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IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The President Is-lamic Republic of PakistanMamnoon Hussain has greatlyappreciated the efforts of allthose, who had contributed to-wards organizing the RoundTable Conference (RTC) on ‘Is-lamic Banking — Potential ofPakistan’.

Pakistan Observer Editor-in-Chief Zahid Malik took the ini-tiative for holding a round tableconference on the vital subject ofIslamic Banking.

Zahid Malik had conceivedthe idea during his participationin the world leaders conferenceon the subject in London and hadvowed to play his role in the pro-motion of Islamic Banking inPakistan.

The President MamnoonHussain chaired the RTC and in-augurated the multi-faceted RTCat Sindh Governor HouseWednesday. The RTC was pre-sided over by Federal Ministerfor Finance, Ishaque Dar, SindhGovernor Dr Ishrat Ul EbadKhan, Sindh Chief Minister’sadviser for finance Syed MuradAli Shah and State Bank of Pa-kistan Governor Yaseen Anwargraced the RTC.

The presence of PresidentMamnoon Hussain was itselfmanifest of the fact that the Head

of the Islamic Republic of Paki-stan has a strong desire to playhis dynamic role for the promo-

tion of the Islamic banking in thecountry. Pakistan almost threedecades ago pioneered the same

Banking system in the countrybut it had not attained the re-quired pace of progress and thus

the President was keen to moti-vate the Pakistani Bankers to Is-lamic banking system.

The President hoped that thedeliberations during the confer-ence would be instrumental infurther promoting Islamic bank-ing in the country.

The President, who has beenkeen on multiplying the literacyrate in the county is also knownfor his priorities, which includedbringing prosperity to people inthe framework of Islamic teach-ings. He said the injunctions ofthis religion were based on theprinciples of justice, fairness and

equity. By virtue of being a justsystem that catered to larger in-terests of the individuals and so-ciety, Islamic financial systemand institutions were fast devel-oping into a distinct paradigm ofeconomics.

He was pleased to see theinitiatives for the Islamic Bank-ing in the country and said that itwas indeed a matter of great sat-isfaction that Islamic Banking

Pakistan Observer RTC on Islamic Banking

Mamnoon eager to see Islamic Banking revolution in PakistanPresident Mamnoon, banks CEOs & Presidents, foreign delegates laud Zahid Malik’s initiative

KARACHI: President Mamnoon Hussain addressing the Round Table Conference on Islamic Banking organized by Paki-stan Observer at Governor’s House. Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Governor State Bank Yaseen Anwar,Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat ul Ibad, Executive Vice President Maybank Islamic, Nor Shahrizan Sulaiman, Vice PresidentMaybank Islamic, Salem Ghandour, Editor-in-Chief Pakistan Observer, Zahid Malik and Presidents of leading commer-cial and Islamic banks seen in the picture.—PO photo Sultan Chaki

Zahid Malik paysrich tributes toIDB PresidentOBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—Zahid Malik,Editor-in-Chief, Pakistan Ob-server, paid glowing tributes toDr Ahmad Mohamed Ali,President of the Islamic Devel-opment Bank for his superbleadership of the Jeddah-basedBank.

In his address of Welcomeat Pakistan Observer’s RTC,he said that during the tenureof Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali,the Bank had gained new

Maybank’s rolein Islamic

Banking laudedSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Zahid Malik,Editor-in-Chief, Pakistan Ob-server, has lauded the role be-ing played by Kuala Lumpur-based Maybank in contribut-ing a lot towards promotion ofthe cause of Islamic Bankingthe world over.

While welcoming the two-member delegation of the Bankat the Pakistan Observer’s or-ganized RTC at the GovernorHouse, he paid rich tributes to

Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7

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AMANULLAH KHAN\IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Federal FinanceMinister, Senator Ishaq Dar hassaid that the present governmentis committed and determined totransform the financial systeminto Shariah Compliant mode offinancing and in this respect gov-ernment is actively consideringto appoint a third deputy gover-nor at the State Bank of Pakistanto exclusively persuade the con-cept of Islamic finance in con-formity to the aspirations of thepeople towards Islamic banking.

The federal finance ministermade these remarks while presid-ing over the Round Table con-ference organized by PakistanObserver here at the governor’shouse this morning.

The finance Minister saidthat in accordance with constitu-tional requirements as well as inthe back drop of ground realitiesthe PML (N) government is com-mitted to transforming the fi-nance and banking system. “Weare in process to review the con-ventional banking system in linewith Shariat Compliant system,”said the minister

This, he said was also in par-ticular context of the fact that af-ter the financial crisis registeredin different countries debts hadgrown to unprecedented levelsrelative to the economy while thefinancial sector itself has beengrowing at rates much higherthan the real economy.

“The economists in generalrecommend that debt must beconstrained to avoid economiccollapse,” said the minister.

He also mentioned that Eu-ropean Union itself had requiredits member countries to restrict

Govt moving towards Shariahcompliant financial system: Dar

Continued on Page 7

Today’s issue of PakistanObserver carries an 8-PageSpecial Report onPakistan Observer RTC onIslamic Banking —Potential of Pakistan.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Pakistan BankingIndustry has earned internationalreckoning for its enviable growthin this region. It should makeconcerted efforts for promotingIslamic banking that has greatpotential to play a much greaterrole in building up the nationaleconomy, said Zahid Malik Edi-tor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observerin his opening remarks at the

Round Table Conference (RTC)organized at Governor House,Karachi by Pakistan Observer

here Wednesday.The RTC was inaugurated by

President Mamnoon Hussain,

and it was presided over by theFederal Finance Minister Sena-tor Ishaq Dar.

The keynote address was de-livered by Yaseen Anwar, Gov-ernor State Bank of Pakistan. DrIshratul Ebad, Governor Sindhmade it a rare occasion in thebanking history where almost allthe presidents of the banks bothconventional and Islamic as wellas heads of the corporate sector,

Islamic Banking can play majorrole in economy: Zahid MalikPakistan Observer to hold conference on

Islamic finance in Jeddah or Kuala Lumpur

Continued on Page 7

Future outlook ofIslamic Banking is

positive: YaseenAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Yaseen Anwar, Gov-ernor State Bank of Pakistan hassaid the future outlook of the Is-lamic Banking industry is verypositive. He was speakingWednesday at the Round TableConference on Islamic BankingPotential of Pakistan organizedby Pakistan Observer .

The SBP Chief said Islamicfinance during the last four de-cades has witnessed considerableprogress at the global front. Be-sides the traditional Islamic fi-nance markets of the MiddleEast, financial centres across

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NAWABSHAH: A man sits beside the dead body of his child killed in an accident at a localhospital on Wednesday. — INP photo

NAWABSHAH—At least 23people, including 18 childrenwere killed and 11 injured in ahead-on collision between aschool bus and a trailer onWednesday in Nawabshah.

The accident occurred atQazi Ahmed link road locatedsome 350 kilometers northeastof Karachi. Two lady teacherswere also killed in the accident.According to eyewitnesses, theaccident was a result of wrong

overtaking by the school buscarrying around 40 students.

Bodies were torn into twoto three pieces. Various bodieswere beyond recognition as theirfaces were badly crumbled andcharred”, A.B Qadri, Edhi hear-ing rescue team told reporters.

The dead — both girls andboys — aged between 10 and 16years. Doctors at People’s medi-cal College Hospital describedthe condition of most of the in-

jured as critical.Additional paramedical staff

has been called out by the ad-ministration to cope with theemergency situation.

Emotional scenes were seenat the hospital where parentswailed outside the emergencyward as the injured continued tobattle for their lives.

The injured persons wereshifted to People’s Medical Col-lege Nawabshah for medical

treatment.Six of the injured persons

were reported as critical whowere subsequently shifted to theIntensive Care Unit (ICU).

Police reached the site of ac-cident and started investigation.

President MamnoonHussain expressed sorrow overthe incident. He also expressedcondolences to the parents of thedeceased students.—Online

18 children among 23 killedin Nawabshah tragic accident

If UK can amass£22 billion in Islamic

Banking, why notPakistan, Zahid Malik

questions atObserver’s RTC.

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—Calling upon theunemployed youth to take fulladvantage of the PM’s YouthBusiness Loan Scheme, PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif has de-clared the applications for busi-ness loans would be decidedpurely on merit basis regard-less of the applicant’s affiliationwith any political party orgroup. “The top government

functionaries including even theprime minister would not be ableto recommend a person seekingloan under this scheme”.

Premier Nawaz Sharif an-nounced this while addressing a

gathering of the loan seekersfrom Malakand division and Dirat Swat on Wednesday morning.Besides, a large number of youth,

the function was also attendedby the Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa EngineerShaukatullah, Minister for In-formation Senator PervezRasheed, Minister for ReligiousAffairs Sardar MuhammadYusuf, Advisor to PM AmirMuqam, Deputy Speaker Na-tional Assembly Murtaza JavedAbbasi and others. On this oc-casion the Prime Minister

Youth Business loans

PM assures fairness in loans

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CASA-1000Project to set inmotion in Sept

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—The long-awaitedCASA-1000 energy project willset in motion in September bylaying foundation stone for con-struction of transmission linefrom Tajikistan to Pakistanthrough Afghanistan.

The project which will pro-vide 1000 MW electricity to Pa-kistan in peak months in summerwill be readied in 2016. Beingfinanced by World Bank, Islamic

Continued on Page 7

Musharraf’sappearance incourt todayunlikely: KasuriISLAMABAD—Formerpresident Pervez Musharraf’sembattled counsel Ahmed RazaKasuri Wednesday said hisclient’s appearance onThursday in a special courthearing his treason trial onJanuary 16 was conditional toon improvement in his health.

Talking to a private TVchannel, Ahmad Raza Kasurisaid that the doctors have notyet declared Pervez Musharrafto have completely recoveredfrom his illness. He said thatPervez Musharraf could nottake mental pressure for his

IHC reinstatesZaka Ashraf asPCB chiefISLAMABAD—The IslamabadHigh Court (IHC) restoredZaka Ashraf as the PakistanCricket Board’s (PCB)chairman on Wednesday.

The decision to reinstateAshraf was taken by a two-member division benchconsisting of Justice NoorulHaq N Qureshi and JusticeRiaz Ahmed Khan.

The court accepted theintra-court appeal against thedecision by a single-memberbench of IHC comprisingJustice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.

The bench voided IHCchief justice’s previous decisionand restored Zaka Ashraf asPCB chief.

Sources said Asharaf wouldnow be handed over all chargesto exercise his powers as PCBchief. On July 19, 2013, theIslamabad High Court had

Eid-e-MiladcelebratedISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI—Eid Millad-un-Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him)was celebrated with fullreligious zeal and fervor acrossthe country on Tuesday.

The day dawned withthirty-one gun salute in thefederal capital and twenty-onegun salute in the provincialcapitals. Special prayers wereoffered for progress andprosperity of the country andwell-being of the Ummah. Itwas a public holiday and thenational flag flew on allimportant public and privatebuildings.

A National SeeratConference was held inIslamabad. The theme was:Proper use of the official

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Picture on Back Page

FAISALABAD—The city traf-fic police maintained trafficflow by providing alternativeroutes to the public transportduring Milad processions hereon Tuesday.

On the order of ChiefTraffic Officer (CTO), morethan 800 male traffic wardens,40 senior traffic officers and38 lady traffic wardens per-formed duties in the city andfacilitated the public transportto continue their journey dur-ing Milad processions and ral-lies.

The traff ic wardens

Traffic flow maintainedduring Milad processions

reached at their duty pointsearly in the morning and re-mained performing duties tilllate night.

A large number of trafficpolice officials also remainedin downtown area of the cityespecial ly around ChowkClock Tower to control thetraff ic f low and providehurdle free route to the Miladprocessions which gathered atChowk Clock Tower wherethe religious scholars deliv-ered keynote lectures beforethe culmination of Milad ral-lies and processions.—APP

HYDERABAD—Vice Chancel-lor, Liaquat Medical and HealthSciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro,Prof Dr Noshad A Shaikh, hadshown deep concern about wa-ter analysis report and directedpublic health and local govern-ment authorities to take promptaction for checking any expectedhealth damaging effect.

According to the report re-leased by Water Testing and Sur-veillance Laboratory LUMHS,water of Kotri and its adjacentareas is unfit for human con-sumption.

On the directives of the ViceChancellor, Prof. Dr. Noshad A.Shaikh, the report was preparedby The Water Testing and Sur-veillance Laboratory team after

Kotri canals water foundunfit for drinking

taking water samples from dif-ferent areas.

The areas included KarachiCanal Jamshoro, Inlet Kotri fil-ter palant, Kotri filter plant overhand tank, Outlet tap water Kotrifilter plant, Sabeel e-HussainiKotri, Taluka hospital Kotri,Taluka Hospital Kotri , LatifChowk Kotri, T.B HospitalKotri, Labour Square S.I.T.EKotri, Keria Mosque Kotri, Fil-ter Plant opposite MPA SikandarShoro house kotri, Industrial ef-fluent Kotri, Tubewell near cowfarm Kotri.

The report said that theOdor, Color, Turbidity, Conduc-tivity, Salinity, TDS (Total Dis-solved Salts) chlorides and Ar-senic of Samples were higher

than the permissible limits ofWHO.

Apart from this, the pH ofIndustrial effluent sample wasmuch higher than the permis-sible limits of WHO, it furthersaid.The report further revealedthat bacteriologically, allsamples contained unacceptablenumbers of coliform (E-coli)bacteria which could cause wa-ter born diseases including di-arrhea and dysentery which wasunfit for human consumption.

The report also advised gen-eral public for the low cost mea-sures of safe drinking water atdomestic level and it includedchlorination, filtration, boilingor use of any other safe sourceof water.—APP

Nine arrestedfor gambling

FAISALABAD—Police claimedto have arrested nine accusedover gambling from Jhang Ba-zaar police limits.

A spokesman for the policedepartment told here onWednesday that CIA police, ona tip-off, conducted raid atMohallah Panj Pir and arrestednine accused, including NokasMaseih etc over gambling.

The police also recoveredstake money from the accusedand handed them over to JhangBazaar police which started in-vestigation by registering a caseagainst them, the spokesmanadded.—APP

‘Japanese calendarsexhibition’in Multan

MULTAN—Around 109 differ-ent calendars have been put ondisplay in the “Japanese Calend-ers Exhibition 2014” to show theculture and contemporary arts ofJapan.

The exhibition was orga-nized by the Embassy of Japanin collaboration with MultanArts Council at Multan ArtsCouncil on Wednesday. The ex-hibition was inaugurated by theCounsellor Embassy of Japan inPakistan Mr Toshikazu Isomuraand EDO Community Asif AliFarrukh.

The exhibition will remainopen for public till January 29.

The Counsellor Japan Em-bassy said that calenders showJapan’s traditional and contem-porary arts, spots, automobiles,nature, cultural heritage and ar-chitecture. Every calender is apiece of art, the Japan Calend-ers Association has tired theirbest to attract viewers throughdifferent subjects and mediums,he added.

A large number of localpeople visited the exhibition,however, all calendars would bedistributed to the visitorsthrough balloting draw by theMultan Arts Council.—APP

QUETTA—Dr Abdul Aziz Lehrihas been elected as Presidentand Dr Mirza Ali Azhar as Gen-eral Secretary for PakistanMedical Association (PMA) asdoctors association followingthe directives of court held pollsfor the new cabinet of PMA.

PMA has fulfilled its legalresponsibility and held electionsin compliance with the court di-rectives, said Azhar KhanJadoon, former President PMAwhile announcing the officialresults of the polls held for PMAcabinet here at Quetta.

He said that PMA is strivinghard to improve medical care

Dr Aziz elected as PMA Presidentacross the country and resolve theissues faced by the doctor frater-nity. PMA is concern over thepoor condition of health sector inBalochistan and pins hope in theleadership of Dr Abdul MalikBaloch for the early resolution ofdoctor problem in Balochistan,Mr Jadoon stressed.

PMA leadership on the oc-casion called upon governmentto ensure fresh elections in Pa-kistan Medical and DentalCouncil (PMDC) making itmore independent and autono-mous. It also expressed graveconcern over the handing overof the powers of health depart-

ment to the bureaucracy.Administrative powers of

government-run hospitals shouldbe with the Medical Superinten-dent instead of PSP officers, theystressed. However, Jadoon saidthat Chief Minister Balochistan,Dr Abdul Malik who is by pro-fession doctor would make surethat the issues of health practi-tioners are resolved.

The other officer bearers ofnewly elect cabinet of PMA in-cluded Dr Shahid Malik, (JointSecretary-1), Dr MohammadAslam Marwat, (Joint Secretary-2) and Dr S.M Qaisar, (FinanceSecretary).—APP

SIALKOT—Chairman Ruet-i-Hilal Committee and ReligiousScholar Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman has stressed upon thepeople to mold their lives accord-ing to golden principles of Islam.

Addressing an annualMehfil-e-Milad held in connec-tion with Eid Milad-un-Nabi(PBUH) on Monday he said thatit is high time that religious lead-ers, Ulema and parents shouldplay their due role for educatingyounger generation about the

Need stressed to followteachings of Islam

teachings of Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (PBUH), which willhelp overcome multifarious prob-lems facing the Muslim ummah.

He said “It is our religiousduty that we should respect allsects for developing religiousharmony and peaceful society”.

The Chairman Ruet-i-HilalCommittee stressed the need ofminimizing the use oflaudspeakers during Eid Miladcelebrations adding that organiz-ers of Eid Milad processions

should use only one laudspeakerto facilitate the people across theroute of the procession.

The religious leaders,Ulema and parents should joinhands for educating youngergeneration about Islam andgolden teachings of HolyProphet (PBUH) because it willhelp the younger generation tounderstand the spirit of Islamwhich will surely pave the wayfor developing Islamic society,he added.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The provinceshave been asked to effectivelyrun awareness campaigns toeducate parents to administeranti-polio drops to their chil-dren during every nationaldrive. According to an officialof Expanded Programme onImmunization (EPI), districthealth managers have been di-rected to properly manage theimmunization drives followingthe set strategy.

He said they have beenasked to ensure 100 per centcoverage during the nationalanti-polio drives to vaccinate allchildren to protect them fromthe crippling disease.

He added such directiveshave been issued after receiv-ing complaints from the citizensthat district health teams mostlymiss the children during theanti-polio drives.

He said due to law and or-der situation, health teams

Provinces asked to effectivelyrun polio awareness drives

could not continue anti-poliodrive in Swat that resulted in-crease in polio cases in the area.

He, however, said that nowafter improving the situation po-lio drops were administered tochildren in Swat in the recent po-lio eradication drives.He addedthat the government has plannedto immunize maximum number ofchildren in Swat during every po-lio eradication drive.Dr WasimKhawaja from (PIMS said poliowas a highly infectious viral dis-ease, which mainly affected youngchildren. The virus is transmittedthrough contaminated food andwater, and multiplies in the intes-tine, from where it can invade thenervous system, he added.

He said initial symptoms ofpolio included fever, fatigue,headache, vomiting, stiffness inthe neck, and pain in the limbs.In a small proportion of cases, thedisease causes paralysis, whichis often permanent, he added.

Meanwhile, a delegationfrom Japan’s Rotary Club willsoon visit Islamabad, Karachiand Thatta and will observe thepolio eradication campaign in thevillages of Sindh.

This was stated by Presidentof Rotary Club Japan, MasaoHorikawa who led a delegationduring a meeting with Pakistan’sambassador to Japan, FarukhAmil, in Tokyo.

The main objective of thevisit is to acquaint with the Japa-nese chapter of the Rotary Clubwith Pakistan and focus on wherethey can contribute, says a pressrelease received here from Paki-stan embassy in Tokyo. The del-egation is scheduled to visit theNational Rural SupportProgramme’s (NRSP) head of-fice, Ministry of Health and UNagencies and also plans to ob-serve the polio eradication cam-paign going on in the villagesnear Thatta in Sindh. Kohistan district

bifurcatedinto Upper &Lower parts

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa governmentWednesday announced bifurca-tion of Kohistan district in twoparts titling as Upper and LowerKohistan.

The decision was taken forthe convenience of residents ofthe area who were facing a lotof problems in accomplishmentof administrative and judicialaffairs due to huge area of thedistrict, said Abdul Haq Khan,Advisor to the Chief Minister onInter Provincial Coordination.

Addressing a press confer-ence at CM Secretariat, AbdulHaq said Chief Minister, PervezKhattak has approved the sum-mary and a notification has beenissued in this regard.

Giving details about the bi-furcation, Abdul Haq said theLower Kohistan will consist oftwo Tehsils including Patan andPalas. Whereas, the UpperKohistan will consist of Kandiaand Dasu.

Pattan will be capital ofLower Kohistan and Dasu willbe of Upper parts of the district.Flanked by residents ofKohistan district, CM Advisorsaid people of the area are verythankful to the provincial gov-ernment which has fulfilled longlasting demand of people.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf(PTI) has done justice with thepeople of Kohistan by bifurcat-ing it into two districts, headded.—APP

Fesco shutdownschedule

OBSERVER REPORT

FAISALABAD—The FaisalabadElectric Supply Company(Fesco) has issued a shutdownnotice for necessary repair,maintenance and expansion ofelectricity lines.

According to the notice issuedby the company here on Wednes-day, power supply from from 132-KV Rafhan Maize ProductsJaranwala grid station will remainsuspended from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00p.m. while Elyas Park, Gulberg,Kamal Abad and Kausar Abadfeeders emanating fromn 132-KVJhang Road grid station will ob-serve shutdown from 9:00 a.m. to3:00 p.m. on Thursday (Jan 16).

Similarly, electricity supplyfrom Al-Murtaza, WASA-II,Tayyab Textile and Ahmad En-terprises feeders originating from132-KV Kamalpur grid stationwill remain suspended from 9:00a.m. to 12:00 noon whereasJewan Shah, Tahir Rafiq andSarfraz Textile feeders emanat-ing from 132-KV Kamalpur gridstation will observe load shed-ding from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.on January 16, 2014.

Three suspectskilled, five held

in KhuzdarQUETTA—Three suspects werekilled while five others were ar-rested along with arms by Se-curity forces in a search opera-tion carried out in Khuzdar dis-trict on Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner SyedAbdul Waheed Shah told APPthat the Security forces and Lev-ies force jointly conducted searchoperation in Zaidi area as armedmen opened fire on them. Secu-rity forces and Levies Force re-taliated killing three suspects andarrested five others. Two securitymen also sustained injuries.

One abducted persons andheavy weapons including am-munitions were also recoveredfrom their possession.—APP

Quetta policefinalize list of

5077 wanted menQUETTA—As many as 5077men were wanted to Quetta po-lice in various heinous crimes,according to a list prepared bythe Quetta police.Of them 574has been arrested in variousraids conducted in recent past.

High level meeting held by thechair of the Commissioner Quettadivision Qambar Dashti was in-formed that police have finalizedthe list of wanted men and as perlatest development it has arrested574 wanted men in various crimes.

Regional Police Officer ArifNawaz said that crime rate hasseen decline in Quetta division.Due to the better representationof the government 58 percentcases pending in the courts weredisposed of,â•• he said. Com-missioner Quetta on the occasionurged the officials of the law en-forcement agencies to take effec-tive measures against the ele-ments involved in the target kill-ing, kidnapping, car snatchingand other heinous crimes.—APP

MULTAN: People ride on camels during procession of Eid Milad.

BAHAWALPUR: Smoke emitting from the brick kilns is polluting the environment ofthe city.

MULTAN: Toshikazu Isomura, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan and EDO community AsifAli Farrukh viewing the Japanese calendars exhibition 2014 after inaugurating the exhibi-tion, organized by Multan Arts Council.

Minority MNAdenies report ofnon-payment of

income taxZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—The PML-NMember National Assembly, DrRamesh Kumar Vankwani hasstrongly condemned a newspaper(not Pakistan Observer) report ac-cording to which he has not beenfiling his tax returns for a coupleof years. The PML-N minorityMNA talking to Pakistan ObserverWednesday, said the report is falseand he has never been a tax de-faulter nor ever tried to be one.

Quoting the newspaper re-porter, who had included his namein the list of non-tax payers, DrRamesh Kumar regretted the saidreporter twisted facts and tried tomisguide people of his constitu-ency as well as the party leader-ship. He should have contacted mebefore filing that report, he said.

“I am a regular tax payer andfor the last 15 years, I have neverfailed to file my tax returns ontime. The newspaper’s report onDecember 23, 2013 has causedirreparable damage to my repu-tation. The PML-N MNA fromTharparkar, NA-334, further saidthe newspaper wrongly quotedme as having been elected twice,while the fact of the matter is thisis my debut in the National As-sembly. “I have never beenelected to the National Assemblybefore,” he added.

To a question, he said if thenewspaper did not clarify his posi-tion, he has options open beforehim. However, he said, “There maybe some confusion to the reporter.Anyone from the media is mostwelcome to contact me regardingthe documentary proofs of my taxreturns.” Dr Ramesh Kumar is alsoPresident of Pakistan Hindu Coun-cil working for the welfare of theHindus in Pakistan.

The Club also intends toestablish a ‘Rotary Village’ nearThatta to help settle the flood-affected people of Sindh.

The President Rotary ClubJapan also expressed keen in-terest to establish a HealthSchool to train and producehealth workers in Pakistan.

The delegation was ac-companied by Foreign Minis-try officials and Japanese par-liamentarians.

The Ambassador warmlywelcomed the Rotary ClubJapan’s initiative to visit Paki-stan and help meet the chal-lenges in the health sector.

He said the people of Japanhad always been very generousand supportive to Pakistan espe-cially in rendering developmen-tal and humanitarian assistance.He assured the delegation of theembassy’s full cooperation inmaking their visit both meaning-ful and productive.—APP

ABBOTTABAD—Four personswere killed in suicide and mur-der attempts during the lasttwenty hours in the district.

According to police, bodyof a 12-year old Luqman son ofex- candidate for provincial as-sembly Aurangzeb found atDotar.

SHO Nawanshaer SardarZakir dispatched the body tohospital for autopsy.

According the initial inves-tigations the ill-fated luqmansustained serious head injuries.

In another incident guard ofa private company Bara Khanson of Khushal Khan resident ofOgi, who was deputed at theAllied bank Pine View branchAbbottabad shot himself deadwith his own weapon. Police

Four killed in suicide,murder attempts

sources said that the incidentwas also captured by the closecircuit TV camera of the bankand declared it as a suicide at-tempt.

In the third incident, Narapolice found a tortured corpse ofa 16 years old chap Bilal Ahmedson of Saeed. Father of diseasedtold police that in the morninghe took his goats to the jungle,in the evening the goats cameback but is son was found deadin the jungle.

The fourth incident tookplace in Banda Jalal Khan, whenZaheer Gul son of Younus onsuspicion of theft was brutallybeaten by his neighbors, whowas rushed to the hospital,where he succumbed to his in-juries.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWA R—The KhyberPakhtunkhwa Government onWednesday directed the con-cerned authorities to initiate de-velopment work in Galiyat De-velopment Authority (GDA)that included construction andimproving cleanliness inGaliyat, eradication of en-croachments, widening of roadsin Galiyat, stopping unlawfulcutting of trees, widening ofNathiagali Bazar and erectinga modern parking plaza at

Uplift work in GaliyatGaliyat area. The decision tothis effect was made in a meet-ing of Board of Galiyat Devel-opment Authority with KhyberPakhtunkhwa Minister for Lo-cal Government and Rural De-velopment Inayatullah Khan inthe chair.

Addressing the meetingInayatullah said that GDA hadbecome financially weak there-fore the present government wasbent upon to make the authorityfinancially sound and providebetter municipal services to themasses.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s ITprodigy Arfa KarimRandhawa, who passedaway as a result of cardiacarrest following an epilepticattack at the age of 16, is be-ing remembered across thecountry Tuesday on her 2nddeath anniversary.

Arfa passed away onJanuary 14, 2012 after remain-ing under treatment at hos-pital in critical conditions forweeks. People nationwideheld candle-light vigils re-membering and mourned theloss. The outpouring of trib-utes from across the worldcontinues to this day, a pri-vate news channel reported.

Arfa hailed fromFaisalabad, Punjab and wasa bright young student whobecame youngest MicrosoftCertified Professional(MCP), a record which sheheld until 2008. The IT geniusattracted attention of BillGates, the head of Microsoftat the time, who invited herto visit Microsoft headquar-ters in USA.

Arfa termed the visit asremarkable and once in a life-time experience.

The young genius con-tinued to conquer success asshe bagged several nationaland international awards in-

IT genius Arfa Karimremembered

cluding a presidential prideof performance.

In 2005, Arfa was the re-cipient of Fatimah JinnahGold Medal in Science andTechnology which was pre-sented by the Prime MinisterSyed Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The IT prodigy contin-ued to bag good image forthe country with her repre-sentation of the country andits IT industry worldwide.One such event took placein Dubai where IT profession-als invited her to speak. Tohonor her at the reception,prominent dignitaries includ-ing Ambassador of Pakistanwere in attendance.

Arfa was invited byMicrosoft to participate in akeynote session at Tech-Ed

Developers conferencewhich was held in Spain. Theconference was of approxi-mately 5000 participants andArfa was the only Pakistanipresent there.

At the end of year 2011,Arfa, while studying atLahore Grammar School inLahore suffered a cardiac ar-rest as a result of epilepticattack and was admitted toCombined Military Hospital(CMH). Her conditionedworsened and had to be puton life support.

During this time, shewas offered medical assis-tance by Bill Gates who di-rected his doctors of the in-volvement in diagnoses andtreatment.

Bill Gates also recom-mended flying Arfa to US forbetter treatment but the doc-tors here and consultantsabroad decided against itbecause of the complicatedsituation and need of puttingher on life support.

Arfa’s parents thankedGates for generosity of offer-ing to cover full expenses ofher treatment.

The IT genius passedaway on the morning of 14January, 2012 leaving thewhole nation grieving.—APP

QUETTA—The Local Gov-ernment (Amended) Bill 2014was tabled in the BalochistanAssembly while the houseunanimously adopted tworesolutions pertaining to re-lease of funds for ongoingroad projects in the provinceand others.

The assembly sessionstarted with Speaker Mir JanMuhammad Khan Jamali inchair, here on Wednesday.

Provincial Minister forLocal Government, SardarMustafa Tareen tabledBalochistan Local Govern-ment (Amended) Bill 2014.The house gave exemptionto the bill from BalochistanAssembly Rules of Proce-dure and Conduct of Busi-ness 1974.

Provincial Minister forExcise and Taxation, SheikhJaffar Khan Mandokhelmoved resolution that de-manded of the provincialgovernment to approach thefederal government for mak-ing the National HighwayAuthority bound to deploy

LG Bill moved in BalochistanAssembly, resolutions passed

Motorway Police on Quetta-Dera Ismail Khan road to stopuncontrolled driving and vio-lation of traffic laws as thesebad habits causing increasein road mishaps on the high-way.

Provincial MinistersAbdul Rahim Ziaratwal andObaidullah Babat, Advisor toChief Minister, Agha SyedLiaquat Ali, and MPAs-Abdul Majid Achakzai,Nasrullah Khan Zeray,Manzoor Ahmed KhanKakar, William Jan Barkat,Miss.

Arifa Siddique, Miss.Spozmai Achakzai and Miss.Masooma Hayat tabled a

joint and amended resolu-tion for release of funds forrepairing and carpeting ofZhob-Dera Ismail Khan high-way besides deployment ofhighway police as the dilapi-dated condition of the roadcausing life loss in road acci-dents. The speaker put bothresolutions to the house whichpassed them unanimously.

The question hour was

deferred as the movers werenot present in the house.

The debate on two ad-journment motions tabled in13th January session byAwami National Party MPA,Eng. Zamarak Piraliza andPashtoonkahwa Milli AwamiParty MPA, Manzoor AhmedKakar on law and order of theprovince was also made.

Participating in the de-bate, Eng. Zamarak said thatchief of Kasi tribe and ANPleader, Nawab Abdul ZahirKasi was kidnapped fromQuetta and now the kidnap-pers were demanding ransomfor his release from MiranShah tribal area of KhyberPakhtoonkhawa province.He emphasized the need forsolid measures for release ofNawab Kasi.Advisor to ChiefMinister on Finance, MirKhalid Langov said that lawand order was improved by80 percent in the province,adding that steps were beingtaken to further improve it toprovide security and protec-tion to people.—APP

PESHAWAR—In order to en-sure best transportation fa-cilities and improve poor hy-giene and sanitation condi-tions, the district administra-tion of Dir has completedeight projects of link roads,drains and retaining walls invarious villages of Sheringalsub-division.

A press release issued byMalakand DevelopmentProgramme (MDP) here onWednesday stated that theprojects completed in vil-lages including ChamiarKass, Ali Mast Sale Miana,Hiddo Khatko, Sowanai Bala,Bundesh-Jatkul, KarboraiMamusai, Siah and Biar vil-lage of Sheringal sub-divi-sion. These interventionswould directly benefit thou-sands of community mem-bers at their doorstep.

The administration ofLower Dir rehabilitated 758meters long link road inChamiar Kass, Munda unioncouncil of Samargbagh and1264 meters extensive linkroad and 1112 meters drainin Ali Mast Sale Miana vil-lage of Adenzai. 126 meterspipe culverts were also builtinto the constructed road.

Eight link roads, drainscompleted in Dir

Similarly the Upper Dirdistrict rehabilitated 704meters road and 233 metersdrain in Hiddo Khatko unioncouncil of Darrikund BarawalTehsil besides rehabilitating1600 meters long link roadand constructing 300 meterslong drain in Sowanai Balavillage of Upper Dir.

About 735 meters exten-sive road in Bundesh Jatkul,Sheringal, 721 meters longlink road and 198 metersdrains in Karborai Mamusaiof Barawal Tehsil, 1000meters long concrete road,culverts and causeway inBiar village of Sheringal and1089 meters concrete roadrehabilitated and 76 metersdrains structured in Siah vil-lage of Sheringal market.Apart from construction ofthese roads, retaining wallswere also built up to protectroads from rainwater and fu-ture flooding. It is expectedthat over 14 thousand com-munity members would getbenefit of these developmentschemes and they wouldhave an easy access to mar-kets, health centres andschools in these areas.—APP

CJP inauguratesE-citizen systemPESHAWAR—Supreme CourtChief Justice, Syed TassadduqHussain Jilani here Mondayinaugurated E-citizen Griev-ances Redressal System ofHuman Rights Directorate atPeshawar High Court.

Supreme Court Chief Jus-tice visited different sectionsof the directorate and ap-praised himself about itsfunctions.

Speaking on the occa-sion, he said that this systemwould play a very key role ineducation, dissemination ofinformation and addressal ofgrievances. He said fair trialis the fundamental right of citi-zens and the system wouldensure to protect their rightsby enabling them an easy ac-cess to justice.

Chief Justice PHC, DostMuhammad Khan and SeniorJudge SC, Nasirul Mulk werealso present on the occasion.

The Chief Justice Su-preme Court suggested foropening of a wing at HumanRights Directorate for solu-tion of expatriate’s problems.

Later, the Chief JusticePHC presented a traditionalChatrali Chuga and a woollencap to Justice Jilani.—APP

BAJAUR AGENCY—The localadministration was committedto improving the quality of thelife of tribesmen living in back-ward and remote areas of theagency by providing them ba-sic and modern civic facilities.

Several mega develop-ment projects would belaunched soon in variousbackward areas of the region.

This was said by PoliticalAgent Syed Abdul Jabar Shahwhile speaking at the inaugu-ration ceremony of several de-velopment schemes of MultiDonor Trust Fund’s RLCIP (Ru-ral Livelihood and CommunityInfrastructure Project), held atLakianoo area of tehsil Salarzaion Wednesday.Tribal elders,members of local peace com-mittee, senior officials of thesecurity forces and the local ad-ministration attended the cer-emony.

He said the administrationis taking keen interest in thedevelopment of backward ar-eas of the region and had al-

PA seeks assistance foruplift projects in Bajaur

located huge amount ofmoney in the current annualdevelopment programme.

“We are determined toimproving the life standard ofthe local tribesmen and de-velopment funds will bespent in the region withoutdiscrimination,” he said.

The political agent saidthat various areas of theagency had suffered by themilitancy and war on terrorwhich badly affected the natu-ral resources, basic facilitiesand infrastructure. He askedthe international donor orga-nization to speedup activitiesfor the welfare of tribesmenand should allocate morefunds for the tribal areas.

Shah said though the ad-ministration struggling forthe early provision of basicfacilities to the people of waraffected and backward areasbut we can’t achieve goal ofproviding civic services with-out the support of interna-tional organization.—APP

PESHAWAR: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani inauguratingthe E-Citizen Grievances Redressal System of Human Rights Directorate at PeshawarHigh Court.

283 KP feeders suffer over 50% line lossesISLAMABAD—State Minister for Waterand Power Abid Sher Ali informed theSenate on Wednesday that there were283 feeders in Khyber PakhtunKhwa(KPK) having line losses of more than50 percent. Responding to a question,the minister said the government wasbearing a loss of Rs 1.5 million per daythrough these feeders. He said the gov-ernment, since its inception, had added1700 Megawatt in the system besides

paying huge amount in clearing the Circular Debt. Sher Alisaid all the provinces were equal for the federal govern-ment as every citizen has equal right over the resources.Replying to another question he said, as many as 187,126numbers of employees were working in Distribution Com-panies (DISCOs), GENCOs and NTDCL, consuming freeelectricity entitled to them as per their BPS. He said thefacility was being provided to the aforementioned employ-ees as part of the incentives being given to the employeesof other state departments as well. It is pertinent to mentionthat few days earlier the Federal State Minister for Waterand Power Abid Sher Ali accused provincial ministers andMPAs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led coalition gov-ernment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of being involved in powertheft and said that line losses have crossed 90 per cent intheir constituencies. Addressing a news conference atWAPDA house Peshawar, Federal State Minister Abid SherAli further alleged PTI ministers and MPAs in KhyberPakhtunkhwa including information minister Shah Farman,Fazl Elahi, Ishtiaq Urmer, Asif Ahmadzai and Khalid Khanare involved in electricity theft and backing robbers in theirconstituencies. He categorically said line losses had reachedto 90 per cent in some MPAs constituencies in the prov-ince. About the information minister Shah Farman, he saidmore than 90 per cent of power consumers are defaulters inhis constituency and there are “no-go areas” in suburb ofPeshawar where PESCO teams could not move to makerecoveries. MPA Fazl Elahi had lifted arms on PESCO teamas FIR has been lodged against him for misbehaving withits team, federal minister informed.—APP

Minister seeks school van accident reportNAWABSHAH—Senior Education Minis-ter Sindh Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has ex-pressed his deep sorrow over the schoolvan dumper accident in which 21 schoolchildren were perished on the spot. Hehas taken serious notice of the incidentand called for immediate report of theaccident from Superintendent of Police.Nisar Khuro said that government wouldtake every step to help parents of de-ceased students. He instructed hospital

administration and Deputy Commissioner to provide bestof treatment to injured persons. He said that those seri-ously injured in the accident would be shifted to Karachifor treatment. He said that serious action would be initiatedagainst those responsible for accident. He said that emer-gency was announced at hospital and appealed to generalpublic for donating blood. On the other hand Deputy Com-missioner Abdul Aleem Lashari has announced local holi-day on January 16, 2014 to mourn the death of school chil-dren. On the other hand District administration has formedinformation desk led by Assistant CommissionerNawabshah. District administration has arranged ambu-lances for shiting bodies of the children and their teachersto Daulatpur and has also arranged air ambulance in orderto shift serious cases to Karachi or Hyderabad.—APP

Govt to implement amendmentsISLAMABAD—Minister for Inter-Provin-cial Coordination Riaz Hussain PirzadaWednesday assured the House that thegovernment would implement 18th, 19thand 20th amendment of the Constitutionin letter and spirit. Replying to a Point ofOrder raised by the Senator RazaRabbani and Senator Zahid Khan, theminister said he would soon meet withthe Prime Minister and inform him aboutthe grievance of Senators regarding de-

lay in the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI).Riaz Pirzada agreed with the senators in this regard sayingthat it was a constitutional requirement to convene themeeting of CCI within 90 days. The minister said many im-portant matters were pending including census as withoutcensus local government elections were not possible. RazaRabbani demanded the government to give a time-frame inwhich it would call the CCI meeting.—APP

Cooperation with DenmarkISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Na-tional Food Security & Research(MNFSR) Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosanon Wednesday said that mutually ben-eficial areas in agriculture sector shouldbe enhanced between Pakistan andDenmark. According to a press release,Federal Minister said this while in ameeting with Ambassador of Denmark,Jesper Moller Sorenson in Pakistan,when the latter called on the minister

here. The minister said that there was a great scope ofcooperation in agricultural research institutes of bothcountries. During the course of meeting, Joseph MollerSorenson Ambassador of Denmark apprised that Danishagriculture companies were interested in undertaking jointventures with agri- private sector of Pakistan in dairy sec-tor. The Ambassador apprised that Danish agriculturecompanies were interested in organizing an exhibitionshow in Pakistan showcasing their agricultural productswhich will also provide an opportunity for sharing agri-research and innovations. Both dignitaries also agreedon sharing technical expertise in agriculture sector to fur-ther widen the scope of mutual cooperation. Seerat AsgharSecretary MNFSR and other high officials of the ministrywere also present in the meeting.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Met Officehas predicted more dry andcold weather in most parts ofthe country during next 24hours. The MeteorologicalDepartment predicted onWednesday that the weatherwill remain dry and cold inmost areas of the country, lightrain showers could pour inMalakand, Kashmir, andGilgit Baltistan while snowfallis expected on hilly areas dur-ing next 24 hours.

The weather remaineddry and chilly, rain showerspoured in Malakand and fewother places while snowfallcovered hilly locations dur-ing last 24 hours, told theMeteorological Department.

The minimum tempera-ture, minus 12 degree centi-grade, was recorded inParachinar while temperatureof Gopus and Astore areasdropped to minus 7 centi-grade on Tuesday, added theMeteorological Department.

Meanwhile, Dry weatherwith cold night and hazy morn-ing is expected in Karachi me-tropolis over the next 24 hours,the Met Office forecast onWednesday. It said that theminimum temperature is ex-

Dry and cold weather toprevail across country

pected to remain in the rangebetween 9 to 11 degrees Centi-grade. Mainly cold or very coldand dry weather is likely to

prevail elsewhere in the Sindhand Balochistan region.

According to LahoreMet office, mainly cold anddry weather is expected inmost parts of the country in-cluding provincial capitalduring the next 24 hours.

According to local Metoffice,the weather remainedcold and dry in most parts ofthe country during last 24hours.Some of the coldestplaces in the country were:Parachinar -12øC, Hunza -09øC, Astore, Gupis -08øC,Kalam -07øC, Skardu, Kalat,Quetta -06øC, Chitral, Gilgit,Drosh -03øC. In the metropo-lis minimum temperature was3 degree centigrade onWednesday.—APP

BAHAWALPUR: Prizes being distributed among position holders of handicraft compe-tition organized by Social Welfare Department.

Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Khalid Rabbani meeting with Army Engineers busy in the openingof Lowari Tunnel.

Gen Rabbani laudsArmy engineers

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—Corps Com-mander Lieutenant GeneralKhalid Rabbani visited LowariTunnel and appreciated therole of Army Engineers whichdespite having adverseweather and heavy snow fallmaterialized all resources toopen Lowari Tunnel duringthe month of January.

According to an ISPR re-lease here, it is noteworthythat Army Engineers havemoved heavy machinery andequipment to the northernand southern bounds ofLowari Tunnel in order to re-move snow well in time.

It is pertinent to mentionthat since 5th November 2013up till now 10 spells of heavysnow fall have been recordedand currently 3 feet snow havebeen removed by the ArmyEngineers in order to make thesmooth flow of traffic.

During the last onemonth 7000 vehicles havesafely crossed the Tunnel.Moreover Chitral Scoutswith the help of Sarhad Ru-ral Support Program has re-cently completed the con-struction of waiting roomswhich are meant to facilitatethe passengers in the closevicinity of Tunnel.—APP

91 absconders apprehendedPESHAWAR—Advisor to Chief Minis-ter for Prisons, Malik Qasim KhanKhattak Wednesday informed Provin-cial Assembly that 91 out of 253 ab-sconder prisoners of D.I.Khan jail haveso far been apprehended. The Advisorhowever, did not make it clear thatwhether the 91 apprehended prisonersincluded any terrorist. Responding toa question of PML-N MPA AurangzaibNalotha during question hours, he said

that a total 23 terrorists were succeeded to flee from thejail during an attack by terrorists. The Advisor furtherinformed that enquiry is being conducted other prison-ers who managed to escaped with the terrorists. He saidthat since the terrorists were equipped with modern weap-ons and ammunitions so that police official on duty couldnot resist for a long time, adding that five police officialswere martyred during the encounter while nine receivedinjuries. He said the security agencies could not timelyrespond to the attack therefore, the terrorists suc-ceeded in break through the prison. He said that theprovincial government suspended Superintended Cen-tral Jail, SP Elite Force, DSP D.I.Khan and 25 officials ofElite force.—APP

Empowering securityforces to shoot

THE National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior has passed,with majority, Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, which would allow security forces to shoot suspected persons after warning. The law

has been necessitated in view of the increasing incidents of terrorism andthe need to remove legal lacunae in bringing the culprits to book.The fact that the proposed law has been passed with majority not unani-mously is an indication that some members or parties have some reserva-tions and these would be highlighted when the bill is placed before the twoHouses of the Parliament for debate and approval. Flaws, if any, wouldhopefully be removed and consensus arrived but there is absolutely no doubtthat we need such a legislation to enhance effectiveness of the law-enforc-ing agencies in tackling heinous crime and conferring powers of investiga-tion on Rangers. The intentions are good and we are sure that the authoritiesconcerned would not allow opposition on flimsy ground by some vestedinterests including NGOs in the name of protection of human rights. Thosespeaking about human rights always forget that personnel of the security forcesand members of the general public also have human rights, which are trampledby terrorists and criminals. These criminals even deny the right of life to theordinary people and take lives of law-enforcers during engagements and en-counters. Personnel of law-enforcing agencies are always in a disadvanta-geous position during such encounters as they are restrained by the law butthe terrorists and criminals go to any extent and as a consequence policemenand personnel of Rangers suffer grievously. The powers to shoot after givingnecessary warning would hopefully have deterring effect on crime and helpsave precious lives of security personnel, who would be in a better positionto respond in coin when the situation so demands. Similarly, there is nodenying the fact that fair and expeditious investigations are pre-requisitefor successful trial of any case but our Police force generally demonstratessluggish attitude mainly because of the element of corruption and therefore,empowering Rangers to investigate would ensure that those apprehendedare probed thoroughly and firm charges framed against them. We are in anemergent situation and therefore, must demonstrate urgency in dealing withthe situation in an expeditious, firm and comprehensive manner.

Indian army chief’sthunderous outburst

AT a time when there are signs of some improvement in relations between Pakistan and India, Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh

has come out with another provocative statement regarding ceasefire viola-tions on the Line of Control (LoC). Talking to media persons General Singhboasted of killing ten Pakistani soldiers along the LoC.

The tone and tenor of the Indian army chief was provocative as hestated that respecting ceasefire depends on the ground situation. He wenton to say to break the rules in the future as well, which one cannot expectfrom a person heading the world’s 3rd largest army. It is a known fact thatIndian troops indulge in violation of ceasefire along the LoC frequently andthis is particularly done when there are possibilities of improvement in re-lations at the diplomatic front. Pakistan Army spokesman rightly termedthe allegations of General Bikram Singh as baseless and contrary to factson the ground. After the meeting of DGMOs of the two countries the situ-ation along the disputed border had improved and there was no need ofmaking thunderous outburst by the Indian army chief. There is now littledoubt that being under constant pressure due to ground situation in occu-pied Kashmir, the leadership of the Indian army levels baseless allegationsagainst Pakistan in order to boost the morale of its troops. We would saythat the Indian political leadership need to give a thorough briefing to theheads of its armed forces about the policy of the government regardingrelations with neighbouring countries. If one goes by the statements of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and the army chief, there is huge contradictionin their stance towards Pakistan. In the given situation, we expect that theIndian government would take a serious notice of the statement of GeneralBikram Singh and give him a thorough dressing because his utterances andunilateral acts could lead to dangerous consequences.

Anti-Pakistanliterature all around

ACCORDING to media reports, Frontier Corps Balochistan, on Monday, seized a huge cache of anti-Pakistan literature during a raid on

Attashad Degree College Turbat. This included books, maps, posters, ban-ners and other subversive material and the objective of those behind thedastardly act was to use students for their ulterior motives on the dictates oftheir foreign handlers.

This is shocking but not strange as propaganda is widely being used toinfluence minds of people especially our young lot in a bid to shake theirfaith in the motherland. Propaganda material is widely used by differentpressure groups to advance their nefarious designs and interests but strangelyenough the authorities concerned have adopted an easygoing attitude to-wards this serious problem. Freedom of expression is something else butundermining the very foundations of the state is something quite different,which must not be tolerated. The action taken by FC Balochistan is appre-ciable and we hope it would work more diligently to foil designs of theenemy with active collaboration of the Provincial government. But the moreimportant aspect of the episode is to unmask the faces behind anti-statecampaign and bringing them to book. This is not the only case as numerousreports appear in media about teaching of this or that book or material inour educational institutions having anti-Pakistan contents or distortion ofthe history or facts. There are also reports of attempts aimed at widening ofthe sectarian gulf and even teachers are reportedly involved in such loath-some acts. It is quite obvious that secessionist elements, at the behest oftheir foreign masters, are trying to brainwash our younger generation, whichshould be a cause for concern. The Federal and Provincial Governmentsmust have a comprehensive review of the situation and issue firm direc-tions to local authorities to keep a constant vigil on such activities and moves.It is also a fact that only administrative measures would not suffice to foilattempts to these subversive elements and members of the civil society willalso have to play their role to counter and rebut anti-Pakistan propagandathrough modern-day means like Facebook and Twitter.

BD elections: End or beginning of a crisis?

Quixote orTughluq?

AFTER his dream debut inpolitics, India’s new maverick politician Arvind

Kejriwal will now have to displaysome statesmenship if he wants hisAam Aadmi Party (AAP) to per-form as well in the upcoming gen-eral elections as it did in the Delhiassembly polls. There is only a verythin line between the heroic and thebathetic and right now, his newschemes are pushing him towardsthe latter. The former tax official’sgrandiose plan to hold a jantadarbar, a mass meeting where thecommon man could meet the bigman and lay bare his problems, isnoble no doubt but impractical aswell, especially given New Delhi’spopulation, the number of discon-solate residents and the unrulycrowd behaviour that tends to leadto stampedes at so many publicprogrammes. The ambitious meeton Saturday had to be shelved hur-riedly as there were signs of thecrowds going berserk, seeking tocatch the new saviour’s eye, andnow, a wiser Kejriwal has decidedto replace them with his helplines,both through the Internet and phone.However, the pundits watching thenew ruler of Delhi have alreadystarted pointing out that the samechaos that prevailed at the massmeet will pursue the phonehelplines as well since there aren’tenough lines or enough people toman them. Also, with the deluge ofwoes that is expected to pour in, onewonders how the new chief minis-ter would be able to handle theminstead of being swept away.

Kejriwal has a predecessor whohad the same enthusiasm for re-forms but lacked the practical kno-whow to implement them. There areshades of Muhammad bin Tughluqabout him, the sultan who ruledDelhi in the 14th century. Tughluqwas regarded as a visionary aheadof his time. He tried to introducepaper currency and it led to the dis-appearance of gold and silver andsoaring inflation. So despite his pro-gressive ideas, Tughluq became abyword for quixotic schemes. TheAAP chief should take heed lest hisname too becomes a byword forsomething else. — Khaleej Times

*****

Syriancoalition

should attendGeneva II

THE fighting in Syria is continuing with increasing ferocity and brutality and millions

of Syrians in refugee camps havefled for their lives. This vast hu-manitarian disaster is growing bythe week and people are dying ev-ery day. This is why the talks inGeneva are so important, even ifthey may seem hugely optimisticand detached from the appallingreality on the ground.

The purpose of Geneva II is tobuild a political structure that willallow the different elements of theSyrian people to find their own so-lution. This may seem bizarre asthe fighting gets ever more brutaland dispersed, but Syria’s politi-cal leaders have failed their peopleand need to have a peaceful wayforward laid out so that it can befollowed by the Syrians.

This is why the Syrian NationalCoalition should attend the confer-ence. Their views should be heardand they should be part of the think-ing to chart the way forward. This iswhy the coalition chairman, AhmadAl Jarba, is making a mistake whenhe says that “the removal of BasharAl Assad from the picture of Syria’sfuture has entered the decisive stage”and is polling his field commanderson whether the Coalition should par-ticipate in the Geneva II meetings.He is talking from a very weak posi-tion and has lost control of manyparts of the opposition forces as dif-ferent opposition Islamist groups areattacking each other as well as whatis left of the Free Syrian Army.

It is also important that Iran isnot a full member of the GenevaII conference. Iran has backed theSyrian regime and has sent someof its armed forces to fight on be-half of Al Assad, along with unitsfrom Hezbollah, Iran’s client mi-litia in Lebanon. As the talks seeka way forward to define an interimregime, in which Al Assad willplay no part, Iran can play no use-ful part other than to stop support-ing Al Assad and withdraw itstroops from Syria. The answer toSyria’s problems will be found inSyria — not Iran. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

SHEIKH Hasina has beensworn in for a third spell asBangladesh’s Prime Minister,

after a violence ridden deadly Gen-eral Elections. Awami League (AL)party has won nearly 80 percent ofthe seats, which should allow it torule for another five years. But ana-lysts say the new government couldbe short-lived since Hasina faces adeepening political crisis and mount-ing calls for new polls from the in-ternational community and the Op-position. In a country that has expe-rienced nearly 20 coups, people arequestioning the legitimacy of thenew legislature and pondering overthe likelihood of another coup. Mili-tary could step in yet once again ifthe situation deteriorates further, andthere is adequate domestic supportand international backing.

The Opposition, led by two-times former Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia, has called for a block-ade of roads, rail and waterways totry to topple the government. Hasinahas vowed to take a hard-line standto bring stability. Police has con-firmed the arrest of more than 1,000Opposition activists in recent weeks,stressing that there have been spe-cific charges against each of the de-tainees. Crippling Opposition pro-tests, strikes and transport blockadessince October have already cost anestimated $4 billion in lost produc-tion. The turmoil is also likely toundermine efforts to improve the lotof country’s population of 154 mil-lion, out of this a third lives belowthe poverty line. The former EastPakistan is the world’s eighth mostpopulous nation but also one of thepoorest. Bangladesh’s General Elec-tions present an interesting casestudy. The vote credibility had been

undermined even before the pollingday, as 153 Awami League (AL)members or its allies were declaredelected unopposed to a House hav-ing 300 elected members beats. SinceOctober 2013, around 180 peoplehave died in electoral violence. Atleast 26 people were killed on thepolling day. Hasina Sheikh has ac-cused BNP of making a mistake byshunning the vote. Khaleda has ac-cused Hasina of murdering democ-racy. Politics in Bangladesh is ap-proached as a zero sum game be-tween the AL and BNP.

Elections have not only demon-strated the peoples’ lack of confi-dence in the government but alsoproved that, in an environment ofmistrust, free, fair, credible, peace-ful and participatory elections can-not be held without a non-party neu-tral government and an independentElection Commission. As per thesurvey conducted by Daily Star andAsia Foundation in September 2013,77 percent of respondents supportedelections being held under a neutralcaretaker government.

It is estimated that turnout was adismal 22 percent. In at least 41 poll-ing centres, not a single voter showedup. Election Commission has ac-knowledged that no election tookplace at 570 polling stations. Prior tothe election, Opposition mobs had setfire to at least 200 polling booths. At-tackers torched at least 127 schoolbuildings overnight before the votingbegan; nearly 600 polling stationswere attacked. Voting was suspendedin at least 390 of polling centres be-cause of attacks. The Daily Star,which is sympathetic to the AL, com-mented: “AL has won a predictableand hollow victory which gives itneither a mandate nor an ethicalstanding to govern effectively.”

The BNP called for the poll boy-cott over the question of an interimgovernment. Hasina is opposed tonon-party caretaker governments

overseeing elections as she is againstpower being vested in “unelected”people. The government created anall-party interim government, whichit headed; BNP opted out of that ar-rangement. However, neither Hasinanor Khaleda have much credibility oncaretaker governments overseeing theelections. Each has demanded a neu-tral caretaker when in Opposition,only to oppose this when in power.

Earlier, the AL government hadsought to weaken the Oppositionthrough a crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the country’s largest Is-lamist party, which was the BNP’smain ally. The government last yearsupported a case brought in the HighCourt that resulted in banning of theJI on the grounds that its programmecontravened country’s secular Con-stitution. The AL’s claim to be up-holding “secular fabric” ofBangladeshi society is simply a po-litical manoeuvre; party had no po-litical qualms about allying itself withJI during the 1996 general elections.

The European Union, the UnitedStates and the Commonwealth did notsend observers to monitor what theyconsidered a flawed vote. State De-partment spokeswoman Marie Harfsaid Washington was disappointedthat the major parties had not reacheda consensus on a way to hold free,fair and credible elections. TheUnited States has also called for a newvote that would credibly express the“will of the people”. The UNSG BanKi-moon was “saddened by the lossof life”, his spokesman said. Hecriticised both main parties and calledfor them “to resume meaningful dia-logue and to urgently address expec-tations of the people of Bangladeshfor an inclusive political process”.

The “Great Game” dimensionhas it that the US is concerned to un-dermine Chinese influence inBangladesh as part of its broader“pivot to Asia” aimed at counteringChina diplomatically and encircling

Parliamentarians’ travelling sans dignity

DESPITE the moral edge thatthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)movement has given to poli-

tics, a 16-member team of legisla-tors from the Congress-ruledKarnataka in the South was deter-mined to tour a few South Ameri-can countries at government ex-pense. It is the intervention of Con-gress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi,a reinvigorated person after thedrubbing the party received inRajasthan and Delhi elections, thatthey finally agreed to abandon thetrip, which was a joy ride, from thetax payers’ money.

The most shocking aspect, how-ever, is that the members goingabroad were from the State Esti-mates Committee, entrusted with thetask of saving superfluous expendi-ture. Representatives of both theCongress and the Bhartiya JanataParty (BJP) constituted a team forthe proposed tour. The BJP mem-bers developed sudden cold feetwhen some in the media criticizedthe junkets. The Congressmen cavedin after Rahul Gandhi pointed outthat the expense of Rs. 16 crore wasa waste when 60 districts of the statefaced drought and when more than200 farmers had committed suicide.

The members were technicallyjustified because the state assemblyhas laid down that the legislatorscould tour foreign countries twicein their five-year tenure. Probably,the same provision is offered tomembers in most other states as

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it militarily. American right-wingthink tank, the Heritage Foundation,has pointed out: “China is slowlybuilding up ties to Bangladesh andcompeting with India for dominancein the region.” The report noted thatBangladesh’s relations with Indiahad improved under the AL and ad-vised that the US should “facilitatestrong India-Bangladesh ties sinceNew Delhi’s influence in the coun-try will help blunt the growing Chi-nese presence.”

Bangladesh must look inwards.No one stopped Bangladesh frombringing the alleged perpetrators ofrapes and murders during the 1971war to justice for 42 long years. Thereason why the AL chose to do itnow is because Teesta Water shar-ing and the Indo-Bangladeshi landboundary agreements are yet tocome to fruition. Hasina faces ac-cusations that she has not been re-ciprocated by India. Best way tocome out of the accountability netfor its failed pro India foreign policyis to create an anti-Pakistan hype.

Over the years Pakistani busi-nessmen motivated by business in-terests and driven by the desire torevive old relations withBangladesh, have invested theircapital in Bangladesh. More than tenthousand Pakistanis have investedbillions of dollars in BangladeshUnfortunately domestic politics inBD has created an anti-Pakistan en-vironment. Presently Pakistani in-vestors in BD are faced with a con-stant state of uncertainty fearing ir-reversible setback to their businessdue to revengeful politics of the ALgovernment.

Hasina may have seriously mis-calculated in pressing ahead with theelection despiteOopposition’s boy-cott. An election result without apopular mandate raises more ques-tions than it answers.—The writer is a Consultant Policy& Strategic Response at IPRI.

well. The Andhra Pradeshlegislators are reportedlyplanning a trip abroad. TheAkali Dal government sentthe legislators to Scotland tosee how the scotch whiskeywas brewed.

All such trips are consideredstudy tours. Since the reports follow-ing the tours are not published, it isanybody’s guess whether the legis-lators submit anything in writing atall. In fact, they are all paid holidaysfor pleasure, something which thegovernment uses to placate its ownmembers and those in the Opposi-tion. And this favour is not confinedto legislators alone. Members of thecommittee of the Scheduled Casteand Minorities in Karnataka have justreturned from a 16-day trip abroad.Their itinerary showed that they werevisiting beaches, posh restaurants andpleasure resorts. I found the samecraze of going abroad among our Par-liamentarians. Since I was a nomi-nated member of the Rajya Sabha, Iwas never included in any such trip,because for the mediapersons, an eth-ics committee was sought to be setup to stop extravagant expenses. Thepolitical parties normally distributedthe “study tours” among themselves.It is flabbergasting that the LanguageCommittee members, including per-sons other than MPs, go to Englandand America every year to assess thespread of Hindi.

In fact, a foreign trip is as mucha craze in India as in Pakistan andBangladesh. The legislators therealso go abroad on one pretext or theother. Whether it is a hangover of the150-year colonial rule of the Britishor part of thoughtless expenditure ofthe burgeoning middle class is diffi-cult to say. Probably, both assump-

tions are correct. Yet, it cannot bedenied that a free foreign tour is thebest “bribe” any government can of-fer. Foreign countries in the Westknow this. Missions of the UnitedKingdom and the United States uti-lize this way to have the best of con-cessions. Top bureaucrats fall for “in-vitations” from abroad. It would berevealing to find out how many chil-dren of secretaries to the governmenthave gone abroad on scholarships orfully paid studies.

Foreign missions see to it that thechildren of highly-placed people aregiven pre-travel and full expenses on-boarding and lodging in schools, col-leges or other educational institutions.Unfortunately, bureaucrats are fallingprey to the generous hospitality offoreign missions. Since booze is freeand flows like water, you can spot outtop officials at parties of minor offi-cials of foreign missions. This greedis nothing new. It has been there sincea few years after independence.

India’s first Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru was so shocked bythe presence of Secretaries to theGovernment at parties of Third Sec-retaries in foreign missions that heissued a circular to instruct that thetop officials should respond to invi-tations of only foreign officials ofequivalent status. As days went by,the violations of the circular in-creased. Today it is free, for all. In-vitations are sought even by MPs.Prime Minister Manmohan Singhshould issue a circular on the linesNehru had done.

But I have lost hope after seeingthe manner in which the Governmentof India has suffered humiliation atthe hands of the State Department.Devyani Khorbragade was hand-cuffed and put in jail to share the cell

Experience is thebest teacher.

with criminals. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry has refused to tender anapology on the incident. It has nowbeen found that she enjoyed the fulldiplomatic immunity when she wasarrested. I am not surprised becauseof America’s arrogance of power.President Obama, who looked dif-ferent initially, has become part ofthe establishment. He does not ei-ther evoke confidence or hope. Heshould have himself rung up PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh to ex-press remorse. The loss is that ofAmerica’s. The Indians were begin-ning to feel that the US was differ-ent from the rest of West. That im-pression has dissipated. Washingtonmay talk of strategic ties and NewDelhi may reciprocate to be on thesame page with the biggest power.But this relationship will stay at theofficial level only. People of Indiawill remain distant. For them, thetreatment meted out to Devyani haslittle to do with the diplomatic nice-ties. They consider it as an instanceof the weight that Washingtonthrows about. The persistence inprosecuting Devyani says it all.

The entire case began whenDevyani was not paying her domes-tic servant the wages as per the USlaws. I recall when I was serving asan employee of the USIS at Delhi Itoo did not get the wages the Ameri-cans were getting. This is probablyunderstandable. But what I could notcomprehend was the additional al-lowances that the Americans weregetting while touring within thecountry as compared to the Indians,who accompanied them. I know thisfrom my experience.—The writer is a veteran Indianjournalist, syndicated columnist,human rights activist and author.

Kuldip NayarEmail:kuldipnayar09@gmail.com

Iqbal KhanEmail:tweets@wonderous101

Voice of the PeopleCreak down on

Muslim brotherhoodNISAR HUSSAIN

Muslim brotherhood, which al-ways preferred political struggleto armed struggle, is now strug-gling for its survival as in July lastyear military chief Gen AbdulFattah al-Sisi overthrew electedgovernment of Mohammad Morsiand subsequently start persecutionof leaders of Muslim Brotherhood.Since the coup, hundreds of civil-ians have died - mostly support-ers of Mohammad Morsi. Primafacie Egyptian interim govt is car-rying out cruel tactics to uproot apolitical force and to curb thestrong anti-coup movement firstlygovernment banned Muslim broth-erhood and then soon after carbomb attack on police building on24th December declared it a “ter-rorist” group although a Al Qaidaaffiliated group had claimed re-sponsibility of car bomb attack onpolice.

Such a violent crackdown onthe people who are demandingreinsstatment of an elected govtcould be dangerous if their senti-ments are exploited by extremists.

It is responsibility of worldleaders, particularly of Muslimworld, to play their role and com-pel Egyptian government either re-instate the elected government ofMohammad Mosri or announceimmediate fresh election under thesupervision of neutral care taker setup along with lifting ban on Mus-lim brotherhood that all politicalforces can participate in election.—Balochistan

Let’s make aproud Pakistan

BILAL MASOOD

I have returned home to Pakistanafter my one year studies in Den-mark and yes, people were sur-prised to see that I came at a timewhen most young people want tosettle abroad. Many said that Ishould have settled in any of thecountries I have visited. But, thedesire to serve my motherland andrepresent it with pride urged me toreturn to homeland. From an earlyage, I had a dream to raise our greenwhite flag with crescent and starflying high among all nations. Iwanted to portray the true imageof Pakistan and build friendshipsacross borders on mutual respectand Alhamdulillah I have suc-ceeded proudly.

My speeches, interaction withthe youth and civil society in for-eign lands, presenting the cultureof Pakistan by displaying scenicimages, giving away country’s bro-chures, gifts and showing videos ofsome of the breathtaking places,singing national anthem and folksongs, interviews to internationalpublications have been a small con-tribution to remove prevailing mis-understandings across cultures, tounderstand each other beyond bor-ders, and to give true perspectiveof Pakistan. While we need to ad-dress our issues at home, it is alsocrucial that when we are abroad,we put our country’s interest aheadof everything. The common citi-zens of the world I had an oppor-tunity to meet, all want a peacefulPakistan, and they wish to visithere, meet our hospitable peopleand be inspired by the beautygifted across our country. Thecountless blessings and wishes forthe progress of Pakistan I have re-ceived from foreign friends are tes-timony to the fact that world re-spects us if we respect our countryand feel proud about it.

Traveling to participate for theyouth programmes particularly insome of the South East and EastAsian countries has been of greatlearning for me. In this region, Ihave traveled so far to China, In-donesia, Malaysia, Singapore andSouth Korea. Comparably, all ofthese countries got independenceafter Pakistan, with Indonesia justtwo years before. Yet, their remark-able development has been an eye-opener to witness.

Common among these coun-tries is that the tumultuous timeswe are facing in Pakistan today, allof them had also faced in the past.For example, it took Malaysia 20years to finally defeat thesubversives. But then how it waspossible for these Asian tigers toreach the height of progress is amatter of just few decades. Can’tPakistan, which provided the tech-nical assistance to some of thesecountries, learn from it? Havingbeen there, their real success sto-ries can be summed up as a resultof good governance by successivegovernments, rigorous and target-focused implementation of devel-opmental projects with relentlesshard work and massive investmentin formal and informal education.

The unjust laws?ALAM SHEIKH

Endorsing the central theme of the ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ (Jan.14), it is pertinently hoped that our rulers of ‘ Roti, Kapra aur

Makan’ fame, will stop, not only the misuse of state property /buildings for personal use and would also see that no provision ofthe Constitution is violated, knowingly or un-knowingly, and thatno one, howsoever powerful one may think of himself, none of suchrulers, be allowed to play with or twist the basic laws of the land tosatisfy their personal lust for more power by the ‘entrenched ones’in their seat of authority. For this national, noble purpose, it ishereby suggested that all changes / amendments, made by such‘intruding-rulers’ in the 1973 Constitution, should be undone as‘un-Constructional’ by simple majority vote in the National As-sembly making the original abrogated law / laws as deemed to havebeen restored automatically. Such a provision will certainly facili-tate the rehabilitation of the sanctity of the basic law of the Land.Otherwise the sayings of St. Augustine will stand correct to remindus that ‘the unjust law is no law at all’. We must remove all suchunjust laws from the Constitution and become a more civilizednation and country.—Jhang.

Bangladesh: A different viewpoint

THE west-led internationalcommunity is unduly worriedabout the credibility of re-

cently concluded general electionsin Bangladesh, boycotted by majoropposition parties. This approach isfallacious and misses the woods forthe trees.

So much is happening inBangladesh with so little attentionfrom the world. Stakes are higherthan we recognize. Bangladesh isnot a small state like Burkina Fasoor a small island in the Pacific. It isa country with 155 million pluspopulation with a gigantic youthcommunity. It is overwhelminglyMuslim majority country. Millionsof Bangladeshi migrate and eke outtheir living in Europe, America,Middle East, South East Asia andeven in the neighboring India — acountry that follows secular democ-racy. Bangladesh is increasingly abig market with very substantialeconomic potential that we havelargely failed to realize.

The government led by AwamiLeague leader Sheikh Hasina hasreduced the gap between demandsfrom existing power consumers andavailable supply. Recently the gov-ernment celebrated achieving in-

stalled capacity of 10,000 MW ofelectricity and plans an addition ofcapacity over 11,500 MW by 2018.This is no mean achievement con-sidering that she took over from alevel of less than 4,000 MW only 5years ago.

Hasina’s achievements in pastfive years in the key sectors of edu-cation, health and agriculture arecommendable given the difficultiesin which the government operatedand the low levels from which ittook over. For years, textbooks ofschoolchildren remained withoutrevision. Most children could notget textbooks at all. In a poor LDCcountry, textbooks matter far morethan one imagines. Hasina’s gov-ernment got textbooks revised byprogressive university scholars de-leting topics, interpretations andreferences promoting fundamental-ism and parochial religious outlookamong young children for years.

Bangladesh is also one of thebest performing countries as far asthe United Nations’ MillenniumDevelopment Goals are concerned.Some of its key health indicatorsare better than in the neighboringIndia with nearly double its percapita income in real terms. Landto people ratio is one of the worstin world and yet Bangladesh hasachieved food sufficiency duringHasina’s tenure. The point here is

Views From Abroad

not really to eulogize the Hasina’sgovernment but to understand thecontext of the ongoing political tur-moil. In spite of all these, the coun-try is held down by a bloody politi-cal conflict marked by mutual ha-tred of top political leaders and byremarkably cruel street demonstra-tions by the rightist opposition. Onthe face of it reason for the ongo-ing conflict is government’s deci-sion to conduct general elections(now completed) under the presentelected government as it happens inmost other democracies. Earlierthere was a system of caretakergovernment of technocrats to con-duct elections. The opposition, ledby Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh Na-tionalist Party (BNP), demanded re-introduction of the former system.The Hasina government did notagree.

Below the surface, there couldbe other factors. The governmenthas embarked up on trials of thosepolitical activists who clearly com-mitted great atrocities against fel-low Bangladeshis who supportedsecession from Pakistan. In 1971these political activists, mostly be-longing to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), ledpillage, murder and rape of their op-position by way of helping the Pa-kistan Army. They also oversawethnic cleansing of minority Hin-dus, whose number saw drastic re-

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Afghanistan-Pakistan-India trilateral ties

INDIA’S involvement in the internal affairs of Pakistan since itsinception to create instability in

the country through Afghanistan hasremained a core problem in Pak-Af-ghan relations. India and Afghani-stan partnership became a majorsource of apprehension for Pakistanat both Eastern and Western borders.India supported whatever regimecame into power in Kabul that op-posed Pakistan. Whereas, Pakistan’srole has been seen negatively byAfghans as it did not contributemuch to the socio-economic sectorsof Afghanistan rather linked morewith Talibanization and their ruleand present activities have left se-vere damage on Afghans’ lives.

From the time Karzai got re-elected as Ppresident of Afghanistanin 2009, there is a welcome shift inhis policies towards Pakistan. Mostnotably, he has not only acknowl-edged the role of Pakistan in fight-ing militancy but has also stoppedissuing hostile statements and accu-sations against Pakistan for each andevery nuisance his country faces. Inthe wake of the planned US with-drawal, Karzai understands hewould be left alone and needs to se-cure himself with Pakistan’s assis-tance. The international politicalshift, post-Pak-US-strategic dia-logue, and the domestic situationdemand cooperative and friendlyrelations with Pakistan.

Both its democratic governmentand the military seek to have afriendly and stable Afghanistangiven the fact that anything happen-ing there impacts Pakistan and viceversa. Hence to overcome the cur-rent volcanic mess of insurgencyboth Pakistan and Afghanistan havea unanimous approach on resolvingthe issue. Pakistan had for the pastfew years kept on convincing the USthat military strategy alone was nota workable solution for ending ex-tremism in Afghanistan; but of nouse as US has its own way of han-dling the situation.

Now both Pakistan and Afghani-stan are committed to bringing theinsurgents to the negotiating tablethrough political strategy to end thewar. President Karzai and Pakistaniinstitutions, in collaboration as well

as independently, are making effortsin their own ways for persuadinghardcore elements to renounce insur-gency .During the NATOcommander’s conference in BrusselsGen. Kayani had offered to preparethe Afghan National Army (ANA)where the Taliban fighters opting forpeace would be integrated. Theproposition was aimed at helpingimprove relations between the twocountries and helping Afghanistanstabilize. The main idea is that bygiving training to the armed for,cesPak-Afghan interaction level wouldincrease which would in turn buildbetter mutual understanding, leadingto convergence of interests.

Keeping in mind the US exitstrategy both Afghan and Pakistanigovernments are holding peace ne-gotiations with the Taliban. Both Af-ghanistan and Pakistan are pursuingthe course alongside certain policydifferences of US on the matter be-ing reluctant to engage in talks withthe Taliban. Despite the officialstatements of the US administrationfor not negotiating with the insur-gents because the time is not rightand the Taliban are still strong, etc.,it seems that they are looking for-ward to the efforts pursued by Paki-stan in Afghanistan for softening theinsurgent’s stance into accepting thereconciliation process. The US na-tional security priority in Afghani-stan is to find a way for their honor-able exit from the country. For thepurpose they are expecting a solu-tion-based path from Pakistan, theirnon-NATO ally and now a strategicpartner, to prepare ground throughnegotiating with the hardcore insur-gents. Once the hardcore elementsare softened up, the US can enterinto the mainstream future arrange-ment through which it can leave thecountry while at the same time main-tain its influence by securing its in-terests in the resource-rich Afghani-stan and the region. Moreover, be-sides the Taliban’s setting foreignforces withdrawal as a preconditionfor talks is not in accord with toPakistan’s interest. Pakistan wantsthe support of the US and othermembers of the international com-munity with their presence in theregion so it could achieve a balancedstrategic relationship with the USvis-a-vis India in the region.

Besides, Karzai is also grapplingwith the problem of balancing In-dian and Pakistani interests in Af-

ghanistan. Continuing with the In-dia-Afghanistan nexus that reachedan extreme level during his first ten-ure is neither in the interest ofAfghanistan’s stability nor his ownregime. In the assessment report ofGen. McChrystal increasing Indianinfluence in Afghanistan was con-sidered unhelpful as it led to regionalhostilities and tensions with Pakistanwhich is unaffordable.

If President Karzai does not bal-ance Indian presence in the country,it will affect Pakistan’s cooperationtowards resolving the Afghanistancrisis. Today stakes are high for boththe Obama administration andKarzai government for achievingtheir goals. However, Obama wouldsurvive the pressures over Afghani-stan but this would not be the casefor President Karzai hence, the pres-sure is focused on him to come upwith such strategies that would bal-ance India’s role in the country andensure that Pakistan does not get of-fended with the resurrection ofconflictual issues like the DurandLine, etc. Still Indian presence can-not be curbed in Afghanistan be-cause of the fact that Afghans havea soft corner for India as being thefifth largest donor in Afghanistan’sreconstruction work it is lookedupon as a friendly country. Afghani-stan being an independent and sov-ereign country has its own strategicinterests that cannot be ignored orsidelined.

That’s why President Karzai isreluctant to put any curbs on Indiain Afghanistan; instead he tried tobalance the relationship with bothPakistan and India when he said In-dia ‘is a good friend’ while Paki-stan a ‘conjoined twin’ of Afghani-stan. Some analysts believe thatthough Pakistan is important in Af-ghanistan after the US withdrawsfrom there, yet not a key factor inits stability as believed in Pakistan.There are limitations to Pakistan’scapability in ensuring that Afghani-stan stays a friendly country. Howcrucial its role is in a future Af-ghanistan, depends on how muchresources Pakistan allocates forAfghanistan’s reconstruction anddevelopment. It is evident howmuch other powerful countries ofthe region like India, Iran, Russiaand China are spending onAfghanistan’s development whichis far more than what Pakistan hasbeen doing. Pakistan is playing an

important role as a mediator be-tween the Taliban and the Afghangovernment. Earlier, PresidentKarzai presented a plan in grandjirga which offered amnesty,money and job incentives forTaliban foot-soldiers while asylumfor top figures in fellow Muslimcountries and removal of theirnames from the UN and US black-lists which banned them from for-eign travelling as well. The chiefdemand of the Taliban before mak-ing peace with the government isthe withdrawal of foreign forcesfrom Afghanistan. The fighting isat its extreme intensity, with theTaliban gaining more strengthagainst massive foreign forces.The militants attacked the openingsession of the jirga with guns androckets. They are presently in astronger position which gives themlittle reason to surrender and ac-cept peace. That’s why Pakistan’sassistance is requested to use what-ever influence it is considered hav-ing over them to get them to laydown arms and accept peace. Sofar Pakistan has shown willingnessto act as a broker in a deal betweenthe Karzai government and theTaliban. Pakistan took up task ofbecoming an intermediary bybridging differences between theHaqqani network and Karzai govt.

Both President Karzai and theObama administration are backingPakistan because of edge it has indealing with the Taliban. OncetheWestern troops leave or even re-duce their numbers the Karzai gov-ernment would be in a weaker po-sition. The country would be leftwith a vacuum that would be openfor manipulation by multiple pow-ers. Before this happens Pakistan’sassistance and support is cruciallyrequired in bringing insurgents topeace talks or else whole messmight pose a challenge to Pakistan’sexistence. Pakistan has got an op-portunity to come out of isolationimposed on it by Bush administra-tion despite Pakistan’s unparalleledefforts in the war on terror, Indiaand President Karzai with Indiansupport against Pakistan. Hence,Pakistan must continue with thiscooperative relationship so that itcan regain influence in Afghanistan.— The author is defence anddiplomatic studies scholarassociated with the mainstreammedia.

MOST of us hate criticism.We like being surroundedby yes men. Quite often I

see photos of politicians, especiallystate ones, with the chief ministerstanding erect surrounded by min-isters who are literally leaning overhim or her.

The chief minister is obviouslya person who will not tolerate criti-cism, but unfortunately that is whatcauses their downfall. They can-not tolerate holding a mirror tothemselves. Two brothers fulfilledtheir mother’s last wish by hiring

a small plane to carry them out tosea where they might scatter herashes. One of the two pilots openedthe cockpit door and the brothers im-mediately emptied the contents ofthe urn into the wind. But a stiffbreeze blew the ashes back into thecabin, dusting the four startled oc-cupants.

A moment’s stunned silence,and then one of the young mensighed, “Just like Mom – she wasalways all over everyone.”

Maybe she was a critical person.But children, especially, often feelas if parents are “always all overthem” when all those parents usu-ally want is for their children to bethe best they can be. A humorist oncesaid, “Honest criticism is hard totake, particularly from a relative, afriend, an acquaintance or a

stranger.” And Norman VincentPeale adds this: “Most of us wouldrather be ruined by praise than savedby criticism.” Few of us enjoy theexperience when others point outareas for improvement. After all,who wants to hear what they don’twant to hear?

Criticism is hard to take and weall would opt for praise over criti-cism every time. I hold that encour-agement is often more effective thancriticism. I will work harder and withmore enthusiasm when I am encour-aged, and I know I can get the bestout of others if I spend more timepointing out what they did right thanwhat they did wrong. But that said– honest feedback is a necessity. Toshy away from fair criticism, spo-ken by someone trusted, may be agreat mistake. Those who are wise

Hold a mirror to your life..!will occasionally seek out some-body they trust to hold a mirrorbefore them in order to see them-selves more accurately. To knowthe truth and to see ourselvesclearly, as reflected in the eyes ofa friend, is an immeasurable gift.

And here’s the surprisingtruth: As you gaze at yourself inthe mirror, you will see far morethan your flaws. You also will seethe beauty that is uniquely you;beauty that others see clearly andyou may hardly know exists.

That is also part of the truthabout you. If you’re courageousenough, allow someone to hold amirror before you. Plato says,“The unexamined life is not worthliving.” But a life properly exam-ined makes living worthwhile..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

duction in Bangladesh — markingpossibly one of the largest en-forced demographic changes any-where in the world. Their trials arebelated but they enjoy wide popu-lar support. As can be expectedmost of those accused are now inJI and BNP. Obviously, BNP andJI are enraged. ProgressiveBangladeshis feel that JI and itsally aim at creating anarchy andmayhem to dislodge the govern-ment.

Bangladesh is at a crossroads.It is either poised to leap frog toprosperity and secular way of lifeor to go down the slippery path offundamentalism. Decades ago Pa-kistan held similar economic andsocial promises but the West al-lowed her to choose the worsepath. Today the implications willbe higher for the western world.Simply put, Bangladesh is not aproblem or promise in South Asia,she is a global concern and shouldbe acknowledged as such.

The moot point is religiousfundamentalism versus economicand social progress in a large andrising country. We cannot ignorepossible takeover of Bangladeshby radicals. The writer is a NewDelhi-based columnist and strate-gic analyst who tweets@Kishkindha.— Courtesy Arab News

Rajeev Sharma

Sumera MirzaEmail:sumi.shaw@yahoo.com

In my last visit to South Korea, theDeputy Director of the InternationalExchange programme from theMinistry of Gender Equality andFamily explained me that the Gov-ernment of Korea is massively in-vesting in the education at the el-ementary and middle school levelswith free education. Fifty years ago,because of the Korean Civil War,social conditions in the countrywere disadvantageous, with no fos-sil fuel and no natural resources. Hepointed out that for a country toprogress, a strong will from thegovernment is required and Korealuckily had it. Moreover, parentswere also aware of the importanceof schools to raise their children’ssocial status.

During my stay at the NationalYouth Center of Korea in the middlesize city of Cheonan, I discoveredthat when students are going for en-trance exams to the National Uni-versity, the policemen, volunteersand ambulances are there to ensurethat every student reach the exami-nation venue and no student is late.Remarkably, if any student is stuckin traffic then the volunteers arethere to rescue, however it is a tragicirony to observe that here in Paki-stan, examination are being post-poned due to violence.

Korea has youth leaders, withnational licences, nurtured as pertheir Framework Act on Juveniles,which defines the nurturing and al-location of youth leaders. In Paki-stan, we have no specialized youthworkers’ training and official regis-tration of youth workers, somethingwe need to craft.

We not only need a vision butbigger dreams and hope from ourpeople, particularly youth. We needto stay optimistic and have full faiththat after the worst days, better dayswill follow. We are blessed with ev-erything and no wonder why wecan’t come out of our challenges.Let’s make Pakistan proud by doingwhatever good we can in our capaci-ties, wherever possible and beyondour limits.—Via email

Aitezaz Hassan, abrave son of

PakistanALI ASHRAF KHAN

An article titled ‘Legislators shyaway from honouring the braveryof teenaged Aitizaz Hasan has ap-peared in Pakistani media’ explain-ing that while the young Aitezazwithin a second decided to act inthe face of danger and stop the sui-cide attacker’s nefarious attempt toendanger the lives of his schoolfriends and the very school build-ing, not caring what would be theconsequence for him the legislatorsof his Provincial Assembly aremuch less courageous: they areeven afraid to acknowledge thebravery of their son of the soil be-cause they are fearing for their ownlives and are afraid of the terroristsand their possible revenge.

These are the same people whohave won the elections with the slo-gan of ‘change’ and ‘tsunami’headed by their leader Imran Khan.Where has the tsunami gone, wheredo they think change will comefrom? One needs courage to changethings, as much courage as Aitizazhad shown when he sacrificed hislife. His bravery has given us hope,which these legislators have de-stroyed immediately. Poor Pakistan!—Karachi

Appeal forfinancial assistance

NOOR-UL-AMIN

My father, Daud Khan is a formeremployee of Airport Security Force(ASF). During his service, he de-veloped Hepatitis disease and wasmedically boarded out by the de-partment in 2011. He received ameagre gratuity of Rs. 300,000/-from the department, which was

spent on his very costly treatmentin Peshawar and Bannu hospitals.Recently his condition became veryserious and was perforce shifted toBannu headquarters hospital formedical check-up.

According to the medical report,he (my father) has got Liver Cirrho-sis, which means that his liver hasbeen permanently damaged and heneeds to be transplanted as soon aspossible.

Being the elder son of my par-ents I do not know how to transplanthis liver and where from resourcesare to be collected for this costliertreatment. I am deeply worried aboutthe health of my father as due toacute financial position I am at a lossto provide sufficient medicines tohim. Is there any one God fearingenough to help me in saving life ofmy beloved father from the deadli-est disease? Or will the ASF and itsauthorities come forward to takeover the burden of old-age ailmentof one of its employees who servedit during his hey-days?—Lakki Marwat

Illiteracy marsaccess to justice

HASHIM ABRO

While visiting different parts of thecountry, particularly, those of theSindh Province, I have logicallyconcluded that apart from extremepoverty, another significant ob-stacle to the realization of accessto justice in the rural Pakistan is thehigh level of illiteracy prevalent inthe country today. It is most unfor-tunate that the socio-economicstructure of the country has madeit impossible for the vast majorityof Pakistanis to have access to edu-cation, notwithstanding the variousdevelopment plans andprogrammes by the successive gov-ernments, which emphasized theimportance of education but unfor-tunately nothing was virtually doneon the ground.

This problem has been worsenedby the current collapse of publicschools, including varsities, whichhave now made education an exclu-sive commodity to be purchased andconsumed by the bourgeoisiethrough private institutions.

Yet the inestimable value ofeducation and its capacity to em-power the citizenry can hardly beover-emphasized. An educated manwill easily adapt to the realities ofthe situation and have the intellec-tual capacity to insist on the en-forcement of his rights, quite un-like the illiterate. Education thusempowers him/her to maximize theopportunities and resources avail-able in his/her environment.

Since education has the capac-ity of liberating the individual fromignorance, poverty and disease, thelack of it has serious mental, politi-cal and economic implications,which greatly impede ‘access to jus-tice’ in Pakistan. At a particularlevel, it breeds poverty, docility, andeven forced connivance with agentsof oppression and marginalization.The net result is that, today, a largemajority of Pakistanis do not haveaccess to social justice and arealienated from the political and eco-nomic structures of society. But un-fortunately to provide “ access tojustice” to the people of this coun-try by promoting literacy, espe-cially, lego-literacy, and alleviatingpoverty, is not the prime concern ofour ruling elite in Pakistan.—Islamabad

Bomb attacks hit the Iraqi capital Baghdad and a village near the northern town of Baquba killing at least 62 people.

HASSAN BARARI

Long time observers of Middle East politics are skepticalwith regard to American efforts to mediate between Israeland the Palestinians Authority. Israeli Prime Minister Ben-

jamin Netanyahu made it perfectly clear that he would opposeany reference to Jerusalem in the framework agreement beingworked out by US Secretary of State John Kerry. This statementreveals a rift in the position of Kerry and Netanyahu over the coreissue of the conflict.

To be sure, Israeli top leaders see no point of responding posi-tively to Kerry’s relentless effort to jumpstart the peace talks un-less the framework agreement is in line with Israeli demands. Inthe end, many Israeli leaders do not believe that the Americanadministration is in any position to exercise pressure on their gov-ernment. It seems that short of a presidential interference,Netanyahu is not expected to cooperate with Kerry and act ingood faith.

And yet, President Obama learned the hard way that he couldnot put pressure on the Israeli government. Just two years into hisfirst term, he acknowledged that he had overestimated his abilityto impact Netanyahu. For this reason, Obama is not identifyinghimself with what Kerry has been doing for fear of failure. Thatdoes not mean that Obama would not throw his lot if there were achance for success!

The irony is that it would be highly unlikely that Kerry cansell his framework agreement to the Arab side if Jerusalem is leftout. For the Arab side, Jerusalem is the key issue and resolving itcan lay the foundations for historical reconciliation between Is-rael and its adversaries. We all remember when the late Arafatturned down Israeli offer for peace during Camp David talks sim-ply because the Israelis failed to offer enough on Jerusalem. Onmore than one occasion, Arafat made it perfectly clear that no onecan concede East Jerusalem for the Israelis.

It remains to be seen how Israeli leaders can sell their posi-tion while the Arabs are united behind the issue of Jerusalem. Ofcourse, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas can be flexible butnot on Jerusalem. But Netanyahu’s position should not be takenat face value. He understands the centrality of Jerusalem for thePalestinian negotiators and he understands pretty well that ifJerusalem were not on the table, no Palestinian negotiator wouldshow up. It seems that this is exactly what Netanyahu would liketo see. Put differently, Netanyahu seeks to undermine the processbecause the domestic political price for peace is extremely highthat Netanyahu may not be able to afford.

Additionally, while Israelis continue paying lip service to thetwo-state solution, they have been creating facts on the ground topresent them as a fait accompli. As soon as Kerry left Israel lastweek, the Israeli government announced that 1,400 more newhousing units would be built on Palestinian land. Netanyahu’sdecision to go ahead with the new settlements plan helps himkeep his ruling coalition intact. It is as if Netanyahu has to ap-pease the pro-settlement components of his government at theexpense of the Palestinians.

While the construction of new housing units and the persis-tence of settlement activities can destroy the peace process, theIsraeli government does not pay any price for defying the interna-tional law by building settlements on the occupied territories.Contrary to what the Palestinian negotiators said, there is simplyno price tag on Israel’s policy on settlements.

Just a few days ago, the Palestinian chief negotiator, SaebErakat, said that President Abbas should forget about peace talkswith Israel and find another avenue. This is exactly what wouldrelief Netanyahu. I am not making the argument that Abbas shouldgive in to Israeli terms but I argue that Netanyahu does not feelthat he has to start a genuine peace process.

If anything, the American administration should understandthat any effort that fails to address the Palestinians’ minimumdemands including Jerusalem would have no chance to succeed.Therefore, Kerry’s mission will be futile if he thinks that the Ar-abs may accept to leave Jerusalem out of the framework agree-ment or Israel continues its settlement activities.

—Courtesy Arab News

ME peace: Kerry’smission impossible

TIM HANSTAD

WHEN TyphoonHaiyan struck thePhilippines in No-

vember, killing more than6,000 people and leaving morethan four million homeless,one group was particularlyhard hit: the landless poor.More than a thousand of thedead lived in a single squattercamp.

While natural disastersmay seem like equal-opportu-nity destroyers, they are not.

The developing world’slandless poor routinely bear thebrunt of these disasters. Fami-lies without secure rights toland (and that is a majority ofrural residents in many devel-oping countries) often remainin their homes when it is dan-gerous to do so, fearing theywon’t be allowed to return.

How the poor get washed awayAnd without the security ofownership and access to collat-eral, their homes are often notbuilt to withstand earthquakes,typhoons and other disasters.

This has profound conse-quences that extend far beyondthe squatter camps and planta-tions with their legions of im-poverished laborers.

Landlessness and the lack ofsecure property rights among thepoor not only hurt a country’sresiliency and slow post-disas-ter recovery. Those inequitiesalso hold back economic devel-opment, perpetuate poverty andfan social tensions. Fixing thisproblem is not easy. But manycountries, including South Ko-rea, Vietnam and Rwanda, havereformed their laws and institu-tions to provide the rural poorwith enforceable rights to thelands they live on and farm.

Those success stories are

important because the vulner-ability of the world’s landless —squatters, indigenous people,farm laborers and tenant farm-ers — cannot be overstated.

Consider the case of the cy-clone that struck the Indian stateof Orissa in 1999, killing an es-timated 10,000 people. One-third of the dead were poor fish-ermen and their families whorefused to evacuate their coastalvillages, believing it was a ployto evict them from the govern-ment land where they had builttheir huts. Those communitieswere washed away.

Fears of displacement bygovernment officials and devel-opers are not unfounded. In thePhilippine city of Tacloban,which was ravaged by TyphoonHaiyan, government officialsare considering buying a six-acre parcel that was a squattercamp and preventing reconstruc-

tion. This is just one of manyreported cases of efforts to seizevaluable land vacated by occu-pants who fled Haiyan andlacked legal title.

Likewise, consider the situ-ation in Haiti. Almost four yearsafter a powerful earthquakestruck the island nation, morethan 100,000 people, the major-ity of them poor and landless,remain in tents or other tempo-rary shelters, and many othershave moved in with relatives.

A key factor hampering re-building efforts is the lack of se-cure land rights among the dis-placed. A 2012 report by the Lon-don-based Overseas DevelopmentInstitute described a “chaotic” and“almost Kafka-esque” land tenuresystem in Haiti in which “it is al-most impossible to know defi-nitely who owns what.”

Time and again, those whohave the least lose the most. But

it doesn’t have to be this way.In the Indonesian province

of Aceh, devastated by a tsunamiin 2004, the government reliefeffort initially fell short. Dis-placed renters and squatters re-ceived only small cash paymentsto buy building materials or topay rent, while landowners re-ceived new homes.

Years later, tens of thou-sands of squatters and renterswere still living in squalor intemporary barracks. Protestsensued, and government offi-cials agreed to provide themwith new homes built either atthe sites of their old homes or innew locations — all with securetitle to the land.

Aceh has since made a re-markable recovery. The regionis at peace, the economy isgrowing, life expectancy is in-creasing and poverty is falling.While providing the poor with

secure land rights was notsolely responsible for theprogress, the recovery couldnot have been achieved untilthe fundamental issue of landrights was addressed.

The recent disaster in thePhilippines could provide theopportunity for the country tosweep away the biggest road-block to growth and stabilitythere — the widespread lack oflandownership among the poor.

The international commu-nity should seize this moment,as aid continues to pour in, topress for enforcement of thecountry’s long-ignored landtenure reform laws. Thelandowning elite has resistedthese reforms, but implement-ing them will help the countryand its landless poor recoverand prosper.

—Courtesy The NewYork Times

OUYANG WEI

At a news conference on Jan 6, President of the Republic ofKorea Park Geun-hye said that relations between her country and China have become closer than ever, and she ex-

pressed the hope that the two sides will remain committed to im-proving the well-being of the two peoples and realizing peaceand stability in Northeast Asia.

The good momentum in the development of relations betweenthe two countries has served as a positive element amid the secu-rity instability caused by the rapidly evolving strategic landscapein Northeast Asia and the faltering denuclearization process onthe Korean Peninsula.

In her visit to China in June last year, Park reached consensuswith her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on enriching China-ROKrelations, and they issued the China-ROK Joint Statement for theFuture and the Action Plan to Enrich China-ROK Strategic Co-operative Partnership, charting the course for the development ofbilateral relations in the coming years.

From a historical perspective, China and the DemocraticPeople’s Republic of Korea have traditionally shared ties of friend-ship, and the ROK and the United States have maintained a mili-tary alliance. So the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and thehostility between Washington and Pyongyang have, to a certaindegree, impeded the development of China-ROK relations. Butdespite this drag on strengthening political and security coopera-tion, the strong economic ties and their common interests in re-gional peace and stability have brought China and the ROK closertogether in recent years.

Long gone are the Cold War days when China was inclined toengage with the DPRK and estrange itself from the ROK. Today,China is seeking friendly relations with the two peninsula coun-tries based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.At a time when there is no quick fix to the peninsula issue and theDPRK’s nuclear program, the deepening China-ROK ties carry sig-nificant weight in promoting peace and stability on the peninsula.

The deepening of relations between China and the ROK con-tributes to the peninsula’s stability through various approaches.Above all, it helps reduce the possibility of conflict on the penin-sula. With a growing stake in the ROK, Beijing has attached greatimportance to its relations with Seoul. Obviously, the consequencesof a war on the peninsula are beyond calculation for China, andthat is why Beijing is taking the initiative in trying to solve thepeninsula issue.

By deepening their relations, China and the ROK can makeconcerted efforts to ease the tension between the DPRK and theROK by facilitating the trust-building process, supporting theNorth-South dialogue and developing bilateral and multilateraleconomic and trade relations. This will boost the DPRK’s eco-nomic development and social progress and hence stabilize thesituation on the peninsula.

The deepening of China-ROK relations can also help increasepolitical mutual trust and security cooperation between the twocountries. By eliminating the antagonistic feelings that were aproduct of the Cold War, the two countries can bring their bilat-eral relations to a higher level, and having friendly ties with boththe ROK and the DPRK, China can play a greater role as media-tor in the peninsula issue.

With their great potential and demonstrated resilience, China-ROK relations can serve as a point of breakthrough in improvingrelations between the ROK and DPRK, and so in solving the pen-insula issue. The constant development of China-ROK relationstestifies that the strategic situation in Northeast Asia is not static.

—Courtesy China Daily

Better China-ROKrelations

LONDON—British Prime Min-ister David Cameron said, hehad not so far seen any evidencethat the government of Marga-ret Thatcher had helped Indiaplan a deadly attack against Sikhseparatists in the Golden Templeat Amritsar in 1984.

Cameron ordered a reviewinto the matter after newly re-leased official papers suggestedthat Thatcher, then prime min-ister, had sent an officer inBritain’s elite SAS special airservice to advise the Indians onthe raid.

“I would note that so farthere has not been any evidenceto contradict the insistence bysenior Indian army commandersresponsible at the time that the

Golden Temple attack

Britain: No evidenceof SAS role

responsibility for this wasplanned and carried out solelyby the Indian Army,” Camerontold parliament.

Sikh groups have said theywere shocked by the idea thatBritain may have been involvedin the attack, a bloody episodewhich angered Sikhs around theworld and triggered the revengeassassination of Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi.

Cameron said on Wednes-day he wanted the review to es-tablish whether Britain had beeninvolved in any way.

The death toll remains dis-puted, with Indian authoritiesputting it in the hundreds andSikh groups in the thousands.—Reuters

Bosnia housesancient

manuscriptsSARAJEVO—During Bosnia’s1992-95 war and the siege ofSarajevo, residents moved a col-lection of ancient books and manu-scripts to eight different locationsto save them from destruction.

Thanks to a $9 million dona-tion from Qatar, Bosnia’s presi-dent and a Qatar minister openeda new library in the heart of theOttoman-era Old Town section ofSarajevo to house those books andmore than 100.000 manuscripts.The oldest is a handwritten Is-lamic encyclopaedia that waswritten in Arabic in 1105.

The Gazi Husrev-bey Libraryis located on the site of a famousmosque of the same name that wasopened in 1531. The books andmanuscripts were kept in 1537-1863, then moved to anotherbuilding. The new library standswhere the original one did.—AP

EU calls forstronger response

to extremismBRUSSELS—The EuropeanUnion’s executive arm is callingfor stronger, coordinated actionto combat what it calls the ris-ing threat of violent politicalextremism in Europe.

EU home affairs commis-sioner Cecilia Malmstrom saidWednesday too few EU membercountries are facing up to thethreat. She says the bloc needs“strong, preventive measures tocounter extremism in all itsforms.” Malmstrom and otherEU commissioners want the Eu-ropean Union and its 28 memberstates to act in 10 areas.—AP

Kuwait leads aid pledgesfor war-ravaged Syria

BANGKOK—Thailand’s gov-ernment stuck to a plan for aFebruary election on Wednesdaydespite mounting pressure fromprotesters who have broughtparts of Bangkok to a near-standstill, and said it believedsupport for the leader of the agi-tation was waning.

Some hardline protestersthreatened to blockade the stockexchange and an air traffic con-trol facility if Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra had notstepped down by a deadlinemedia said was set for 8 p.m.(1300 GMT).

There was no apparent move-ment as the deadline came andwent. The unrest, which flared inearly November and escalated this

Thai PM stands firm onelection, says protests flagging

week when demonstrators occu-pied main intersections of thecapital, is the latest chapter in aneight-year conflict.

The political fault line pitsthe Bangkok-based middle classand royalist establishment againstthe mostly poorer, rural support-ers of Yingluck and her brother,Thaksin Shinawatra, a formerpremier ousted by the military in2006 who is seen as the powerbehind her government.

Yingluck invited protest lead-ers and political parties to discussa proposal to delay the generalelection, which she has called forFebruary 2, but her opponentssnubbed her invitation.

After the meeting, the gov-ernment said the poll would go

ahead as scheduled, and it de-rided the leader of the protestmovement, Suthep Thaugsuban.

“We believe the election willbring the situation back to nor-mal,” Deputy Prime MinisterPongthep Thepkanchana toldreporters. “We can see that thesupport for Mr. Suthep is declin-ing. When he is doing somethingagainst the law, most people donot support that.”

Speakers at protest sitesacross central Bangkok havegiven the impression Yingluckis worn out and eager to quit. Butshe seemed relaxed and cheer-ful at the meeting, which washeld inside an air force base nearDon Muang International Air-port.—Reuters

NEW DELHI—A 51-year-oldDanish tourist was gang-rapednear a popular shopping area inNew Delhi after she got lost andapproached a group of men fordirections back to her hotel, po-lice said Wednesday.

The attack is the latest crimeto focus attention on the scourgeof sexual violence in India. Thewoman also was robbed andbeaten in the attack, which hap-pened Tuesday near ConnaughtPlace, police spokesman RajanBhagat said.

The woman asked the menfor directions to her hotel, Bhagatsaid. They lured her to a secludedarea where they raped her atknife-point, according to thePress Trust of India news agency.

The woman managed toreach her hotel Tuesday eveningand the owner called police.Police were questioning severalsuspects but no arrests have beenmade.

“When she came, it wasmiserable,” said Amit Bahl,owner of the Amax hotel in the

Indian police: Danishtourist gang-raped

Paharganj area, which is popu-lar with backpackers. Thewoman was crying and “not ingood shape,” he said.

“I am really ashamed thatthis happened,” said Bahl, whosounded shaken. A sign outsidethe hotel reads, “Recommendedby Lonely Planet.”

The woman, whose namewas not released, was on her wayback to Denmark, said OleEgberg Mikkelsen, head of theDanish Foreign Ministry’s con-sular department in Copenhagen,which handles cases involvingDanes abroad. Egberg Mikkelsensaid the woman had received as-sistance from Indian and Danishauthorities, and that her next ofkin had been contacted.

The cases threaten India’slucrative tourism industry. Lastyear, the Tourism Ministrylaunched an “I Respect Women”campaign to reassure travelers.Tourism accounted for 6.6 per-cent of India’s GDP in 2012, thelatest year for which figures areavailable.—AP

KUWAIT CITY—Kuwait, theUnited States and other donornations have so far promisedmore than $1.2 billion of newfunding to alleviate the sufferingof Syrians affected by theircountry’s civil war at the start ofan international fundraising con-ference Wednesday that aid offi-cials hope will help cover billionsof dollars needed this year.

Millions of Syrians havebeen driven from their homes asa result of the crisis, now in itsthird year, and getting aid tomany of those in need remainsa challenge because they remaintrapped in communities be-sieged by the fighting.

The United Nations is ask-ing for a staggering $6.5 billionthis year to help Syrians affected

by the war, its largest-ever fund-ing appeal for a single crisis.Officials don’t expect to raisethe entire amount in Kuwait butdo hope the gathering focusesgreater international attention onthe conflict.

“The fighting has set Syriaback by years, even decades,”U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the start of the eventat the lavish Bayan Palace in theKuwaiti capital. Ban said hu-manitarian and developmentagencies “face unprecedenteddemands” because of the crisis,and that it “is vital ... the burdenbe shared” in helping meetSyria’s growing aid needs.

Kuwait’s emir, Sheik SabahAl Ahmad Al Sabah, opened theconference by pledging $500

million, significantly topping theOPEC member nation’s pledgeof $300 million last year.

He pressed the U.N. Secu-rity Council to exert greater ef-fort in bringing an end to thecrisis, and urged all those fight-ing in Syria to “put the fate oftheir country and the safety oftheir people above all other con-siderations.”

Kuwait’s Gulf neighborSaudi Arabia promised an addi-tional $60 million, saying thatwould boost its existing roundof funding to a total $250 mil-lion, though it did not specify thetime period. It promised $300million at last year’s conference.

Nearby Qatar also promised$60 million Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State John

Kerry said the U.S. pledge of$380 million will bring bringsAmerica’s humanitarian aid con-tribution to Syrian victims to$1.7 billion since the war began.

Half of the money — $177million — will go to U.N. pro-grams for victims still in Syria.The rest is for neighboring na-tions that have taken in an esti-mated 2.3 million refugees.

The Kuwait meeting, chairedby Ban, takes place a week be-fore peace talks on Syria are dueto be held in Switzerland. TheU.N. chief on Tuesday visited aSyrian refugee camp in northernIraq, where he praised the largelyautonomous Kurdish regionalgovernment for hosting morethan 200,000 refugees on terri-tory it administers.—AP

BANGUI—Ibrahim Abakarsleeps with a machete at his side,terrified the darkness will bringdeath or disappearance as it didfor his wife and young sons whenarmed Christian fighters showedup at their door in the capital ofCentral African Republic.

Returning to the land of hisbirth isn’t an option thoughSouth Sudan is now on the brinkof civil war, mired in conflictjust as the area was when he fledfrom there more than two de-cades ago.

“I can’t return and I can’tstay here,” the 38-year-old Mus-lim said desperately. “I just wantto go somewhere there is peace.I have seen too many peoplehere killed in front of me.”

Death is possible if he stays,or if he goes to the only othercountry that will take him.Abakar has spent most of his lifein Central African Republic,where he also married his wife,but has no passport to travel with.

Abakar’s dilemma under-scores the volatility of this cor-ner of the world, where the deep-ening crisis in Central AfricanRepublic has forced some to fleeacross borders to desperatelypoor and unstable countries likeChad and Congo. Others arenow escaping to home countrieswhere they don’t even speak thelocal language fluently, and havefew remaining relatives or jobprospects.

Central African Republichas long teetered on the brink ofanarchy, but the new unrest un-

Nowhere to go forS.Sudanese in CAR

leashed by a March 2013 couphas ignited previously unseensectarian hatred between Chris-tians and Muslims. More than1,000 people were killed in De-cember alone and nearly 1 mil-lion displaced.

The United States closed itsembassy in Bangui last year andurged its citizens to leave. ManyAfricans with businesses andfamily ties to Central AfricanRepublic, though, chose to stayafter the March coup. The im-perative to leave now has spikedas the country’s minority Mus-lim population has come undergrowing recriminatory attacksfrom Christians.

Abakar is one of 67 SouthSudanese who are currentlystuck in Bangui, according toDaniel Anakleto, a representa-tive for the community of SouthSudanese refugees that includesboth Christians and Muslims.

Tens of thousands of otherAfricans mostly Muslims havebeen repatriated home toCameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast,Mali, Niger, Nigeria andSenegal in recent weeks, accord-ing to the United Nations.

Hundreds of Malians havebeen brought back to the capitalof Bamako after seeking refugeat the Senegalese consulate inBangui because the Malians donot have an embassy there. An-other 550 people were beingbrought back to Mali on Tues-day and Wednesday by the In-ternational Organization forMigration.—AP

MOSCOW—Three Russian ser-vicemen and four gunmen werekilled in a shootout in southernRussia on Wednesday during asweep for militants before theSochi Winter Olympics.

Russia’s National Anti-ter-rorism Committee (NAC) saidthe dead gunmen included a manaccused of carrying out a carbomb attack in the city ofPyatigorsk late last year whichkilled three people. Russia in onhigh alert following two suicidebombings in southern Russia lastmonth that fuelled security con-cerns before the Olympics, whichIslamist militants waging an in-

Russian security forces battlemilitants before Olympics

surgency in the North Caucasushave threatened to attack.

President Vladimir Putin hasstaked a lot of personal and po-litical prestige on the success ofthe Games, which open on Feb-ruary 7, and has put securityforces on combat alert in Sochi.The NAC said in a statement thata group of militants had beentrapped in a house in the villageof Karlanyurt in the Dagestanregion of the North Caucasus.

Dagestan’s capital,Makhachkala, is about 620 km(385 miles) east of Sochi. Themostly Muslim region isplagued by bombings and

shootings that mainly target po-lice and state officials as part ofthe militants’ fight to create anIslamist state.

At least 34 people werekilled last month in the suicidebombings in the southern city ofVolgograd. Putin ordered safetymeasures to be beefed up nation-wide after the attacks.

About 37,000 personnel arenow in place to provide securityin Sochi, which is on the BlackSea and on the western edge ofthe Caucasus mountains, and theInternational Olympic Commit-tee has expressed confidence theGames will be safe.—Reuters

was gaining popularity and wasfast growing in Pakistan.

The President said that ‘Freefrom the curse of Riba, the Is-lamic banking would help thebelievers in striving for a societythat would be free from socialand economic injustices, exploi-tation and inequalities.’

While disclosing the giantmeasures that the present gov-ernment was taking and had sofar taken, the President said thatit was indeed a matter of greatsatisfaction that the present gov-ernment was making serious ef-forts towards the implementa-tion of Islamic Banking in thecountry.

A Committee to this effecthas been set up to give recom-mendations for the promotion ofIslamic Banking and to formu-late comprehensive policy frame-work for Islamic Financial Sys-tem in the country, he said thathe was confident that the Com-mittee would be able to chalk outclear roadmap for transition to-wards Islamic Banking system inthe country.

He also said that it was alsoheartening to note that the StateBank of Pakistan had recentlytaken some steps to promoteShari’ah compliant environmentin the banking sector. However,more efforts were required in thisregard to facilitate citizens fullyavail the opportunity of Islamicbanking solutions.

The President said that hewas glad that a delegation of Is-lamic Development Bank hadalso joined this conference,which clearly showed the inter-est of President Islamic Devel-opment Bank (IDB), Dr AhmadMohammed Ali towards support-ing and promoting Islamic Bank-ing in Pakistan.

The President while whole-heartedly appreciating the RTCorganizers, the management ofdaily Pakistan Observer said , “Iam also pleased to learn that theorganizers of this roundtable con-ference have invited a top Ma-laysian banker H.E. Dato’ SeriIsmail Shahudin, Chairman,Maybank, who personally andhis Bank along with other banksof Malaysia had done a com-

mendable job in promoting Is-lamic banking.” He said that hewas confident that the presenceof these eminent and learnedguests at this roundtable confer-ence, their valuable input andcollective wisdom would greatlyhelp chalking out concrete strat-egy for promotion of IslamicBanking in Pakistan.

While stressing the need ofmutual interactions, the Presidentsaid that the Pakistani bankerscould learn from the successfulexperience of Malaysian bankstowards Islamic banking. In thiscontext, greater interactionsamong Pakistani and their Ma-laysian counterparts would be ofgreat significance.

Among the dignitaries thatattended the RTC were YaseenAnwar, Governor, State Bank ofPakistan, Nauman K.Dar,President & CEO, HabibBank Ltd., Shujat Ali Baig, Di-visional Head, Habib Bank Lim-ited, Nadeem Lodhi, CEO,Citibank NA, CharmineHidayatullah, President, FirstWomen Bank Ltd., Asif Hassan,President, National Bank of Pa-kistan, Muneer Kamal, Chair-man, National Bank of Pakistan,Atif Riaz Bukhari, President,United Bank Limited Atif Bajwa,Chief Executive Officer,BankAl-Falah Ltd., Bilal Mustafa,President & CEO, KASB BankLimited, Mohsin Nathani, ChiefExecutive, Standard CharteredBank, Azhar Aslam,CountryHead,Islamic BankingDepartment,Standard CharteredBank, Afaq Khan, Chief Execu-tive, Standard Chartered Bank,Islamic Banking Division,Sirajuddin Aziz,President, HabibMetropolitan Bank Ltd., AbbasD. Habib, ManagingDirector,Bank Al-Habib,Hussain Lawai, President, Sum-mit Bank Limited Shahzad G.Dada, CountryManager,Barclays Bank PLC,Naveed A. Khan, President,Faysalbank Limited, KhalidImran,President & CEO,JS BankLimited, Badar Kazmi President& CEO NIB Bank LimitedShahid Sattar,President &CEO,SAMBA Bank Limited,David C. Kenney, Chief Execu-

tive Officer Pakistan,HSBCBank Limited, Kazuhiro Abe,General Manager, The Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Limited,Shaharyar Ahmad,Managing Di-rector & CEO, Pakistan KuwaitInvestment Company Limited,Abid Aziz, Managing Director &CEO,Pak Libya Holding Com-pany Limited, Agha AhmedShah,Managing Director &CEO,Pak Oman InvestmentCompany Limited,

Syed SayefHussain,Managing Director &CEO, House Building FinanceCompany Limited, AyeshaAziz,Managing Director &CEO,Pak Brunei InvestmentCompany Limited, MohammadAftab Manzoor,President &CEO, Soneri Bank Limited,Junaid Ahmed,President & ChiefExecutive,Dubai Islamic BankPakistan Limited, IrfanSiddiqui,President & Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, Meezan BankLimited, Dr. ImranUsmani,Chief Executive,MeezanBank Limited,Islamic BankingDivision,

Shafqaat Ahmed,President& Chief Executive Officer,Al-Baraka Islamic Bank Limited,Hasan Aziz Bilgrami,Chief Ex-ecutive Officer,BankIslami Pa-kistan Limited, Ahmed KhizerKhan,President & Chief Execu-tive Officer,Burj Bank Limited,Syed Ahmad Iqbal Ashraf, Man-aging Director, Pair InvestmentCompany Limited Arif Habib,Chairman Arif Habib Invest-ment Management, Tariq HasanQuraishi,Managing Director &CEO,IGI Investment Bank Lim-ited, Muhammad MohsinAli,Chief Executive,First Credit& Investment Bank Limited,Tariq Mahmood, Chief Execu-tive Officer,Allied Bank Ltd.,Naeem Ashraf,Chief FinanceOfficer, Invest Capital Invest-ment Bank Limited,

Azmat Tarin President, &CEO Silk Bank Ltd.H.E. Tan SriDato’ Sri Dr. Zeti AkhtarAziz,Governor,Bank Negara Ma-laysia, Dato’ Seri Ismail ShahudinChairman Maybank IslamicBerhad Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiaand S.M. Muneer, Chairman, DinGroup of Industries.

Mamnoon eager to see Islamic BankingFrom Page 1heights and it was playing a criti-

cal role in various developmen-tal projects in the Muslim world.

As the President was inAlmaty, therefore, he nominateda two-member team to representthe Bank at the RTC.

Zahid Malik paysFrom Page 1

the Chairman of Maybank, Dato’Seri Ismail Shahudin, who couldnot personally participate be-cause of his other engagementssent two senior bankers namelyNor Shahrizan Bin Sulaimanand Salem Ghandour. “Pakistanhas to learn a lot from theMaybank and its leadership”,Mr Malik added.

Maybank’s roleFrom Page 1

Islamic Banking can play majorFrom Page 1

and leading business personali-ties were present under one roofat the auditorium of the Gover-nors’ House.

Paying glowing tributes toPresident Mamnoon Hussain forhis commitment and supportiverole to the national and Islamiccauses undertaken by the Paki-stan Observer and the NazriyaPakistan Council Islamabad. Itmay be noted that Zahid Malikis also the Chairman of NazriyaPakistan Council. Indeed, thePresident carved out for himselfa position of respect in the coun-try and amongst the people ofPakistan for his commitment toIslamic values and Ideology ofPakistan. “ As I visit the Presi-dency off and on, therefore it isheartening to see that today’sPresidency looks, in all respects,a befitting Presidency of the Is-lamic Republic Pakistan, saidZahid Malik.

Expressing his earnestthanks to the Federal FinanceMinister Senator MuhammadIshaq Dar, Zahid Malik said thatdespite some crucial engage-ments of the finance minister inIslamabad he managed tosqueeze time for this RTC by ar-riving through a special planewhich truly reflects how muchimportance he attaches to theconcept of Islamic Banking andhow such national causes areclose to his heart.

“Senator Ishaq Dar hasmany qualities of head and heart.I have great liking, rather admi-ration and respect for some of hisnot much-known virtues. ZahidMalik also acknowledged thepresence of Rana Asad AminAdvisor Ministry of Finance whoaccompanied the finance minis-ter. He also acknowledged theencouragement extended to theRTC by H.E Dr. AhmadMohamed Ali, President of theIslamic Development Bank,Jeddah. “I am in tough with touchon a regular basis and indeed hehas provided superb leadership tothe IDB. Dr. Ahmed MohamedAli was also keen to grace theconference through his physicalpresence but right now he is inAlmaty, Kazakhstan in connec-tion with the RegionalWorkershop on IDB Group-40years past performance and next10-years Strategy. So it is verycritical meeting. However, thePresident of the IDB appreciat-ing the importance of this brain-storming session and the resolveof the daily Pakistan Observer tohelp promote the Islamic Bank-ing in Pakistan had deputed atwo-member delegation of theJeddah based Bank. One of thetwo Dr. Nasim Shah Shirazi ispresent in this conference withwhile the other Dr. Najmul Hasanis stuck up in Indonesia. Dr.Shirazi will report back to thePresident IDB bank about theoutcome of this RTC and the rec-ommendations to be made by theparticipants.

He also expressed thanks tothe members of the delegationfrom Malaysia. They were MrNor Shahrizan Bin Sulaiman,Deputy Chief Executive Officerand Mr Salem Ghandour VicePresident, Head of InternationalStrategy and Special Project ofthe Maybank. In fact, Dato’ SeriIsmail Shahudin, Chairman Maybank was keen to join us. I had a

meeting with Mr Dato’s SeriIsmail Shahudin at the presti-gious World Islamic Economicforum held in London on Octo-ber 29-30 2013. During an inter-action with him on Islamic bank-ing he had indicated his desire toshare his Bank’s and Malaysiaexperience in this Banking.Maybank it may be noted is aleading Bank of Malaysia. ZahidMalik while lauding the leader-ship of Malaysia and the entre-preneurship of Maybank for hav-ing done a lot towards promot-ing the Islamic banking the worldover. Though the Chairman him-self could not make it, he verykindly nominated a two-memberdelegation and they are fully con-versant with the subject underdiscussion today.

Zahid Malik also paid richtributes to Governor Sindh DrIshrat Ul Ebad Khan and theGovernor SB Mr Yasin Anwarfor their valuable participation inthe conference.

While elaborating the rea-sons for the initiative of holdingsuch a high profile conference onIslamic banking by Pakistan Ob-server, Zahid Malik said that thePakistan Observer always standsfor certain values, certain prin-ciples and it holds the nationalinterest supreme above all otherinterest. It is therefore acquireda unique position of respectabil-ity and credibility among all thesegments of the society. Being anindependent newspaper PakistanObserver is not aligned with anygroup of people, political partyor a foreign country and its fun-damental policy is to project thevision of the founding fathers ofPakistan, aspirations of thepeople of Pakistan and to high-light the issues being faced by theState of Pakistan. In this back-drop, Pakistan Observer has be-come a MUST Paper for thepolicy makers all around. Almostall the Islamabad based foreignmissions in their Daily situationreport which they mail to theirrespective capitals, necessarilyquote the though providing edi-torials of Pakistan Observer. It isso because the much-read edito-rial in Pakistan Observer repre-sents mainstream thinking ofPakistan on various national andinternational issues.

He also quoted Gallup sur-vey, which has described the Pa-kistan Observer as a “publicopinion-maker” newspaper andthe worldwide visitation of itsInternet edition, which is morethan any of the English newspa-pers of Pakistan.

“What inspired me to hostthis event is that I was highlyimpressed by the huge potentialof the Islamic banking in Paki-stan, and the world over. Shar-ing his recent experience of at-tending the 5th World IslamicEconomic Forum in London,where Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif alongwith his high profile entourageincluding the Federal FinanceMinister Ishaq Dar were alsopresident besides at this mostprestigious Islamic Economicevent. Some 17 other Heads ofStates including the Prime Min-ister of Malaysia, Sultan ofBrunei and King of Jordan wereother high profile participantswhile I was the only non-govern-mental person having been in-

vited by the organizers from Pa-kistan. It indicates that interna-tional reckoning for Islamicbanking that the British PrimeMinister, crown Prince Charlesand Mayor of London hosted themagnificent receptions.

During the course of confer-ence it was revealed that the UKhad attracted 22 billion Poundsin Islamic Banking and that in2015 the volume of IslamicBanking is expected to rise to 1.6trillion Pounds. These two mind-boggling figures related to Is-lamic Banking inspired me a lotand it was at that venue that Idecided to hold the RTC on Is-lamic Banking in Pakistan. Ac-tually I have come to an age of77 at this stage I feel more aboutthe State of Quaid I AzamMohammad Ali Jinnah and aquestion arises in my mind forthe greater good of the IslamicRepublic of Pakistan rather thanmy personal well being. Thequestion is if the UK can amass22 billion Pounds in the name ofIslamic Banking why not the Is-lamic Republic of Pakistan andwhy not the banks of Pakistanand other Muslim countries likeMalaysia should strive? And thisRTC is being held as the first steptowards that goal.

Zahid Malik said that Paki-stani banks and their leadershipwere a vibrant role model in thepast i.e. 1950 and in the 1960 etcand even today we are proud ofthe vitality, vision, vigor and exu-berance of the leadership of Pa-kistani banking industry.

Presence of top banks of Pa-kistan here under this roof is reas-suring that they the capacity to runnot only a bank but the economyof the country. They are geniusjpar excellence. They have midas.Some of them have been be-stowed with creative writing tal-ent and they are outstanding ro-mantic poets, he paid the tributewithout naming Sirajuddin AzizPresident of Habib Metro Bank.What our bankers on the wholerequire is more encouragement,more enabling environment toperform and deliver, Zahid Malikpaid these glowing tributes to thechief of all the leading banks inthe hall.

The government inIslamabad is business friendly,Prime Minister Mian NawazSsharif has first hand knowledgeof the requirements and aspira-tions of the banking industrywhile the finance minister too isvery supportive of the businessand industry and particularly thebanking industry here t is hightime for the banking leadershipto available all opportunities toadvance the cause of Islamicbanking> he urged the heads ofthe Pakistani banks to do morein Islamic Banking as well notonly for their respective banksbut for Pakistan also as ultimatelyPakistan should be thebenefificiary of all our endeav-ors, mine endeavors and yourendeavours.

Zahid Malik declared thatPakistan Observer will continueto take more initiatives to advancethe cause of Islamic banking andin this respect our future programsmay include an RTC or an indepth business sesson of Pakistanibankers with Malaysian bankersin Kuala Lumpur and may be inJeddah, he concluded

government debt ensuring thatbudget deficit be less than threepercent of GDP.

Senator Ishaq Dar also re-ferred to government efforts tomodify the existent consumerfocused financing to develop-ment oriented schemes. Heurged the representatives of theIslamic Financial institutions at-tending the conference to notonly design new products butalso focus on real sector economyand not on mere consumer ori-ented products.

The Finance Minister said anindependent and an autonomouscommittee is in process of beingconstituted, under the guidanceof well known Islamic ScholarAllama Taqi Usmani to expeditethe process of making financesystem shariah compliance.

The moot was also addressedby Deputy CEO of IslamicMaybank of Malaysia known forits contribution towards promot-ing Islamic banking. A delegationof Islamic Development Bankalso attended the RTC.

It was unanimously agreedthat such conferences would beconducted regularly to promotethe concept at all levels tofacilitate institutions engaged inthe exercise

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various Western countries arealso accepting and recognizingthe viability and utility of thisalternate financial system. “Is-lamic financial institutions arepresently catering to most of thefinancial services needs of vari-ous sectors of the economy,” headded.

Mr. Anwar said “there arededicated regulatory, legal andacademic institutions at the inter-national level working and pro-viding support for maintainingthe high pace growth of the Is-lamic finance industry.”

He said that Pakistan, withmore than 95 percent Muslimpopulation, and a constitutionalobligation of ensuring a riba freeeconomic system, has had a fa-vorable response to Islamic fi-nance. Pakistan is amongst thepioneers of Islamic finance as westarted planning for nurturing theShariah compliant financial sys-tem way back in 1970s, and madea bold attempt in 1980s to bringthe whole banking and financialsystem in conformity withShariah principles.

According to the GovernorSBP, the Islamic banking indus-

try has been growing at an im-pressive annual growth rate ofover 30 percent over the last fiveyears with sustained growth mo-mentum despite significantly in-creased base. “Islamic Bankingis currently spread across 80 dis-tricts of the country with a net-work of 1200 branches offeringShariah compliant products andservices. Islamic banking assetspresently constitute almost 10percent of the overall bankingsystem in the country while interms of deposits the share isabove 10 percent.”

He said that the future out-look of the industry is also verypositive with bright prospects ofdoubling its market share by2020.

He highlighted the leadingrole of the SBP in nurturing Is-lamic banking in the country onsound footings. Mr. Anwar saidthat being the regulator of thebanking sector, SBP over theyears has introduced and imple-mented key regulatory reformsand prudential measures to en-sure financial stability and tomeet the evolving needs of theindustry. He said that in order to

align its regulatory frameworkwith international regulatorystandards and best practices, SBPregularly reviews and evaluatesthe standards issued by IFSB,AAOIFI, and IIFM for their pos-sible implementation keeping inview our local legal, regulatoryand economic environment. Headded that SBP has offered vari-ous options to offer the servicesof Islamic microfinance.

He said: “SBP has recentlydeveloped a five year StrategicPlan (2014-18) for the Islamicbanking industry in Pakistan inconsultation with all key stake-holders, which gives a consen-sus agenda and strategy to takethe industry to its next level ofgrowth and development.”

According to Mr. Anwar Pa-kistan has been an active mem-ber of leading global Interna-tional Islamic finance institutionsthat are all playing a key role indeveloping prudential andShariah standards for the indus-try. “SBP is also a key memberof the recently constituted steer-ing committee for the promotionof Islamic banking by the gov-ernment,” he added.

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mixed up with several loan as-pirants and inquired about theirplans for business.

Nawaz Sharif said all prov-inces would get equitable shareunder the PM’s Youth BusinessLoan Scheme and the loanswould be dispensed in accor-dance with the population ratioof each province.

“If the received applicantsfrom a province are less in num-ber, the other provinces wouldnot fill the gap and instead theloans for that particular provincewould be transferred to nextmonth”. Prime minister elabo-rated. He said share of each prov-ince has been fixed according tothe ratio of population.

Nawaz Sharif said his gov-ernment was determined to giveutmost support and patronage tothe youth of this country and as aprime minister it was his respon-sibility to ensure the implemen-tation of this agenda. He, how-ever, urged the youth to get self-reliant by prudently utilizing thebusiness loans and contribute tothe national economy.

Prime Minster Sharif alsoadvised the youth of KhyberPukhtunkhwa and particularlythose belonging to FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas(FATA) to take maximum ben-efit from PM’s Youth BusinessLoan scheme as they had facedhuge challenges in the recent pastand rendered sacrifices for ensurelasting pace their area.

Nawaz said this was the firsttime that banks were catering tocommon people seeking loansadding that eighty per cent peoplein China, America, United King-dom, France and Germany be-longed to middle class who hada major contribution to the econo-mies of their countries.

He declared in categoricaltone that the applications forbusiness loans would be decidedpurely on merit regardless of af-filiation with any political groupand neither prime minister nor aminister could recommend a per-son seeking loan under thisscheme.

“I am personally monitoringthe loan scheme and efforts willbe made to further expand andimprove this scheme to make it asuccess story”. Nawaz Sharifsaid adding certain conditions forthe loans have been relaxed whilereviewing matters relating to theloan guarantee.

Paying tributes to the peopleof Swat for rendering matchlesssacrifices for the revival of peacein the area‚ the Prime Ministersaid the people of KhyberPukhtunkhwa and tribal areasneed this scheme the most to re-build their lives hence the youthmust take full advantage of YouthBusiness Loans to stand on theirown feet and put their full sharein the speedy development of thecountry.

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Development Bank and otherworld financial institutions, thenecessary process including bid-ding of the project has been com-pleted, said Jononov Sherali,ambassador of Tajikistan to Pa-kistan.

Our President EmomaliiRahmon is very keen and com-mitted to build close and broth-erly relations with Pakistan andalso CASA-1000 project whichwill help to realise economicgoals in both the countries, hesaid. The cost of power will becheaper than it is produced inPakistan, he said.

After being disconnectedfrom Central Asia Energy Grid,Tajikistan has no option but toexport surplus power to PakistanAfghanistan and Kyrgyzstanwho will be beneficiaries ofCASA 1000 project. Pakistan isfacing acute energy shortage andCASA-1000 project will bringsome ease in the situation.

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current state of health andadded that the doctors were

likely to inform about his healthby this evening. Justifying 70-year-old Musharraf’s absencefrom all hearings of the case sofar on medical grounds, Kasurisaid: “At present, he (Musharraf)is not a normal person and I can-not say exactly if he will appearbefore the court because he issick and under observation.Ahmad Raza Kasuri said thatPervez Musharraf’s exemptionfrom appearance in the courtwould be sought verbally.

He further said that theformer president was facing se-curity threats as well. Last week,the court ordered Musharraf toappear before it on January 16 toface charges of high treason af-ter reviewing a medical reportfrom the Armed Forced Instituteof Cardiology (AFIC), where hewas admitted with heart prob-lems on January 2.

The medical report did notsuggest that Musharraf, in hispresent state of health, was un-able to attend hearings, the threejudges of the special court saidin an order issued on January 9.“It is clear that the accused hasfailed to obey and comply withthe order of this court,” the orderadded. The government set up thecourt to try the former army chiefon charges of treason for impos-ing emergency in November,2007. —INP

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declared appointment of Ashraf“illegal” and directed the actingPCB chief Najam Sethi to holdelections within 90 days.

In a 30-page detailed judg-ment, Justice Siddiqui hadpointed out that Ashraf was notappointed on the basis of his ca-reer as a cricketer, but becausehe was Zarai Taraqiati BankLimited’s (ZTBL) president.While declaring illegal sections28, 29, 30 and 31 of the PCBcharter, the court had observedthat these sections were uncon-stitutional and against democraticvalues.

Ashraf, 60, had been PCBchairman since October 2011.On May 8, 2013 Ashraf had be-come the elected head of the sportbody, after winning a four-yearterm under a new constitutionapproved earlier last year.

Ashraf was accused of cor-ruption. There had been com-plaints against the ex-chairmanfor wasting the board’s money byappointing 68 employees on lu-crative packages on the basis offavouritism and nepotism. Hehad also come under the radar forappointing army officials, whohad retired or were close to re-tirement.—Online

IHC reinstatesFrom Page 1

positions and resources in thelight of the teachings of Holy

Prophet (Sallallah-o-Alaih-e-WaSallam).Similar provincial levelSeerat Conferences were also heldin Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar andQuetta. Milad-un-Nabi celebrationprocessions traveled on the markedroutes in all key cities includingQuetta, Islamabad, Rawalpindi,Lahore, Karachi, Multan,Hyderabad, Rahimyar Khan, andPeshawar. The processions reachedon the set destinations amid strictsecurity and concluded peacefullywith disbursement of the partici-pants in large number. The followerof the Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (PBUH) took activepart in the rallies while celebratingBirth Anniversary of their beloved

Prophet (PBUH). People deco-rated their houses, buildings,streets, areas, shops, public spots,hoardings, corners, and key pub-lic buildings and distributed freefood and drinks in bulk on thisspecial day to express their loveand devotion towards the HolyProphet (PBUH).

A large number of passion-ate people including women, chil-dren, elder citizens attended largeprocessions of Eid Milad-ul-Nabi(PBUH) in every city and part ofthe country to celebrate this ex-traordinary day.

The areas and streets wereflashing with attractive colorfullights and air was echoing withloud Naats and recitation ofDarood Sharif across the country

on Eid Milad-ul-Nabi (P.B.U.H.)eve. The local administrationsmade extra ordinary security ar-rangements for rallies and proces-sions while the cellular serviceswere suspended to avoid any mis-hap in key cities of the country.

After conclusion of the pro-cessions, the cellular service wasrestored in few cities includingQuetta. Radio Pakistan and TVchannels aired special programsto highlight the teachings ofProphet Hazrat Muhammad(peace be upon him). Meanwhile,the federal and all the provincialgovernments ensured strict secu-rity measures to maintain law andorder on the occasion of EidMilad-un-Nabi (Peace Be UponHim).—INP

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Meanwhile, during a high-levelmeeting held in Pakistan RangersSindh Headquarters, the optionof discontinuing targetedoperations in Karachi was alsodiscussed, said a handout issuedhere on Tuesday. The statementsaid issued after the meeting onThursday that there was aconsensus that the current setupof Karachi police shouldcontinue for at least another yearso that the ongoing operationagainst target killers, extortionistsand criminals in the city couldreach its conclusion. Karachi, thelargest metropolitan city andeconomic capital of Pakistan, isriddled with targeted killings,

DG Rangers calls on QaimFrom Back Page

gang wars, kidnappings forransom, extortion and terrorism.

Targeted operations led byRangers’ forces with the supportof police are ongoing in the cityunder a directive issued by thefederal government againstcriminals already identified bythe federal government and mili-tary and civilian agencies. Theoperation had commenced a fewdays after the Supreme Court ofPakistan had held law-enforce-ment authorities responsible forthe deteriorating law and ordersituation in Karachi.

Meanwhile, according tospokesman of Ranger, at least 29suspects were arrested when

raids were carried out in differ-ent areas of Karachi during last24 hours. An alleged target killerbelonging to a political party wasalso among those detained. Tar-get killer Yusuf alias Yusi wasarrested in encounter with policein Saeedabad area during an op-eration. The accused is allegedlyinvolved in different target kill-ing incidents including murder ofa police official. The raids werecarried out on Tuesday night indifferent areas including BaldiaTown, Gadap Town, SohrabGoth, Allaha Wali Market,Chakiwara, Klakot, Baghdadi,Liaquatabad, Khosa Goth andLines Area.

cent increase from the end ofFY12.

According to the report, thelack of external inflows also cre-ated challenges in financing therelatively small current accountdeficit. The financial account re-corded a net inflow of only US$0.3 billion during the year, com-pared to US$ 1.3 billion last year,and US$ 5.1 billion in FY10.This, along with significant re-

payments to the IMF, pulleddown SBP’s liquid FX reservesto a 55-month low of US$ 6.0billion by end-June 2013.

Report says SBP projectsGDP growth in the range of 3.0? 4.0 percent for FY14, whichis higher than the IMF’s growthforecast of 2.5 ? 3.0 percent.While inflation outlook based onOctober 2013 data, reported ear-lier, was in the range of 10.5 to

11.5 percent, a more realisticoutlook based on latest datashows average inflation forFY14 to remain between 10 and11 percent.

It further said that the ap-proval of a 3-year (US$ 6.64 bil-lion) Extended Fund Facilityfrom the IMF, and expected fi-nancial support from other IFIs,should bring stability to the do-mestic FX market in FY14.

Economy growsat 3.6%: SBP report

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New BritishHC arrives

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On his arrival Barton said he wascommitted to strengthening Pak-UK relationship. He said

“I am delighted to becomeHer Majesty’s High Commis-sioner to Pakistan. The relation-ship between the UK and Paki-stan remains deep and strong. Iam committed to strengtheningthese connections during my timehere, building on the excellentwork of my predecessor SirAdam Thomson.”

The UK is working closelywith Pakistan through extensivecooperation on trade, investment,energy, education and security.Our rich people-to-people andcultural connections help to un-derpin the deep and unique rela-tionship between our two coun-tries.

“I am looking forward toworking with all sections of Pa-kistani society to continue tobuild a relationship based on part-nership, trust and shared under-standing.”

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

Irfan Bahadur newSSP CID KarachiKARACHI—The Sindh gov-ernment Wednesday ap-pointed Senior Superinten-dent Police Irfan Bahadur asnew head of Crime Investi-gation Department and RaoAnwaar Ahmed as SSPHyderabad. Irfan Bahadurhas been appointed in placeof Chaudhry Aslam who wasmartyred in a bomb attack acouple of days earlier alongwith three others. Earlier hewas serving as SSPHyderabad and he has alsoheaded Karachi Anti-En-croachment Cell. Rao Anwaarhas been appointed SSPHyderabad in place of IrfanBahadur. —INP

Ring Roadwidening projectL A H O R E — D e v e l o p m e n twork on widening of LahoreRing Road will begin duringlast week of next month.Lahore Ring Road authoritysources said that widening of10.66km Sundar-RaiwindRoad and 12km Manga-Raiwind Road will be initiatedby end of February 2014. Theproject will cost Rs800 millionand it will be completed infour months. The Ring Roadauthority said that comple-tion of said project will helpin smooth and uninterruptedflow of traffic besides resolv-ing the issue of massive traf-fic jam. —INP

Contempt of courtnotice to KhaqanI S L A M A B A D —IslamabadHigh Court on Wednesdayissued contempt of courtnotice to Federal Minister forPetroleum, Shahid KhaqanAbbassi. The notice was is-sued on the petition filed byCNG Association, in which itquoted Shahid KhaqanAbbasi as saying thatIslamabad High Court wasresponsible for gas load-shedding. The IHC had or-dered federal authorities torestore thrice-a-week gassupply schedule forIslamabad, Rawalpindi areas,setting aside all objectionsraised by the quarters con-cerned. The IHC today is-sued contempt of court no-tice to Shahid KhaqanAbbasi, and sought his re-ply on Jan 20. —NNI

AMANULLAH KHAN

K A R A C H I — P a k i s t a n ’ seconomy grew at 3.6 percentand inflation fell to single-digit in FY13, says the StateBank’s Annual Report on theState of Economy for theyear 2012-13 releasedWednesday.

It said soft global com-modity prices, downward re-

Economy grows at 3.6%: State Bank reportInflation falls to single-digit

vision in energy prices and arelatively stable exchange rateallowed the average inflationrate to fall to 7.4 percent inFY13, which was much lowerthan the 9.5 percent target forthe year.

According to the report,robust growth in construc-tion activity and capacity en-hancement in a few sub-sec-tors, supported the industrial

sector. Global prices helpedcontain Pakistan’s importbill, and there was some im-provement in exports. Fur-thermore, higher than antici-pated Coalition SupportFund (CSF) inflows, andmodest growth in worker re-mittances, reduced the cur-rent account deficit to 1.0percent of GDP in FY13. Not-withstanding favorable de-

velopments, growing securityconcerns and persistentstructural weaknesses con-tinue to impede economicgrowth.

SBP report said that chal-lenges in managing publicsector enterprises; the needto expand the tax net to un-taxed or under-taxed areas; tocontain untargeted subsidies;to tackle theft and leakages in

the energy sector; to revital-ize the private sector; and toincrease documentation, werelargely unaddressed duringFY13. “In a repeat abut theprevious year, the budgetdeficit exceeded the target forFY13 by a wide margin, as therealized deficit was 8.0 percentof GDP, against a target of 4.7percent,” said the report. Itadded that the resulting pres-

sure to secure financing, domi-nated policymaking through-out the year. For the third con-secutive year, the energy sec-tor was addressed by payingoff the circular debt, whichpushed the fiscal deficitsabove the respective targetsfor these years.

The report said that, withinadequate external funding,the onus of financing the fis-

cal deficit fell entirely on do-mestic sources – specifi-cally the banking system.The government borrowedRs 939.6 billion from com-mercial banks, and an addi-tional Rs 506.9 billion fromSBP. In effect, Pakistan’sdomestic debt increasedbyRs 1.9 trillion, a 24.6 per

MINGORA:Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif addressing a large gathering at Wadudia Hall at the launch-ing ceremony of PM Youth Programme in Malakand Division.

BAGHDAD—Bomb attacks hitthe Iraqi capital Baghdad anda village near the northerntown of Baquba on Wednes-day, killing at least 62 people,police and hospital sourcessaid.

In the deadliest incident, abomb blew up in a funeral tentwhere mourners were markingthe death two days ago of aSunni Muslim pro-govern-ment militiaman, police said. It

killed 18 people and wounded16 in Shatub, a village southof Baquba.

Two years after US troopsleft Iraq, violence has climbedback to its highest levels sincethe Sunni-Shia bloodshed of2006-2007, when tens of thou-sands of people were killed.

Al Qaeda-linked militantsare pursuing a campaign ofattacks, mostly directed atstate targets, Shia civilians and

Sunnis seen as loyal to theShia-led government.

Half a dozen car bombsexploded across the Iraqi capi-tal on Wednesday, mostly inShia districts, killing 34 peopleand wounding 71, police andmedics said.

The violence occurredamid a continuing standoffbetween the Iraqi army andSunni militants who overranthe city of Falluja.—AP

62 killed in Baghdadbomb attacks

Two AmnCommittee

volunteers killedin explosion

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KHYBER—A roadside re-mote-controlled bomb blastin Khyber Wednesday killedtwo volunteers of the AmnCommittee.

Unknown militants in-stalled a remote-controlledbomb at a roadside inKhyber’s Zakakhel area neara barricaded post of AmnCommittee. The bomb wentoff with a loud explosion.Subsequently, two AmnCommittee volunteers werekilled.

Following the explosion,security personnel cordonedoff the area and a probe intothe incident went underway.

Earlier last week, ninepeople, including three chil-dren, were killed and severalothers wounded when a blastrocked the house of a tribalelder in the northwesternKhyber tribal region.

Khyber is part ofPakistan’s semi-autonomoustribal belt on the Afghan bor-der. The Taliban and other AlQaeda-linked groups, whostage attacks in both coun-tries, are known to havestrongholds in the zone.

3 killed in Hindu,Muslim riots in Rajasthan

NEW DELHI—Three per-sons were killed while doz-ens of others injured inHindu-Muslim riots in PertabGarh district of Indian stateof Rajasthan on Wednesday.

The state authorities im-posed an indefinite curfew tocontrol the situation. The in-cident took place in Kotri vil-lage of Pertab Garh district.The injured were sent to hos-pital where condition of sev-eral people was stated to becritical. According to police,the indecent took place whenthe Muslims were returningafter participating in aprogramme in connectionwith Eid Milad-un-Nabi(SAW). —INP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Min-ister (CM) Syed Qaim AliShah said that economicallyand strategically Kashmir isthe backbone of Pakistan.Kashmir has great potentialof energy production andsupplying irrigation water toPakistan.

This he said while talkingto the president of AzadJammu and Kashmir SardarMuhammad Yaqoob Khan,who called on him at CMHouse Wednesday.

Pakistan People’s Party

Parliamentarian Party (PPPP)Leader Sardar Nazakat,Sardar Maqsood Zaman andopposition leaders of Kash-mir Altaf Hussain were alsopresent.

The CM said thatShaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhuttowas the first leader of Paki-stan, who raised his voice forthe cause of Kashmiri Peopleon the national and interna-tional forums.He said thathad Bhutto not beenmartyred, Occupied Kashmirwould have been liberated. He also lauded the servicesof Sardar Muhammad

Yaqoob and his governmentfor People of Kashmir. TheCM said that Kashmiris, whowere living in Sindh andBalochistan were mostlyPPPP workers and voters.

The President of AzadJammu and Kashmir SardarMuhammad Yaqoob said thatwhole Jammu and Kashmirwas the integral part of Paki-stan.

Kashmir was not only thesource of water and power ofPakistan but its people wererendering marvelous ser-vices for the development ofPakistan as well.

Kashmir backbone of Pakistan: Qaim

ISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP)has announced unfreezing ofvoters lists in Sindh andPunjab on Wednesday.

After this decision voter’sregistration will start again.

The ECP also lifted ban ontransfer and postings whichwere announced with electionschedule in Sindh and Punjab.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that the Supreme Courton Monday accepted ECP ap-peal in which they showedimpossibility to conduct elec-tion within schedule after theprovincial high court decisionson delimitations. The KhyberPakhtunkhwa government hasrequested Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) for hold-ing local bodies elections inthe province in March.

In the meeting of ECP hereWednesday, KP Chief Secre-

tary said holding polls in Feb-ruary was not possible, add-ing that the provincial govern-ment could hold LB electionsin the last week of March.

The ECP has directed theKP government to approachSupreme Court of Pakistan inthis regard.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwagovernment has requestedElection Commission of Paki-stan (ECP) for holding localbodies elections in the prov-ince in March.

In the meeting of ECP hereWednesday, KP Chief Secre-tary said holding polls in Feb-ruary was not possible, add-ing that the provincial govern-ment could hold LB electionsin the last week of March.

The ECP has directed theKP government to approachSupreme Court of Pakistan inthis regard.—Agencies

ECP unfreezes voterlists in Sindh, Punjab

KP govt asks ECP to hold LB polls in March

New BritishHC arrives

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—A good Paki-stan-hand, Philip Barton ar-rived here on Wednesday to

take chargeas new Brit-ish HighC o m m i s -sioner to Pa-kistan, re-placing SirA d a mT h o m s o n ,who left Pa-

kistan last month. Philip Barton has served

the British Foreign Office asAdditional Director for SouthAsia from 2008-09, and thenthe Cabinet Office Coordina-tor for Afghanistan and Pa-kistan from 2009-2011. Morerecently, Barton served asthe British Deputy Ambassa-dor to Washington.

He will present his Cre-dentials to PresidentMamnoon Hussain in thecoming days.

DG Rangersdissatisfied withpolice transfers

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Director GeneralSindh Rangers on Wednes-day called on Chief MinisterQaim Ali Shah.

The law and order situa-tion came under discussionduring the meeting. Duringthe meeting the DG Rangerexpressed reservations overmajor reshuffling and appoint-ments in police department.

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

KABUL—A Nato soldier waskilled in an insurgent attackin eastern Afghanistan earlyWednesday, ISAF forcessaid, though they did notprovide details about the ex-

Nato soldier killed in Afghanistanact location of the incidentand nationality of the sol-diers. “An International Se-curity Assistance Force ser-vice member died followinga direct fire attack by enemy

forces in eastern Afghanistantoday (Wednesday),” the Isafsaid in its statement onWednesday.Most of the US sol-diers in the country are based ineastern Afghanistan. —INP

Christians roleacknowledgedCity ReporterLAHORE—Emeritus BishopDr. Alexander John Malikcalled on Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif, here Wednesday.Speaking on the occasion,the Chief Minister said thatPakistan belongs to all of usand the role of Christian com-munity is laudable. He saidthat services of Christiancommunity and their lovewith the country are beyondany doubt. Shahbaz Sharifsaid that Punjab governmenthas taken comprehensivesteps for the welfare of theminorities.

A six-week behavior-modification program helped people with diabetes overcome anxieties and prevent plunging

blood sugar in a small UK study. Dr. StephanieAmiel of King’s College London and her col-leagues evaluated a programspecifically for people withtype 1 diabetes who had dif-ficulty recognizing episodesof low blood sugar, or hy-poglycemia, despite havingundergone training in how toadjust their insulin use.

People with type 1 diabe-tes who need insulin to sur-vive are at risk of hypoglyce-mia, but this can be a prob-lem in patients with type 2diabetes too, especially if theyuse insulin or a sulfonylureadrug, according to Dr. JaneChiang, of the American Dia-betes Association. Signs oflow blood sugar include shak-ing, confusion, sweating andblurred vision, Andrew Keen,a health psychologist special-izing in diabetes at the University of Aberdeen,told Reuters Health.

These signals mean that people can takeaction early before blood glucose levels dropvery low when they are effectively unable toself-treat,” said Keen, who did not take part inthe new study. However, some people lose theability to recognize these signs, he added.

Untreated hypoglycemia can lead to sei-zures and unconsciousness. Many people withdiabetes are so concerned about their bloodsugar getting too high that they don’t pay asmuch attention when their blood sugar dropstoo low, noted Chiang, who was not involvedin the study. “People need to be aware that hy-

poglycemia is just as dangerous, even moreso, than hyperglycemia, and that it is treat-able and avoidable,” she said.

“Hypoglycemia is particularly concern-ing in young adults and older adults because

they are vulnerable,” Chiangsaid. The program Amiel’steam devised included instruc-tion on signs of hypoglycemiaand how to reduce hypoglyce-mia risk. Program leaders alsofocused on helping partici-pants identify their own emo-tional and motivational barri-ers to recognizing low bloodsugar episodes.

The training consistedof three weekly full-day groupsessions and individual fol-low-up in person and by tele-phone during weeks four andfive, with a final full-daygroup session focusing on re-lapse prevention. Amiel andher colleagues followed thepatients for a year after the endof the program.

Among the 23 participants who completedthe program, 14 reported having passed out inthe year before the study began as a result oflow blood sugar episodes, three said they’dbeen taken to an emergency room (one indi-vidual, 24 times) and three had been admittedto the hospital, Amiel’s team reports in the jour-nal Diabetes Care. After the program, the av-erage annual number of episodes of severehypoglycemia - meaning patients required as-sistance from another person - fell from threeto zero. The average number of episodes ofmoderate hypoglycemia, meaning patientswere able to treat the episode themselves, fellfrom 14 to zero per six-week period.

Program may help diabeticshead off low blood sugar

Air chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, Chief of Royal Air Force reviewing the guard of honour during his visit at Air Headquarters.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Federal Direc-torate of Education (FDE) is sohelpless before its influentialemployees that sometime, ithas to use channels other thanthe official ones, to take actionagainst them. In the latest case,the FDE has sent a complaintto the SHO Margalla PoliceStation that one of its directorsDr Tariq Masood has not beencoming to the office for last fif-

teen days and was relieved fromthe duties. Now the FDE needspolice help to get its official jeep(Pajeero, Registration no: IDD1796) from his possession, saidthe complaint to the SHO.

In the complaint dated Dec6, 2013 Assistant Director(Technical) Alamgir Shah hasasked the SHO to take ‘neces-sary’ action in this regard.

Talking to Pakistan Ob-server the FDE Assistant Direc-tor confirmed that the official

vehicle is still in possession ofthe former director. “Ourpresent director is hardly man-aging things without the offi-cial vehicle for over one and ahalf months. We first sent anumber of reminders and lettersto the said person and his prin-cipal but after failing to get anyresponse, we were forced toseek police help” said AlamgirShah.

The said director was re-moved from his post by Senior

Joint Secretary Capital Admin-istration and Development Di-vision (CADD). He was di-rected to report back to his par-ent institution with “immediateeffect”. The strong wording ofthe letter is sufficient to showthe conduct of the officer. Theorder said Prof Tariq Masoodwas nexus of all mess from themodel colleges and more than1000 teachers of the model col-leges had complained against hisconduct.

Prof Tariq Masood after the“immediate” transfer order of5th December submitted hisjoining report as Assistant Pro-fessor of Chemistry on Dec 23,with a break of some 17 days.

An office bearer of CentralAcademic Staff Association(CASA) of model colleges saidthe former director had createdmess and teachers as well as pro-fessors of the model colleges haddozens of complaints againsthim. “Former Director was con-

sidered very close to a PPP min-ister and therefore, instead oflistening to our grievances, hekept busy in pleasing his politi-cal boss. Teachers’ hiring issueremained unresolved for the lastthree years and we held a num-ber of meetings with him re-questing to resolve it on prior-ity basis,” he said.

The CASA senior vicepresident further said, “How-ever, later after getting disap-pointed from him when we

brought it directly to the noticeof the CADD high ups, theysaid the college principals hadnever taken up the issue withthem. The principals, on theother hand expressed their help-lessness saying they had beenforbidden by the Director to doso.”

Although the PPP govern-ment is no more yet its legacyof corruption and influence goon in the form of such officialsand it seems the present govern-

ment too is helpless beforethem, he said.

Dr Tariq Masood wehencontacted denied all thesecharges saying he had joinedthe college some two weeksback. “As far as the return ofvehicle is concerned, I have notbeen able to return it as it hasdeveloped some mechanicalfault. I have told them (FDE)that the official vehicle is outof order. They can come andtake it away,” he said.

Recovery of official vehicle

FDE seeks police help against former director

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief of RoyalAir Force, Air Chief MarshalSir Andrew Pulford, visited AirHeadquarters here on Wednes-day and attended a briefing onthe organization, role and func-tioning of Pakistan Air Force.

The distinguished guestwas received by Chief of theAir Staff, Pakistan Air Force,Air Chief Marshal TahirRafique Butt.

On his arrival, a smartlyturned out contingent of Paki-stan Air Force presented theGuard of Honour. The visitingdignitary also laid floral wreathat the Martyrs’ Monument.Later, he was introduced to

Principal Staff Officers of Pa-kistan Air Force.

He also called on Air ChiefMarshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chiefof the Air Staff, Pakistan AirForce, in his office. Both the dig-nitaries remained together forsome time and discussed mattersof professional interest, said apress released issued by PAF here.

Air Chief Marshal Sir An-drew Pulford also visited Paki-stan Air Force Academy,Risalpur, where he was receivedby Air Vice Marshal RashidKamal, Air Officer Command-ing PAF Academy Risalpur.The Chief of Royal Air Forceattended a comprehensive brief-ing about the Academy’s orga-nization structure and training.

The distinguished guestalso visited various trainingunits of academy includingCollege of Aeronautical Engi-neering, Air Defence TrainingSchool, School of Air TrafficServices, Simulator Squadronand Flying Instructors School.

Later in the day, Chief ofRoyal Air Force also visited AirDefence Command, PakistanAir Force. Chief of Royal AirForce attended a briefing on theworking of Air Defence Com-mand and also visited Air De-fence Operation Centre. On hisarrival, he was received by AirVice Marshal Ejaz MahmoodMalik, Air Officer Command-ing, Air Defence Command,Pakistan Air Force.

Royal Air Force Chief visitsPAF Air Headquarters

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Capi-tal Development Authority(CDA), Maroof Afzal has ap-proved an amount of Rs. 15 mil-lion for repair, maintenance andup-gradation of 46 parks andkids play areas in five sectors ofI and G series.

These parks and kids playareas are located in sectors G-6,G- 7, I-9, I-10 and G-10. Follow-ing the directions of the Chair-man CDA, up-gradation workhas been started from today at

parks and kids play areas in “G”and “I” series sectors in theCapital city.

Member Engineering andEnvironment, Sanaullah Amanwill oversee the up-gradationwork.

Chairman CDA said thatCDA is committed to providehealthy and recreational facili-ties to the citizens. He furthersaid that parks and play areasnot only provide facilities ofphysical and mental health forthe citizens including childrenbut also help in their mental

grooming of children.The up-gradation work at

parks and play areas shouldtherefore be completed at theearliest so that citizens and par-ticularly children may get ben-efit from it, he added. Accord-ing to spokesman of CDA up-gradation work at all parks andkids play areas would be com-pleted in phases which includeup- gradation of all facilities in-cluding public toilets. Firstphase of the up-gradation workhas started and the project wouldbe completed in 70 days.

Upgradation of public parks

CDA approves Rs 15m

Fire extinguishedat AFIC

RAWALPINDI—A fire, whichhad erupted at Armed ForcesInstitute of Cardiology (AFIC)on Wednesday, where formerpresident of Pakistan, Gen(retd) Pervez Musharraf is un-der treatment, was extin-guished before long. “Therewas a small fire incident at thehospital, but it was extin-guished immediately,” asource at Armed Forces Insti-tute of Cardiology inRawalpindi said.

Sources said the cause of theblaze, which broke out at the 4thfloor of Pakistan army’s medi-cal facility, was sparked off byan electric short circuit. Thearmed forces personnel, trainedto deal with situations like these,took no time to tame the flamesand stop the fire from spreadingfurther.

Another source confirmedthe fire incident was “of a mi-nor nature”. Officials said thecause was being investigatedand may have been started by anelectrical short circuit.Musharraf ’s lawyer AhmadRaza Kasuri said that the formerpresident was not affected. “Heis safe as the fire incident hap-pened on another floor,” Kasurisaid.—Online

Security beefedup in twin cities

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad po-lice have chalked out a strategyto thwart plans to carry out a ter-rorist attack.

According to intelligencereports, a clean-shaven bomberhas already left for twin citiesfrom Waziristan tribal agency.Sources say that terrorists havea plan to cause massive devas-tation in the twin cities.

The alleged bomber isriding an explosive-laden ve-hicle. The capital police issuedtwo sketches of the allegedbomber

Police have been put on highalert while all entry and exitpoints have been bolstered withsecurity presence. Police in bothcities have also launched asearch operation.

Kidnappers arrested,abducted persons recovered

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad po-lice have arrested six kidnap-pers and safely recovered twoabducted persons from a housein sectors. Addressing a pressconference, Inspector Generalof Police Islamabad SikandarHayat said that Syed RehmanAli s/o Syed Mohsin Ali waskidnapped in last month bysome unidentified persons andcase ( no. 518) regarding hiskidnap was registered inRamana police station on De-cember 29, 2013 under section365-A PPC.

Following threatening mes-sage, the IGP said various po-lice teams including techincalexperts teams were cosntitutedwhich tried to trace the locationof this specific phone call whichwas found from slum area in

Mirabadia, sector G-12. Policeteam safely recovered abductedSyed Rehman Ali and otherSyed Ehsan Abbass s/o SyedHassan Abbass resident of G-13/3 as case (no. 419) about his kid-nap was registered at Golra po-lice station on December 11,2013.

On the occasion, the rela-tives of recovered personsgreatly apprecaited the efforts ofIslamabad police team and saidpolice officers and employeesworked hard to trace kidnapeesand conintuously remaiend intouch with them for sharing theirgreif, giving comfort and tellingabout the progress into investi-gation.

Responding to the questionsof journalists, Islamabad policechief said that Islamabad policehave worked out all the terror-ism cases from 2008-13.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Survey has beenstarted to launch metro bus ser-vice which will run fromFlashman hotel to Pak Secretariatvia Faizabad in the first phase.DCO Rawalpindi Sajid Zafar hasissued directives to IESCO, Sui

Gas, PTCL and WASA to workout survey report and estimatefor shifting utilities fromFlashman hotel to Faizabad andsend their reports to him.

Revenue department hasstarted carrying out survey ofMurree road. A revenue depart-ment team comprising Naib

Tehsildar Raja Shakoot, AbidShah, Gidawar AzharMehmood, patwaris and RDSofficials has conducted measure-ment work of Murree road fromMareer chowk to Waris Khanbus stop besides reviewing theproblems related to encroach-ments and other matters.

Survey work starts onMetro Bus project

People busy in catching fish at Rawal Lake to spend their leisure time.

Saddar Bazaar tohave parking plazas

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—CantonmentBoard is considering to buildparking plazas in Saddar bazaarcantt to sort out problems relatedto parking of vehicles.

Certain areas are being al-located for parking of vehiclesin different bazaars ofRawalpindi Saddar. These allpoints will be put to auction

Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Rana Manzoor AhmadKhan said that the auction ofthe parking points will help en-hance the annual income ofcantonment board on one sideand on the other side it will re-duce the chances of illegalbusiness of charging of park-ing fee by certain unscrupu-lous elements to the citizens.He said that home work forconstructing parking plazas isunderway.

Availability ofsheesha at

Capital restaurantsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The parents haveexpressed concerns over avail-ability of sheesha at restaurantsand parlours in posh areas of thefederal capital.

The parents said that somefancy restaurants and parlours invarious areas including sectors F-7, F-1, G-6 and others are offer-ing sheesha to youth, posingthreat to their health and future.They said that police and districtadministration were not takingaction against them for reasonbest known to them.

Repair of footpathsin commercial areas

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Taking notice ofthe demands of the traders andresidents of the federal capital,the Capital Development Au-thority (CDA) officials havebeen directed to repair brokenfootpaths in commercial andrecreational places.

On the directives of Chair-man CDA Maroof Afzal, Mem-ber Engineering and Environ-ment Sanaullah Aman visitedseveral areas including AabparaMarket, Melody, Sitara Market,Jinnah Avenue, ConstitutionAvenue and Lake View Parkalong with concerned officials.

06:20

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Zohr

Brothers in Islam establishregular prayers and charity

January 16

A Poetry Evening in honourof Mr. Najmul Saqib recentlyappointed Pakistan’s Ambas-sador to South Africa will beheld by ZAVIA in collabora-tion with Sir Syed MemorialSociety on 16th January 2014at 3:30 pm at “Aiwan-e-SirSyed”, 19 Ataturk Avenue,Islamabad. The function willbe presided over by Brig.Iqbal Shafi (Alig).

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LAUNCHING ceremony ofNational Proficiency Testing(PT) Scheme by Dr. SaniaNishtar (SI) former Federalminister for Science andTechnology on Thursday, 16January 2014.

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EXHIBITION of paintings byMasood A. Khan, at the No-mad Gallery, House No. 72,Street 32, Sector F-6/1,Islamabad, continuing up toJanuary 16. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.daily (except for Friday).

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, presenting books on Seerat-un-Nabi to President MamnoonHussain during National Seerat Conference at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Kidnappers in police custody who abducted two persons from Islamabad and demandedhuge amount as ransom.

Activists of APML and MQM chanting slogans in favour of former president Gen (R) PervezMusharraf during a demonstration outside the National Press Club.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Ministry forWater and Power informed theHouse on Wednesday that Paki-stan Town IB Employees Coop-erative Housing Society(IBECHS), Islamabad had notdeposited the cost of two 11 KVfeeders.

In a written reply to a ques-tion, the ministry said the co-operative housing societiesand private housing societiesbeing supplied electricity fromthe grid-station in Police Foun-

dation (NPF), O-9 includeNPF itself, Federation of Em-ployees Cooperative H/Soci-ety, Lohi Bher, Pakistan TownIB Employees Cooperative H/Society, CBR Town Phase-ILohi Bher, Soan Garden Civil-ian Cooperative H/Society andPakistan PWD H/Society LohiBher.

Korang Town Federal Em-ployees H/Society, Doctors Co-operative Housing SocietyRawalpindi, Accounts GroupOfficers Cooperative H/Society,Press Club Housing Colony,

Anchorage Sihala Capital Costfor 02 No. Feeders and RiverGarden were also being suppliedelectricity from the same grid-station, the reply further stated.The ministry said IESCO hadreceived, on account of GridSharing and Capital Cost, Rs.70.38 million and Rs. 10.42 mil-lion respectively, from the saidsocieties.

There was no such societyor project which had depositedthe charges but was not providedthe required connections, thereply added.

Power supply toIBECHS Islamabad

IIUI to conductadmission tests

in provincesCITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—International Is-lamic University (IIUI) wasmulls conducting province ba-sis admission tests to facilitatethe students of the far flung ar-eas.

Addressing concluding cer-emony of 21st “young writers’Training Programme, “PresidentIIU Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh stressed the need forcreating a balanced course inte-grated with teachings of Islamprovide platform to refrain theyouth and children from violence.

President IIU said the train-ing programme for young writ-ers would be launched nowtwice in a year. He added thateducational system should notbe biased and it should equallyaddress male and females.

Workshop onanti-plagiarism

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—In order to ensureimplementation of a policy ofplagiarism-free academic, Qual-ity Enhancement Cell (QEC) ofNational University of ModernLanguages (NUML) has held afour-week long Online TurnitinWorkshop for the regional cam-puses via Higher EducationCommission’s VideoConferencing link facility.Adnan Rashid, focal person forAnti Plagiarism at the QEC, con-ducted these sessions and thisworkshop was attended by focalpersons from all seven regionalcampuses including Karachi,Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta,Hyderabad, Multan andFaisalabad campuses.

These sessions aimed athighlighting NUML’s Plagia-rism Policy and giving a hands-on practice to focal persons inusing Turnitin (an online anti-plagiarism solution), key fea-tures of academic writing anddifferent citation formats.

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi (SAWW) was celebratedhere on Tuesday with religiouszeal and fervor under tight secu-rity arrangements. All the roads,streets and main buildings in thetown were decorated withcolourful lights and buntings. Anumber of programmes werechalked out to celebrate the birth-day of Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (Peace Be UponHim) with great reverence anddevotion. Different Naat commit-tees organized Naat competitionsto celebrate the Eid Milad.

Like every year, the govern-ment and religious organizations

arranged a number of activitiesto celebrate the annual event. Asa tradition, Milad-un-Nabi pro-cessions were held in all areas ofthe town. Around 350 Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi processions weretaken out from different parts ofthe city. The main procession ofMilad-un-Nabi started in themorning from Jamia MasjidRoad which passed through itstraditional route of CircularRoad, Waris Khan, Murree Road,Committee Chowk, Iqbal road,Fowara Chowk, Raja Bazaar andother areas.

Besides, big processions werealso brougt out from Sihala,Gorakh Pure, Adiala Road,Pirwadhai, Fauji Colony, Tench

Bhatta, Dhamiyal, Peopleâ•™sColony, Tipu Road, Chungi No22,Gulzar-e-Quaid, Sadiqabad, Mus-lim Town, Kuri Road, Shakriyal,Khanna Dak, Golra Sharif,Mehrabad, Chur, Allahabad,Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, WarisKhan, Banni, Rawat, Soan, DhokeJuma, Dhoke Kalhoor, BakraMandi, Baraf Khana and Morgah.Similarly, dozens of big and smallprocessions appeared from otherlocalities of Rawalpindi. Wag-ons, Suzuki, motorcycles,cycles, rickshaws, trucks andcars were included in the pro-cessions while thousands offaithfuls were on foot to showlove with Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (PBUH).

Milad celebratedwith religious fervor

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Coupled withcold wave hitting the twin citiesof Islamabad and Rawalpindi, thecurrent bout of low to zero gaspressure has made life miserablefor the residents. The total con-sumption of domestic consumersof twin cities stands at 100 mil-lion cubic feet per day (mmcfd)in summer season while duringwinter season it went up to 280mmcfd.

Among others, these days inIslamabad G-7, I-10, G-8 sectorsand in Rawalpindi Khyaban-e-Sir Syed, Sadiqabad, PoliceFoundation and Airport Housingscheme were experiencing low tozero gas pressure, affecting theirroutine schedule badly.

“Our life is miserable, wecannot cook anything at homes,our routine is affected badly, howto send our children to schools

without breakfast”, Akhtar a resi-dent of G-7 sector, Zero Pointsaid. He said the governmentshould take measure for rectify-ing the low gas issue which isgoing on despite claims on thepart of officials to ensure unin-terrupted supply.

He said residents had to standin long queues to get food fromrestaurants and Tandoors duringbreakfast and dinner times. Simi-larly, another resident Gul Akhtarof I-10 sector said the low gaspressure had multiplied forpeople in most areas, compellingthem to use firewood or LPG tofulfil their household chores.

“Our routine is badly af-fected due to the low pressureof gas especially at early morn-ing hours and in the eveningwhen the pressure is reduced tominimum and it becomes toodifficult for the people to cook,”he observed. Naqeebullah, resi-

dent of Airport Housing Schemesaid it was really annoying wheneveryone was in hurry to starttheir daily activities in the morn-ing but could not get the break-fast ready on time due to low gaspressure.

The SNGPL spokesman saidthe a team had been constitutedto visit the affected areas andadded, the consumers should co-operate and avoid unnecessaryuse of gas appliances during lowgas pressure duration. Replyingto a question, he said the issuewas temporary and gas pressurewould improve as temperature goup in coming months.

He said with intensity ofclod, the gap had widened in sup-ply and demand, creating thisproblem. He was of the view thatsince Islamabad and Rawalpindiregion was lying at the tail endof the system, residents were fac-ing the low gas pressure issue.

Low gas pressureaffecting routine life

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadHigh Court on Wednesday di-rected the cabinet division toprovide bullet proof car and se-curity to former Chief JusticeIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhryon the same terms and condi-tions which was being followedon the security of former PrimeMinisters.

Justice Shoukat AzizSiddiqui issued the directive anddisposed of a plea filed byformer president RawalpindiHigh Court Bar AssociationSheikh Ahsanuddin for provi-sion of security to the formerchief justice.

During the course of hear-ing, Joint Secretary of Cabinet

Division, Ziaul-Haq appearedbefore the court and presented anotification for providing a bul-let proof car of 2005 model toformer Chief Justice. He saidthat the car has been providedto former chief justice for 90days initially for official use. ToThis, the Judge expressed dis-pleasure over word officiallyand observed that the family ofthe former chief Justice can alsouse the bullet proof car as he hasretired.

In earlier hearing,the Courthad ordered the cabinet divisionto provide a bullet proof vehiclewithin three days to formerChief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry. —APP

IHC orders toprovide former PMs’level security to ex-CJ

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Custodian ofEidgah Shrine PirMuhammad Naqeeb-ur-Rehman has stressed the needto follow the teachings ofHoly Prophet HazratMuhammad (Peace Be UponHim) to ensure peace and re-ligious harmony in the soci-ety.

Addressing a gatheringheld in connection with EidMilad-un-Nabi (PBUH) hereat Eidgah, he said love and af-fection with Allah Almighty’slast Messenger was essentialfor unity and harmony among

various sects and faiths.“It is the central point for

all Muslims and we being anUmmah will have to follow theteachings of the Holy Quranand the Prophet (PBUH),” hesaid.

Pir Naqeeb said the faith-ful celebrate Eid-e-Milad withgreat zeal and fervor, holdingMahafil-e-Naat and arranginggatherings to pay homage tothe Prophet (PBUH).

He said the message ofHoly Prophet (PBUH) wasbased on strong, social justiceand equality, who gave voiceand recognition to the weak inthe society. He said Hazrat

Muhammad (Peace UponHim) actually laid the founda-tion of a new culture and heri-tage in the land of Arabs andchanged the entire lives of no-mads in just twenty threeyears.

Pir Naqeeb appreciated lo-cal administration for makingelaborate arrangements to cel-ebrate the Milad in a peacefulmanner. Inchrage Administra-tive Affairs of Masjid-e-Nabvi(PBUH) in Saudi Arabia FazalGhulam was chief guest at theannual celebrations of Milad atEidgah.

Sahibzada Hassan Haseeb-ur-Rehman and other Naat

Khawans including AmirFayyazi, Zaib MasoodShahd, Sahibzada TasleemSabri, Yousaf Memon, QariShahid Mehmood, ShahbazQamar Afridi and Noor Sul-tan Siddiqui recited Naats intheir unique style andwarmed the audience withlove and devotion of HazratMuhammad (PBUH).

A large number of devo-tees from across the countryand abroad participated in theannual Mehfi-e-Milad atEidgah. Special prayers werealso offered for peace,progress and prosperity of thecountry.

Religious harmony possible through teachings of Prophet (PBUH)

Construction work onKashmir Highway

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Capi-tal Development Authority(CDA) Maroof Afzal has paid asurprise visit to under- construc-tion Kashmir Highway Wednes-day evening. He reviewed theprogress and pace of work be-ing carried out on the importanthighway.

The Chairman was briefedby Member Engineering aboutthe progress on Kashmir High-way.

The Chairman said that thepace of work on this importantand vital inter-provincial roadshould be expedited to completeit as soon as possible to providesmooth travelling to the motor-ists.

He directed the concernedperson to expedite the work onbridges to be built on KashmirHighway. He also directed toprovide alternate routes / diver-sions for smooth flow of trafficin under-construction areas.

Chairman directed the engi-neers working on the site thatCDA will not compromise onquality of work and material, sothey should increase the pace ofwork without compromisingquality.

Conditions inyouth loans

eased: MarviISLAMABAD—Chief Coordi-nator of Prime Minister ’sYouth Business Loans MarviMemon says the governmenthas eased up many conditionsin the loan scheme to attractmaximum applications fromthe youth.

In an interview with Ra-dio Pakistan, she said theyouth has shown tremendousinterest in the loan scheme.Though the rate of return ofapplications is low and there-fore on the directions of thePrime Minister the conditionshave been relaxed. Now theblood relative has been al-lowed to become guarantor,she added.

Marvi Memon said shehas visited several backwardareas of the country in orderto also involve them in thisscheme.

She said people of these ar-eas want to open up schools ordo other some other businesses.

She said our teams areworking day and night to prop-erly guide the people of back-ward areas.

Responding to a question,Marvi Memon clarified that fivepercent quota has been fixed forthe disabled persons in the PrimeMinister ’s Youth BusinessLoans.—APP

Allegedmismanagement in

PBC refered to AGPISLAMABAD—Public AccountsCommittee (PAC) of the Na-tional Assembly Wednesday is-sued directives to the Accoun-tant General of Pakistan topresent a report on alleged mis-management in Pakistan Broad-casting Corporation within 15days. The PAC meeting chairedby Syed Khursheed Shah, itschairman, issued these directivesafter hearing the viewpoint ofthe PBC Director GeneralSamina Pervez who said that noirregularities were committed inawarding advertisement contractto Loud and Clear company.

She said that the PBC twiceadvertised the contract and the saidcomapny was awarded the contacton merit. She said under PPRArules there was no need that thecompany should be registered withSecurity Exchange Commission ofPakistan. However, on the recom-mendation of a committee of PBC,she said the company was regis-tered with the SECP in November.

She also dispelled the im-pression given by a section ofmedia that the company was is-sued funds from the Radio Pa-kistan accounts.—APP

Anti-encroachmentoperation

in Mandi MorrCITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Assistant Com-missioner (AC) Sadar,Islamabad, Rabi AurangzebWednesday conducted anti-en-croachment operation in MandiMore area and cleared the areafrom encroachments.

The AC conducted the op-eration along with SP, I-9 andCapital Development Authority(CDA) encroachment staff andone illegal bus stand namelyBilal Travelers was closed downand took legal action against theowner of the bus stand, said apress release issued here. An il-legal cotton factory operatingwithout license was also sealedin the Mandi More area. AC,Sadar told that green belts werealso cleared of illegal parking ofpublic service vehicles.

The 80 kiosks on footpathsand encroaching roads were de-molished. These kiosk werecausing traffic jams in the area.

AC directed the transport-ers to refrain from parkingtheir vehicles in the green beltsand stern action would betaken against violators.

Literary debateon Friday

ISLAMABAD—A three-dayevent will be organized here onFriday to present the very firstedition of the ‘GreatShakespeare Debate’ (GSD) inorder to promote literatureamongst the new generation.

The event is being organizedby ‘The English Literary Soci-ety’ on behalf of Lahore Gram-mar School Islamabad by takinginspiration from the originalGSD which has been annuallyheld in the United Kingdomsince 2005.

According to the organizerof the event, this is a brandnew concept being held in Pa-kistan for the very first timeand the format of the debatewill provide participants theopportunity to explore theworld of Shakespeare throughdynamic discussion and livelydebate.—APP

Pir Naqeeb-ur-Rehman of Eidgah Shareef, addressing on the occasion of Eid Milad-un Nabi (PBUH).

MUZAFFARABAD: Advisor to Govt Raja Mubashir Ejaz talking to Secretary Local Gov-ernment Board Tahir Ayub.

KOTLI: AJK Senior Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin discussing some importantmatters with Minister for Education and Colleges

Kashmiri villagers shout slogans during the funeral procession of a youth in Kulgam district, some 70 kilometres south ofSrinagar.

SRINAGAR—The veteranHurriyet leader, Syed AliGeelani has appealed to the glo-bal peace-loving community tohelp the people of Jammu andKashmir in their struggle forright to self-determination.

Syed Ali Gilani, who contin-ues to be under house arrest, in amedia statement in Srinagar, to-day, said that India had thrust warupon the people of Kashmir andit was the responsibility of alldemocratic forces of the world tosecure their release from the ty-rannical grip of India.

World urged to supportKashmiris’ freedom struggle

Protest in Srinagar against detainees’ sufferingsThe veteran leader main-

tained that Delhi’s fulfilmentof its pledges with the peopleof Jammu and Kashmir wouldpave the way for peace and sta-bility in the region and wouldguarantee better future for thepeople of the disputed terri-tory.

Senior APHC leader, Pro-fessor Abdul Ghani Butt ad-dressing a meeting at SanooraKalipora in Badgam called uponnuclear powers like the UnitedStates, China, Pakistan and In-dia to resolve the Kashmir dis-

pute for ensuring economicprosperity of the region and theworld at large. Because this longlasting issue has jeopardized thefate of South Asian region notonce but thrice in previous fewdecades. He further urged thePowers to take serious steps inresolving this major issue whichalways remain in media. He de-manded resolution of the Kash-mir dispute as per the Kashmiris’aspirations.

The Jammu and KashmirLiberation Front during a pro-test sit-in at Partab Park in

Srinagar, today, called upon theworld community and interna-tional human rightsorganisations to take notice ofthe plight of illegally-detainedKashmiris including thoseawarded life imprisonment. Theprotest was led by NoorMuhammad Kalwal.

APHC leaders, Zafar AkbarButt and Syed Bashir Andrabiin their addresses and statementscalled for inclusion of theKashmiris in the dialogue pro-cess between Pakistan and Indiaover Kashmir.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The HurriyatConference (M) has said that theparty was working to resolveKashmir issue either by imple-mentation of UN resolutions orholding a tripartite dialogue.

The party also made it clearthat it was pursuing a policy laiddown in unanimously adoptedHurriyat constitution of 1993.

In a statement, a partyspokesman said that in a meet-ing of executive council chairedby Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, theparty members asserted that itwas the constitutional responsi-bility of Hurriyat to take mea-sures to find out a solution ofKashmir issue through UnitedNations resolutions or througha tripartite dialogue.

“UN resolutions provide asolid legal basis to Kashmir dis-pute so it is the duty and responsi-

UN resolutions or tripartite dialogue

Hurriyat (M) eyes toresolve Kashmir dispute

bility of the world body to fulfillits obligations and keeping in viewthe feelings, aspirations and sac-rifices of the people of Kashmir,find a solution of this long pend-ing issue,” the spokesman said.

He said that the leaders alsosaid that Hurriyat (M) repre-sented the people stands basedon the principle of collectivismand there was no restriction onthe thoughts or views of itsmembers. “However, decisionsregarding its stand or policies aretaken, in the larger interest of themovement and on the basis ofagreed collective view keepingin consideration the individualviews of its members,” he said

He said that the participantsdescribed the recent relationshipbetween Pakistan and India as ahopeful development said thatKashmir issue stands as the core

issue between the twoneighbours.

“Without its considerationon priority basis the whole en-gagement between the twocountries would remain fragile.All other issues are of second-ary importance,” he said.

The spokesman also said thatthe party leaders was stressed oninclusion of the Kashmiri peoplein any engagement over the is-sue. “Until now,bilateral engage-ment has not yielded any results,”he added.

He said that the executivecouncil also took stock of thecurrent political andorganisational affairs. “There isthe need to discuss means andmeasures to bring more dyna-mism, strength and cohesion inthe ongoing movement,” headded.—NNI

Power failure inhospitals

shocking: DAKSRINAGAR: Doctors Associationof Kashmir Thursday said it wasshocking that Chest Disease(CD) hospital Srinagar had noelectricity for past two days withthe result patients faced huge in-convenience.

In a press statement, DAKpresident Dr Nisar-ul-Hassansaid that CD hospital Srinagarduring winter months receiveshuge number of chronic obstruc-tive lung disease patients requir-ing oxygen as life saving treat-ment. “Without electricity oxy-gen is not delivered to these pa-tients putting precious lives’ torisk. This forced attendants andpatients to stage massive protestsin the campus of CD Hospitalwho had come to receive special-ized care from peripheral Hospi-tals,” he said.

He said that it is pathetic thatCD Hospital has no genset avail-able and during power cuts, pa-tients are left to mercy of Al-mighty. “This is a criminal neg-ligence on part of authorities. Theperipheral hospitals are worst hitwith frequent power cuts addingto the miseries of patients,” DrNisar-ul-Hasan said.

He further said that the snowpreparedness of the Governmentis hoax as there is no connectiv-ity during snowfall with the re-sult patients cannot reach to hos-pitals. Even hospital staff cannotreach their duties due to roadblocks. The Patients suffer be-cause of lack of basic facilities,”he said adding that the politiciansare insensitive to this grave hu-man issue.—Agencies

If Gujarat canban liquor,

why not J&KSRINAGAR—President DoctorsAssociation of Kashmir DrNisar ul Hassan has said thatAssociation will file a PublicInterest Litigation seeking banon alco-hol in Kashmir Valley.

In a statement issued today,Dr Nisar-ul-Hasan said thatconsumption of alcohol is iden-tified as a major social evil glo-bally and the constitution ofIndia under article 47 in theDirective Principles of Statepolicy reads, ‘the state shallendeavour to bring about pro-hibition of the use and trade ofalcohol. The prohibition hasbeen implemented in manystates of India like Gujrat,Manipur, Mizoram, Nagalandand Lakshadweep.

The Gujrat state governmentintroduced a bill in state assem-bly to amend the prohibition lawcalling for penal action up todeath penalty for those con-victed in liquor cases.

He said that In view of del-eterious effects of alcohol, gov-ernment of Jammu and Kashmirhas legal and moral obligationto have a blanket ban on the con-sumption and trade of alcohol.When states like Gujrat and oth-ers have banned the liquor tradewhy not in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr Nisar-ul-Hasan allegedthat Government is promotinguse of liquor in the valley with adesign.

“The use and trade of alco-hol in Kashmir is a conspiracyto make our society morbid andsocially wreck. The sale of li-quor is unacceptable to us andat no cost will we allow thismenace in our society.

We have a strong obligationtowards our society to safeguard itagainst social evils,” he said add-ing that DAK will file a Public in-terest Litigation in HonourableHigh Court seeking a ban on thesale and consumption of alcohol inthe valley.—Agencies

SRINAGAR—Terming the talksbetween India and Pakistanthrough backdoor channels amere ‘eye wash’, noted humanrights activist GhutamNawlakha has said that throughthese ‘secret talks’, India tries toconvince Pakistan to accept Lineof Control (LOC) as a perma-nent border and shun the de-mand of holding any referendumin Kashmir.

Nawlakha while speaking ata seminar organized by StateHuman rights group,’ Voice ofVictims’ at a local hotel here,stated that corruption is the mainpart of India’s policy to muzzlethe movement of Kashmir andkeep Kashmiris economicallydependent. “Without layingdown sacrifices how you can getAzadi from India, So if you re-ally want to peruse your goal forwhich you have laid down sac-rifices you must resist and con-tinue the freedom struggle,” saidNawlakha while speaking in theseminar.

“Every day you have to con-front the heavy army coveys onyour 10 to 20 feet wide roadsthat directly affects your day-to-day life. So the impact of non-

India was never serious inresolving Kashmir: Navlakha

resolution of Kashmir issue, ifwe go in its depth, is horrific.”So the impacts of non-resolutionof Kashmir issue if we would goin depth are horrifying.” he said,adding that talks between Indiaand Pakistan through back chan-nels mere ‘eye wash’.

Terming the talks betweenIndia and Pakistan through backchannels mere ‘eye wash’, hesaid, “This kind of talks ofthrough back channels continuesince past but nothing wasachieved from them. So thistime also don’t expect anythingfrom them.” Adding India wasnever sincere in resolving thedispute. “Through these backchannels talks India tries to con-vince Pakistan to accept Line ofControl permanent border andshun the demand of holding anyreferendum on Kashmir,” hesaid. Rubbishing main streampoliticians for parsing AtalBehari Vajpayee and Modi, hesaid that instead of parsing thempeople of Jammu and Kashmirmust intensify its movement ondiplomatic level besides takingbenefit from ongoing spat be-tween India, America.

State Human rights group,’

Voice of Victim’ held a seminaron the topic Impact of Non-reso-lution of Kashmir issue. Semi-nar was attended by number ofsenior citizens, Intellectuals,doctors and students. PravizImroaz Chairman Jammu andKashmir coalition of Civil soci-eties, Dr Javid Iqbal columnist,Dr Nissar-ul-Hassan Malk,president doctor’s association,Senior journalist Zaheer-u-Dinaddressed the seminar. Seniorcolumnist, Zaheer-ud-Din whileslamming Kashmir’s pro-free-dom camp stated that Kashmir’ssociety is united but its leader-ship is fragmented creatingchaos among the people and theworld community.

“We had two Huriyats in thepast and now the third one hasemerged. The fragmented lead-ership is doing no good topeople. We want to tell thesepeople that we as commonpeople are united but it is youare divided. ” VOV’s executivedirector, Abdul Qadeer and RoufRasool thanked the gatheringwho participated in the seminarand pledged to continue raise thevoice of human rights vic-tims.—NNI

Pro-India partiesresponsible for

Kashmiroccupation: SehraiSRINAGAR—The General Sec-retary of Tehreek-e-HurriyetJammu and Kashmir,Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai hassaid that all the pro-India par-ties including National Confer-ence and Peoples DemocraticParty are responsible for illegaloccupation of the territory.

Muhammad Ashraf Sehraiin a statement issued in Srinagarsaid that the people of Kashmirwere not giving sacrifices fordevelopment and other eco-nomic packages but for secur-ing their birthright to self-deter-mination. He said that Kashmiriswould not come into the hollowslogans of pro-India politicians.

Appealing for completeboycott of the sham polls in theoccupied territory, he said thatthe hands of pro-India leaderswere coloured with the blood ofKashmiri people and did notdeserve to be voted.

Paying rich tributes toshaheed Waseem Yousuf ofDogri Pura, Pulwama, Sehraisaid that the blood of Kashmirimartyrs would not be allowed togo waste as their sacred missionwould be taken to its logical con-clusion.—KMS

Indian Armychief slammed

over troopspresence remarksSRINAGAR—The Indian Armychief General Bikram Singh’sremarks on presence of troopsand revocation of Armed ForcesSpecial Powers Act in the terri-tory evoked criticism with profreedom parties putting a ques-tion mark on his mandate.

APHC Chairman, taking astrong exception to GeneralSingh’s remarks, questioned theauthority of General Singh as thearmy chief to speak on the is-sues, which relate to politicaldomain. ”It is ironic that armyis now talking of the issues andvirtually taking decisions of thesensitive political issues”, headded.

India’s arrogance of powerhad made its army chief to issuethe statement of such bizarrenature and that the same vindi-cates the rigid policy of the es-tablishment vis-à-vis Kash-mir.—KMS

Black dayon Indian

Republic DayBRUSSELS—A meeting ofKashmir Council EU which waspresided by Council’s ChairmanAli Raza Syed in Brussels de-cided that the council wouldobserved the Indian RepublicDay on January 26 as black dayand the peaceful demonstratorsin front of Indian Mission woulddemand New Delhi to give rightof self-determination to thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir.

The peaceful demonstrationwould begin from 10:30am on26th January at 217, Chausseede Vleurgat 1050 Brussels anda protest memorandum may alsobe handed over to the officialsof the embassy.

In a statement issued at theconclusion of the meeting, AliRaza Syed said, Indian claimsfor being largest democracy ofthe world but it refuses thedemocratic rights of the peopleof Jammu and Kashmir asatrocities against the people arecontinued. He said, peace inKashmir is connected to thewhole region. If Kashmir is wit-ness of peace, the whole regionwould be witness of peace andprosperity.—NNI

SRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir State Human RightsCommission (SHRC) has ex-pressed its concern over the liv-ing conditions of jail inmates andrequested the government to de-port the detainees fromneighbouring countries as agoodwill gesture.

With a purpose to have anon spot assessment and takestock of the living conditions ofjail inmates, Rafiq Fida, mem-ber of J&K State Human RightsCommission accompanied byTariq Ahmad Banday, Secretary,Showkat Iqbal, SP and LazarKhandariya, Dy. SP during aninspection tour to the jails ofJammu province from January6 to 9, this year, inspected al-most all the Jails of Jammuprovince including Central JailJammu and jails of Kote Bilwal,Hira Nagar, Kathua, Udhampurand Reasi. The Commission inits report has said that during in-

SHRC concerned over jailinmates’ worsened conditions

spection, it has been observedthat although the overall func-tioning of these jails was satis-factory, but there are some im-portant issues, which the au-thorities at the helm of affairs,need to address.

According to CNS, the StateHuman Rights Commission hassaid that in gross violation of ba-sic and human rights, there aresome nationals of neighbouringcountries in these jails detainedand languishing under preventivelaws, without trial or whose caseshave either culminated or theyhave been acquitted by the Courtsof Law or have completed theirterm of conviction and are over-staying.

According to the Commis-sion, “amongst them are somepoor and impoverished ones fromBangladesh, Burma, Pakistanand Saudi Arabia who, in searchof their livelihood or mistakenlyand inadvertently, crossed LOC

illegally and are serving deten-tion for either violating provi-sions of Immigration ControlRules, crossing LOC withouttravel documents or their traveldocuments are expired.”

The Commission has sug-gested that both the Governmentsof the State and Centre need toadopt humane approach, showsome concern and, in order toease out the tensions andstrengthen the friendship ties be-tween the neighboring countries,must take effective measures todeport all such nationals to theirnative countries as a goodwillgesture so that the right to life andliberty of these jail inmates areespoused and protected.

“In the Hira Nagar jail anunder trial who is 85 years old islanguishing and dying downwaiting for his trial to completeand see the dawn of his release.Even bail has not been grantedto him. —NNI

SRINAGAR—The father of theteenaged boy who went missingin Dehli in November last re-turned home hopelessly after 53days search for his son. RohanAmin Ganai, a 10th class studentof Jadwal Pulwama, had gone toDelhi with his father to sellfruits. On November 20 he wentmissing in Azadpur area there.His father lodged a missing re-port with nearby Mahindra parkpolice station.

However, 53 days haveelapsed, Roman continues to re-main untraced. His father’s tire-

Kashmiri father’s effortsto trace son ‘futile’

less efforts for nearly twomonths to locate his son provedfutile who finally returned homedejected. Talking to KashmirTimes, the dejected father,Mohammad Amin said that theyhad gone for shopping toChandni Chowk the day his sonwent missing. “After returningto our rented room from shop-ping I again went out for somework.

On my return after some timeI did not find my son at the room.Since he was not carrying anyphone I could not call him too.

As he did not return till late nightI got worried and lodged miss-ing report with nearby police sta-tion,” Amin said.

“CCTV cameras in AzadpurMandi area show my son enter-ing the sector-A after which heis not seen anywhere,” Aminsaid. “I tried to meet Delhi CM,Arvind Kejriwal but could notas he was busy with the politi-cal functions. However the onlypolitician from Kashmir whofelt my pain was M Y Tarigamias he tried his best to help me,”said the dejected father.—NNI

NF will raise voiceto save Kashmir

movement:Nayeem

SRINAGAR—A working com-mittee meet of Jammu KashmirNational Front (JKNF) was or-ganized under the party Chair-manship of Nayeem AhmadKhan in which the prevailingpolitical situation was thoroughlydiscussed, JKNF statement said.

“It was unanimously de-cided that National Front willraise its voice as and when re-quired so that Kashmir move-ment is saved and the sacrificesrendered to achieve the goal areprotected,” statement said.

Statement added that seriousconcern was expressed duringthe meeting on the fact that ‘fewdisruptive elements are issuingstatements by using a terminol-ogy which would only derail theongoing struggle and create con-fusion about the very preciousmovement’.

During the meeting, NationalFront Chairman while deliberat-ing on the present political situa-tion said, “The people of Kash-mir have rendered tremendoussacrifices only to achieve the rightto self determination but some el-ements are using such a languagethat can create confusion and dis-ruption only.”

Khan further said, “We arebound that we will not allow anybody to play with the sacrificesof the people and we will comeforward to save the movementand the sacrifices of the peopleas and when necessary.”

He added that “Disruptiveelements are busy to misguidethe movement but Hurriyat Con-ference (break-away faction)will go to any extent to rein-inthese elements.”—NNI

SRINAGAR—Peoples’ Demo-cratic Party (PDP) has describedthe government’s proposed cre-ation of new administrative unitsin the state as a fraud beingplayed on people and a matchthat was already fixed.

Addressing a press confer-ence senior PDP leaderMuzaffar Beigh said, “The ex-ercise on the face of it is only anattempt to put up a facade forruling parties’ designs to use thecreation of new units for politi-cal purposes. Having failed onall fronts of governance the rul-ing party is now desperately try-ing to subvert the system to se-cure some seats for some influ-ential politicians at a huge priceto administrative system.”

Beigh said that with elec-tions drawing near, the rulingparty seems to have gone intoan overdrive on the issue.

The cabinet subcommittee,he said, has made some ‘cos-metic’ appearances at some se-lect places for so called interac-tion to elicit people’s views. “Itis beyond comprehension as tohow common people or theirrepresentatives could offer theirviews without knowing the con-tents of the report or its recom-mendation,” he said.

The former deputy chiefminster added that the ‘insincer-ity’ of the ruling parties in at-tempting to create new admin-istrative units, at this stage,‘without putting in public do-main the reports of experts andwithout discussion in the statelegislature, was heightened bythe facts that the statutory insti-

New administrative units

PDP: Fraud being played,a match already fixed

tutions like Panchayats have re-mained defunct because of thecallous and unforgivable failureof the government to hold elec-tion at the block and districtlevel’.

“Further, despite the assur-ance of the ruling parties givento the legislature through theGovernor’s address in Budgetsession of 2010 the elections tolocal bodies would be held byMay, 2010, no step has beentaken till today. The ruling par-ties desire to befool the elector-ate at this stage through creat-ing some administrative units onpaper only.” Beigh added.

Substantiating his claims,Beigh said that CSC exercisewas patently farcical as theywere working to a deadlinegiven by the chief minister forhis obvious political interests.“The audience at these so calledmeetings is sponsored by theruling party itself to elicit pre-determined opinions. It is a fixedmatch. If the units had ultimatelyto be created through such cha-rade what was the need for acommittee and why did the rul-ing party wait for the electiontime to execute its plans.”

“PDP would want to makeit clear that any lopsided, ma-nipulative, injudicious or politi-cally oriented creation of admin-istrative units will not only takeaway the advantage that the rul-ing party desires to get out of thislast hour poll gimmick, but willalso create immense angeramong the public who will feeldeprived of the due rights.”—Agencies

One person with abelief is equal to aforce of ninety-nine

who have onlyinterest.

—John Stewart Mill

Hearing on CNGlicences put offStaff ReporterISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt has adjourned thehearing of identicalpetitions on issuance ofCNG licenses and corrup-tion in Oil and Gas Regula-tory Authority (OGRA) tillJanuary 23. A three-judgebench of Justice Jawwad SKhawaja also adjourned thematter of recoveringsubstantial amounts fromthe property of formerChairman Ogra Tauqir Sadiqtill January 16.

Jewellery, gemexports fallStaff ReporterKARACHI—The country’sexport of jewellery falls byover 77 percent duringJuly-Nov 2013-14 to$201.336 million, officialstatistics say. Thecountry’s export ofjewellery fell by $690.681million during July-Nov2013-14 from $892.017million in July-Nov 2012-13, Pakistan Bureau ofStatistics (PBS) say. Exportof gems also posted a fallof 24 percent or $0.491million to $2.567 million inJuly-Nov 2013-14 ascompared to the gemsexport of $2.076 million insame period last fiscalyear, the PBS indicates.

Shipping activity atPort QasimKARACHI—Two shipscarrying containers wereberthed at Qasim Interna-tional Containers Terminal.Meanwhile six more shipscarrying containers, wheat,gen. cargo, furnace oil andedible oil are also arrived atouter anchorage of PortQasim during last 24 hours,said a PQA press release onWednesday. Berth occu-pancy was 35% at the Porton Wednesday where afour ships namely Fowairet,CGM Debussy, SafmarineNgami and M.T GeminiPioneer are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload, containers and urearespectively during last 24hours. —APP

ISE-10 index stays bullishISLAMABAD—TheIslamabad Stock Exchange(ISE) on Wednesdaywitnessed bullish trend asthe ISE-10 index was up by8.74 points to close at4742.77 points. A total of7,200 shares were traded,which showed a negativegrowth of 155,800 shareswhen compared withprevious day’s trading of163,000. Out of 164companies, share prices of103 companies recordedincrease while those of 61companies decreased andno company remainedstable in today’s trad-ing.—APP

W A S H I N G T O N — A f t e ryears of recession, financialcrisis, fiscal wars and apatchwork recovery, thereare relatively few darkclouds on the horizon forthe global economy. That isthe conclusion of the WorldBank’s latest global growthforecast, released on Tues-day. The bank’s economistsexpect growth over all toincrease from 2.4 percentlast year to 3.2 percent in2014, and to maintain thatlevel for the next two years.

“The performance ofadvanced economies isgaining momentum, andthis should support stron-ger growth in developingcountries,” Jim Yong Kim,the president of the WorldBank, said in a statement.

Indeed, in the latest signthat even battered Europeis on the mend, Eurostat re-ported on Tuesday that fac-tories in the euro zoneramped up output in No-vember after two months ofdecline. Industrial produc-tion rose 1.8 percent fromOctober, which itself wasrevised upward to show asmaller monthly drop. Still,it is not necessarily all clearsailing ahead.

The Federal Reserve’sslow retrenchment of its eco-nomic stimulus campaign -which served to push downinterest rates the world over- poses one of the most sig-nificant risks for the globaleconomy this year, the banksaid. Some lower-incomeeconomies may suffer from

reduced inflows of invest-ment if interest rates rise, thebank warned, as it has formonths. That could lead todefaults and economic tur-bulence. Even so, the bank’seconomists do not see theFed’s so-called tapering aspushing global growth offits path. “Whatever nega-tive effect the taper mighthave, that’s going to be off-set by the stronger growthin high-income countries,”Andrew Burns, the lead au-thor of the report, said in aninterview.

“It’s not a doom-and-gloom scenario.” He notedthat markets respondedcalmly when the Fed an-nounced its decision late lastyear to begin cutting its assetpurchases, by an increment of

$10 billion, from $85 billion amonth. The bank expects thatdeveloping economies willgrow in 2014 by what wouldbe a relatively moderate pacefor them of 5.3 percent. Thatwould be significantly slowerthan in the boom years thatpreceded the global reces-sion. But the bank’s econo-mists said they believed thatslower growth might behealthier and more stable,driven by improving eco-nomic fundamentals ratherthan cheap money and finan-cial bubbles.

The emerging-market gi-ants China and India shouldsee stronger growth thisyear, the bank said. But con-cerns remain: India hasstruggled with inflation andcurrency depreciation, and

WB expecting widespread growth for 2014

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Germany onWednesday offered coopera-tion in vital sectors of energy,education and vocational train-

ing to help Pakistan in eco-nomic field. “We can assist Pa-kistan in energy, education and

Germany offers coopin energy and

education, sectors

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Lahorechamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI) on Wednes-day demanded of the Punjabgovernment to establish acoal-fired power generationplant at Lahore TownshipIndustrial Area (LTIA) onprivate-public partnershipbasis. The demand wasraised by the LCCI PresidentEngineer Sohail Lashari

while talking to an eight-member delegation of LahoreTownship Industries Asso-ciation (LTIA) led by itsChairman Zaheer Bhutta.

LCCI Vice PresidentKashif Anwar and SeniorVice Chairman LTIA MianKhurram and ExecutiveCommittee members werealso present in the meeting.The LCCI President saidthat the Punjab governmentshould consider the Lahore

Township Industrial Area fortwo reasons including avail-ability of around hundredkanals of government landand secondly a rail track alsopasses through the indus-trial area. Engineer SohailLashari said that it was ahappy sign that the indus-trialists of the LTIA haveshown their strong will tosupplement government ef-forts aimed at mitigating theshortage of electricity.

On the issue of WaterTreatment Plant in the Indus-trial area in the wake of GSPPlus status to Pakistan, theLCCI President urged theLTIA Chairman to finalise aproposal to enable the LCCIto submit it to the concernedgovernment quarters for itsearly execution.

The LCCI President, onthe occasion, informed thedelegation that the LahoreChamber of Commerce and

Industry was also striving toestablish an eight mega wattlow-head hydel powerproject on its own for whichthe study is near completion.He said that the LCCI had al-ready convened an EmergentGeneral Meeting to get ap-proval and support of all the18000 members of the LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry for the said powergeneration project thatwould be first of its kind by

any of the chambers of com-merce in the country.

Engineer Sohail Lasharisuggested to the LTIA of-fice-bearers and the Execu-tive Committee members toconstitute to separate com-mittees over coal-firedpower project and WaterTreatment plant and the re-search department of theLCCI would extend everypossible cooperation for thepreparation of feasibilities.

Punjab govt urged to establish a coal-fired power generation plant at LTIA

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—With thePrivatisation Commission (PC)giving permission to proceedwith the privatisation processof Pakistan International Air-lines (PIA), some political par-ties are politicising the issue byterming it unfair. However, aclose review of PIA’s financialstatistics reveals that PIA hasbecome a white elephant andprivatisation is the only wayout to save this national asset.

Earlier, PC approved thesale of the Heavy ElectricalComplex (HEC), the NationalPower Construction Com-pany (NPCC), and the divest-ment of a minimum of 26 per-cent shares of PIA to a stra-tegic partner. To understandthe financial position of PIA,

Sunrise Research stated in areport that PIA, being a state-owned entity with a govern-ment of Pakistan (GoP) hold-ing of 2.43 billion shares or84.64 percent, is sufferinghuge losses since more thanfive years. There are variousreasons behind the losseslike corruption, incompetentmanagement and politicalappointments. As perfinancials of nine months of2013, losses of PIA stood atRs 31.94 billion with an in-crease of 42 percent onyearly basis and so far PIAhas accumulated a loss of Rs180 billion, said the analyst.

The finance cost of PIAappreciated by 10 percent toRs 9.32 billion while due tohuge borrowings, liabilities ofPIA stood at Rs 267.8 billion

Politicians opposing PIA’s sale

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab IndustrialEstates Development andManagement Company(PIEDMC) Chairman S.M.Tanvir said here Wednesdaythat the Company had en-tered into an agreement withPunjab government to retirea loan of Rs 1035 milliongiven to it as seed money tokick start the company’s op-erations in 2004. He said thatin 2003, Punjab governmenthad established the Com-pany with a model of Public-Private Partnership, domi-nated by private sector, toachieve orderly planned andrapid industrialization in theprovince.

The PIEDMC, he added,

PIEDMC to returnRs 1035m loan to Punjab govt

had actively participated in re-cent industrial developmentsand was successfully runningfour industrial estates and de-veloping another five in differ-ent parts of Punjab.

He mentioned that devel-opment of Sundar IndustrialEstate was assigned as aninitial project to PIEDMC in2004, and presently, the SIEhad achieved 70 percent ofits colonization and provid-ing employment opportuni-ties to approximately 30,000skilled labour. S.M. Tanvirsaid the PIEDMC had al-ready started new projectslike Rahim Yar Khan, Vehariand Bhalwal Industrial Es-tates and all the threeprojects were 100 percent fi-nanced by the Company,

which was also developingits upcoming projects.

Another two majorprojects had also beenlaunched (Quaid-e-Azam So-lar Park and Punjab ApparelPark), he said. “PIEDMC hasachieved the unprecedentedand important milestone to re-tire the government loan andit is an exemplary benchmarkof good governance by re-paying its financial obliga-tions,” he added. He laudedthe efforts of Punjab ChiefMinister Muhammad ShahbazSharif under whose leader-ship, the PIEDMC hadachieved this landmark in thehistory of Punjab and it wasvery first example to retire agovernment loan by a public-private partnership entity.

China with a vulnerablebanking sector and over in-vestment. “It is important toavoid policy stasis so thatthe green shoots don’t turninto brown stubble,” saidKaushik Basu, the bank’schief economist. This year,global momentum shouldbenefit from a growingUnited States, a bottomed-out Europe and a revitalizedJapan, the report said.

The beleaguered euroarea seems to have turned acorner, the report said, andpolicy and financial uncer-tainty in the region has sig-nificantly eased. Ireland,Portugal and Spain havestarted growing again, andthe pace of contractionseems to have slowed inGreece and Italy. —INP

LSE gains18.63 points

LAHORE—Lahore Stock Ex-change here Wednesday wit-nessed bullish trend by gain-ing 18.63 points, as the LSE In-dex-25 opened with 5099.83points and closed at 5118.46points. The market’s overallsituation, however, did not cor-respond to an upward trend asit remained at 1.835 millionshares to close against previ-ous turnover of 3.262 millionshares, showing a downwardslide of 1.427 million shares.While, out of the total 130 ac-tive scrips 48 moved up, 21 shedvalues and 61 remained equal.

The Major Gainers of theday were IGI Insurance Lim-ited, Muslim CommercialBank Limited and PakistanOil Fields Limited by record-ing increase in their pershare value by Rs 8.65, Rs3.33 and Rs 2.50 respec-tively. Maple Leaf CementFactory, Engro Foods Lim-ited and Kot Addu PowerCompany lost their per sharevalue by Re 0.88, Re 0.50 andRe 0.46 respectively.

Top three Volume Leadersof the day included LafargePakistan Cement Limited with390,000 shares, NIB Bank Lim-ited with 169,500 shares.—APP

Govt finding long-term solution to

energy crisisSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Federal Ministerfor Industries and Produc-tion Ghulam Murtaza KhanJatoi has said that the gov-ernment is opting for a longterm solution to the energycrisis focusing on the lowcost generation of electric-ity. He was confident that thegovernment endeavorswould be able to end the en-ergy crisis within next fouryears. He was talking to themedia at Foundry ServiceCenter developed by theSMEDA.

Earlier, he assured to in-clude a number of the ini-tiatives of five-year SMEdevelopment Plan evolvedby the Small and MediumEnterprises DevelopmentAuthority. While chairinga meeting at SMEDA headoffice, he informed that theconsultative process on In-dustrial Policy was inprogress.

Small farmerstermed asset

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Ministerfor Irrigation Mian YawarZaman has said that small farm-ers are asset of our countryand it cannot progress with-out resolving their problems.He said that provision of ca-nal water to small farmers istop priority of Punjab govern-ment and no negligence will betolerated in this regard.

He said that the water tothe farmers at tail end will beprovided at all costs and theofficers of Irrigation Depart-ment showing negligencewould not be spared. He wasaddressing a function held inconnection with redressingthe complaints of farmers ofadjacent areas of tehsilTandlianwala, districtFaisalabad. PML-N leaderJaffar Ali Hocha MPA, formerTehsil Nazim Ali Gohar Balochand a large number of farmersas well as concerned officersof Irrigation Department werepresent on the occasion.

Provincial Irrigation Min-ister said that the complaintsof farmers will be redressedat every cost and all possiblesteps would be taken for pro-viding water to the farmersat tail end. He said that allresources are being utilisedfor eradicating canal watertheft.

AMANULLAH KHAN/IRFAN

ALIGI

ISLAMABAD—The FinanceMinister SenatorMohammad Ishaq Dar held ameeting with representativesof Exchange Companies inState Bank of Pakistan Build-ing, Karachi this evening.During the meeting the Fi-nance Minister reiterated thatthey should abstain fromspeculation and that unethi-cal practices if any would notbe tolerated.

The Representatives ofExchange Companies ap-prised the Finance Ministerabout some of the proceduraldifficulties being faced bythem. The Finance Ministerdirected the Governor StateBank of Pakistan to sit with

Dar meets representativesof exchange companies

the representatives of Ex-change Companies and lookinto the matter. The Repre-sentative of the ExchangeCompanies also informedthe Finance Minister thatvolume of Gold import hadincreased under the new en-trustment policy issued bythe Ministry of Commerce.

The Finance Minister di-rected the Ministry of Com-merce to look into the matterand put up a comprehensivereport. The Exchange Compa-nies also complained that Fed-eral Investigation Agency(FIA) is conducting investiga-tion whereas it could only doso in the presence of SBP offi-cials. The Finance Ministerdirected the FIA to strictlyadhere to rules and regula-tions during investigation.

Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar called on Governor SindhDr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan at Governor House Karachi.

as compared to Rs 238 billionlast year with an uptick of 12percent. In the current sce-nario due to consistent losses,PIA is unable to pay off itsoutstanding debt and due towhich accrued interest is pil-ing up and as of nine months2013 it stood at Rs 11.26 billionwith an uptick of 66 percent.

It is hard to believe thatthe airline with 26 operationalaircraft supports a staff of16,600 regular and 2,700 con-tractual employees, having742 employees per aircraft,which is almost six timeshigher than the global aver-age of 120 per aircraft. PIA isstill having losses of approxi-mately Rs 3.0 billion permonth with Rs 1.0 billionmark-up included in Rs 3.0billion amount.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—After increment inbrown rice prices by India, Pa-kistan has an opportunity toincrease its brown rice exportsby 250,000 tonnes to EU coun-tries as its commodity is rela-tively cheaper. Rice ExportersAssociation of Pakistan(REAP) former chairmanJawed Ali Ghori said the coun-try in past six months July toDecember of current fiscal year2013 has already exported ap-proximately 52,000 tonnes ofthe said variety to EU coun-tries and now due to duty-free

New opportunity for rice exportersaccess to these markets it canexport 250,000 tonnes more.

He highlighted that Indiahas also increased the pricesof the said variety by a mas-sive amount resulting in theopportunity for Pakistani ex-porters to tap EU markets inthe current fiscal year. Overall,in past six months of currentfiscal year export of Pakistanirice has increased up to 9.0percent as compared to thesame period during the previ-ous fiscal year. Ghori told thecountry has exported approxi-mately 1.574 million tonnes ofBasmati and non-Basmati rice

costing $819 million in the sixmonths of current fiscal year(July to December 2013),whereas it had exported 1.446million tonnes costing $752million during the same periodof previous fiscal year. Givinga breakdown of above-men-tioned figures, he statedBasmati rice export during thesaid period stood at 274,000tonnes costing $297 million ascompared with 240,000 tonnespriced at $233 million duringthe same period of previousyear, posting an increase ofabout 14 percent in quantityand 27 percent in price.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The TechnologyUpgradation and Skill Devel-opment Company has signedan agreement with CECOSUniversity Peshawar for theestablishment of a state-of-the-art engineering supportcentre in the premises ofCECOS Industrial Liaison Cen-tre in Peshawar. TUSDEC issetting up common facility cen-tres in Peshawar, Hyderabadand Lasbela to support thelight engineering sector withthe provision of precisionmanufacturing and relevantmanpower training on contem-

Engineering supportcentre being established

porary machines and equip-ment to enhance productivityand global competitiveness ofthe allied industry.

The centre will extend themodern product design, fab-rication solutions, trainingand technical consultancyspecifically to the Small andMedium Industrial unitscomprising the light engi-neering centre in KP. Thecentre will be facilitating therubber and plastic goods,match manufacturing, metaland metal products, engi-neering and electronicgoods, auto rickshaw motor-cycle.

vocational training”, said Ger-man Ambassador to PakistanDr. Cyrill Nunn while address-ing a gathering at RawalpindiChamber of Commerce and In-dustry (RCCI) here. He said

Germany being the major tradepartner of Pakistan in Europeanmarket would continue.

Oil pricesdown in

Asian tradeSINGAPORE—Oil pricesslipped on profit-taking inAsian trade Wednesdayfollowing a recent rally,while the return of Libyancrude boosted suppliesand dented demand. NewYork’s main contract,West Texas Intermediate(WTI) for February deliv-ery, fell seven cents to$92.52 a barrel in mid-morning trade, while BrentNorth Sea crude for Feb-ruary dropped 23 cents to$106.16

WTI was boosted inUS trade Tuesday by datashowing that Decemberretail sales rose 0.2 percentin December, beating ex-pectations that therewould be no change. Re-tail sales are part of theconsumer spending that isthe prime driver of theworld’s biggest economy.Analysts said investorswere waiting forWednesday’s weekly re-port on US oil inventories,a closely watched barom-eter of US demand.

Analysts forecast adecline of 800,000 barrelsof crude, according to asurvey by the Wall StreetJournal, which would in-dicate strong demand.

European benchmarkBrent oil remains underpressure from the partialrestoration of Libyan oilproduction, which ana-lysts say is back to about650,000 barrels a day af-ter falling as low as250,000 owing to politicalprotests.

A weekend agreementbetween Iran and majorpowers on Tehran’snuclear ambitions also hitprices.—AFP

Asian stocks,dollar up on hopesfor global growth

SYDNEY—Asian sharemarkets were mostlyhigher on Wednesday asthe World Bank upgradedits outlook for the globaleconomy while the dollarextended gains in the wakeof surprising strength inU.S. consumer spending.A pullback in the yen waswelcomed by the Japa-nese market, with theNikkei bouncing 1.8 per-cent after suffering itssharpest daily drop in fivemonths on Tuesday.

Progress elsewherewas patchy with investorssuffering whiplash afterseveral days of wildswings. Singapore added0.6 percent and Taiwan 0.8percent, but MSCI’sbroadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Ja-pan was barely changed.Helping the better moodoverall, the World Bankupgraded its forecast forglobal growth this year bytwo tenths to 3.2 percent,and predicted a fasterpace for both 2015 and2016.—AFP

KARACHI—Follow-ing were the bullionrates in major citiesyesterday.

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

Currency Selling Buying

Bullion Rates

RS PER 10 GRAMS

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Consul Gen-eral of Turkey Mr. MuratMustafa Onart visited Paki-stan Standards and QualityControl Authority (PSQCA)on to discuss the issues per-taining to 8th Board of Direc-tors (BoD) meeting and 6thGeneral Assembly (GA)meeting of The Standardsand Metrology Institute forIslamic Countries (SMIIC).Turkish Consul General wasreceived by Director Generaland other senior officials ofPSQCA.

Mr. Pir Bakhsh Jamali, Di-rector General, PSQCA andConsul General discussedabout the next BOD and GAwhich will be held atIslamabadwhich was decidedin the 5th GA Meeting. Theyalso discussed necessary ar-rangements to make this con-ference a success & to inform

Turkish CG visits PSQCA

the SMIIC Members in time fornecessary planning for visa ar-rangements, approval proce-dures and to enhance the pos-sible participation rate in the8th BoD and 6th GA meetings.

The Chairman of the BoDhas already informed the

SMIIC General Secretariat ofhis availability for the Sec-ond week of April 2014. Thediscussion was also attendedby Dr. Barkat Saeed Memon,Deputy Director General (Fi-nance) and Mr. Ali BuxSoomro, Secretary, PSQCA.

The Turkish Consul General and Director General,PSQCA discussing upcoming 8th BoD and 6th General As-sembly meeting of SMIIC.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif hassaid that the Punjab govern-ment is setting up a solarpower plant of 100 megawattin Quaid-e-Azam Solar Parkwith its own resources andthe project will be imple-mented expeditiously. Healso said work on provisionof infrastructure for theproject is being carried outspeedily and 12 prominentcompanies in energy sectorhave pre-qualified for theproject; 100-megawatt solarproject will prove to be a rolemodel in energy sector.

He was expressed theseviews while presiding over ameeting which reviewed thepace of progress on the 100-megawatt solar power plantin Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park,disclosed an official. Wapdaformer chairman TariqHameed, Member ProvincialAssembly Ali Khokhar,Chairman Planning and De-velopment, Additional ChiefSecretary Energy, PresidentBank of Punjab, German con-

Punjab government establishing100 megawatts power plant

sultant Dr Gerone Dressman,Managing Director NTDC,concerned secretaries andsenior officers were present.

Addressing the meeting,the Chief Minister said 100-megawatt solar power project

at Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park isunique, as it will be executedby the Punjab governmentwith its own resources. Hesaid work would be under-taken round the clock and theproject would be completedin a transparent manner.

“The solar power projectwould be a role model in ev-ery respect and play an im-portant role in evolving aroadmap for the solar powerprojects in future. The project

is being carried out with teamwork and national spirit,” headded. He expressed his sat-isfaction over the pace ofprogress on the project andappreciated the performanceof the German consultant,

Chairman Planning and Devel-opment, Additional Chief Sec-retary Energy, Secretary Com-munication and Works, ChiefExecutive Officer Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park and otherconcerned authorities.

German consultantGerone Dressman while in-forming the meeting aboutthe progress of the projectsaid that the Punjab govern-ment has selected a highlysuitable site for this purpose.

Major websitesface prosecution

in IndiaNEW DELHI—Google, Ya-hoo, Facebook and otherwebsites are facing prosecu-tion in Indian courts for re-fusing to censor themselvesand remove contents consid-ered insulting to Indian lead-ers and major religious fig-ures. Government officialsare upset about Web pagesthat are insulting to PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh,ruling Congress party leaderSonia Gandhi and major reli-gious figures. Some illustra-tions have shown Singh andGandhi in compromising po-sitions and pigs runningthrough Mecca, Islam’s holi-est city.—Newswire

Roundtablediscusses climatechange challenges

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nshould not bear the brunt forclimate change alone as itcannot afford to halt develop-ment or increase its cost mani-fold for mitigation purposes.The country contributes only0.08 per cent of carbon emis-sions in the world for morethan last two decades but suf-fers drastically from climatechange being one of the eighttop most affected nations.

This opinion was unani-mously agreed upon by ex-perts participating in aroundtable titled “Pakistanand Climate Change: Chal-lenge and Response”, whichwas jointly organized by In-stitute of Policy Studies,Islamabad and Riphah Insti-tute of Public Policy (RIPP).

The roundtable was ad-dressed by Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman, Senior Advisor,LEAD Pakistan, and formerVP, World MeteorologicalOrganization as the mainspeaker while Mirza HamidHasan, Member IPS-NationalAcademic Council andformer Secretary, Water &Power. Other speakers in-cluded Professor Dr AnisAhmad, Vice Chancellor,Riphah International Univer-sity, Khalid Rahman, Direc-tor General, Institute ofPolicy Studies, Islamabad,and Dr Rashid Aftab, Direc-tor, Riphah Institute of Pub-lic Policy. It was attended bya number of environmentalscientists, policy advisors,students and activists.

Distribution ofCEO excellence

awards on Jan 17STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Senior manage-ment leadership of some 45public and private sectorcompanies will be awardedthe 4th Global CEO Excel-lence Awards-2014 &Multinational’s CEO excel-lence Awards 2014 at a splen-did ceremony to be held hereat Marriott Hotel on January17, 2014.

Federal Minister of statefor privatization & Chairman,Privatization CommissionMuhammad Zubair will beChief Guest at concludingsession, while Federal Min-ister for Planning and Devel-opment Ahsan Iqbal likely tobe chief guest of the inaugu-ral session.

Both Ministers will alsogive away the awards toheads of successful public,private, and multi-nationalcompanies. Guests of honourof the event included Mr.Khurram Dastgir Khan, min-ister for State for Commerceand Mr. Younus Dagha, chiefsecretary of Gilgit-Baltistan.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Some 1,000 ofimported vehicles are stuckat port as Pakistan Customshas stopped clearance ofmodel 2009 vehicles sinceNov 2013. These vehicleshave been imported underthe scheme of personal bag-gage, gift and transfer of resi-dence and government cancollect a revenue of aboutRs3 billion by releasing thesevehicles.

In Feb last year, the min-istry of commerce through anoffice order allowed the re-lease of such vehicles thatwere few months older thanthe prescribed age limit of 3years. “Considering the hard-

Clearance of 1,000 imported vehicles stoppedship faced by the importersof vehicles under theschemes of personal bag-gage, gift and transfer of resi-dence, where the importedvehicle is only a few monthsolder than prescribed agelimit of 3-year, it has beendecided to allow release ofsuch vehicles against a sur-charge levied by the Cus-toms in whose jurisdictionthe vehicles was imported onCost and Freight (C&F) ba-sis,” said an office memoran-dum issued on Feb 25, 2013by the ministry of commerce.

The delay in shipment ofvehicles older than 3 year and8 months shall be condonedif not in excess of 30 daysagainst a surcharge at 5 per-

cent per fortnight of C&Fvalue, it added. The memo-randum also said that theEGM and cargo vessel leav-ing the port of export may beconsidered with reference tocut-off date. Following thismemorandum, the customsauthorities were releasing theabove age limit imported ve-hicles at minimum surchargeof 5 percent and maximum 13percent during Feb to Oct2013 and few thousands carswere cleared during the pe-riod.

However, in Nov 2013,the customs suddenlystopped clearance of im-ported vehicles of 2009model declaring the import ofabove 3-year vehicles illegal.

According to customs au-thorities, the memorandumwas for a specific time periodand only for those vehiclesshipment of which was de-layed after the government’sdecision to reduce the agelimit. The federal governmenthad reduced the age limit ofimported cars from 5 to 3 yearin December 2012 aimed tosupport the domestic auto-mobile industry.

Customs officials claimedthat interpretation of thatmemorandum was incorrectthat created a crisis like situa-tion and now vehicles of 2009model will be released after anew approval from ministry ofcommerce. Presently, the cus-toms has completely stopped

the clearance of imported ve-hicles of 2009 model and seek-ing a clarification from theministry for release of thesevehicles, source said.

“We are not sure aboutthe actual units but around1,000 imported vehicles arestuck at port as customs hasrefused to clear these ve-hicles without any new direc-tives from the ministry orFederal Board of Revenue(FBR)”, they added. Sourcessaid that some Rs4-5 billioninvestment of overseas Pa-kistanis has been blockeddue to non-clearance ofthese vehicles, while thegovernment is also sufferingbillions of rupees loss on ac-count of revenue.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—With a mandateto withdraw several tax exemp-tions, a 14-member committeeunder the chairmanship of Fi-nance Minister Ishaq Dar hasfulfilled a major structuralbenchmark condition of the In-ternational Monetary Fund(IMF) for completion of its sec-ond review and release of thirdtranche of $545 million underthe extended fund facility toPakistan.

In a major development,the Nawaz Sharif governmenthas constituted a high-pow-ered 14-member committeeunder chairmanship to iden-tify concessionary StatutoryRegulatory Orders (SROs),which could be rationalised,simplified, minimised or de-leted at the time of budget forfinancial year 2014-15.

By abolishing tax exemp-tions, the government is go-ing to impose Rs500 billiontaxes in the next three yearsfrom 2014-15 to 2016-17 un-der the conditions of the In-ternational Monetary Fund Fprogramme. The withdrawalof exemptions would bringthe perks and privileges ofthe president of Pakistan,four provincial governors,judges of superior courtsand officers of Army into thetax net.

Pakistan and the Interna-tional Monetary Fund high-ups are scheduled to holdsecond review talks from Janu-ary 28, 2014 here in Islamabadto gauge the country’s per-formance on the basis ofagreed targets till December31, 2013. Under the structuralbenchmark, the governmenthad committed to prepare aplan and submit before theInternational Monetary Funda draft to abolish tax exemp-tions in three different phasesstarting from July 1, 2014.

After submitting the planfor abolishing tax exemp-tions, the government noti-fied the constitution of a 14-member committee compris-ing the finance minister as itschairman and other membersincluded minister for indus-tries, minister for planningand development, minister ofstate for commerce and tex-tiles, chairman board of in-vestment, secretary finance,secretary commerce, secre-tary industries, secretary rev-enue division/chairman ofthe Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) (who will alsoassumes the charge of thesecretary of the committee),Federation of Pakistan Cham-bers of Commerce and Indus-tries president, KarachiChamber of Commerce andIndustries president.

Withdrawal of taxconcessions begins

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The RegionalTax Offices have remainedunable to take any actionagainst individuals involvedin the tax fraud worth Rs128billion. The officials said thatthe amount included Rs40billion in which around 4,000registered sales tax units withthe three RTOs had obtainedon fake invoices and anotherRs88 billion income tax whereinput adjustment were madein such cases.

A document revealed thatthe three RTOs blacklisted thesales tax registration ofaround 4,000 registered per-sons under Section 21 (3) ofthe Sales Tax Act, 1990 whowere involved in tax fraud.“But no such coercive or cor-rective measures were everbeen taken by the RTOs torecover the evaded amount ofsales tax worth around Rs40billion, besides forge / bogussales tax refund awarded withthe collaboration of some se-nior tax officials,” the docu-ment showed. It also revealed

No action against peopleinvolved in massive tax fraud

that delinquent intention ofthe Inland Revenue Officerswere apparently cleared fromthe fact that no such incometax assessment or reassess-ment order was ever beenpassed against such bogus orthe so-called purchases madefrom blacklisted suppliers /transactions.

“Although, the InlandRevenue Officers blacklistedthe sales tax registrations ofthe culprits / fraudsters butneither any recovery actionnor any reassessment orderof income tax was ever beenpassed by them.” It alsoshowed that in order to reas-sess the income tax againstsuch crimes, the approximateamount of income tax in-volved is Rs88 billion, whichis recoverable from the cul-prits, as well as from theirbeneficiaries under the law.

The officials said that acomprehensive report wasprepared against people in-volved in Rs128 billion scamby June 2013. “Instead of tak-ing harsh measures againstidentified individuals / com-

panies, the senior tax officialsare deliberately delaying thematter,” an official at the RTOKarachi said on the conditionof anonymity. The officialsaid that the tax officials hav-ing jurisdictions over thecases were simply saying thatthe people involved in fraudcases are not detectable.“The sales tax registration isonly issued after thoroughverification of documentsprovided by the taxpayersand physical inspection ofthe premises by the tax offi-cials,” the official said, add-ing that the contention of thetax officials for untraceablewas just to help out thosefraudsters.

Some officials at the RTOsmay take up the issue at ameeting with Tariq Bajwa,chairman of the FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR),who is scheduled to visitKarachi tax offices on Janu-ary 15, officials said. The of-ficial document regarding theissue also criticised the roleof the Directorate General ofIntelligence.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Market analystshave expressed reservationsover the planned divestmentof 10 percent stakes in the Oiland Gas Development Com-pany Limited (OGDCL), whichthe Privatisation Commissionhas reportedly approved.“While most of other quanti-ties look manageable,OGDCL’s 10 percent planneddivestment may have to bereduced,” Farrukh Khan atKASB Securities said.ThePrivatisation Commission hasapproved the divestment of

Divestment of OGDCLshares seen difficult

shares to a 10 percent divest-ment in Oil and Gas Develop-ment Company Limited, fivepercent in Pakistan PetroleumLimited, 20 percent in HabibBank Limited and 10 percenteach in United Bank Limitedand Allied Bank Limited.

The Privatisation Com-mission has been keen tostress that it is too early atthis stage to talk about pric-ing, which will be decided inconsultation with the finan-cial advisers. The govern-ment is likely to set a floorprice for these divestmentsand run a book-building pro-

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Urging the entre-preneurs to motivate theirworkers, experts point out tothose employees who knowhow their work has a mean-ingful, positive impact onothers or that they are impor-tant members of the enter-prise as they are happier andmore productive than others.

“We should stop treatingour workforce as robots thatcome to the factory and startthe routine job without evenknowing the importance ofthe task they perform,”Almas Hyder, an entrepre-neur, said. Workers are part-ners in the enterprise and nocompany has ever sustained

Motivating workersimperative for success

for long if it has dissatisfiedworkers, he said, adding thatif you are a service provideryour worker should know theimportance of that service.

Ideally, he said, the com-pany should arrange meet-ings of the workers with thebeneficiaries of the serviceso that they feel elated forthe service they performed.Life guards at coasts areseen hanging around with-out much interest in the jobthey are supposed to per-form, Hyder said, adding thatbefore assigning the duty aslife guards, if a meeting be-tween them and those thatwere saved in the past by thelife guards is arranged; thegratitude shown by the sur-

vivors will motivate the newguards to take keen interestin their job. They will con-sider the job as a service tohumanity, he added.

“Your worker should con-sider himself as an importantpart of the organisation,” hesaid, adding that no job has everbeen done well, if it lacks own-ership of those that performedthat job. An enterprise shouldbe sensitive to the genuineneeds of its workers, Hydersaid, adding that they shouldtake interest in their health andwellbeing. The workers, he said,should be adequately re-warded for their work. Theyshould have the confidencethat their carriers will build asthe company grows.

Ten developmentschemes of

Rs 12162m okayedSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Punjab govern-ment on Wednesday approvedten development schemes withan estimated cost of Rs12162.08 million. The schemeswere approved in the 25th meet-ing of Provincial Developmentworking Party of current fiscalyear 2013-14 presided over bythe Punjab Planning and De-velopment Board Chairman,Muhammad Irfan Elahi.

The approved develop-ment schemes included: ChiefMinister’s Ujaala Programme(2012-13) (Revised) at the costof Rs 356.954 million, Con-struction of Parking Plaza atHassan Chowk, Gujrat at thecost of Rs. 226.949 million,Rehabilitation/Improvementof Raiwind-Manga RoadLahore length=12 km, Dis-trict Lahore at the cost of Rs.889.443 million, Rehabilita-tion/ Improvement of Sunder-Raiwind Road Lahore,length=10.66 km, DistrictLahore at the cost of Rs.943.995 million.

Construction of Dual Car-riageway from Gujrat to SalamInterchange (Motorway)through Mandi Bahauddin(Section km 27.90 to124.30=96.40 kms) District M.B.Din at the cost of Rs. 5771.478million, Widening/Improve-ment of Lahore JaranwalaFaisalabad Jhang Bhakkar.

Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi in a meetingwith Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegoving, to Pakistan, Hedim Makarevic.

cess thereafter. According toKASB, the overall scope ofthese divestments are fairlylarge, at current market price,totally to Rs215 billion ($2billion), or 13 percent, interms of the Karachi StockExchange’s free-float.

Current equity holdingunder Special Rupee Convert-ible Accounts (SCRA’s) isRs470 billion, including stra-tegic stakes. Meanwhile, netforeign portfolio investmentfrom January 2012 to date is$483 million and frontier mar-ket AUM’s are currently $8.3billion.

Dar decides to appointdeputy governor SBP

to promote Islamicbanking

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Spokes-man of the Ministry of Financehas said that the Minister ofFinance Senator MohammadIshaq Dar has decided to ap-point another Deputy Gover-nor in the State Bank of Paki-stan to look after Islamic Bank-ing as well as the banking sec-tor in the country.

The new Deputy Gover-

nor will in addition to hisown duties oversee promo-tion of Islamic Banking inthe country, the Spokesmanadded. This decision hasbeen taken by Finance Min-ister Senator MohammadIshaq Dar to promote Is-lamic Banking in the coun-try as well as furtherstrengthen the State Bank ofPakistan in carrying out itsregulatory duties.

USA 5.30 05.10

UK 73.80 73.47

Euro 44.05 43.78

Canada 96.65 96.47

Switzerland 116.86 116.64

Australia 95.12 94.94

Sweden 16.24 16.21

Japan 1.0181 1.0161

Norway 17.15 17.12

Singapore 83.29 83.13

Denmark 19.30 19.27

Saudi Arabia 28.08 28.02

Hong Kong 13.58 13.55

Kuwait 372.88 372.17

Malaysia 32.22 32.26

Newzealand 87.73 87.56

Qatar 28.92 28.87

UAE 28.67 28.61

KR WON 0.0997 0.0995

Thailand 3.188 3.182

Gold Tezabi 44,485.00Silver Tezabi 702.85

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct)44580.00Gold 22 Ct 40750.00SilverTezabi s695.00Silver Thobi 635.00

LANDIKOTAL: Commandant of Khyber Rifles Col Mansoor Janjua giving trophy to the winning team of Khyber Rifles Inter-Wing VolleyballChampionship.

ISLAMABAD: Students playing volleyball on a ground near National Press Club.

WAZIRABAD: Supporters bucking up participants of race competition held under PunjabYouth Festival 2014.

Abid, Atif’s showgive UBL edge in

President’s TrophyKARACHI—Brilliant Abid Aliscored half century in eachinnings and captain AtifMaqbool captured fivewickets to give United BankLtd (UBL) an edge overState Bank of Pakistan (SBP)in their President’s CricketTrophy match on Wednes-day.

By draw of stumps on thesecond-day of their 4-daymatch, UBL was 192 for theloss of five wickets in theirsecond innings at UBLSports Complex ground.

Abid followed his 57 inthe first innings with an en-terprising 73 in 152-minutesstudded with 11 hits to theboundary. Saeed Bin Nasirblasted ten fours in his spar-kling 55.

UBL are enjoying overalllead of 194 runs with fivewickets in hand. PacerMuhammad Naveed finishedthe day with three wickets for41 runs in 11 overs after hishaul of six wickets in first in-nings.

Resuming at their over-night score of 10-7 SBP wasdismissed for 145 in their firstouting thus giving threepoints first innings lead toUBL.

Earlier on day one, SBPmedium pacer MuhammadNaveed snapped-up sixwickets for 55 runs in 20overs as UBL was bowledout for 147 in their first in-nings. Abid Ali top-scoredwith 55 off 92- ball with tenboundaries.

Summarized scores: UBL147 all out in 47.3 overs (AbidAli 57, Saeed Bin Nasir 21,Muhammad Naveed 6-55,Hassan Mahmood 3-39) &192-5 (Abid 73, Saeed BinNasir 55, Saad Surkhail 25,Muhammad Naveed 3-41)SBP 145 all out in 48.2 overs(Rizwan Haider 36,Mohtashim Ali 21, AtifMaqbool 5-53, Kashif Bhatti2-28).—APP

Elections ofKCCA

postponedLAHORE—Pakistan CricketBoard, consequent upon aninquiry has de-notified theoffice bearers of the Zone Vof the of the Karachi CityCricket Association.

“Following an inquiry, itwas found that SyedMuhammad Ahmed, Presi-dent Zone-V and Mr.Shahbaz Qureshi, SecretaryZone-V, KCCA are Govern-ment Servants being employ-ees of District MunicipalCorporation KorangiKarachi, as such, they are noteligible to hold the offices ofPresident & Secretary re-spectively as per PCB rules,”said a spokesman of PCBhere on Wednesday.

Therefore, pursuant tothe directions of competentauthority, the above officebearers of Zone-V have beende-notified with effect from15/1/2014 and the aboveseats including.—APP

Inter-banksregional cricket

tournamentMULTAN—The 10th SBPGovernor’s Cup Inter Banks’Regional Cricket Tournamentwill be held here from Jan 16 toJan 25 at Multan Cricket Sta-dium.

During the ten days tour-nament, a total of 13 teams ofvarious banks, including theHBL, Faysal Bank, NBP,M C B , U B L , F D B ,BoP,SBP,SCB, ABL andKASB, will participate, saidofficial sources of State Bankof Pakistan (SBP) on Wednes-day. Two matches of 20 overseach will be played on dailybasis, added the sources.

First match will be playedat 9am and second at 1pm daily.

The event, held under theauspices of State Bank of Pa-kistan, is dedicated to “ SBPClean Note Policy”.

President MCCI, KhawajaMuhammad Usman, will bechief guest at the colourfulopening ceremony.—APP

I S L A M A B A D — A l t h o u g hPakistan Hockey Federa-tion (PHF) has not yet con-firmed Pakistan team’s par-ticipation in this year’s Sul-tan Azlan Shah Cup, thehosts of the event are stilloptimist ic about their(Pakistan’s) chances toplay in the event.

The 23rd edition of theCup is scheduled to takeplace in Ipoh, Malaysiaand the event this yearcould turn out to be a sec-ond grade tournament fol-lowing India’s decision notto accept the invitation tosend their team in it. Andto make matters worse, Pa-

Malaysia hopeful ofPakistan’s participation

in Azlan Shah Cupkistan, another regular inthe series, have also notyet replied to the invita-tion.

Malaysian HockeyConfederation (MHC) sec-retary Datuk Johari AbdulAziz said in a statementthat they were hoping thatPakistan would participateas they have a tendency toreply late.

“We have also writtento India to reconsider theirdecision. We are wait ingfor a reply before makingany al ternate plans. Wewere hoping to keep it as aseven-nation affair,” Azizwas quoted as saying by

Malaysian websitethesar.com.

India and Pakistan havealways taken part in the Sul-tan Azlan Shah Cup. Indiaare five-time winners of theCup, in 1985, 1991, 1995,2009 and 2010. While Paki-stan have won three titlesin 1998, 2000 and 2003.

So far, four teams ‘Aus-tralia, South Korea, Canadaand France’ have con-firmed their entry alongwith Malaysia. The Austra-lians are the most success-ful team in the series, hav-ing won seven t imes in1983, 1996, 2004, 2005,2007, 2011 and 2013.—APP

P E S H AWA R — M o h m a n dGymkhana and Bashir Bilourclubs advanced to next roundafter securing victories againsttheir respective rivals in theongoing STC GovernorKhyber PakhtunkhwaTwenty20 Cricket Cup beingplayed here at Gymkhanaground on Wednesday.

In the first matchMohmand Gymkhana wonthe toss and elected to batfirst by setting up 127 runsin the allotted 20 overswherein Ghulam Khansmashed 47 runs includingfour boundaries and twosixes, Mukhtiar made anothercracking 35 runs with fourboundaries and one six andwere the prominentcontributors.For Hankers

club Riaz Khan claimed fourwickets, Naveed Khanbagged three wickets.

In reply, Hankers clubfailed to chase the targetand bowled out for 122runs, five runs short fromthe winning target.Fahanhit a cracking 54 runs in-cluding seven boundariesand one six, Sadiq Khanmade 31 runs.

For Mohmand GymkhanaAsif khan bagged four wick-ets while Nadeem took twowickets.Thus, MohmandGymkhana won the match byfive runs.

In the second matchBashir Bilour club won thetoss and elected to bat firstby setting up 134 runs targetin which Fakhre Alam ham-

mered an elegant knock of 48runs including five bound-aries and two sixes, SajidKhan made 22 and RahimKhan scored 21 runs.Bothsmashed three boundarieseach.For Union club ObaidUllah claimed three wickets,Mohsin and Mushtaq got onewicket each.

In reply to 134 runs target,Union club bundled out for just60 runs wherein Mushtaqscored 30 runs, none of theother batsmen could cross thedouble figures.

For Bashir Bilour clubMunawar claimed four wick-ets, Imran, Fakhre Alam andShafique Ullah took onewicket each.Thus BashirBilour Shaheed club won thematch by 74 runs. —APP

KARACHI—Former Test cap-tain Wasim Bari firmly be-lieved that Pakistan’s onlychance of squaring the 3-match Test series against SriLanka is by attacking withtheir spinners.

“Pakistan should go intothe third Test on their ownstrength which is spin,” hetold APP in an interview hereon Wednesday ahead of se-ries decider third Test whichbegins in Sharjah on Thurs-day.

“I was surprised to seetracks prepared for the sec-ond Test in Dubai whichbrought the downfall of ourown team,” veteran of 81 Testand 51 ODIs, commented.

He said team manage-ment, coaches should beheld responsible for kindtrack which suited more toAngelo Mathews’ Sri Lankanteam.

“Despite having worldclass spin attack, Misbah’steam lost the advantage on aseaming and swingingpitch,” he said.

“Preparing such a trackproved deadly for Pakistan as

Bari suggests Pakistanto attack Sri Lanka

with spinnersour batting struggled againstSri Lankan pace trio ofLakmal, Pradeep and Eranga.

“It was very difficult forPakistan in Test match to sur-vive after being bowled outon 165 in the first innings,”

he recalled.“It was astounding to

note that Pakistan wasbowled for low total after be-ing 50-1 at one stage,” hesaid. This was pathetic bat-ting show.

He said putting a far bet-

ter show in batting depart-ment in third Test was verycrucial for levelling the series.

He said Pakistan tacticsworked very well against En-gland as the home team madea clean-sweep of 3-0 matchseries with Saeed andRehman sharing 42 wicketsbetween.

“I know Lankan batsmenplay spinners better. But I stillbelieved that Saeed Ajmaland Abdul Rehman couldhave proved dangerous forthem on a spin attack,” hereckoned.

Responding to a ques-tion, he said Pakistan got totake some risk of spinningtrack as Sri Lankan got dan-gerous left arm spinnerRangana Herath in their fold.Wasim Bari also questionedthe dropping of Azhar Ali inplace of Muhammad Hafeez.

“I think Azhar shouldcome in place of Hafeez in theteam because of his bettertrack record,” he pointed out.

He said Pakistan shouldalso drastically improve theirfielding as they dropped half adozen catches in Dubai.—APP

Mohmand Gymkhana, Bashir Bilourclubs advance in STC Twenty20 Cup

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan pacerJunaid Khan on Thursdaysaid he is thrilled for the na-tional junior team who will begetting a chance to opentheir campaign against arch-rival India in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup sched-uled to be held in the UAEfrom next month.

Junaid Khan, who was amember of the Pakistansquad for the 2008 edition,said that is where you feel themost pressure as an Indianor as a Pakistani, and it willbe a baptism by fire for manyof the boys in both teams,says an ICC press release is-sued here.

The ICC U19 CricketWorld Cup UAE 2014 will bestaged across seven venuesfrom 14 February to 1 March2014. A total of 48 matcheswill be played, with Indialooking to defend the title itwon in Australia in 2012.

“The fact that so many ofmy peers from my U19 daysthe likes of Ahmad Shehzad,

Umar Amin, Umar Akmal,Shan Masood, MohammadAmir and Usman Salahuddinhave also worn nationalcolours, stands as a true tes-tament to the ICC U19 CWCas a breeding ground for fu-ture stars,” he said.

Junaid said the bondsthey had had formed and theexperiences they had sharedduring their transition to thesenior team have all beenlasting and memorable.

“We have grown to-gether, learnt with and fromeach other, and can all saythat playing the ICC U19CWC went a long way inmaking us the players we aretoday,” he said.

“With both Pakistanand India also openingtheir campaigns againsteach other in the ICC CricketWorld Cup 2015, thesematches promise to be an-other couple of excitingchapters in the long saga ofimportant Pakistan-Indiamatches,” he said.—APP

Four rounds ofmatches decided in

National Clay TennisISLAMABAD—Four rounds ofmatches were decided in theSubh-e-Nau National Clay Ten-nis Championship beingplayed here at PTF TennisComplex on Wednesday.

The event included Men’sSingles Pre-qualifying, Men’sSingle Qualifying First RoundMen’s Single Qualifying FinalRound and Boys U-14 FirstRound.

In Men’s SinglesPrequalifying, Arham Atiq beatFaizan Eubaid 6-0; RajaShafaqat beat Taimoor Mughal6-0, Adeel Arif got a walk overagainst Saad Masood.

In Men’s Singles Qualify-ing first roundFahad Masoodbeat Syed WasilKaleem 6-3,Hassan Tariq beat Asad Khan6-0, Hamza Bin Asif beatZeeshan Ashraf 6-0,Muhammad Umer got a walkover against Major Suleman,JibranulHaq got a walk overagainst Husain Abbas, SyedYawar Abbas beat RajaShafaqat 7-6, Babar Ali Akbarbeat Hasnain 6-1, MasoodAnwar beat Ahmed Murad 6-3, Adnan Amer beat ShafaeBagri 6-2, Salman Bin Saleembeat Adeel Arif 6-0.—APP

Plea for hiringShoaib Akhtar asbowling coach

KARACHI—President AsgharAli Shah Memorial SportsFoundation and former care-taker Health MinisterDr.Juniad Ali Shah has calledupon Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) for hiring services ofShoaib Akhtar as nationalteam’s bowling coach.

“Pakistan team neededexperience of Shoaib to trainbattery of fast bowlers likeJunaid, Bilawal, Anwar,Talha and Rahat,” he said ina statement issued onWednesday.

“Shoaib got the requisiteexpertise and ideal choice totrain and groom these risingpace bowler,” Dr.Junaid, him-self a former class cricketer andpace bowler said. Dr.JunaidAli Shah also demanded thatteam manager Moin Khan’sservices should retained tillWorld Cup 2015.—APP

Junaid delightedfor Indo-Pak U19World Cup clash

COLOMBO—Sri Lanka is to goahead with a tour to Bangladeshlater this month after carryingout its own security assess-ment in the violence-plaguedcountry, cricket board officialssaid Wednesday.

“We are very positiveabout playing in Bangladesh,”Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secre-tary Nishantha Ranatunga toldAFP. “We look forward to play-ing there.”

Confirmation that the touris going ahead comes after SLCvice president Mohan de Silvaand the board’s former chiefexecutive Ajith Jayasekera trav-elled to Bangladesh earlier thisweek.

Ranatunga said the pairwere joined by Sri Lankan dip-lomats as they held discus-sions in Dhaka about player

safety for the tour.The first of two Test

matches begins in the capitalon January 27 and the two teamsare also scheduled to play threeone-day internationals and twoTwenty20 matches.

Bangladesh has beenrocked by some of the deadli-est political violence in its his-tory in recent weeks, with theopposition trying to derail aJanuary 5 general electionwhich was marred by boy-cotts.

The violence has alsoprompted speculation that the50 over Asia Cup and theTwenty20 World Cup, whichare both due to be hosted byBangladesh in the comingweeks, could be shifted.

Ranatunga rejected reportsthat Sri Lanka had been

sounded out by Asian cricketauthorities about the possibil-ity of hosting the Asia Cupwhich will also include India,Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“There is no such thing. Noone has asked us to host theAsia Cup,” Ranatunga said.“The original decision of theACC (Asian Cricket Council)stands.”

The Asia Cup is due to be-gin in Bangladesh on February25 and the finals will be onMarch 8.

The Twenty20 World Cup,which features all of the majorteams in international cricket, isto run from March 16 to April 6.The three venues chosen forthe T20 tournament—Dhaka,Chittagong and Sylhet—haveall experienced violence overthe past month.—AFP

Sri Lanka sayBangladesh tour still on

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—England fastbowler Steven Finn whohas flown back from Aus-tralia to work on technicalaspects of the game wasalways facing these issues,according to Ian Pont, theformer coach of theBangladesh team, who hasalso worked with Finn in thepast.

Speaking exclusivelyfrom London minutes afterthe news of Finn returninghome made public, Pont,who also worked as HeadCoach for Dhaka Gladia-tors, BPL CHAMPIONS2012, 2013, says, “It’s sadto hear the demise of SteveFinn. But he has alwayshad some technical issuesthat have gone unre-solved”.

Steve Finn’s technical issues havealways gone unresolved: Ian Pont

“The issue for coaches isthat ONLY make a changewhen things have completelygone wrong. It’s like leavinga dripping tap until it createsa flood and causes the roofto fall in before anyone doesanything”.

“Steve (Finn) will be men-tally shot. Spending morethan two months in Australiaand not playing will destroyany young fast bowler. How-ever, I would question whatthe heck has been going onahead of his selection for theAshes and also whilst on thetour itself. It’s fine for coachesto say they are not technicalcoaches. So then bring incoaches who are?”.

“It’s quite simple. Fix theissues. Any tradesman willtell you that. If you don’t, youcan only mask over the prob-lem at best”, Pont, also theauthor of Book-The FastBowler’s Bible, Coaching

Youth Cricket and UltimatePace Secrets-added.

“I feel Steve needs achange of environment andcoaching. It might be thatsending him back to hiscounty will make him feelbetter as he feel ‘at home’there. We saw with SteveHarmison that some tech-nical issues became mentalones and it badly affectedhis consistency. Finn is ata stage where the ECB can-not even select him, suchare the issues”.

“I genuinely hopeMiddlesex staff can sup-port Steve through this dif-ficult time. But it does raisehuge questions over every-one involved in his devel-opment, his initial Ashesselection and his ongoingtechnical support”.

“Repair the leak beforeit becomes a flood, not af-ter”, he concluded.

WELLINGTON: The New Zealand team with the T20 series trophy after beating West Indies in 2nd T20 on Wednesday.

West Indies innings:Simmons c Neeshamb McClenaghan ............. 29Charles c Guptillb Milne ............................. 7Fletcher run out ............. 40Bravo b NL McCullum . 12Walton c Ronchib Milne ............................. 0Ramdin not out .............. 55AD Russell not out ....... 10Extras: (lb 2, w 4) ............. 6Total: (5 wickets) ......... 159Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-37, 3-66, 4-67, 5-137Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WMcClenaghan ...... 4-0-29-1Milne ..................... 4-0-22-2Neesham ............... 4-0-39-0Anderson ............. 4-0-50-0McCullum ............. 4-0-17-1

New Zealand innings:Guptill c Ramdin b Holder1Ryder b Holder .............. 23McCullum lbw b Narine 17Taylor b Narine .............. 39Munro c Miller b Russell . 5Anderson c Charles bRussell .............................. 6Ronchi not out .............. 51Neesham not out ........... 14Extras: (lb 3, w 4) ............. 7Total: (6 wickets) ......... 163Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-36, 3-49, 4-69, 5-79, 6-147Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WHolder ................... 3-0-34-2Best ....................... 3-0-37-0DJ Bravo ............... 3-0-31-0Narine ................... 4-0-18-2NO Miller .............. 3-0-24-0AD Russell ........... 3-0-16-2

W E L L I N G T O N — L u k eRonchi played a second con-secutive match-winning in-nings to not only win theTwenty20 series for NewZealand at the Westpac Sta-dium but also indicate that hisflagging international careermight have turned a corner.His 51 off 28 balls, a maidenT20 half-century scored at asimilar pace to his blitz atEden Park, and his 68-runpartnership with Ross Tay-lor revived a stumblingchase, ensuring West Indiescould not make a late come-back to level the series, likethey had in the ODIs.

Their efforts backed upclinical spells from NathanMcCullum and Adam Milne,

Kiwis beat Windies by 4wickets to sweep T20 series

who had conceded less thana run a ball and taken wick-ets round the halfway stageof West Indies’ innings, tolimit them to a par score on aground with large bound-aries. That the visitors got to159 was only becauseDenesh Ramdin, who re-placed Kieran Powell, alsoscored his maiden T20 fifty,in his 36th game.

Ronchi had averagedonly 15 in 13 ODI innings forNew Zealand and it’s argu-able that he lasted this longonly because BrendonMcCullum hasn’t been fitenough to keep wickets. Hewas Man of the Match in thefirst T20 and he began hisinnings today with New

Zealand having slipped from36 for 1 to 79 for 5, needing81 off 57 deliveries.

He was watchful for hisfirst few balls, before movingback into his crease to hoistNikita Miller’s spin into thestands beyond midwicket.Ronchi then changed thegame in the 15th over. WithNew Zealand needed 54 off36, he carted Dwayne Bravoover deep midwicket andglanced to fine leg to take 16runs off six balls. He contin-ued to score boundaries offSunil Narine and JasonHolder in the overs that fol-lowed, so when NewZealand’s anchor Ross Tay-lor fell, there was not muchmore to do.

The equation had comedown to 13 off 12 balls andTino Best began thepenultimate over with twodots. Jimmy Neesham thengot an outside edge thatscreamed to the third-manboundary and put the nextinto the midwicket crowd,before hooking to finish thechase with an over to spare.

Had West Indies takenthe numerous opportunitiesthey created, however, theymight have finished their touron a high.

Ryder was dropped byJohnson Charles off the thirdball of the chase, and wenton to make 23 off 9; BrendonMcCullum scored 7 more af-ter he was dropped byChadwick Walton on 10; andTaylor was on 5 and yardsout of his crease when

Walton missed a direct hitfrom cover. Taylor went onto be the steadying handNew Zealand needed, shelv-ing his penchant for leg-sidelofts during his 39 off 41balls.

Unlike West Indies, NewZealand were ace in the field.Martin Guptill set the stan-dard when he ran to his lefton the deep backward squareleg boundary to catchCharles on the hook. Andwhen Lendl Simmons’s wascaught at point, West Indieswere 37 for 2 after six overswith both Bravo and AndreFletcher yet to score.

Nathan McCullumbowled Bravo and did notconcede a boundary in hisspell, while Milne combinedpace with accuracy to notconcede more than six in anyof his overs. They reducedWest Indies to 67 for 4 in the11th over, but the rest of NewZealand’s bowlers were ex-pensive.

Fletcher hit Corey Ander-son for two consecutivefours, and Ramdin took himfor consecutive sixes in suc-cessive overs, and he fin-ished with figures of 4-0-50-0. Ramdin and Fletcher alsoran hard between the wick-ets - keeping the number ofdots in the innings to 41 - andthey were eventually sepa-rated by a run-out. WestIndies had scored 58 off thelast five overs, but their toporder had scored too few be-fore that and their fielders letthem down.—AFP ZURICH—Cristiano Ronaldo

has won the FIFA Ballond’Or award for 2013, endingLionel Messi’s four-year runas the world’s best player.

Ronaldo scored 69 goalsfor Real Madrid and Portu-gal last year, and his stun-ning hat trick against Swedenin a decisive World Cup play-off was perhaps the definingindividual performance.

‘’There are no words todescribe this moment,’’ saidRonaldo, who was sobbingin tears after he accepting thetrophy with his young son,also named Cristiano, besidehim on stage.

He defeated Barcelona’sMessi and France wingerFranck Ribery, who helpedBayern Munich to a sweepof major titles.

Voting was done by na-tional team captains andcoaches, plus selected jour-nalists, in FIFA’s 209 membercountries.

Ronaldo rolled back hishead and closed his eyes,smiling, when Brazil greatPele, after a dramatic pauseand smile, read out his name.He kissed his girlfriend,model Irina Shayk, beforegoing up to the stage.

Ronaldo had to wait fiveyears since first winning theaward as a ManchesterUnited player, and washeavily favored after FIFAextended the balloting dead-line beyond the World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo winsFIFA best player award

playoffs in November andallowed voters to changepreferences.

The Portugal star’s dis-play in Stockholm was soimpressive it seemed certainto sway voters at a time whenMessi was sidelined by histhird injury of the year.

Still, FIFA spokesmanWalter De Gregorio saidMonday the standings wereunchanged by the votingrules adjustment, whichraised the turnout from

around 50 to 88 per cent.Ronaldo said earlier

Monday that he made peacewith FIFA President SeppBlatter, whose stated per-sonal preference last Octo-ber for Messi sparked specu-lation that the eventual win-ner would snub the cer-emony.

‘’We talked over the tele-phone and everything wascleared,’’ Ronaldo at a newsconference before the cer-emony.—AP

SWITZERLAND: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal isawarded the prize for the FIFA Men’s soccer player of theyear 2013 at the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013 gala at theKongresshaus in Zurich.

MELBOURNE—Serena Will-iams wore a fitted pink blazerinto her second-round matchat the Australian Open, giv-ing the impression she

wasn´t feeling the heat.After her 6-1, 6-2 win over

Vesna Dolonc on Wednes-day, the second consecutivescorching day at theseason´s first major, Williamssaid she could remember hot-ter matches.

She extended her win-ning stretch to 24 matches

LONDON—World cricket’scustodians are to consider arevolutionary proposal tobring relegation and promo-tion to Test matches as a par-tial sop to the imminent deathof the World Test Champion-ship (WTC).

The ICC executive boardis expected to consider theproposal at the next round ofmeetings later this month, thesame gathering expected toend any hopes for the WTCdue to the reluctance ofbroadcasters and the lack ofcertainty around the formatof an event that was post-poned from its original 2013launch date and re-launchedfor 2017 last October.

ESPNcricinfo under-stands that the board will in-stead entertain the promo-tion/relegation plan, whichwill open up the possibilityof nations like Ireland andAfghanistan earning theirway into Test matches while

ICC mulls two-tier Test cricketat the same time placing thelikes of Zimbabwe andBangladesh on the precipice.It will be introduced on the“no disadvantage” conditionthat none of the current ICCFull Member nations wouldlose that status and its finan-cial advantages.

Instead, the Associatenations will have the chanceto press for spots at theTest match table on the ba-sis of performance againstthe lower-ranked Full Mem-bers. This would provide astrong incentive for nationscurrently playing Testmatches to improve them-selves while also offeringopportunities for Associ-ates to compete at the high-est level of the game.

Precise details of howpromotion and relegationfrom Test cricket would workin practice are yet to be re-vealed, but the concept ofplay-offs for Test status ev-

ery four years is believed tobe one of the options underconsideration. The idea ofdividing Test cricket up intotwo tiers has been debatedfor some time, with variousnoted voices on the game

expressing opinions on itsmerits.

In 2013, the former En-gland captain MichaelVaughan suggested that theincentives provided by pro-motion and relegation wouldalso add context and valueto Test cricket, perhaps to the

Serena, Djokovic throughto 3rd round at Aus Open

dating back to August, andimproved to 60-8 at the Aus-tralian Open, equaling Mar-garet Court´s record of 60match wins at the tournament

in the Open era.Court, whowon seven of her 11 Austra-lian titles before the Open erabegan in 1968, has a showcourt named in her honoradjacent to Rod LaverArena.

On day three atMelbourne Park, the centercourt was — at least accord-

ing to the two fans holdingup a sign — “Serena´sArena.” “I just try to hit abunch of aces and a bunchof winners — that´s all you

can do because it´s too hotto get into long rallies,” shesaid.

The heat topped 40 Cel-sius (104F) during the 63-minute match, and peaked atjust under 42 C (108 F) dur-ing Novak Djokovic´s 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 win over LeonardoMayer.—AP

point of dissuading someplayers from fringe nationsprioritising the IPL over rep-resenting their country atthat time of year.

“Just imagine if NewZealand have to come to En-gland and win one out ofthree Tests to stay in the firstdivision or win promotion,”Vaughan wrote in the Tele-graph. “If there is a properfinancial incentive to playingin the first division, like thereis in football’s PremierLeague, then players wouldbe less likely to choose theIPL instead.”

In addition to promotionand relegation, the ICC is ex-pected to consider increas-ing the financial rewards onoffer to teams earning the No.1 spot on the Test rankings,for which the Test Champi-onship Mace is currentlyawarded on an annual basis.It is also likely that regula-tions requiring all teams to

play each other regularly willbe relaxed - a state of affairsthat has already begun toexist.

There have been an in-creasing number of diver-sions from the Future ToursProgramme, as nations makebilateral agreements thatflout the authority of offi-cially agreed schedule.

India recently reducedtheir tour of South Africa tothe minimum two Testmatches while adding twounscheduled home fixturesagainst the West Indies,while this week it was con-firmed that Pakistan’s seriesagainst Australia in Octoberwould be downsized from theearlier agreed three Tests totwo.

The ICC has previouslyflagged that promotion andrelegation will become part ofthe landscape for ODIs, com-ing into effect following the2019 World Cup.—Agencies

Pakistan may gowith two

spinners againstSL in 3rd Test

SHARJAH—Pakistan may fi-nally go with two spinnersagainst Sri Lanka in the thirdTest from Thursday in searchof the right combination tolevel the series on a flat pitchat Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq

thinks the pitch will take spin,and says, “it´s a do-or-diesituation for us, we need tobe pro-active.”

Pakistan also thought thesecond-Test pitch in Dubailast week would take spin,but it hardly broke and SriLanka won to take a 1-0 lead.

Confident Sri Lanka cap-tain Angelo Mathews aims tofinish off the series with an-other win.

He says a draw is not ontheir mind “because it sendsa negative message to thewhole team, so we want towin it and win the series 2-0.”—AP

Peterhanselclinches 9th

stage ofDakar Rally

I Q U I Q U E — E l e v e n - t i m ewinner StephanePeterhansel won the ninthstage of the Dakar Rally,edging him closer to theoverall lead in cars with fourstages remaining.

The Frenchman fin-ished 2 minutes, 17 sec-onds, ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar and 11:36clear of overall leader NaniRoma of Spain.

The stage took ridersacross the Atacama desertfrom Calama toIquique.Roma leadsPeterhansel by 12:10 in theoverall with OrlandoTerranova of Argentinanearly an hour behind.

In bikes, overall leaderMarc Coma of Spain wonthe stage and stretched hisadvantage over country-man Joan Barreda Bort to55:36.

Coma won the stage,5:45 ahead of Cyril Despresof France and 9:00 in frontof Spaniard Juan PedreroGarcia.

Wednesday´s 10th stageheads south from Iquique toAntofagasta.—AP

A six-week behavior-modification program helped people with diabetes overcome anxieties and prevent plunging

blood sugar in a small UK study. Dr. StephanieAmiel of King’s College London and her col-leagues evaluated a programspecifically for people withtype 1 diabetes who had dif-ficulty recognizing episodesof low blood sugar, or hy-poglycemia, despite havingundergone training in how toadjust their insulin use.

People with type 1 dia-betes who need insulin tosurvive are at risk of hy-poglycemia, but this can bea problem in patients withtype 2 diabetes too, espe-cially if they use insulin ora sulfonylurea drug, accord-ing to Dr. Jane Chiang, ofthe American Diabetes As-sociation. Signs of lowblood sugar include shaking,confusion, sweating andblurred vision, AndrewKeen, a health psychologist specializing indiabetes at the University of Aberdeen, toldReuters Health.

These signals mean that people can takeaction early before blood glucose levels dropvery low when they are effectively unable toself-treat,” said Keen, who did not take partin the new study. However, some people losethe ability to recognize these signs, he added.

Untreated hypoglycemia can lead to sei-zures and unconsciousness. Many people withdiabetes are so concerned about their bloodsugar getting too high that they don’t pay asmuch attention when their blood sugar drops

too low, noted Chiang, who was not involvedin the study. “People need to be aware thathypoglycemia is just as dangerous, evenmore so, than hyperglycemia, and that it istreatable and avoidable,” she said.

“Hypoglycemia is par-ticularly concerning in youngadults and older adults be-cause they are vulnerable,”Chiang said. The programAmiel’s team devised in-cluded instruction on signs ofhypoglycemia and how to re-duce hypoglycemia risk. Pro-gram leaders also focused onhelping participants identifytheir own emotional and mo-tivational barriers to recogniz-ing low blood sugar episodes.

The training consistedof three weekly full-day groupsessions and individual fol-low-up in person and by tele-phone during weeks four andfive, with a final full-daygroup session focusing on re-lapse prevention. Amiel and

her colleagues followed the patients for ayear after the end of the program.

Among the 23 participants who com-pleted the program, 14 reported havingpassed out in the year before the study be-gan as a result of low blood sugar episodes,three said they’d been taken to an emergencyroom (one individual, 24 times) and threehad been admitted to the hospital, Amiel’steam reports in the journal Diabetes Care.After the program, the average annual num-ber of episodes of severe hypoglycemia -meaning patients required assistance fromanother person - fell from three to zero.

Program may help diabeticshead off low blood sugar

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The annual dayfunction of Defence AuthorityNeelum High School was heldat DHA SKBZ College’s audi-torium. Registrar, RafiaMallah was the chief guest onthe occasion.

Rafia Mallah said that edu-cation brings refinement andtransformation in one’s life.She said that education is thepotential power that canchange the destiny of nation.

She elaborated thatprogress and prosperity of thecountry is dependent on the

Refinement, transformation inlife only from education

educational and intellectualprowess of its people.

The chief guest said thateducation instills spirit of pa-triotism and a real urge in a per-son to work for the bettermentand wellbeing of society.

She exhorted the studentsto concentrate on their studiesand to work hard for progressin life.

She said that teachers andparents had the arduous respon-sibility to play their active rolein character building of stu-dents for making them the use-ful citizens of society.

Rafia commended the ex-

cellent performance shown bythe students in academics andco-curricular activities.

She said that it was encour-aging that the students gradu-ating from the School werepromising individuals and hadthe potential to succeed in dif-ferent walks of life.

The Principal, ShaziaSaleem in her welcome addressreiterated that the school pro-vided academically vibrantlearning environments to thestudents and equipped themwith necessary confidence,ability and decisiveness so es-sential for progress in life.

The students on the occa-sion presented a colouful va-riety programme which show-cased their talent. The presen-tation included nationalsongs, skits, Shakespeare’splay ‘The Merchant of Venus’and an Urdu comedy tableau‘Taleem-e-Balighan’.

At the end the chief guestawarded prizes to the studentswho excelled in various cur-ricular and co-curricular ac-tivities and awarded certifi-cates of merit to the teachers.Commodore Talib Hussain,Director Education DHA alsoattended the function.

Political leadersexpresses grief

over bus accidentSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Bilawal BhuttoZardari, Patron-in-Chief of Pa-kistan Peoples Party has ex-pressed deep grief and shock onthe loss of precious lives, includ-ing 16 school-going children ina tragic road accident in ShaheedBenazirabad Wednesday.

In a press statement, he ex-pressed sympathies with thefamilies who lost their near anddear ones in the accident andprayed to Almighty Allah togrant them courage and fortitudeto bear the irreparable losses andrest the departed souls in eter-nal peace.

Sindh Minister for Informa-tion, Archives and Local Gov-ernment Sharjeel Innam Memonand Pakistan People’s Party Par-liamentarian Central Leader andmember national assemblyMohtarma Faryal Talpur hadexpressed their deep grief andshock over death of school chil-dren in Qazi Ahmed in ShaheedBenazirabad.

They have said that thePPPP and the Sindh Govern-ment was highly shocked overthat tragedy, which claimed livesof innocent school children andthe party and the Sindh Govern-ment would stand beside theaggrieved families through thickand thin. The Sindh Governmentwould not only offer financialcompensation to the aggrievedfamilies but would also ensurebest medical treatment of thoseinjured in the accident.

The Minister and the MNAboth had directed the Sindh Sec-retary health to take immediatemeasures for shifting the injuredso that they should be taken careof under best medical facilitiesin Karachi.

They also issued necessarydirectives for proper investiga-tion of the accident and said thatif any found responsible for thetragedy would face the musicunder the law.

A reception was arranged by S.M.Muneer and Mian Zahid Hussain in honour of ADIG ShahidHayat and MD. SSGC, Zuhair Siddiqui. At this occasion, Station Commander Karachi, Brig.Farukh Waseem, Sector Commander Rangers, Basit Shuja, Deputy Director, Javed AkbarRiaz, Ex-Director, FIA, Abdul Malik, S.M.Naseer, Khalid Tawab, President KATI Syed FarukhMazhar, Zubair Chhaya, Farhan-ur-Rehman, Zubair Tufail, Ahmed Chinoy, Shakeel AhmedDhengra and Rashid Ahmed Siddiqui were present.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

President Mamnoon Hussain exchanging views with Governor Sindh Dr. Ishratul-Ibad Khan and Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar at Governor House.

13000 clay lamps were lit by JDC on Eid Milad-un-Nabi, breaking the world record, atNumaish Chowrangi.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Minis-ter (CM) Syed Qaim Ali Shahtoday visited the House of slainSP CID Chaudhry AslamShaheed where he offered prayerfor the departed soul.

The CM handed over acheque amounting to Rs 20 mil-lion to the widow and sons ofChaudhry Aslam on account ofcompensation and in recognitionof his matchless and bravery per-formances of Chaudhry Aslamthat he rendered during his pro-fessional duty.

Inspector General (IG) ofPolice, Sindh Shahid NadeemBaloch, Additional IG PoliceKarachi Shahid Hayat, PrincipalSecretary to CM Rai Sikandar,Shukaib Qureshi, and other civiland police officers were also

Rs 20m for widow

SP Aslam infused spirit ofbravery into police officers

present on the occasion.The CM while lauding the

services and sacrifices ofChaudhry Aslam termed him asa brave, honest officer.

He directed police officersto complete the investigation ofthat tragic incident within short-est possible time as not only thefamily members but whole na-tion was anxiously waiting forresult.

He directed that all aspectsof the incidents should be inves-tigated thoroughly and causes,lacuna behind the incident mustbe identified to avoid such in-cidents in future.

While responding to thewidow of Chaudhry Aslam abouther sprit to sacrifice more for thecause of nation, the CM assuredher that the son of ChaudhryAslam would be inducted into

Sindh Police on maturity of hisage. He also assured the bereavedfamily that in addition to foolproof security, all of their socio-administrative problems wouldbe attended on priority basis andSindh government would notleave them alone in this difficulttime.

He said that sacrifice that hadbeen rendered by ChaudhryAslam had infused the spirit ofbravery into other police officers,who according to him have com-mitted to fight with terrorism likeChaudhry Aslam did.

The Widow of ChaudhryAslam said that she was proudof the brave performance of herhusband and was ready to offermore sacrifices for the cause ofnation and wanted to send herson into police force to continuethe mission of his father.

CITY REPORTER

KARACHI—A function ofHamdard Naunehal AssemblyKarachi, comprised recitation ofholy verses from Holy Quran,Na’at, speeches, tableaus andDua-i-Said, was held on thetheme: “Good character is thebeauty of a human being”(Sayingof Hakim Said) at a local hotel.Speaking on the occasion, Dr.Maham Munir Ahmed,Mutwallia, Hamdard (Waqf) andVice President, Hamdard Foun-dation Pakistan said that God had

Hamdard Naunehal Assembly

Good character isbeauty of human being

sent His messengers for the for-mation of morality and goodcharacter of His bondmen andHadhrat Muhammad (p.b.u.h)was the last messenger of Godand a supreme model of moral-ity and best character.

We should follow the teach-ings of Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) toget emancipation on doomsday,she added.‘It is the personal char-acter of a person which makes him/ her good or bad, respectable andunrespectable.

Therefore he / she are totallyresponsible for their character,

because it depends on theirchoice, ‘she said, adding: ‘Sci-entific inventions have providedwith tremendous materialisticfacilities to human beings, eventhen if they don’t have inner sat-isfaction, it is because of lack ofmorality and soundness of char-acter.

She advised the children andyouths to act according to the say-ing of Hakim Said to make Paki-stani society a place of peace, loveand mutual understanding in or-der to take Pakistan to the heightsof glory, progress and prosperity.

KARACHI—The officers andstaffers at the wheat godown inLandhi had stolen wheat fromthe godown and had added sandto the wheat stocks to keep theweight of wheat bags.

There were around 5,000wheat bags of 100-kg each ofwhich 1365 bags were spoiledwith sand. The wheat wasbrought form district Khairpurto Karachi.

Meanwhile, Sindh Ministerfor Food jam Mehtab HussainDahr and Sindh Minister forAnti-Corruption EstablishmentManzoor Hussain Wassan had

Officers add sand towheat bags to hide theft

on a tip off raided the godownand inspected the wheat stocksand had found the sand wasadded to a huge quantity ofwheat. ACE Chairman MukhtarHussain Soomro, ACE DirectorGhulam Hussain Memon andSindh Secretary for FoodMuhammad Naseer Jamali hadaccompanied the Ministers.

Wassan on the occasion re-vealed that millions of gunnybags bought for wheat procure-ment were also missing since2002 and the matter would alsobe investigated while there were25 cases of corruption of Sindh

Transfers in police

Attempt to divertattention from SP’s

murder: AltafSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Founder andLeader of Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) AltafHussain had expressed his con-cerns on the news circulating inthe national media about the dif-ferences between the SindhGovernment and the Rangers.

He said that differences andmisunderstandings were devel-oping between Pakistan Rang-ers Sindh Director General Maj.Gen. Rizwan Akhter and theSindh government on the large-scale transfers in the police de-partment.

Hussain said that a newsitem was published in a sectionof the press that the murder ofChaudhry Aslam could be dueto the internal disputes betweensome institutions.

He said that instead of inves-tigating the case by extending co-operation to each other, unnec-essary controversies were beingraised.

Resolution ofpublic issues

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Secre-tary Sajjad Saleem Hotiyana haddirected Deputy Commissioners(DC) to adopt a rational strategyto address grievances of thepeople in the precincts of their re-spective jurisdiction. DCs shouldalso monitor schemes for socialbenefits of the people such as sew-age and drainage, health and edu-cation and other social matters andplay their role for removing flawsin them if observed any.

The CS issued these direc-tives to the provincial SecretariesCommissioners and DCs in ameeting he had chaired at his of-fice Wednesday.

The CS was on the occasionwas briefed about the computer-ization of land revenue record,anti-polio vaccine administeringcampaign, promotions of socialand cultural activities in the prov-ince, monitoring of ongoing de-velopment schemes and othermatters.

Food Department officers andstaffers were also being tried inACE courts.

Further, investigations wouldalso be conducted for similarcrime of stealing gunny bags fromgodowns in Sukkur, Ghotki,Khairpur, Kashmore, Jacobabad,Shaheed Benazirabad and otherdistricts of Sindh province andthe involved would be taken totask, said Wassan. The MinisterWassan said that 40 Food GrainInspectors were facing courttrial for charges of corruptionwhile 8 had so far been sackedfrom service.

A six-week behavior-modification program helped people with diabetes overcome anxieties and prevent plunging

blood sugar in a small UK study. Dr. StephanieAmiel of King’s College London and her col-leagues evaluated a program specifically forpeople with type 1 diabeteswho had difficulty recogniz-ing episodes of low bloodsugar, or hypoglycemia, de-spite having undergone train-ing in how to adjust their in-sulin use.

People with type 1 diabe-tes who need insulin to sur-vive are at risk of hypoglyce-mia, but this can be a prob-lem in patients with type 2diabetes too, especially if theyuse insulin or a sulfonylureadrug, according to Dr. JaneChiang, of the American Dia-betes Association. Signs oflow blood sugar include shak-ing, confusion, sweating andblurred vision, Andrew Keen,a health psychologist special-izing in diabetes at the University of Aberdeen,told Reuters Health.

These signals mean that people can takeaction early before blood glucose levels dropvery low when they are effectively unable toself-treat,” said Keen, who did not take part inthe new study. However, some people lose theability to recognize these signs, he added.

Untreated hypoglycemia can lead to seizuresand unconsciousness.

Many people with diabetes are so concernedabout their blood sugar getting too high that theydon’t pay as much attention when their bloodsugar drops too low, noted Chiang, who wasnot involved in the study. “People need to be

aware that hypoglycemia is just as dangerous,even more so, than hyperglycemia, and that itis treatable and avoidable,” she said.

“Hypoglycemia is particularly concerningin young adults and older adults because theyare vulnerable,” Chiang said. The program

Amiel’s team devised includedinstruction on signs of hypogly-cemia and how to reduce hy-poglycemia risk. Program lead-ers also focused on helping par-ticipants identify their ownemotional and motivational bar-riers to recognizing low bloodsugar episodes.

The training consisted ofthree weekly full-day group ses-sions and individual follow-upin person and by telephone dur-ing weeks four and five, with afinal full-day group session fo-cusing on relapse prevention.Amiel and her colleagues fol-lowed the patients for a yearafter the end of the program.

Among the 23 partici-pants who completed the pro-

gram, 14 reported having passed out in theyear before the study began as a result of lowblood sugar episodes, three said they’d beentaken to an emergency room (one individual,24 times) and three had been admitted to thehospital, Amiel’s team reports in the journalDiabetes Care. After the program, the aver-age annual number of episodes of severe hy-poglycemia - meaning patients required as-sistance from another person - fell from threeto zero.

The average number of episodes of mod-erate hypoglycemia, meaning patients wereable to treat the episode themselves, fell from14 to zero per six-week period.

Program may help diabeticshead off low blood sugar

People move past and looking at the models of Muslims’ sacred places on the eve of Jashne-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH).

Abid Naji, Prof. Dr. Akbar Chaudhry, Prof. Mehmood A Malik, Dr. Mughis-ud-Din Sheikhand others sitting on stage during a ceremony to highlight writings of late journalist Riazbatalvi on the occasion of his 11th death anniversary at Lahore Press Club.

LAHORE—PML-N MNAMuhammad Hamza ShahbazSharif said on Wednesday thegovernment would not allowfew thousand militants to hijackthe nation of 190 millionpeople, however, it is ready toopt any option including dia-logue for peace.

He was talking to media atground-breaking ceremony ofAzadi Chowk Interchange andAlternative Route to Circularroad projects here at Minar-e-Pakistan.

To a question, he said therewere about 56 groups of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and thedoors of dialogue were openedif someone wanted to talk.

Giving details of theprojects, he said that more than222,000 vehicles per day wouldbe facilitated after the comple-tion of project and fuel of worthone billion approximately

Govt ready to opt any optionfor peace: Hamza

Hamza Shahbaz MNA offering dua after inaugurating Interchange at Azadi Chowk .

would be saved on daily basis. He said these projects would hopefully be completed

within the current year.Hamza said that Metro Bus

route on the spot would bemade underground and thiswould be the part of the AzadiChowk Interchange project.

To a question, he said theaffectees of the projects wouldbe compensated transparentlyunder the direction of PunjabChief Minister Mian MShahbaz Sharif and all com-plaints would be addressed ac-cordingly.

He said that lease ofseveral affectees had been ex-pired, however, proper claimwould be considered in this re-gard.

It is pertinent to informthat an amount of Rs 4 billionwill be spent on Azadi ChowkInterchange and Rs 1.35 billionis an estimated cost of Alterna-tive Route to Circular Roadproject.—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—A delegation of in-ternational experts associatedwith municipal services calledon Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifhere today. Cooperation withregard to improving the provi-sion and drainage of water sys-tem was discussed during themeeting.

Secretary Housing, Com-missioner Lahore Division, Di-rector General LDA, MDWASA, CEO Urban Unit, con-cerned officials, Faisal HaqShaheen of Toronto Municipal-ity Water Division Canada andWater & Sanitation SpecialistMasroor Ahmed were alsopresent on the occasion.

MD Darban Water UtilitySouth Africa NA Macleod andMD National Water & SewerageCorporation Uganda William TMuhairwe gave briefings for im-

Shahbaz for provision ofbest municipal services

proving provision and drainageof water system.

Talking to the delegation ofinternational experts, PunjabChief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif welcomed theirarrival at Lahore airport. Hesaid that provision of best mu-nicipal services to the citizensis of great importance.

He said that Punjab govern-ment is spending billions of ru-pees on the provision of cleandrinking water and other civicfacilities to the citizens.

He said that improving theprovision and drainage of watersystem is of vital and experi-ences of international expertsshould be benefited for improv-ing the performance of WASA.The Chief Minister said that aroadmap in consultation withinternational experts should beevolved for improving the pro-vision and drainage of water sys-tem and making WASA a vibrant

institution. The Chief Ministerwhile directing to constitute acommittee for making WASA aneffective and vibrant institutionsaid that the committee in con-sultation with experts shouldevolve a practicable roadmap forthe improvement of provisionand drainage of water system.

William T Muhairwe whilegiving a detailed briefing aboutthe reasons and shortcomings ofprovision and drainage of watersystem and the steps taken for itsimprovement in Uganda told thatthe provision and drainage ofwater system has been improvedin Uganda and South Africathrough reforms.

He said that the provisionand drainage of water system canalso be improved through effec-tive reforms in Lahore. He as-sured to cooperate with Punjabgovernment in provision of cleandrinking water to the citizens andimproving other civic facilities.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Minister for Ex-cise & Taxation, FinancePunjab, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has said that it isthe dire need to create aware-ness among people regardingthe rapidly increasing popula-tion as the increased populationcan only increase problems forthe nation. He said that Punjabgovernment has provided 19percent additional budget forthe provision of health servicesin Punjab. He said that by in-

Awareness against rapidly increasing population stressedcreasing the health budget up to102 billion rupees, the presentgovernment has ensured modernhealth facilities and free medi-cines as well as air-conditioningin general wards to poor and re-source-less people.

While talking to various del-egations, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that the world’spopulation is more than six bil-lion and it would be doubled in2050 and Pakistan’s populationwould be doubled in 2024. Thereformatory initiatives are beingintroduced in education, health

and other social sectors whichresulted in providing relief to themasses and improvement intheir living standard and thepresent government is keen touplift the rural development,however, these objectives can-not be achieved unless we do notcontrol rapid growth in popula-tion, he maintained.

Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman told that populationgrowth rate in the developingcountries is three to seven per-cent whereas, it is 0.5 percent inJapan, 0.3 percent in Germany,

0.1 percent in England and onepercent in the United States. TheMinister said that governmenthas focused on the health of in-fants and mothers and for thispurpose two billion rupees hasbeen provided in the budget andintegrated Reproductive New-born and Child Health and Nu-trition Programme is shortlylaunched in all district of theprovince. He said Punjab govern-ment will spend Rs. 102 billionfor the provision of standardizedhealthcare facilities to the massesduring current fiscal year.

Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that with a viewto increase accessibility of qual-ity reproductive health servicesincluding family planning andto enhance understanding of ad-verse consequences of rapidpopulation growth, a project incollaboration with UNFPA hasbeen launched.

The rising population wasincreasing unemploymentwhich resulted in poor law &order situation and other socio-economic complications, heconcluded.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan Study Cen-tre, University of the Punjab or-ganized a special lecture on“Balochistan: Conflict Resolutionthrough Parliamentary Politics”on Wednesday.

Dr. Muhammad Waseem(LUMS) and Dr. Kaleem UllahBarraich (University ofBalochistan) were the keynotespeakers. Prof. Dr. MujahidKamran presided over the semi-nar

“Education is a way forwardfor the development ofBalochistan,” these were theviews expressed by the ViceChancellor in his presidential ad-dress. Thowing light on varioussteps adopted by Punjab Univer-

PU seminar

Education way forwardfor development

sity for the educational uplift ofthe students of Balochistan. Heemphasized that the governmentshould consider allocation of morefunds for the province ofBalochistan in the fields of edu-cation and health.

Prof. Waseem said that politi-cal parties of Balochistan haveexhibited their confidence in theparliamentary system by partici-pating actively in the democraticprocess which has been vindicatedby improved turnout in the gen-eral elections of 2013 and localgovernment elections.

Prof. Kaleem Ullah urgedupon the need to increase studentexchange programmes among theuniversities to improve the inter-provincial harmony and nationalsolidarity.

Training workshopfor judicial

officials todayMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—A two days jointtraining programme for the judi-cial officers and advocates ofRawalpindi Division under thedirections of Law and JusticeCommission of Pakistan willstart on Thursday (today) atPunjab Judicial Academy.

The Law and Justice Com-mission had directed that jointsittings of the judges as well aslawyers be arranged at the divi-sional level. The training work-shop will held under the aegis ofAccess to Justice DevelopmentFund. Civil Judges-cum-JudicialMagistrates and Lawyers fromRawalpindi Division will partici-pate in the workshop and Direc-tor General of Academy, Districtand Sessions Judge Sohail Nasirwill deliver inaugural speech tothe participants.

LWMC launchescleanlinesscampaignMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Lahore Waste Man-agement Company (LWMC) haslaunched a weeklong campaignfocusing on the less privilegedand deprived localities of thecity in the northern Lahore.

The objective of the cam-paign is to improve the state ofcleanliness in these areas by tar-geted cleanliness operations, onthe one hand, and encouragingresponsible role of localsthrough awareness on the otherhand. Besides awareness ses-sions for community, campaignincludes setting up of camps,mechanical sweeping and wash-ing, clearance of open plots andon spot complaint redressal.

In this regard, activity wascarried out in Baghban Pura,main GT Road where localMember Provincial AssemblyBao Akhter joined LWMC teamand led an awareness walk in thearea.

Other participants includingdeputy manager Shafqat Rasool,assistant manager Ms. MaryamKhalid, Zonal Officer KashifJohn, representatives of localtrader association and teams ofsocial mobilizers distributedbrochures during door to doorawareness drive. Awarenessteams sensitized masses not toopenly dispose of waste ratherrequested them to use waste bins.During operation clean up hand-some amount of waste was re-moved from 10 open plots.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Women empower-ment was an issue of priorityon the agenda of Punjab gov-ernment and Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif has already an-nounced to establish 14daycare centers in Punjab tosupport working mothers, ad-visor to Chief Minister onHealth Khawaja SalmanRafique said.

Speaking at a function or-ganized by DepilexSmileagain Foundation (DSF)held to mark the success of itsWomen Empowerment Projectthat rehabilitates domesticviolence vict ims, SalmanRafique appreciated that DSFwas involved in a project thathas helped domestic violencevictims in reintegrating them-selves in life and living pro-ductive and normal l ivesagain.

“We assure DSF of ourfull support for their noblecause, we will be there to helpthem whenever they need,” hesaid.

Women empowerment,priority of government

While addressing thegathering, Humaira Naveedexpressed her views and ap-preciated the work done byDSF for women empower-ment.

Dr. Awais-e-Siraj, CEOGenzee Solutions (pvt.) Ltd.,gave presentation on the im-portant aspect of financialand economic empowermentof women.

Dr. Zahra Ahmed, a re-nowned doctor at CMHLahore Medical and DentalCollege shared her views onthe psychological supportprovided to the vict imsthrough the workshops con-ducted round the year.

Under the banner of thisproject 30 victims weretreated by DSF in 2013.

The victims were pro-vided reconstructive surgeries,

medical, financial, psychologi-cal, moral and vocational sup-port.

DSF also assisted jobplacement for these rehabili-tated individuals.

Masarrat Misbah, PresidentDSF while speaking on the oc-casion said, “We at DepilexSmileagain Foundation, havecompletely devoted ourselvesto this challenge.We have been able to em-power many women victimsof violence by helping themacquire skills and subsequentjobs.

This journey wouldn’t havebeen possible without the sup-port from our partners; I expressmy gratitude to Philip Morris(Pakistan) Limited (PMPKL);who have always extended theirhelp in furthering the objectivesof this project.”

Paediatricsophthalmology

unit at LGHCITY REPORTER

LAHORE—A special unit hasbeen set up for the treatment ofpaediatrics ophthalmology andretinal disorder in Opthelmology Department at Lahore Gen-eral Hospital established withthe cooperation of Fred HollowsFoundation, Australia, for whichFoundation has donated equip-ments worth rupees two crore.Advisor to CM on Health Kh.Salman Rafique inaugurated thenew unit.

Consular for DevelopmentCooperation of Australian HighCommissioner IslamabadGregelis, Principal PGMI/LGHProf. Anjum Habib Vohra.

Prof. Asad Aslam told thatat present 15 lakh people areblind in Pakistan, out of whicheight lakh belong to Punjab. Hesaid that 80 percent eye diseasesare curable, however, due tonegligence, delay in diagnosisand improper awareness, thisdisease becomes permanent.Prof. Asad Aslam told that FredHollows Foundation besidesupgrading Ophthalmology de-partments of all districts head-quarters hospitals of the prov-ince is also cooperating in im-parting training to manpower.He said that this Foundation hastaken the responsibility of pro-viding treatment facilities anderadication of paediatrics oph-thalmology.

Role of Christiancommunity

acknowledgedCITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Emeritus BishopDr. Alexander John Malik calledon Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif,here Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion,the Chief Minister said that Pa-kistan belongs to all of us andthe role of Christian communityis laudable. He said that servicesof Christian community andtheir love with the country arebeyond any doubt. ShahbazSharif said that Punjab govern-ment has taken comprehensivesteps for the welfare of the mi-norities.