likelydrives people to live in close prox-imity to each other and put upwith noise, traffic, pollution, andhigh prices. This global trendcould mark the 21st century as theUrban Era, or rather the era ofhope. A growth in cities is reallya measure of humanity’s rising as-pirations for a better future. In richand poor nations alike, many cit-ies are better known for theirslums.

Think of Rio’s favelas orCalcutta’s armies of beggars andragpickers. One in 8 people nowlives in one of 29 megacities, orthose with more than 10 millionpeople. Yet often people willingto live in urban poverty are therefor only one generation, earningjust enough to eventually join themiddle class.

Cities are escalators to thegood life. They are dream facto-ries. Urban migrants put up withsqualor in order to lift their fami-lies out of generations of ruralstagnation. Cities not only offerfreedom from something but afreedom to do something. Eventhough cellphones and the Internethave created a more connected yetvirtual type of living, people arenow flocking to cities.

They find the mix of compe-tition and cooperation spurs in-novation. Spontaneous social in-teractions lead to new opportu-nities. In the United States, aquarter of scientists and engi-neers live within a few miles offive metropolitan areas. Theyneed to be close to others likethem to spur fresh ideas. In coun-tries where national politics havebecome polarized, many citymayors are now heroes for theircreative and pragmatic gover-nance, such as Joko Widodo, themayor of Jakarta, Indonesia.

In many ways, New York hasmore in common with Shanghaior London than Washington. Inthe US, cities often outshinestates: The top 10 urban areas inAmerica produce more than 37states combined. In 1961,neighbourhood activist JaneJacobs wrote in “The Death andLife of Great American Cities”about the practical qualities ofcity life, such as learning to livewith each other. Cities must copewith many problems, such as gar-bage and crime.

Think of Detroit’s bank-ruptcy or Beijing’s air pollution.But now that they are the domi-nant choice of habitation for mostpeople, they are a shining sym-bol of inevitable progress.— The Christian ScienceMonitor

MEDIA WATCH

THE long awaited military operation; Zarb-i-Azb in NorthWaziristan Agency (NWA),

commenced from June 15, 2014 isprogressing successfully. So far,80% area of Miramshah, the head-quarters of the Agency has beencleared from the terrorists in aground operation of Pakistan Army.An all out military operation is un-derway, in order to free the area fromterrorists. Until July 13, 2014,around a million people of NWA hasbeen registered as IDPs in variousparts of KP, particularly; Bannu,Tank, DI Khan and Peshawar. Quitea few displaced people have shiftedto other parts of the country. Besidesconducting military operation,settlement of IDPs is a great chal-lenge for Pak Army. Pak Army alongwith other national and provincialaid agencies and organization is alsoinvolved in the registration andsettlement process of IDPs.

In the so far operation, PakArmy has destroyed many hideoutsof the terrorists in Miramshah andsurrounding areas. As filmed byvarious private TV channels, therewere explosive and IED factories inthe area, which TTP and al-Qaedawere using against the securityforces and innocent people of Paki-stan. There have been found manytraining facilities and suicide jacketfactory. In some the area, modernweapons and ammunition has beenfound, which the fleeing terroristscould not take along in hurry. Overthe years, Miramshah was made asthe communication and operationalcentre of TTP and al-Qaeda. The ter-

New Kashmir policy needed

THE Kashmir issue hasa c c o m

panied Pakistan and Indiasince the very days of parti-

tion in 1947. After partition was an-nounced the Indian princely stateswere given the options to accede toIndia or to Pakistan. Kashmir wasthe only state that shared a borderwith both and had a real option tojoin either of India or Pakistan. Ofcourse, Jinnah and the newly cre-ated Pakistanis were sure –too sureas it turned out afterwards- thatKashmir would have to accede toPakistan given the fact that it was aMuslim majority state and that alltraditional road connections andmountain passes were leading to-wards Sialkot and Lahore – Paki-stan. But the Quaid seems to havebeen too sure about this.

He relied on the Maharaja andthat he would finally give in.Jinnah’s relations with SheikhAbdullah and his party men were notthe best and he thought that therewas no need to find an understand-ing with them. The rest is historyas they say. The botched attempt toconquer Kashmir through the backdoor forced the Maharaja to accedeto India and this much better ma-nipulated deal made India to invadeKashmir. Despite Nehru’s promisesa referendum was never held andsince then the Indian part of theformer princely state is under heavyoccupation of the Indian army.

Pakistan was trying to correctthe situation militarily in 1948,1965, 1971 and 1999 but withoutany success. In 1971 after the intran-

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Weekly Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

There are mindsso impatient ofinferiority thattheir gratitude is aspecies ofrevenge, and theyreturn benefits, notbecause therecompense is apleasure, butbecause obligationis a pain.

sigence and will for powerof Z.A. Bhutto in full con-nivance of a coterie ofYahya Khan regime an em-barrassing debacle of EastPakistan was thrust withthe help and involvement of

India in the break-away of EastPakistan. Then Mr. Bhutto did an-other blunder: he signed the Simlaagreement that was offered to himby Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s shrewddaughter. That included the pointthat ‘the two countries are re-solved to settle their differences bypeaceful means through bilateral ne-gotiations or by any other peacefulmeans mutually agreed upon betweenthem. Pending the final settlement ofany of the problems between the twocountries; neither side, shall unilat-erally alter the situation and both shallprevent the organization, assistanceor encouragement of any acts detri-mental to the maintenance of peaceand harmonious relations.’

With this Mr. Bhutto had con-ceded that Kashmir from now on-wards was a bilateral matter betweenIndia and Pakistan and no third sidewas acceptable, neither the UN or anyother mediator nor the Kashmiris,which the subject Kashmiri people onboth side of divide never acceptedfrom day one. That is why this mat-ter was not removed from the UNSCdesk and the military observers thatunder the name of UNMOGIP werestationed on both sides of theceasefire line – after Simla the exist-ing boundaries came to be known asLine of Control- with the task to ‘ob-serve peace’. After Simla, in 1980swhen people in Indian OccupiedKashmir realized that UN resolutionsare being pushed into cold storagetheir started an indigenous movementfor implementation of Pundit Nehru’scommitment given to United nationat the time of passing these resolu-

tions inviting world attention bygiving more than hundred thou-sand lives’ sacrifice that there wasactually no basis for side track-ing from the pledge made by In-dia and Pakistan before UN.

With the election victory ofNarendra Modi only few weeks agoit was quite clear that things wouldchange now. Already during his elec-tion campaign he not only called it ahumanitarian issue in TV interviewwith Aalami Sahara but in public ad-dresses in Muslim constituenciesvowed to settle Kashmir once and forall according to aspiration and willof the Kashmiris. Just a couple ofdays in power it leaked out that hispeople were working on it otherwise.Article 370 of the Indian constitutionthat gave Kashmir a special placeamong the federating units of Indiaand at least formally a special statuswas hinted at being changed. Not that370 has had much importance beyondthe formal – long before the specialstatus of Kashmir had been under-mined by Delhi and today the onlything special is that there is almostan Indian soldier for every adultKashmiri provided by India. The sec-ond move of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is now after sixty sixyears to tell the UNMOGIP observ-ers to move, to cater for themselvesif they think they had anything to doin India implying that there was noth-ing to do for them and they shouldmove out. This is another action ofthe new Indian government thatshows their determination to do awaywith the Kashmir problem their way.

And India will succeed if noth-ing happens. What’s agonizingthough is Pakistan’s reaction. All ouraugust Foreign Office said was that‘India’s intimation to the United Na-tions Military Observer Group forIndia and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) inNew Delhi to vacate its office cannot

rorists; most foreign origin; Uzbeks,Chechens, Arabs, ETIM and manyothers have made the local populaceas the hostage ever since 2002.

General Raheel Sharif, the Chiefof Army Staff has shown his deter-mination and resolve about the suc-cess of operation; the elimination ofall terrorists and securing the entireNWA from terrorism. The Generalhimself has made a number of visitsof the area to see the progress physi-cally and for raising the moral oftroops, participating in the operation.The terrorists; locals and foreign ori-gin are indeed the private armies,challenging the writ of state and fight-ing against the state, its armed forces,its institutions and the innocentmasses. Whereas, there is a full back-ing of Operation Zarb-i- Azb, by thepeople and political forces in the coun-try, on the legal basis, the operation isbeing launched in the light of Article257 of the Constitution of Pakistan,which “prohibits the functioning ofany private army or militia within theterritories of Pakistan.” Armed Forcesof Pakistan, participating in the op-eration are thus, “fulfilling their oathto uphold the Constitution.”

While there is an element of op-timism for the success of ‘OperationZarb-i-Azb’, there are many chal-lenges too, until it reaches to its logi-cal conclusion. The first challenge isthe hostile and mountainous natureof the area, spreading over 11,585square kilometers. Pak Army willhave to clear every inch of the area,as the terrorists have spread all aroundin the Agency, particularly to evadethe aerial bombardment. This re-quires huge number of soldiers andresources. Surely, Pak Army is all setto meet this challenge. The next chal-lenge, Pak Army will face is the con-solidation of the gains. The area

gained through military operation hasto be taken over by civil administra-tion for preparing it for the rehabili-tation by IDPs and maintaining lawand order situation thereafter. Thearea has to be kept clear from the re-turn of terrorists. In the past, it hasbeen seen, that, civil administrationhas not been able to take control ofthe area gained from the terrorist;SWA and Swat are examples, whereArmy is still controlling the area.

Whereas, these challenges are do-mestic and real, thus pose seriousthreats, the most dangerous threat(challenge) is the external safe havensof militants in Afghanistan, in the ar-eas, bordering Pakistan; Nuristan andKunar being the more adjacent andneighbouring areas. Not only that,fleeing TTP and other militants wouldtake refuge there, but also, the atti-tude of Afghan Government has beenhighly unpredictable and anti-Paki-stan. Despite, Pakistan has officiallyrequested the Afghan Government toseal the borders, adjoining NWA bydeploying Afghan National Army,Kabul has not taken any practical stepso far and it is encouraging the incur-sion of militants through its spyingnetwork; National Directorate for Se-curity (NDS), which has a strong al-liance with some other regional andinternational spying networks.

NDS not only provide refuge tomilitants, but also train, equip andharbor them for carrying terrorist at-tacks in various parts of Pakistan. OnJuly 12, 2014, a group of militantscrossed over from Afghanistan, at-tacked a vehicle at the check post inBajaur area, and killed three personsof security forces. Though Pakistanhas lodged a serious protest againstthe incident, and many other such in-cidents but, there has been no coop-eration from Afghan Government on

these cross border attacks. Such actsof Afghan Government are indeed,violation of International Law.UNSC Resolution 1373 and inter-national law mandates all its mem-bers to, “deny safe haven to thosewho finance, plan, support, or com-mit terrorist acts, or provide safehavens” and to “prevent those whofinance, plan, facilitate or committerrorist acts from using their respec-tive territories for those purposesagainst other states or their citizens”.

Operation Zarb-i-Azb is beaconof hope for clearing this area fromterrorists and as the epicenter of ter-rorism. The Government and PakArmy are determined to make it asuccess. The nation is behind theArmy and all segments of society aresupporting the operation and people,who were displaced because of thisoperation. Pakistan believes in re-specting the sovereignty of otherstates. It expects its neighbours, es-pecially Afghanistan to respect thesovereignty and integrity of Paki-stan. Prior to this operation, PrimeMinister of Pakistan personallytalked to Afghan President for theirsupport to this operation. PresidentKarazai, however, has not beenforthcoming despite his promises.

In the continuous absence ofsupport from Kabul, Pakistan shouldapproach UN and engage diplomati-cally with US, China, Russia and EUfor persuading the Afghan Admin-istration for its illegal and undesiredassistance to militants, who crossover from Pakistan to Afghanistanand later attack Pakistani securityforces and civilians. After all, Paki-stan has contributed a lot in the glo-bal fight against terrorism, and suf-fered the most.— The writer is Islamabad-basedanalyst of International Relations.

change Pakistan’s stance, thatKashmir is still a disputed terri-tory. Change the premises willnot abolish the right of self de-termination of the Kashmirisgiven to them through the UNSCResolutions nor will it changePakistan’s point of view on thisvital issue’. This will not do. Thishas been the policy for the last60 years and it has not succeeded.Pakistan needs a new policy withregard to Kashmir. Since 1947 overhalf a century has passed and it isimpossible to try to tackle a prob-lem in 2014 as if it was 1948.

One way Pakistan could go wasto move the International Court forJustice without further waste of time.India regardless which governmentis ruling will not let their part ofKashmir go and nobody in the worldis going to intervene – there is no oilto be found in Kashmir. That meansPakistan is on its own to take a justand fair decision to help theKashmiri people from Indian tyr-anny. If the US and West can justifytheir interference in Middle East –Libya, Iraq and now Syria why notPakistan follows the same in supportof Kashmir’s cause. But as a matterof fact beggars can’t be the chooser.And given the situation inside ourcountry and in neighboring Afghani-stan we have our hands full and can’tdo much. But what can be done onour side of the LoC? A second thingPakistan should do is to rethinkNawaz Sharif’s policy of pushing forfriendship with India. Already thehype that was in the media when heattended the coronation of new In-dian king was strange. After NawazSharif second policy project – peacewith the Taliban- has come to noth-ing his ‘peace with India projectshould be God bless people ofPakistan and Kashmir.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

—Samuel Johnson British lexicographer

Dr Muhammad Khan Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

Voice of the People

Cold whitedwarf star

KHUSHNOODA TAHIRA

When researchers called theirbrand-new revelation a diamond,they just weren’t being extraordi-nary. A recently discovered andvery unusual white dwarf star is sochilled out, it is essentially a giantfloating piece of bling.

A celebrity has actually beenfound that is so cool, its carbon hasactually crystallized changing itinto a diamond as big as Planet. Sci-entists at the National Radio As-tronomy Observatory tracked downthe very cold and dim star. It’s socold, its carbon is crystallized,hence the giant space-diamond.

The white dwarf may well beone of the coolest ones ever ob-served, both temperature-wise andin terms of the envy it fosters inpeople who covet diamonds. The as-tronomers calculate its temperatureat only 3,000 degrees Kelvin, whichis close to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.That sounds pretty hot to us earth-lings, but it puts it closer to ice-cubestatus in terms of star temps.

It’s a really a remarkable ob-ject. These things should be outthere, but because they are so dimthey are very hard to find. A coupleof years of observations led re-searchers to conclude that the pul-sar and its white-dwarf buddy arelocated about 900 light-years awayfrom Earth, towards the Aquariusconstellation, in case you need adirection to point your space-min-ing expedition.

The only factor it showed up,is due to the fact that it has a lotmore noticeable buddy – a pulsardeveloped from a supernova thatsends out electromagnetic radiationout into the universe. It truly is anamazing item. Humans have at-tached a lot of mystique and valueto diamonds, a crystalline form ofpure carbon we’re fond of diggingout of the ground. If you think a“huge rock”, then maybe youshould figure out a way to go cap-ture a newly discovered whitedwarf star astronomers are calling“an Earth-size diamond in space.”—Karachi

Roguesin politicsJAVAID BASHIR

The characters like Rana SanaUllah and Gullo Butt are the repre-sentatives of the decadent politicsin Pakistan. The rogues have be-come the state actors. The ardentdesire of the rulers is to use coer-cive means to silence the oppo-nents, and is also a harbinger of thecracks in the party.

Chaudhry Nisar, who had dis-appeared in the mist of summer, hasbeen brought back to control thedamage done by the rogue elementof the party. The political stakes arehigh. His statements are indicativeof deep rift among the top brass ofthe party. These are the troublingtimes for the rulers. He says he ex-ercises power over his Ministry andno other Minister can dare to inter-fere in his affairs. He is trying todispel the rumours of discontent,discord and trouble among theranks of the party leadership.

The spin doctor is out there tospin the situation in party’s favour.Would he be able to sway the pub-lic opinion is a question to be an-swered by the ruling elite. The P.Mplaces great trust in him. The tor-mentors of the party are having afield day, by grilling the govern-ment hitting it in the sensitive spots.

The party stalwarts are chang-ing their game plan to extend theirdying rule. The trumpet has beenblown. One must ask, what time itis? It is the time to write theirObituary. For whom the bells toll?They are tolling for the decadentsystem. We have so-called intellec-tual and learned leaders like Dr.Tahir -Ul- Qadri, ChaudhryShujaat, Parvaiz Elahi, and bold

Israeli onslaught against hapless PalestiniansSHEHARYAR ALI

The conflict of occupied Palestine is more than 100 years old but still fresh today. The world hasfailed to sort out this matter, even UN has failed miserably to solve this Palestine-Israel conflict.

Every nation has its own diplomacy about this particular issue and this conflict needs all the attentionof the entire international community. People are being killed ruthlessly overnight and no mercy isshown to anyone at all. Slowly and gradually Muslim nations all over the world have at least startedcondemning the recent shelling by Israeli forces on the innocents of Gaza. Israeli Prime ministerhimself warned them of even tougher situations ahead.This does not stop here, We need to absorb thebitter truth that the Muslim nations have never taken Palestine as their prior issues. We must under-stand the fact that only 14 million of Jews of the worlds have given a tough time to more than 1 billionof Muslim. It is important to realize that unity is mandatory in order to fight a cause.The major Arabcountries have their own interest of benefits which becomes the main barrier for Muslims to sort outtheir internal matters. We need to re think about our term with the west and put of all the anti Islamictreaties Apart from this we have witnessed unity within Jews but not Muslims. Unfortunately wehave witnessed Muslim unity against Muslims for instance we saw the Arab league united againstSyria in spite of Syria being their own member further we involved the western powers into thematter.The problem is that our vision is extremely clear when a non Muslim attacks on Muslim butour vision becomes blur when a Muslim is beheading his Muslim brother. We need to sort out ourinternal matters first so that we can unite for some other reason. We need to give them a message ofunity and once we accomplished that no one could harm any Islamic country.—Karachi

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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

The classical conundrum

WHAT does one do whenfaced with the classicalquestion: which came

first; the chicken or the egg? This isthe classical conundrum that hasbeen bandied around for as long asone can remember, and that not justby philosophers. One would rathernot get involved in the ramificationsof this seemingly insolvable mys-tery, particularly considering thatone’s intention is to dwell upon in-ternational affairs. What draws one’sattention to it, though, is that everynow and then providence throws upa murky situation that invites com-parison with this never-ending spinof the wheel. The world as we havecome to accept it finds itself in themidst of one such situation in thepresent epoch. In what can roughlybe called the ‘chicken or egg’ syn-drome, the intelligentsia of the worldare called upon to pronounce uponwhat came first: ‘state terror’ or ‘theterrorist’.

The Indian gurus, who can becredited with having coined suchdevastating phrases as “nuclear non-proliferation”, “cross-border terror-ism” and the like, will have theirown axe to grind and more about thatsome other time. For the time be-ing, suffice it to state that India’s for-midable state disinformation appa-ratus has managed to convince theso-called developed world that its700.000 strong security force in In-dian-Held-Kashmir is there purelyas a bulwark against “cross-borderterrorism”. And the Western mindshave swallowed the bait, hook, lineand sinker.

With the benefit of hindsight,how about taking a look at whathappened – not so very long ago -in London. This metropolis - thanksto the bubbling enthusiasm of

former Prime Minister TonyBlair - appeared to haveemerged as the fulcrum of“anti-West terrorist activ-ity”. It was difficult to findadequate words to expressone’s shock and sense ofgrief at the loss of so manyinnocent lives in the Londonbombings (remember?). One

had listened to Tony Blair as wellas other allied leaders all reiterat-ing their unshakeable determinationto continue the “war against terror”and to root out the perpetrators ofterror, or words to that effect. Noneof them, however, spelled out howthey intended to go about it. Surelynot, one trusts, by physically liq-uidating all “the usual suspects”.If the situation hadn’t been sotragic, one would have gone a stepfurther to allude to the regrettabletendency to come up with knee-jerk reactions and/or jump to un-warranted conclusions.

The London bombing episode,it may be recalled, was followed bya ‘non-event’ relating to the hulla-baloo about the somewhat implau-sible scenario, according to which agroup of young persons allegedlyconspired to “blow up” severalplanes (and themselves) over theAtlantic, through the agency of a fewbottles of soft drinks and somechemicals with unpronounceablenames. Just how they were going tomix the ingredients in the correctproportion on the flight and then todetonate the resulting ‘device’ wasleft to the imagination.

This said, one would havethought that the powers-that-bewould take time off for a good hardand dispassionate look at the wholesordid affair (war against terror etal)? Not just a dispassionate look,but also one denuded of precon-ceived notions. To start with, therewas the imperative need to agree ona definition of ‘terrorism’. It wouldalso be necessary to put a finger onwhat “terrorism” implies and, moreimportantly, what are the circum-stances that give birth to it.

Nearer home, it has become ourproblem too. Every time a terrorist

act is reported, one cannot help no-ticing that the brunt is borne by in-nocent victims. But, then, isn’t thiswhat terrorism is all about? The ob-jective of the terrorist is to spreadpanic and terror. A terrorist, there-fore, can hardly be expected to beoverly discriminating! The questionthat presents itself is: can innocentcasualties be avoided and, if so,how? A possible solution may lie inchanging the world’s response toterror. The policy of countering ter-ror with terror (as in the much-vaunted “War against Terror”) ap-pears to be a self-defeating exercise.One also looks askance at the effi-cacy of the precipitate declaration ofthe “war on terror”.

Why was not time taken off forserious reflection before the fate-ful plunge was taken? For instance,the advisability of unleashing acruel war on the hapless people ofAfghanistan, that included carpetbombing with “smart bombs” and“daisy cutters”, just to flush out “ahandful of miscreants” is open todebate. Western leaders expressshock and anguish at the loss of in-nocent lives in terrorist attacks.Should they not spare a thought alsofor the thousands of innocent Af-ghan men, women and children (bethey children of a lesser god!) whowere obliterated by the military jug-gernaut? And what about the inno-cents killed in drone attacks? Themere fact that the latter were eu-phemistically dismissed as “collat-eral damage” does little to lessenthe shame of it all.

It would perhaps be asking toomuch of the powers that be to delveinto the reasons that drive people toterrorism. Nevertheless, some san-ity must enter into the proceedings.For one thing, unnecessarily pro-vocative reactions would need to betempered a bit. Condemning an out-rage, per se, is understandable, butqualifying it with such loadedphrases as “this is an attack on Chris-tian civilization” or “We will not al-low Islamic fascists to destroy ourway of life” is neither rational nor,indeed, accurate.

Why start with the assumption

that all terrorists have something todo with the Islamic faith? Therehave been Jewish and Christian ter-rorists in the not too distant past,but their religious denominationswere never played up. Why, then,make a notable exception in thecase of followers of Islam? Mostterrorist attacks are not against aparticular religious denomination oreven a “way of life”. They aremainly in the nature of desperateacts by such entities as are drivento the wall and who see no otherway to register their protest.

The fact that most, if not all,perpetrators of these outrages areyoung people should convey amessage. There has to be a cogentreason why young people are soalienated that they are obliged toresort to desperate measures toregister their protest. Is it becausethey feel left out in a World Orderthat is so horribly biased againstthe underdog? Or, is it in reactionto actions of powerful forces thatcontinue to ride roughshod overthe legitimate aspirations of thecommon man? Or, then again, is ita manifestation of the perennialstruggle between the haves and thehave-nots?

Having laid the aforesaid on thetable, one would be the last to denythat the reader is well within his orher rights to pose the challenge toone to propose a way out of theimpasse. So here goes.

How about enlisting the help ofthe world’s elders? There are sev-eral Nobel Prize laureates who areon the loose end, so to speak. Withpossible exceptions, most of themare brilliant and outstanding per-sons. Could the United Nations notconsider setting up a Panel of El-ders drawn from amongst the NobelPrize laureates to study this prob-lem in depth and come up with vi-able options? If it comes to that,members of the panel could evenserve as a bridge between the pow-ers-that-be and potential terroristsso as to preempt the worst. Or, doesone talk out of turn?— The writer is a formerAmbassador of Pakistan.

Views From Abroad

UK link to CIA ‘torture flights’

DIEGO Garcia, a British overseas territory leased as a military base to the US since

1966, may as well be on the moonfor all it means to most Britons. Buteach month fresh evidence emergesof the key role the Indian Ocean atollplayed in extraordinary rendition,the ghosting of terrorist suspects toCIA interrogation black sites aroundthe world.

The toxic question for the gov-ernment is to what extent it knewthe practice was happening. The an-swer has ramifications not just forthe UK’s relationship with the USbut also the future of its nuclearweapons programme.

For years Foreign Office minis-ters have stonewalled questionsabout Diego Garcia, in particularwhat records they have of flights inand out of the atoll. In 2008, Marga-ret Beckett, then foreign secretary,said that “the record-keeping was notall that marvellous, frankly. It wasvery difficult for the government toanswer questions.”

But last week a Foreign Officeofficial was photographed carryingdocuments marked “sensitive” thatsuggest the UK authorities now havesignificantly more information aboutthe flights in and out than previouslyacknowledged.

The documents – a series ofprinted- out emails, written by an ad-ministrator for the Foreign Office’s

British Indian Ocean Territory sec-tion – appear to confirm thatmonthly and daily flight logs arenow in the possession of the police.In notes scrawled on the documents,he suggests the Foreign Office pressoffice should become “more active”on the issue. He also appears uncer-tain as to whether he should releaseimportant information. The phrase“what else in public domain?” isclearly legible on the document.

“This document suggests thegovernment is more interested inpresentation than the truth when itcomes to the central role it playedin CIA torture flights,” said CoriCrider, a lawyer with human rightsgroup Reprieve. “The prioritisationof spin can be seen in the referenceto a ‘more active’ press office.Meanwhile, the worried scribble‘what else in public domain?’ hintsat the iceberg of damaging informa-tion ministers want to keep fromboth parliament and the public.”

Diego Garcia’s unusual statusmakes it suitable for those keen toavoid legal oversight. Britain hasconsistently refused to say if, in re-spect to Diego Garcia, it recognisesthe UN convention against tortureand the international convention oncivil and political rights as the atollis officially unpopulated.

This may explain why, shortlyafter 9/11, the US sought to use it asdetention centre for high-value de-tainees. Opposition from the UKforced the US to use GuantánamoBay in Cuba instead. But ManfredNovak, the UN former special rap-porteur on torture, told the paper in

2008 he had credible evidence thatdetainees were held on Diego Garciabetween 2002 and 2003. A formerUS general, Barry McCaffrey, saidin 2006 that Diego Garcia had beenused to hold detainees, though helater withdrew the claims. A CIAflight plan shows that, in 2004, theagency planned to renderAbdulhakim Belhadj, an opponentof Muammar Gaddafi, and his preg-nant wife, via Diego Garcia. TheMetropolitan police are investigat-ing this claim.

More light was shed in 2008when David Miliband, then foreignsecretary, conceded in parliamentthat two US planes, each carrying asingle detainee, had refuelled onDiego Garcia in 2002. The revela-tion embarrassed Tony Blair who, inMarch 2007, told the Commons in-telligence and security committee hewas “satisfied” the US had not ren-dered an individual through any ofthe UK’s overseas territories.

One of the rendered men is be-lieved to have been MohammedSaad Iqbal Madni, who was seizedby the CIA in Indonesia in January2002 and taken to Egypt. He wassubsequently taken to Afghanistanthen Guantánamo Bay, before beingflown to Pakistan and freed in 2008.Madni is unable to walk unaided asa result of the electric shocks he re-ceived in Egypt.

The second man is thought to beShaykh al-Libi, who was transferredfrom a US warship off Diego Garcia,and also taken to Egypt, where, un-der torture, he claimed al-Qaida wasin league with Saddam Hussein in

Nasty when you don’t jog..!

THERE’S one thing I doregularly and that’s mymorning walk; an hour a

day keeps the doctor away I be-lieve, but this morning I got to re-alize it also keeps the bad moodaway! I didn’t get up early thismorning, didn’t put on my joggingsuit, didn’t make it to the park,and my wretched phone it hasn’tstopped ringing ever since: “Bobwhat happened to you?” asksfriendly, well- meaning voice. Ifeel guilty like, so I am nasty andreply: “Isn’t it documented thatfor every mile you jog, you addone minute to your life?” Yes,”

Jamie Doward,Ian Cobain

says same well- meaning friend.“This enables me at 85 years old tospend an additional 5 months in anursing home at Rs 5,000 permonth?” I reply testily. I hear thephone being put down quietly. Thenext call comes within the nextminute, “Hi, “ I ask, “are you call-ing about not seeing me exercise to-day? If so my grandmother startedjogging five miles a day when shewas 60. She’s 97 now and we don’tknow where she is!”

There is silence at the other endand then some heavy breathing asshe tries to stifle her laughter, “Theonly reason I took up jogging, “Icontinue as I hear her giggle, “is soI can hear heavy breathing again!”For some time there aren’t anymore calls, then my friend Kumar,he calls, “Bob,” he says innocent

like, “Why don’t you join a healthclub like I’ve done?” “I joined ahealth club last year,” I tell him,“spent 4000 bucks. Haven’t lost apound. Apparently you have toshow up there!” “Okay!” saysKumar not too happy with my wisecracks, “Why don’t you exercise athome then?” “First of all my friend,“I tell him, “I have to exercise earlyin the morning before my brain fig-ures out what I’m doing, and sec-ondly if God meant me to touch mytoes, he would have put them higherup my body!”

Kumar bangs the phone down,but the ruddy thing rings again. “Youwere not there to walk today?” asksthis feller who always sits near thewater cooler pretending he’s run themarathon. “I like long walks, espe-cially when they are taken by people

who annoy me,” I tell him nastily.“You’ll get flabby thighs!” he

laughs squeaky like. “You haveflabby thighs too,” I snap, “but for-tunately your stomach covers them!”“You know something,” says mywife seeing me grouchy and grumpy,“You can always jog in the eveningsince you skipped your morning run.“I don’t jog in the evening,” I saycrossly, “because it makes the icejump out of my glass!”

The phone hasn’t rung sinceand the wife she hasn’t come intomy room and it suddenly strike mehow much me skipping me exer-cise it affects me mood. “HeyBob,” I tell me self and start grin-ning again, “The advantage of ex-ercising every day is you diehealthier..!”—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

the development of weapons ofmass destruction – statements thatwere cited in support of the 2003invasion of Iraq.

Reprieve now believes thatMiliband’s 2008 statement to par-liament referring to the two refu-elling stops was based on ananalysis of flights made by only20% of the planes used in the ren-dition programme. The true num-ber emerged in a lawsuit that re-vealed how two companies –DynCorp Systems and SolutionsLLC and Computer Sciences Cor-poration – were contracted to op-erate a network of planes on be-half of the CIA.

Confirmation that DiegoGarcia was used as a CIA blacksite is expected when the USSenate publishes a declassifiedintelligence report in the autumn.But many in Washington believeit will be heavily redacted mak-ing it difficult to gauge the UK’scomplicity.

Both countries have a vestedinterest that the focus shifts offDiego Garcia. In return for leas-ing the atoll to the US, the UKreceives a 5% reduction in the re-search and development costs as-sociated with its use of the US-owned Trident nuclear missileprogramme. A new lease must benegotiated by December. Theclock is ticking. What the UKknew about what was going on inDiego Garcia may not becomefully apparent until negotiationsabout its future have concluded.— Courtesy: The Guardian

and daring Sheikh Rashid on the onehand and on the other side of thefence; we have to contend with theill-mannered, uncouth, illiterate, un-civilized, buffoons. May Allah havemercy on us. The culture of deca-dence is gasping its last breath. Theslide of the power hungry elite hasstarted with their follies in the re-cent past. The wounds of their coer-cive force have not healed; the wholenation is in the state of shock overthe recent incident of Model Town.The ramifications of this gruesometragedy are still reverberating in theminds. No words can describe thefeelings of disgust and disbelieveexperienced by the people.

PML (N) has become a cult po-litical party. Everything revolvesaround Nawaz Sharif and his fam-ily. Brothers are ruling the Federa-tion and the largest Province. Thedevelopment projects and on-groundperformance distinguish the PML(N) from their worthless predeces-sors who fleeced the nation and thecountry for long five years; but it isthe absurdities, intolerance and ram-pant nepotism which would ruin thePML (N). If the Mian brothers arereally serious to continue in politics,they will have to change their auto-cratic behaviour with the partyworkers, re-adjust their prioritiestowards the welfare of the masses,leave aside petty non-issues and sendtheir young sons and daughters, fora while, back to their homes to sur-vive in the Pakistan politics, in thelonger run. They should not beoblivious to what is written on thewall. Mend your ways, be futuristicand stop nurturing Ranas and GulluButts. They must bow down to thewill of the People. The rule of therogues must end now.—Via email

Defining Pakistanidemocracy

TAHIR IQBAL JADOON

Democracy has been most attractiveslogan used by our leaders for thelast 6 decades. We have beenbefooled in the name of democracy,revolution, green revolution, liberaldemocracy and controlled democ-racy. Liberal democracy model ofMusharraf’s era while green revo-lution model of Ayub Khan’s era andGen. Zia’s Islamic democracy weresome unique gifts for the nation.

How strange is it most of the vis-ible progress has been made in dic-tators era’s. And these dictators werethe mentor all the political leader-ship. They planted the present aswell as previous leaders of Pakistan.As rightly depicted by a poet:

“Mere watan ki siyasat ka haalmat pooch, Ghiri huyi hai tawaiftamaash-beeno mein”

But we are a unique nation andhave unique leaders who havecoined their own terms and defini-tions of everything. We are very richin cracies, like Angelocracy, Autoc-racy, Anocracy, Bureaucracy,Kleptocracy, Mobocracy,Plantocracy, Plutocracy, Technoc-racy so on and so forth. But we havecoined two unique terms like Allah-Cracy (whatever is done or is to bedone, is by Allah) and the latest termis Gullu-Cracy. Gullu-Cracy is afrom of government in which oppo-nents are crushed by the hard corecronies of the ruling class and prop-erty and assets of the masses aredamaged in a way that no one knowsbut is trapped in the lenses of cam-eras and secret opens but one is incomplete state of denial and thinksthat all others are ignocent (ignorantas well as innocent, to believe onyour version of the story).

In 1999 formation of PML Q byGen. Musharraf and prior to thatGen. Zia planted some leaders likehis predecessors. Plantocracy ofGen. Zia is now at the helm of theaffairs in Pakistan. Plutocracy, acountry that is ruled by the richestpeople: a group of very rich peoplewho have a lot of power. Presentgovernment which is considered tobe brand of businessmen, who haveinvestments in country and abroadas well. Previous government of PPP

Khalid SaleemEmail: binwakeel@yahoo.com

Friendly FireFriendly FireFriendly FireFriendly FireFriendly Fire

has some of the richest people in thecabinet. One can not imagine thatone can attain the secrets of “Howto Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia”.Landing into politics can make onebillionaire in case of Pakistan. Thisreminds me of Nawab Raisani ofBalochistan when some one askedNawab “why there is unemploymentin Balochistan province and whatcan you do for unemployed young-sters?” Nawab replied, “Contestelections, if you won you are therichest, if lost you are a beggar”.This is the real face of our elite lead-ers I frequently call them “Air Con-ditioned Class”. Technocracy a sys-tem in which people with a lot ofknowledge about science or technol-ogy control a society. Again someinitial years of Gen. Musharraf andShoukat Aziz Model are classic ex-ample of technocracy.

Pakistan is complete blend of allthe cracies sans democracy. I wishsome of the words should be bannedin Politics like, ‘National Interest’,Democracy, ‘My Dear Countrymen’,‘We will do this or that’, ‘I promise’,Honour, Martyrs, Revolution,Progress, Roads, Lights, Darkness,Dictators, Serve, Nation, Disaster etc.—Islamabad

Gaza under siegeSYEDA AREEBA RASHEED

The situation in GAZA is becomingworst day by day. The Palestinianhealth ministry said most died in at-tacks on a house and a cafe in KhanYounis in the south, bringing the over-all death toll to 80. Militants in Gazacontinued firing rockets into Israelwith sirens sounding over southerntowns. Israel launched its operationon Tuesday, after a surge in rocket-fire amid a crackdown on Hamasmembers in the West Bank lastmonth, as Israel hunted for the ab-ductors of three Israeli teenagers. Theteenagers were found murdered, andtensions were raised further with thekilling of a Palestinian teenager in asuspected revenge attack days later.

The Israeli military said that ithad attacked 108 targets since mid-night and that 12 rockets had beenfired at Israel, seven of them inter-cepted by the Iron Dome defensesystem. Israel says its targets in Op-eration Protective Edge have beenmilitant fighters and facilities in-cluding rocket launchers, weaponsstores, tunnels and command cen-ters. Most people in GAZA are stay-ing at home trying to keep safe.Some will also be catching up onsleep after a noisy night when Israelinaval ships bombarded this coastalstrip, making buildings shake andbabies cry. Local television stationscan hardly keep up with the pace ofnews from inside busy hospitals andoutside demolished homes. Theyshow shocking images of dead chil-dren being pulled from the rubble onrepeat. The increasing number ofcivilians killed is alarming.

Overnight Mr.Ban warned of thedangers of escalation, saying the re-gion “cannot afford another full-blown war”. “The deteriorating situ-ation is leading to a downward spiralwhich could quickly get out of con-trol,” Mr.Ban said. “The risk of vio-lence expanding further still is real.”Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ear-lier vowed to “further intensify at-tacks on Hamas” in Gaza, saying themilitants would “pay a heavy price”.

As the campaign entered its 5thday, the Palestinian death toll rose toover 150, a majority of them civilians,according to officials in Gaza. No Is-raelis have been reported killed.—Karachi

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) participates in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Jose Marti monument in RevolutionSquare in Havana.

DING GANG SOURCE

Whether Japan should lift the ban onthe right to collective self-defenceis not the real point. The question

is: What purpose does such a manoeuvreachieve? Some Westerners view this issuefrom the perspective of Japan’s current rolein the world. And the Japanese governmentalways reiterates Japan’s contribution toworld peace as well. Japanese Prime Minis-ter Shinzo Abe has also stressed several rea-sons. First, due to the restriction of the con-stitution, Japan could not provide assistanceto its US ally when the latter is attacked. Takea hypothetical case when North Korea firesmissiles at US vessels. In addition, Japan’speacekeepers suffer from severe restraints ontheir use of force. Plus, according to Abe,Tokyo’s export of defensive weapons couldhelp keep the balance in Asia. And today’sJapan is no longer the old one that waged thewar of aggression.

These explanations have gained under-standing from a few countries. Washingtonhas expressed its endorsement of Tokyo’s re-

Japanese-US military alliance could prove dead endvision of its pacifist constitution. Indeed underthe constraint of the constitution, Japan’s socialfoundation has taken on dramatic changes com-pared with that in the pre-WWII era. Pacifismhas earned a place in Japanese society and thepublic is able to express their willingness forpeace more freely. The strong opposition amongthe public against the act to allow the right tocollective self-defence provided a pertinent in-stance. Nevertheless, there are still serious de-ficiencies in Tokyo’s recognition of war. Abewrote in an article recently, “Many generationsof Japanese have walked a single path - that offreedom, human rights, and the rule of law -and we will continue to walk this path for gen-erations to come.”

The prime minister doesn’t lack a knowl-edge of history, but his remarks above wouldsurprise even elementary school students. That’swhy China, South Korea and other Asian na-tions that were once victims of Japan’s brutalinvasion are extremely concerned about its right-ist move. This, of course, is not the only sourceof risk. Tokyo may not be insane enough to ini-tiate a war, but its intention to utilize its mili-tary alliance as a tool to achieve the status of a

normal state risks miring Asia at large in a ColdWar. Japan grew up under US protection. InSeptember 8, 1951, four victors signed theTreaty of Peace with a defeated Tokyo in SanFrancisco, endowing the country with diplo-matic independence.

Later on the US and Japan inked the Treatyof Mutual Cooperation and Security. Since thenthe Washington-Tokyo military alliance has beenan important part of the Asian security archi-tecture. Their alliance did not terminate withthe end of the Cold War though it has lost aspecific enemy. Such a relationship has just be-come loosened to some extent, especially sincethe 9/11 attacks forced the US to shift its strate-gic focus. The turnaround in the US-Japan alli-ance has partly been caused by China’s rise.Washington envisioned the “pivot to Asia” witha view of power rebalance at a time when To-kyo also felt the pressure from growing Beijinginfluence.

The White House needs to mete out newmissions to its old ally, which expects tostrengthen its military power instead of servingas a little brother of the US. It appears on thesurface that the alliance between the two coun-

tries will evolve in a more solid way, but infact it has stepped into the final stage of itshistorical process. No other Asian countrieswill wholeheartedly accept such a militaryalliance to support security in the future. Ahard-edged alliance will often lead to the cre-ation of more alliances or escalation of mili-tary confrontation.

The US-Japan alliance will bemarginalized by the integrated developmentof Asian economy and trade. Washington willeventually realize the alliance won’t help itintegrate into Asia, rather it will foster a “de-railed” Japan. And it is just an illusion that arising Beijing can be hedged with the mili-tary alliance. It is not difficult to predict theconsequences of a US-Japan alliance target-ing China. It has no reason to exist if it is aimedat safeguarding Asian security.

—Courtesy: GT[The author is a senior editor with the

People’s Daily. He is now stationed inBrazil. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn.Follow him on Twitter at@dinggangchina]

Presidential rivals Mr Prabowo Subianto (left) and Mr Joko Widodo.

MARK ADOMANIS

During the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the U.S. State Department has frequently invoked Russia’s “isolation” fromthe “international community.” To listen to the press re-

leases coming out of Washington, Russia’s actions in Crimea havemade it an outcast, a rogue state that is no longer welcome amongthe community of “responsible nations.” Among the Washingtonestablishment’s foreign policy community a rough consensus ex-ists which holds that Russia, which has never had a surfeit of friendsor allies, is rapidly losing whatever support it once enjoyed. Russia’srelations with the West, and particularly with the U.S., have clearlyundergone a dramatic deterioration over the past six months. Rus-sia has recently been subjected to a previously unimaginable litanyof trade sanctions, asset freezes, and visa bans, the kind of treat-ment that is usually meted out to countries like Iran or Sudan.

Even leaders whose natural instincts are toward conciliationand negotiation, people like U.S. President Barack Obama andGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, are under enormous politi-cal pressure to “get tough” with Putin. So-called “sectoral” sanc-tions are still highly unlikely to be introduced: these sanctionswould likely cause too much harm to a Western Europe that isstill on shaky economic ground. The fact that they are even be-ing seriously discussed at all, however, underlines the extent towhich things have changed. Policies that are considered moder-ate would have been considered extraordinarily hawkish as re-cently as 2012. The above, however, only covers one side of thestory. The upcoming BRICS summit in Fortaleza and Brasilia isa particularly clear example that the world is changing that theWest, while still influential, powerful, and wealthy, is no longercapable of speaking for “the international community.”

In contrast to the West, where Russia’s annexation of Crimeawas greeted with near-universal outrage among all major politicalparties and interest groups, Brazil, India, China and South Africahave collectively reacted to Russia’s recent actions with a shrug.You could spend all day searching the far corners of the Internettrying to find outraged denunciations of Russian behavior originat-ing in Brasilia, New Delhi, Beijing, or Johannesburg, but you willnot find much. The BRICS might not have been openly supportiveof Russian activity in Ukraine, but their stance could scarcely bemore different from the West’s. While the West wants to punish,isolate, and contain Russia, the BRICS vocally and openly supportcooperation with it in an ever-greater number of fields. The BRICSare even going so far as to create a development bank that wouldfunction as an of analogue to the IMF or World Bank.

It is true that the BRICs are currently going through someeconomic troubles, and it is highly unlikely that they will expe-rience a repeat of the stratospheric growth rates of the early 2000s.But the BRICS grew so rapidly for so long that, to a large extent,they have already changed the economic landscape. They arenot omnipotent, but they cannot be ignored. The simple truth isthat, far from being “isolated,” Russia continues to enjoy goodrelations with most of the world and particularly those parts ofthe world that are demographically and economically dynamic.So why, despite this, do so many people spend so much timetalking about the country’s isolation?

A Western Russia policy that is, even partially, constructed onthe assumption that Russia has been kicked out of the “interna-tional community” simply will not work. Russia hasn’t been kickedout of the international community, and it won’t be. Depending onyour point of view that might seem extremely unfair or entirelyjustified, but it’s just the way that things are. The above abso-lutely does not mean that the West is helpless and needs to acceptwhatever Russia ends up doing. The EU is still Russia’s largesttrading partner by far, and even with the aftereffects of the finan-cial crisis the West remains wealthier, more powerful, and moreinfluential than any other group of countries. The gap between theWest and everyone else, however, is much smaller than it was andgets smaller with each passing day. In order to have an effectiveRussia policy the West needs to better learn the limits of its owninfluence and better understand that many other countries simplydo not see the world in the same way.

—Courtesy: MT[Mark Adomanis is a MA/MBA candidate at the Lauder In-

stitute at the University of Pennsylvania].

For Better or Worse,Russia Is Not Isolated

DAVID A. STOCKMAN

Between 1870 and 1914, there was a 45-year span of risingliving standards, stable prices, massive capital investmentand prolific technological progress. In terms of overall

progress, these four-plus decades have never been equalled eitherbefore or since. Then came the Great War. It involved a scale oftotal industrial mobilization and financial mayhem that was un-like any that had gone before. In the case of Great Britain, forexample, its national debt increased 14-fold. In addition, England’sprice level doubled, its capital stock was depleted, most offshoreinvestments were liquidated and universal wartime conscriptionleft it with a massive overhang of human and financial liabilities.Despite all that, England still stood out as the least devastated ofthe major European countries. In France, the price level inflatedby 300 percent, its extensive Russian investments were confis-cated by the Bolsheviks and its debts in New York and Londoncatapulted to more than 100 percent of GDP.

Among the defeated powers, currencies emerged nearlyworthless. The German mark was only worth five cents on thepre-war dollar, while the country’s wartime debts especially af-ter the Carthaginian peace of Versailles which John MaynardKeynes skewered so brilliantly soared to crushing, unrepeatableheights. In short, the wave of debt, currency inflation and finan-cial disorder from the Great War was immense and unprecedented.With all that in mind, one important question only rises in im-portance: Was the United States’ intervention in April 1917 war-ranted or not? And did it only end up prolonging the Europeanslaughter? Never mind that it resulted in a cockamamie peace,which gave rise to totalitarianism among the defeated powers.Even conventional historians like Niall Ferguson admit as much.

Had President Woodrow Wilson not misled the U.S. on amessianic crusade, Europe’s Great War would have ended inmutual exhaustion in 1917. Both sides would have gone homebattered and bankrupt but would not have presented any dangerto the rest of mankind. Indeed, absent Wilson’s crusade, therewould have been no allied victory, no punitive peace and no warreparations. Nor would there have been a Leninist coup inPetrograd or later on, the emergence of Stalin’s barbaric regime.Likewise, there would have been no Hitler, no Nazi dystopia, noMunich, no Sudetenland and Danzig corridor crises, no need fora British war to save Poland, no final solution and Holocaust, noglobal war against Germany and Japan and, finally, no incinera-tion of 200,000 civilians at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Needless to say, these figures reflected an inflationary, war-swollen economy. After all, the U.S. had loaned the Allies mas-sive amounts of money all to purchase grain, pork, wool, steel,munitions and ships from the U.S. This transfer amounted to nearly15 percent of GDP, or an equivalent of $2 trillion in today’seconomy. It also represented a form of vendor finance that wasdestined to vanish at war’s end. As it happened, the U.S. did expe-rience a brief but deep recession in 1920. But it was not a thor-oughgoing end-of-war one that would “detox” the economy. Theday of reckoning was merely postponed. It finally arrived in 1933when the depression hit with full force. The U.S. economy wascatering and Germany embarked on its disastrous “recovery” ex-perience under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

—Courtesy: JT[David A. Stockman is an author, former U.S. politician and

businessman. He served as President Ronald Reagan’s budgetdirector from 1981-1985].

If only the US hadstayed out of WWI

BEIJING—China has affirmedits interest in taking part inThailand’s basic infrastructuredevelopment, includingprojects that will provide bet-ter linkages throughout thecountry like high-speed rail,foreign ministry permanentsecretary SihasakPhuangketkeow said yesterday.Sihasak, who also serves asacting foreign minister, wasspeaking after chairing a meet-ing in Beijing of Thai diplo-mats, government officials andbusinessmen working in China.

He was on an official visitto China to participate in thetwo-day second China-ThailandStrategic Dialogue, which con-cluded yesterday. “China hasexpressed continuing interest totake part in Thailand’s basic in-frastructure developments suchas the high-speed train, whichwill provide linkage for the re-gion, and the water managementproject,” Sihasak said. “We haveresponded that the NationalCouncil for Peace and Orderintends to proceed with the plan,provided there is transparencyand the funding for the projectsis manageable within the annualbudget. China has accepted ourstand in this regard.”

Thailand also sought Chi-nese investments in projectsthat will give added value toThai agricultural products, in-cluding rubber, rice and cas-sava, he said. Sihasak ex-pressed satisfaction with the

China committed toinfrastructure uplift

in Thailandresults of his trip, saying Chinahas a good understanding of thereasons for the May 22 powerseizure by the military.

He said China understoodthat the military had to rein inthe situation because the coun-try was tilting dangerously to-wards major civil strife. He saidhe had also explained the rea-sons behind the coup to west-ern countries and assured themthat Thailand still upheld de-mocracy. However, the countryneeded stability and securitybecause this was the only waydemocracy could be strength-ened. “Thailand is in a transi-tion period,” Sihasak said. “Wehave to show the world that wecan still move forward, espe-cially on foreign affairs.”

“We must play strong, pro-active roles in bilateral rela-tions with our neighbouringcountries in Asean and on otherinternational stages.” Sihasaksaid his visit to China wasaimed at strengthening eco-nomic cooperation between thetwo countries, as China wasone of Thailand’s biggest eco-nomic partners and a majorexport market. He has pro-posed to China that a high-levelcommittee be established tooversee all economic coopera-tion between the two countries.China has expressed a wish thata third meeting of the joint-committee on trade, investmentand the economy be held whenThailand is ready.—ANN

JAKARTA—Presidential candidate Joko“Jokowi” Widodo said that he would be glad ifthe Golkar Party decided to switch teams andsupport the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla ticket. “Yes, thatwould be good, it means that we can work to-gether,” Jokowi told reporters in Bandung, WestJava on Saturday, as reported by tempo.co. How-ever, Jokowi said that he could not promise any-thing to Golkar if it truly planned on joining theIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) coalition. He emphasised that there wouldnot be any political transactions within its coa-lition. “We have already said that there will beno conditions,” he said.

Previous reports claimed that several Golkarpoliticians have regretted choosing to support ri-val ticket Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa after

Coalition govt possible in Indonesiaseeing that most credible survey institutionsshowed that the Jokowi-Kalla ticket were in thelead. The quick count by the Cyrus Network andthe Center for Strategic and International Studiesshowed that Jokowi-Kalla were leading the presi-dential election with 47.17 percent, whereas rivalsPrabowo-Hatta had only garnered 42.15 percent.

Furthermore, Golkar politician Nusron Wahidsaid that the party would try to unseat chairmanAburizal Bakrie due to the decision to supportPrabowo. If succeeded, then Golkar would likelyjoin the PDI-P and its coalition partners — theNasDem Party, the National Awakening Party(PKB) and the Hanura Party — in the ruling gov-ernment. With Golkar in the coalition, it is expectedthat a Jokowi administration would have a major-ity in the House of Representatives.—ANN

BUENOS AIRES—Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and his Argentine coun-terpart Cristina Kirchner called for a mul-tipolar world order as Moscow sought toboost ties with Latin America amid height-ened East-West tensions. Putin is on a six-day tour seeking to increase Moscow’sinfluence in the region at a time when theUkraine crisis has eroded Russia’s rela-tions with the United States and Europeto their lowest point since the Cold War.

His itinerary includes meetings witha string of leftist leaders critical of theUnited States and a summit of the BRICSgroup of emerging countries — an agendathat neatly aligns with his push for a mul-tipolar world less dominated by the West.Kirchner is meanwhile waging her ownfight against Washington, battling a UScourt ruling that Argentina must pay morethan $1.3 billion by the end of the monthto hedge funds refusing to accept the re-structuring of the country’s defaulted debt.

Putin said Russia shared “a very simi-lar, very close view of international rela-tions” with Argentina. He also voiced hissupport for Argentina’s long-standing ter-

Russia, Argentina seek multipolarityritorial claim to the Falkland Islands, theBritish territory it calls the Malvinas, whichsparked a 1982 war between the two coun-tries. “We favor the principles of a multi-polar world, which are equality, indivisibil-ity and security. Russia continues to sup-port the need to find a solution to the dis-pute over the Malvinas Islands at directnegotiations between Great Britain and Ar-gentina,” he said at a dinner in his honor.

The Argentine leader for her part in-sisted that global institutions must be over-hauled and made more multilateral. “Wefirmly believe in multipolarity, inmultilateralism, in a world where coun-tries don’t have a double standard,”Kirchner said after the pair toured thepresidential palace in Buenos Aires. “Weneed to globally regulate the flow of capi-tal that has turned the world into a finan-cial casino where many countries aredrowning in huge debts.”

She called for the next meeting of G20major economies to set a broader agendathat also targets global economic and finan-cial regulation. The pair looked on as theirdelegations signed a series of bilateral deals,

including one on nuclear energy that comesas Argentina ramps up work on its fourthnuclear plant, the $3-billion Atucha III re-actor. Kirchner said members of the Rus-sian delegation would also visit the mas-sive Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field,potentially one of the largest finds in his-tory, which cash-strapped Argentina —locked out of capital markets since its 2001default — needs investment to develop.

The pair also discussed military co-operation, including the prospect of Rus-sia providing transport planes for use inAntarctica. Putin’s six-day trip will nexttake him to Brazil, where he will partici-pate in a summit of the BRICS emergingnations — Brazil, Russia, India, China andSouth Africa. The Russian strongman hasinvited Argentina, which is keen to jointhe group, to attend the meeting as an ob-server. In Nicaragua, he vowed tostrengthen economic ties with the CentralAmerican country, which earlier thismonth finalized the route for a planned al-ternative to the Panama Canal, a Chinese-backed plan that promises to reshape theglobal shipping industry.—AFP

Heavy fightingbreaks out nearTripoli airport

TRIPOLI—Heavy fightingbroke out between rival militiasnear the airport of the Libyancapital Tripoli on Sunday, resi-dents and officials said, report-ing explosions and gunfire thatforced the suspension of allflights. Explosions were heardfrom early morning on the air-port road and other parts of Tri-poli. Residents said that Zintanmilitiamen who controlled theairport had come under fire andlocal TV footage suggested thatthe attacking rebels were fromthe western city of Misratis.

Libya has been in turmoilsince the overthrow ofMuammar Gaddafi in 2011,with the government unable tocontrol battle-hardened militiaswho helped to oust Gaddafi butcontinue to defy state author-ity. Zintan forces have con-trolled the airport since theGaddafi’s ousting, but rebelsfrom both Zintanis and Misratishad been placed on the statepay roll in an unsuccessful at-tempt by the government to wintheir cooperation and integrateboth factions into state forces.

Local news channel al-Nabaa showed footage of mili-tary vehicles carrying Misratasigns opening fire on Sunday.Heavy smoke could be seenabove the airport, the maingateway into the north Africanoil-producing nation.—Reuters

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s parliamentfailed on Sunday to break adamaging political deadlockwhich is holding up the forma-tion of new government totackle an Islamist-led insur-gency raging less than 50 miles(80 km) from Baghdad. Aftera brief session, parliamentaryofficials delayed until Tuesdaytheir efforts to reach agreementbetween the country’s Shiite,Sunni and Kurdish politicianson the posts of prime minister,president and parliamentaryspeaker.

Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, whose State of Lawcoalition is the largest indi-vidual list in parliament, isseeking a third term but facesopposition from Sunnis andKurds who say he has ruled forthe Shiite majority at the ex-pense of minority communi-ties. Even rival Shiite partieswish to unseat Maliki. The po-litical impasse has been givenadded urgency by the Islam-ist-led insurgency whichswept through Sunni prov-inces of northern Iraq lastmonth and was only stemmedwithin a hundred miles fromthe capital. The fall of north-ern Sunni cities has encour-aged Maliki’s opponents to tryto force his departure.

The disagreement overMaliki’s future appeared to beblocking progress on the otherpolitical posts. Sunni politicianssaid the main Sunni bloc putforward Salim Al-Jabouri, amoderate Islamist, as their can-didate for parliamentaryspeaker, but accused Maliki ofeffectively torpedoing their pro-posal. “We have presented ourcandidate for speaker and donewhat we should do,” said out-going speaker Osama Nujaifi.“We hold the other blocs re-sponsible for the delay.”

“Once we manage to com-plete the democratic process to

Iraq parliamentaryimpasse persists

form the government thiswould help to stop the greatdestruction happening in Iraqwhich is jeopardizing thecountry’s unity.” Iraq’s politi-cal elite are under pressurefrom the United States, theUnited Nations and Iraq’s ownShiite clerics to reach agree-ment so politicians can dealwith the insurgency and pre-vent the country fragmentingon sectarian and ethnic lines.The UN special envoy to Iraq,Nickolay Mladenov, said thecountry could plunge intochaos if parliament fails tomove forward on a govern-ment in Sunday’s session. Vio-lent deaths last month reachedmore than 2,400 — a levelcomparable to the worst of thebloodshed seen during Iraq’s2005-2008 sectarian war.

US Vice President JoeBiden talked on Saturday withMasoud Barzani, president ofthe Iraqi Kurdistan Region, anddiscussed the need for the quickformation of a government andpeaceful resolution of territo-rial disputes, the White Housesaid. With politics in Baghdadparalyzed, and Maliki continu-ing in a caretaker role, thefighting has raged on. SunniIslamist insurgents who controllarge parts of northern Iraq at-tacked a town north of Baghdadearly on Sunday, seizing localgovernment buildings, policeand witnesses said.

The Sunni militants werepushed back at Dhuluiya onJune 14 by soldiers backed byfighters from the Shiite AsaibAhl Al-Haq militia, but fight-ing has continued and theyhave taken other towns. Thepolice and witnesses said localpolice and tribes were battlingthe militants in Dhuluiya onSunday. They said four police-men were killed in the fighting,as well as two militants and twocivilians.—AN

Israeli leaflets dropped on Beit Lahiya,where 70,000 Palestinians live, said civil-ians in three of its 10 neighborhoods were“requested to evacuate their residences”and move south, deeper into the GazaStrip, by 12 p.m.

The Gaza Interior Ministry, in a state-ment on Hamas radio, dismissed the Is-raeli warnings as “psychological warfare”and instructed those who left their homesto return and others to stay put.

The warnings cited roads that residentscould use safely and said Israeli forces in-tended to attack “every area from whererockets are being launched”. The militarydid not say in the leaflet whether the strikewould include ground troops.

It was the first time Israel had warnedPalestinians to vacate dwellings in such awide area. Previous warnings, by tele-phone or so-called “knock-on-the-door”missiles without explosive warheads, hadbeen directed at individual homes slatedfor attack.

At least 4,000 people fled Beit Lahiyaand crowded into eight U.N.-run schoolsin Gaza City on Sunday, a spokesman forthe United Nations Relief and WorksAgency said.

Some arrived on donkey carts filledwith children, luggage and mattresses,while others came by car or taxi. One man,still in his pajamas, said some residentshad received phone calls warning them to

clear out. “What could we do? We hadto run in order to save the lives of our chil-dren,” said Salem Abu Halima, 25, a fa-ther of two.

Israel says a ground invasion of Gazaremains an option, and it has already mo-bilized more than 30,000 reservists to doso, but most attacks have so far been fromthe air, hitting some 1,200 targets in theterritory.

International pressure on both sides fora return to calm has increased, with the U.N.Security Council calling for a cessation ofhostilities and Western foreign ministersdue to meet on Sunday to weigh strategy.Hostilities along the Israel-Gaza frontierfirst intensified last month after Israeliforces arrested hundreds of Hamas activ-ists in the Israeli-occupied West Bank fol-lowing the abduction there of three Jewishteenagers who were later found killed. APalestinian youth was then killed in Jerusa-lem in a suspected Israeli revenge attack.

Israel said it has carried out 1,320 at-tacks on militant targets, that have includedhomes - which it described as commandcenters - warehouses, smuggling tunnelsand rocket launching and manufacturingsites.

Palestinian residents say some of thedwellings hit in the attacks did not belongto militants and that attacks on homes have

caused numerous civilian casualties.A Hamas source commenting on the

air strike against the Gaza police chief’shome said the officer, Tayseer Al-Batsh,was in critical condition. All of those killedin the air strike. which television footageshowed was reduced to piles of rubble,were members of Al-Batsh’s family.

Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesman for theGaza Health Ministry, said 45 people werewounded inthe bombing. An Israeli teen-ager was wounded on Sunday by a rocketthat struck the southern town of Ashkelon,emergency services said.

Israel says it tries to avoid civiliancasualties and accuses of Hamas of put-ting innocent Gazans in harm’s way byplacing weaponry and gunmen in residen-tial areas.

A senior Israeli military officer saidaircraft had aborted “hundreds” of strikesto avoid collateral damage and that targetsbombed were meant to impact Hamas firecapacity.

Israel’s north also came under rocketfire late on Saturday, from Lebanon.Hamas, which is not known to have a pres-ence in southern Lebanon, claimed respon-sibility for the attack, which Israel suspectswas launched by other Palestinian mili-tants.

After three rockets landed, causing nodamage or casualties, Israeli artillery firedinto Lebanon, the military said.—Reuters

preliminary results last week.He also threatened to declare aparallel government if the au-dit of all “fraudulent votes” wasnot held.

Both candidates, Dr AshrafGhani Ahmadzai and DrAbdullah, agreed to a 100% au-dit of the votes cast in the run-off presidential election after USSecretary of State John Kerrybrokered the deal during his twodays of talks in Kabul.

Kerry succeeded to end theimpasse that has raised seriousconcerns at a possible politicalcrisis during a sensitive time inthe country — when the for-eign troops are finalising theirexit strategy.

Kerry announced, at apress conference late Saturdaynight in Kabul, that the auditwould be carried out in Kabuland would begin in 24 hours.

Following are the Salientfeatures of the agreement

“First, with respect to theelection, both candidates havecommitted to participate in and

abide by the results of the larg-est, most comprehensive pos-sible audit. Every single ballotthat was cast will be audited,100%, all 8 million,” Kerrysaid.

“This is the strongest pos-sible signal by both candidatesof the desire to restore legiti-macy to the process and to Af-ghan democracy,” the US sec-retary of state added.

Second, the audit will becarried out in Kabul.

It will start with the ballotboxes that are currently locatedhere and ballot boxes from theprovinces will be transported toKabul by International SecurityAssistance Force, audited on arolling basis, and securedthroughout this process by Isafand Afghan national securityforces.

Third, the auditing will beinternationally supervised inthe manner proposed by theUnited Nations AssistanceMission.

The candidates’ campaignswill each provide joint over-sight of the audit in accordancewith United Nations AssistanceMission in Afghanistan(UNAMA) proposals, includ-ing access by candidates’agents to the ballot boxes un-der Isaf and Afghan securityforce supervision.

“And let there be no doubt,in keeping with each of the can-didates’ requests, this audit willbe conducted in accordancewith the highest internationalstandards,” Kerry said.

He also said that the pro-cess will take a number ofweeks and UNAMA has re-quested that President Karzaiand Afghan electoral institu-tions postpone the inaugurationdate to accommodate this re-quest. The transfer of powerwas scheduled on August 2.

Both candidates also ap-pealed to Karzai that the inau-guration of the new leadershould be delayed, for whichthe request has been accepted.

Pak hails ‘amicable solution’From Page 1

tapped by making available the required finan-cial resources as and when needed.

Referring to SBP’s initiatives for improvingaccess to finance to the farming community, theGovernor told that as per provisional figures,around Rs 389 billion have been disbursed bythe end of FY 2013-14 (by 30th June 2014), thussurpassing the revised target of Rs 380 billion.

Mr. Wathra said that SBP has long beenmaking efforts to enhance the flow of credit toagriculture; resultantly, the agricultural disburse-ments registered steady growth and rose to Rs333 billion in FY 2012-13 from Rs 169 billionin FY 2006-07 recording an annual growth ofover 10 percent. The revised target for 2013-14was set at Rs. 380 billion which was rather chal-lenging for both SBP and banks which was how-ever not only met but superseded.

Referring to the indicative target for 2014-15 of Rs 500 billion assigned by the Govern-ment, he expressed that “we, as a banking com-munity, gladly accept it as a challenge and arefully committed to accomplish this ambitioustarget”. He further elaborated that while SBPhas developed a strategy to achieve this target,however, this will require high level of com-mitment from banks’ Board of Directors andtheir top management.

The Governor requested the national andprovincial government representatives to give

National Food Security CouncilFrom Page 1

their assurance and commitment to provide allkinds of support to the banking industry, espe-cially agriculture lending banks for smooth op-erations. He also urged upon banks that this is ahigh time to play a meaningful role in theachievement of national goals of growth anddevelopment by channelling adequate financialresources to the agriculture sector.

The Governor also pointed out that the shareof banks’ credit to agriculture is around 5.7% oftheir total advances and the total outreach is tojust over 2.15 million borrowers as against 8.3million farm households in the country. This in-dicates ample room for enhancement of agri-culture portfolio by the banks. Further, accord-ing to estimates, only 35 to 40 percent creditrequirement of agricultural sector is being metby the formal banking system while the remain-ing is fulfilled through non-institutional creditsources.

The Deputy Governor, State Bank of Paki-stan, Mr. Saeed Ahmad praised the banks forplaying a significant constructive role in savingmobilization and providing the funding supportto all productive organs of the economy. Hethanked the participants and hoped that all stake-holders will play their part in development ofthe country. He then invited all the participantsto join Iftar Dinner, hosted by the Governor, inhonor of the esteemed Chief Guest.

Raza Gilani’s disclosure of adeal about giving free and re-spectable exit to PervezMusharraf. Bilawal said all theparty leaders must follow therules and avoid giving contra-dictory statements.

He cautioned that actionwould be taken against thoseviolating party discipline. It isworth mentioning that after thestatement of Syed Yusuf RazaGilani that a deal was struckbetween the government andthe establishment that led to theresignation of PervezMusharraf as President, severalPPP leaders including SenatorFarhatullah Babar and formerInformation Minister QamarZaman Kaira have distancedthemselves from Gilani’s state-ment saying no such agreementhad been reached.

Political observers how-ever say that Syed Yusuf RazaGilani was Prime Minister ofPakistan at that time and hemust be having more informa-tion about under the table dealthan other PPP leaders.—INP

Bilawal snubsFrom Page 1

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif offering dua after inaugurating Azadi Interchange.

Israeli commandos raid Gaza beachFrom Page 1

ShahbazFrom Back Page

Pakistan Muslim League (N)has always focused construc-tion and road projects everytime it has come into power.The idea of Motorway wasfirst conceived during 1992when the current Prime Min-ister had held the seat for thefirst time. The same projectwas completed during his sec-ond tenure.

Chief Minister ShahbazSharif also worked upon sev-eral projects during his 2008-13 tenure. Lahore Metro BusProject, Muslim Town Flyover,Kalma Chowk Flyover, ModelTown Underpass and SaggianInterchange in Lahore whileChandni Chowk flyover inRawalpindi were the highlightsof his previous tenure. RingRoad around Lahore was alsocompleted during his tenure.

During his third term as theChief Minister of Punjab thatstarted last year after GeneralElections 2013, which PML(N) swept in Punjab, he has al-ready started work onRawalpindi-Islamabad MetroBus Project in collaborationwith the Capital DevelopmentAuthority and National High-way Authority. The completionof Azadi Chowk Flyover is yetanother milestone achieved bythe government in such a shortspan of time.

Metro Bus Systems inMultan and Faisalabad are alsoin pipeline while the PrimeMinister has announced MetroBus System for Karachi as wellduring his recent visit to the fi-nancial hub of the country.Lahore-Karachi Motorway andOrange Line Train, Lahore, aretwo of the projects beingworked at currently by the Fed-eral and Provincial govern-ments respectively.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Arrest of workers ofMuttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)by Pakistan Rangers Sindh hadprompted the party to lift the issue withserious concerns on all forums and thesituation had a little bit turned positiveafter Rangers made the arrest of one ofunit in-charges of the party public andthe spokesperson to Pakistan RangersSindh had also released an official state-ment regarding the arrest of HaiderBaig, the unit in-charge of MQM.

Altaf Hussain, founder and leaderof MQM had a few days ago despatchedan appeal to the Pakistani print and elec-tronic media wherein he had stated tosend an open letter he had written inthe name of Chief of Army Staff, Gen-eral Rahil Sharif. However, a discus-sion with Karachi Corpse CommanderLieutenant General Sajjad Ghani hadpacified the escalating tension and thusMQM Chief did not release his letter.Instead, he released a letter he had writ-ten in the name of the Corpse Com-

Altaf writes letter to Corpse Commander in wake of arrestsFederal Govt to address MQM complaint; ‘Arrested unit in charge was extortionist’

mander in which he complained aboutPakistan rangers Sindh’s attitude towardhis workers.

In that letter he reminded theCorpse Commander about detailed dis-cussion a day earlier and said that hardlyeight hours had passed after their talkwhen Rangers officials raided the houseof unit in-charge of New Karachi UnitA-140 at 3:00. They came on 5 vehiclesand 5 motorcycles to raid the residence.They searched the house and arrestedHaider Baig They also took his motor-cycle with them.

MQM Chief in his letter told theCorpse commander that the elected rep-resentatives had stayed outside theRangers Office for long but none cameout to listen to them.

Meanwhile, federal government hasassured MQM of addressing their con-cerns regarding the ongoing targetedoperation and arrest of MQM workers.In this regard, federal governmentwould take prompt action for theredressal of grievances of the aggrievedparty.

The PM instructed federal interiorMinister to take immediate steps to in-vestigate any complaint regarding ar-rest of worker of MQM if it was not inline with the prescribed legal norms.

However, MQM had expressedtheir serious reservations on uncalledfor arrests of workers without their in-volvement in any criminal activity andon that stance, the party leadership hadalerted the authorities concerned that theparty could take to street over plannedarrests of workers of MQM and theirunlawful detainment.

Meanwhile, law enforcementagencies had despatched a report tofederal government that they had notacted against any political party but onlyarrested those elements allegedlyinvolved in ant-social activities and thatall the required legal procedures werebeing ensured after their arrest.

MQM Coordination CommitteeDeputy Convener Engineer Nasir Jamaldemanded of LEAs to produce those sofar arrested in courts of law and makeall arrests open. The arrested should not

be driven into forced disappearance.Conversely, the Coordination Com-

mittee had also condemned the arrestof Muhammad Jawaid, a member ofLandhi Sector Unit Committee of unit83. The Committee said that Rangershad arrested him while he was watch-ing a football match.

Meanwhile, Pakistan RangersSindh spokesperson in a statement is-sued Sunday said that Haider Baig, aunit in-charge of MQM New Karachisector was wanted by law enforcementagencies for various crimes.

The spokesperson said that theaccused was involved in cases ofextortion and more than 12 cases oftarget killing.

He further stated that the accusedwas involved in murders of politicalactivists and had confessed to Pakistanrangers Sindh investigators during pre-liminary investigation that he had tar-geted political activists of rival parties.He categorically stated that Rangerswere conducting action against all thecriminals without any discrimination.

producers on pretext of reduc-ing the circular debt burdenbut the debt burden was as yeta fresh with the same amountof money. PPP was alwaysagainst privatizing the na-tional institutions and wouldstill vehemently oppose anysuch activity.

He alleged PMLN-ledgovernment in the Centre ofaiming at selling all key na-tional institutions to foreigninvestors and the national in-stitutions at stake now in-cluded Sui Southern GasCompany (SSGC), PakistanInternational Airlines corpora-tion (PIA), PPL and other stra-tegic national institutions,which were all national assetand autonomous and profit-able institutions.

Rabbani said that only SuiNorthern Gas Pipeline Com-pany had earned a net profitof Rs 35 billion from 2009-2013 and Rs 41900 million in2012-13. PPL had in 2009-2013 earned a gross profit ofRs 48800 million.

PML-N Govt wants tofavour blue-eyed foreign

From Back Page

PMLN-led governmentwanted to distribute the rev-enue to be generated from saleof national institutions amongthe blue-eyed investors.

According to the 18th con-stitutional amendment, all theprovinces had 50 percentrights of ownership on all na-tional institutions while theremaining 50 percent right ofownership was with the fed-eration.

He said serious irregulari-ties were recorded duringprivatization of United BankLimited and hence the govern-ment should hand over alldocuments so far prepared forprivatization of national insti-tutions to the standing com-mittee of the Senate, whichwould look into the details ofselling the shares at cheaperrates to blue-eyed investors.

Rabbani urged all provin-cial assemblies to pass ant-privatisation resolutions andplay teir role to stop the lootand plunder of the national as-sets.

Public Relations (ISPR)communiqué said adding alarge cache of arms and ammu-nition was destroyed in theaerial strikes which targetedmilitant hideouts and muni-tions stores.

Though the ISPR did notgive the exact number of mili-tants killed during the earlymorning bombing on the mili-tants positions on Sunday, re-ports said large number oftrouble makers fell victim tothe fresh strikes thus taking thenumber of those killed in theongoing operation close to 450figure.

18 militantsFrom Page 1

regarding Musharraf,” Gilanitold reporters in Islamabad.Gilani revealed on Friday thatformer president PervezMusharraf had resigned afterstriking a deal that he would begiven a safe exit. Upon step-ping down, Musharraf was of-fered a safe exit from the coun-try under an agreement with theestablishment, he added. To aquestion regarding SenatorFarhatullah Babar’s denial onany deal with Musharraf,Gilani refused to make anycomment..—INP

RabbaniFrom Page 1

authorities.He said that free and vi-

brant media is imperative fordemocracy.

The minister said hatepropagating institutions mustcease to exist now. There arecolleges where passed out stu-dents talk of hatred. We ac-quired independence but didnot pay heed on education, headded. “It is the time to get ridof terrorism institutions.”

Earlier, Rashid said thatImran Khan should not give animpression of any disaster onIndependence Day.

He said the main ceremonyof Independence Day will beheld at D-Chowk in Islamabadand all the political leaders willbe invited to attend it.

Information MinisterPervez Rashid has said all re-sources will be provided to thearmy to defeat the terrorists.

He said statutory cover hasalso been given to the armedforces to eradicate menace ofterrorism. He said those fan-ning misconceptions about thearmy are bound to fail in theirdesigns. —NNI

RevolutiontalkersFrom Page 1

links between Mali’s fight-ers and Boko Haram in Nige-ria.

Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Europe-1 radio Sunday that the Frenchforce will become a 3,000-strong regional operation fo-cused on fighting terrorists andbased in Mali, Chad andNiger.—AP

France wrappingFrom Page 1

rebels trying to provoke Mos-cow to intervene on their be-half. The rebels denied theywere responsible.

Inside Ukraine, wherecombat has intensified dra-matically since a rebel missileattack that killed dozens ofgovernment troops on Friday,local officials said 18 peoplewere killed in shooting inci-dents in the two main rebel-held cities.

Kiev said it had bom-barded a convoy of 100armoured vehicles and trucksthat had crossed into Ukrainecarrying in rebel fighters fromRussia. It also said seven ofits troops had been killed inattacks.

Russia warns UkraineFrom Page 1

Moscow’s bellicose re-sponse to the cross-bordershelling raises the renewedprospect of overt Russian in-tervention, after weeks inwhich President VladimirPutin had appeared intent ondisengaging, pulling back tensof thousands of troops he hadmassed at the frontier.

Russia sent Ukraine a noteof protest describing the inci-dent as “an aggressive act bythe Ukrainian side against sov-ereign Russian territory andthe citizens of the RussianFederation,” the Russian For-eign Ministry said in a state-ment warning of “irreversibleconsequences”.—Reuters

PM livid over longhours of load shedding

From Page 1

on priority basis.According to the sources,

the current short fall in thecountry has exceeded 7000mega watts.

On July 4, 2014, Secretaryfor Water and Power NargisSethi had stated before thestanding committee in the Par-liament that the transmissionand distribution system is soweak and outdated that it can-not carry more than 15,000mega watts of electricity.

Now, Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has ordered theupgrading process on distribu-tion system to be expedited.

Contrary to thegovernment’s claims, the worst

electricity load shedding dur-ing the Seher, Iftar andTaraveeh prayer time has be-come a routing matter, leavingthe fasting citizens miserablecondition in the month ofRamazan.

The electricity shortfall of7600 megawatt has resulted inincrease of the loadsheddingduration. The current electric-ity demand is 22,000 mega-watts whereas the production is14,400 megawatts.

The water shortage has alsobecome a routine matter afterseveral hours of load sheddingin various cities. The electric-ity shortage has sparked thefear of a massive breakdown.

focus on his work instead ofmaking appeals.

Mazari said that the peace-ful protest scheduled for Au-gust 14 is being carried out tostrengthen the democracy, add-ing that this march would beagainst the dynastical and tra-ditional politics.

She said PTI chief ImranKhan went to UK to campaignfor donations for ShaukatKhanum Hospital and not forpersonal business. ShireenMazari alleged that Rs 142 mil-lion of the youth scheme werespent just for the sake of intro-ducing Maryam Nawaz.

Earlier, Federal Ministerfor Railways Khawaja SaadRafique appealed PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf chief ImranKhan to change the date andvenue of its long march protestscheduled for August 14.

Meanwhile, speaking tomedia, MNA and Central Se-nior PTI Vice President AsadUmar said that Chairman Pa-kistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ImranKhan on Sunday summoned ameeting of the PTI core com-mittee for July 15.

Asad Umar said the corecommittee will discuss theoverall political situation in thecountry including the issue ofIDPs. Asad said that the PTIchief had already demanded ofthe government to allow inter-national NGOs to start theirwork for the relief and rehabili-tation of IDPs in Bannu.

PTI turnsFrom Page 1

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

LONDON—Amnesty Internationalhas urged the UN to urgentlymandate an independent interna-tional investigation into Israeliairstrikes on Gaza as well asPalestine’s indiscriminate shell-ing of Israel, and hold account-able those responsible for warcrimes.

The UN questions the legal-ity of Israel’s Gaza offensive,while Netanyahu is dismissive ofinternational pressure.

Despite claims by Israel thatits operation “Protective Edge”,launched June 8, targets Hamasmilitants, most of more than ahundred Palestinians killed inairstrikes on Gaza are civilians,Amnesty says, adding that atleast 24 children and 16 womenwere among the casualties.

Simultaneously, at least 20people in Israel have been

Romaniaex-prisoncommanderon trialBUCHAREST —For the first time sincecommunism collapsed inRomania 25 years ago, aformer prison commandergoes on trial Mondaycharged with beingresponsible for the tortureand murdering prisonersconsidered a threat to thecountry’s old order.Alexandru Visinescu, 88,goes on trial charged withcrimes against humanityfor deaths that happenedunder his command atRamnicu Sarat prison from1956 to 1963. Sinceauthorities broughtcharges against him,Visinescu says people inthe street have shoved himto the ground and calledhim a criminal. He haspleaded not guilty andcalls himself a scapegoat.“I only followed orders.They should ask thosethat gave the orders,” hetold the AP on Friday. “Iam convinced they will doanything to take re-venge.—AP

Sarkozy’swar withjudgesPARIS—Inaccusingmagistrates ofpersecuting him, formerFrench president NicolasSarkozy is taking on anold enemy in a fight thatcould hurt both politiciansand judges, fuelling asense of public disen-chantment with France’sruling elite. Sarkozy’shopes of winning backpower suffered a heavyblow when, after 15 hoursin police custody, he wasplaced under formalinvestigation on July 2,suspected of using hisinfluence to gain details of aprobe into his 2007 electioncampaign.—Reuters

ZahidKhancautionsPPPStaff ReportISLAMABAD—AwamiNational Party SenatorZahid Khan Sunday saidthat the Pakistan People’sParty should not drag hisparty into their internalconflict. Senator ZahidKhan in a statement saidthat when the issue ofMusharraf ’s impeach-ment was being dis-cussed, PPP’s QamarZaman Kaira was toojunior, as he never sawhim in the allied partiesmeeting at Zardari House.He said that FarhatullahBabar used to accompanyAsif Ali Zardari and,therefore, his statementwas truthful.

wounded by rocket attacks fromPalestinian territories, accordingto the human rights watchdog,calling on the UN to set up a“fact-finding mission to Gaza andIsrael to investigate violations ofinternational humanitarian law byall parties to the conflict.”

“Swift UN action is neededas lives hang in the balance,” saidPhilip Luther, Director of theMiddle East and North AfricaProgram at Amnesty Interna-tional. “The international com-munity must not repeat previousmistakes, standing by and watch-ing the devastating conse-quences for civilians of bothsides.”

Amnesty sees arms embargoon Israel and all Palestinian mili-tary groups as a means of pre-venting the violence escalatingfurther. “Pending such an em-

bargo, all states must immediatelysuspend all transfers of militaryequipment, assistance and muni-tions to the parties, which havefailed to properly investigate vio-lations committed in previousconflicts, or bring those respon-sible to justice,” Amnesty’s offi-cial statement reads.

Strikes on homes, performedas part of Israel’s military opera-tion, are a matter of particularconcern to human rights groups.The UN High Commissioner forHuman Rights, Navi Pillay, onFriday questioned the legality ofsuch attacks.

Israel has argued that alltargets in the Gaza strip are ei-ther military facilities or are homesof Hamas militants.In case of doubt, buildings ordi-narily used for civilian purposes,such as homes, are presumed not

to be legitimate military targets,”Libi Vice, spokeswoman for theIsrael Defense Forces (IFD) toldRT on Thursday.

Human rights watchdogswant proof that 340 housingunits, destroyed in Gaza, wereactually used for military pur-poses .

“Unless the Israeli authoritiescan provide specific informationto show how a home is beingused to make an effective contri-bution to military actions, delib-erately attacking civilian homesconstitutes a war crime and alsoamounts to collective punish-ment against the families,” saidAmnesty’s Luther.

“Firing indiscriminate rock-ets, which cannot be aimed ac-curately at military targets, is awar crime, as is deliberately tar-geting civilians,” he added.

“There can be no excuse for ei-ther side failing to protect civil-ians, including journalists, med-ics and humanitarian workers, orcivilian facilities.”

Amnesty International hasalso called on Israel and Egyptto “ensure that sufficientamounts of medical and humani-tarian supplies are allowed intoGaza”. Healthcare services in theregion have been on the brink ofcollapse due to shortages ofsupplies, the World Health Or-ganization earlier warned.

Fr iday saw thousands ofactivists in London and Osloprotes t ing agains t Is rae l istrikes in Gaza. Organizers ofthe massive rallies said Pales-tinians are facing “a horrificescalation of racism and vio-lence” a t the hands of theIDF.—Agencies

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Chief Minister ofPunjab MuhammadShahbaz Sharif on Sundayinaugurated the splendidproject of signal-free AzadiChowk flyover and alterna-tive route of new CircularRoad, completed in a recordperiod of 165 days at a costof Rs. 5.35 billion. The totallength of flyover inter-change is 2.53 km. Two lakhvehicles will benefit dailyfrom this project and Rs. 90crore will be saved annuallyin fuel.

Addressing on the oc-casion, Shahbaz Sharif saidthat Azadi Chowk Projectwas completed in a shortperiod of six months. Hesaid that not only best trav-elling facilities will be avail-able from it but precioustime will be saved and metrobus will also pass throughit without any loss of time.

He said, “We do not

Shahbaz inaugurates Azadi Chowk Flyover

Pakistan needs march of progressinstead of long march

WASHINGTON—Pakistanwants more helicopter gun-ships, in particular it wantssome new helicopters ratherthan used stuff to supple-ment, and replace the 35 AH-1S and AH-1F gunships italready has.

Three of these have beenlost in the last few years inthe tribal territories wherehelicopter gunships arebadly needed, heavily usedand frequently shot at, a USwebsite said. For years Paki-stan tried to obtain the 6.6ton AH-1W model from theUnited States. This wouldhave been a major upgradefor the Pakistani helicoptergunship force. Developed bythe U.S. Marine Corps the Wmodel was configured fornaval use, and has two en-gines and protection againstsea water corrosion. Like theAH-1F model used by Paki-stan, the AH-1W has a crewof two and is armed with a20mm, 3 barrel, autocannon(with 750 rounds) and cancarry eight TOW missiles or38 70mm unguided rockets.Typical sorties last aboutthree hours (twice that of theAH-1F).

The Pakistanis are alsoequipping their gunships

US refuses modernversion of gunshipcopters to Pakistan

with night vision (thermal im-aging) equipment. The U.S.refused to supply Pakistanwith the W model or anyother modern versions. Thisincluded the more recent AH-1Z.

The major user of theAH-1W, the U.S. MarineCorps, has remanufacturedits 180 AH-1T/W attack heli-copters into AH-1Z Vipermodels. This upgrade in-cludes a new 4 bladed com-posite rotor system, trans-mission, strengthened struc-

tural components, and mod-ern digital cockpit avionics.

The first ones enteredservice in 2011. According toa US website” StrategyPage” the U.S. has turneddown Pakistani requests forany of these AH-1 models inan effort to persuade Paki-stan to be more cooperativein dealing with terrorism.

The Pakistanis repeat-edly refuse and have prettymuch given up on gettingmore AH-1s from the UnitedStates. —INP

13 killedas van fallsinto Bagh

ravineBAGH— At least 13 peopledied and 14 others sus-tained injuries when a pas-senger coach fell into a ra-vine in Bagh District ofAzad Kashmir Sundaymorning.

The ill-fated van withover 30 people on boardwas traveling from SudhanGali to Rawalpindi when itmet the fatal mishap at Arjaarea.

Security and rescueteams reached the accidentsite and shifted the victimsto DHQ Hospital ‘whereas’those who werecritically injured wereshifted to CMH Hospital inMuzaffarabad.

According to hospitalsources, at least eight pas-sengers are said to be incritical condition.

Police sources said thedeceased included fivemen and three women add-ing that the accident oc-curred due to slippery roadafter rains.

Meanwhile, investiga-tion is underway.— NNI

KARACHI—Rangers havedisclosed the arrest ofHaider Baig from Karachi onSunday. According to Rang-ers, the victim has confessedmurder of twelve people.

Nasir Jamal, MuttahidaQaumi Movement DeputyConvener has demandedHaider Baig to be presentedin the court. The Ranger’sspokesperson informed thatthe victim was arrested be-tween the night of Fridayand Saturday around 3 am,adding that Biag has con-fessed murdering twelvepeople and has also beeninvolved in extortion. NasirJamal said that all those ar-rested in target operationshouldn’t go missing butpresented in the court.

MQM’s coordinatingcommittee has condemnedthe arrest of Unit 83 Landhisector’s committee memberMohammad Javed. The co-ordinating committee alsomade a statement sayingthat Javed was arrested fromhis place while watchingfootball match. The commit-tee has announced protec-tion of the arrested activistsof MQM.

Altaf Hussain, the chief

Rangers disclose arrest ofMQM activist Haider Baig

of MQM had written a letterto the Karachi Corps Com-mander asking him to takean urgentnotice of the arrestof party workers last week.The letter was shared withthe media where AltafHussain had given detailsabout the arrest of hisworker Haider Baig fromNew Karachi. Altaf Hussainalso complained to the gen-eral about the arrest of hisvarious party workers byRangers and requested animmediate action in re-sponse.

The party leader AminulHaque said that more thantwo dozen workers of theMQM, who were picked upduring the targeted opera-tion since it kicked off lastSeptember, are still missing,adding that all of them wereinnocent but if anyone isfound guilty of any crimes, heshould be presented in thecourts.

The issues of the missingactivists and the formation ofa monitoring committee to lookafter the targeted operationhas been discussed by theparty with Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif at the meeting onThursday last week. —NNI

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Additional Sec-retary General Mian Raza Rabbani has urged Pakistan Mus-lim League-Nawaz (PMLN)-led government in centre toreview its policies of privatizing national institutions orelse PPP would take to streets in vehement style and wouldseek intervention of the judiciary on all sales.

He was addressing a press conference at the PPPMedia Cell Sunday. He was flanked by PPP media Cell In-charge and Senator Saeed Ghani, Lateef Mughal and otheroffice-bearers.

Rabbani in a vociferous tone alerted the PMLN-led

PML-N Govt wants to favour blue-eyed foreigninvestors by sale of institutions: Rabbani

DG RangersMaj. Gen. Rizwan

Akhtar relievedSTAFF REPORTER

K A R A C H I — P a k i s t a nRangers Sindh DirectorGeneral Major GeneralRizwan Akhtar has beenreplaced by Major Gen-eral Bilal Akbar. However,the relieving DG wouldcontinue to stay in hispresent office till Augustthis year.

The change of Rang-ers command was beingmade amid a situationwhen Police and PakistanRangers Sindh were infull swing against thecriminals under the ongo-ing targeted operation inKarachi since Sep, 2013.

KARACHI:A big rally was brought out to protest against Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

Afghanistanprobes barbed

wire installationon Durand Line

KABUL—Afghan govern-ment Sunday claimed thatthe Pakistani military forceshave launched installationof barbed wire on theDurand Line.

The issue was dis-cussed during the NationalSecurity Council (NSC)meeting chaired by AfghanPresident Hamid Karzai.

The ministries con-cerned were instructed tofind out the locations andposition of the barbed wirefrom the zero point.

The installation workhas reportedly been startedacross the Durand Line neareastern Paktika province ofAfghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghani-stan share an immense bor-der stretching 1510 miles(2430 km) along the south-ern and eastern edges ofAfghanistan.

Militants and terroristgroups are actively operat-ing across Durand Line andfrequently carry out insur-gency activities.—NNIContinued on Page 7

government in Centre that it should avoid moving aheadwith the plans of selling national institutions to the pri-vate sector at the dictation and behest of the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF).PMLN-led government had bowed down to the dictationsof the IMF, he alleged, adding that the PMLN leadershiphad prior to arriving at the powers corridors had promisedto the nation that they would break the Kashkol (Beggar’spot) but contrary to their prestigious claims, they had in-stead ruined the economy of the country. PMLN-led gov-ernment in Centre had in early days of formation of theirgovernment paid Rs 500 million to the independent power

Continued on Page 7

AI demands UN investigation in Israel-Gaza conflict war crimes

Picture on Page 7

want a long march whichruins the people but we willlaunch a long march to makePakistan a developed andprosperous country.”

The Chief Minister saidthat Azadi Chowk Projectwill play an important rolein the economic develop-ment as well as enhancingbeauty of Lahore. He saidthat after completion of thisproject, great nationalmonuments includingBadshahi Mosque, LahoreFort and Minar-e-Pakistanwill be saved from environ-mental pollution.

Shahbaz Sharif said thatLahore is the city of livelypeople which has the honorof being heart of Asia andcultural capital of Pakistan.We all have to jointly makeLahore a city of beautifulparks, gardens and flowers.The Chief Minister said thatin the past PML-N govern-ment took special steps formaking Lahore a beautiful

and attractive city. He saidthat promotion of education,health, transport, cleanli-ness activities and provid-ing best infrastructure tothe people is the top prior-ity of the Punjab govern-ment.

Criticizing the politicalopponents indirectly, Chief

Minister said that Pakistanneeded progress at thisstage and must abstain fromthe politics of agitation.

Shahbaz congratulatedthe residents of Lahore andthose who who regularlyvisit the city. Azadi Chowkis situated near Shahdra TollPlaza and most vehicles en-tering Lahore have passthrough this square. Sup-porters of the Chief Minis-ter and common peoplewere present in large num-bers on this occasion.

IN what they describe as a proof of principle study, doctors in the US were able tokeep a woman with deadly multiple my-

eloma - an incurable bone marrow cancer - freeof all signs of living cancer cells for over 6months by giving her justone high dose of measlesvirus.

Two patients received asingle intravenous dose ofmeasles virus that was en-gineered to kill myelomaplasma cells and not harmother cells. The team, fromthe Mayo Clinic in Roches-ter, MN, says both patientsresponded to the treatment,showing reduced bone mar-row cancer and levels ofmyeloma protein.

But one patient, a 49-year-old woman, experi-enced complete remissionand remained disease-freefor over 6 months. A reporton this first study to estab-lish the feasibility of thetreatment appears in the journal Mayo ClinicProceedings.

“This is the first study to establish the fea-sibility of systemic oncolytic virotherapy fordisseminated cancer. These patients were notresponsive to other therapies and had experi-enced several recurrences of their disease.”

The treatment is an example of oncolyticvirotherapy - using engineered viruses to fightcancer - an approach that dates back to the1950s. Thousands of patients have received thistype of therapy, using oncolytic viruses fromvarious families, including common cold vi-ruses, herpes viruses and pox viruses. But theauthors say this is the first well-documented

case of a patient with cancer that has spreadexperiencing complete remission at all dis-ease sites after receiving oncolytic virustherapy.

Myeloma is a cancer that develops inplasma cells - a type of bloodcell made in the bone marrow.According to the AmericanCancer Society, the disease isrelatively uncommon, and inthe US, there is a 1 in 149 riskof developing it. Myeloma canarise in any part of the bodywhere there is bone marrow,including the spine, rib cageand pelvis. Multiple myelomameans it is occurring in morethan one place.

The disease, which alsocauses skeletal or soft tissue tu-mors, usually responds to drugsthat stimulate the immune sys-tem, but it eventually overcomesthem and is rarely cured. Dr.Russell and colleagues explain intheir article that they chose toreport these two cases in particu-

lar because they were the first patients theyhad studied who had received the highest pos-sible dose, and with limited previous exposureto measles, so their immune systems did nothave many antibodies to the virus. They hadalso exhausted other treatment options. Seniorauthor Dr. Angela Dispenzieri, an expert inmultiple myeloma, says in very simple terms,the measles virus makes the cancer cells jointogether and explode. The treatment also ap-pears to trigger another lasting benefit: “There’ssome suggestion that it may be stimulating thepatient’s immune system to further recognizethe cancer cells or the myeloma cells and helpmop that up more effectively than otherwise.”

Dose of measles virus destroyswoman’s incurable cancer

A large number of people busy in purchasing traditional food items for Sehri at Kartarpura.

Youngster bathing under a leaked water pipeline to get relief from sizzling hot weather.

ISLAMABAD—Thousands of people visitUtility Stores Corporation (USC) daily fortaking benefit from the billions of rupeessubsidy offered by the government on es-sential food items during the holy monthof Ramzan. The shoppers at various Util-ity Stores said that most of the people pre-fer utility stores for buying essential fooditems due to subsidized rates.

They said that the prices of variousfood items at utility stores were compara-

tively less than the open market.Farhan Ullah, a shopper at G-7 Util-

ity Store lauded the government for an-nouncing subsidy for Ramzan. Qualityfood items and non-food items are avail-able in utility stores which provide reliefto the people, he added.

Sajid, another visitor purchasing flourfrom the utility store said that number ofpeople visiting these stores has soared tomanifold due to the lucrative offers by the

government and the stores administration.A large number of men, women and

families could be seen standing in longqueues waiting for payment to the cashierat the counters of these utility stores.

The utility store officials apprised thatthe mechanism of monitoring has also beenimposed to watch the situation closely andin this regard inspection teams are formedto visit different utility stores without in-timation.—APP

Thousands benefit fromsubsidy at USC

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The federalgovernment has taken anumber of concrete steps toreduce the inflated prices ofmedicines in the country.

According to an officialof the Ministry of National

Health Service, Regulationand Coordination, during thelast two years, 105 cases of un-authorized price increase werenoticed by the Drug Regula-tory Authority of Pakistan(DRAP) against Pharmaceuti-cal companies.

He said 17 companies

filed writ petitions in differentcourts and managed to obtainstay orders. On September 17,2013, the DRAP filed an ap-plication in the Supreme Courtof Pakistan to pass appropri-ated orders for disposal ofsuits filed by pharmaceuticalcompanies in Sindh High

Court, Karachi, Lahore HighCourt, Lahore and Civil JudgeLahore.

The official said DRAPhad also filed 25 civil miscel-laneous applications (CMAs)in the Sindh High Court,Lahore High Court, and CivilJudge Lahore to vacate stay

orders issued by the saidcourts in matters of unilateralprice increase on medicines bypharmaceutical companies.

Moreover, DRAP field of-fices had also been advised toremain vigilant, conduct mar-ket surveys and take actionsagainst the companies if found

overcharging of drugs.Accordingly, Federal In-

spector of Drugs had con-ducted raids on the ware-houses of manufacturers andimporters and seized stocks ofover priced drugs.

He said under Section 6 ofthe Drugs Act, 1976, the stor-

age and sale of drugs wasregulated by the provincialgovernments, therefore,DRAP has advised the Provin-cial Health Authorities to takeaction under the law againstthe companies who increaseprices of drugs more than ap-proved prices.

He further said a policyto rationalize the prices ofdrugs was also under con-sideration of the PolicyBoard of Drug RegulatoryAuthority of Pakistan, Min-istry of National HealthServices, Regulations andCoordination.

Govt taking concrete steps to control prices of medicines

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Despite ban on fishing inRawal Dam, fishing still continued throughfishing rods, strings, hooks, and nets.

The current season is the time of lay-ing eggs of fish, therefore fishing posesthreat to their existence in the dam and hav-ing all other threats, illegal fishing still con-tinued in the dam on the name of fun butbehind this fun, hunters have their commer-cial objectives.

The makeshift fish stalls set up at ad-

joining roads of the lake clearly indicate thatfishing was being carried out for earningbread and butter by many, other than fun,Aamir, a visitor alleged.

Taking to reporter, the residents ex-pressing their concerns said that the offi-cials of police and Water and Sanitation Au-thority (WASA) were minting money fromthe residents in the name of fishing license.

Money received on the name of licenseswas not submitted in the national exche-quer while the concerned authorities areplaying the role of silent spectators, Riyaz,

a resident apprised. “I’ve seen lots of ropesand nets floating in the water,” KhalidSharif, who visits the lake on weekends,said he had brought the matter into the no-tice of the CDA officials but they denied itsjurisdiction over the Dam and said WASAis concerned authority, I also informedWASA officials, but in vain, he added.

The residents appealed to the higherofficials of the CDA, WASA, FisheriesDepartment and Small Dams Organizationsto take notice of the prevailing situation andcontrol the irregularities.

Despite ban fishing continuesin Rawal Dam

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Three baggage wrapping machineswill be installed at the Cargo Complex of BenazirBhutto International Airport.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority(CAA), it will grant licenses for the installationand operation of the wrapping machines for a pe-riod of two years or till shifting of operations at thenew airport being build near Fateh Jang.

It is worth mentioning here that the peoplesending domestic and international cargo and thosetravelling by different airlines have been facing aproblem of theft of their valuable items during

checking of their luggage. The step will help re-duce number of complaints regarding missing valu-able items from the baggage.

Shahid Mahmood a passenger who lost hislaptop and an expensive watch while talking to thisagency said that he was travelling from Islamabadto Beijing. At the end of journey, he found that hislaptop and expensive watch were missing.

He immediately lodged complaint with con-cerned office, but unfortunately he is still waitingfor the recovery of his valuable items.

Another traveller who get booked his baggageto an international destination also complainedabout theft of some article.

Three baggage wrapping machinesto be installed at BB Airport

ISLAMABAD—As many as 12,700 outof 22,000 federal government employ-ees, registered with the Ministry ofHousing and Works, in first phasewould get plots, flats and houses inBhara Kahu, ground plus 14 storeyapartments building (Life style resi-dency) in G-13 and F-14 schemes.

Talking to APP, a Federal Govern-ment Employees Housing Federationofficial said that about 22,000 employ-ees got their registration under thegovernment’s scheme to provide houses

to government servants since 2009.He said that the membership drive

was initiated with the prime objectiveto provide housing units to governmentemployees under government’s ambi-tious plan to overcome housing back-log hitting hard to a significant numberof employees for the last several years.

He said that under the scheme, ev-ery registered employee would get anopportunity to have a house in the Fed-eral Capital, which has so far remainedan elusive dream for many.

Giving breakup, he said that around3500 employees would get plots inBhara Kahu, 2200 employees to getapartments in G-13 and 7000 employ-ees would get possession of their plotsin F-14.

About mechanism of ownership, hesaid all the newly constructed resi-dences would be disposed of accord-ingly on the basis of submitted lists andthe aspirants would be accommodatedon updated lists.

Different categories of residences

would be handed over to registeredemployees accordingly, and no onewould be left out to avail this opportu-nity.

The membership drive was startedin 2009 for all federal employees, offi-cials from autonomous/ semi autono-mous bodies. FGEHF offered an openopportunity to employees to get them-selves registered for all future housingschemes once and for all and the se-niority is determined on first come firstserve basis.—APP

12,700 govt officials to getresidence in capital

ISLAMABAD—Metro bus would be a goodopportunity for commuters of twin cities ofRawalpindi and Islamabad, who daily travelfor academic, job and other purposes.

A decent public transport is a long de-mand of the residents of the twin cities be-cause the van service plying on differentroutes is not adequate to meet the require-ments of people, said people while talkingto APP here.

“Women are facing more problems dueto lack of proper public transport as the twofront seats for them cannot meet their require-ment and they have to wait for hours espe-cially during rush hours to get a seat”, saidAisha who works at a private office in Blue

Area. She said the exclusive van service forwomen ̀ Tabeer’ has reduced their sufferingsbut it was plying only on two routes, add-ing, after successful completion of pilotproject it was halted for last two months andwomen are facing acute difficulty due toRamzan and hot weather.

Like Lahore, the twin cities ofRawalpindi and Islamabad are also in direneed of a decent transport service throughwhich people will be able to reach their des-tinations in time without facing extra fatigue,said Asad Khan a government employee,adding, it would help them to concentrateon their work.

He said this project would also reduce

the traffic load on main roads, reduce envi-ronmental pollution, as most of the peoplewill prefer to travel through Metro bus ratherthan using their private vehicles, he added.

“It will also reduce fuel consumption andmetal stress of people they face while trav-elling at public transport, he stated.

It would be a good service for commonman, he said adding, if it would charge nomi-nal fares like Lahore, middle class of twincities would get a sigh of relief who are al-ready worried due to raising dearness.

“We are eagerly waiting for the bus ser-vice to be started and give us relief from thefatigue and problems we face daily whiletravelling on vans”, he added.—APP

Metro bus: A decent public transportand long demand of residents

RAWALPINDI—City Police Officer (CPO)Rawalpindi, Hamyoun Bashir Tarar is appoint-ing investigation officers at police stations tomonitor investigation progress of cases of hei-nous crimes including terrorism, suicide at-tacks, cracker attacks and cases of money ex-tortion and kidnapping for ransom.

According to details, initially, the officerof inspector rank have been deputed in fivepolice stations including Airport, R.A.Bazar,

Sadiqabad, Civil Lines, Race Course andWestridge police stations. The appointment hasbeen started after formal approval by the au-thorities. The step has been taken to make in-vestigation process fast and transparent.

The inspectors have been tasked to helpinvestigation team and guide them in prepar-ing comprehensive challans of cases so that theaccused are given due punishment if foundguilty of the charge.—APP

CPO appoints officers tomonitor heinous crimes

Shopkeepersdisplaying

colorfulbangles at stalls

ISLAMABAD—With the onsetof second Ashra of the holymonth of Ramzan, the shop-keepers in the major markets ofcapital have started displayingEid accessories especially col-orful traditional bangles to at-tract the customers.

Buying bangles, jewelryand Henna is an essential partof Eid preparations for all thewomen especially young girlsand they consider their prepa-rations incomplete withoutthese things.

Eid-ul-Fitr is the major oc-casion when shopkeepers getan opportunity to earn goodbusiness through sellingbangles and other stuff as ma-jority of the girls rush to buythese things despite price hikesituation and their limited pur-chasing capacity.

“It is Eid-ul-Fitr when I giftmany sets of bangles to all myfriends to share Eid happinesswith them”, Nazia Tabassum aschool goer said.

“I along with my all cous-ins and friends visit market on`Chaand Raat’ to buy banglesand Henna and we wake uptill mid night to apply Hennaon each others hands”, shesaid.

Bangles stalls are seen indifferent markets of capital es-pecially Super Market, JinnahSuper Market, Golden Market,Sitara Market and GulshanMarket.

Rich variety of banglessuch as Rashmi bangles, me-tallic bangles, gems-studdedbangles, pearled bangles andglittering bangles are in voguethese days and the prices areranging from Rs.200 to Rs.1500 and more.

Hamid, a shopkeeper said“I have started displaying thestocked variety of colorfulbangles.

Eid is the only occasionwhen sale of bangles risesand young girls buy bangleswithout arguing much onprice”.

He said the price of simplebangles ranges between Rs.200 to Rs.500 while the priceof glittering, embroided andbeeded with stone are from Rs.1000 upto Rs. 2000 and evenmore.—APP

03:45 01:3005:30

09:15

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

Visitors taking interest in the pieces of art displayed during a calligraphic exhibition at Rawalpindi Arts Council.

A worker spreading vermicelli for drying purpose, prepared for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

AIG (Operations) Sultan Azam Temuri addressing the concluding ceremony of refresher course held for investigationofficers of police stations.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Police have de-cided to set up separate interrogation roomsin each police station to ensure smooth probeinto various cases and handle them in a pro-fessional manner through the assistance of in-vestigation experts.

It was stated by AIG (Operations) SultanAzam Temuri while addressing the conclud-ing ceremony of refresher course held for theinvestigation officers of police stations hereon Sunday.

A batch of 28 investigation officers at-tended this course held at police lines head-quarters who were delivered lectures by therenowned lawyers and senior police officials.

These refresher courses are being ar-ranged for policemen with the purpose tobring an improvement in investigation pro-cess and ensure professional approach dur-ing handling of various cases.

AIG (Operations) said that InspectorGeneral of Islamabad Police, Aftab AhmedCheema wanted to see improvement in inves-tigation process by inculcating professionalskills among the police officials. He urgedthe policemen to participate in such courses

devotedly and try to learn more for profes-sional handling of various cases.

AIG (Operations) said that investigationof cases is purely technical issue and everypoliceman should accomplish such kind ofresponsibility with honesty. He also askedthe policemen to remain in touch with com-plainant and decide the cases on merit.

The main subject areas of these coursesare lodging of FIR with application of ex-act section of Law and investigate into caseswith professional skills. Temuri said that du-ration of such courses is being extended upto five days so that police officials can alsoget practical training. He also distributedcertificates among the participants andurged them to work hard for professionalhandling of various crime cases so thatmaximum relief could be provided to citi-zens.

AIG (Operations) also listened to theproblems of Investigation Officers whichthey normally have to face in field and saidsuch issues would be resolved in a profes-sional manner after consultation with thelaw experts. He said the purpose of such re-fresher courses is also to discuss complexissue and find out their legal solution.

Islamabad police to haveseparate interrogation rooms

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—An eye care hospital haschecked seventy-five thousand schoolchildrenfor the presence of disease or infection duringone hundred and seventeen free eye screeningcamps. The eye camps were established at dif-ferent schools in the districts of Rawalpindi,Chakwal, Attock and Jhelum during the last sixmonths where thousands of children weretreated.

Thousands of children were treated and pro-vided with medicines while 2208 cases diag-nosed with major eye problems were referredto The Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindifor further investigation and treatment, said Lt.Gen. Hamid Javed (Retd), president of the trust.

He said that seventy-eight teachers of theseschools were also trained to have basic ideaabout sight problems so that problems could bedetected at initial stage when provision of healthcover is easy.

Lt. Gen. Hamid Javed (Retd) said that

schoolchildren must be routinely screened for anumber of common physical conditions withspecial focus on hearing and vision tests becauseeven mild deficiencies of sight can significantlyaffect a child’s ability to learn.

Early detection, diagnosis and treatment ofchildren with vision problems is highly recom-mended as it prevents problems from reachingsevere magnitude, he said.

Moreover, Al-Shifa Trust in collaborationwith the Pakistan Army established free eyecamps at Shangwati, Swat and Lal Qila in LowerDir where the general public were provided freeconsultation services by and free medicines tothe deserving patients while those with refrac-tive error were provided free of cost spectacles,he informed.

Al-Shifa has also arranged free eye campsin remote valleys of Nelum and Jhelum up toLeepa and Chikar Valley and Swabi andNowshera districts of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwaprovince to overcome problems of sight disor-ders and blindness.

Vision of 75000 schoolchildren tested in free camps

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—An exhibition of senior cal-ligrapher Syed Jabir Hussain kicked off atRawalpindi Arts Council here on Sunday.

The exhibition was inaugurated byMember Punjab Assembly RajaMuhammad Hanif, who was flanked byNaheed Manzoor and Resident Director

RAC Waqar Ahmed.The exhibition comprised of 50 calli-

graphic art pieces in different styles. SyedJabir Hussain is a retired calligrapher fromPTV used Nastaleeq, Thuluth, Nasakh andfree style as tool of writing on paper. Healso introduced a new technique in callig-raphy which he termed it as painting tech-nique in which he merged words into

words. Syed Jabir used bright colors inmost of his calligraphies with water col-ors, oil on canvas on paper.

The inaugural ceremony of exhibitionwas attended by large number of art lov-ers and it will be opened for general pub-lic till 19th July. Addressing at the inau-gural ceremony, Raja Hanif termed theartist a precious asset of the country.

Calligraphic exhibition starts at RACSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama Iqbal Open Uni-versity (AIOU) will start its SecondarySchool Certificate (SSC) to Ph.D leveladmissions in various disciplines for theSemester Autumn, 2014 from August 01across the country simultaneously.

Director Admissions, AIOU Syed Zia-ul-Hasnain announced that prospectus andadmission forms can be obtained from thesale points at main campus, regional cam-puses and coordinating offices across the

country. The admission forms along-withprescribed fee can be submitted in coun-trywide branches of Bank Al-Falah, HabibBank Ltd, First Women Bank and AlliedBank and at the nominated branches ofNational Bank of Pakistan and MuslimCommercial Bank.

The details of designated branches areavailable in the prospectuses as well as inthe regional offices. Last date for submis-sion of the admission form is 5th Septem-ber, 2014.

According to Director Admissions,

the admission forms and prospectus ofMatric, FA and BA level programs forPakistanis in the Middle-East can be ob-tained/download from the universitywebsite. Continuing admission formshave already been dispatched to all thecontinuing students, however, if some-how any of student has not received thesaid admission form, he/she can down-load the same from the AIOU websiteand deposit in any designated bankbranch with fee till due date to avoidlate fee charges.

SSC to Ph.D level admissionsat AIOU from August 1

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—City Police Officer (CPO)Rawalpindi Hamyoun Bashir Tarar chairedthe District Peace Committee meeting heldhere at Hassan Raza Complex, Police LineNo.1 to review law and order situation ofRawalpindi district and to review securityarrangements.

The meeting was attended among oth-ers by members of national and provincialassemblies, representatives of markazianjuman-e-Tajran, senior police officers

and members of District Peace Commit-tee from across the district.

The participants on this occasion pre-sented their proposals while Ulema-e-Akram and Anjuman-e-Tajran thanked theofficers for their active role to maintainlaw and order in the area and said that allout efforts should be made to provide se-curity during the holy month of Ramzanul Mubarik.

They said that we always supportedthe administration to maintain law andorder in the district and our help and as-

sistance will also be available in future forthe peace and tranquility of the district.

On this occasion, CPO addressing theparticipants said that we are also thankfulto you as the traders and citizens activerole is necessary to maintain law and or-der in the area.

He said best security arrangementswere made with the consultation of all thestakeholders for Ramzan-ul-Mubarik.Search operations are being conducted tonab the criminals, proclaimed offendersand court absconders.

District Peace Committee meeting heldto review security arrangements

Police round up11 lawbreakers

RAWALPINDI—Police underits ongoing drive againstanti-social elements have ar-rested 11 lawbreakers be-sides recovering over 6836grams charras, 45 bottles ofliquor and three pistols 30bore with nine rounds fromthe possession of the arrestedaccused.

According to Rawalpindipolice spokesman,Sadiqabad police heldAshfaq for having two kilo-grams charras while Amirwas rounded up for possess-ing two kg charras.

Waris Khan police nettedMukhtar and recovered 1220grams charras. Pirwadhai po-lice nabbed Sawar Khan andseized 540 grams charras.Saddar

Barooni police arrestedAbdul Qayyum on recovery of536 grams charras. Danial wassent behind the bars as policerecovered 540 grams charrasfrom him.

Airport police nabbedShafqat for carrying 25bottles of liquor, Qayyumwas held for having 20 liquorbottles.

Meanwhile, Pirwadhai po-lice arrested Shakeel and recov-ered 30 bore pistol and threerounds.

R.A. Bazar policerounded up Fida on recoveryof 30 bore pistol with fourrounds. Taxila police recov-ered a 30 bore pistol and tworounds from the possessionof Masood.—APP

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Anti-dengue driveinitiated by the district health departmentis underway and surveillance is being car-ried out in different areas of the city.

During the campaign, spray was car-ried out in Union councils No 5 to 19 whichwere declared high risk areas last year.

Talking to reporters, the District HealthOfficer Dr Imtaiz Ahmed said health teamsare regularly visiting the dengue affectedareas where fumigation is being carried outto destroy larva breeding.

The DHO said the drive, which is infull swing, would continue till October.

He said that it was the responsibilityof every citizen to play his role for con-

trolling Dengue and protecting citizensfrom this dangerous disease by adoptingall precautionary measures and taking stepsfor ensuring cleanliness and not to allowstagnant water in our surroundings.

He warned that the stern action wouldbe taken against the staff deputed in thecampaign, if they found negligent to per-forming their duties.

Anti-dengue drive underway

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Forest DepartmentRawalpindi Circle has achieved the plan-tation target by planting over 1.9 millionsaplings against target of 1.9 million setfor 2014.

According to Conservator of ForestsRawalpindi Circle, different divisions in-cluding Rawalpindi South, RawalpindiNorth, Murree, Attock, Jhelum andChakwal took part in the plantation cam-paign and saplings were planted in gov-ernment forest, other government depttsland, defence deptt. land and private land.

The forest department started the cam-paign from January 1 which continued tillJune 30.

Hard efforts were made to plant maxi-mum saplings with the help and coopera-tion of civil society, officials and students

during the campaign said Conservator ofForests Rawalpindi Region, IftikharAhmed Qureshi.

He informed that all-out efforts weremade to achieve the target fixed for plan-tation campaign and according to the di-rectives of Minister for Forests and Sec-retary Forest, a comprehensive plan ofmassive tree plantation was evolved tobring maximum area under forest coverwhich is basic requirement to overcomeenvironmental degradation.

He said that the staff members of thedepartment had been activated to makesure proper forestation in their respectiveareas which was inspected by the seniorforest officers.

In order to promote social forestry theyoungsters had been associated in afore-said plans. Special emphasis was laid onplantation of shrubs and deep rooted plants

on the banks of Murree Expressway toprevent land erosion and landslides.

The Punjab Forest Department, in col-laboration with the National HighwayAuthority (NHA) reinforced over 80 percent of landslide areas along the MurreeExpressway over the last six months.

The forest department, under theNHA-funded “Bio-Engineering Works”project, planted saplings to stop land ero-sion particularly during monsoon andsnowfall.

Rawalpindi Circle Forest ConservatorAhmed Qureshi told reporters that severaltypes of saplings have been planted in rowsto reinforce earth in landslide-prone areas.

“This has made travelling on the high-way much more safe,” he said. Qureshisaid the reinforcements have also securedvillages and homes in the vicinity of theexpressway.

Forest Deptt achieves target ofplanting over 1.9m saplings

RAWALPINDI—Rawalpindi City TrafficPolice (CTP) issued 41,936 challan ticketswith fines amounting to over Rs 16.3 mil-lion imposed on traffic rules violators dur-ing June.

According to Chief Traffic Officer(CTO) Rawalpindi, Senior SuperintendentPolice (SSP) Shoaib Khurram Janbaz, citytraffic police in its efforts for the smooth flowof traffic on city roads impounded 660 ve-hicles and motorcycles in various police sta-tions on severe traffic rules violations whilea number of drivers were also arrested dur-ing the period.

The CTO said that action in accordancewith the law was taken against the driverson use of mobile phone while driving. 371

under age drivers were penalized. 2133 driv-ers without driving licenses were fined.

534 vehicles for having tinted glasseswere challaned and the black papers wereremoved on the spot.

As many as 6520 vehicles and motor-cycles which did not have proper numberplates or were without number plates werepenalized. 698 vehicles and motorcycleswhich were without registration were fined.593 drivers on wrong parking were challanedwhile 240 drivers found indulged in rash andnegligent driving were given challan slips.

The CTO further informed that 1109public service vehiches on non-completionof their designated routes were issued pen-alty tickets.

467 drivers on charge of creating hurdlesin smooth flow of traffic were challaned. 375for violating lane/line and violation of zebracrossing were fined.

City Traffic Officer said that specialcampaigns were also run last month whileunder a campaign, the citizens are also be-ing educated regarding traffic rules and roadsafety.

Education Wing of Traffic Police is mak-ing efforts to spread awareness so that theroad journey could be made safe and sound.

The CTO urged the people to cooperatewith traffic wardens as they are on the roadsto facilitate them. A special squad is avail-able to help and facilitate the citizens onHelpline 1915, he added.—APP

41,936 challan slips issued in June

SRINAGAR: All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) leader and Chairman of Kashmir Freedom Front, SyedBashir Andrabi Sunday visited the martyrs’ graveyard in Pulwama as per the APHC programme and offeredFateh Khawani.

ZAHEERUL HASSAN

India always refused to acceptthird party intervention for theresolution of Kashmir issue since

she doesn’t believe in reasons Re-cently, soon after the publication ofthe news quoting Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif as saying that he had,in 1999, sought US role in resolvingthe lingering issue, the Indian lead-ership immediately responded thatNew Delhi Pakistani Prime Ministerstatement is not in line with Indianpolicy on the issue.

The issue is lingering on sinceinception of both the countries andKashmiris people despite sufferingwith more than 100000 killing, rapingof women and brutality of childrenkeep on protesting against Indianoccupied forces occupation. BothSides of Kashmiris observe 13 July ofevery year as “Martyred Day” thatremind them the day is commemo-rated in the memory of 21 Kashmiriswho were shot dead, one after theother, outside the Srinagar Central jail

How Kashmir issue can be resolved?

SRINAGAR: All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) leader and the Chairman of Jammuand Kashmir Peoples League (JKPL), Mukhtar Ahmad Waza was arrested by Indian policealong with party activists when he was leading a protest march from Kadipora to Lal Chowk.

by the troops of Dogra Maharaja,where they had gathered to attend thecourt proceedings against one, AbdulQadeer, who was alleged for instigat-ing Kashmiri people to defy Dogra rule.

One 19th April 1931, the Dogra DIGChowdry Ram Chand stopped ImamMunshi Muhammad Ishaq from giv-ing Eid Khutba (Sermon) in the Mu-nicipal Park of Jammu. The incidentsparked off widespread protest dem-onstrations in Jammu city. Ban on EidSermon in Jammu was followed bydesecration of the Holy Quran at thehands of Dogra troops, which furtheraggravated the situation throughoutthe State. In Srinagar, people gatheredin Jamia Masjid Srinagar to denouncedesecration act and demand severepunishment to the culprits. While lis-tening to speeches of Kashmiri leasersa youth Abdul Qadeer pointed his fin-ger to the Maharaga’s palace and

raised full-throated slogans “destroyits every brick”. He was immediatelyarrested on the charges of sedition.Later, he was to be tried in the courtbut due to possible public reaction,the court was shifted to Central JailSrinagar. On 12th July, violent publicdemonstrations were held throughoutthe city against the shifting of thecourt to the Central jail, Srinagar.

On 13th July 1931, thousands ofpeople thronged the central jail Srinagarto witness the in-camera trial of AbdulQadeer. At Zuhar time, one of the youthstood up and started reciting “Azan’for Zuhar prayer. He was killed byDogra soldiers; next youth started the‘Azan’ where it was left by the martyredyouth. He was also killed and in pro-cess of completing the ‘Azan’ where itwas left by the martyred youth. He wasalso killed and in process of complet-ing the ‘Azan’ 21 youth was killed on

after the other. This incident of brutekillings is a black chapter in the historyof Dogra regime. The people carried thedead and the injured with them, formeda procession and paraded the high-ways and streets of Srinagar, chantingslogans against Dogra brutalities. Com-plete strike was observed in the city,which was followed by weeklongmourning. This incident shook thewhole state and the traffic from Srinagarto Rawalpindi and Srinagar to Jammucame to a halt from 13th to 26th July.Since then, the day is observed asKashmir Martyr’s Day.

It was the result of the above epi-sode that Kashmiri leadership realizedthe need to form a political party i.e.Muslims Conference (MC) with a viewto wage struggle for their freedom. Laterin 1934, States first elections were heldand Muslim Conference won 16 out of21 seats and after two years in 1936 it

succeeded in getting 19 out of 21 seats.Indian Congress was upset with thisresult and tried to create division in theranks of Kashmiri leadership. On 19 July1947, MC after considering geographi-cal proximity, majority of Muslim popu-lation (80%) religion language and cul-tural relations, passed resolution tomerge Kashmir with Pakistan.

It’s heart-moving to observe thatdespite a period of 80 years, theKashmiris are still struggling and sac-rificing to achieve their alienable rightunder UN resolutions for the plebiscitein Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir Val-ley is one of the most heavily milita-rized regions in the world with 7 Lakharmed security forces, who indulge inindiscriminate killings forced disap-pearances, rapes and maiming inno-cent youth and women. The data onatrocities by Indian security forcesfrom January 1989 to 2014 are; one,

Killings 03932 that include custodialKillings 7096, arrests 120607, struc-tures destroyed and damaged106o78, Women Widowed 23863,Children orphaned108531 andWomen gang-raped 10134.

Anyhow, Kashmir Issue can beresolved under the UN Resolutionssince both countries have fought fourmajor wars with each other. The se-verity of clash over Kashmir is muchmore than others dispute. It can be-come the flash point of nuclear warbetween India and Pakistan, thusposes direct threat to regional andas well to global peace. DisturbingIndo-Pak relationship is further de-teriorated because of Indian negativeattitude towards the core issues ofKashmir and water. Anyhow, the glo-bal community should come forwardand intervene in resolving the majorconflicts including issue of Kashmirsince without addressing these guar-antee to peace could not be given.

—Courtesy: KW[Writer can be approached

through zameer36@gmail.com]

APHC-AJKholds seminar

ISLAMABAD—The APHCAJK chapter during a semi-nar paid glowing tributes tothe martyrs of 1931, Sunday.The seminar was held inIslamabad, which chaired bySyed Yousuf Naseem.Among others who ad-dressed the event includedGhulam Nabi Nowshehri,Sardar Sagheer Chughtaiand Shaikh Tajamul-ul-Islam.The speakers on the occa-sion threw light on the chal-lenges to the Kashmir dis-pute with the installation ofModi-led government inNew Deli.

The speakers paid glow-ing tributes to the martyrsof 1931. Those who at-tended the seminar in-cluded Shaikh AbdulMateen, Saleem Haroon,Malik Abdul Majeed,Mehood Hussain, AltafAhmad Butt, Hasan-al-Bana and others.—KMS

Curbs inKashmir capitalon Martyrs DayRAINAWARI (IHK)—Au-thorities on Sunday imposedrestrictions on pedestrian andvehicular traffic in five areasof Srinagar city as a march byresistance leadership wasscheduled. The district mag-istrate of Srinagar has issuedan order under Section 144 ofthe Indian Penal Code, bar-ring any gathering of five ormore people at a time, in theold city areas of Rainawari,Khanyar, Nowhatta, MR Gunjand Safa Kadal.

“These are the preven-tive measures to maintain lawand order in the city,” a se-nior police officer said.Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, whoheads a Hurriyat group, wasput under house arrest in hisuptown Nigeen residencehere. Resistance leadershave called for a march to themartyrs’ graveyard inNaqashband Sahib area ofthe city Sunday to com-memorate the martyrdom of21 people killed July 13, 1931,in a firing incident outside thecentral jail in Srinagar by theDogra forces.

The martyrs of 1931 firingincident were buried in thegraveyard in theNaqashband Sahib shrinecomplex. Police and CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF)troopers have been deployedin the old city areas.—KD

RAJBAGH (IHK)—Hurriyat Confer-ence (M) chairman Mirwaiz UmarFarooq said BJP government in Delhihas turned out to be a real disappoint-ment as it has failed to take initiativefor resolution of the Kashmir issue.“Like other political parties, BJP too istreating Kashmir as an economic is-sue. Let me make it clear that Kashmiris a political issue and administrativemeasures won’t do any good to Kash-mir dispute,” Mirwaiz said while ad-dressing a seminar titled “July 13, 1931-The starting chapter of the KashmirFreedom Movement” at Hurriyat head-quarters Rajbagh here.

He said Kashmiris were optimisticthat new government in India wouldtreat Kashmir as a political and humanissue. “However, instead of display-ing political maturity, like past, the newdispensation too was treating Kash-mir as an economic issue.” He said therecent packages announced in bud-get for J&K can’t hide the reality thatKashmir is a disputed territory andneeds a political solution.

“Economic packages can’t substi-tute the demands of self-governance.Kashmiris have already rejected the fi-nancial and economic grant as an alter-

BJP govt failed to take initiativefor resolving K-issue: Mirwaiz

nate to freedom,” Hurriyat (M) chairmansaid. Paying rich tributes to July 13, 1931martyrs, he said these martyrs laid theirlives for right to self-determination.

“It is them (martyrs of July 13), whostarted the freedom struggle and it’sus who will continue it till their missionis fulfilled,” he asserted. Lashing outat mainstream parties, Mirwaiz saidthose, who claim to be democratic andwant to take lead in paying tributes toJuly 13 martyrs, were “actually the mainculprit who got Kashmir plunged un-der the authoritarian rule of India.”

He said strike on July 13 would notonly be observed to remember mar-tyrs but also express solidarity withPalestinian people, who are facingIsrael’s aggression. “Hurriyat wouldsoon call an intra regional conference,which would be attended by represen-tatives from all five regions of Jammuand Kashmir, to build a consensusand chalk out future strategy,” he said.

Stating that certain forces in Kash-mir are hell bent to divide Kashmir onsectarian grounds, Mirwaiz said “Sec-tarian violence has weakened Muslimsacross the world. The voice of Ulemashas weakened as there is no unityamong the Muslims. Instead of work-

ing as an Ummah, we are engaged insectarian violence”. CondemningIsrael’s aggression in Gaza, Mirwaizsaid it is a shame that Muslim worldhas maintained a criminal silence overthe genocide of Palestinian people.

“Today every Muslim country islooking for its vested interest. Morethan 120 people have been killed inGaza in last few days but MuslimUmmah is tight lipped,” he said add-ing it is shame that Muslim organiza-tions like OIC has maintained criminalsilence over the continuous massacreof Palestinians in Gaza by Israel. Urg-ing OIC to play active role in address-ing the issues of Muslims, Mirwaizsaid, “UN has turned into an agent ofsome Western countries. The worldbody has become a puppet regime. Itshould wake up from the deep slum-ber and see how Muslims were mas-sacred around the world”.

On the occasion, Hurriyat (M) alsopassed a resolution which called forrevocation of PSA, AFSPA, end of HRviolations, lifting of restrictions onseparatist leaders, return of NHPCprojects and granting for right to selfdetermination to people of J&K todetermine their future.—RK

20000 die ofcancer in J&KSRINAGAR—In a shockingdisclosure, the official audithas revealed that about20000 people have died ofcancer in Jammu and Kash-mir since 2011 with highestmortality reported in 2014.According to the report re-leased by Union Ministryfor Health and Family Wel-fare, Jammu and Kashmirrecorded as many as 44983cancer patients between2011 and 2014. “Out of thetotal estimated incidencesof cancer cases, 19792 can-cer patients have died infour years in the state,” thereport said.

It states that there hasbeen a significant increasein the number of cancer pa-tients with at least 1117269cases reported across Indiain 2014 so far. The reportgives a state wise estimateof cancer deaths for yearfour years including 2014 inwhich Uttar Pradesh topsthe list with 82121 cancerdeaths patients followed byMaharashtra (44924), Bihar(43272), West Bengal(37103), Andhra Pradesh(35347), Madhya Pradesh(29846), Tamil Nadu(27988), Karnataka (24785),Gujarat (24667), Orissa(16885), Jharkhand (13645),Punjab (11011), andHaryana (10268). Amongthe states the prevalence ofcancer is lowest in Sikkimwith 251 deaths reportedthis year.

In other states,Himachal Pradesh has16462 cancer patients,Chandigarh (2530),Uttaranchal (24767), Delhi(40055), Arunachal Pradesh(3132), Nagaland (4353),Manipur (5649), Mizoram(2430), Tripura (8480),Meghalaya (6639), Assam(68556), Jharkhand (81070),Chattisgarh (62980), Daman& Diu (700), Dadra & NagarHaveli (886), Goa (3494),Lakshadweep (164), Kerala(82004), Pondicherry (3132)and Andaman & NicobarIslands (894). Kashmir-based oncologists attributethe rise in cancer disease inJammu and Kashmir to in-adequate cancer-related in-frastructure and lack ofawareness among people.They say that delays incurative treatment escalatedeaths as it gives rise to thelate detection of the diseaseamong the patients.—RK

WASHINGTON—The Kashmiri Americansjoin the worldwide Kashmiri community toobserve “Martyr’s Day”, in memory of 22Kashmiris killed by Dogra troops on thisday in 1931. The ‘Martyrs Day’ memorial-izes all those innocent victims, nearly100,000, “who have been forcibly silencedby the occupation forces that erupted twoand half decades ago,” said Dr. GhulamNabi Fai, Secretary General of the WorldKashmir Awareness.

Fai expressed concern over the on go-ing tragic situation in Kashmir because allavailable evidence testifies that humanrights violations are systematic, deliberate,and officially sanctioned. India has givenits forces powers to shoot to kill and thelicense to abuse the people in whateverways they like in order to suppress thepopular movement for basic human rightsand self-determination.

He emphasized, ‘India trembles at anyattempt to resolve the Kashmir crisis be-cause she is frightened by its outcome.’When a former Defense Minister, KrishnaMenon, was questioned as to why Indiawould never hold a free self-determinationelection in Kashmir, he confessed that allof India’s political leaders knew it wouldlose. And would 700,000 soldiers be neededin Kashmir if the main opponents to India’soccupation were but a handful of outside“extremists”? The question answers itself.

Fai questioned the statement of India’s

Kashmiri Americans observeMartyrs Day in USA: Dr. Fai

foreign ministry spokesman who said thatKashmir was an integral part of India. Kash-mir is not an integral part of India, nor areKashmiris separatists, he underlined. Be-cause under all international agreementsbetween India and Pakistan, negotiated bythe United Nations and endorsed by theSecurity Council, Kashmir does not belongto any member country of the United Na-tions. So, the claim that Kashmir is an inte-gral part of India does not stand. The peopleof Kashmir are not and cannot be calledseparatists because they cannot secedefrom a country to which they have neveracceded to in the first place.

Even one of India’s well-known author,Ms. Arundhati Roy confirmed it by saying‘It’s (Kashmir) not ever been really a part ofIndia, which is why it’s ridiculous for theIndian government to keep saying it’s anintegral part of India.’ Fai discounted theUnited States hopes that the Kashmir dis-pute could be settled through bilateralpeaceful talks between India and Pakistan.He recounted the litany of failed bilateralefforts and said that the people of Kashmirhave steadfastly maintained that tripartitetalks are the only way to resolve the Kash-mir issue. We hope that the United Statesand the international community will real-ize that what is at stake in the dispute is notonly the survival of the people of Kashmirbut also the peace and stability in the re-gion of South Asia, Fai stressed.—EPR

SRINAGAR—A group of Kashmiri mediapersons, mostly from electronic media, alsostaged a token demonstration seeking glo-bal intervention to stop Israeli military raidsinto Palestinian territories. The event ap-peared to reinvent, albeit in a much hum-bler way, the inward-looking journalistic tra-ditions of Kashmir.

Most of the newspaper editors, work-ing journalists and reporters here have allalong been charting a neutral course thereasons for which are in plenty. But theyoung boys from some regional newspa-pers, camerapersons from the banned cablenews channels and a handful of juniorscribes on Friday gathered at Press Enclaveto mark a break with the past traditions.They demanded an end to Israeli raids. Thejournalists were carrying placards reading‘Please. Humanity Stop Killings’, Pray forGaza for the sake of Humanity’ and ‘Stopinnocent killings’.

The journalists urged upon OIC, UN andSaudi Arabia to raise voice and play theirrole to stop what they described as the mas-sacre of innocents. Journalists also appealedMuslims worldwide to pray for the Gaza.Media watchers here say the new breed ofjournalists bears sparks of activism. “Theyare young and unlike their seniors have tre-

IHK journalists protestIsraeli atrocities

mendous access to the technology. Theyknow how journalists function in Egypt,Syria or for that matter in Pakistan. The modelof journalism that keeps you out of the storyno longer appeals them. They want to be inthe story while they report because they areincreasingly feeling that they are not justwriting a story but are themselves a part ofthe story in Kashmir,” says Javed Naqib, anavid media watcher.

Media practitioners in Kashmir can bedivided into various compartments. Thereare ‘influential’ newspaper owners, govern-ment employees who are part-timesubeditors, NGO men who like to wear thejournalistic identity. There is a sizeable chunkof those qualified, war-hardened televisionand print journalists who work for most ofthe Indian and International news outlets.No body represents Kashmiri journalists asa whole. There are various clusters with vari-ous motivations. Kashmir Press Association,a group of newspaper editors, has been ac-tive since 2010. But it does not seem to haveinspired the youngsters, who don’t pursueto set up offices and assets but want to en-gage with the story. “One can attribute mo-tives to any public action here. But I believeall of them got emotional by the images pour-ing in form Palestine.—KO

SRINAGAR—As the Zionist aggressionagainst Palestine continues in Gaza, the anti-Israeli protests continued for the second dayin Kashmir mostly by students. Eyewitnessessaid that hundreds of college and schoolstudents in south Kashmir’s Shopian dis-trict took to streets in the town and heldstrong anti-Israel and pro-Palestine protests.

They said hundreds of boys and girlsof Degree College Shopian gathered in thecollege premises and started sloganeeringagainst Israel and America. The protestingstudents then started March from the col-lege and marched through various locali-ties of the town, witnesses said. The stu-dents condemned the Israeli aggression

Kashmiri youth out on streetsprotesting Israeli aggression

against Palestinians and also flayed UnitedNations and other western countries forsupporting Israeli military action. “The stu-dents also expressed anger and disappoint-ment over the silence maintained by Mus-lim rulers,” they said.

An agitating student told GNS that de-spite resources and power, the Muslim rul-ers are not acting against Israel. “It is shame-ful on the part of OIC as well,” he said. Schoolstudents as well as common people joinedthe college students, told GNS. A source toldGNS that the college authorities initially in-sisted students to protest in the college pre-mises but they refused. The protest con-cluded at Gool Chowk.—KW

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—On the directive of PresidentMuslim Conference/ex-Premier AJK SardarAttique Ahmed Khan, a weeklong J&K’s ac-cession to Pakistan schedule of meetings, pro-cessions, seminars, get-togethers has beendrawn up by the Muslim Conference. Theweek started Sunday with the party Presidentaddress to the programme executives hereSunday. The Accession to Pakistan Week willbe marked also abroad in South Africa, Lon-don, USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, UAEand Middle East bloc of states.

In his address Sardar Attique Ahmed

MC’s accession toPakistan week starts

Khan said that his party has had a uniquedistinction of passing a historic resolutionon July 19, 1947, for State’s accession toPakistan. The actual dispute over Jammu andKashmir is about State’s accession as theUN resolution has given no 3rd option forthe settlement of Kashmir dispute. There-fore our struggle has the legitimacy of theUnited Nations. The UN talks of accession,we too talk of accession of Kashmir. Paki-stan is our logical destination, he asserted.

Regarding July 13 Kashmiri martyrslegacy, he said that July 13 is the gateway ofKashmir struggle. He paid rich homage to the22 martyrs of July 13, 1931 who had embracedmartyrdom at the Dogra forces bullets.

Cabbies’ businesshampered due toshortage of CNG

ISLAMABAD—The cabbies’business is passing throughcritical juncture as the pro-vision of the CompressedNatural Gas (CNG), mostlyused in the public transport,is available only for twodays and that also only for 7hours each day. Definitely,the most effected class fromthe unavailability of CNG isthe lower class, especiallythe cabbies that solely de-pend upon this, relativelycheaper, source of fuel usedin the vehicle throughout thecountry.

Cabbies work on dailybasis and run the affairs oftheir families and at the endof the day they could hardlysave pennies for rainy days.“I am driving taxi since lastten years. However the situ-ation was not that bad as it isturning out to be in lastcouple of years,” saidRamzan, 43, a taxi driver sit-ting in his cab in a long queueat a CNG station.With a sad, gloomy look athis face, Ramzan said that itwas now almost impossiblefor him to save Rs. 350 perday which he has to pay tothe owner of the taxi on dailybasis. Like Ramzan,Mohammad Tahir, 35, an-other taxi driver said that hehails from Murree and is inthis business over five yearsbut not happy with the situa-tion emerging out of theshortage of gas.

He reluctantly said thathe was thinking to sell outhis taxi and to start someother business to earn hislivelihood. It is a nail bit-ing fact that once a very at-tractive taxi business isnow loosing its charm asmost of the cabbies insistsaying that running theirvehicle on petrol is a futileexercise as the commuterscannot afford high taxifares. The cabbies areunited at a point that thereshould be some propermechanism that should bestrictly implied for publictransport as they not onlyserve people but also feedtheir families.

“I think the governmentshould fully impose a ban onusing CNG by private ve-hicles and leave this facilityfor taxis and rikshaws. Thatwill fulfill the gap betweenthe supply and demand of theCNG sector,” said MulazimHussain, a rikshaw driver. Heapprised that though thepeople’s focus has comedown from using cabs torikshaw yet he fears that if thepace of gas load sheddingwould continue, the day is notfar when people would adieurikshaws as well.—APP

S Africa’sNUMSA rejectspay offer, strike

continuesJOHANNESBURG—SouthAfrica’s NUMSA engineer-ing and metalworkers unionrejected a 10 percent pay of-fer from employers on Sun-day and called on its 220,000striking members in the sec-tor to intensify nearly twoweeks of industrial action.

“We are making a veryclear statement that the strikecontinues and we call on ourmembers to intensify thestrike,” South Africa’s larg-est union said in a state-ment.—APP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 98.50 98.30

UK 168.78 168.44

Euro 133.99 133.72

Canada 92.60 92.41

Switzerland 110.33 110.10

Australia 92.47 92.28

Sweden 14.54 14.51

Japan 0.9721 0.9701

Norway 15.96 15.93

Singapore 79.25 79.09

Denmark 17.97 17.94

Saudi Arabia 26.26 26.21

Hong Kong 12.71 12.68

Kuwait 349.28 348.57

Malaysia 30.90 30.84

Newzealand 86.83 86.66

Qatar 27.06 27.00

UAE 26.82 26.76

Kr. Won 0.0967 0.0965

Thailand 3.058 3.051

FAISALABAD—A coal based power project of660 Megawatt capacity will be established inJhang.

In this connection, Nishat Chunian Limitedhas signed a letter of interest issued by thePunjab Power Development Board (PPDB) forsetting up 660-MW of coal based power projectin Jhang.

The coal based power project will be spon-sored by a consortium comprising of NihsatChunain Limited, DG Khan Cement CompanyLimited and Adamjee Insurance Company Lim-ited.

Nishat Power Limited has also signed a let-ter of interest in May 2014 for establishing 660-MW coal-combusted power project in Jhang onbehalf of a consortium of Nihsat Mills Limited,Lalpir Power Limited and Pakgen Power Lim-ited.

660-MW power projectto be set up in Jhang

A spokesman for the Punjab PPDB said hereon Sunday that the board had quoted the no-tional project cost at USD 1.2 million per mega-watt.

He said the energy department Punjab wouldhelp in land acquisition for two 660-MW of coal-fired power plants. For this purpose, a land hasalready been reserved.

He said Pakistan Railway Authority,Karachi Port Trust and Port Qasim Authorityhad also been on board since the initiation ofthe project. The provincial government is fi-nalizing a comprehensive and approved lo-gistics plan.

Following the 18th amendment, the prov-inces had authority to develop power projectsof any capacity through public or private sec-tors and establish required regulatory frame-work, he added.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Around 6.3 million overseasPakistanis residing in different parts of the worldare effectively contributing to national exche-quer with major portion from Middle East 49.2per cent.

An official of Ministry of Overseas Paki-stanis told APP that 28.3 per cent overseas Pa-kistanis belong to Europe while 16.2 per centare from America.

The figure shows the major thrust from theMiddle East countries where large number ofPakistanis reside, either for business or workpurposes.

He said there were 18 countries, where over-seas Pakistanis were more than 30,000 in num-

ber and with the effective policies of govern-ment the number of Overseas Pakistanis willfurther increase in future.

The foreign remittances and investment inthe country by overseas Pakistanis were play-ing a vital role in stabilizing the economy of thecountry, he said.

To a question, he said that overseas Paki-stanis asset for the country and their contribu-tion in strengthening the economy can not beignored.

He said the role of Overseas Pakistaniswas important to put the country on the roadof progress, prosperity and development.—APP

6.3m overseas Pakistanis playingvital role in national economy

ISLAMABAD: Mian Kashif CEO ChenOne inaugurates a new branch in DHA.

LALAMUSA: Provincial Minister Hameeda Wahiduddin visiting a stall at sasta ba-zaar on Sunday.

DUBAI: Bank Dhofar, currently in talks to mergewith smaller rival Bank Sohar, met analysts’expectations as it posted a 23 percent rise in sec-ond-quarter net profit on Sunday. Oman’s sec-ond-largest bank by market value made a profitof 10.28 million rials ($26.7 million) in the three-month period to June 30 compared to 8.36 mil-lion rials in the same timeframe last year, ac-cording to Reuters calculations.

An average of three analysts polled byReuters had estimated a quarterly profit of 10.11million rials. Bank Dhofar didn’t provide a quar-terly breakdown so Reuters calculated based onprevious financial statements. Net profit for thefirst six months of 2013 was 20.5 million rials,well down on the 40.8 million rials recorded forthe corresponding period of last year, a state-

Oman’s Bank DhofarQ2 net profit rises 23pc

ment to the Omani bourse said, as the bank didn’trepeat a one-off gain booked in 2013 from acourt case victory.

Net loans and advances grew 20.8 percentyear-on-year to 2.18 billion rials, with depositsalso up over the same timeframe, rising 26.1percent to 2.19 billion rials. It is a year sinceBank Dhofar said it had approached Bank Soharwith a view to merging the two entities and cre-ating Oman’s second-largest bank. Last month,Bank Dhofar proposed a preliminary share swapratio to Bank Sohar for the tie-up, although com-pleting a due diligence exercise and obtainingnecessary approvals still needed to happen. Thenew entity would have total assets worth 4.78billion rials, based on first-quarter financialstatements.—Agencies

DUBAI—Al Rajhi Bank posted a fourthsuccessive quarterly profit decline as itssecond-quarter earnings fell 8.2 percentyear-on-year, with Saudi Arabia’s largestlisted lender hit again by higher provision-ing. The bank said it made 1.95 billionriyals ($520 million) in the three monthsending June 30, compared with 2.12 bil-lion riyals in the same period a year ear-lier, citing an increase in total operatingexpenses for the drop without elaborating.

Saudi companies issue brief earningsstatements early in the reporting periodbefore publishing more detailed resultslater. The last three quarters saw earningsdragged down by higher provisioning andhigher operating expenses in this quarterhas been interpreted to mean rising impair-ments. “It seems there is a one off chargebut overall Al Rajhi will always have ahigher cost of risk due to its retail focus,”said Ali Adou, fund manager at Abu Dhabi-based The National Investor. “For corpo-

Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank postsfourth straight quarterly profit dip

rate clients, the only risky exposure is tothe contracting industry where banks havehigh lending.

The impact from labour shortage onthe contracting sector will continue for thecoming quarters,” he added. Some firmsin the kingdom, especially constructioncompanies, have reported their earningshave been adversely affected since a crack-down in late 2013 on illegal foreign work-ers and new laws aimed at employing moreSaudis - who usually command highersalaries than expatriates.

Al Rajhi’s quarterly profit declinestands against the positive earnings per-formance reported by most other Saudilenders - on Sunday, Samba FinancialGroup became the latest bank to beat fore-casts with a 7 percent year-on-year gain innet profit. Despite the decline, Al Rajhi’snet profit figure was in line with analystforecasts, with a poll conducted by Reutersexpecting an average profit of 1.97 billion

riyals for the quarter.The higher provisioning overshad-

owed growth in other areas of the busi-ness. Operating income for the quarter roseby 6.6 percent on the corresponding pe-riod of 2013 to 3.66 billion riyals, whileprofits from special commissions in-creased 4.9 percent over the sametimeframe to 2.51 billion riyals. Loans andadvances at the end of June stood at 200.9billion riyals, gaining 8.7 percent on thesame point of 2013, while deposits climbed7.9 percent to 245.4 billion riyals over thesame period. Chiradeep Ghosh, bankinganalyst at Bahraini investment bank SICO,said the market would react negatively tothe second-quarter numbers but expectedit to be the final period of declining prof-its.

“We expect to see earnings picking upfrom third quarter 2014, owing to lowerbase, sustained balance sheet growth andtapering provisioning charges.”—Agencies

ISTANBUL—Turkish automotive production isexpected to hit a record this year as a recoveryin European demand drives up exports fromEurope’s fifth-biggest producer, the AutomotiveManufacturers Association (OSD) said on Sun-day. The association expects output to rise by11 percent to 1.25 million units from 1.13 mil-lion units in 2013.

“I believe the production will break therecord this year on rising exports. The increasedcapacity and exports will help us produce morethan 1.19 million units. Exports will be at recordlevels, too, at around 910,000 units,” OSD headKudret Onen said. Turkey’s highest automotiveproduction was in 2011 with 1.19 million units.

Global carmakers, such as Toyota and Ford,have shifted some of their production to the

Turkish auto output seenat record level this year

nation of 77 million to take advantage of itsgeographical position as a bridge between Asiaand Europe and its relatively cheap labourcosts. Hyundai Assan and Toyota Turkey’s newmodels and Ford Otosan’s renewed Transit andCourier models helped increase exports, Onensaid.

Toyota began producing a new version ofits best-selling Corolla in Turkey last year, whilemanufacturers including Ford, Fiat Chrysler andHyundai have new model launches in conjunc-tion with local joint venture partners this yearand next. Automotive sales account for some14 percent of Turkey’s overall exports. The coun-try exported 828,000 vehicles worth $21.5 bil-lion last year, with European markets account-ing for 70 percent of that total.—Agencies

LONDON—Boeing (BA.N)plans to bring out a new minormodel of its best-selling 737passenger jet with extra seats,the head of its planemaking di-vision said, stepping up effortsto woo low-cost carriers incompetition with Europe’s Air-bus (AIR.PA). Announcing themove on the eve of theFarnborough Airshow, the headof the U.S. planemaker’s jet-liner branch said on Sunday the200-seat variant would be fivepercent cheaper to operate.

It will be certified to hold200 passengers which is 11more than the maximum al-lowed in the most popular ver-sion of the 737, Boeing Com-mercial Airplanes Chief Execu-tive Ray Conner said. Boeingwill add an extra door behindeach wing to allow an increasein the maximum of seats which,under safety rules, is closely

Boeing 737 planes to have higher-capacitytied to the number and layoutof evacuation points.

Airbus last month an-nounced a similar drive to in-crease capacity on its A320passenger jet family as air-lines seek to drive down costsper seat. Planemakers com-pete aggressively for ordersof single-aisle, medium-hauljets and are producing atrecord levels.

More seats also meanlower operating costs per seat- the key driver of aircraft eco-nomics. Airbus has said it willincrease the certified maximumnumber of seats for its A320model to 189 seats from 180seats. Conner said he was notworried about a let-up in de-mand for such airplanes, de-spite concerns among some air-lines and analysts about over-capacity that have taken theedge off a two-year surge in

Boeing 737 fuselages are delivered by train to a Boeing manufacturing site in Renton, Wash-ington.

aerospace industry shareprices.

“We feel upward pressureat the rates we have today, andare seeing much more demandthan we have (built into) ourproduction rates,” he said. Thesame upward pressure is alsotrue of the carbon-composite787 Dreamliner wide-body jet,whose production has stabi-lized at 10 a month, he said.

Conner said he was con-fident the “more efficient”787 would be able to competeeffectively against a re-vamped version of the AirbusA330 that Boeing’s rival isexpected to launch on Mon-day. Analysts say demand forthe A330 has held up longerthan either company expecteddue in part to production de-lays on the 787 Dreamlinerand Airbus plans to re-launchthe aircraft with new engines

in order to prevent sales fromfalling. Airbus says its re-vamped jet will be as efficientas the 787.

Conner acknowledgedthere was a gap in availabilityof 787 Dreamliners but pre-dicted this would be shortlived. “Availability is a concernbut they are not in the market-place until 2018 and by thattime we will be at significantlyhigher production rates.”

Boeing has said it will in-crease production ofDreamliners to 12 a month in2016 and 14 a month by the endof the decade. Boeing contin-ues to assess a gap in the mar-ket for aircraft seating just over200 people, replacing the out-of-production 200-243-seat757, but has several other “toppriorities” including work toupgrade its 737 and 777 mod-els, Conner said.—Agencies

FARNBOROUGH—CFM International expectsanother record year for engine orders, its chiefexecutive said on Sunday, adding the company,which earlier in the day announced an order fromAmerican Airlines (AAL.O), had bid for an en-gine deal with easyJet (EZJ.L).

“When we see the number of orders alreadyachieved at this time of year and when we com-pare this figure with the previous year ... thenwe are about to achieve another record year in2014,” Jean-Paul Ebanga told journalists at anevent ahead of the Farnborough air show, whichruns from July 14-20.

CFM, a joint venture between Safran(SAF.PA) and GE (GE.N), has garnered ordersfor 2,071 engines so far in 2014 to the end ofJune, driven by its new Leap engine for the Air-bus (AIR.PA) A320neo and the Boeing (BA.N)737 Max narrow-body planes.

It last year pulled in orders for 2,723 en-gines.

It earlier reported it had been picked byAmerican Airlines to provide engines for 100Airbus A320neo jets the airline has on order, ina deal worth $2.6 billion at list prices. Whenasked about media reports that easyJet waspoised to order CFM engines to power 100A320neo planes, Ebanga told Reuters CFM had

Engine maker CFM eyesrecord orders in 2014

made an offer to the low cost carrier, but that itwas up to the airline to decide now.

CFM competes with Pratt & Whitney, a divi-sion of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N), tosupply engines for the A320neo. Ebanga high-lighted CFM had provided the engines for easyJet’sfirst Boeing planes and that the airline was its big-gest customer for the CFM56-5B engine.

“We have grown up with them, we hope theadventure will continue,” he said. Executives atthe briefing also said CFM was on schedule withtesting and certification for its new Leap engine,with the first variant due to come into service in2016, and that the company was working hardto ensure it was ready to increase production to1,800 engines per year by 2020 from the cur-rent rate of 1,500.

Executive Vice-President Cedric Goubetsaid the company was also looking to make im-provements on the Leap engine further downthe line, once it has come into service, usingnew technology such as lighter weight materi-als or additive manufacturing.

“We will be ready at the relevant time torespond to a potential market demand in termsof further improvement of the engine after theentry into service,” he said. The use of new com-posites on fan blades.—Agencies

Pizza Expresssold to Chinesefirm for £900m

LONDON—The restaurantchain Pizza Express has beensold to a Chinese firm foraround £900m, following “con-siderable interest” in the busi-ness. The UK Gondola Groupconfirmed the sale to privateequity firm Hony Capital.

There are 436 Pizza Expressrestaurants in the UK along with68 internationally - including 22in China - employing more than9,000 workers. Chief executiveRichard Hodgson said expan-sion in Asia was a “key part” offuture growth strategy. The salewas a “very positive develop-ment at an exciting time for thebusiness”, he said. Pizza Ex-press already has 12 restaurantsin Hong Kong and nine inShanghai, as well as outlets inIndia, Saudi Arabia and Bali.

The sale comes as TheGondola Group - which alsoowns UK pizza chains Zizziand ASK Italian - opened thefirst Pizza Express restaurant inthe Chinese capital Beijing ear-lier this year. In a joint state-ment released by the two firms,Hony Capital said it planned toexpand the brand both in theUK and in China.—Agencies

Dark poolprobe buildspressure on

Barclays bossL O N D O N — B a r c l a y s(BARC.L) boss Antony Jenkinsfaces one of the biggest tests ofhis leadership this month whenhe decides whether the bank,Britain’s third largest, shouldfight accusations it deceived anddefrauded customers in theUnited States. If Jenkins acceptsthe allegations, made in a law-suit filed by New York’s Attor-ney General, he will face a di-lemma arising from his pledgeto jettison any business that doesnot fit into the bank’s new,squeaky-clean image.

But the U.S. trading deskat the center of the allegationsis part of Barclays’ equitiesbusiness, an area it had plannedto keep largely intact whileshrinking its investment bank.It comes at a time of mountingdiscontent among investors.Some say that after almost twoyears in the CEO hotseatJenkins is failing to turn aroundboth culture and performance.

Barclays’ shares are downaround 9 percent, close to two-year lows, since the lawsuit wasfiled, Dark pool probe builds pres-sure on Barclays boss.—Reuters

NOTTINGHAM: James Anderson celebrates a wicket after lunch during England vs India, 1st Investec Test atTrent Bridge.

PESHAWAR—A total of 25 matcheswere decided on Sunday as HumamAhmad remained unbeaten in Under-9 category after playing 10 LeagueRound matches of the ongoingKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Squash Sum-mer Coaching and Training CampLeague Round being played here atPAF Hashim Khan Squash Complex.

Four matches of the Under-9, 18matches of the Under-11 and threematches of the Under-13 categorieswere decided.

Humam Ahmad was at the top bywinning all his 10 matches. In firsttwo matches, he defeated his rivalsAzam Kamran and Malik Hussain instraight sets. The score of the firstmatch was 12-10, 11-8 and 11-6, andof the second match was 11-9, 11-5and 11-4. He though faced some re-sistance in some matches of theLeague round, but overall he had gotfirst position.

25 matches decided as Humam remainsunbeaten in 10-League Round clashes

Yaseen Khattak defeated FawadKhan in a marathon 3-1 set battle with10-12, 13-11, 11-9 and 11-8. Asad Ullahbeat Mobeen Khan by 3-0 with 11-6,11-3 and 11-5.

In the Under-11 category, promis-ing Noor Zaman got clear edge overhis fellow competitors by winning allmatches he had played so far. NoorZaman, grandson of former WorldChampion Qamar Zaman, won all ninematches he had played so far.

Noor Zaman defeated FarhatSharif by 3-0, the score was 11-9, 11-5 and 11-7, Muhammad Ammad beatJawad Hussain by 3-1, the score was11-4, 6-11, 11-9 and 11-6, Zakiria Shahbeat Ibrahim by 3-0, the score was11-7, 11-8 and 11-5, Khurshal Riazbeat Falak Sher by 3-1, the score was4-11, 11-9, 11-5 and 11-6, Hamza Irfanbeat Walid Khalid by 3-0, the scorewas 11-9, 11-3 and 11-8, Afaq Khanbeat Walid Khalid by 3-0, the score

was 11-9, 11-6 and 11-8, Ali Sher beatKhushal Riaz by 3-0, the score was12-10, 11-8 and 11-9, Asad Ullah beatNouman by 3-0, Muhammad Ammadbeat Muhammad Abbas by 3-0,Hammad Adil beat Dawood Khan,Jawad Hussain beat Hammad Hamidby 3-0, Hammad Zafar beat ZikiriaShah by 3-0, Falik Sher beat RahimAbbas by 3-0, Muhammad ShoaibKhan beat Hamza Irfan by 3-0, NoorZaman beat Hammad Adil by 3-0,Muhammad Ammad beat JawadHussain by 3-0, Afaq Khan beat MalikMuzalifa by 3-0, Hammad Hamid beatDawood Khan by 3-0, MuhammadAbabs beat Hammad Zafar by 3-0.Inthe Under-13 category Ammad Hasanbeat Zaib Hamid by 3-0, Zargam Khanbeat Qaseem by 3-1, the score was11-8, 10-12, 11-6 and 11-5 and Hamidedged past Movia Hussain by 3-2,the score was 13-11, 7-11, 12-10, 8-11and 11-6.—APP

HO Y L A K E (United Kingdom)—TigerWoods was out practicing on Saturdayat Royal Liverpool, the venue for nextweek’s 143rd British Open and the coursewhere he won the 2006 title.

Woods set out mid-morning in thecompany of fellow American Patrick Reedwho captured this year’s WGC-CadillacChampionship in March.

It is the first time Woods has set footon the course since he captured his thirdClaret Jug in 2006 and when golf’s oldestMajor was last staged at the north-west-ern English venue.

And in contrast to eight years ago theRoyal Liverpool course is a lot greenerand not as hard as it was eight years agowhen Woods hardly used his driver overthe four days in winning by two shotsand just weeks after the passing of hisfather and mentor, Earl.

Woods appearance in this week’s Brit-ish Open will be his first in a Major thisseason after undergoing back surgery inMarch.

Since then the 14-time Major winnerhas contested just one event and that wasmissing the halfway cut in last month’sPGA Tour’s Quicken Loans National atthe Congressional Club in Maryland.

After his practice round on Saturday,the 38-year-old Woods said his slow-

Woods gets early new tasteof Royal Liverpool

paced return to action is paying off.“The little baby steps worked,”

Woods said. “We were very diligentabout what I was doing. Going into it wepushed it pretty hard to get my abs andglutes strong so when I did come back Iwas able to rebound fast. I can do what-ever I want.

“I’m at that point now. We didn’t thinkwe’d get to that point until this tourna-ment or the week after.

“Before I had the procedure, I was atthe point I couldn’t do anything. This ishow I used to feel. I had been playingwith (the back injury) for a while and Ihad my good weeks and bad weeks. Nowthey are all good.”

Woods said the Hoylake course wasstill playing fast.

“It’s a lot more green, lush, but it’sstill playing fast,” said Woods who addedthat despite missing the cut on his come-back in Maryland, he still learnt a greatdeal from the experience.

“Congressional was big for me, thefact I could go out there and play and Igot better as the days went on.

“I’ve got my speed back, which is nice,and I’m starting to hit the ball out thereagain. I’m only going to get stronger. Asthe weeks go on, I’m getting strong andfaster.”—AFP

COLOMBO—Sri Lanka’s cricket authori-ties decided Sunday to send off-spinnerSachithra Senanayake for intense coach-ing after the International Cricket Coun-cil (ICC) ruled his bowling action illegaland banned him from internationalmatches.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretaryNishantha Ranatunga said the coachingteam was being asked to study reportsfrom the ICC and take corrective action.

The ICC told the SLC Saturday that itinvestigated a complaint following a SriLankan victory over England at Lord’s inMay and concluded that Senanayakeused an illegal bowling action.

“The ICC today confirmed that an in-dependent test had found the bowlingaction of... Senanayake to be illegal and,as such, the player has been suspendedfrom bowling in international cricket,” theICC said in a statement a day after SLCannounced the ban.

Ranatunga said Sri Lanka was abid-ing by the ICC decision, but was alsomoving to address any problems with

Sri Lanka to coach bannedspinner Senanayake

Senanayake’s bowling and take correc-tive steps so that he could return to in-ternational cricket.

“If there is anything to be correctedwith his bowling action, we want to do itand get him to play as soon as possible,”Ranatunga told AFP. “We want to rectifyany problem.”

Senanayake, who twice recorded ca-reer-best figures in the Royal London se-ries, was reported by umpires Ian Gouldand Marais Erasmus during a one-day in-ternational series that Sri Lanka won.

Sri Lanka Cricket chiefs had earlier de-fended Senanayake, saying that he hadover the past two years played many bi-lateral ICC tournaments without a hint ofsuspicion. But they made it clear Sundaythat they were not confronting the ICCdecision.

Senanayake has played in 39 ODIs andtaken 40 wickets while conceding 1,393runs. He played one Test match againstPakistan but took no wickets.

He also played 17 T20 matches andtook 18 wickets for 300 runs.—AFP

Misbah onlyPakistan batsmanin top ten in ICC

ODI ranking

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a ncaptain Misbah-ul-Haq isthe only Pakistani bats-man, who is among the topten, according to the In-ternational Cricket Coun-cil (ICC) ODI Ranking re-leased on Sunday.

In the Reliance ICCPlayer Rankings for ODIBatsmen, Misbah-ul-Haqranked eighth.

South Africa’s skipperAB de Villiers, who fin-ished the ODI seriesagainst Sri Lanka as the

Marquez dominatesGerman MotoGP for

ninth straight winSA C H S E N R I N G (Ger-many)—Spaniard MarcMarquez won his ninthconsecutive race of theseason on Sunday as hedominated the GermanMotoGP to finish ahead ofHonda teammate and com-patriot Dani Pedrosa withJorge Lorenzo on a Yamahain third.

The win gives the 21-year-old a perfect total of225 points in the champion-ship standings withPedrosa taking sole pos-session of second but 77points back and ItalianValentino Rossi, who fin-ished fourth, third in therankings 84 points adrift.There are nine races to goin the 2014 season with thenext round set for India-napolis on August 10.—AFP

NOTTINGHAM (England)—The En-gland seamers took three early wick-ets in an eventful morning sessionon the f if th and f inal day of theopening test against India at TrentBridge on Sunday but the match stillappeared to be heading for a draw.

The visitors reached 230 for sixat lunch, with test debutant StuartBinny (26) and Ravindra Jadeja (18)unbeaten at the interval after stem-ming the tide of wickets. India havea lead of 191 runs and with only twosessions left in the match, an En-gland run chase and a victory in thefirst of the five-match series seemedunlikely.

The tourists started the day on167 for three, ahead by 128 runs,and aiming to bat the day out for adraw on a f lat and unresponsivewicket. A gloomy Nottingham sky,however, helped the hosts’ seam at-tack find some swing and they be-gan the morning in relentless fash-ion, bowling perfect line and lengthto keep India’s batsmen under pres-sure for a possibly victory.

India 1st innings: ...................... 457England 1st Innings: ................ 496India 2nd Innings (overnight: 167-3)Vijay c Prior b Ali ........................... 52Dhawan c and b Ali ...................... 29Pujara c Stokes b Plunkett ........... 55V. Kohli lbw b Broad ....................... 8A. Rahane c Prior b Broad ........... 24M. S. Dhoni b Plunkett ................. 11R. Jadeja not out ........................... 18S. Binny not out ............................ 26Extras: (lb2, nb5) ............................. 7Total: (6 wkts) .............................. 230Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-140, 3-140, 4-168, 5-173, 6-184Bowling: ........................... O-M-R-WAnderson ........................... 17-7-37-0Broad .................................. 17-6-41-2Plunkett .............................. 17-1-68-2Ali ........................................ 10-1-42-2Stokes ................................. 14-3-40-0

SCOREBOARD

England take early wicketsbut draw still looms

England got the early break-through they craved in the secondover of the day when Stuart Broadgot the ball to reverse swing andVirat Kohli (eight), widely consid-ered India’s most dangerous bats-men, was trapped leg before.

Broad claimed his second victimsoon after when Ajinkya Rahane fellfor 24 after edging a swinging de-livery through to wicketkeeper MattPrior. India captain Mahendra SinghDhoni (11) was dropped by his En-gland counterpart Alastair Cook offBroad but failed to make the mostof his luck when Liam Plunkett senthis stumps cartwheeling out of theground with a full delivery.

The visitors were headed for fur-ther trouble when Jadeja almost gotrun out trying to steal a third runbut the third umpire deemed he hadjust managed to reach the crease intime.

England are chasing their firstwin in nine test matches and the firstof coach Peter Moores’ secondspell in charge, while India have not

won a test away from home since2011. The last drawn test at TrentBridge in 2002 was also played be-tween England and India.—APP

Arambagh Clubin basketball

semis

K A R A C H I — H o s tArambagh Club foughttooth and nail to over-come fighting Askari Club39-36 in a nail-fighting fin-ish to earn a place in semi-final of Ramazan Cup bas-ketball tournament at theirhome court on Saturdaynight.

Drawn into group B, thewinners who shot into 10-4lead at first quarter, trailed12-13 at half time in a lowscoring match.

The last two quartershad many ups and downsbut in the end Arambaghturned the tide in theirfavour. They won thirdquarter 15-12 and fourth 12-11.

This was Arambagh’ssecond straight victory. Ear-lier, they had beaten MalirClub.

Tahir Ahmed scored 10points while Rehan Pateland Asad Imam finishedwith eight apiece for win-ners.

Taha Rasool amassed 11followed by seven and sixby Anas and Bakhtiar re-spectively for the losers.

Earlier, Bounce Clubregistered 56-29 victory overKarsaz Club to post secondvictory in-a-row and ad-vance into last four fromgroup A. HoldersNeighbourhood United hadalready qualified for thesemis from the same group.

Mahad Tariq andMubashir delighted by shar-ing 28 points amongst them-selves while Talha scorednine for winners. Nadeemscored 12 for losers.

In another excitingmatch played a day earlier,Gulshan Hawks gets thebetter of Malir Club 40-36after many fluctuating for-tunes.—APP

KARACHI—Seasoned first-class cricketer Saeed binNasir excelled with a half century as Shabo Star beatAdvance Telecom in the 29th Karachi Gymkhana OmarAssociates Ramazan Cricket Festival at the KG Groundhere.

Batting first after winning the toss, Shabo Star XI made170 in 19.5 overs with man-of-the-match Saeed scoring a42-ball 69 with the aid of four sixes and as many fours afteropener Mirwais Khan had blasted 31 off 15 balls (for foursand two sixes).

Slow left-armer Samiullah claimed 4-31 with Babar Azamtaking 3-31 with his occasional off-spinners.

Advance Telecom, in reply, were dismissed 154 withAli Waqas making 48 (44 balls, three sixes and two fours).

Slow let-armer Najibullah took 3-27.Summarised scores:SHABO STAR XI 170 in 19.5 overs (Saeed bin Nasir

69, Mirwais Khan 31, Mohibullah 28; Samiullah 4-31,Babar Azam 3-31, Osama Mir 2-40); ADVANCETELECOM 154 in 19.1 overs (Ali Waqas 48, SharjeelKhan 34; Najibullah 3-27, Shabbir Ahmed 2-18,Mohibullah 2-35).

Sunday’s fixtures: Eaton CC vs Mohammad HussainCC (Group ‘B’); Tapal CC vs K-Electric (Group ‘C’).—APP

Saeed shines forShabo Star XI

NazimabadGym win

K A R A C H I — N a z i m a b a dGymkhana emerged as theGroup ‘D’ champions withtheir fourth straight win inRLCA Ramazan T20 CricketTournament with a thrillingsix-run victory over DawoodSports at RLCA GroundGulberg on Saturday night.

Nazimabad Gymkhanabatting first, posted 183-6.Shahid Ayub smashed 50with five sixes and threefours. Iqbal Shaikh belted sixfours in his 32 while SaeedMutabir hoisted brace ofsixes and three four in his31. Dawood Sports in replycould muster 177-9. AhmedBin Nasir blasted 10 foursand one six in his stunning50.

At Korangi Stadium,Faisal Gymkhana beat Ris-ing Star also by six runs.Faisal Gymkhana scored153-9.

Daniyal Ahsan andNadim Shad both made 27each. Meer Meesam claimed4-19 with his off-spin.

Rising Star in reply wererestricted to 147-9. Gohar Alihit five fours and one six inhis 37 and Muddasir Zahidcracked four fours and onesix in his 31.

Mazhar Chaudhrybagged three wickets for justnine runs.—APP

BUCHAREST: Kristina Kucova of Slovakia returns the ball to Roberta Vinci of Italyduring their women´s singles semi-final match at the BRD Bucharest Open tennistournament.

Simona Halepin semifinals ofBucharest OpenBUCHAREST (Romania)—Top-seeded Simona Halepdefeated Spain’s LaraArruabarrena 6-3, 6-1 on Fri-day to advance to the semi-finals of the BRD BucharestOpen.

Halep will play fellowRomanian MonicaNiculescu on Saturday. Theunseeded Niculescu upseteighth-seeded PolonaHercog of Slovenia in a 6-2,2-6, 7-6 (3) victory.

The other semifinal willbe between second-seededRoberta Vinci of Italy andSlovakia’s Kristina Kucova.

Vinci beat PetraCetkovska of the Czech Re-public 7-5, 6-3, whileKucova defeatedMontenegro’s DankaKovinic 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.—AP

BRASILIA—Brazil’s miserable WorldCup campaign ended to a chorus ofboos on Saturday as the hostsslumped to a 3-0 defeat against theNetherlands in the third place play-off match.

A penalty from Robin van Persieand a Daley Blind strike saw theDutch take a 2-0 lead after only 17minutes as Brazil endured more woeafter their humiliating 7-1 semi-finalrout by Germany.

Once again Brazil’s defence washopelessly exposed, with the firstDutch goal coming when van Persiesent Robben racing in behind them.

Thiago Silva tugged the BayernMunich star over and although thefoul began outside the penalty area,Algerian referee Djamel Haimoudipointed to the spot.

Daryl Janmaat crossed from theright and David Luiz’s poor headedclearance fell to Blind who finishedfor his first international goal.

Georginio Wijnaldum added a latethird for the Dutch to trigger morejeers and catcalls for the hosts.

The defeat marks the first timesince 1974 that Brazil have lost con-secutive World Cup matches.

The defeat comes with Brazilianfans already dreading the nightmarescenario of Argentina lifting theWorld Cup in Sunday’s final againstGermany at the Maracana Stadium inRio de Janeiro.

Germany will go into Sunday’s

World Cup: Netherlands beat hosts Brazil 3-0 to win third place

BRASILIA: FIFA President presents a medal to Robin van Persie of the Netherlands after the 2014 World Cup third-place playoff between Brazil and the Netherlands.

A young Brazil fan is consoled after Brazil was defeatedby the Netherlands 3-0 at football World Cup.

Brazil’s Neymar and teammates react after Netherlands’third goal during the 2014 World Cup third-place playoff. BRASILIA—It is the third World Cup fi-

nal between Germany and Argentina. Ar-gentina won 3-2 in a 1986 thriller in MexicoCity, while Germany won 1-0 four yearslater in Rome in an awful game.

And the history does not stop there:Germany have kicked Argentina out ofthe last two World Cups in thequarterfinals, humiliatingly so by a 4-0scoreline in 2010 when they cruelly ex-posed then coach Maradona’s tacticalnaivety.

After an exciting tournament whereattack has prevailed and goals have beenflowing, the final is likely to be a morecagey affair with Germany employingnumbers to annul Messi and Argentinawary of leaving the sorts of spaces thatBrazil did.

Both goalkeepers, Manuel Neuer ofGermany and Sergio Romero of Argen-tina, are in the form of their lives, whileMessi, on four goals, and ThomasMueller, on five, are both chasing the

Third Germany vs Argentina final

match as favourites after their 7-1 tri-umph against Brazil. But Argentinecaptain Lionel Messi, four time worldplayer of the year, will be looking forhis first World Cup title.

“Tomorrow, we will play the mostimportant match of our lives for ourcountry,” Messi wrote on his officialFacebook page on Saturday.

“My dreams and my hopes arebeing fulfilled due to the hard workand sacrifice of a team that has giveneverything from match one.”

Germany and Argentina have al-ready played each other in two WorldCup finals. Argentina, with DiegoMaradona, beat West Germany 3-2 in1986 in Mexico. West Germany tookrevenge with a 1-0 victory in the 1990final in Italy.

A European country has neverwon the World Cup tournament heldin the Americas.

Germany midfielder BastianSchweinsteiger said Saturday his sidewill be under “no pressure” on Sun-day despite being favourites for thegame. “We’re looking forward to it.There’s huge anticipation and joy.We have no pressure,”Schweinsteiger said.

Striker Miroslav Klose is the onlysurvivor in the Germany squad fromthe team beaten 2-0 by Brazil in the2002 final, but Schweinsteiger saysthat his team-mates have sufficientexperience of major games.

“We have lots of players among

the 23 who’ve played in important fi-nals and we know how to handlethat,” he said.

Brazilian authorities are preparingtheir biggest ever security operationfor the final with nearly 25,800 police,soldiers and private security guardson duty in the city and at the sta-dium.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin,whose country will host the 2018World Cup finals, will join Brazil’sPresident Dilma Rousseff at the Ger-many-Argentina match, whereUkraine leader Petro Poroshenko willalso be in attendance.

About 100,000 Argentine fansare expected to invade the city, eventhough most do not have tickets.

“We have from today the biggestsecurity operation that the city, thecountry, has ever seen,” said Rio statesecurity secretary Jose MarianoBeltrame. In a bid to avoid violence,bars around the Maracana stadiumwill be ordered to stop selling alco-hol two hours before Sunday’smatch. Police blockades around thestadium were being put in place onSaturday night.

Rousseff basked in the glow ofwhat has been a largely trouble-freetournament.“We were able to do theCup even though they said it wouldbe chaos,” Rousseff told foreigncorrespondents at the presidentialresidence Friday night.“They saidit would be horrific.”—AFP

BRASILIA: Netherlands’ Arjen Robben, centre, is challenged by Brazil’s David Luiz and Paulinho during the WorldCup third-place soccer match between Brazil and the Netherlands at the Estadio Nacional .

BRASILIA—Hosts Brazil lost 3-0 to theNetherlands in their final World Cupmatch on Saturday and their playersapologised to fans after another hugelydisappointing performance in the third-place match.

“I don’t think we deserved for it toend like this,” captain Thiago Silva saidin a televised interview.

“We need to apologise to the fans,they booed us at the end, which is nor-mal, they have feelings too. It’s verytough.”

Midfielder Oscar looked totally de-flated after the defeat, which came justfour days after Brazil were crushed 7-1by Germany in the semi-finals.

“What can you say. We came herehoping to win third place but we didn’t,it wasn’t our day,” Oscar said. “We lost,there’s nothing to say.

“We lost a goal in two, three min-utes and we were chasing the game.

Sad Brazil players apologise to fans afteranother heavy loss

“We are all very sad, the people arevery sad, but we tried and we tried tillthe end.”

Robin van Persie got the first Dutchgoal from the penalty spot in the thirdminute, Daley Blind added a secondjust 13 minutes later and GeorginioWijnaldum rounded it off with a thirdin stoppage time.

Luiz Felipe Scolari has left a deci-sion on his future as coach of Brazil tothe country’s federation after the WorldCup hosts’ campaign ended in moredisappointment.

Jose Mourinho’s exclusive WorldCup analysis“It is up to the president to decide. Wewill hand in a final report and then leaveit to him to analyse what needs to bedone,” said Scolari after Brazil lost 3-0to the Netherlands in the third-placeplay-off in Brasilia on Saturday.

“I’m not going to discuss (my fu-

ture) with you. Winning or losing thatis what we would have done.”

Scolari’s contract with the BrazilianFootball Confederation (CBF) expireswith the end of Brazil’s campaign butthere have been suggestions that presi-dent Jose Maria Marin could persuadehim to stay on until the end of the yearwhile a long-term replacement issought.

Saturday’s loss came on top ofTuesday’s 7-1 mauling by Germany inthe semi-final in Belo Horizonte, butScolari maintained that there wereplenty of positives from a World Cupin which Brazil finished fourth.

“At the end of the tournament wewere not so good but we finishedfourth and we must praise the players.The game (against Holland) was veryeven but we conceded a goal early onand the Netherlands got the breaks,”he said.—AP

RIO DE JANEIRO—Despite being a tour-nament labelled as the return of attack-minded football after thecaution shown in South Af-rica four years ago, Brazil2014 has been a platform forthe world’s best goalkeepersto shine.

Sunday’s final featuresthe widely regarded beststopper in the world inGermany’s Manuel Neuer,whose sweeper-keeper abil-ity to rush from his goalcould lead to a revolution inhow the position is played.

However, even thoseless widely recognised atclub level have shone in thebright lights of Brazil overthe past five weeks.

Argentina’s Sergio Romero made justone league start for Monaco last season,

Goalkeepers shinebrightest in Brazil

but became a national hero when he savedpenalties from Ron Vlaar and Wesley

Sneijder to send his side intotheir first World Cup final in24 years.

With more teams com-mitted to attack the wide-open nature of the tourna-ment certainly gave those inthe last line of defence morechance to shine.

However, they have alsobeen aided by a reliable ballin the Brazuca which hasn’tdipped and swerved to leave‘keepers bewildered like theJabulani did four years ago.

North American federa-tion CONCACAF enjoyedtheir best ever showing at afinal with three teams reach-

ing the last 16 in large part thanks to theirgoalkeepers.—AFP

‘Golden Boot’ award for the leadingscorer.

Colombia’s James Rodriguez is aheadat the moment on six goals. All three arealso among the 10 players short-listed forFifa’s ‘Golden Ball’ award to thetournament’s best player.

The prizes are to be announced afterSunday’s final.

A goal-laden tournament has alreadyproduce 170 goals and could beat the all-time record of 171 set in France in 1998.

Brazil’s agony at losing the semifinalso disastrously was compounded by an-other poor defensive display in Saturday’s3-0 defeat by the Netherlands in the third-place playoff match.

Having not lost a competitive homegame since 1975, Brazil have now sufferedtwo defeats in five days: a sad end to atournament they entered with such con-fidence and high hopes.

An Argentina win on Sunday wouldcomplete their misery.—AP

RI O DE JA N E I R O—Netherlandsstriker Arjen Robben willstay with Bayern Munichrather than taking the op-portunity to follow nationalcoach Louis van Gaal toManchester United, he hastold Dutch television sta-tion NOS.

The Dutch dream ofwinning the World Cup forthe first time ended with asemifinal defeat on penal-ties to Argentina in SaoPaulo.

They defeated hostsBrazil 3-0 on Saturday in aplayoff for third place.

Van Gaal will now takeover as manager of Unitedwhile former Real Madridand South Korea coach Guus

Robben rules out joining Van Gaal at UnitedHiddink will take over the Dutch team

for the secondtime ahead of theEuro 2016 qualifi-cation campaign.

‘I have a spe-cial bond withhim,’ Robben,one of the starsof the Dutchcampaign in Bra-zil, said of theveteran coach.‘He is the mostimportant coachin my career. Af-ter the match hedid ask me tocome toManchester.’

It was notclear how serious the offer was, but

Robben, who could be seen laugh-ing while speaking about it, added:‘It is not an option. I will stay atBayern Munich.’

Robben, who scored three goalsin the World Cup, was in superbform in Brazil and is on the shortlist for the ‘Golden Ball’ award pre-sented to the tournament’s bestplayer.

United were on the verge of sign-ing him from PSV Eindhoven in 2004,when he met then manager AlexFerguson, but the Dutch club saidthe offer was too low and Robbenjoined Chelsea.

He later joined Spanish giantsReal Madrid before moving toBayern, for whom he scored the win-ning goal in the 2013 ChampionsLeague final against BorussiaDortmund.—AP

Barcelona willhelp Suarez‘reintegrate’

BARCELONA (Spain)—Barcelona’s president saysthe Spanish club will ensureLuis Suarez “successfullyreintegrates” into footballfollowing his lengthy banfor biting a World Cup op-ponent. Suarez secured amove to Barcelona fromLiverpool on Friday but isbanned from all football-re-lated activities for fourmonths after biting an Italyplayer in Brazil.

Josep Maria Bartomeusays Barcelona backsUruguay’s appeal of theFIFA ban to the Court of Ar-bitration for Sport, sayingSuarez “recognized his mis-take and Barca will be mak-ing sure he successfully re-integrates into the footballworld.”—AP

World Cup fevermounts for Germany,

Argentina clashRIO DE JANEIRO—A glo-bal fever built up Sundayahead of the World Cup fi-nal between Lionel Messi’sArgentina and a formidableGerman team seeking afourth title.

As about 100,000 Ar-gentines poured into Rio deJaneiro, a record global tele-vision audience is expectedfor the finale of the 20th tour-nament and the result will bea landmark whichever coun-try wins.

The game starts in thehistoric Maracana Stadiumat 4:00 pm (1900 GMT) infront of 73,500 fans butunder an unprecedentedinternational spotlight.—AFP

IN what they describe as a proof ofprinciple study, doctors in the US wereable to keep a woman with deadly mul-

tiple myeloma - an incurable bone mar-row cancer - free of all signs of livingcancer cells for over 6 months by givingher just one high doseof measles virus.

Two patients re-ceived a single intrave-nous dose of measlesvirus that was engi-neered to kill myelomaplasma cells and notharm other cells. Theteam, from the MayoClinic in Rochester, MN,says both patients re-sponded to the treat-ment, showing reducedbone marrow cancer andlevels of myeloma pro-tein.

But one patient, a49-year-old woman, ex-perienced complete re-mission and remaineddisease-free for over 6 months. A reporton this first study to establish the feasi-bility of the treatment appears in the jour-nal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

“This is the first study to establishthe feasibility of systemic oncolyticvirotherapy for disseminated cancer.These patients were not responsive toother therapies and had experienced sev-eral recurrences of their disease.”

The treatment is an example of onco-lytic virotherapy - using engineered vi-ruses to fight cancer - an approach thatdates back to the 1950s.

Thousands of patients have received

this type of therapy, using oncolytic vi-ruses from various families, includingcommon cold viruses, herpes virusesand pox viruses. But the authors saythis is the first well-documented case ofa patient with cancer that has spread

experiencing complete re-mission at all disease sitesafter receiving oncolytic vi-rus therapy.

Myeloma is a cancerthat develops in plasmacells - a type of blood cellmade in the bone marrow.According to the AmericanCancer Society, the diseaseis relatively uncommon, andin the US, there is a 1 in 149risk of developing it.

Myeloma can arise inany part of the body wherethere is bone marrow, includ-ing the spine, rib cage andpelvis. Multiple myelomameans it is occurring in morethan one place.

The disease, whichalso causes skeletal or soft tissue tu-mors, usually responds to drugs thatstimulate the immune system, but iteventually overcomes them and is rarelycured.

Dr. Russell and colleagues explainin their article that they chose to reportthese two cases in particular becausethey were the first patients they hadstudied who had received the highestpossible dose, and with limited previ-ous exposure to measles, so their im-mune systems did not have many anti-bodies to the virus. They had also ex-hausted other treatment options.

Dose of measles virus destroyswoman’s incurable cancer

Malaysian Ladies’ Association in Karachi hosted a Ramadan bazaar at the Consulate General.

KARACHI—Sindh Chief MinisterSyed Qaim Ali Shah has expressedgratitude to Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif for an-nouncing important projects forKarachi during his recent visit to thecity.

The Chief Minister was presid-ing over a meeting regarding GreenLine Bus Rapid Transit project at theChief Minister’s House here theother day.

He directed all the departmentsconcerned including the TransportDepartment to immediately preparePC-1 for Green Line Bus project sothat work on the scheme could bestarted at the earliest. He agreed to

the suggestion to get the PC-1 ofthe project prepared throughNESPAK.

The Chief Minister said that theSindh government is striving to in-troduce a network of modern trans-port facilities in the city on prioritybasis.

Qaim Ali Shah said that Karachineeds a modern transport systemdue to its growing population andthe Green Line Bus Rapid Transit willprovide a good quality transport fa-cility.

He said that the Green Line Busservice will run between SurjaniTown and Jama Cloth Market on 22.2km track at an estimated cost of Rs.

15 billion. The Chief Minister calledfor presenting the bill for the estab-lishment of Sindh Mass Transit Au-thority for smooth implementationand effective monitoring of all thetransport schemes.

The Secretary Transport briefingthe meeting said that presently sixrapid transit bus service schemes areunder progress.

He said that the feasibility studyof Green Line Bus Rapid Transit hasbeen completed. It will have 28 sta-tions and 400,000 people will com-mute daily through this service.

The secretary said that the Sindhgovernment is also working on Or-ange Line Rapid Transit and wants

to ensure its completion at the earli-est.

On the occasion, Adviser Fi-nance Murad Ali Shah said that thepeople of Karachi will have interna-tional level transport facilities dur-ing the next three years after thecompletion of various mass transitprojects.

The meeting was attendedamong others by Sindh TransportMinister Mir Mumtaz HussainJakhrani, Principal Secretary to CMAlamdin Billo, Secretary FinanceSuhail Rajpur, the Secretary Trans-port, Administrator Karachi, DGMass Transit and Senior DirectorMass Transit Fazal Karim. —APP

Government striving to introducenetwork of modern transport facilities

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Amid dozens of officialand illegal charged parking sites andTraffic Police’s atrocities on cars andmotorcycles owners, Karachi Metro-politan Corporation (KMC) had estab-lished around a dozen new chargedparking sites, which would be a cum-bersome situation for the commuters.

The KMC on the pretext of intro-ducing a unique traffic managementsystem had claimed that new car park-ing sites were being established inorder to develop traffic discipline andconvenience for the traders and com-muters in old city area and M.A Jinnah

road. The Corporation further claimedthat it had with the collaboration andcoordination of Karachi Administrationstarted charged parking sites at 20 newlocations, which will be implementedfrom Jul 14, 2014.

KMC said that the decision wastaken in the meeting held on Jul 12, 2014under the chairmanship of Commis-sioner Karachi and duly approved byKMC.

New 20 locations would includeHasrat Mohani Road, Talpur Road,Mumtaz Hassan Road, Old QueensRoad, Wallace Road, Capt. RafiquiShaheed Road, Dunooly Road, M.AJinnah Road (from Jamia Cloth Market

to Tower), Aram Bagh Road, AltafHussain Road, New Neham Road,Aiwan-e Tijarat Road, Beaumont RoadP.I.D.C, State Life Building RoadP.I.D.C, Shahra-e-Iraq(from PassportOffice to Paradise Hotel and return),Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road (SpencerBuilding, Schon Centre to NationalMuseum), S.M. Law College Road,Muhammad Bin Qasim Road, SindhSecretariat Roundabout, CampbellStreet.

The general public as well as ve-hicle owners had been requested tocooperate with KMC officials in re-covery of charged parking fee and de-veloping traffic discipline.

KMC takes agonizing steps in formof 20 new charged parking sites

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e Islami (JI) KarachiChapter on Sunday took out a massive rallyfrom Numaish Chowrangi to Sea Breeze Plaza(Taj Complex) in order to express solidaritywith the Palestinians against the Israeli bar-barism and bombing in Gaza.

The rally was led by JI Sindh Ameer DrMairaj Ul Huda Siddiqui and JI Karachi ChiefHafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman while other JI lead-ers were also present on the occasion.

Large number of people belonging todifferent walks of life attended the rally.They raised placards and banners inscribedwith “We condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza”,“Go-down with Israel and USA” and “Weare with the people of Gaza”.

The protestors chanted slogans againstIsrael and United States of America and de-manded immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Addressing the gathering, JI Sindh ChiefDr Mairaj-ul-Huda Siddiqui stressed uponthe need that the Muslim countries shouldplay their active role in stopping Israeli ag-gression in Gaza.

On the occasion, Dr Huda demandedimmediate cease-fire in Palestine with the in-

JI rally expresses solidaritywith people of Palestine

tervention of United Nations, adding thatthe UN should play its due role in this re-gard.

“Hundreds of innocent people includ-ing children and women are being killed bythe barbarism of Israel”, he added.

Dr Huda said that the United Nationshas completely failed to stop Israeli aggres-sion in Gaza, adding that why the champi-ons of human rights remain silent on theadverse violation of human rights in Pales-tine.

He regretted that the Muslim countriesincluding Pakistan do not retaliate over theIsraeli barbarism against Palestine, addingthat the Organization of Islamic Conference(OIC) should also play its role in cease-firein Gaza. Speaking at the occasion, HafizNaeem said that the western world throughits heinous designs created anarchy andinjustice in Muslim countries.

Hafiz Naeem said that the Israel has fullsupport of America in its violent attitudeagainst Palestine, however; entire MuslimUmmah not yet registered its protestagainst the massive violation of humanrights in Gaza during the sacred month ofRamadan.

KARACHI—Two suspected Lyari gang-warcriminals were gunned down in encounterwith law enforcers on late Saturday, whileat least five persons were killed in firingincidents across the city on Sunday.

Two bullet-riddled bodies were foundfrom Malir and Quaidabad areas. Their bod-ies were sent to hospital for medico-legalformalities. A man was gunned down inPehlwan Goth while resisting a robbery bid.The robbers fled the scene after complet-ing their action.

Similarly, armed culprits shot dead a manin old Golimar area. He was identified as

Izhar. Separately, two suspected criminalswere killed in a police encounter. In anotherencounter with Rangers and police, twoLyari gang-war gangsters were shot dead.They were identified as Asim Dada andDadu Memon. SSP Sheraz Nazir said theslain criminals were involved in over 40cases of murder.

Heavy cache of weapons was recov-ered from their possession. Meanwhile, fivepeople were injured in two separate gre-nade attacks in Orangi and Metroville. Po-lice, however, could not trace the attack-ers.—INP

2 Lyari gang-war suspectsamong 7 killed in city

KARACHI—Acting IG Police Sindh GhulamHaider Jamali has directed the police officialsto ensure the implementation of the strategydevised under the Ramazan-ul-Mubarik contin-gency plan for the Youm-e-Ali (R.A.) proces-sions and congregations on 21st Ramazan-ul-Mubarik.

The IGP Sindh said that effective and coor-dinated security and traffic arrangements

should be ensured at all the mosques,Imambargahs, routes of processions and ven-ues of congregations on Youm-e-Ali, accord-ing to a handout issued here on Sunday.

He also called for making extra-ordinary se-curity arrangement at Range, Zone and Districtlevels at all the mosques and Imambargahs dur-ing the holy nights in the last ten days ofRamazan.

The IGP Sindh said that through intelli-gence, timely action should be taken againstcriminals and terrorists to prevent any unto-ward incident.

Ghulam Haider Jamali also directed the po-lice to take steps against offensive wall-chalk-ing, instigative speeches and sale and distri-bution of provocative pamphlets and suchother material.—APP

Extraordinary security steps for Youm-e-Ali

KARACHI—Special measures will betaken to control traffic flow aroundshopping centres.

This was decided during a meetingpresided by Commissioner KarachiShoaib Ahmed Siddiqui at his office,said a statement on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by Chair-

man Karachi Tajir Ittehad Atiq Mir, rep-resentatives of all shopping centresand markets associations, deputy com-missioners, assistant commissioners,traffic police officials, Directors of Anti-Encroachment and Charged Parking.Shoaib Siddiqui said that steps are be-ing taken with proper planning to im-

prove traffic flow in the city.He said that officials and traders

will work jointly to control traffic flowand improve parking system to preventtraffic congestion in markets. He di-rected all the deputy commissioners totake initiatives in this regard in theirrespective areas.—APP

Efforts on to improve traffic flow

Worker busy in embroidery work on ladies wears at their workplace for Eidul Fitr.

IN what they describe as a proof ofprinciple study, doctors in the US wereable to keep a woman with deadly mul-

tiple myeloma - an incurable bone mar-row cancer - free of all signs of livingcancer cells for over 6 months by givingher just one high doseof measles virus.

Two patients re-ceived a single intrave-nous dose of measlesvirus that was engi-neered to kill myelomaplasma cells and notharm other cells. Theteam, from the MayoClinic in Rochester, MN,says both patients re-sponded to the treat-ment, showing reducedbone marrow cancer andlevels of myeloma pro-tein.

But one patient, a49-year-old woman, ex-perienced complete re-mission and remaineddisease-free for over 6 months. A reporton this first study to establish the feasi-bility of the treatment appears in the jour-nal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

“This is the first study to establishthe feasibility of systemic oncolyticvirotherapy for disseminated cancer.These patients were not responsive toother therapies and had experienced sev-eral recurrences of their disease.”

The treatment is an example of onco-lytic virotherapy - using engineered vi-ruses to fight cancer - an approach thatdates back to the 1950s.

Thousands of patients have received

this type of therapy, using oncolytic vi-ruses from various families, includingcommon cold viruses, herpes virusesand pox viruses. But the authors saythis is the first well-documented case ofa patient with cancer that has spread

experiencing complete re-mission at all disease sitesafter receiving oncolytic vi-rus therapy.

Myeloma is a cancerthat develops in plasmacells - a type of blood cellmade in the bone marrow.According to the AmericanCancer Society, the diseaseis relatively uncommon, andin the US, there is a 1 in 149risk of developing it.

Myeloma can arise inany part of the body wherethere is bone marrow, includ-ing the spine, rib cage andpelvis. Multiple myelomameans it is occurring in morethan one place.

The disease, whichalso causes skeletal or soft tissue tu-mors, usually responds to drugs thatstimulate the immune system, but iteventually overcomes them and is rarelycured.

Dr. Russell and colleagues explainin their article that they chose to reportthese two cases in particular becausethey were the first patients they hadstudied who had received the highestpossible dose, and with limited previ-ous exposure to measles, so their im-mune systems did not have many anti-bodies to the virus. They had also ex-hausted other treatment options.

Dose of measles virus destroyswoman’s incurable cancer

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Minister for Mi-nority Affairs and Human RightsKhalil Tahir Sindhu has said that thePunjab government, under the dy-namic leadership of Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif wasstriving for providing maximum eco-nomic relief to the common man dur-ing the Holy Month of Ramzan andcomprehensive strategy was beingfollowed for providing quality essen-tial commodities on cheaper ratesthrough holding of Ramzan Bazars.

He stated this while visiting theRamzan Bazar to check the quality,quantity and prices of the food itemsof daily use. MNAs Haji AkramAnsari, Mian Abdul Manan, MPAs

Govt striving to providemaximum relief to people

Sh. Ejaz Ahmad, Madiha Rana andDCO Noor ul Amin Mengal werealso accompanied with him.

The Minister went to RamzanBazar Eid Ghah Faiz Abad, MillatRaod, Akbar Chowk Gulistan Colony,Riaz Shahid Chowk Islam Nagar,Chatri Wali Park Jinnah Colony,Faizan e Madina Chowk Susan Roadand check the quality and prices ofvegetables, fruits, meet, poultryitems, sugar, pulses, ghee and otheredibles.

He expressed his satisfactionover the quality and prices and askedthe market committee staff to enterthe general market price on the pricecard along with the Ramzan Bazarprice for accessing the difference ofprice between the general market and

Ramzan Bazar by the consumer.He witnessed rush of fami-

lies in the Bazar for purchasing thegrocery items and said it was confi-dence on the Ramzan Bazar of thepeople which depicted the best ar-rangements by the district adminis-tration.

The Minister also observed thesale process of cheap sugar and flourand check the record to access thetransparency. He asked the dutystaff for regular maintaining the en-tire arrangements in the Ramzan Bazarfor the facilities of masses.

On this occasion, while talk-ing to the media, Minister for Minor-ity Affairs Khalil Tahir Sindhu saidthat enforcement concerned lawshad been ensured to curb the profi-

teering and hoardings of the essen-tial commodities. He said that nocompromise was being made on thequality of the food items in theRamzan Bazars and price controlmagistrates had been activated in thegeneral market to check the prices.

He said that regular and dailymonitoring of the Ramzan Bazars wasbeing carried out by the entire gov-ernment machinery to make theRamzan Bazar more beneficial for thepublic.

DCO Noor ul Amin Mengalinformed the Minister that coordi-nated efforts were being mobilizedto supervise the Ramzan Bazar ar-rangement effectively and special at-tention had been focused on the pro-vision of quality food items.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and National Heritage SenatorPervaiz Rasheed addressing during certificate awarding ceremony of National collegeof Arts at NCA.

Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif is addressing price control committee through video link about implementation of Ramazan packageon Sunday.

Ladies taking bath in Lahore canal due to stream hot weather in provincial capital.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for Ex-cise & Taxation and Finance, MianMujtaba Shuja ur Rehman has saidthat government is using all availableresources for providing betterhealthcare facilities to the people es-pecially mother & child in the prov-ince and the priority areas of the tar-gets are rural folk.

He said that an amount of Rs.121.80 billion will be utilized on theprovision of health facilities which is11.66 percent of the total budget. Hesaid that skilled birth attendants, LHVsand LHWs are being appointed athealth centers because the MMR inLHWs covered area is 147/100,000 livebirths, compared 300 to 350/100,000 touncovered areas, therefore, theLHWs, LHVs.

He said that at present under fivemortality rate present is 94/1000 and itwill be reduced 45 till 2015(MDGs Tar-

Better healthcare facilities for people in rural areas

get), new born mortality rate is 54/1000and it would be reduced up to 25 byyear 2015, whereas, infant mortalityrate is 77/1000 which would be reduced40 up till 2015.

He told that maternal mortalityratio 350-500/100000 which would bereduced 140 up till 2015. He told that20 percent birth deliveries are attendedby skilled birth attendant and this ra-tio would be increased more than 90percent by 2015 whereas, contracep-tive prevalence rate is 36 percent thatwould be increased up to 55 percentby 2015(MDGs Target).

While talking to a delegation offamily physicians, LHWs and Womenat his resident, Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said that the governmentconsiders the dignity of the presti-gious medical profession and will re-dress all the major problems beingfaced by the medical community in-cluding paramedics.

He said that focus of the Provin-

cial Government is upon Primary andProtective Health Care so that toachieve the millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).

He said that Health Insurance CardScheme is being launched with a costof Rs.4 billion and poor people will beable to get treatment in state of the artpublic even in private medical insti-tutes.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman saidthat such programmes would belaunched in which vocational and prac-tical training will be provided towomen folk and opportunities of maxi-mum employment would also be pro-vided to them so that they could playtheir proactive role in socio-economicuplift of the country as well as theirstatus. He told that discussions, work-shops and seminars at district andtehsil level would be organized so thatwomen folk in remote areas could beaware of their rights as well as theirrole in socio-economic development.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister forLabour and Human Resources RajaAshfaq Sarwar said Punjab ChiefMinister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifhas allocated a huge sum of Rs 500million for elimination of child andforced labour and rehabilitationprogramme.

He expressed these views whilepresiding over a meeting held to re-view performance of district labourofficers for the last 11 months at In-

Affective strategy adopted foreliminating child labour

dustrial Relations Institute Town-ship.

He said district labour officersshould further improve their perfor-mance with regard to elimination ofchild labour, registration of kiln work-ers, checking of weight and measuresand imposing fine in all districts of theprovince.

He said that district labour offic-ers instead of adopting obsolete meth-ods, should improve their performancethrough modern system.

Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said the

Punjab government had adopted aneffective strategy for eliminatingchild labour.

He expressed dissatisfaction overthe performance of district labour of-ficers. He said that hard working andhonest workers will be posted in dis-tricts. He warned that poor perfor-mance will not be tolerated.

Secretary Labour and Commis-sioner Social Security Farhan AzizKhawaja, DG Labour Welfare SyedHasnaat Javed and all district labourofficers attended the meeting.

Fire inemergency

ward of GRHLAHORE—A fire broke out inthe emergency ward of GangaRam Hospital in Lahore onSunday. The patients weresafely shifted to the OPD tobring the fire under control.The furious patient guard-ians got into a heated debatewith the hospital managementwhile shifting the patients tothe OPD.

According to the guard-ians, the fire extinguisher in thehospital wasn’t working whenthe fire broke out. FarooqBaloch, MS Jinnah Hospitalhas said that the fire broke outafter a gas cylinder explodedin the air-conditioning unit ofthe hospital third floor, add-ing that no causalities havebeen reported.—NNILAHORE—Aitekaaf arrangements have

been made for as many as 2,200 fastingMuslims at Data Darbar Mosque duringthe last Ashra (10 days) of Holy month ofRamzan this year.

This was disclosed in a meeting of Re-ligious Purpose Committee of Data Darbar,chaired by Federal Finance Minister IshaqDar here Sunday.

The meeting discussed in details themeasures to be put in place to facilitate thefasting Muslims observing Aitekaaf (resid-ing in mosques in last ten days of the Holymonth of Ramzan to please Allah Almightyand gain His countless blessings) at DataDarbar.

The Federal Minister was informed thatas per routine, committees had been con-stituted to manage the affairs of theAitekaaf, and up till now, Data Darbar ad-ministration received 2,069 Aitekaaf appli-cations from the aspiring faithful and the

number is fast increasing day by day. TheMutakafeen (Aitekaaf observing Muslims)would be served best meals at the DataDarbar during Sahri and Iftar times, whilethere would be no power load-shedding atthe Darbar during Aitekaaf days.

The meeting was told that a medicalcamp for the Mutakafeen would be set upin collaboration with Data Darbar Hospitaland Mayo Hospital and the Rescue-1122Service would also remain alert for theirbetterment.

The prayer-mats and tents were beingreplaced with new ones, and extra-ordinarymeasures were being taken to maintain over-all cleanliness of the Data Darbar Mosqueand toilets and drainage lines would beflushed out after every three days by theWASA workers. While, Lahore WasteManagement Company would also play itsactive role in maintaining a clean environ-ment there.—APP

2,200 people to observeaitekaaf at Data Darbar