Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Nature’s yet another bounty inPunjab …................................................… explore Balochistan’snatural wealth also................................................Accept Iran’s fabulous3000MW electricity offer

See Page 04

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The correctionspell continued to close the in-dex in red for the entire weekas the index lost yet another373 points to close at 33,830levels indicating that declin-ing trend will persist nextweek.

The market analysts

KSE-100 loses 373 points,declining trend persists

Continued on Page 7

Today’s issue of PakistanObserver carries one PageSpecial Report on ‘2015 -Neutrality and Peace Councilof Elders of Turkmenistandeclared 2015 as a Year ofNeutrality and Peace onPage 12.

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—Director General Inter ServicesPublic Relations Major AsimBajwa said on Thursday that alarge portion of North Waziristanhad been cleared in OperationZarb-i-Azb and OperationKhyber-1 is also underway withfull force.

Pakistan Army is conductingoperations in the areas adjoiningthe Pakistan-Afghanistan border,he said and added that coopera-tion between Pakistan and Af-ghanistan for the elimination ofterrorism is going strong.

Talking about the Peshawarschool carnage, he said the attack

Bajwa confident ofarresting Fazlullah soon

India funds TTP; Karachi operation not targeting any partywas ordered by Tehreek-i-Taliban chief MullahFazlullah who divided his force into two groups.Omar Ameer took responsibility for the opera-

tion while Haji Kamran wasmade the head of the operation.

Bajwa said there were 27terrorists in total out of which 12had been arrested, nine werekilled whereas six were still be-ing hunted down. He also saidmost of the terrorists were Paki-stani nationals.

Asim Saleem Bajwa furthersaid that the group of militantsinvolved in massacre of thePeshawar army school childrenand teachers has been identified.

Bajwa said they were confi-Continued on Page 7

CHRISTCHURCH: Fireworks during the Opening Ceremony ahead of the ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup at Hagley Parkon Thursday.

World Cup 2015starts with great

enthusiasmCHRISTCHURCH—The open-ing ceremony of the ICC

Cricket World Cup 2015 was

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Govern-ment on Thursday decided tostart negotiations with Malay-sia, China, Algeria, Nigeria,

and Trinidad for import of Liq-uefied Natural Gas (LNG) tomeet its growing energy needs.

The decision was madeduring a meeting of the Cabi-

CCE approvesLNG import

Continued on Page 7

Marathon talksproduce Ukrainepeace dealMINSK, Belarus—Gunswould fall silent, heavyweapons would pull backfrom the front and Ukrainewould trade a broadautonomy for the east to getback control of its Russianborder by the end of 2015under a peace deal ham-mered out Thursday in all-night negotiations betweenRussia, Ukraine, France andGermany.

The deal was full ofpotential pitfalls that couldderail its implementation,however. In announcing theplan, Russia and Ukrainediffered over what exactlythey had agreed to in the

Senate electionsnow on March 5STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan onThursday announced thatelections to fill Senate seatswould be held on March 5instead of March 3.

The elections werepostponed as more time wasneeded for scrutiny of thecandidates.

The candidates’ legal

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—President Mamnoon Hussainwill pay an official visit to Azerbaijan in the midof next month to reaffirm and consolidate Pak-

Azerbaijan bilateral relationship.Diplomatic sources said this high level visit

manifests the close and brotherly ties both thecountries have been enjoying since their inde-

President to visit Azerbaijan next month

Continued on Page 7

25 injured inJacobabad railwaytracks explosionJACOBABAD—At least 25people including women andchildren sustained injuries ina remote-controlled explosionon railway tracks as fourbogies of Khushhal KhanKhattak express train derailednear Dil Murad station hereon Thursday.

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

SARWAR AWAN

ISLAMABAD—Chinese For-eign Minister Wang Yi onThursday, terming Pakistan-China Economic Corridor

project as a flagship strategiccooperation project, said the

China to enhance strategicties with Pakistan: Wang

Both states to widen economic, security cooperation Islamabad hasspecial role in resolving Afghan issue PCEC to benefit whole

Pakistan Beijing opposes self-styled reforms in UN

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain conferring Hilal-i-Pakistan upon Chinese For-eign Minister Wang Yi at Aiwan-i-Sadr.

plan is targeted at the whole ofPakistan and its social and eco-nomic benefits will reach allparts of the country.

This was stated by MrWang Yi while jointly address-

ing a press conference withPrime Minister’s Advisor on

National Security and ForeignAffairs Sartaj Aziz after hold-ing a meeting on Thursday.

Mr Yi assured Pakistan thatChina will extend full coopera-tion for the early completion of

the Economic Corridor, addingthat 2015 would witness sev-

eral developments in this con-nection.

The Chinese Foreign Min-ister said the Economic Corri-dor will help bring in economicrevolution not only in Pakistanbut the whole region. “Peoplewould soon be benefited byprojects like energy, railways,metro services and otherprojects,” he said. He said thatthere are other stakeholders inPak-China corridor like CARs.“We are doing our best that thepeoples of two countries see thetangible benefits of thisproject.”

During the meeting bothcountries agreed to deepen eco-nomic and security cooperationfor further consolidation of allweather friendship between thetwo countries. Advisor on For-eign Affairs Sartaj Aziz andChinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi represented theircountries in the talks which fo-cussed on cooperation in di-verse fields including political,strategic and economic.

The two countries alsoagreed to step up their counterterrorism cooperation in orderto ensure safety of theirpeoples. Mr Wang Yi informedthe Pakistani side that PresidentXi Jinping will visit Islamabadat an early date this year. Heexpressed the confidence that

Detailed story on Page 16

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Sounding outPakistan’s serious reserva-tions, Prime Minister NawazSharif Thursday made it clearto US President BarackObama that India was not eli- Continued on Page 7

Obama calls on Nawaz, takes himin confidence over India visit

gible to have a permanent seatin United Nations SecurityCouncil, Foreign Office said.

“India has been violatingthe UN resolutions in the oc-cupied Kashmir for last 67years. How can the world bodyallow a violator become a

member of its key council foran indefinite period?” a for-eign ministry spokespersonquoted prime minister as tell-ing Obama during a tele-phonic meeting.

Earlier, President Obama

For the past few days, Chiniot andRajua have been in the nationalheadlines for the sudden discov-

ery of their new found rich deposits ofiron ore, copper, gold andsilver, discovered there. Ittook my mind off to mychildhood spent in Jhangprior to independence tillour family moved fromthere to Montgomery nowcalled Sahiwal. It so hap-pened that in Civil Lineson then cal led ChurchRoad, in our next neigh-borhood was located asprawling bungalowspread over several acres,known as “Rajua House”owned by one of the big-gest landlords SardarGhulam Abbas of Rajua. Like all biglandlords in those colonial days buildlarge palatial houses at District Head-quarters for closer interaction with Dis-trict administration, which mostly inthose days of Bri t ishers, as was thecase in Jhang where DC,SP, Senior Irri-gation Officers, al l happened to beBritishers, at that particular time. Jhangwas a large district and at least two ofits big landlords, namely Sardar GhulamAbbas was from Rajua near Chiniot andNawab Dab Kalan whose estate was lo-cated mostly around Khanewal, nearMultan. Both had residences in Jhang.

Thoughts on Chiniot, Rajua a golden leap forwardIt was quite funny that both Chiniot aTehsil of Jhang and nearby Rajua hadno direct road link to Jhang and couldbe approached only via Lyallpur now

called Faisalabad. It so happens bothChiniot and Khanewal have now be-come District Headquarters. Anothersignificance of Chiniot was that likeShikarpur in Sindh, whose communitywas mostly reputed to produce sharpbusinessmen with acumen to spreadworldwide to make a name for them-selves.

It was therefore natural for educatedChiniotis seeking opportunit ies inJhang as most of the top Muslim Law-yers of Jhang in pre-partition years hap-pened to be from Chiniot, like Sh. AbdulMajeed, Sh. Saeed, Sh.Gul Muhammad

along with well known professionalsfrom other communities like Brij Lal,Shanti Lal. etc. Rajua House played sig-nificant role along with feudals of thatarea including Warris Shah, TalibHussain. Col. Abid and Maj. Mubarakof Shah Jewna and others.

Throughout I have been in touch withmy friends and acquaintces of Jhang,Chiniot, Shahiwal and evenFaisalabad, which have allchanged and transformed intobigger and with larger popula-tions and with allroundprogress in all spheres. Onealso fondly recall, another cur-rent iconic figure like AllamaTahir Qadri who also camefrom Jhang where his originwas from inside Jhang Saddarin a locality called BuddaMohalla.

Another factor which hastaken place is a great deal ofdevelopment which has takenplace in Jhang, Faisalabad,Chiniot and its neighborhood.

Having lived so many years i knowhow much Chiniotis have contributed todevelop country’s business, industryand allied affairs like banks and com-merce a chief example is Mian Manshaa.

The Chiniotis also tend to have alwayssentimental link with their Chinioti root, andmost still celebrate their family weddingsand other festivals back in Chiniot.

Another factor , not to be takenlightly has been shifting of AhmediyaCommunity Headquarters to nearbyRabwa along with its established edu-cational facilities like Talim-ul-IslamCollege, standardized health and otherfacilities with the help of their commu-nity spread all over the would.

Most notable to mention has been theefforts of PML (N) Govern-ment in Punjab headed byMr. Shahbaz Shairf and itscontinues efforts to de-velop and open up whichwere once–

God forsaken backwa-ters to developed areaswith superb road links,bridges and other im-proved facilities. One re-ally marvels to see thatRajua, once a forgottenbackwater has nowremerged as a focal pointto country’s push to-wards modern age

thanks to the persistently herculeanefforts made to discover the hiddentreasures of Rajua. In fact the wholearea including a number of energyprojects around Sahiwal, area nowscheduled to become visible during thecourse of the current year, would betestimony to the vision and implemen-tat ion of their pledge made to thepeople by PML (N).

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Bereaved families of Ali Enter-prises fire victims have demanded not toplay political blame game on the dead bod-ies of their loved ones, but give a severepunishment to the cruel culprits, irrespec-tive of who they are.

Addressing a press conference atKarachi Press Club (KPC) here Thursday,leaders of National Trade Union Federa-tion (NTUF) and Baldia Factory FireAffectees Association along with some vic-tims’ families said the Baldia factory firetragedy has once again captured the atten-tion of whole country after filing of a probereport about the tragedy in Sindh HighCourt (SHC). However, different political,religious and ethnic parties and outfits arebusy in disgracing the blood of the mar-tyrs to achieve their vested interests.

They said they want to present the pointof view of the heirs and the real representa-tives of workers regarding this new devel-opment. They said after 29 months of thistragedy a report has been filed in SHC inwhich the identity of the involved culpritsand their group is revealed. However, onthe basis of this report different politicalparties are busy in blaming one another,but no political party has taken solid stepsfor solving the problems of the bereavedfamilies and deterring repetition of suchincidents in Pakistani factories and indus-tries. This negative attitude of these politi-

Stop blame game on Baldia Factory tragedy

Affectees want severe punishment to culpritscal parties is also condemnable becauseduring last two and half years they havenot raised the voice inside or outside par-liament for solving the problems of theaffectees.

They said the court would decide if thefire was accidental or arson, but our de-mand is to give severe punishment to theculprits and their patrons. We also appre-hend that making the JIT report a plea, thevested interests would try to save the realculprits including the factory owners, In-ternational Brands and Social auditing com-pany of this sad incident and if so we wouldfully resist such a bid. They said it is thebasic question if the factory was burnt inaccidental fire or arson, but it is also impor-tant to see if the factory had all precaution-ary arrangement to cope with such an inci-dent and save the lives of its innocent work-ers. So far all reports and facts show thatthis factory was not registered under theFactory Act, and thus was working illegally.All its emergency exit gates were closed,and windows covered with heavy iron grills.Its passageways were closed with goods,which resulted in the martyrdom of 80per-cent workers.

Therefore, the affectees and the labormovement think that those running this fac-tory illegally were equally responsible forthese deaths as they ignored the local andinternational health and safety laws andstandards. These culprits include the own-ers of the factory, international brands for

which they worked, international companythat gave them audit certificate and otherinstitutions related to the labor affairs. Morethan 90 percent of the factory workers werecontract laborers, not registered with EOBIand other social security institutions. Theyused to work 12 to 14 hours daily in thissweat shop under third party contact sys-tem.

The labor inspection system, necessaryto assess the real working conditions in-side factories, has been hampered, allow-ing the factory owners to treat their work-ers worse than slaves. Sindh, which housesmore than 60percent of Pakistan’s facto-ries, has even no proper labor minister. Itsworst example is the German brand KIK,whose fault created the tragedy of Ali En-terprises Baldia Karachi, taking lives of 259workers. Italian company, RINA, is such acompany that had issued such the certifi-cate to the Baldia factory just two weeksbefore the sad incident. This company hasalready issued about 100 such certificatesto other factories.

The heirs of Ali Enterprises fire victimseven today are struggling for their rightson streets and in courts. However, the apa-thy of the government and all political par-ties could be seen from the fact that theheirs of 17 martyrs have yet to get DNAreport and claim and bury their loved ones.The victims’ association and the NTUF haddecided to sue International brand KIK inGermany and auditing company RINA in

Italy and for this legal process group ofinternational lawyers had had visitedKarachi last week and attended the generalmeeting of the victims’ families on Feb 8 atPMA House Karachi.

They demanded that a judicial commis-sion should be established to probe intothe Baldia factory fire which should issueits report in three months. They demandedthat the Punjab government should imme-diately release the compensation as an-nounced by Mian Muhammad NawazSharif. The compensation as announcedby Malik Riaz of Bahria Foundation is notpaid to all heirs, and it should be paid tothe remaining heirs. The chief minister ofSindh had announced to give a govern-ment employment and a plot to every be-reaved family and this promise should beimplemented. The report of Justice QurbanAli on the Baldia factory fire should bemade public. DNA certificates should beissued to remaining bereaved families.Those spoke included Nasir Mansoordeputy general secretary National TradeUnion Federation (NTUF), MuhammadJabbir president Baldia Factory FireAffectees Association, Rafiq Baloch vicepresident Pakistan Workers Confedera-tion, Abdul Aziz general secretary BaldiaFactory Fire Affectees Association, GulRehman convener Workers Rights Move-ment and Zahra Khan General SecretaryHome-based Women Workers Federation(HBWWF) and labour leader Riaz Abbasi.

ISLAMABAD—Minister forDefence Production, RanaTanveer Ahmed on Thurs-day said the major reservesof iron ore and copper dis-covered in Rajua, Chiniotwould give boost to nationaleconomy and bring prosper-ity in the coming years. He said after coming topower the government un-der the able leadership ofPrime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif was working tocontrol gas and power prob-lems as well as terrorism andnow it is Almighty Allah’sblessing that huge reserveshave been found. On a point of order in thenational assembly, he con-gratulated the nation and saidefforts of Prime Minister andChief Minister Punjab,Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifare commendable in this re-spect. He said during last oneand half years, reformshave been introduced indifferent sectors to put thecountry on path of devel-opment, hoping theendeavours would bearfruits and there would begood days. The Minister

Chiniot reservesto energise economy

said the natural resourcesof the country will be fullyexploited for developmentof the country.

He said local and foreigninvestors will be invited toinvest in projects after thecompletion of tests, addingthat the government wouldfully facilitate the investors.

The reserves were foundin Chiniot city in Punjab bya Chinese group the Metal-lurgical Cooperation ofChina. Initial estimates indi-cated 500 million tonnes ofiron ore - a primary ingredi-ent in steelmaking - hadbeen discovered.—APP

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Pakistan Mus-lim League-Nawaz (PML-N)will clean sweep in Punjabby winning all eleven seatsin senate elections as its op-ponent political partieshave split mandate in PunjabAssembly which will befruitless for these politicalparties even though Paki-stan Peoples Party (PPP)and Pakistan MuslimL e a g u e - Q a u i d - e - A z a mforged coalition to contestsenate poll in Punjab.

There are as many as 371members of provincial as-sembly in Punjab and out ofthem two seats are still va-cant which means that only369 members of the PunjabAssembly will cast theirvotes. There are totaleleven seats for senate in-cluded 7 general seats, fourreserved seats two forwomen and technocratseach. According to rule ofsenate elections, about 46

PML-N to clean sweepin Punjab Senate polls

and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) to jointhis grand alliance. Both PPPand PML-Q are short of therequired numbers to clinchany seat in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and the Cen-tre. In Punjab, PPP and PML-

Q have eight MPAs each andthe PTI stands as the largestopposition party with 30seats. But so far, it has de-cided not to become part ofthe Senate polls from theprovince.

LAHORE: PML-N leaders Raja Zafar-ul-Haq and Chaudhry Tanvir submitting their nomination papers for theupcoming Senate elections.

votes are required for eachgeneral candidate and 124for each seat reserved forwomen and technocrats.

According to sources inPunjab Assembly, the PML-N is in a position to bag sixgeneral seats without any hin-drance while for the seventhseat to win the party leader-ship has a plan to ask all trea-sury members to cast theirsecond preference vote in fa-vor of that candidate which iscontesting for this seat. Thesources claim that the partyhas done homework success-fully in this regard.

While on the other hand,Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)and Pakistan MuslimL e a g u e - Q a u i d - e - A z a m(PML-Q) formed a coalitionin Punjab to contest senateelections on combined plat-form but still both the par-ties are not in a position toget even a single seat. Soboth the parties’ leadershipshave decided to convincePakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)

FAISALABAD: PTI workers stage sit-in outside CPO office for justice against firingon party workers on December 8 last year during protest rally.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—As a part of Charter of Human-ity between Pakistan Red Crescent Societyand Ittahad Tanzemat Madris Pakistan (a rep-resenting body of all religious school ofthoughts) has provision of first aid trainingand blood screening to the staff and ofMadrassah Dar ul Uloom Nidvatul Ulema,Islamabad. As a first step, over 500 staff andstudents are being given first aid training torespond to any incident in the area and therescreening was made and the students wereinformed about their blood groups.

PRCS conducts aid training, bloodscreening of 500 madaris students

HYDERABAD—The Sindh HighCourt has issued stay orderhere Thursday against con-struction over amenity plots in2 residential colonies inQasimabad town ofHyderabad. According to de-tails, 5 residents of KahkashanColony and Midland Colonyincluding Daud Wagan andAbdul Hafeez Pasha filed a pe-tition claiming that the builderswho established the colonywere building commercial pla-

SHC stays constructionzas in connivance with the con-cerned governmentdepartments.The petitionerscounsel Arshad Pathan in-formed the court that buildershad even occupied part of theroad and part of a plot for themosque for the commercialstructure. The court assignedSyed Sabit Ali Shah as the com-missioner and ordered him toinvestigate the issue and sub-mit report on the next date ofhearing slated 17.—APP

PRCS Chairman Dr Saeed Elahi speak-ing on the occasion said that as a part ofCharter of Humanity, the PRCS has startedtraining of the madaris staff and studentsas they can play an important role in dayto day incidents and during major disas-ters. He said that this is the first badgeand these students will also serve as train-ers in the future and will reach each mosqueand madrassah even at village level totrain the staff and students of localmosques and madaris. Dr Saeed Elahi saidthat PRCS will also provide First Aid boxto each mosque and madrassah to respondto any eventuality in their specific areas.

HEC workshopconcludes at

PIEASStaff Reporter

ISLAMABAD—A five-daytraining workshop on “Ac-counting and Auditing forNon-Financial Managers inPublic Sector Universities”concluded at Pakistan In-stitute of Engineering andApplied Sciences (PIEAS).This workshop is the 3rdamong the series of work-shop held at PIEAS underIndigenous On- CampusTraining (IOT) sponsoredby Higher education com-mission. HEC has startedthis program to train theadministrative and non-teaching staff of universi-ties.

Twentysix participantsfrom NILOP and PIEAS gottraining on accountingprinciples, auditing, finan-cial management, financefor non finance managers,budgeting, taxation, stra-tegic vision etc. Five re-source persons; Dr AmirShah, MrKhaleeq-Uz-Zaman, MrMukarramShah, Dr Syed KashifSaeed and Khawaja ZahidHussain trained the par-t icipants by giving lec-tures and group discus-s ion.

Prof. Dr. NasirMajeedMirza, Pro Rectorwas the chief guest in theconcluding session. Dr.Nasir in his speech said,“I feel profound pleasureto be here in the closingceremony.

HYDERABAD: PPP Senator Moula Bux Chandio addressing workers during protest against Zulfiqar Mirzastatement.

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

Year 2014 was not only eventful butopened new vistas for cooperation between Russia and Pakistan, says the

Russian consul general, host-ing a diplomats day receptionin Karachi It was a marvelousfunction with a number of for-eign diplomats posted inKarachi, business elite, andtop media men attending.

The party was warm andwould be remembered forlong for the tremendous

hospitality displayed by host Oleg Avedeevand members of his staff. Oleg remarked thatthe outgoing year was unprecedented bothin scope and for variety of developments.Despite being Karachi-centric, events un-folding during the year, will have far reach-ing impact on the bilateral relationship. Thehistory of Russo-Pak ties is quite eventful,in the sense that during 60s many high levelexchanges took place, and Pakistan Steelcame up as a historical monument for the

Year 2014 was eventful, says Russian CGrelationship between the two countries.Somehow for next three decades these tiessuffered but two of the Pakistan Presidents,General Pervez Musharraf and Asif Zardari,gave a new dimension by visiting Moscowto balm the wounds of the past, but alsoopen a new chapter in our relationship.

This was obviously mentioned by theconsul general in his speech on the diplo-mats day party when he said in his speechthat the month of last April heralded the ar-rival of two naval ships from the pacificfleetof his country to Karachi port. After agap of 50 years. This was no insignificantdevelopment. These ships and men on boardwere warmly received by the Pakistan Navyofficers The arrival of Russian ships toKarachi signaled a new chapter in bilateralties, apart from normal sphere of trade andindustry. In came another fleet of Russianships last October from the Baltic fleet whichcarried out exercises with their Pakistanicounterparts, designed to hone the skills forcombating illicit drug trafficking throughseat routes, said Oleg.

The chief of the Russian Drug Control

Agency, V P Ivanov, the deputy Russian for-eign minister, and the Defence Minister S KShoigu too visited in a sequence of importantevents. The Russian defence minister heldtalks with Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Asif,apart from meeting Prime Minister NawazSharif. Their talks and signing of a defencecooperation agreement were indeed important.Yet another important event, Oleg pointed out,was the third sitting of the tripartite commis-sion on trade, and economic cooperation inMoscow last week of November.

The Russian companies can now availthemselves of the advantages to invest ininfra-structure and energy sectors in Paki-stan, he added. A green signal was given toRussian side to inverst in restructuring andexpansion of country’s only steel mill at PortQasim, which urgently needs attention.

The exhibition held last year gave a fairinsight to both sides to open new avenuesfor cooperation, and display of Russian he-licopters in exhibition of Idea 1015 was yetanother important development.He said there were positive dynamics forgrowth of ties from both sides, Oleg added

LAHORE: Workers of Women Wing Naeemain Association presenting flowers onPayam-e-Haya Seminar at Jamia Sirajia Naeemia Mughalpura.

SC asked todispose of casesrelating to NAP

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W A R — N a t i o n a lPeace Committee for Inter-Faith Khyber Pukhtunkhwahas urged the SupremeCourt of Pakistan to disposeof cases relating to NationalAction Plan (NAP) and con-stitution of military courtson priority basis in vital na-tion interest. The membersof the committee in a protestin front of Peshawar PressClub here the other day, saidthat the cases were causingdelay in implementation ofNAP chalked out for elimi-nation of terrorism from thecountry.

The protesters viewedthat the menace of terror-ism has caused hugelosses to KP province andFATA in terms of humancausalities and infrastruc-ture damage, where the ter-rorists attacked mosques,Imambarghas, worshipplaces, hospitals, govern-ment institutions and eveninnocent children ofschools. hey said when thewhole poli t ical and reli-gious leadership of thecountry and the whole na-tion are united on NAP forelimination of terrorism,the cases by certainpeople in the apex courtare delaying the imple-mentation of NAP.

They said that furtherdelay in implementation ofNAP could result in anyother Army Public Schooll ike national t ragedy;therefore the apex courtshould decide the casesrelating to i t on priori tybasis. The protesters wereholding play cards in-scribed with “immediateimplementation of nationalaction plan” and “consti-tution of military courts”.They said the 21st consti-tutional amendment by thenational assembly was areflection of aspirations ofthe people and any delayin it is tantamount to dam-aging the national unity.

Mobile awarenessunit set up at NAB

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W A R — M o b i l eAwareness Unit has beenestablished in NABKhyber Pakhtunkhwa tocreate awareness amongmasses especial ly theyouth about the ill effectsof corruption on economyas well on society, said aspokesman for the NABhere Thursday.

In this connection,Bacha Khan Girls DegreeCollege, Dheri Baghbanan,Kohat Road Peshawar incollaboration with NationalAccountability Bureau orga-nized a seminar followed bya walk against corruption atthe College.

Mirza Mohammad IrfanBaig, Director Awareness &Prevention Wing NAB wasthe chief guest. DirectorNAB, Principal Bacha KhanGirls College Shaheen Umarand Director Higher Educa-tion Noorullah Wazir alsospoke on the occasion.

Sana Tariq Assistant Di-rector NAB gave a presen-tation on the achievementsof NAB, definition of corrup-tion, its types and impactson society as well aseconomy.

The Director NAB urgedupon the students that theymust adopt high moral val-ues i.e. truthfulness, forgive-ness, honesty and sympathy.This, he opined would defi-nitely establish our credibil-ity which is a pre-requisite fora dignified nation.

KHANEWAL—An alleged dacoit was killedand a woman seriously injured in a an en-counter between police and criminals nearLahore More here on Thursday.

District Police officer (DPO) JahanzebNazir told newsmen that traffic police spot-ted two dubious persons riding a number-less motorcycle near Lahore More and sig-nalled them to stop. The suspects, how-ever, sped away their bike. The traffic po-lice official then conveyed information toan elite force vehicle patrolling nearby andthey started chasing the suspects.

The accused opened fire at the eliteforce vehicle and forced their entry into thehouse of a poor labourer namely Rashid.Heavy contingent of police reached the

Dacoit killed, house wifeinjured in firing encounter

spot and after the exchange of fire thatlasted for almost two hours a criminal iden-tified as Saif Ur Rahman alias Jojal died atthe spot. The woman Shahnaz, the wife oflabourer Rashid, sustained serious injuriesand was rushed to DHQ hospital. She wasreferred to Nishtar Hospital Multan owingto serious injuries.

The other suspect, later identified asTalib Hussain, was arrested and police re-covered a 222 rifle and a pistol 30 bore fromthe accused.The accused confessed tohave committed crimes in Khanewal andDunyapur, police said.

DPO congratulated police and elite forceJawans and promised to award appreciationcertificates and cash awards to them.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab AhmadKhan has said to enhance the reputeand positive image of Federal Admin-istered Tribal Areas, the incumbentgovernment has been taking concretesteps to ensure the implementation ofcomprehensive policy for the early re-habilitation and resettlement of IDPsin order to foster the development ofthis marginalized region. “Resettlementof internally displaced persons to theirhomes with dignity and honor is thetop most priority of the Governmentand as Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa, I am personally lookingafter the arrangements and returningprocess of the IDPs”, Sardar MehtabAhmed Khan told a delegation ofWorld Food Program (WFP) led by Mr.

Peter Scott Bowdon here at

KP Governor meets World Food Programme team

IDPs settlement top priorityKhyber Pakhtunkhwa House onThursday. He said the temporary dis-placement of more than a million peoplefrom different parts of Fata was a bigresponsibility but ensuring their repa-triation and rehabilitation was a chal-lenge of bigger magnitude and thistime our government is starting theprocess in more organized manner thenpast. He further said that it was hisdesire to complete the resettlement ofIDPs in 2015 whereas keeping in mindthe ground realties, tribal people andelders should realize their responsibili-ties and must join hands with the gov-ernment to make this possible.

He informed the delegation that PrimeMinister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif wasvery anxious about return program of theinternally displaced persons and is tak-ing deep interest to expedite the process.The Governor told the delegation thatPakistan is fighting the war against terror

which is an international problem andbeing front line state against terrorism itis international obligation to help Paki-stan to resolve the resettlement issue. Theresolve carried out in Pakistani peopletoday exemplary was never before andwe are moving in right direction, headded. He further told that resettlementof IDPs is responsibility of the state andwe are having constant meeting and dis-cussions with tribal elders and we expectgreater support from international com-munity in this regard.

He also appreciated the role of (WFO)World Food origination which it is play-ing for provision of food and other facili-ties to the IDPs. Governor has also directedthe officers concerned to take measuresfor greater co-operation with (WFO) andother international organizations to ensurethe provision of basic amenities and facili-ties to the IDPs and to foster the workopportunities and development process.

Rally takenin support of

ZardariHYDERABAD—The workersand supporters of PakistanPeoples Party Wednesdaytook out a protest rallyagainst allegations andnegative remarks aboutChairman PPP and formerPresident Asif Ali Zardari byZulfiqar Ali Mirza.

The rally led by VicePresident PPP Sindh Sena-tor Moula Bux Chandiowas taken out from DistrictCouncil Hyderabad. Aftermarching through variousroutes it terminated infront of Hyderabad PressClub where the speakersstrongly criticised the atti-tude of Zulfiqar Ali Mirzaand his allegations againstparty Chairman Asif AliZardari.

They said that Asif AliZardari was the only leaderafter the assassination ofMohtarma Benazir Bhuttowho had taken the respon-sibility of strengtheningthe party and is still en-gaged in following the mis-sion of Zulfikar Ali Bhuttoand Mohtarma BenazirBhutto.

Among others, SindhMinister Jam Khan Shoroand Special Assistant toSindh Chief MinisterAbdul Jabbar Khan werealso present in the protestdemonstration.—APP

ABBOTTABAD—Deputy Inspector GeneralPolice (DIG) Hazara division Akhtar HayatGandapur on Thursday handed over thesecurity software for schools to the firstbatch of hundred schools. DIG, Akhtar HayatGandapur said this while addressing a pressconference here at DPO office. “Security sys-tem is a simple mobile application which con-sists of a button, which will send an emergencymessage to police, hospital and other law en-forcement agencies”, he added. Replying to aquestion he said that they have selected firsthundred applicants for the school security soft-ware and this process will continue for all pub-lic and private sector schools in Hazara divi-sion. A full dress rehearsal would be soon con-ducted to check the law enforcement agenciesresponse time to the emergency message froman institution, he disclosed.

Security inspections of 1095 schools car-ried out: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police car-ried out security inspections of 1095 educa-tional institutions and advised various institu-tions to further beef up security arrangements

SHIKARPUR—Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) chief Imran Khan said on Thursdaythat the war on terror cannot be won solelywith a military operation, adding that thepolice force needed to be overhauled anddepoliticised - especially in Sindh andPunjab. The PTI chief was addressing acrowd shortly after visiting the site of theShikarpur blast, in which 61 people werekilled. “Innocent people are being killed insectarian clashes, and the Sindh govern-ment should identify the culprits.” Imransaid. “We need to find the root cause; findout why the police can’t find these cul-prits,” he said. “Police need to bedepoliticised. If we do not depoliticise po-lice, the problems will not be fixed.” “Thepolice is being used for political gains,”Imran said.

“Up until we do not depoliticise our po-lice, there will not be peace.” Khan saidpeople are afraid of police, adding that theywere also scared of leaving their homes. “Itis time to improve the police force; I can saywith pride that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hasbeen completely depoliticised. If we don’timprove the police force, security cannot im-prove.” Imran said that the party will sup-port the Shikarpur Shuhada Committee’slong march on February 15 from Shikarpurto the Chief Minister House in Karachi to

IK calls for depoliticisingSindh, Punjab police

put pressure on the government to arrestthe culprits behind the Shikarpurimambargah blast. Khan said that the care-taker of Shikarpur’s Masjid-o-ImambargahKarbala-i-Moulla refused financial aid fromSindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shahand only demanded answers as to why ac-tion was not taken against the perpetrators.Khan further said that there are two reasonsas to why people are barbarically killed onsectarian grounds. He questioned the capa-bilities of the Sindh police, asking, “Is it sodifficult for the police to find out what grouphails from which area? Every police stationis aware of such things,” he said. Imran spokeproudly of the police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), claiming that they havebecome a model in Pakistan and that mem-bers are recruited based on merit. Hitting outat the Sindh government, the PTI chief saidhe was yet to see worse conditions thanthose in interior Sindh.

“The National Finance Commission(NFC) award brings so much money intoSindh, where does all that money go? Thevaderas and politicians eat all thatmoney.” Khan also gave the example ofPunjab. “Ejaz Chaudhry was a good manas long as he was in the PML-N, but hadcases registered against him once hejoined the PTI,” he said. —Online

Security software handedover to edu instititions: DIG

in the province. The police in the ongoingsearch and strike operation against criminalsand anti-social elements rounded 180 suspectsand recovered huge quantity of ams and am-munition, says a police statement here onThursday. During the operation, the police inthe operation conducted in different parts ofthe province recovered 29 arms and ammuni-tion of different kind and 262 rounds of differ-ent bore.During the operation 696 houses and181 hotels were checked and 13 cases wereregistered against the violators. During snapchecking on 137 check points, 291 suspectswere held and recovered 25 arms of differentkind and 596 cartridges of different bore. Dur-ing action against illegal Afghans a total of 68persons were detained on violation and 34cases were registered against them. Similarly 4persons were arrested against misused of loadspeaker and 4 load speakers were seized and 4cases were registered against the violators. Simi-larly police also arrested 01 person against hatespeeches and hate material and registered 01cases against them.—APP

PESHAWAR—The Khyber Pakhtunkhawagovernment with the assistance of interna-tional donor agencies is going to launch alocal development program in the terroristaffected Malakand Division soon.

This was told in a briefing held underthe auspices of Reforms Monitoring Unitof the Finance Department here in Civil Sec-retariat on Thursday.

Besides, Senior Minister InayatullahKhan, Minister for Finance, Muzaffar Saidadvocate, MNAs, Sahibzada Tariqullah andSahibzada Mohammad Yaqub, MPAs,Malik Behram Khan, Mohammad Ali, Sec-retary Finance, officials of European Union,Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) and

KP to launch donors funded devprogramme in Malakand

finance department attended the meeting.Speaking on the occasion, the Senior Min-

ister Inayatullah Khan directed for takingelected public representatives into confidencefor the identification and implementation ofdevelopment activities under the program.

He said that the present governmentfor the purpose of devolution of powersto gross-root level will guarantee the par-ticipation of masses in the developmentactivities.

On this occasion, the Provincial Min-ister for Finance, Muzaffar Said said thatlocal members of the provincial assemblywill have to utilize their funds with the par-ticipation of the local residents.—APP

Nature’s yet anotherbounty in Punjab …

THE discovery of an unimaginable treasure trove of iron ore and copper in Chiniot comparable to Reko Diq worth hundreds of billions ofdollars is a pleasant surprise for the people and reflects the determi-

nation of Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to exploit all sorts ofresources for the benefit of the masses. The reserves certified through tech-nical services of Chinese, German, Swiss and Canadian mining experts areyet another bounty of the nature in Punjab.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and oth-ers gracing the ceremony at the site the other day were rightly seen in a stateof extreme joy. Mr Nawaz Sharif was so overwhelmed that he announcedthat Pakistan would soon become self sufficient in terms of natural resourcesand would no longer need to purchase them from abroad. The discoveryreflects that Punjab is rich in resources and the need of the hour is to exploreand exploit them with sincerity of purpose. To exploit the natural resources,the Chief Minister formed the Punjab Mineral Development Company un-der the chairmanship of Dr Samar Mubarakmand with professional Boardof Directors. Best technical resources from Germany, Switzerland Canadaand China were engaged to explore and document this resource accord-ing to internationally recognised standards. The discovery of the preciousreserves would enable Pakistan to meet raw material needs for the SteelMills and in fact a Chinese company has already expressed its interest forsetting up a plant at the site as laboratories established 65% iron contentin the ore. The personal interest shown by the Chief Minister indicatesthat he would see to it that exploration activities would start in the mini-mum possible time. We say so because similar announcements were madeby successive governments in the past also like Thar coal reserves, but forone reason or the other, progress could not be made on them. We areconfident that Shahbaz Sharif has the guts to get things done and wewould expect that the project would be expedited on a fast track basis andthere will be no inconvenience to the investors.

… explore Balochistan’snatural wealth also

IT is not just Punjab but Balochistan is also blessed with all types of natural resources and together with Gawadar port, it has all the potential to

turn Pakistan a resource rich country. But for different reasons and compet-ing interests, important projects like Reko Diq are scuttled down causingmassive loss to the Province and the country.

Balochistan possesses great unexplored potential of metallic and nonmetallic minerals. Presently some minerals like coal, chromite, barites, sul-phur, marble, iron ore and limestone are being exploited but in very limitedquantity and with unconventional methods. Though security is a problemyet this could be overcome with the cooperation of tribal chieftains. RekoDiq and Saindak are two largest gold deposit mines of Balochistan butprogress on these projects could not be made for different reasons and thecases were sent to courts. The poor people of Balochistan are sufferingand their poverty could be turned into prosperity if due attention is paidon exploitation of massive untapped natural resources. Now that an electedgovernment is in place in the Province, it is necessary that it should alsopay some attention like Punjab to invite foreign and local companies forexploration activities. The mass land in Balochistan is full of natural re-sources and if work is started with earnest, the people of Balochistanwould get jobs and the Provincial government would be able to generateenough resources to invest in the development of the Province. Gas wasone natural resource that was being exploited but the field is now deplet-ing and Sindh has become the largest gas producing Province. Some for-eign powers are opposing the exploration activities and development ofBalochistan for their own nefarious designs but it is need of the hour thatthe Provincial and Federal governments must find a mechanism to startexploitation of natural resources. The PML-N government is extendingfull cooperation to National Party government led by Dr Abdul MalikBaloch and he must take advantage of the opportunity. Like CM Punjab,he should take personal initiative and invite exploration companies byproviding them an enabling environment as exploitation of mineral re-sources is one way to take the people out of poverty.

Accept Iran’s fabulous3000MW electricity offerIRAN has offered additional 3,000 MW of electricity to Pakistan on cheaper

rates to meet its immediate power needs. In a letter to National Transmis-sion and Dispatch Company (NTDC) the Iranian government has invitedthe Pakistani officials to visit Iran for negotiations on the offer during thecurrent month.

In our opinion, the offer should be accepted instantly because at thispoint of time when the country is facing extreme shortage of electricity, theoffer is very timely. The under execution power projects are moving at slowpace and the demand is on the rise. Pakistan had signed previous deal withIran for the import of electricity when oil prices were around $ 120 perbarrel and now that the oil prices have fallen by almost 50% , if properlynegotiated, Pakistan could import electricity at half the price. The countryis spending massive amount of foreign exchange for the import of furnaceoil as gas is not available in required quantity to run the power plants. As aresult, power-generating units are shut when there is no supply of oil fordifferent reasons including non payment to PSO. Iran has consistently beenoffering such deals but Pakistan has so far failed to grasp them for differentinternational and national reasons. Had Pakistan built transmission lines onits side of border, it could have easily increased supply and reduced loadshedding at least by 50 percent with cheaper power because the normal gap indemand and supply during peak summer season is around 6,000 to 7,000MW. If an agreement is reached with Iran to the satisfaction of both thecountries, we would have assured supply of electricity for industrial and do-mestic consumers at rates much lower than being generated domestically.There had been some problems in the past for the payment of electricity costto Iran but the two countries can enter into a barter deal under which Pakistancan export rice and other agricultural products in return for electricity.

Defeating terrorism the only option

Clean sweepfor honest

governance

MORE THAN half of theworld’s people now live incities, according to the

United Nations, with most urbandwellers living in poverty. Amongthe poor’s daily indignities is hav-ing to pay petty bribes to officials.In the world’s second largest city,New Delhi, resentment against suchcorruption – and a demand for hon-est governance – finally explodedlast weekend in a popular vote. Theanticorruption party, Aam Aadmi(Common Man), took 67 of 70 seatsin New Delhi’s state election. Thesize of the victory was not the onlysurprise. Voters in India’s capitalalso sent a message to Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi and his Hindunationalist party. Just nine monthsago, Mr. Modi was elected in a bigvictory with a similar promise ofclean government. But with fewresults to show the people so far,his party could win only a few seatsin this pivotal election. And it didn’thelp that the prime minister hadlately been wearing a suit with pin-stripes of gold threads that repeathis name and cost an estimated$17,000.

The leader of the CommonMan party, Arvind Kejriwal, saidafter his victory that his top prior-ity is to end bribery in a capital wellknown for its endemic corruption.“When you walk on the path oftruth, all the power of the universeis behind you,” he told supporters.In a recent survey, more than halfof all Indians said they had paid abribe in the past year. As prosperityhas risen in India, so, too, has ananticorruption movement. Mr.Kejriwal and his party were able towin the last election in New Delhiin 2013 but resigned after their re-forms were blocked. Now they areback in a new political context andin an even stronger position. It isworth watching the anticorruptionefforts in rapidly urbanizing na-tions. China, Indonesia, India, andBrazil, for example, are now in ananticorruption mode of politics.Among those, India may be mak-ing the most progress. In a “corrup-tion perception index” by Berlin-based Transparency International, ithas improved its standing and nowranks as less corrupt than China. In12 of the 15 countries with the worstcorruption, there are insurgencies orextremist activities, according to TI.“From terrorist activities of BokoHaram in Nigeria, drug traffic inMexico, and patronage networks inAfghanistan to autocratic structuresbefore the Maidan in Ukraine, acommon issue that links all thoseevents is corruption,” states a TIreport given last week at theMunich Security Conference.Whether the Common Man partycan deliver in the rough politics ofIndia’s largest city remains to beseen. The party will need morethan its symbol, a broom, to cleanup government. But for burgeon-ing cities elsewhere in the world,this election’s clean sweep sendsa signal of hope that the old waysneed not be the only ways.— The Christian Science Monitor

*****

UAEworkforce

NO country can hope to prosper unless its entire population is fully engaged in the

work force. This includes encour-aging all women to work and de-velop their careers. The full rangeof talent should be made availableto the country and this requires botheducation and social acceptance thatmen and women are fully activemembers of the nation’s workforce.

Many UAE women now getvery good education, but there is alingering conservative attitude thatmakes many of them hesitant toseek a career and commit to full-time employment. This is moreprevalent among older women,though younger women also facepressure from their families, fiancésand husbands to drop work and stickto being homemakers. This is whyit was so important to see the pow-erful support for women playingtheir full role in society from thecountry’s leaders at the UAE Gov-ernment Summit and heartening tohear the announcement of GenderBalance Council to monitor thenumber of women in different sec-tors of society and government andencourage their full participation.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

IN the backdrop of the revelation about some seminaries receiving foreign funding and al-

legedly using the money for financ-ing acts of terrorism and promot-ing culture of hate, the interior min-ister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan toldthe National Assembly the otherday that the government has takenfool-proof measures to check ter-ror financing and so far 26 suchcases have been identified and 32arrests made besides recoveringRs.70 million. He did not give fur-ther details on the issue and saidthat he was ready to brief the legis-lators in camera on the issue.

The issue is really very sensi-tive due to the funding coming fromsome friendly Muslim countries aswell as the resistance and opposi-tion being faced within the countryon the issue of registration and regu-lation of the seminaries, which formsthe pivot of the National Action Planagainst terrorism. One can hardlytake an issue with the line of actioncontemplated by the government onthe matter as making public all therelevant information on the issueand the steps contemplated to betaken to deal with it at this stage,could probably create difficultiesfor the government as well as alsohave a negative impact on theimplementation of the NationalAction Plan. It is an unfortunatereality that some of the seminariesdo have their connections with theterrorist outfits and even have beenserving as recruiting centers forswelling the ranks of the terrorists.

The minister also expressed theresolve that the fight against terror-

Expectations from Chinese President’s visit

ALTHOUGH it is yet to beconfirmed or officially announced, the word on the

local grapevine is that China’s Presi-dent Xi Jinping is expected to visitPakistan and grace the occasion ofthe Pakistan Day Parade on 23March 2015. Earlier the high levelvisit was expected to be in mid Sep-tember 2014 but political protests inIslamabad deterred the finalizationof the Presidential visit. Xi Jinpingdid go ahead with his tour of SouthAsia, his port of calls being NewDelhi and Colombo.

Nearly six months down theline, a number of important eventshave taken place in the region.Firstly, the international forces havewithdrawn from Afghanistan, mak-ing China and Pakistan closer part-ners in the reconstruction of the warravaged country as well as stake-holders in Afghan peace because anystrife there will have a trickledowneffect on its neighbours. Secondly,President Obama made his secondvisit to New Delhi and negotiatedstrategic and nuclear Indo-US ties.The calculated move by US to posi-tion India as a bulwark to China wasmore ominous. China’s rising eco-nomic and military might has beena source of concern to the US de-spite the former’s reassurances thatit has no hegemonic designs.

The symbolism of a cold shoul-der to Pakistan by President Obamawas not lost on the Foreign OfficeMandarins in Islamabad. Xi Jinping’s

The enemies ofFreedom do notargue; they shoutand they shoot.

visit to Islamabad especially atthis juncture, will help soothesome of the frayed nerves inPakistan. While Obama was ex-changing bonhomie withIndia’s Prime Minister,Pakistan’s Army Chief’s so-

journ to China and the heartwarmingstatements supporting Pakistan ema-nating from Beijing were reassuring.

Sino-Pakistan ties are incompa-rable to bilateral ties between anyother two nations of the world andhave stood the test of time. However,at this particular moment, when Pa-kistan is mired in a deep abyss of tri-als and tribulations, a visit from theChinese President will mean a lot tothe people of Pakistan. Some of thewoes that have befallen this nationare the incessant terror attacks despitePakistan military’s operations to slaythe dragons of extremism and terror-ism. The prevalent lawlessness, eco-nomic recession, acute energy short-age, lack of employment opportuni-ties, hunger, disease and an impend-ing sense of gloom surround the na-tion. Jingoistic sabre rattling by In-dia through heavy artillery and rocketattacks across the Line of Control andthe working boundary with Pakistanadd to the misery.

In this backdrop of doom andgloom, the visit of President XiJinping has raised the expectations ofthe people of Pakistan. The very factthat the Chinese President will bealoft on the podium standing besidethe President and Prime Minister ofPakistan, taking the salute from thearmed forces of Pakistan will lift themorale of the people. The PakistanDay Parade has not been held forseven years owing to security threats.This by itself will be symbolic thatthe terror threat has receded and the

long sought peace is at hand.The people of Pakistan are hope-

ful that the Chinese President is likelyto announce the commencement of theChina Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) extending from the strategicport of Gwadar to the upcoming Chi-nese industrial hub of Kashgar. Thedownstream industries allied with themain project of CPEC are likely toassure employment opportunities tothousands of Pakistanis, besides el-evating the economy through transittrade and commutation of goods andpassengers. The Chinese President isalso expected to announce support forenergy projects in Pakistan, which in-clude hydel, coal and alternate sources,namely solar, wind and peaceful useof nuclear energy.

Chinese investments in Pakistanand the massive projects financed byChinese banks, likely to be inaugu-rated or announced with the visit ofPresident Xi Jinping will be morethan welcome but in order to reap fullbenefits from them, Pakistan needsto gird its own loins and learn les-sons from China. The meteoric riseof China did not come about with theswirl of a magic wand. It took reso-lute measures, firstly, getting rid ofcorruption, secondly, committedplanning and determined execution ofthe plans and thirdly, embracing thevalues of nationalism.

Pakistan has great potential; na-ture has endowed it with numerous as-sets besides a hard working labourforce. Its resources have to bechannelized by unprejudiced leader-ship, willing to mould the inchoatemass of Pakistanis into one nation,rallying under one flag, and willing tostrive to achieve their goals. China’shumble beginnings when it was down-trodden and occupied by aggressors

ism would be taken to itslogical end and the govern-ment would not rest untilall the leaders of the terror-ist organizations wereeliminated. His words ac-tually represented the will

of the people of Pakistan whowanted an end to the menace of ter-rorism at all costs. It was also grati-fying to note that the government,military establishment and the en-tire political leadership were unani-mous on this point, though certaincircles are expressing reservationson the modalities to achieve thisobjective. The minister also in-formed the Assembly that the gov-ernment would ensure completeban on all the proscribed organiza-tions mentioned in the blacklist ofthe United Nation to fulfill its in-ternational obligations on the issueand not under pressure from Indiaor US. The step is absolutely nec-essary to lift profile of Pakistan asa responsible member of the comityof nations and strengthening its cre-dentials as an honest and commit-ted player in the fight against glo-bal terrorism.

It was an irrefutable reality thatdefeating the terrorists was the onlyoption available to the government,as rightly pointed out repeatedly bythe Prime Minister and the COAS.Pakistan has been the victim of ter-rorism for the last 13 years and nogovernment dared to take decisivemeasures against the scourge of ter-rorism. The PML (N) governmentever since assuming charge has beenmaking sincere efforts to eliminatethe scourge of terrorism and rebel-lion against the state. It made relent-less efforts to evolve a consensus ap-proach by convening APC in Septem-ber 2013, wherein all the stakehold-ers including the political parties rep-resented in the parliament and themilitary leadership expressed their

support for the government initiativeto resolve the issue through dialogue.The APC resolution however did notforeclose the use of force to establishthe writ of the state. The governmentalso gave the country its first everNational Internal Security Policy.Soon after the initiation of the dia-logue, the TTP broke contacts withthe government in the wake of HakimUllah Mehsud’s death. But the gov-ernment still persisted with itsendeavours to salvage the derailedtalks. A glimmer of hope re-emergedwhen finally the government and theTTP agreed to hold negotiationsthrough their respective committees.And just when some positive signalshad started emerging about possiblesuccess of the dialogue process, theTTP launched attacks on rangers inKarachi and beheaded 29 FC men inits captivity, reportedly carried out onthe Afghan soil over which the Paki-stan government has also protestedto the Afghan government.

The government restricted its re-sponse to some surgical operations butat the same time kept pursuing the dia-logue for almost eight months. TheTTP however did not relent and con-tinued acts of terrorism like attack onKarachi Airport, which forced the gov-ernment to abandon the option of dia-logue and initiate operation Zarb-e-Azab in North Waziristan on 16 June2014 and when the TTP orchestratedthe most horrendous attack on APSPeshawar, the government had nochoice but to go for the final kill whichculminated in the formulation of theNational Action Plan that envisaged acomprehensive strategy to deal withall manifestations of terrorism.

Operation Zarb-e-Azab is goingon successfully as more than ninetyper cent of the area in NorthWaziristan has been cleared of theterrorists and there are already plansin the offing to start repatriation ofthe IDPs to their homes in the near

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and plagued by numerous ills are nodifferent from where Pakistan standstoday. The strong leadership of Maoand his successors has brought Chinato the level of development andprogress it enjoys today.

It is heartening that the modernleadership of China is willing toextend a helping hand to all thecountries in Asia and share its lar-gesse and expertise with those de-siring it. Under the circumstances,Pakistan, which enjoys the trust ofits Chinese brothers and the convic-tion of special bonds, clearly has anadvantage. Benefitting from the fra-ternal ties, Pakistan can overcomeits problems and rise to its true po-tential. However it is easier said thandone. There is a major demand fromits leadership to display statesman-ship and help unite the nation. Theintelligentsia is required to motivatethe masses to shun extremism, nar-row nationalism and intolerance.The people themselves must appre-ciate that this is their final chanceof coming out of the abyss of igno-rance and darkness.

With a friend like China, whichhas withstood massive trials itself,the Pakistani nation too can sur-mount its difficulties and achieve de-velopment, prosperity and peace.The expectations from the visit ofthe Chinese President may be highbut they need to be translated intoaction. March 23 is symbolic sinceon this date in 1940 Pakistan Reso-lution was passed. In 1956 on thisday Pakistan became a Republic. Onthe same day in 2015, let it be thehallmark of a new beginning forPakistan alongside its all weatherfriend China.—The writer is retired PAF GroupCaptain and a TV talk show host.

— Dean ngeBritish Durchman

future. The government has alsosucceeded in enlisting the coop-eration of the Afghan governmentand the NATO forces in tacklingthe Pakistani terrorists based onthe Afghan soil and for makingjoint and coordinated efforts tomonitor security along the Pak-Afghan border, which was indeeda crucial development in the fightagainst terror.

As per the National ActionPlan, military courts have been es-tablished and the government hasalready referred 20 cases to themwhich are likely to be started withinthe next few days. Unfortunatelythere is some opposition in thecountry regarding the militarycourts and also a wrong impres-sion that they would not be able todispense justice properly. Theseconcerns are not true. The accusedwill have the opportunity to defendthemselves in the military courtsthrough their lawyers and theywould also have the right of appealto the higher echelons of the mili-tary command against their convic-tions. The minister was right inpointing out that the military courtsare not ‘kangroo’ courts. This moveenjoys the backing of almost all thestakeholders in the future of Paki-stan. Those who are opposed to itmust not forget that Pakistan comesfirst. We are confronted with anextra-ordinary situation which war-ranted extra-ordinary measures. Asrevealed by the minister 12000 ter-ror suspects have been arrested and30 million SIMS have been alreadyverified and another 100 million arebeing checked. The discourse ofthe minister in the Assembly indi-cated that the National Action Planwas on the right track and beingimplemented with unflinching re-solve and success.— The writer is Islamabad-basedfreelance columnist.

Sultan M HaliEmail: sm_hali@yahoo.com

Malik M AshrafEmail:ashrafazim2000@yahoo.com

Voice of the People

Snail speed ofBadin train

SHAHID AHMED QURESHI

The Hyderabad Badin section ofPakistan Railways operated after alapse of several years while it wasinaugurated by Former NationalAssembly Speaker Dr. FahmidaMirza at the end of 2008. Whentrain was restored, the local popu-lation including businessmen, trad-ers and all other segments of soci-ety were happy due to low train fareand facility to the business tradersfor carrying their goods throughtrain without anxiety. Revival ofHyderabad - Badin section wasconsidered need of the hour and ofa great service to the people of thearea who faced a lot of difficultyin travelling between Hyderabadand Badin by road.

Initially, the train ‘Badin Ex-press’ observed a speed of 60 kmper hour and covered the distancebetween Badin to Hyderabad in twohours. But, nowadays, the speed ofthe train is low and takes 3:30 to 4hours to cover this distance.

Moreover, Pakistan RailwaysDivisional Superintendent MirMohammad Khaskheli visitedBadin before inauguration, and an-nounced that more than four acresof railways land had been givento district government for con-struction of library, playgroundand main city park for the citizens;Only Benazir Bhutto Park hasbeen constructed; neither the play-ground nor the library has beenconstructed by the government onthe land provided by railway. Theconcerned authorities are re-quested to boost up the speed ofthe train and construct the libraryfor the benefit of the students andthe younger generation.—Sindh

Democraticculture

SHABBIR AHMAD

The New Delhi election resultclearly shows the maturity ofdemocratic culture in India, the in-dependence of Election Commis-sion and impartiality of state rundepartments. BJP is the ruling partyin the country having a majority inthe Lok Sabha but they won only03 seats out of 70 and has also ac-cepted its defeat. Indian NationalCongress which has ruled NewDelhi for three straight terms be-fore 2013 has not won even a singleseat but they have also accepted theelection result and congratulatedthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

AAP in India has won again inState Elections of New Delhi witha massive majority. On the otherhand, in Pakistan, we have seen al-legations of rigging and protests af-ter the elections in Pakistan. Demo-cratic culture has never been al-lowed to reach maturity in Paki-stan. Election commission in Pa-kistan is not as independent andpowerful as in India. State machin-ery is not as impartial in Pakistanas in India. As a result the public isalways on the losing side.—Via email

Heaps ofgarbage

SHAHID AHMED QURESHI

Badin city which was, once upon atime, a beautiful town, has of latebecome a dirty and filthy place withtrash and rubbish littered allaround. Apart from other placeslots of garbage and filth could beseen in Gharibabad, ChristenMohalla, Mazdoor colony, BhurgriMohalla, Ansari Mohalla and otherareas of the town.

Drains remain choked and dirtywater flows on the roads as well ason main streets. In addition to that,due to the choking of drains, dirtywater flows on the roads andstreets; worshipers facing troubleto cross the roads and street whilegoing to mosques to pray. Dirty

De-regulation to boost businessJAVAID BASHIR

We have been following wrong policies, which have stifled the business activity in the country. Ourmonetary and fiscal policies have failed to keep up with the state of economy. The economy has

been declining at a faster rate than ever before. The tax evasion has been a major problem for ourrevenue system. This has further eroded the tax base. The Federal Board of Revenue Chairman hasadmitted 500 million rupees corruption in the tax-system. This shows how inefficient the whole systemhas become. We can plug in this corruption by taking stringent measures against the corrupt officers.The NAB Chairman has painted a dismal scenario in this regard. The whole system seems to be collaps-ing. The regulatory authorities have also failed. There are too many regulations that control the businessactivity. Most of these are unnecessary and cause problems for the businesses. It is difficult to meet theserequirements. They do not promote the business activity, rather slows it down. The restrictions imposedare costing us decline of revenues. We must revisit and revise these regulations. A deregulating Authoritymust be established to form the business friendly policies. In order to quick start the businesses andeconomy. We need to deregulate most of the industries and businesses. This has been done by developednations to spur and boost their economies. Their experiment has been successful. We should study theeffects of the present bulk of regulations that must be studied to get rid of those which are hampering thebusiness activity. Deregulation is perhaps the only remedy to boost our economy.—Lahore

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

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View From Abroad

Anti-Muslim attitudes are rife in the US

THREE college students killedon Tuesday in Chapel Hill,North Carolina, USA were

proud Muslims and proud Ameri-cans. Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, hiswife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, werededicated to serving humanity, thedown trodden, and the suffering.Abu-Salha’s sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, was a gifted artist atNorth Carolina State University. Inmy mind, it’s hard to believe thatthese Muslim students were not insome way targeted and murderedbecause of their faith.

A neighbour, Craig StephenHicks, has been charged with first-degree murder in the students’deaths. While Chapel Hill PoliceChief Chris Blue has suggested thatHicks’ motive was based on a “dis-pute over parking,” he also ac-knowledged “concerns about thepossibility that this was hate-moti-vated.” Let’s face it, if Hicks wasMuslim, and the victims were whitelike Hicks, we would be hardpressed to find a headline withoutthe word terrorist. In fact, on so-

cial media, #ChapelHillShootingtrended as number one, with manyraising this same question. Yet,there has been an apathetic ap-proach to Muslim victims over thepast decade that is reflective of adouble standard.

Hicks describes himself “anti-theist” and praised the likes of au-thor Richard Dawkins. But don’texpect anti-theists to take respon-sibility for Hicks’ alleged actions.While anti-theists blame Islam be-cause Islamic terrorists merelyclaim to practice Islam, such an ar-gument apparently doesn’t apply toanti-theist terrorists. Hicks is awhite male. The government re-ports that 70% of mass shootingsin America over the past 30 yearshave been by white males. Butdon’t expect any government hear-ings on why white men are beingradicalised, or how to curb theirradicalisation.

The alleged gunman is fromNorth Carolina, a state that haspassed a nonsensical andIslamophobic “anti-sharia law.”Such a law, aside from being mean-ingless and unconstitutional, pro-motes hatred of Muslims, intoler-ance of Islam, and fear of anyone

who doesn’t fit into the xenopho-bic mould of what an American“should” look like. Most recently,Duke University was forced to can-cel its planned Muslim call toprayer after receiving “securitythreats.” But don’t expect any pub-lic recognition that North Carolinais fostering anti-Muslim bigotry.

Evidence of the rising levels ofIslamophobia is demonstrated by, forexample, the increasing number ofanti-sharia laws around the country.Similarly objectionable is the risinglevels of anti-Muslim discriminationand anti-Muslim violence. The Jus-tice Department has investigatedover 800 cases of violence againstAmericans of Muslim, Arab, orSouth Asian background since 9/11.

Likewise, Pew reports thatwhile fewer than half of Americanshave ever met a Muslim, MuslimAmericans have the lowest ap-proval rating out of any other faithdemographic. A recent survey dis-covered that, “83% of Americanssay people who commit violenceand claim to be Christians are notreally Christian, while less than halfof Americans (48%), think that self-proclaimed Muslims who commitviolence in the name of Islam aren’t

Concept of Jihad in IslamONE of the most manipu

lated concepts in Islam today is the concept of

“Jihad”. The concept of Jihad isindeed a Qur’anic one, but sadly,a false and twisted version of thisQur’anic concept has been used byterrorists acting in the name of Is-lam to commit various terroristacts. These terrorist acts, whichoccur all over the world, aim at theindiscriminate killing of innocentpeople. They are being undertakenin the name of “jihad”. These non-Islamic acts have gone a long waytowards distorting the image of Is-lam. As with any religious con-cept, it’s correct definition lies inthe scripture and not in the inter-pretation of humans. To fully un-derstand the Qur’anic concept ofjihad, it is essential to see whatQur’an says about Jihad.

The literal definition of theword Jihad is: striving to achievea goal. Jihad derived from “Jhad”which is “striving”, while theQur’anic definition of the word is“striving with one’s self and one’smoney in the cause of God”. ThisQur’anic definition is confirmed ina number of Qur’anic verses whichspeak of Jihad.

The following are some ex-amples: “The true believers arethose who believe in God and Hismessenger, then attain the statusof having no doubt whatsoever,and strive (jahadu, verb form of thenoun “Jihad”) with their moneyand their lives in the cause of God.These are the truthful ones.” 49:15“Those who believe, and emigrate,and strive (jahadu) in the cause ofGod with their money and theirlives, are far greater in rank in thesight of God.

These are the winners.” 9:20“As for the messenger and thosewho believed with him, they ea-gerly strive (jahadu) with theirmoney and their lives. These havedeserved all the good things; theyare the winners.” 9:88 Now thatwe have established that jihadmeans to strive with one’s self andone’s money in the cause of Al-lah, we need to determine what isthe Qur ’anic meaning of thephrase: “the cause of Allah”?

Striving to uphold the “causeof Allah” simply means striving touphold all Allah’s commandmentsand a strive to condemn all Allah’s

prohibitions. Hence, a jihad in thecause of Allah is a strive to preachand uphold Allah’s Way andAllah’s Law. Since the word Jihadhas been manipulated to advocateviolence and the killing of inno-cent people, it is necessary to es-tablish, with clear Qur’anic evi-dence, that the “cause of Allah”does not allow unlawful killing orviolence.

(1) First, we must always beaware of the prime declaration inthe Qur’an which states that Allahdoes not advocate sin: “God neveradvocates sin. Are you sayingabout God what you do notknow?” 7:28 (2) Following fromthat, the Qur’an states categori-cally that killing any innocent soulis a gross sin:

“...... You shall not kill - Godhas made life sacred - except in thecourse of justice. These are Hiscommandments to you, that youmay understand.” 6:151 “You shallnot kill any person - for God hasmade life sacred - except in thecourse of justice. .....” 17:33 Theprohibition to kill any innocentsoul has always been the Law ofAllah, in the Qur’an and in all pre-vious scripture: “......, we decreedfor the Children of Israel that any-one who murders any person whohad not committed murder or hor-rendous crimes, it shall be as if hemurdered all the people. “ 5:32. (3)Allah does not allow fighting (war)except in the case of self defence:“ .......... If they leave you alone,refrain from fighting you, and of-fer you peace, then God gives youno excuse to fight them”4:90 “Ifthey resort to peace, so shall you,and put your trust in God. He isthe Hearer, the Omniscient.” 8:61

To comprehend fully the sig-nificance of “the cause of Allah”,one must appreciate that Islam isnot a religion in the sense com-monly associated with. Islam is amovement, a revolutionary move-ment as such, which aims to es-tablish the unity of man throughaccepting the unity of God. Oncethis unity is established, all man-kind would be knit in to a familyof God. Justice, peace and content-ment would prevail. Man andwomen would only aspire to pleaseGod. They would strive to recon-struct the society wherein oppres-sion in any form would not be tol-

erate; where ignorance of any kindwould not find a place and wheresocial backwardness and moraldegradation would be completelyalien. Thus the first cause of Allahwould be to make this Islamicmovement succeed .

The success could be achievedon two fronts-the personal and thecollective ones. On both the frontsit is “Jihad” which must beadopted. As we have seen that theQur’anic concept of Jihad is tostrive against evil in all forms. Infact striving against one’s own evilways and intentions is considered

the highest form of striving againstevil. It is thus referred to Jihad-e-akbar. On the collective plane,Jihad should be against everythingthat comes in the way of the wel-fare of the society, that brings indisharmony and disorder in theland and which undermine thesanctity of human life.

These are the lofty goals forwhich Islam stands. And if anyadverse force comes in the wayof achieving these goals, it be-comes imperative that sword beraised not only to defend any ag-gression but to eliminate such ag-gression completely and establishthe Divine law.

It is this cause for which Allahpermitted Muslims to fight withunbelievers . Of course the firstwar fought by the Muslims ofMadina was more defensive in itscontent. But defence again, as sug-gested by Islam, is striving to pre-serve any established Islamic Stateand Islamic Society, aspiring toconserve the ideology which up-holds the faith in an all-Powerful

Qasim Rashid

God and all-Pervading truth,yearning to eliminate all subver-sive forces active to crush the Is-lamic revolutionary moves andaiming to put down ruthlessly, ifneed be, all oppressive forces ,be they- political, social, reli-gious and economical, thathinder the forward movement ofsuch civilised and cultured waysthat stand for the common goodof humanity.

The cause of Allah for whicha Muslim can take up arms, musthave been clear. It must havebeen also evident that the Qur’anhates aggressive wars. It upholdthe human life as sacred. Theman has been referred in Qur’annot only the best of the Creations( Ahsanul khaliqeen) but as theimage of the Creator himself. Itis for this reason that Qur’an hasreferred the slaying or saving ofan individual life as killing orsaving the whole of mankind.But whenever the just principleswhich uphold the sanctity of lifeand the word of God are, at stake,Qur’an advocates to adopt suchsteps that would put an end toall aggressive oppressive andopposing forces. And in all suchoperations, a Muslim has beenadvised never to overlook thefact that all success and victoryrest in His Power, Will and Com-mand. With unflinching faith, ifan all-out effort is made for a justand related cause, victory willnever be far off

Jihad is an Arabic word fromthe root Jee Ha Da. It literallymeans to struggle or strive.Jihad is struggling or striving inthe way or sake of Allah. Jihadtakes a very important status inthe doctrine of Islam and is oneof the basic duties for everyMuslim.

Though, it has nothing what-soever to do with the term HolyWar. Such a term, or its equiva-lent doesn’t exist in the Islamicdoctrine. The Christian Crusad-ers in the mid-ages invented thisideology of Holy War.

There is nothing “Holy”about wars. Wars only involvekillings and disasters! The Ara-bic word for war is: “al-harb”.— The writer teaches at Dept ofIslamic Studies, Aligarh MuslimUniversity, India

truly Muslims.” This bias has farreaching ramifications as evenMuslim job-seekers are being ad-vised to remove anything that in-dicates their faith on job applica-tions. Indeed, the New York Timesreports data from the Equal Em-ployment Opportunity Commis-sion show that at 2% of the popu-lation, Muslim Americans accountfor nearly 25% of religious dis-crimination claims.

And as the Peshawar attackwas a watershed moment for Pa-kistanis, the Chapel Hill attackshould be a watershed moment forAmericans. Americans must seecategorical bipartisan condemna-tion of this horrific attack and ofall anti-Muslim bigotry and vio-lence. This means no more “no gozone” myths, no more anti-shariafear mongering, and no more me-dia double standards. Enough isenough. After these senseless kill-ings, the only question media, poli-ticians and every American shouldbe asking is, “How can we standwith our fellow Muslim Americansnow and stop this from happeningagain?” The writer is an attorneyand author. — Courtesy: USA Today

Human error..!

INDIAN cricket is againstmodern technology that willreduce human error when it

comes to umpiring decisions!Howzat! They would prefer themen in white coats to remain onthe field. They would prefer tosee his spiraling finger declar-ing them out or not out. Theywould prefer the suspense ofwondering whether the umpirehad heard the snick from theirbat as the appeal from the wicketkeeper for caught behind risesup in their ears! They would pre-fer the vagaries of the eye andthe human mind!

They would prefer human er-ror to continue. Because as a na-tion human error is what we can

control! We oppose anything thatwill make decisions more transpar-ent, because transparency is notsomething we want around: Trans-parency will make us all equals, andthat just won’t do, in a countrywhere might is right.

Even as you see our nation’scricket fraternity flexing theirmuscle whenever there is a deci-sion to be made in the governingbody, you realize it is not the opin-ion of other member countries thatwins in the end, but the money wewield and the funds we threaten topull out of a tournament that is lis-tened to.

It’s all about money clout, andours influences human error in allwalks of life! A friend of mine wasaccosted by a traffic cop at a sig-nal, “Bob!” he cried to me on thephone, “I swear I didn’t cut the sig-nal, the man just wants to makemoney!” “Let me speak to the cop!”

I said. “Why make such a fuss,”chuckled the constable on thephone,” just tell him to pay hundredrupees and we’ll let him go!” “No!”I shouted, “The signal is equippedwith a camera, we’ll see the foot-age in court!” “Sir,” said the police-man suddenly very respectful, “weare allowing him to go!”

It was over in a jiffy. And thestories go on: The chairman of areligious trust; a man who por-trayed his seemingly deep reli-gious convictions to the outsideworld, was caught breaking therules of the trust and resigned fromhis chairmanship and also from thepost of the editor. He however,changed his mind later on, “I didn’tresign!” he said quietly to his staffthe next morning.

“Well,” I said, “just tell him thatthere’s not a meeting where I don’trecord everything on my iPad orphone!” We had no trouble after

that on what had transpired at themeeting. It’s sad that I have torecord every meeting I attend,whether religious or secular, be-cause most in our country rely on‘human error’!

“No,” shout certain commit-tee members, “That was notpassed!” And thyen a silence asthey find out it’s been recorded.A corrupt municipal engineeronce told me, “You can’t proveanything!” “I can,” I told himquietly, “I’ve taken photo-graphs!” “Your digital photos arenot accepted by themunicipality!”he smiled wick-edly and said. “I know,” I said,“Which is why I took them withmy old camera!” The fight willgo on. We will fight to retain ‘hu-man error’ as our shield, but it isa losing fight, as the cricketboard will find out very soon..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

The Spirit Of Islam

Dr Shabnam ParveenEmail:shabnam1969amu@gmail.com

water flowing from drains in frontof a Maddarsa Badar-ul-Uloom nearthe railway station Badin restrainsthe worshipers to access theMadrassa and the mosque.

The funds are allocated to theMunicipal Committee for the devel-opment and expansion of civicamenities, but this is done withoutany sound planning or evaluating theneeds. If dozens of streets are pavedand drains are provided, scores ofothers are left neglected. The massessay that only the influentials arefavoured.

Now, the city gives a look ofmud and dust, and the city adminis-tration is a “silent spectator” of allthis. The administration initiatescleanliness drives, in the entire dis-trict, funds are allocated, drains arecleared, the sweepers and hired man-power is used for cleanliness andTV/media coverage is arranged; butthe localities remain full of garbage,dust, dirty water and other problemsof hygiene adding to the miseries ofthe people.—Badin, Sindh

Badin needsMadadgar-15 help-line

IMRAN HYDER JAFFERI

The Madadgar 15 Police post, situ-ated in TMA ground behind railwaystation Badin was demolished by theTMA, Badin to construct ‘ShaheedBenazir Bhutto Park’ on that ground.The rescue facility was thereforeabandoned and is thus un-availableto the people of Badin for the lastseven years. No alternate place hasbeen provided for Madadgar-15 andthe system of the Madadgar 15 po-lice help line has seen a total break-down in Badin city. The Basic func-tions of Madadgar 15 Police in-cluded immediate police response onthe complaints about the robbery(dacoity), vehicle or any othersnatching and maintaining the lawand order situation in the overallcity; that proved an effective checkagainst crime.

The citizen of Badin now genu-inely require this Help line for emer-gency law and order situations, asthe Badin city has witnessed analarming rise in crime in recentyears. Most recently, 25 lac rupeeswere snatched from a livestocktrader near Talhar livestock Mandi,and last month two traders Mr AbdulShakoor Khatti and Mr RamzanMandro were killed during the rob-bery at Kadhan stop Badin, Thebikes thefts and snatching is the rou-tine crime usually happening inBadin and its surrounding. The tele-phone numbers of Model Police Sta-tion and the City Police station arenot available to the common citi-zens. The concerned authorities arerequested to please re-start theMadadgar-15 police help-line inBadin as soon as possible.—Sindh

‘Charlie Hebdo’antagonises Muslims

M FAZAL ELAHI

At least one would expect, some ci-vility and sense of responsibility,from the self-proclaimed, civilizedand educated world. What CharlieHebdo, the French Satirical Maga-zine has done is beyond the com-prehension of any civilized society.By publishing the sacrilegioussketches, it has broken all norms ofcivility and badly hurt the senti-ments of the Muslims across theworld. The highly irresponsible actof the said French magazine has, infact, given rise to a wave of angerand disquiet not only in Pakistanbut across the globe.

The people belonging to everywalk of life, workers from both reli-gious and secular political parties in-cluding the lawyers’ community,demonstrated across the country andexpressed their utmost indignationover publishing of the profanesketches by Charlie Hebdo. Theyburnt the effigies of French Presi-dent, Francois Hollande and the car-toonists of the magazine along withFrench Flags to vent their anger. The

issue being sensitive to the interestof people belonging to all religions,a delegation of Christian pastors alsotook part in the demos to show soli-darity with their Muslim country-men. The National Assembly of Pa-kistan unanimously passed a reso-lution profoundly condemning theindecent and highly irresponsiblebehaviour of the French magazineand demanded that the perpetratorsof the heinous crime be brought tobook immediately and given exem-plary punishment.

World leaders censured thehighly condemnable act of theFrench magazine. CondemningCharlie Hebdo’s irresponsiblebehaviour Pope Francis of theVatican City State said that freedomof speech did not allow ridiculingothers’ religion and such actionwould always face severe retalia-tion and a ‘punch.’ He insisted thatthere were limits to the freedom ofspeech and said other people’s re-ligion could not be insulted ormocked. Pope Francis also em-phatically said “each religion hasits dignity” and “there are limits”.“You cannot provoke, you cannotinsult other people’s faith, you can-not mock it,” he said. “Freedom ofspeech, he maintained, is a right anda duty that must be displayed with-out offending.”

One couldn’t agree more with allthat has been said by Pope Francison the issue. Unambiguously, free-dom of speech and expression doesnot give one the licence to affrontothers. Indeed, by publishing thesacrilegious sketches the FrenchMagazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ has seri-ously hurt the sentiments of Mus-lims across the globe. The heinouscrime committed by the magazineand its cohorts, the cartoonists whodrew the blasphemous sketches,must be heavily penalized by theFrench Government for their unpar-donable conduct.—Via email

Give educationits due

AZHAR THIRAJ

Article 26 of the 1948 UniversalDeclaration on Human Rights statesthat everyone has the right to edu-cation. Education is not only a rightbut a passport to human develop-ment. It opens doors and expands op-portunities and freedoms. It contrib-utes to fostering peace, democracyand economic growth as well asimproving health and reducing pov-erty. The ultimate aim of Educationfor All (EFA) is sustainable devel-opment. In Pakistan education re-mains second or third priority.

In election campaigns, everyparty promises that first priority shallbe given to education. ‘’Educationfor all” is a slogan of ruling partybut the situation is against it. InSouthern Punjab many schools, col-leges even universities have not ba-sic facilities and the condition ofbuildings is very poor. In KhanewalDistrict, many schools don’t havetheir own buildings. Students studyunder the shadow of trees. Here Iquote just one example. The Gov-ernment High School Jarala, whichhas 550 students, has only three classrooms, no facility of pure water, nosports ground, no science laboratory,the teachers are not available. TheGirls High School also has the samecondition. The other schools inKhanewal District are in miserablecondition. It is time to change edu-cation policy, giving attention toimprove condition of schools, col-leges and other institutions.—Khanewal

WEN DAO

A THREE-minute video publicizing theCommunist Party of China (CPC) hasbecome a hit on the Chinese Internet in

recent days, informing viewers that “the CPCis with you along the way.” With no credits toidentify a specific producer, this short video,which was first shown to overseas audiencesone year ago, seems to be the CPC’s latest ef-fort to embark on a fresh publicity campaign.At the end of the video appears the source ofthe video, Fuxing Lushang (on the road to reju-venation) Studio. It was the same studio which

CPC embarks on new publicity campaign

President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, asked the US Congress to authorize military force to“degrade and defeat” Islamic State forces in the Middle East.

produced a popular five-minute cartoon videoin 2013 called How to Become a President,which expounds leaders’ selection system in ahumorous and down-to-earth way and whichgot 1 million hits in only two days.

The pitch of the video is simple and inspi-rational: The CPC is a reliable partner that canhelp each Chinese individual’s dream cometrue. Most of the footage deals with the livesof ordinary people, but does not ignore the “un-told challenges” faced by China, such as pol-lution and population problems.

Circulating online and winning quite a lotof thumbs-up, this video is notably different

from the past slogan-styled propaganda whichused to be prevalent in Chinese political dis-course. It is probably why even some cynicalnetizens had to admit that they felt proud afterseeing the video and were even tempted to jointhe 80 million-member Party.

Along with How to Become a President,this ad is a result of the Chinese leadership’snew initiative, which aims for a publicitymakeover since they took office in 2013. Novelchannels and media are used to make publicitymore acceptable to audiences both at home andabroad, especially among younger generations.

China’s image and reputation in the inter-

national community is polarized, with one sidelauding China’s economic and social achieve-ments, and the other criticizing China’s politi-cal systems. To some extent, such misunder-standings are caused by ineffective communi-cation between China and the rest of the world,which does not know how to view China froma comprehensive perspective.

This endeavor will demand unremittingefforts as China is in an unfavorable positionin both culture and publicity. This challengeshould be faced with more open attitudes andsmart ways of thinking in the future.

—Courtesy: Global Times

DING GANG

TURBULENCES have arisen again in northern Myanmarareas bordering China. In recent days, Kokang ethnic rebelsfought with government troops in fierce clashes and swarms

of people from Myanmar fled into China for asylum. Since thesecond half of last year, there have been tumults and instabilityin northern Myanmar. Although more than 10 ethnic rebel groupshave sighed ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar governmentsince 2011, some of the deals have not been well carried out.

Myanmar is entering an era full of challenges. Apart fromthe general election this year, the Myanmar government plans toclinch a nationwide ceasefire agreement, push forward politicalreforms and coordinate different opinions on amending its con-stitution. The riots in northern Myanmar may well affect thegovernment’s reform efforts and increase the army’s weight inMyanmar’s political rivalries.

As the conflict-stricken areas lie close to Southwest China’sYunnan Province, the riots there will not only disturb securityand order in China’s border regions, but also pose fresh chal-lenges to China’s endeavor to develop its peripheral diplomacyand the “One Belt and One Road” initiative which refers to theSilk Road economic belt and the 21st century maritime Silk Road.

In face of the changing scenarios, China has to do more thanincreasing its input effectively and hence seeking common de-velopment with neighboring countries. It needs to play a con-structive political role in advancing peace negotiations. To builda peaceful and stable peripheral environment and facilitate the“One Belt and One Road” strategy, China needs to reassess thepolitical effects of Myanmar’s ethnic armed rebels and their nega-tive influence on China’s peripheral diplomacy.

China’s diplomacy should focus on deepening ties withSoutheast Asian countries and building up a security landscapeconducive to China’s interests and Asia’s peace. To achieve thisgoal, China must attach due weight to its relations with theMyanmar government. The ethnic insurgents in Myanmar can’tbe used as political chips or for strategic leverage. Even if someof them want US involvement in Myanmar’s peace negotiations,we can’t let them become used in this way.

Myanmar authorities have come up with several proposalsto address the conflicts, including establishing border guard forcesto absorb ethnic rebels. China can put forward suggestionsthrough certain channels and send representatives or envoys tomediate with ethnic insurgents and persuade them to talk withauthorities and reach reconciliation.

China should also adopt stricter measures to manage indi-viduals and companies involved in trade and exploitation of gemsand timber in northern Myanmar. To monitor the ceasefire pro-cess, China can enhance its cooperation with India, Thailandand other ASEAN states, come up with ceasefire proposals anddispatch supervision teams to the conflict-stricken areas.

Some ethnic minorities in India and Thailand are related tothose in Myanmar and the two countries used to shelter Myanmarrefugees that have suffered from clashes and conflicts. Both sharecommon interests with China in helping Myanmar keep stable.

Located between China, India and Thailand, Myanmar isgeopolitically significant to all three countries. If Myanmar canachieve ethnic reconciliation and get on track of development, itmay become a hub that connects China, India and Thailand andbenefit from this role. Myanmar is well-positioned to combineIndia’s “Look East” policy, China’s southward policy includedin the “One Belt and One Road” strategy and Thailand’s estab-lished position as a logistics hub of Southeast Asia.

It will be a significant move if China, India and Thailandcan jointly work to push forward the ethnic reconciliation inMyanmar. And in this process, a new negotiation mechanismcan be set up for Asian peace and lay the foundations of thesecurity landscape in the future.

—Courtesy: GT[The author is a senior editor with People’s Daily. He is now

stationed in Brazil. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn]

Neighbours can helpMyanmar reconciliation

ANDREI MALGIN

RECENT events have prompted a flurry of headlines suggesting that “the world is on the brink of World War III.”I don’t think so. “World war” involves a confrontation be-

tween opposing coalitions of global powers. What do we have now?On one side we have lonely and economically weakened Russia,and on the other — the rest of the civilized world. The fighting inUkraine is a local conflict that has none of the preconditions forspreading further. Putin will never attack a NATO country. Even thepossibility that NATO could deliver a limited supply of weapons toUkraine has sent Putin into a poorly concealed panic. No, he willnever attack NATO. Putin must hate going it alone. After all, lastspring and summer he tried mightily to convince other member statesof the Collective Security Treaty Organization — the military alli-ance between former Soviet republics — to support Russia’s ac-tions in Ukraine. He did not need the CSTO to beef up Russia’sarmed forces, but to give the aggression greater political weight.

Putin undoubtedly had the precedent of 1968 in mind, whenWarsaw Pact countries sent their tanks into Czechoslovakia forthe ostensible purpose of putting down a rebellion. That was,after all, a collective decision and the responsibility for thoseactions belongs to several states that supposedly made the jointdecision to prevent a revolution from occurring in one of theirmember countries. However, ever after convening the CSTO inMoscow twice last year, the members did not support the idea ofRussia’s Ukrainian venture. What’s more, Kazakh PresidentNursultan Nazarbayev and Belarussian President AlexanderLukashenko have never once publicly supported Putin’s actionsin Ukraine. Moscow’s closest potential military allies all refusedto participate in that military intervention. Is it therefore logicalthat they would sign up for a “world war” against the entireWestern world? Of course not. Those in the West who opposesupplying Ukraine with modern arms offer several arguments.The first is that it would not subdue the aggressor, but ratherprovoke Russia into increasing its military presence.

But the truth is that Putin is already daily increasing the flow ofRussian military manpower and equipment across the porous bor-der into eastern Ukraine. Photos and videos sent from the conflictzone show advanced modern weaponry, including highly sophisti-cated anti-aircraft and rocket artillery systems. The territory underseparatist control is just one big Russian military base. Of course,Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov vehemently denies that Russia’smilitary is involved. And if he suddenly stops denying it, will any-thing change? The whole world already knows what is really hap-pening. When Lavrov reiterated this fiction to the participants of therecent security conference in Munich, the entire audience laughedin his face. Another argument against supplying foreign weapons isthat it will only give a trump card to Kremlin propaganda. However,the Kremlin propaganda machine needs no aces: it has long fabri-cated its virtual world from nothing but phantoms.

For example, rumors are now actively circulating that Ger-man Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President FrancoisHollande came to Moscow for talks because the separatist mili-tias had surrounded not Ukrainian army soldiers near Debaltseve,but 1,500 NATO troops. And only 60 minutes before I sat downto write these lines, television channel NTV broadcast an inter-view with two Donetsk “eyewitnesses” who claimed to havepersonally seen U.S. and Polish soldiers shooting civilians intheir city. So, there is no reason to fear an intensification ofRussia’s propaganda: those Kremlin spin doctors pulled out allthe stops long ago.

—Courtesy: MT[Andrei Malgin is a journalist, literary critic and blogger]

There Will Be No WorldWar, Russia Is Alone

HARBIN—China plans to builda civilian airport in the north-eastern border city of Suifenhe,Heilongjiang Province, thecountry’s largest contributor totrade with Russia.

According to the feasibil-ity plan, which was approvedby the central government, theproject includes a 2,500 meterlong runway and a 4,500 squaremeter terminal. The domesticregional airport is designed tohandle 450,000 passengers and3,600 tonnes of cargo by 2025,said the Suifenhe municipalgovernment.

It will cost about 944 mil-

China plans airportnear Russia border city

lion yuan (153 million US dol-lars). Expansion of theShuifenhe land port is also un-der way, which will signifi-cantly increase its passengerand cargo handling capacities.

Suifeihe is inHeilongjiang’s southeast andneighbors Russia. About 80percent of Heilongjiang cargoimports and exports arethrough Suifenhe.

In 2013, the Chinese gov-ernment authorized Shuifenheas the country’s first city wherethe Russian ruble can be usedalongside the Renminbi on atrial base.—Xinhua

OIC, Benin sign food security deal

Return ofmaritime Silk

Road notforgets Africa

FUZHOU—When ancient Chi-nese navigator Zheng He setout at the head of a large tradeenvoy along the first maritimetrade routes during the MingDynasty (1368-1644), he madefirst contact with the coastalcity that would eventually be-come the Kenyan city ofMombasa.

More than 600 years afterZheng laid the blueprint for themodern Maritime Silk Road(MSR), trade between Chinaand Kenya continues to ex-pand.

China is currently con-structing a standard gauge railline that will better regionalconnectivity and build uponZheng’s footprint further bylinking Mombasa to Kenya’scapital Nairobi.

Construction is ahead ofschedule and will be completedin 3 years, according to ZhangBaozhong, deputy generalmanager of the overseas de-partment of China Communi-cations Construction CompanyLimited, whose subsidiary cor-poration is in charge of theproject.

He made the statement dur-ing the ongoing internationalseminar on the modern MSR inQuanzhou City of southeastChina’s Fujian Province.

The new rail line will offer30,000 jobs for residents inKenya and the rail link will becrucial in connecting Nairobi tothe maritime trade route, Zhangsaid.

It will eventually linkNairobi with the capitals ofUganda, Burundi, and SouthSudan. Once it is completed,the rail corridor will help con-nect the vast hinterland of EastAfrica with the Indian Ocean,he said.

As China presented theidea of reviving the 21st Cen-tury Maritime Silk Road in2013, this continental initiativeis expanding beyond Asia toAfrica.

In addition to Mombasa,China is also funding and de-veloping other ports in Africancountries including Djibouti,Tanzania and Nigeria.

Official data showed thattwo-way trade volume betweenChina and Africa exceeded 220billion U.S. dollars for the firsttime in 2014, and China hasbeen Africa’s largest trade part-ner for the past five years in arow.

The MSR, like its overlandcounterpart, currently empha-sizes the building of infrastruc-ture projects. In order to pro-mote these projects, Chinafunded the Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank in addition toa separate 40 billion U.S. SilkRoad Fund.

While transporting a con-tainer in a cargo ship fromShanghai to Mombasa costsless than 500 U.S. dollars,transporting it from Mombasato Nairobi, about 500 kilome-ters, costs 1,500 U.S. dollarsdue to poor transportationmethods, said ZhangBaozhong.

Better infrastructureamong African countries canreduce transportation cost andboost businesses, Ding said,adding that he believes the newinitiative could also bring pref-erential tax policies and morecustomers though no specificplan has been released.

China’s Silk Road Eco-nomic Belt and 21st CenturyMaritime Silk Road initiativesinvolve several cultures and 63percent of the world’s popula-tion.

The differences in cultures,customs, policies and laws, la-bor markets and political envi-ronment may create stumblingblocks, but most people see itas a new chance for both Chinaand African countries.

Bethwel Kinuthia, econo-mist with the University ofNairobi, told Xinhua in an e-mail that it is obvious the MSRunleashes a windfall for Afri-can countries in terms of newmarkets for products, transferof technology and skills as wellas easier mobility.—Xinhua

OIC Secretary General Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani meeting with Benin President Nasirouon Thursday.

JEDDAH—The Secretary General of the Or-ganization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr.Iyad Ameen Madani has today, Thursday, re-ceived in his office at the General Secretariat,Prof Nassirou Bako Arifari, the visiting For-eign Minister of the Republic of Benin andhis accompanying delegation.

Mr. Madani and his guest discussed wideranging areas of cooperation between Beninand the OIC and explored ways and meansto further enhance them and how to promotejoint Islamic actions. He also signed the Stat-ute of the Islamic Organization for Food Se-curi ty with headquarters in Astana,Kazakhstan.

The two sides also reviewed extensively

the latest developments in West Africa andthe Lake Chad region with particular refer-ence to the escalating violent activities of theBoko Haram terrorist group and the threatthat it poses to regional peace and stability.

The Minister commended the leadershipand endeavors of the Secretary General andassured him of his country’s support.

He briefed the Secretary General of aplan by Benin to convene an internationalinterfaith forum later this year in Cotonouand emphasized the importance of partner-ship with the OIC in the project. He alsosigned the Statute of the Islamic Organiza-tion for Food Security with headquarters inAstana, Kazakhstan.—Email

WASHINGTON—Seeking war powerauthority for three years, PresidentBarack Obama is setting up the pros-pect that his successor will become thethird American president in a row over-seeing U.S. military forces grapplingwith turmoil in the Middle East.

Passing on an active military mis-sion in the region would be an unex-pected and unwanted legacy for Obama,a president who once appeared poisedto fulfill his campaign pledge to endU.S.-led conflicts in the region.

“It’s conceivable that the mission

Obama’s force request canignite more Mideast war

is completed earlier,” Obama saidWednesday as he urged Congress topass a force authorization against theIslamic State group that would extendinto 2018. “It’s conceivable that afterdeliberation, debate and evaluation, thatthere are additional tasks to be carriedout in this area.”

“The people’s representatives, witha new president, should be able to havethat discussion,” he added. The presidenthas long said the campaign against theIslamic State militants would be lengthy,suggesting it could extend beyond his

presidency. But his authorization requestto Congress makes that implication areality and injects a complex foreignpolicy matter into the early stages of the2016 presidential campaign.

Under Obama’s proposal, the useof military force against Islamic Statefighters would be authorized for threeyears, unbounded by national borders.The fight could be extended to any“closely related successor entity” tothe Islamic State extremists, but themeasure does not authorize large-scale ground operations.

The very act of Obama asking Con-gress to authorize military action in thevolatile Middle East marks an extraor-dinary moment in his presidency. Con-gress hasn’t approved a presidential re-quest for military action since 2002,when George W. Bush asked lawmak-ers to give him authority to set the Iraqwar in motion.

Obama ended that long, expensiveand unpopular war in 2011. But heturned to that same 2002 authority lastyear, when he sought a legal justifica-tion for sending a small number of

troops back to Iraq to protect Americaninterests and work with local forcesfighting the violent and fast-growingIslamic State group.

By late summer, the US was launch-ing airstrikes against the militants inIraq, as well as Syria.

As a presidential candidate, Obamasaid he would have voted against theauthorization Bush sought in 2002, aposition that helped him distinguishhimself from Democratic rival HillaryRodham Clinton, who voted for the

measure while in the Senate. Clintonlater said she regretted that vote.

Obama’s proposed legislationwould repeal the 2002 Bush authoriza-tion. He has said that while he does notbelieve he legally needs new authori-ties for the military campaign alreadyunderway, having Congress pass a newmeasure would send an important mes-sage about American unity and moreaccurately define the current mission.

Clinton, who is expected to seek theDemocratic nomination is 2016, has not

weighed in on the draft Obama sentCongress Wednesday, nor did most ofthe likely Republican candidates.

Among the potential GOP candi-dates who did comment was FloridaSen. Marco Rubio, who said it was“good news” that Obama submitted therequest to Congress but faulted thepresident for putting limits on the tac-tics the military could use to fight theIslamic State group. And RickSantorum, the former Pennsylvaniasenator who is weighing a second

White House run, said the president’sproposal puts the nation in an “unten-able position.”

“The next president needs to be ableto have all the tools at their disposal tonot just conduct military operations, butwin this war,” he said in a statement.

Whether Obama’s request will bein force when the next president takesoffice is a huge open question. Therewere few, if any, lawmakers in eitherparty who said that they outright sup-ported the draft legislation.—AP

MOGADISHU—A senior Al-Shabaab leader who was cap-tured last week by governmenttroops has been executed by amilitary court in southern So-malia, authorities confirmed.Ahmed Ismail Ali, a senior AlShabaab leader in Gedo regionwho was captured during thefighting between governmenttroops and the militant groupAl-Shabaab in Somalia-Kenyaborder town of Burdhube, wasaccused of being behind thekilling of 28 Kenyans, many ofwhom were teachers, inKenya’s border town of

Senior Al-Shabaab leaderexecuted in Somalia

Mandera late last year.Al-Shabaab fighters in De-

cember 2014 ambushed aNairobi-bound bus and killed28 Kenyan non-Muslim pas-sengers and later massacred 36quarry workers in ManderaCounty. Burdhube town com-missioner Hassan MahamudAli confirmed the execution,saying Ali was among the at-tackers who crossed the borderafter committing the heinousact in Kenya. “We can confirmto you that Ahmed Ismail wasamong the people who killedteachers in Kenya.—Xinhua

requirements for running in theSenate elections will be scruti-nised according to Articles 62and 63 of the Constitutionwhich state the necessary quali-fications for induction in theParliament.

While the PTI is likely toget representation in the upperhouse for the first time and bagfour to five seats from KhyberPukhtunkhwa, Jamaat-i-Islamiwill get representation after agap of around six years.

SenateFrom Page 1

pendence. Final touches arebeing given through diplomaticchannels to this important tripwhich include one -on-onemeeting with President ofAzerbaijan Ilham Aliyev andother official engagements.

Islamabad and Baku havebeen supporting each other ontheir just causes and stands in-cluding Kashmir dispute andissue of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Trade and economic rela-tions are steadily growing andpolitical ties have alreadygrown to higher level. Presi-dent Ilham Aliyev has speciallove for Pakistan, diplomaticsources added.

PresidentFrom Page 1

were of the view that break-age of 33,900 could drag theindex further down towards32,950, however there arestrong chances of bouncingback in the backdrop of posi-tive indicators like stability inforeign exchange reserves aswell as striking discovery ofgold deposits in Chinot be-sides improved home remit-tances which may hit an alltime high target of $20 billionat the end of the current finan-cial year on June 30 this year.

Thursday’s market vol-ume however was 324 millionshares, while Jahangir Siddiqi& Co was the top volumeleader with a trade of 41 mil-lion shares, other two top vol-ume leaders were Pak Elec-tron and Pakistan Interna-tional Bulk Terminal with 23million and 15 million sharesto their respective credit.

KSE-100From Page 1

dent that all the remaining ter-rorists would be arrested at theearliest. “Mullah Fazlullah andAurangzeb alias Omar Ameerare currently in Afghanistanand they will be captured soon.Intelligence agencies are work-ing on this in a very focusedmanner.”

He informed media thatGroup’s commander AteequrRehman has been arrested. Aconfession video of AteequrRehman was also played andreleased to the press. Bajwasaid that the name of the com-mander of the other group wasTaj alias Imran.

Commander Hazrat Aliresident of Frontier Region,Peshawar, had collected fundsfor the attack. The personwhose house they stayed at inJamrud has also been arrested.The DG ISPR said that at leastsix terrorists have been arrestedin Afghanistan and as many asnine militants involved in theattack have been killed. AsimBajwa said that terrorist Sabeelprovided transport to the attack-ers and one group out of tworesided in a house at the back ofthe APS.He added that the as-sailants gathered at the resi-dence of an Imam Masjid,where from they launched attackon Army Public School. Headded that facilitator com-mander Hazrat Ali carries Rs 2.5million head money and he alsofinanced the school attack inPeshawar.

Answering another ques-tion about the establishment of

military courts, Asim Bajwasaid that as many as 12 terror-ism-related cases have been re-ferred to the military courts bythe provinces. He said that themilitary courts would shoulderthe responsibility put on them.

He said India had alwaysbeen intervening in Pakistan af-fairs [one way or the other]. TheISPR chief said that India wasfunding banned organisationTehrik-e-Taliban in FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas andBalochistan. He said that abanned outfit cannot function onsuch a big scale unless foreignpowers are funding it. India hasbeen conducting illegal activi-ties in Pakistan for a long time,he added. The DG ISPR saidthat India was violating theagreement with Pakistan on theLine of Control.

The DG ISPR said therewere no major security issues inPakistan, as being portrayed. Hesaid that the Karachi Operationwas not directed against anypolitical party as it was beingcarried out without any dis-crimination. Commenting onJIT report into Baldia Factoryfire, Director General Inter-Ser-vices Public Relations AsimBajwa said that the investigationteam that prepared the reportwas headed by DIG South Zoneand not by a military officer. Hesaid the JIT report was presentedon nobody’s order but thecourt’s instructions, adding thatthe report was submitted withthe court for the second time.

Bajwa confidentFrom Page 1

the visit will be historic andfurther enhance relations be-tween the two countries whichshare common destiny.

“That will be his first visitto Pakistan as the head of stateof China and that will be the firstvisit of its kind in 9 years,” hesaid. The two sides discussed theregional situation and the needfor strategic balance in SouthAsia and agreed to earlyoperationalization of energy andinfrastructure projects under Pa-kistan China Economic Corridorproject.

Mr Wang said the two sideshave agreed to enhance people-to-people contacts and culturalexchanges. He said these friendlyexchanges will inject new energyin our relations. He said both thecountries are the true friends whohave always stood by each otherin difficult times and will con-tinue to do so in future.

Yi said the two countrieshave set model of common des-tiny and they agreed that eco-nomic and security cooperationwill continue together like twowheels to achieve common in-terest and development. He saidthey have agreed to step up co-operation to ensure common se-curity. Sartaj Aziz saidPakistan’s relations with Chinaare the cornerstone of our foreignpolicy. He said both the countries

are convinced of the dividendsof economic cooperation. Bothsides are fully committed to addgreater depth to the all-weather,friendly and cooperation rela-tions.

Welcoming the news ofearly visit of Chinese Presidentto Pakistan, the advisor said thevisiting dignitary will be ac-corded warm welcome. In thisregard, we exchanged broadideas to commence the substan-tive preparations for the visit.Sartaj Aziz also informed theChinese foreign minister thatPakistan wants peaceful relationswith all neighbours including In-dia.

He said, “We also haveagreed to work together for pro-motion of peace and prosperityin Afghanistan. Responding to aquestion, the Chinese ForeignMinister said Pakistan is an im-portant neighbour of Afghanistanand both the countries share his-torical, cultural and religious af-finities. He said Pakistan has apivotal role in resolving the Af-ghan issue and appreciatedPakistan’s seriousness in resolu-tion of Afghan issue.

He said China would sup-port Afghan government in its ef-forts for reconciliation with dif-ferent groups for peace and sta-bility in the region. In reply to aquestion, the Chinese Foreign

Minister said China was ready toplay constructive role and wouldprovide necessary facilitation atany time if required by variousparties in Afghanistan.

The two sides were also onsame page for stability in Af-ghanistan and the region andagreed to work together for thispurpose. He said that after with-drawal of ISAF, Afghanistan hasentered an important phase andneed reconstruction and eco-nomic growth. He said that sup-port to the unity government, ter-ritorial integrity and sovereigntyof Afghanistan is essential.“Talks and reconciliation amongall Afghan parties includingTaliban is very important,” headded. The minister also stressedeconomic support to Afghani-stan. Sartaj Aziz said that all di-mensions of Pak-China relationscame under-discussion. He saidthat the upcoming visit of Chi-nese President, infrastructure,transit trade, energy and otherissues came under discussion.Responding to a query on India’sbid for permanent membershipin the United Nations SecurityCouncil, he said, “Democraticconsultations among world’scommunity is needed in this con-nection and decision should bereached keeping in mind all thecountries including developing

China to enhance strategicFrom Page 1

MarathonFrom Page 1

marathon 16-hour talks, includ-ing the status of Debaltseve, akey town now under rebelsiege.Russian President VladimirPutin told reporters that the agree-ment envisages a cease-fire begin-ning Sunday (2200 GMT (5 p.m.EST) Saturday) as well as a spe-cial status for Ukraine’s separat-ist regions and provisions to ad-dress border concerns and hu-manitarian issues.—AP

Obama callsFrom Page 1

telephoned Nawaz Sharif todiscuss the “evolving situation”in the region, the ministry said.

During their half-an-hourlong call, the US leader notedPakistan-US relations werestrong and robust

“Applauding ‘OperationZarb-e-Azb’, Pakistan’s ma-jor military offensive againstterrorists, Obama expressedsatisfaction at the directionof Pakistan-US relationswhich was on an upwardtrajectory,” the statementsaid.

Making the most of theoccasion Nawaz Sharif alsoconveyed to Obama that Paki-stan wanted to join NuclearSuppliers Group.

“President Obama andNawaz Sharif reaffirmed thevalued relationship between thetwo countries and the impor-tance of the US-Pakistan Stra-tegic Dialogue as a frameworkfor guiding the bilateral rela-tionship,” a Foreign Officepress aide said.

President Barack Obamaalso took Nawaz Sharif intoconfidence regarding his recentvisit to India.

The leaders discussed mat-ters of mutual interest. He saidthat US considers Pakistan oneof its important ally.

25 insurgentsFrom Back Page

It would be pertinent tomention that a vast area ofKhyber agency has been hit bythe insurgency since long andthe security forces have beenconducting operation against thetrouble makers challenging thewrit of the government for thelast many years though theforces also claimed to havecleared majority of the area fromthe militants. In the meanwhile,large number of residents havemigrated to safer places in thewake of continued unrest in theregion and the military decisionto go for a decisive crack downon the trouble makers in Octo-ber 2014.

According to railwaysources, the Peshawar-boundKhushhal Khan Khattak Ex-press, originating fromKarachi, was near Dil Muradrailway station when a bombplanted on the tracks was re-motely detonated by unidenti-fied miscreants causing fourbogies of the locomotive toderail. The blast also damaged30 feet track leading suspen-sion of railway traffic betweenKarachi and rest of the coun-try. Rescue and emergencyteams reached the blast sitewhile victims were shifted toCivil Hospital for medicaltreatment. Security personnelcordoned off the area as aprobe into the blast went un-derway.—INP

25 injuredFrom Page 1

and under-developing.”When Wang Yi was asked as

what about the defying of scoresof UN resolutions by India, anddoes it renders the country dis-qualify for permanent member-ship, the Chinese Foreign Min-ister said this is a complex issueand consensus is needed. “Inter-est of all the concerned in the in-ternational community should beserved, a solidarity and unani-mous decision is needed.”

net Committee on Energychaired by Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif at the PrimeMinister’s Office.

CCE approvesFrom Page 1

World Cup 2015From Page 1

held jointly in the host coun-tries New Zealand and Austra-lia. More than 1000 perform-ers took in the opening cer-emony of the mega event, heldafter every four years.

Nearly 1 billion viewersglobally watched the openingceremony. Performances fromHayley Westenra, Sol3 Mioand Shapeshifter were the high-lights of the ceremony.—AFP

Frenchattacker’swifespeaksPARIS—TheIslamic State group haspublished what it says is aninterview with the widow ofthe French gunman whoattacked a kosher supermar-ket and a police officer inParis last month, killing fivepeople before he died in araid by security forces. Thetext interviews in Frenchand English, publishedWednesday and Thursday,did not directly name HayatBoumeddiene nor showimages of her. It appeared tobe the first confirmationfrom IS that she had joinedthe group in Syria, as waswidely believed after aposthumous video emergedof her husband, AmedyCoulibaly, pledgingallegiance to its leader.—AP

US, IsraeldiscordJERUSALEM—Israeli PMBenjaminNetanyahu hasadmitted he has a“profound disagreement”with President Obama overefforts by the US and worldpowers to resolve theIranian nuclear issue.However, he said he is stilltrying to minimise theimpact of the dispute on hiscountry’s relations with theUnited States. “This is aregime, Iran, that is openlycommitted to Israel’sdestruction,” he said. “Itwould be able, under thisdeal, to break out to anuclear weapon in a shorttime, and within a few years,to have the industrialcapability to produce manynuclear bombs for the goalof our destruction.”—AFP

Army totrainUkrainiantroopsWARSAW,(Poland)—The US militaryplans in March to starttraining Ukrainian soldierswho are battling Russian-backed separatists ineastern Ukraine, a top U.S.military commander inEurope said Wednesday.U.S. Army Europe Com-mander Lt. Gen. BenHodges said a battalion ofU.S. soldiers would trainthree battalions of Ukraini-ans from the InteriorMinistry at the Yavarivtraining center in thewestern Ukrainian city ofLviv. Hodges’ remarks cameamid an intensification offighting in eastern Ukraine,and as French, German,Ukrainian and Russianleaders met Wednesday inMinsk, Belarus, for peacetalks whose success is farfrom certain.—AP

CHAPEL HILL—Thousands ofpeople gathered Wednesday inChapel Hill to mourn three Muslimstudents killed by an anti-religiongunman who shot them in the head,rocking the tight-knit universitytown.

Friends and family poured ontothe University of North Carolina cam-pus to remember Deah ShaddyBarakat, 23, his new wife YusorMohammad, 21 and her 19-year-oldsister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

The three were allegedly killed byneighbour Craig Stephen Hicks, 46,whose Facebook page espoused hisanti-religious views.

The murders are being investi-gated by Chapel Hill police as a hatecrime, and sparked outrage amongMuslims worldwide. Craig is chargedwith three counts of first degree mur-der, which carries a minimum sen-tence of death or life in prison with-out parole.

The killing rattled the universitytown, and thousands braved coldtemperatures for a candlelit vigil.

“We lost three great citizens of

Thousands gather for slain Muslim students in Chapel Hill

Nida Allam, a senior at North Carolina State University, rests her head on AsheenAllam, during a vigil for three people who were killed at a condominium near UNC-Chapel Hill.

this world and of this country. But Ithink they’ve inspired thousands,”Farris Barakat, Deah’s brother saidbefore a tearful crowd.

He remembered his youngerbrother, a UNC dentistry student, aspassionate about sports, his profes-sion and the odd Chris Rock joke, asphotos of the slain students flashedon a large screen. But he urged re-straint and said the murder shouldnot provoke further violence.

“Do not fight fire with fire... it isquite possible that this was an actbased off of evil and a scared igno-rant man, do not let ignorance propa-gate in your life, do not reply igno-rance with ignorance,” he said.

Barakat and Mohammad weremarried in late December, and the newbride was set to start dental schoolin August. Her sister had attendedthe nearby North Carolina State Uni-versity. Mohammad’s bridesmaids re-membered her plans to run a mara-thon, her commitment to meditationand the mosque and her love forbreakfast cereal. They recalled her asa kind person.

“To speak about Yosur she wasone of the most innocent, most kindhuman beings I have ever met in myentire life. I cannot even imagine asto why this would happen to her, andthe same goes for Razan,” said OmarAbdul-Baki, president of UNC den-tistry school student body, speakingbefore a line of dental students inwhite jackets.

Barakat, the son of Syrian immi-grants, was remembered for his com-munity work, offering free dentalwork to the needy and for raisingmoney for a planned trip to Turkeyto help Syrian refugees.

Childhood friend Abdul Salemsaid the crowds at the vigil were atestament to the impact that all threehad.

He remembered Barakat as “al-ways smiling, always positive and Idon’t mean that lightly. Obviouslywhen tragedy hits people tend to re-member the best things. But I chal-lenge anyone to remember anythingother than that about them,” speak-ing after the vigil, surrounded byhugging and crying mourners.—AP

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The Pakistan Army led secu-rity forces during fresh strikes mowed downaround two dozen more terrorists in thetroubled Khyber agency as the OperationKhyber 1 advanced on Thursday.

The military officials say the PAF jetsand the gunship helicopters Thursday re-sumed strikes in the Khyber agency’sTehsil Bara area and heavily pounded themiscreants positions in troubled Tiraahvalley destroying as many as seven of theirhide outs over two dozen militants werekilled and many others sustained woundsin the incessant bombings.

The independent sources said the se-curity forces jets went for incessant bomb-ings on the hide outs of the alleged terror-ists in remote Tiraah valley and flattenedas many as seven dens of the miscreantsthat ultimately led to the killing of around25 people while 15 others sustained seri-ous injuries.

While the Inter Services Public Rela-tions (ISPR), that usually releases the in-formation to media in this regard, thoughdid not issue any communiqué however,the military sources confirmed theThursday’s strikes in volatile Khyberagency and subsequent killing of aroundtwo dozen militants. “More than 20 terror-ists were killed and seven of their hideouts

25 insurgents killedin KA airstrikesMilitants’ seven hideouts destroyed

ECP rejectsImran’s demandfor NA Speaker

suspensionISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan onThursday rejected PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf chief ImranKhan’s demand seekingsuspension of National As-sembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

The PTI chief had re-cently met the Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC) Justice(Retd) Raza Ahmad Khan andsought on Speaker suspen-sion till the Election Tribunalgave its decision on the al-leged rigging in NA-122. TheECP rejected ThursdayKhan’s application, statingthat the commission has noauthority to suspend theSpeaker before any judgmentby the concerned tribunalwhich is the only authority inthis regard.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Supreme Court (SC) hassought written explanation till February, 26from chief secretaries and secretaries localbodies of Punjab and Sindh for not cooper-ating with Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) in connection with fixation of final datefor holding Local Bodies (LB) polls in re-spective provinces.

The court has also sought progress re-port within 15 days from defence ministrywith reference to approval of proposed billin connection with LB polls in cantonmentboards.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Nasir ulMulk has remarked “ Punjab and Sindh wantto spend one or two years more by prolong-ing the matter deliberately and they are notserious in holding LB polls. Order was givenduring the previous hearing provincesshould organize meetings with Election Com-mission (EC) so that EC could give final date

Holding of LB polls

Punjab, Sindh prolongingmatter deliberately: CJP

for holding LB polls in respect of these twoprovinces.

He observed holding LB polls timely isresponsibility of governments as per lawand constitution. We are sorry to say thatSindh and Punjab have not taken any seri-ous step for giving final date in this con-nection. Defence ministry has also donenothing for conducting LB polls in canton-ment boards. Punjab is saying it will holdpolls in November and Sindh is talking ofNovember in next year. A 3-member benchof SC presided over by CJP Nasir ul Mulktook up the case for hearing Thursday.

Akram Sheikh counsel for ECP piled upcomplied against Punjab government andSindh government saying these govern-ments have not provided any material onthe basis of which final date for holding LBpolls could be given and schedule could beissued. —Online

Pir Sabir Shahresigns fromPML-N KP

presidentshipPESHAWAR—Criticizing hisown party regarding thedistribution of tickets for theSenate polls, KP PresidentPakistan Muslim League (N)Pir Sabir Shah tendered hisresignation as a mark of pro-test here on Thursday.

Addressing a press con-ference he stated that he re-signed from the party officebecause die hard workers ofthe party are being sidelined while awarding the tick-ets for the Senate polls.

He explained that he couldnot become an alternativecandidate for senate elec-tions. It was very much dis-appointing for me to becomean alternative candidate asannounced by the party’scentral leadership. Itsamounts to disrespect to theoffice he was possessing.

He criticized party’s cen-tral leadership over the awardof ticket for Senate polls toGeneral (retd) SalahuddinTirmizi.

However, he added thatSenate ticket meant nothingto him but PML-N was ev-erything to him.—INP

were destroyed during precise aerial strikesin Tiraah valley”, Credible military sourcestold Pakistan Observer.

It may be recalled that the securityforces that have been conducting opera-tions titled Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristanagency for the last more than seven monthsand Operation Khyber I in the restiveKhyber agency since October 2014, hadpaced up their action against the troublemakers after the deadly terrorists attack onArmy Public School on December 16 thatresulted in martyrdom of over 150 peopleincluding 135 innocent school kids.

The security forces in ground and aerialoffensives have by now, according torough estimates, mowed down about 300alleged terrorists in Khyber agency andover 1300 North Waziristan agencies tilldate.

The Pak Army lead security forces haveseized scores of bomb and other explosivesmanufacturing factories of the terrorists invarious parts of the agencies during thisperiod as they successfully continued theiradvancements against the trouble makers.The military sources said a majority of thetroubled areas have been purged of themilitants. Besides the security forces ap-prehended scores of suspects and largenumber of other surrendered before theforces pledging to honour the state writ.

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—While defending the govern-ment decision of additional taxation mea-sures, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thurs-day disclosed that the country’s top taxmachinery is facing a revenue shortfall ofaround Rs196 billion.

“We have taken additional revenue mea-sures which will generate a revenue collec-tion of Rs46 billion for the government ex-chequer,” the minister told the National As-sembly in response to queries of fellow leg-islatures who came down hard on the gov-ernment for denying full benefit of falling oilprices to domestic consumers.

Dar did not mention any inefficiency andcorruption in the tax department and placedthe full responsibility of shortfalls with fall-ing international oil and commodities prices.

The Federal Board of Revenue tax tar-get, he said was reduced from Rs2,810 bil-lion to Rs2,691 billion, a shortfall of Rs119bnwitnessed in the first half year.

Dar said the increase in GST on petro-leum products and changes in other taxes isimperative to meet various needs includingrelease of funds to the provinces.

“We cannot ignore expenditures in thewake of Operation Zarb-i-Azb, debt servic-ing and payment of salaries,” the ministerremarked. He defended the govt’s decisionof raising the GST rate to 27 per cent on

petroleum products from 17 per cent.“The constitution empowers the execu-

tive to enhance different taxes including GSTand regulatory duties,” he pointed out whileresponding to the opposition’s criticism ofimposition of additional GST on PoL prod-ucts and an increase in duties on other items.

“The imposition of duty and taxesthrough statutory regulatory order does notundermine sovereignty of the parliament,”he said. The finance minister stated that ar-ticle 77 of the Constitution empowers thegovernment to levy tax without the involve-ment of parliament.

He said regulatory duty of up to 35 percent was imposed by past governments,while the present government has only im-posed a 5 per cent duty. Dar claimed that thegovt has provided relief to the people onpetroleum products by 37.68 per cent sinceAugust 31 last year.

He said that petrol was available in Pa-kistan at the lowest price in South Asia,elaborating that in India petrol price isRs103.45 per litre, Sri Lanka Rs91, NepalRs102 and Pakistan Rs70 per litre, respec-tively.

The minister also said that the govern-ment has raised the GST to 27 per cent butwould generate around Rs28bn in additionalrevenue for the exchequer as against theexpected shortfall of Rs68bn from petroleumproducts because of falling prices.

Tax revenue shortfall at Rs196b: DarDefends taxation measures

Mineral resources in Chiniot-Rajua

China, German expertsto speed up work

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—German consult-ant and a delegation of Chi-nese company MetallurgicalCorporation of China work-ing on the project of mineralresources in Chiniot-Rajuacalled on Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif, here on Thursday.

Speedy progress on theproject of mineral resourcesin Chiniot-Rajua was agreedin the meeting. Speaking onthe occasion, Shahbaz Sharifsaid that discovery of ironore, copper and gold reservesin Chiniot-Rajua was a verygood news for 18 crorepeople of the country. He saidthat the mineral reserves dis-covered in Chiniot-Rajuawere more precious than oiland gas and this great projectwould change the destiny ofthe country. The Chief Min-ister said that the mineral re-sources in Chiniot-Rajua wereproperty of 18 crore peopleof Pakistan. He said thatPunjab government hadlaunched this project from its

own resources and only in ashort period of nine months,an important progress hadbeen made. He said that wehad to march forward expedi-tiously with regard to thisproject. He said that the in-terest shown by Chinesecompany in setting up a steelmill in Chiniot-Rajua was agood omen.

Shahbaz Sharif said thatthe project of setting up a steelmill through indigenous ironwould provide jobs to localpeople and the economywould flourish. He said thatthe project of mineral re-sources in Chiniot-Rajua wasof great importance. He saidthat this project had revolu-tionary importance for theeconomy of the country par-ticularly Punjab. He expressedhope that these hidden re-serves would prove a guaran-tee to the development of thecountry and the nation. TheChief Minister said that therewere vast mineral reserves inChiniot-Rajua and utilizationthese reserves would changethe destiny of the nation.

Threat of US ISISfighters not undercontrol: Top FBI

WASHINGTON—The headof the FBI’scounterterrorism divisionwas blunt about the threathere at home from Americanswho’ve trained with terror-ist groups like ISIS over-seas: “We don’t have it un-der control.”

“It’s not even close tobeing under control,” FBIDeputy Assistant DirectorMichael Steinbach toldHouse members today.

Over nearly three hoursof testimony before theHouse Homeland SecurityCommittee, Steinbach laidout the evolving threats fac-ing the U.S. homeland andthe efforts underway tostop them. He was joined bythe director of the NationalCounterterrorism Centerand the Department ofHomeland Security’s top in-telligence official.

All three agreed thatbecause of few intelligenceassets on the ground in theregion, particularly in Syria,the U.S. government haslittle insight into who’s join-ing terrorist groups there,and who’s then leavingwith what NCTC directorNicholas Rasmussen de-scribed as “training inweapons and explosives”and “access to terror net-works that may be ultimatelyplanning attacks” againstthe West.

“In many cases the in-formation we have on for-eign fighters traveling to theconflict zone stops whenthey get there,” Rasmussenwarned.—Agencies

SANAA—The United States, Britain andFrance rushed to close their embassies oversecurity fears in Yemen, with US staff de-stroying top-secret documents and aban-doning vehicles at the airport.

The hasty exit came as thousandsjoined rival demonstrations over last week’sShiite militia takeover, which was widely

condemned as a coup.The Shiite militia said Thursday the clo-

sures were “unjustified” and promised toreturn US embassy vehicles it had seized.

Hussein al-Ezzi, described as the Huthimilitia’s head of foreign relations, said theclosures were designed to put “pressure”on the Yemeni people.—AFP

US, Britain, France rush toclose Yemen embassies

CLENCHING your right hand may helpcreate a stronger memory of an event oraction, and clenching your left hand may

help you recall the memory later, according toa new study.

The research was con-ducted by a team of ex-perts from Montclair StateUniversity, led by RuthPropper, and was pub-lished in the journal PLOSONE.

A previous study fromUCLA demonstrated thatstimulating key areas ofthe brain can improvememory.

The authors of the cur-rent report pointed out that“Unilateral hand clench-ing increases neuronal ac-tivity in the frontal lobe ofthe contra lateral hemi-sphere. Such hand clench-ing is also associated withincreased experiencing ofa given hemisphere’s‘mode of processing’.”

In order to examine how hand clench-ing impacted memory and recall, the inves-tigators asked 51 right-handed participantsto memorize 72 words.

Researchers suggest that squeezing yourright hand together into a fist may help withmemorising a list.

One group clenched their right fist forabout 90 seconds right before memorizingthe list and then did the same right beforerecalling the words.

One group clenched their left hand be-fore memorizing and again before recall-ing.

One group clenched their right handprior to memorizing and their left priorto recalling.

One group clenched their left handprior to memorizing and their right prior

to recollecting.A control group that did

not clench their fists at all.Results showed that the

volunteers who clenchedtheir right fist when memo-rizing the l is t and thenclenched their left when re-calling the words performedbetter than all of the otherhand-clenching groups.

“The findings suggestthat some simple body move-ments - by temporari lychanging the way the brainfunctions- can improvememory. Future research willexamine whether handclenching can also improveother forms of cognition, forexample verbal or spatialabilities.”

More research is necessary to deter-mine whether their results with word listsextend to memories of visual stimuli,such as remembering faces, or spatialtasks, such as remembering where yourkeys are.

“This effect of hand-clenching onmemory may be because clenching a fistactivates specific brain regions that arealso associated with memory formation.”

A recent study published earlier thismonth in the journal Neuron showed thatlistening to certain types of sounds whilea person is sleeping can improve his orher memory.

Clenching your fist canimprove your memory

Dean of Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin Saravia with Special/Ad Secretary Foreign Af-fairs Amjad Hussain B Siyal, outgoing High Commissioners of Sri Lanka, Mauritius andthe newly arrived ambassadors/high commissioners of Tunisia, Qatar, Oman, Austria, Greeceand Canada during a reception hosted by him .—PO photo

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is desperate toget energy to run i ts nat ionaleconomy and Iran is just a next doorneighbor right on the western borderwith abundance of oil and gas re-serves capable of feeding its neigh-bors at cheaper rates.

Here is a strong mutual economicinterest apart of historic, Islamic andcultural links between Pakistan andIran which can form a strong base ofassociation and cooperation. In acozy environment of local hotel, ajam-packed reception to celebrate36th Anniversary of the GloriousVictory of the Islamic Revolution of

Javier M Carbajosa and Dr Walid AMAbu Ali

Dashgin Shikarov and his spouse Bharat Raj Paudyal and SohrabHossein

Mona Eltannnir and Said Hindam Guests at the National Day receptionof Iran

Zenen Burego Conception andAlfredo Leoni

Ambassador of Iran Alireza Haghighian, Federal Minister for Information,Broadcasting & National Heritage Parvez Rashid, Liaqat Baloch and otherscutting the cake during a ceremony to celebrate the 36th Anniversary of theIslamic Revolution in Iran, at a local hotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Iran and the National Day was hostedby Iranian Ambassador AlirezaHaghighian on Wednesday eveningwhich attracted eminent personalitiesincluding politicians, parliamentar-ians, members of diplomatic corps,businessmen, religious scholars, in-tellectuals and media-persons.

Minister for Information, Broad-casting and National Heritage Sena-tor Pervaiz Rashid was the ChiefGuest representing the Governmentof Pakistan.

The guests included Ejazul Haq,Akram Zaki, Hamid Gul, SardarAttique, Liaquat Baloch, ShehlaRaza, Information SecretaryMuhammad Azam, Naheed Khan,

Safdar Abbasi, Ahmad Raza Kasuri,Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, TehminaDaultana, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi,Allama Nasir Abbas Jaffery and AghaMutaza Poya.

After ceremonies of playing ofnat ional anthemsand cake cutting,the part icipantssettled in groups todiscuss Pak-Iran re-lations, domestic and regional poli-tics and war on terrorism. The guestswere treated with delicious tradi-tional dishes.

Literature on Iranian culture,progress and values were also dis-played along with screens showing

socio-economic life of this neighbor-ing country.

When questioned on Iranian of-fer to supply 3000 MW power to Pa-kistan, he said talks are underway.Iran is ready to fulfill Pakistan’s en-

ergy requirements, he said.Already locked in a pro-

cess to supply gas throughpipeline to Pakistan, Iranhas become a hope for en-

ergy-starved Pakistan as it requiresoil, gas and electricity for its eco-nomic survival.

These supplies can change thefate of Pakistan. Iranian Ambassadoris struggling hard to remove bottle-necks in this way.

Iran National Day

Energy-rich Iran is great hope for Pakistan

Federal Minister for Housing and Works Akram Khan Durrani, Ambassador of NorthKorea Ro Kyong Chol cutting cake to mark 73rd Birth Anniversary of Kim Jong Il.

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Paying tributesto his great leader, the Ambas-sador of Democratic People’sRepublic Korea Ro KyongChol said the Late Kim Jong ilwas a great visionary whoguided and served his nationwith dedication. Speaking at areception he hosted in honor ofintellectuals, businessmen,media persons and friends ofNorth Korea to celebrate 73rdbirth anniversary of Kim Jongil in a local hotel on Thursday,the envoy said he was a Found-ing Father who firmed up hispolicy to promote strong rela-tionship with Pakistan. Minis-ter for Housing and WorksAkram Khan Durrani was theChief Guest on the occasion.

The envoy said Feb 16,1942 was a great day for NorthKorea when the great leaderwas born to steer his nation topeace and prosperity. Under hisguidance, North Korea con-ducted two nuclear tests to se-cure his nation.

The great leader wanted re-unification of Korea underthree dimensions. It should bedone by the people without ex-ternal intervention, peacefullyand under system of federation.There should be one country,one nation with two systems,

Kim Jong Il was a greatvisionary: DPRK Ambassador

the envoy said. Now the people are united un-der the new leader Kim Jong Un, he said.

Abdullah Gul, Director General of think tankMeasac while speaking on the occasion said the

late North Korean leader was a brave man whofought for his nation throughout his life. TheAmbassador joined by Akram Durrani and otherdignitaries cut birthday cake on the occasion.

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq addressing the launching ceremony of 2015-Pak-China year of FriendlyExchanges.

RAZA UR REHMAN

ISLAMABAD —Speaker Na-tional Assembly Sardar AyazSadiq has said that Pakistan andChina are time-tested friends,neighbours and strategic part-ners. This partnership enjoysacross-the-board popular, politi-cal and institutional support inboth the countries. He said thiswhile addressing a ceremony inIslamabad, today to formallyinaugurate the “Year of FriendlyExchanges between Pakistanand China.” Mr. Wang Yi, For-eign Minister of the People’sRepublic of China was alsopresent in the ceremony.

The Speaker said that ever-since the leadership transitionsin Pakistan and China in 2013,relations between our two coun-tries have continued to maintaina steady, upward trajectorywhich testified the essence ofPak-China friendship. He saidthat it is based on a bond thathas not only stood the test oftime but has remained above alldomestic or regional changes.

Winds of political changehave swept across the regionand beyond, but Pakistan-Chinafriendship has remained steady

Pakistan cherishes multi-dimensionalstrategic Pak-China partnership

as a rock, he added. He said that the people of Pakistan were impa-tiently looking forward to His Excellency President Xi Jinping’svisit to Pakistan which would inject fresh impetus into the “allweather multi-dimensional strategic Pak-China relationship’.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that political relations and economic coop-eration are not the only drivers of our bilateral relations. Perhapsour greatest asset is that the peoples of the two countries who havea sense of affection and love for each other.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—The Embassy of France in Pakistanhas hosted the launching of the “Hello TomorrowChallenge in Pakistan”, a global start-up competi-tion covering all major fields of technology.

This international start-up competition aims topromote projects based on scientific and techno-logical innovations with high potential, says a pressrelease issued here on Thursday. The competitionis open to young researchers and entrepreneurs. Itreflects the mobilization in France in support of cre-ativity and entrepreneurship.

‘Hello Tomorrow’ is the second edition of thecompetition, which will grant more than 170,000

Euros to the best innovating start-up projects devel-oped in various fields. These fields include: energyand environment, food and agriculture, transport andmobility, materials and manufacturing, healthcareand information technologies.

The Ambassador of France to Pakistan, MartineDorance, launched the competition at the Embassyof France in Islamabad in presence of the CEOs ofNayatel and Somerset Capital Holding, more than60 entrepreneurs and academics, and managers fromFrench companies in Pakistan. This event was theopportunity to highlight all the initiatives taken byFrance during the last few years to support start-ups and to gather young Pakistani entrepreneurs,researchers and investors in Islamabad.

French embassy organizes ‘technology competition’

Chief of Naval Staffmeets ShahbazCITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief of theNaval Staff AdmiralMuhammad Zaka Ullah calledon Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif onThursday. Matters of mutualinterest and professional affairsof Pak Navy were discussedduring the meeting.

Chief of the Naval Staff Ad-miral Muhammad Zaka Ullah es-pecially congratulated ShahbazSharif on discovery of mineralreserves in Chiniot-Rajwa.Speaking on the occasion, theChief Minister said that the hid-den reserves are a great gift forthe whole nation and more pre-cious for Pakistan than oil and gas.

06:25 01:3004:00

07:15

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

February 14PAF meeting

PAF Retired Officers’ Asso-ciation (PAFROA)Rawalpindi / Islamabadchapter is holding meeting,at Officers’ Mess, PAF BaseNur Khan at 1600 hours on14 February, 2015 (Saturday).All members and their fami-lies are cordially invited andare requested to intimateabout their attendance toSecretary PAFROA, Wg Cdr(Retd) Zafar Hameed onTelephone No – 9525811,9280376. PAF retired officerswho desire to become mem-ber of the association arealso cordially invited.

February 17Lunch of report

INSTITUTE of social andPolicy Sciences in collabo-ration with Alif Ailaan is or-ganizing the launch of reportand discussion on “PublicFinancing of Education inPakistan (2010-11 to 2014-15)” on February 17. atMarriott Hotel Islamabadfrom 03:00 pm to 05:30 pm.

February 23Literary conference

TO observe 33rd Death Anni-versary of great revolutionaryPoet Hazrat JoshMalihabadi,Josh Adabi Foun-dation will organize incollibration with Sukhanwarand Rawalpindi Arts Council,Josh National Literary Confer-ence on 23rd February ,Mon-day at 3.00 pm at RawalpindiArts Council, Cultural Com-plex, Shamsabad ,MurreeRoad ,Rawalpindi. FederalMinister for Information andBroadcasting, SenatorPervaiz Rashid will presidethe occasion.

Hiroshi Inomata, Ambassador of Japan handing over a cheque to Ghulam Mustafa, Executive Director, FarmersDevelopment Organization, a non-governmental organization.

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—The Government of Japan hasdecided to extend financial support worth of $276,346 to three Pakistani NGOs, Farmers De-velopment Organizations (NGOs) for the im-provement of educational facilities in disadvan-taged areas of the country.

Heads of the three organisations threeNGOs including Sanjh Foundation and ShewaEducated Social Workers Association(SESWA), Thursday, signed agreements for thethree project with Japanese AmbassadorHiroshi Inomata, here

Farmers Development Organization willutilise its grant of US $ 87,256 for the con-struction of a primary and middle school in arural locality of District Multan that is cur-rently lack of suitable educational facilities.The grant of US $ 99,394 to SESWA on theother hand will be used for the constructionof a girls’ primary and middle school in Dis-trict Swabi, in order to promote female edu-cation. Similarly, a primary and middle schoolfor girls will be established in order to en-hance rural female education in DistrictMuzaffargarh, through the grant of US $89,696 to Sanjh Foundation.

The Government of Japan has given highpriority to empowerment of women both in Ja-pan and other countries under the strong lead-ership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. These

projects form a part of this commitment. At thesigning ceremony, Ambassador Inomataemphasised the importance of improving ac-cess to basic education in this country, particu-larly for girls.

He expressed his hope that the projectssupported today would contribute to Pakistan’sgoal of eliminating regional and gender dispari-ties in terms of educational opportunities andin doing so would certainly strengthen thefriendly relations between the people of Japanand Pakistan.

Earlier, agreements for eight other projectson education, health and infrastructure weresigned in September and November, 2014.Hence, the amount the Government of Japanprovided to Pakistani NGOs during the currentJapanese Fiscal Year (which starts in April) addsup to US $ 1,025,164 in total. Moreover, agree-ments for four more projects, two for rural infra-structure and one each for clean drinking waterand health, are scheduled to be signed nextweek.

Note: The Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects (GGP)Programme is an initiative of the Japanesegovernment with the belief that, in consider-ation of the enormity of the challenges beingfaced by the world today. Since it began in1989, the GGP Programme has supported 340projects in Pakistan, with a contribution ofmore than 2.3 billion Japanese Yen.

Japan to provide $ 276,346 forimprovement of educational facilities

RAZA UR REHMAN

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Russia bilateralrelation vowed in a seminar organisedby MUSLIM institute on “Prospects ofPak-Russia bilateral relations”. Partici-pants emphasised on enhancing bilateralrelations and argued that there is hugepotential of cooperation between bothcountries in the fields of defence, energy,infrastructure, security enhancement andNarcotic control and regional stability.

The purpose of seminar was to delveinto and explore different aspects andavenues of mutual cooperation betweenPakistan and Russia that share same re-gion. Former secretary general for foreignaffairs Mr. Akram Zaki was the chief gueston the occasion whereas other speakers

included Air Marshal (R) Masood Akhtar,Chairman MUSLIM Institute SahibzadaSultan Ahmad Ali, HoD IR Dept NDU,Dr. Muhammad Khan and first secretaryof Russian Embassy in Islamabad Mr.Anton Chernov spoke on the occasion.

Speakers of the seminar addedthat,There have been many missed op-portunities in the past for establishingcordial and strong bilateral relations be-tween the two countries; however theredo exist sporadic episodes in the pastof mutual cooperation in multiplesectors.Both the countries can benefitfrom each other in various sectors. Pa-kistan can benefit from Russia from itstechnical breakthroughs and advance-ment in space, military and civilian tech-nology; oil and precious minerals and

metal exploration, their subsequent min-ing, extraction and processing and re-finement.

Pakistan on the other hand, is an ex-cellent source of raw materials, agricul-tural produce, cheap skilled, unskilledand technical manpower, finished andunfinished textile and leather products.People to people contact between twonations can bring lot of new avenues ofmutual benefits as well as cultural ex-change. However speakers added thatthe Pak-Russia relations should not beon cost of relations with any othercountry’s Regional cooperation On theoccasion foreign delegates, intellectuals,researchers, politicians, parliamentarians,academicians ,students and journalistsparticipated.

Pakistan Russia can benefitfrom each other in various sectors

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—PEMRA on Thursday, Feb-ruary 12, 2015 organized one day workshopfor industry stakeholders on the topic of“FM Radio Broadcasting in Pakistan” at itsHeadquarters here.

Major emphasis of this workshop wasto engage stakeholders to identify issuesrelating to the FM radio licensing e.g. tariff,renewal of licenses, operational issues andother hurdles being faced by FM radio lic-ensees. Other important aspect of the work-shop was to create awareness aboutPEMRA laws, regulations and Code of Con-duct.

Mr. Kamal Uddin Tipu, Executive Mem-

ber PEMRA, in his key note, pondered lighton FM radio broadcasting sector in Paki-stan. Other speakers from PEMRA includ-ing Mr. Wakeel Khan, General Manager andMr. Junaid Nagi, General Manager sharedviews, experience and knowledge aboutregulatory issues and challenges of FM ra-dio broadcasting in country, technologicaladvancement in FM broadcasting and fu-ture of radio system.

Speakers from the industry; MirzaMuhammad Naeem, CEO FM 105 Gujrat andMr. Kamran Khawaja, Director FM 100Islamabad shared their practical experiencesand knowledge about issues and challengesto FM radio sector in the light of regulatoryimpediments.

PEMRA holds workshop onFM radio broadcasting

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Vice Admiral (Retd)Tanveer Faiz HI (M) has been appointedas new Rector of Bahria University (BU).He has meritorious 40 years service andwas a distinguished professional of Paki-stan Navy. He has held important appoint-ments which provided him tremendousexposure in operations, staff, training andeducation.

He is a graduate of PN Staff Collegeand after qualifying National Defence

Vice Admiral (Retd) Tanveer Faizappointed new Rector of Bahria University

course, he earned Master degree in De-fence and Strategic Studies from NDU/Quaid e Azam University. During his ca-reer he has undergone number of coursesboth inland and abroad.

In his welcome address, RectorBahria University Vice Admiral (Retd)Tanveer Faiz HI (M) said that we wouldlike to open all the doors for promot-ing the research potential of the stu-dents, which will enable them to usetheir academic knowledge for practi-cal projects. To this end we have to

build bridges between the Universityand the corporate sector, opening theway for research, and making studentsapply their academic skills to practicalprojects.

We aim for all this to take place in aUniversity environment that is safe andfriendly, and at the same time disciplined,as envisaged by the Quaid e Azam. Be-cause we feel that along with studies it isequally important to develop the goodold values of character, decency, hon-esty and consideration for one another.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—An interesting sci-ence expo was held at Roots IvyInternational School Flagship cam-pus Faisalabad that benchmarkedthe Autechno Biz Expo in Germanyfeaturing projects like a hand builtauto-mobile, engineered by youngIGCSE students aged 13-16 years.The grand expo was officially inau-gurated by chief guest Dr. CyrillNunn, Ambassador of Germany.CEO Roots Ivy InternationalKhadija Mushtaq welcomed theparent community and guests in-cluding Mr. Noorul Amin MengalDCO Faisalabad and Engr. RizwanAshraf President FCCI.

A team of IGCSE students hadbuil t a two-seater vehicle whichruns on 80bhp (660cc) engine with

automatic transmission embeddedwith 5 forward gears and 1 reverserunning on an approximate speedof 150km/h and above. Anotherproject featured theR2-D2 newlyprogrammed robot as a devotedhelper and friend with infrared navi-gation sensors with sound pro-cessing microphones to locate ob-jects and detect a disturbance inthe infrared spectrum, such as aperson or an animal or any otherlife forms.

The students also exhibited hy-brid technology as the al ternatesource of energy for sustainablefuture in the most innovative andspectacular Science Expo on thepurpose built campus convertingit into different segment themes,highlighting the sensitivity and un-derstanding of the students of the

present energy crises being con-fronted in the country. The stu-

dents at Roots Ivy Internationalshowed concern for the coura-

geous heroes of the nation thatmost often suffer from physical and

financial loss.The Robo Firefighter machine

was designed especially to controlfire related emergencies eliminatingthe risk of involving humans to dothe job. Similarly, another brilliantproject allowed monitoring the flowof traffic, calculating the number ofvehicles and the time required forevery signal to be operational. Thestudents showcased life size mod-els, buildings, machines, industrialmotor boats and suggestedthrough practical demonstrations,solutions to overcome the energycrises, encouraging al ternatesources of energy i.e. solar, hydel,wind power and biogas, to meet theever increasing demand of energyin the country. The science expogave an insight to the exploratorymethod of education being pursuedin Roots Ivy International Schools.

In the end Ms Khadija Mushtaq

CEO Roots Ivy InternationalSchools addressed the students andthe parents. She emphasized that,?dvancement in science, technology,and innovation is the only methodthrough which we can pave our waytowards the socio-economic growthand development of Pakistan bychannelizing technical and scientificknowledge amongst the youth toachieve socio-economic benefits.

Dr. Cyrill Nunn, Ambassador ofGermany concluded the ceremony ashe shared his views with the stu-dents and applauded their efforts. Hewas highly impressed by the vibranttalent and aptitude of the young stu-dents. An award ceremony was heldto give out the awards and certifi-cates to the winning teams upon pre-senting genuinely revolutionaryideas and successful proposals.

Roots Ivy International Science & Autechno Biz Expo 2015

Young Doctors holding a demonstration in support of their demands.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU) on Thursday formally launched me-dia-dialogue series, bringing academicians andjournalists together to educate the people onimportant issues.

It also aimed at establishing the com-munication link media and the Universitiesin constructing and promoting healthy en-vironment for the overall socio-economicdevelopment of the country, said the vicechancellor Prof. Dr. Shahid Siddiqui whileaddressing the media-dialogue meeting. Itwill be a regular series in which eminentjournalists will be invited to talk about themedia’s role in social reformation.

The AIOU has already undertaken fiveseries of dialogue to promote cultural, socialand literary activities. These series are skilledbased research lecture , Distinguished lec-ture series, Book & author series, Researchcolloquium and Awareness & advocacy se-ries. Vice Chancellor lauded the role of me-

dia in projecting human rights and the realissues concerning the people. He said themedia paid heavy price and lost importantjournalists in bravely fighting the evils ofthe society.

The media, he said had always been onforefront in projecting democratic norms andhuman values. The journalists’ writing is highlyimportant, since it represents the true feelingsof the people, he added. A senior local journal-ist of a top media house Khawar Ghuman spokeat the inaugural media-dialogue session. Histalk was focused on the role of media in demo-cratic governance.

He shared his experience with the par-ticipants on the role the present’s day media inservicing the cause of the masses. He was theview that the media is not supposed give judg-ment on what happens every day in the soci-ety, but it needs to pass on factual informationto the people in un-biased manner. Holdingaccountability of public-sector figures and cov-ering the gray areas in any development is animportant job the journalists, he added.

AIOU launches media dialogueseries to educate people

ISLAMABAD—In the light of the SupremeCourt’s directives, the Capital DevelopmentAuthority (CDA) and the Foreign Office(FO) have decided to thrash out a combinedplan to remove barriers from outside diplo-matic missions.

Reliable sources said that officials fromthe FO and the CDA would hold meetingswith officials of diplomatic missions inIslamabad to evaluate the no-objection cer-tificates (NOCs) issued to them by the civicagency to put up barriers. Any decision toremove the roadblocks will only be taken

once the foreign missions were taken onboard, the sources said.

The sources said that to implement thecourt directives, CDA Chairman Maroof Afzaland other senior officials of the civic agencymet with officials at the FO. According to thesources, it was decided at the meeting thatinstead of stirring controversy, both the CDAand the FO would hold separate meetingswith officials of foreign missions to evaluatethe previously issued NOCs for placing se-curity barriers before taking any decision toremove them.—Online

Diplomatic missions: CDA, FO tothrash out plan to remove barriers

6 candidates filenomination

papers in ECISLAMABAD—Six candidateshave filed their nominationpapers in Election Commissionto contest for Senate Electionson Thursday.

According to reports, PPPcandidates Imran Ashraf andNargis Fayaz filed their paperswhile 4 from FATA regionMaulana Abdul Malik Wazir,Saeed Anwar Masood,Muneer Khan Orangzai andHafiz Abdul Ur Rasheed havefiled their nomination papers.

Submission of nominationpapers for the Senate electionson 52 seats has begun Thurs-day and will continue till Fri-day whereas it has been madenecessary for the candidate tobe present while submitting thenomination papers. Scrutiny ofnomination papers will be con-ducted on February 16 and 17.Appeals against the rejectionscould be filed on February 20and 21 while the appeals wouldbe settled by February 23 and24 and list of the final candi-dates will be issued on 25th ofthis month.—Online

The Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement convened a delegate session of party in Srinagar under the chairmanship of its Chairman,Zafar Akbar Butt.

Last journey of Farooq Ahmad Bhatt who was martyred by Indian forces in Palhalan town of IOK.

FAHEEM ASLAM

FIRST the terror scene and then the terror.A group of armed policemen suddenly raida locality ‘from all directions’ to catch hold

of youth protesting on its streets against policeatrocities in the area a day before. Unable toquell the protests, the cops ‘fire indiscriminately’at the protesters and gun down a bystander.

The scene ends. Makes up a Bollywoodblockbuster scene where police raids a densely-populated locality to nab the villain in a mostdramatic way. In real life though, how do youdefine this terror unleashing in Kashmir locali-ties, every now and then—the fresh instancebeing the Palhalan youth’s killing in police fir-ing the other day? It’s downright cowardice. Pureterrorism.

It is a reflection of how the police in Kash-mir—that is otherwise (in other states I mean)meant to save its citizens—operates. And the ter-ror unleashed is such as if it’s not the civilianprotesters who are in the line of fire, but hardcorecriminals who can’t be allowed to live for thenext moment!

Why does this happen so often is too obvi-ous a question to be asked. Why write then when

‘Sorry’, we killed your son!The Palhalan tragedy is too colossal to be narrated in words and too bowel-shaking to feel just sad about

killings at the hands of armed forces continuedespite all the rage and condemnations around?Because that is what an ordinary citizen can doto vent his anger. That cops raided the Palhalanlocality and killed 22-year-old Farooq AhmadBhat—an ace cricketer—is too familiar a scenein Kashmir, except that the place is different thistime.

If it were Chattergam yesterday, it isPalhalan today, and it could well be Srinagartomorrow. Because the degree of impunity thatarmed forces in the state enjoy is beyond limits.Because the lack of accountability in the “sys-tem” is such that civilian killings by armedforces are encouraged—like a matter of policy—to quell anti-India demonstrations. Because thearmed forces are given a free hand to shoot downcivilians and get away with it—the sham probesordered and “justice” assured by the governmentnotwithstanding.

Because killing unarmed civilians and im-mediately “regretting” the “incident” has becomea norm—something that is unheard of in otherplaces in the world. Because the self-styledtheory of “firing in self-defence” is a lie that thestate—which is supposedly voted to power toprotect its citizens—entertains to let the accused

soldiers and cops go scot-free.Because the cops know nobody is going to

touch them for this “brave work” that—in a placecalled Kashmir—earns promotions than punish-ment for them. Because blood is so cheap inKashmir (not even in Jammu!) that even streetoutrage against civilian killings is again dealtwith bullets.

So, should the entire “incident” end with “re-gret”, as police has done this time? Is life socheap a commodity that you can finish it with“regret”? In Kashmir, it is. What was the “provo-cation” that the police required to raid thePalhalan locality in this terrorizing manner? Whydid the cops fire indiscriminately, as locals haveasserted, and shot Farooq in shoulder and face?This approach—that is beyond condemnable—has more to it than meets the eye.

They can handle protests with bamboos andwater cannons. Can’t they! But given that theyshot the youth in face and shoulder only reflectsthe intent that such killings have a larger pur-pose: to send out a strong message that streetprotests won’t be tolerated. But if this the wayto go about it, then the street protests, in all prob-abilities, would only intensify. Because everysuch killing will obviously fuel more resistance.

Because if the ‘issue’ is handled from theprism of so-called law and order than decodingthe reasons for street protests, you may well endup pushing more youth to the wall. Because whatessentially requires to be done is to address theaspirations of these youth hitting the streets. Themore you put it under the carpet, the more troubleyou will end up in. In Palhalan, for instance,they hit the streets because police harassed afamily in a nocturnal raid, as locals have clearlystated.

Because such harassment, in the first place,is unwarranted even if the intent is to “nab astone-pelter.” Because such harassment would,for obvious reasons, trigger protests. Becauseunless you address the root of the issue, you justcan’t address the issue.

What is striking in the midst of this continu-ing murder is the silence of J&K’s pro-India poli-ticians who can’t go beyond condemning suchmurders. Because they are opportunists whowon’t side with you once you are done with “vot-ing” for them in the so-called elections.

That is why a person like Omar Abdullah,who hasn’t done anything in his tenure to bringthe killers of 120 youth to book, hasn’t gonebeyond seeking a so-called probe in the Palhalan

tragedy—the probes that yielded no results inthe government he headed for six years. So in-stead of seeking an end this desire of armedforces to kill, they maintain a criminal silenceto not annoy their masters. If it were Chattergamyesterday, it is Palhalan today, and it could wellbe Srinagar tomorrow. Because the degree of im-punity that armed forces in the state enjoy is be-yond limits. Because the lack of accountabilityin the “system” is such that civilian killings byarmed forces are encouraged—like a matter ofpolicy—to quell anti-India demonstrations. Be-cause the armed forces are given a free hand toshoot down civilians and get away with it—thesham probes ordered and “justice” assured bythe government notwithstanding.

And this silence, for all practical purposes,is only facilitating such murders. And how aboutthis: if people’s participation in the assemblyelections is a “win of ballot over bullet”, as In-dian leaders and state’s pro-India politicians as-serted after the polls, how do you respond tothis “win”? With bullets? If yes, there is a les-son for the voters: that even your vote can’t guar-antee your safety. That you may fall to bulletsdespite thronging the polling booths.

—Courtesy: Greater Kashmir

SRINAGAR—Chairman of Jammu andKashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)Muhammad Yasin Malik Thursday saidcurfews and arrests “won’t break the re-solve of Kashmiris” and JKLF “will takethe mission of party founder MaqboolBhatto its logical conclusion.”

Malik, who is lodged in Central JailSrinagar, paid rich tributes to Bhat on hismartyrdom anniversary. “Legendary per-sonalities like Shaheed MuhammadMaqboolBhat are born after centuries.Curfew, restrictions, killings, bullets, ar-rests and other means of oppression cannever fade the love and affection ofKashmiris with their great leader.

He lives in our hearts and followinghis footsteps is a matter of pride for us,”Malik, according to a JKLF spokesman,said. He said Malik’s message was readby vice-president of JKLF advocate Bashir

Kashmiris to realizeMaqbool’s dream: Malik

Ahmad Butt while addressing a rally atMaqboolManzil in Maisuma here.

“Bhat was a visionary person, a phi-losopher, an intellectual, writer, journalistand educationist and he could have lived aluxurious life but followed his dream ofliberating Jammu and Kashmir from theclutches of tyranny and oppression,” Maliksaid in his message.

Malik decried the “criminal silence ofinternational community” on denial ofmortal remains of MaqboolBhat andMuhammad Afzal Guru to their familiesby India. The JKLF spokesman con-demned police action on its rally atBudshahChowk here. He said MaqboolDay was observed in many countries withKashmiris paying rich tributes to him.

He said JKLF supreme leaderAmanullah Khan led a rally in IslamabadPakistan. The rally was attended by JKLF

vice chairman Muhammad SalimHaroonand chief spokesman Muhammad RafiqDar. He said JKLF held demonstrationsacross Pakistan and Pakistan AdministeredKashmir in which tributes were paid toBhat. Protests were also held in USA, UK,Canada, Germany, Europe, United ArabEmirates, Saudi Arabia and parts of MiddleEast, the spokesman said.

“JKLF London branch is scheduledto hold protest outside Indian High Com-mission in London,” he said. “A peti-tion signed by 60 MPS is being handedover to the High Commission demand-ing return of mortal remains ofMuhammad MaqboolBhat. This petitionwill also be handed over to British PMoffice at 10- Downing Street. A seminaris scheduled to be held at House of Com-mons to pay tribute to father of nationand other martyrs.—GK

SRINAGAR—While sharply reacting to the state-ment of Director General Police (DGP) in whichhe blamed the pro-freedom leaders for thePalhallan youth’s killing, Hurriyat Conference(G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani Thursday said“it is an attempt to hide their acts of worst kindof the state-terrorism.”

In an emailed statement to KNS from NewDelhi Geelani said, “We are running a peacefulpolitical movement in Jammu and Kashmir toachieve our just and genuine goal and we arerepresenting the wishes and sentiments of themajority population of the state. We have nopower or machinery which we can use to dis-turb the situation of law and order of the stateand the accusation of the police chief is basi-cally an attempt to hide his own faults.”

“It has been the old and successful tacticsof the oppressors to themselves disturb the peaceand then blame the oppressed people for the situ-ation and punish them for that so that no onefrom the oppressed people can dare to raise his

Geelani decries DGP statementvoice against them. This is the arrogance ofpower which is speaking in a high tone,” he al-leged.

The Hurriyat (G) chairman expressed hissurprise that after ‘provoking’ the people by ‘un-just’ arrests, night raids, frequent search opera-tion and imposition of restrictions and curfew,the police chief is expecting that the situationshould remain normal. “It is very cheap think-ing on the part of a top police official. Youthsare arrested, tortured, abused and insulted inpolice stations without any justification and theyare pushed to walls and their career is ruined,”he alleged.

“The occupation of Indian over Kashmirdoesn’t have any moral, political and legal jus-tification and the India should now accept theground realities in Kashmir and fulfill the prom-ises which its leadership has made with theKashmiri people at national as well as interna-tional level, that they will be given a chance todecide their future,” Geelani added.—KW

SRINAGAR—Inching towards government for-mation in Jammu and Kashmir, the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) has constituted a high-level team to hold negotiations with theBhartiyaJanata Party (BJP) to finalize the Com-mon Minimum Program (CMP) for governancein the State. Sources told Greater Kashmir theteam led by MuzaffarHussainBaig would in-clude party leaders Tariq Hameed Karra,NaeemAkther, DrHaseebDrabu, SyedAltafBukhari and Vikramaditya Singh. Prior tomoving forward on cobbling the alliance withthe right-wing party, the PDP discussed its“agenda for alliance” with BJP. Senior leadersfrom both parties held several round of meet-ings in and outside the state to deliberate ongovernment formation.

Sources said PDP’s agenda for alliance whichmainly focused on restarting dialogue process onKashmir issue on both internal and external front,revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Actand other key issues came up for discussion inthe meetings. “It would be part of the CMP,” theysaid. Party’s Chief Spokesman NaeemAkther said

6-member PDP team to negotiatewith BJP govt formation

the PDP panel would finalize the CMP with theteam of leaders from BJP.

“The preliminary work has been completedon the CMP but it will be given final shape bythe teams from both the parties,” he said. “Itwill be a document for governing the state forsix years.” “We want peace in the state as wellas entire region,” said Akther. “Restarting dia-logue process with Pakistan and on the internalfront and initiating the process for gradual re-moval of Armed Forces Special Powers Act fromJ&K will pave way for it.”

He said the PDP and BJP have also discussedtransfer of NHPC’s power projects to the state.“Renegotiating the terms on which the projectswere handed over to the NHPC also came upfor discussion. The rehabilitation of the floodvictims is also a priority,” Akther said.

“Once the CMP is finalized, the process forgovernment formation will start,” he said. BothPDP and BJP have been holding negotiationson government formation for more than one anda half month after the Assembly election resultswere declared on December 23.—GK

LONDON—To mark the 31st martyrdom anniversary of Kashmirileader Maqbool Butt Shaheed, JKLF UK & Europe Zone orga-nized a protest rally in front of Indian High commission in Lon-don. Hundreds of people including women and children fromdifferent cities of United Kingdom participated. Protesters shoutedslogans of “Stop Killings in Kashmir”, “Handover remains ofMaqbool Butt”, “Handover body of Afzal Guru” and in favourof complete independence of Jammu Kashmir.

On this occasion “Torch of Peace” campaign vehicle alsodrew around UK Parliament, High Commissions, Downing Street(British PM office) and many other important government of-fices. The vehicles which have been decorated with banners, high-lighting Human Rights violations in Kashmir drew lot of atten-

60 parliamentarians signedplea presented to Indian HC: JKLF

HAMEED SHAHEEN

ISLAMABAD—Mr Zafar Akbar Butt, chiefof the Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Party(JKSP), has denounced police and armyrestrictions imposed everwhere in the Stateand told his one-day delegates conventionat Srinagar that peaceful way of doingpolitics has been closed, says a Facebookmessage here Thursday.

The delegates convention was held inSrinagar on the occasion of the release ofMr Butt after a six-day house arrest. Theconvention expressed grave concern over

JK Salvation Party denounces restrictionsthe growing unlawful actions of police andthe Indian army. It said that the Indian oc-cupation army has raised barricades allover Jammu and Kashmir to gag our voice,but we shall withstand the ground and shallcontinue our liberation struggle.

Mr Butt said that his party, JKSP wasworking on the political and diplomaticlevels to seek an accceptable solution ofthe Kashmir dispute. It is this mission be-fore us that we cooperate with otherorganisations believing in the liberation ofKashmir from Indian yoke.

The All Parties Hurriyet Party, APHC,

is the strongest political forum of severalpolitical groups, who oppose the occupa-tion of India and calls for a political solu-tion of the state that satisfies all partiesinvolved in the dispute. India is the worstviolator of UN Security Council’s rulingson Kashmir.

UN wants to see an international plebi-scite in Jammu and Kashmir to decide itsfuture affiliation. India cannot annex J&Kas the plebiscite roadmap of UN was givenon the initiative of India herself. Be it re-called that it was India who took the Kash-mir issue to the UN SC on Jan 1, 1948.

SRINAGAR—The family of 22-year-oldFarooq Ahmad Bhat, who was killed in po-lice firing in Palhalan area of Baramulla dis-trict two days back, Thursday said the copshave registered a case against their slain sonand another injured youth. Farooq AhmadBhat, 22, was killed and two other youth criti-cally injured after police opened fire on pro-testers in Palhalan on Monday, triggeringKashmir-wide shutdown and condemnation.

Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, father of theslain youth, said police has registered FIRvide number 29/2014 under section 307,

Police registers FIR against slain son: Family

tion from the public and present in London.A petition signed by 60 British & European Union Parlia-

mentarians was also presented to the officials of the high commis-sion on this occasion. The petition asked the Indian PresidentPranab Mukherjee to handover the mortal remain of Maqbool ButtShaheed to his relatives for proper burial. Speaking on this occa-sion, JKLF President in Britain, Prof Azmat Khan, paid rich trib-utes to Maqbool Butt Shaheed and said that the only way forwardfor Kashmiri nation is to follow the teachings in practical termsand the ideology of this great Kashmiri leader. The petition washanded to Indian authorities by Prof Azamat Khan, Prof ZafarKhan, Showkat Maqbool Butt (son of Shaheed Maqbool Butt),Sadiq Subhani, Najib Afsar and Irshad Malik.—KW

147, 332 and 427 against Farooq and an-other injured youth who is battling for lifein a hospital. “The police chief (DGP) hadsaid a case will be registered against thecops who killed my son.

Tariq Ahmad, brother of slain youth,said during the 2010 killings, the then IGPKashmir had assured a probe into the kill-ing of a Palhalan youth but that probe re-port never came to fore. Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police, North Kashmir, GareebDas, told Greater Kashmir that FIR hasbeen registered “against security forces

involved in the firing incident.”INQUIRY OFFICER SEEKS DETAILS:

Meanwhile, Sub-Divisional MagistratePattanHameeda Begum—who has been ap-pointed as inquiry officer to probe the kill-ing of Farooq Ahmed—Wednesday visitedthe bereaved family. She asked people tocome forward to record their statements.Begum told local news agency CNS that shehas written a letter to SDPO Pattan askinghim to provide the names along with beltnumbers of all those cops who were presenton spot when the killing took place.—GK

Concern overdetainees’ plight

in jailsSRINAGAR—Hurriyet leaders,Zamruda Habib and FaridaBehenji have expressed seriousconcern over the plight of ille-gally detained Hurriyet leadersand activists languishing in dif-ferent jails.\Zamruda Habib in astatement issued in Srinagar saidthat the political detainees werebeing tortured in prisons —KMS

The reality is thatbusiness and

investment spend-ing are the true

leading indicatorsof the economyand the stock

market. If you wantto know where the

stock market isheaded, forget

about consumerspending and retailsales figures. Lookto business spend-ing, price inflation,interest rates, andproductivity gains.

—Mark Skousen

ISLAMABAD: Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig presenting his book to the Federal Minister forCommerce Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan and Leader of Opposition Khurshied AhmedShah at the launching ceremony of his Biography ‘A Limitless Pakistan’. Also seenHon Consul General of Morocco Ishtiaq Baig.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Bank Alfalah has signed anagreement with the Centre for Islamic Eco-nomics (CIE) – one of the most distin-guished academic institutions of JamiaDarul Uloom Karachi – for building capac-ity of the Bank’s human resources and cus-tomers on Islamic Banking.

Under the partnership, key-learningprograms developed by the Bank will bevetted by the Centre for Islamic Econom-ics. Under this first-of-its-kind arrangementbetween a Bank and CIE in Pakistan, semi-nars and learning programmes will also bedeveloped and implemented across thecountry. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. ImranUsmani, one of the most eminent ShariahScholars in the Islamic banking industryand a Member of the Executive Committee,CIE said “Bank AlFalah has shown unprec-edented progress in the development ofhuman capital by introducing customized

Bank Alfalah, CIE sign accordto improve understanding of

Islamic bankinglearning programmes on Islamic Banking forits internal and external customers”.

Mr. Bahauddin Khan, Chief OperatingOfficer, Bank Alfalah said “We look forwardto working closely with the Centre for Is-lamic Economics and using their expertiseto develop new learning modules andprogrammes that improve the understand-ing of Islamic banking for our staff and cus-tomers.” Awareness and education aboutIslamic Banking and Finance has been rec-ognized as a key challenge by the StateBank of Pakistan. SBP has recently launcheda media campaign to create awareness andimprove visibility of Islamic Banking in thecountry.

Bank Alfalah’s partnership with the Cen-tre of Islamic Economics is expected to playan instrumental role in driving SBP’s initia-tive to help develop a better understand-ing about Islamic Banking and Finance, andalso to eradicate the misconception asso-ciated with Islamic banking.

KARACHI: Air Marshal (Retd) Muhammad Yousaf, DG CAA, Shaun Han, Vice Presi-dent ASEAN Oracle Corporation and Umair Azam, Chief Operating Officer Inbox Busi-ness Technologies during contract signing ceremony of implementation of HumanCapital Management Modules Oracle Cloud in Pakistan CAA.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan Civil Aviation Author-ity entered into contract with Oracle Corpora-tion and Inbox Business Technologies forimplementing Human Capital Management(HCM) Modules of Oracle Cloud. The con-tract was signed by Director General PakistanCAA, Air Marshal (Retd) Muhammad Yousaf,Mr. Shaun Han, Vice President ASEANOracle Corporation and Mr. Umair Azam, ChiefOperating Officer Inbox Business Technolo-gies in a ceremony held at Headquarters CAAwhich was attended by all Directors of CAAand representatives of Oracle Corporation &Inbox Business Technology.

Speaking at the occasion, Director Gen-eral CAA, Air Marshal (Retd) MuhammadYousaf talked about his vision of transform-ing the organization. He said that Informa-tion Technology and Telecom are the twomain sectors, which are rapidly advancingin today’s time. An organization can onlysucceed in this globally challenging envi-ronment if it keeps abreast with the latesttechnology in its each and every activity.DG CAA applauded the efforts of HR teamfor taking initiatives of introducing Oracle

CAA to introduce OracleCloud for HCM

Cloud in CAA.DG CAA added that timely and success-

ful completion of the project would indeedbe a great challenge. He expressed his con-fidence that CAA, its HR team and CAA’sbusiness partners in this project will cer-tainly overcome this challenge. With theimplementation of HCM, the core areas ofHR would be transformed to the best inter-national practices as accepted globally. Itwould also help in taking merit-based deci-sions and will bring transparency in HRfunctions with maximum efficiency, besidesmany other benefits.

Representative of Oracle Corporationthanked CAA for choosing Oracle andInbox Business Technologies as CAA’sbusiness partner for this project. He em-phasized that cloud based solution is thecutting edge technology and growing mar-ket trend due to its speed of implementa-tion and cost. Mr. Shaun Han informed thatCAA is the first Public Sector organizationin ASEAN region, which has chosen OracleCloud. He ensured that Oracle and InboxBusiness Technology team will dedicatedlywork with CAA to achieve this milestonewithin set timeframe.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Leila Serhan, the General Man-ager of Microsoft-NEPA region has stated that“the IT sector of Pakistan has immense po-tential”. She is currently on an official visit toPakistan to review the potential and ongoingMicrosoft projects in the country and meetwith the dignitaries to discuss prospects ofcapacity building through the latest solutionsand powerful innovations from Microsoft.

Talking to the media, Leila Serhan said; “Ican see tremendous opportunities for growthand development in Pakistan. The new gen-eration of young and talented developers hasencouraged us to work more actively with

Microsoft sees immensepotential in Pak IT sector

the local market. I think, in a span of two tothree years, this market will evolve and growdramatically. Our objective is to foster inno-vation and education locally that can empowereveryone” “We are bringing our strategy ofCloud First, Mobile First to Pakistan and wesee tremendous opportunities for individu-als, businesses, and developers to embraceCloud Computing.” She added.

Microsoft Pakistan has a number of pro-grams running in the country, varying fromsocial initiatives, which include grants andsoftware donations, training and infrastruc-ture development of educational sector andstartups to nurture the culture of entrepre-neurship in the country.

ISE-10 index staysbearishISLAMABAD—IslamabadStock Exchange here onThursday witnessedbearish trend as the ISE-10 index was down by57.27 points and closedat 3931.12 points. A totalof 40,700 shares weretraded, which were downby 29,900 shares when itcompared with previousday’s trading of 10,800shares. Out of 158companies, share pricesof 41 companies re-corded increase whileshare prices of 117companies registereddecrease where as onecompany remained stablein trading. The shareprice of Honda Atlas Car,increased by Rs. 10.15per share while the shareprices of Muree Brewerydecreased by Rs.44.39per share. PIA, LafragePakistan Cement, K-Electric remained the toptrading companies onThursday’s trading with20,000,10,000 and 5,000shares respectively.—APP

Lower oil price notto stimulate worldeconomic growthISLAMABAD—Lower oilprices will fail to spurglobal economic growth,though they will benefitsome net oil importers,said Moody’s in itsquarterly Global MacroOutlook report. Theinternational credit ratingagency is maintaining itsgrowth domestic product(GDP) growth expecta-tion of the G20 econo-mies at 3 percent eachyear in 2015 and 2016, afigure which remainslargely unchanged fromits previous estimation inNovember. In the euroarea, Japan, and Brazil, aswell as some other net oilimporters in the G20,however, are “unfavor-able economic environ-ments” for the oil pricesdrop to have a positiveeffect, due to highunemployment.—APP

Pak forex surgesto $15.238b

KARACHI—Total liquid for-eign reserves of the coun-try surged to dollar 15.23802billion, said a statement ofState Bank of Pakistan (SBP)here on Thursday. It saidthat foreign reserves held byState Bank on Feb 6,amounted dollars 10.41606billion and the net foreignreserves held by otherbanks were dollars 4.82106billion. During the week end-ing on Feb 6, SBP’s liquidforeign reserves increasedby $ 58 million at $ 10.417billion compared to $ 10.359billion in the previousweek.—APP

Dr. Baig’sbiography launched

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—‘A LimitlessPakistani’ biography of Dr.Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, a leadingindustrialist & Chairman BaigGroup was launched inIslamabad by Federal Minis-ter for Commerce, Engr.Khurram Dastgir Khan at aimpressive ceremony, ad-dressed by Minister for Com-merce, Federal Minister forSaffron, Lt Gen (R) AbdulQadir Baloch, Minister of Statefor Privatization, MuhammadZubair, Lt. Gen. (R) AbdulQayyum of PML-N, Dean ofDiplomatic Corps Islamabad,Rodolfo J. Martin Saravia, Hon.Consul General of Morocco,Ishtiaq Baig, Vice PresidentFPCCI, Mian Akram Fareed,Hon. Consul of Comrose,Abdul Rauf Alam, FormerPresident ICCI, ZafarBakhtawari. The speakerspraises Dr. Baig’s role as a Dip-lomat, Politician, Columnist,Economist, Author of eco-nomic books and his contri-bution to the nationaleconomy. The ceremony alsoattended by Leader of Oppo-sition in National AssemblySyed Khurshid Shah, Ambas-sadors of Japan, Poland,Yemen, Morocco, Bahrainand large number of SeniorBureaucrats and Industrial-ists. Dr. Baig said it is his love& confidence on Pakistanwhich is reflected in the titleof the biography ‘A LimitlessPakistani’. He shared hisstruggle and the hard journeyof his accomplishments toinspire the youth ofPakistan.

ISLAMABAD—The Securities and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan (SECP) on Thurs-day initiated 94 show-cause proceedingsfor contravention of the Companies Ordi-nance, 1984 by companies and their direc-tors. The Enforcement Department of theSECP issued these notices during the monthof January 2015.

Majority of these proceedings pertain tofailure of companies to hold annual generalmeeting (AGM) and for not submitting timelyinterim financial statements with theCommission,according to statement issuedby SECP. The Section 245(1)(b) and 233(5)of Companies Ordinance, 1984, require alllisted companies to file their quarterly and

SECP initiated 94 showcause proceedings

annual accounts separately to the Commis-sion (SECP) and the Registrar of Companies.

During January, the enforcement depart-ment also concluded its inspection proceed-ings against a company and penalized thecompany for violation of certain provisionsof the Companies Ordinance, 1984. The de-partment accorded approvals and relaxationfrom certain provisions of laws and the rules.These approvals pertains to appointment ofcost auditors under the Companies (Auditof Cost Accounts) Rules, 1998, printing ofcomputerized national identity card (CNIC)number on dividend warrants, cancellationof group registration and extension in hold-ing of AGM.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan ambassador to France Ghalib Iqbalhas said that Pakistani Textile products have great poten-tial of finding more space in European markets. He wastalking on Wednesday to Michal Scherppe, the Presidentof Taxworld Fair being held in Paris. Ghalib visited Paki-stani Pavilion and Pakistani entrepreneurs’ stalls, said amessage received here Thursday.

He discussed with the exhibitors prospects of busi-ness development in France and assured them of continu-ation of full support and cooperation from the Mission.The exhibitors told the Ambassador that the response ofthe buyers was encouraging. The ambassador told theexporters that a fashion show of Pakistani garments would

Pak Textile products to findmore space in European marts

be held in the next edition of Taxwolrd in September thisyear. This is the 36th edition of Taxworld being held inParis, in which 624 exhibitors are participating from all overthe world including China, Thailand, India, Indonesia,Turkey and Bangladesh.

Large number of companies are exhibiting their prod-ucts. There was substantial presence of Pakistani manu-facturers and exporters of denim and cotton fabrics. TradeDevelopment Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has arrangednational pavilion in the exhibition. Nine Pakistani Compa-nies are participating under TDAP while others are exhib-iting their fabrics on their won. In total 28 Pakistani com-panies are participating in the fair.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial government hasset the target of sugarcane sowing at1.853 million acre area in Punjab withexpectations of 43 million ton produc-tion at the rate of estimated average peracre yield of 621.85 Maunds.

In a release issued by media liaisonunit of Punjab agriculture department onThursday, the agriculture spokesmansaid that duration between first week ofFebruary to mid March was best suit-able for spring sugarcane crop sowing.

He advised farmers to sow only reg-istered high yielding varieties of sugar-cane adding that early varieties includedCPF- 243, HSF-240, HSF-242, CP- 77-400and CPF-237. Varieties including SPF-245, SPF-234, SPF-213, CPF-246, CPF-247, and CPF-248 can be sown in casethe sowing gets a little bit late while COJ-84 can be sown as the late sown variety.He warned that farmers should not sowthe prohibited varieties including Triton,

Sugarcane to cover 1.8m-acrearea in Punjab in 2014-15

COL-54, CO-1148 (Indian), COL-29, COL-44, BL-4, L-116, L-118, SPF-238, and BF-162.

He said that in case of normalweather conditions and in time sowing,seeds having four eyes should be sownat the rate of 13000 to 15000 per acre.Seeds having three eyes should besown at the rate of 17000 to 20000 peracre.

Experts said that the number of seedcan be obtained from 100-120 Maundsugarcane. Land be prepared by deepploughing and then be levelled. Ridgerbe utilized to prepare 10-12 inch deeplines separated by four feet distance.

Phosphorous and Potash be appliedand seed be sown. The sown seed becovered by thin layer of soil by handor feet and light water be applied. Wa-ter application be repeated after suit-able durat ion when the f ield is dry.Farmers should keep repeating need-based water application till the germi-nation.

JCR-VISwithdraws PSPC

entity ratingsKARACHI—Credit ratingcompany JCR-VIS haswithdrawn the entity rat-ings of ‘AAA/A-1+’(tripple A/A-One Plus)assigned to Pakistan Se-curity Printing Corpora-tions (Pvt) Limited, withimmediate effect. The rat-ings have been withdrawnon account of non-pay-ment of outstanding dues,said a statement on Thurs-day.—APP

Oil prices risein Asian trade

SINGAPORE—Oil pricesedged higher in AsiaThursday but gains werecapped owing to con-cerns about surgingstockpiles in the UnitedStates, the world’s topconsumer, analysts said.US benchmark West TexasIntermediate for Marchdelivery rose 69 cents to$49.53 while Brent crudefor March gained 34 centsto $55.00 in afternoontrade.

“There is some opti-mism in the market at themoment, but the funda-mentals have notchanged,” MichaelMcCarthy, chief marketstrategist at CMC Marketsin Sydney, told AFP.

“The increased USstockpiles adds to theworry about ample glo-bal supply, which is themain cause for the cur-rent bearish market,” headded. The US Depart-ment of Energy reportedon Wednesday that com-mercial crude reservesrose 4.9 million barrels inthe week ending Febru-ary 6. Stockpiles were “atthe highest level for thistime of year in at least thelast 80 years”, the agencyadded. Oil prices havebeen under pressure formonths, plunging about60 percent to just over$40 a barrel betweenJune and the end of Janu-ary.—APP

Shopkeepersfined

KARACHI—The divi-sional and district admin-istration Karachichallaned 60 shopkeep-ers and fine of Rs.51,000were imposed for profi-teering and violating of-ficially approved pricelist. According to a hand-out issued here on Thurs-day, during crackdownthe administration fined23 milk sellers, 3 fruit sell-ers, 14 grocers, 11chicken seller and 9 veg-etables sellers.

The action againstprofiteers were taken in theareas including LiaquatAbad, Gulberg,Nazimabad, NorthNazimabad, New Karachi,Murad Memon Goth,Model Colony, ShahFaisal, Saddar, AramBagh, Civil Line, Garden,Jamshed Quarters, GulzarHijri, Orangi Town, BaldiaTown and other areas.Commissioner KarachiShoaib Ahmed Siddiquihas said that the operationagainst profiteers willcontinue till the sale ofessential items is not en-sured according to offi-cially approved pricelist.—APP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 101.20 101.00

UK 154.07 153.76

Euro 114.49 114.26

Canada 80.09 79.93

Switzerland 108.84 108.63

Australia 77.56 77.41

Sweden 12.08 12.06

Japan 0.8415 0.8399

Norway 13.21 13.19

Singapore 74.32 74.17

Denmark 15.38 15.35

Saudi Arabia 26.98 26.92

Hong Kong 13.05 13.03

Kuwait 342.30 341.62

Malaysia 27.96 27.90

Newzealand 74.34 74.19

Qatar 27.79 27.74

UAE 27.55 27.50

Kr Won 0.0913 0.0911

Thailand 3.096 3.090

ISLAMABAD: Dr. Munir Ahmad, Secretary PARC and Ms. Imrana Farooqui, Associ-ate Country Director Oxfam Novib signing a MoU for scientific and technical coopera-tion for the development of agriculture sector in Pakistan. Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad, Chair-man PARC, Dr. M. Azeem Khan, DG NARC and other senior officials are witnessingthe ceremony.

FAISALABAD: Ambassador of Germany to Pakistan, Dr. Cyrill Nunn addressing tobusiness community at FCCI.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—As part of avoidable blindnessprogramme Seeing is Believing StandardChartered has announced that it will investUSD 1 million for the Seeing is Believingprogramme in Pakistan which will benefitapproximately 1 million people across thecountry. This project will be implementedin Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, withgovernment and non-government partnerswithin the framework of National Eye HealthPlan of Pakistan. The overall aim of thisproject is to treat men and women who areknown diabetics, are screened for DiabeticRetinopathy and treated for sight threaten-ing retinopathy (STDR).

The Bank, since the launch of the See-ing is Believing programme in 2004, has in-vested approximately USD 3.3 million to help

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan AgriculturalResearch Council (PARC) and Oxfam Novib(Pakistan) on Thursday signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) here, en-visaging cooperation between the two or-ganization in transferring the scientific in-novations to the end users. The MoU wasformally signed by Secretary PARC Dr.Munir Ahmad on behalf of the council andImrana Farooqi on behalf of the AssociateCountry Director Oxfam-Novib, ArieSchuurmans,according to statement issuedby PARC.

Among others, the signing ceremonywas witnessed by Chairman PARC,Dr.Iftikhar Ahmad, Director General Na-tional Agriculture Research Center (NARC),M. Azeem Khan and other high officials ofthe two organizations. According to theMoU, both the organizations would mutu-ally cooperate in sharing and dissemina-

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPIND—Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Dr.Miftah Ismail, Thursday, said that Special Economic Zones(SEZs) would be established in Rawalpindi and other ar-eas of the country to promote industrial activities and spe-cial tax relief will be offered for SEZs to endorse foreigninvestment. He said that legal embargos of old SEZs billare being finalized. He said that ratio of foreign direct in-vestment in the country is mere 4 percent of total invest-ment and country’s current investment is 14 percent of itsGDP and government is committed to enhance this ratio to20 percent of GDP.

He was exchanging these views with the PresidentRawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI)Syed Asad Mashadi during his visit to Chamber on Thurs-day. Vice President Saboor Malik, Former President JawedAkhtar Bhatti and other members of the Chamber werealso present on the occasion.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The International Fund forAgricultural Development (IFAD) and Gov-ernment of Pakistani (GoP), Thursday,signed regarding financing a US$40.83 mil-lion project to increase productivity in thelivestock and dairy sector and reduce pov-erty for 112,500 rural households in the fourpoorest districts in the Punjab Province.

As per agreement, IFAD will provide aloan of $35 million on highly concessionalterms to finance the Pakistan Livestock andAccess to Market Project (LAMP). Accord-ing to IFAD, the loan agreement was signedtoday in IFAD headquarters by Kanayo F.Nwanze, President of IFAD, and TehminaJanjua, Ambassador and Permanent Repre-sentative of Pakistan to the United Nationsin Rome.

The project will address the key con-straints that prevent growth in the livestocksector in Pakistan. These include low over-

SOEs network to be extended to promoteindustrial activities: Chairman BoI

Miftah said that BoI prime goal is to promote foreigndirect investment and Special Economic Zone will help alot in this regard. He was of the view that for the endorse-ment of investment in the country; economic policies mustbe made constant to develop trust of the investors. Hefurther said that RCCI is playing vital role in the uplift ofthe business activities in and outside of the country. Healso appreciated the RCCI step for organizing single coun-try Expos in the different countries.

Speaking on the occasion President RCCI Syed AsadMashadi said business community can bring the country outof crisis but government must facilitate the said communityin this regard. He said that business community is facingimmense problems regarding taxation and other issues re-lated to finance ministry but Minister Ishaq Dar is too busy inpolitical affairs to spare some time for the community. Heurged the State Minister to play his role in this regard. Mashadisaid that government must focus on trade with Afghanistanand Central Asian States to promote exports of the country.

IFAD, GoP sign agreement tosupport livestock, dairy sector

all productivity, high disease and mortalityrates among livestock, and farmers’ limitedaccess to markets and agribusinesses -such as dairies. The IFAD-supportedproject is co-financed with contributionsfrom the government of Punjab, the benefi-ciaries themselves and the private sector. Itwill be implemented over a six-year period.

“We are addressing the needs of thepoorest farmers whose livelihoods and foodsecurity depend on livestock,” said HubertBoirard, Country Programme Manager,IFAD. “Many of the poorest householdsare those headed by women. All livestockfarmers will receive training and support todevelop livestock production and connectto markets and small dairy businesses inthe region.”

To date, IFAD has invested in 26projects in Pakistan that had a total cost ofnearly 2.4 billion of which IFAD contrib-uted $565.8 million, directly benefiting1,980,400 households.

PARC, Oxfam-Novib sign MoUto transfer scientific innovations

tion of knowledge, development of a largecadre of new entrepreneurs besides pro-moting and generating income and employ-ment opportunities.

According the MoU both the organiza-tion would organize training of jointly se-lected entrepreneurs from the communitiesin the agreed agriculture sectors while a jointprovision of technical assistance would beprovided to the communities in the success-ful implementation of potential business. TheMoU would remain operative for five yearswhich could be extended by mutual under-standing while both the parties would ap-point focal persons who will be holding pe-riodic meetings to work out the details of theprogramme. Chairman PARC, Dr. IftikharAhmad on the occasion expressed the hopethat the MoU would help transfer the tech-nology to the end users for the benefit ofthe agriculture sector.—APP

Standard Chartered to invest $1m for‘Seeing is Believing’ programme

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Habib BankLimited (HBL), Pakistan’slargest bank, has enabled

Daraz.pk, Pakistan’s largestonline store to accept creditand debit cards while deliv-ering goods to customers’doorsteps. This has beenachieved through HBL’sbreakthrough service ofmPOS (Mobile POS), whichhas been recently launched.

The mPOS solution en-ables merchants to acceptpayments through debit andcredit cards while deliveringgoods to customer doorsteps.This replaces the existing andonly mode of payment “Cash-on-Delivery” with a more safeand secure “Card-on-Deliv-ery” solution. This reducesthe responsibility of handlingcash from the delivery cycle.The service accepts VISA,

MasterCard and UnionPaycards. The mPOS can be inte-grated with backend systemsof merchants, thus providingreal time transaction data for

quick decision making.Faiq Sadiq, Head Pay-

ment Services HBL, com-mented: “HBL is taking themerchant business very seri-ously, with introduction ofPOS and Online card accep-tance solution last year; therecent addition is mPOSwhich will change the land-scape of how payments aremade via merchant acquiringbusiness. This will enable thePOS to go to people insteadof people coming to POS. Thereduction of cash depen-dency from delivery cycle willfurther increase the averageticket size of such transac-tions, enabling merchants tosell more in a secure way.”

Muneeb Maayr, co-

founder Daraz.pk added “Weare excited to partner withHBL and Monet and helpusher in a new era of innova-tive payment solutions

across Pakistan. The future ofonline shopping lies in mo-bile devices, and we are happyto leverage this platform forreal time payments also.”

Monet Chief ExecutiveOfficer Ali Abbas Sikandersaid: “While mobile ischanging the paymentsmarket, mPOS is a fast-grow-ing area within the pay-ments ecosystem and finan-cial institutions are ideallyplaced to capitalize on it. Inorder to do this they mustbuild upon existing rev-enues and relationshipsand offer a competitiveproposition to merchants,which can be scaled easilyto meet future business andconsumer needs.”

HBL breakthroughs mPOS servicealleviate avoidable blindness from Pakistan.Through the various initiatives under theprogramme we have impacted the lives ofalmost 11 million people across Pakistan. A20 percent reduction in cataract blindness inPakistan is attributable to this programme.

Commenting on the initiative ShazadDada, Chief Executive, Standard CharteredPakistan said, “I am proud to be affiliatedwith a bank like Standard Chartered thatismaking a sizeable difference in Pakistanthrough its avoidable blindness programme,Seeing is Believing. With the launch ofPhase 5 we aim to reach a million Pakistanimen and women who are diabetic and treatthem through early detection to prevent vi-sual impairment.” In recognition of the Bank’sefforts, the Government of Pakistan has alsomade the Bank a partner of the National Steer-ing Committee for Eye Health.

Good corporategovernance

structureperforms betterCOMMERCE REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—In his wel-come address, President,Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (ICCI),Muzzamil Hussain Sabri,Thursday, said that compa-nies having good corporategovernance structures al-ways performed better thanthose with weak governancestructures. Addressing aworkshop on “GovernanceChallenges in Family OwnedBusinesses” organized byICCI in collaboration withCenter for International Pri-vate Enterprise (CIPE); heurged that every familyowned business should es-tablish proper structures toensure growth as businessfailures were largely due topoor corporate governancestructures.

He hoped that the work-shop would benefit the par-ticipants, as they would beable to understand how bestthe principles of corporategovernance could help themin building strong busi-nesses Country DirectorCIPE Moin Fuda was thekey speaker who high-lighted the importance ofcorporate governance infamily owned businesses,which was essential to en-sure sustainable growthand progress.

He said one-third of For-tune 500 companies werefamily controlled and familyowned businesses playedvital role in the economicdevelopment in many coun-tries as they contributed 50percent to GDP and pro-vided 60 percent employ-ment to non-agricultureworkforce. He said manyfamily owned businesses inChina, India, Europe andWest have developed intoconglomerates by imple-menting the principles ofcorporate governance but95 percent businesses inPakistan could not survivebeyond 3rdgeneration dueto lack of professional man-agement.

The lack of profession-alism, documentation andtransparency, lack of visionand capital etc. were high-lighted as the major problemsin family owned businessesthat impeded their growth. Itwas stressed that familyowned enterprises should tryto implement corporate gov-ernance that will bring mul-tiple benefits to them, as itwill help in achieving long-term growth, reducing risksassociated with mismanage-ment besides lowering capi-tal costs.

ISLAMABAD—Utilizing their resources at theoptimum level, telecommunication compa-nies have successfully verified over 22 mil-lion SIMs in just over three weeks. How-ever, the experts believe the challenging taskof re-verification of remaining 83 million SIMsis going to be very difficult to achieve withinthe given timeline. The verification of over22 million SIMs shows that the re-verifica-tion process is going in full swing. Keepingin view the whole hearted efforts, logisticaland awareness challenges faced by the cel-lular companies and importance of complet-ing the activity in the context of nationalsecurity it is essential the customers comeout to fulfill their duty and ensure that theyverify SIMs that are in their use.

Chief Commercial Officer Zong, Babar AliBajwa while expressing his views said “Keep-ing national security as a foremost priority,Zong has invested heavily in terms of hu-man resources, IT systems, deployment of

Zong continues SIMs biometricre-verification process

more BVS devices, mass level awarenesscampaigns of SIMs re verification throughbiometric (through print, electronic and digi-tal media) and in devising innovative activi-ties/strategies to maximize the reach of SIMsre verification to the customers.”

Eman Khan, a Zong customer whileshowing her satisfaction over the ZongSIM verification process said, “I came toknow about the SIM verification processthrough an SMS by Zong to get my SIMverified before the due date. They alsoshared the information of nearest Zong fran-chise to visit. After my visit to Zong fran-chise and SIM verification, I recommend allmy fellows to get their SIM verified in bestnational interest as cellular companies arefacilitating the customers.” In this regard,utmost efforts are being made to ensure thatthe process is as smooth as possible andthe customers are provided convenienceand facilitation of the highest level.—PR

CPP starts layinggas pipeline in

PakistanISLAMABAD—China Petro-leum Pipeline Bureau (CPP) willsoon begin laying 700 kmGwadar-Nawabshah gas pipe-line in Pakistan on govern-ment-to-government basis,according to media reportsonce complete, the pipeline willtransport up to one billion cu-bic feet per day of regasifiedLNG. CPP is expected to finishthe pipeline in two years, themedia reported.

Pakistan hopes that thepipeline would also facilitateIran-Pakistan pipeline projectif international sanctions onTehran go. According to offi-cials CPP would bring the re-quired capital of $1.5 billionand will also construct theLNG terminal in Gwadar, cost-ing $800 million.—Online

RAWALPINDI: President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Syed Asad Mashadipresenting shield to Chairman Board of Investment, Dr. Miftah Ismail during his visit at RCCI.

NALTAR: General Rashad Mahmood, Chairman JCSC awarding trophy to PAF team for winning 9th Chairman JointChiefs of Staff Committee Ski Championship at PAF Ski Resort.

LAHORE: Pakistani singers and artists hold national flags during launching cer-emony of Cricket World Cup 2015 at a local hotel.

PESHAWAR—Jans club and Peshawar clubadvanced to quarter-finals after securingvictories against their respective rivals inthe ongoing 23rd Governor Gold CupCricket Tournament being played at twodifferent venues on Thursday.

In the first match played at Arbab NiazCricket Stadium, Peshawar club, led by Testcricketer Fazali Akbar defeated Hankersclub.

Peshawar club won the toss and electedto bat first by setting up 247 runs for theloss of four wickets after playing the allot-ted 30 overs.

Israr Ullah and Zubair Khan made halfcenturies. Israr Ullah hammered a cracking78 runs including nine boundaries and twosixes, Zubair Khan made 69 runs includingseven boundaries and two sixes, SalmanAfridi made 33 runs including four bound-aries and Shah Zaib and Mehran Ibrahimscored 22 runs each. For Hankers clubHamid Mehmood took two wickets, AdnanJamal got one wicket.

In reply, Hankers club batsmen playedexcellently by reaching at 209 runs for theloss of seven wickets but later on Peshawarclub bowlers succeeded in restricting Han-

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for In-ter-Provincial Coordination (IPC),Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Thurs-day said he was positive that this timethe Green-shirts will break the jinx bybeating arch rival India in the WorldCup match on February 15.

Talking to media persons here atPakistan Sports Complex after the cashaward distribution ceremony of theCommon Wealth medalists, he said

“There is so much hype and theexpectations are high. We have the

Pakistancricket teamto beat India:Law makers

ISLAMABAD—Members ofParliament have high expec-tations with Pakistan cricketteam and hopeful that theywould defeat arch rival In-dia in cricket world cupmatch on Sunday.

Talking to media per-sons, out side the Parlia-ment, Member National As-sembly (MNA) PML-N,Talal Chaudhry said bestwishes of 200 million peopleof the country are associ-ated with the cricket team.

He said win and defeatis part of the game but thepublic is excited and expectthat this time our teamwould perform best and de-feat India.

Talal said those playerswho present outstandingperformance in the matchwill win hearts of thepeople and would befavourite player of thecricket lovers.

MNA Aftab AhmedKhan Sherpao said wholenation is praying for the vic-tory of the Pakistani cricketteam and they would notdisappoint them this time.

He said, “I am confidentthat our team would givebest performance in thematch and will raise the na-tional flag high after a majordefeat”.—APP

Sindh Governorpromises

support to PHFofficials

KARACHI—Sindh Gover-nor Dr.Ishrat-ul-EbadKhan promised his ful lsupport and assistance inthe promotion and devel-opment of national gamelike hockey in the prov-ince.

He expressed theseviews during his meetingwith officials of PakistanHockey Federation (PHF)which called on him at theGovernor’s House here.

PHF PresidentChaudhry Akhtar Rasoolwas heading the delega-tion which also includedSecretary Rana Mujahidand Olympians If t ikharSyed and Asif Bajwa.

He told the PHF del-egation that Sindh Gov-ernment will take all stepsand provide resources forthe instal lat ion of newturf at country’s historicHockey Club of Pakistan.

Dr.Ishrat assured anew turf will also be in-stalled at Karachi HockeyAssociat ion Ground lo-cated in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

He said he wil l alsoseek the support of prop-erty Tycoon Riaz Malik inPHF overcoming their fi-nancial crisis.

Sindh Governor alsocalled the federal sportsauthorities for urgent re-lease of funds for the cashstarved PHF.

Akhtar Rasoolthanked Dr.Ishrat-ul-EbadKhan for his persist andencouraging support forpromotion and develop-ment of hockey.

PHF officials told theGovernor that SindhGovernor ’s Gold CupHockey Tournament willbe revived in nextmonth.—APP

Governor Gold Cup Cricket: Jans,Peshawar club advance to quarters

kers club to 217 runs only. For Hankers clubSadiq hammered a cracking century 122runs with 19 boundaries and three sixes.Farman Ullah scored 66 runs, none of theother batmen could cross the double fig-ures. For Peshawar Club Ammad Uddin andBakhtiar took two wickets each.

In the second match Jans club beatPeshawar Panthers club. Jans club whilebatting first scored 219 runs for the loss ofnine wickets with Johar Hussain struck 55runs including five boundaries and twosixes, Qazi Jan Alam scored 49 runs withthree boundaries and Adnan Khattak andFawad Bahadar scored 30 and 28 runs re-spectively. For Peshawar Panthers DaudKhan took four wickets, Obaid Ullah scoredthree wickets.

In reply Peshawar Panthers bundled outfor 205 runs and Jans club won the matchby 14 runs. Wasif Khan (86) with nineboundaries, Muhammad Asif Khan (68) withfour boundaries and three sixes and Sajidkhan scored 28 runs. For Jans club AdnanShah claimed four wickets, Manzoor Khangot three wickets and Khan Bahadar gotthree wickets.—APP

Medal winners of CW Games awarded with cash prizes

Pirzada sees Pakistan teamvictorious against India

SPORTS REPORTER

NALTAR (Gilgit)—3rd Inter Services SkiChampionship and 9th Chairman JointChiefs of Staff Committee Ski Champion-ship concluded at PAF Ski Resort, Naltaron Thursday.

General Rashad Mahmood, ChairmanJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee was theChief Guest on the occasion. Air MarshalSohail Gul Khan, Vice Chief of the Air Staffwho is also President Ski Federation of Pa-kistan accompanied the chief guest. ChiefGuest distributed trophies and awardsamong the winners.

Pakistan Air Force won the 3rd InterServices Ski Championship and 9th Chair-man Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee SkiChampionship trophy. While addressing atthe occasion, the Chief Guest said,” Thepioneering efforts of PAF in uplifting thesport of skiing and making it accessible tothe budding talented youth is commend-able.

The PAF has also done exceedingly wellin spearheading Ski Federation of Pakistan,which has made tireless efforts in attract-ing your to participate in this sport. While

PAF lift Inter-Services,CJCSC Ski Championships

addressing the participants the Chief Guestsaid.”

The Pakistan Ski team has undergonestrenuous training. But you must keep inmind that glory does not come withoutstruggle. One has to work hard for it and Ihope that you will play your rightful role asathletes, to uphold the momentum of thisexciting spot. Participants in Olympics Win-ter Games will indeed make Pakistan a regu-lar and meaningful participant in world-classevents”.

He also appreciated the enthusiasticparticipation by member associations in thechampionship and commended the orga-nizers for holding this grand event in a be-fitting manner.

He also congratulated and announcedan award of Rs. 5,00,000/- (five lac) for theSki Federation of Pakistan. The ski compe-tition continued for three days at PAF SkiResort, Naltar.

Skiers from various Ski associationsparticipated in the championship in tem-peratures below freezing point. A large num-ber of spectators and Ski lovers from allover the country came to witness the cham-pionship.

confidence and the ability to surpriseany team on the given day”.

While praising Nasir Jamshed,Umar Akmal and Harris Sohail, he saidhe has a lot of expectations from theseyoungsters.

Returning back to the cash awardsdistribution ceremony, the Ministersaid I don’t know why the people havestopped visiting stadiums and sportscomplexes to buck up the confidenceof the players.

“When I took over the Ministrythere were a lot of problems going withfederations associations etc but by the

grace of Allah it is all over and we areon the right track now,” he said.

He said players are ambassadorsof the country and thanked them forgiving excellent results despite gettinglimited resources. “I also thank thePakistan Sports Board (PSB) for pro-viding them with the best facilities,”he said.

The Minister said today the rulesof the games have been changed a lotaccording to the modern style andtherefore we should also adopt thesechanges as soon as possible in orderto be successful. Pakistan Sports

Board (PSB) Director Gen-eral Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera,Federal Secretary, IPCMuhammad Ejaz Chaudhryand other members werealso present at the occasion.The coaches and players

awarded with cash prizesinclude Ali Bux Rs 2lac,Muhammad Tariq Rs 2lac, Muhammad Waseem Rs20 lac (Boxing); Amina ShahRs 2 lac,Shah Hussain ShahRs 20 lac (Judo);Muhammad Anwar Rs 2 lac,Qamar Abbas Rs 20 lac,Azhar Hussain Rs 10 lac(Wrestling). The 1988 Olym-pics bronze medal winnerboxer Hussain Shah also re-ceived an award.However the PSB also

awarded their two employ-ees with cash awards in-cluding Mushtaq HussainRs 50,000 and Raja IfthikarRs 20,000.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Mian Riaz HussainPirzada awarding cash prize to winner of 20th Commonwealth Games.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Minister for Education,Sports and Tourism Rana MashhoodAhmad Khan today hosted a reception inhonour of the drivers and navigators fromIslamabad Jeep Club in Punjab FootballStadium, Lahore.

The “Carvan-e-Aman” comprising of25 wrangler jeeps has proceeded to QilaDarawar, in the Cholistan desert nearBahawalpur to participate in 10th CholistanJeep Rally 2015 which will commence to-day. The rally has been given theme ofPakistan Peace Rally this year.

The Minister while talking to the par-ticipants, emphasized the need to revivethe real identity of Pakistan’s culture andhistory in a positive way through sportsactivities and expressed the hope that morethan three lakh people will witness CholistanJeep Rally this year which would greatlycomprise of the energetic youth of Paki-stan. Director Individualland Pakistan Mrs.Gulmeena Bilal Ahmad, Executive Director

Cholistan Jeep Rally today

LAHORE: Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed viewing the vehicleswhich will participate in 10th Cholistan Jeep Rally from February 13 to 15.

“Bargad” Mrs. Sabiha Shaheen, MemberPunjab Assembly Mrs. Tahia Noon, Secre-tary Tourism, Sports and Youth AffairsPunjab Muhammad Khan Khichi, DG SportsUsman Anwar, Managing Director TDCPAhmar Malick, Youth Affairs Consultant AliRaza Shah and Chairman Higher EducationCommission Punjab Dr. Nizam-ud-Din alsospoke on the occasion.

Earlier, President World Boxing CouncilMaricio Suleman called on the Punjab Min-ister for Sports Rana Mashhod Ahmad Khanat National Hockey Stadium CommitteeRoom and announced the affiliation of Paki-stan as its 166th member. Pakistan has auto-matically become a member of Asian BoxingCouncil after this step. Maricio Suleman be-longed to the brotherly Islamic country Tu-nisia is visiting Lahore to participate in clos-ing ceremony of Punjab Youth Festival 2014to be held on February 14. Certificates dulyverified by the Guinness World Records willbe distributed to the honourable Pakistaniyoungsters setting Guinness World Recordsin 31 events during Punjab Youth Festival.

Afzal makesstering start in

CAS Open GolfK A R A C H I —MuhammadAfzal Mohsin of Hyderabadgot off to a sterling start in34th Chief of Air Staff (CAS)Golf Championship by card-ing 4-under-par openinground of 68 at Airmen GolfClub on Wednesday despitewindy conditions.

Afzal displayed brilliantdriving, chipping and put-ting to lead the pack of over100 golfers on day one.

M. Ashfaq andcountry’s ace player anddefending championShabbir Iqbal fromIslamabad Golf Club weretied for second spot afterround of 3-under-par 69.

Aadil Jehangir, MatloobAhmed and MuhammadAsif were tied for third spothaving played one-under-par 71.

In Senior professionalAbdul Ghaffar and Akber Alimanaged to be on top spotwith the gross score of one-over-par 73 followed byMuhammad Iqbal withgross (74), on gross thirdRaja Iftikhar is was chasingthe leader with three-over-par round of 75.

Patron in Chief AirmenGolf Course, Air Vice Mar-shal Azhar Hasan Rizvi, AirOfficer Commanding South-ern Air Command, PAF in-augurated the Champion-ship with first tee off.

SY D N E Y—Pakistan have found somemomentum ahead of the World Cup buthave not settled on their best line-upfor their tournament opener againstchampions India this weekend, coachWaqar Younis said.

Victories over Bangladesh and En-gland this week have given the 1992champions a real surge of confidencegoing into Sunday’s match in Adelaideagainst a team they have never beatenat the World Cup. “We needed momen-tum, we didn’t really play any reallygood cricket in the recent past,” Waqartold reporters after the four-wicket vic-tory over England.

“So the momentum and the confi-dence we got from these last two gameswill definitely help. “India has alwaysbeen a tough opponent so we’re notgoing to take it easy. We’re going tomake sure we wake up on that morningin a positive frame of mind and look towin this time.”

Pakistan lost several players to in-jury and suspension for the tournamentbut Waqar said his main problem infinding the right balance was their lackof al l-rounders, barring 34-year-oldShahid Afridi.

“It’s difficult to have the right com-bination, you want to have seven bat-ters, sometimes you want to have fivebowlers so sometimes something hasgot to give,” he said. “I think we are

Pakistan ponder optionsahead of India clash

going to sit down in the next three daysand see what’s going to give. We don’treal ly have that ‘X-factor’ of al l-rounder, maybe a batsman who canbowl fast.

“But we’ve got Afridi, we’ve got toreally trust him, he’s in good nick andbatting well, so still three more days tofind the best team to play the Indians.”While Pakistan’s f ielding was occa-sionally sloppy against England, EhsanAdil and fellow seamer Sohail Khanshowed enough to suggest the inexpe-rienced pace attack will have some bite.

“They bowled real ly discipl inedwhich is the key, the pitches here inAustralia are a little conducive for thefaster bowlers so hopefully these boyswill learn a lot from this tournament,”said Waqar, one of the f inest pacebowlers to have played. “They wil lhopefully deliver as well.”

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who tookthree for 45, also confirmed he couldbe as much of a threat in the 50-overformat as he has been in tests. Theunpredictable side rarely go into a tour-nament as favourites, although they didwin the World Cup the last time it washeld in Australia and New Zealand.

“The beauty of cricket is what hap-pened in ’92 could happen again,”Waqar said. “Some are good form, someare just getting into the groove, but itcould be anyone’s World Cup.”—APP

PIA to clash NBPin Quaid-e-AzamCup hockey finalKARACHI—PIA will clashwith NBP in Friday’s final ofQuaid-e-Azam Gold CupHockey Tournament afterthey won their semifinals ina one-sided match here at theCustoms Sports Complexturf on Thursday.

Junior international Azfarslammed two field goals asPIA routed the host 5-1.

Airlines once a Pakistanhockey force dominated theirpre- final from start to finishwith better brand of hockey.

PIA led 3-1 at the halftime. But Azfar scored twosnap field goals in the lasttwo quarters to make one-sided match. Inayatullah,Wasim Akram and NauhazMalik scored one goal each.Captain Haseem Khan net-ted the consolation goal forCustoms.

Olympian MuhammadTausiq blasted two penaltycorner goals as NBPwhipped Pakistan Railways5-2.

After olympian Tariq Azizopened the scoring in 12thminutes of the first quarter,Tausiq slammed the brace in18th and 23rd minutes of thesecond quarter to consolidatehis team’s position with 3-1lead at the half time.—APP

Above: MELBOURNE: Rangana and Udumbara Dance Troupe perform during the ICC 2015 Cricket World CupOpening Ceremony.

CHRISTCHURCH—A Christchurchcrowd in the tens of thousands wel-comed the 2015 World Cup in acolourful, community-focused event,which was capped off by aspectacular fireworks display.A host of cricket stars, bothpast and present, were in at-tendance, as were thousandsof families, who had begunarriving at North Hagley Parkin the early evening to enjoythe carnival atmosphere.

The event, free for thepublic, began with four bigbackyard cricket matches forchildren, each played atthemed stations. There was aCaribbean corner, a “SoBeige” Kiwiana mini-venue,a South Asian station, and aVictorian-themed match, re-plete with ladies and gentle-men dressed in fancy garb,and a painting of WG Grace overlook-ing the scene.

The cricket hubs wound downwhen the opening ceremony began inearnest with a Kandyan dance per-formed by a Sri Lankan troupe, followedby a Bollywood-style act, a perfor-mance by a bagpiper and an Irish riverdance. A Maori cultural group also per-

World Cup launched withsong, dance and colour

formed during the evening, apart fromseveral popular New Zealand musicalacts, including artistes like HayleyWestenra and Shapeshifter. The crowd

grew as the sunset, and gatheredaround the mainstage and thethree big screens.Many hadbrought anevening meal andpicnic mats.

Former WorldCup players in-cluding Chris Har-ris, Rod Lathamand Geoff Allotthighlighted thematches thatwould be playedacross the six NewZealand venuesfrom atop six tow-

ers, before Richard Hadlee and StephenFleming also appeared.

Brendon McCullum also played arole in one of the segments that fea-tured a young boy who dreamed of be-coming a great cricketer, and enlistedthe assistance of Lasith Malinga, Lordof The Rings director Peter Jackson,and several other New Zealand celeb-

rities in his quest. New Zealand primeminister John Key was also at HagleyPark, and posed for a picture withMcCullum.

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalzielgave an impassioned welcome speech,emphasising both the challenges thatan earthquake-stricken Christchurchhad overcome since 2010, and also theexcitement that had built in the city, atthe chance to host a major sportingevent. In 2011, Rugby World Cupmatches that the city had planned tohost were cancelled in the wake of thetwo major earthquakes, but the citywill now host the first match of theWorld Cup on Saturday. “We havebeen waiting for a very long time forthis,” Dalziel said of Christchurch’syearning to host fans of many nationswho have already begun descendingon the city. She also said the WorldCup would be part of Christchurch’sresurgence in 2015.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw -a hugely popular figure in the city - andthe remainder of the New Zealandcricket team received cheers when theirattendance was made visible. One ofthe biggest fireworks displays everseen in Christchurch brought the eventto a crescendo, as the World Cup wasofficially declared open.—AFP

MELBOURNE—Michael Clarke has been ruledout of Australia’s Cricket World Cup openeragainst England on Saturday.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann con-firmed Thursday that Clarke would not playthe highly-anticipated game at the MelbourneCricket Ground, despite impressing onWednesday, when he showed good move-ment, top-scored with 64 and bowled twoovers in a warm-up match against the UnitedArab Emirates. Lehmann said Clarke remainson track to return for Australia’s second game,against Bangladesh in Brisbane on Feb 21.

Team medical staff had long earmarkedthe Brisbane match for Clarke’s return, butspeculation had been intensifying that theAustralian captain would be ready in time forthe tournament opener.

“He’s pulled up really well ... we’re reallyhappy with his progress,” Lehmann said.“We’re going to stick with the plan and he’sgoing to play against Bangladesh.”

“We had a chat, we’re making sure he’s100 percent ready to go. We’re really com-

Clarke won’t play WC opener: Lehmannfortable with the decision.”

Clarke, 33,had surgeryon his righthamstring af-ter beingforced out ofthe India Testseries follow-ing the firstmatch. Hehas had backand ham-string issuesfor much ofhis career.

E n g l a n dcaptain Eoin Morgan said Clarke’s absencewould make little difference to the size of thechallenge in taking on the co-hosts. “What-ever team they put out doesn’t really botherus. It’s really important we focus on what wedo,” Morgan said. “He hasn’t been part ofthe tri-series.”—AFP

CHRISTCHURCH—New Zealandcricket captain BrendonMcCullum hoped his winning thecountry’s Sportsman of the Yearaward on Wednesday would givehis team mates a massive boostheading into their World Cupopener on Saturday.

The 33-year-old McCullumwon the Sportsman of the Yearand was a finalist for the supremeprize, the Halberg Award, but wasbeaten by Olympic and worldrowing champions Hamish Bondand Eric Murray, who had alsowon the Sports Team of the Yearon Wednesday.

“It’s really humbling but whenyou play a team sport individualaccolades aren’t what you playfor,” McCullum told reporters inChristchurch on Thursday, hoursbefore the opening ceremony forthe World Cup. “But at the same

McCullum gets WC boost with Sportsman of Year awardtime I’m respectful of the wholeawards and all those other recipi-

ents of awards “This one is verymuch for the boys as well.”

McCullum was the first crick-eter to win New Zealand’s Sports-man of the Year award sinceformer captain Martin Crowe in1991. He was recognised for asuperb 2014 when he became thefirst New Zealand player to scoremore than 1,000 test runs in a cal-endar year and also notched thecountry’s first test triple century.

The 302 he scored against In-dia at the Basin Reserve last Feb-ruary was also voted by the pub-lic as New Zealand’s Sports Mo-ment of the Year and he said theawards would only help his sidebefore they face Sri Lanka atHagley Oval on Saturday. “Forcricket to be in that spotlight is agood thing and right on the eveof the World Cup can only helpthe momentum the team’s builtup,” he added of their series vic-tories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan

and against South Africa in theirfinal warmup clash on Wednes-day.

“It was a really good perfor-mance, especial ly against astrong South African team. “Af-ter them coming over here ( inOctober) and dealing to us - Iknow it’s a warmup game and it’shard to replicate the intensity ofa fully fledged international butfor us I was really happy with theattitude we took into the game.

“We ticked the boxes with bat,ball and, more importantly, in thefield which is a driver of our atti-tude .

“We maintained a real lystrong presence and intensi tyand all the guys were engaged.That’s a good sign. We go in withno excuses; we’ve had a greatpreparation and we’re ready togo.”—APP

SYDNEY—Eight Pakistan players, includ-ing maverick former captain Shahid Afridi,have been fined for breaching a team cur-few ahead of their crucial World Cup gameagainst India, sources said on Thursday.

They have also been warned that arepeat offence will see them kicked out ofthe tournament which starts on Saturday.

“Eight of the Pakistan players, whichalso included former captain Shahid Afridiand opener Ahmed Shehzad, were fined300 Australian dollars (US $230) after theycame late to their Sydney hotel on Sun-day,” sources in the Pakistan team saidon condition of anonymity.

The team management, headed bymanager Naveed Cheema, a former mili-tary man, claimed the players arrived 45

World Cup curfew: Night outcosts Afridi, seven others

minutes late after a night out.“These players went with their friends

for dinner but came back late,” said a teamsource. The players are understood tohave apologised and have promised notto repeat the offence.

Team management have told the play-ers that if such a breach was repeated theywill be sent home on the first availableflight.

Pakistan are placed in Group B of the14-team World Cup which starts in NewZealand and Australia from Saturday.

Pakistan play their first group gameagainst arch-rivals and title-holders Indiain Adelaide on Sunday. Pakistani playershave a history of off-field discipline prob-lems.—AFP

Past recorddoesn’t matter inPak-India match:

Aamir SohailISLAMABAD—One ofPakistan’s finest openingbatsmen, Aamir Sohail, feelsIndia has cent percent winrecord against Pakistan inWorld Cup but such pastrecord does not matter in anew match.

“Indian team will be un-der more pressure to per-form while Pakistan hasnothing to loose. Last yearin Asia Cup also India wasfavourites but we beat themin that league match. So pastrecords don’t matter in anew game,” Aamir Sohailsaid.—APP

Below: CHRISTCHURCH: Rangana and Udumbara Dance Troupe perform during the ICC 2015 Cricket World CupOpening Ceremony.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah talking to media persons outside Provincial Election Commission Office.

Residents of Baldia Town stage a demonstration in support of their demands outside KarachiPress Club.

Vendors selling balloons in connection with Valentine’s day near Clifton underpass.

CLENCHING your right hand mayhelp create a stronger memory of anevent or action, and clenching your

left hand may help you recall the memorylater, according to a new study.

The research was con-ducted by a team of expertsfrom Montclair State Univer-sity, led by Ruth Propper,and was published in thejournal PLOS ONE.

A previous study fromUCLA demonstrated thatstimulating key areas of thebrain can improve memory.

The authors of the cur-rent report pointed out that“Unilateral hand clenchingincreases neuronal activity inthe frontal lobe of the contralateral hemisphere.

Such hand clenching isalso associated with in-creased experiencing of agiven hemisphere’s ‘mode ofprocessing’.”

In order to examine how hand clenchingimpacted memory and recall, the investiga-tors asked 51 right-handed participants tomemorize 72 words.

Researchers suggest that squeezing yourright hand together into a fist may help withmemorising a list.

One group clenched their right fist forabout 90 seconds right before memorizingthe list and then did the same right beforerecalling the words.

One group clenched their left hand be-fore memorizing and again before recall-ing.

One group clenched their right hand

Clenching your fist canimprove your memory

prior to memorizing and their left prior torecalling.

One group clenched their left hand priorto memorizing and their right prior to recol-lecting.

A control group that didnot clench their fists at all.

Results showed that thevolunteers who clenchedtheir right fist when memo-rizing the list and thenclenched their left when re-calling the words performedbetter than all of the otherhand-clenching groups.

“The findings suggestthat some simple bodymovements - by temporarilychanging the way the brainfunctions- can improvememory.

Future research will ex-amine whether hand clench-ing can also improve otherforms of cognition, for ex-ample verbal or spatial abili-

ties.”More research is necessary to determine

whether their results with word lists extendto memories of visual stimuli, such as re-membering faces, or spatial tasks, such asremembering where your keys are.

“This effect of hand-clenching onmemory may be because clenching a fist ac-tivates specific brain regions that are alsoassociated with memory formation.”

A recent study published earlier thismonth in the journal Neuron showed that lis-tening to certain types of sounds while a per-son is sleeping can improve his or hermemory.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) members nationalassembly Nafeesa Shah and DrShahida Rehmani while felici-tating the PPP and MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) forthe reunion said the PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had

PPP MNAs laud Zardari, Altaf for reunion

People suffered due todistance between PPP, MQM

KARACHI—The divisional and district admin-istration Karachi imposed a fine of Rs 51,000on 60 shopkeepers for profiteering and violat-ing officially approved price list. According toa handout issued here on Thursday, during crack-down the administration fined 23 milk sellers,3 fruit sellers, 14 grocers, 11 chicken sellers and9 vegetable sellers.

The action against profiteers were taken inthe areas including Liaquat Abad, Gulberg,

60 shopkeepers finedNazimabad, North Nazimabad, New Karachi,Murad Memon Goth, Model Colony, ShahFaisal, Saddar, Aram Bagh, Civil Line, Garden,Jamshed Quarters, Gulzar Hijri, Orangi Town,Baldia Town and other areas.

Commissioner Karachi Shoaib AhmedSiddiqui has said that the operation against profi-teers will continue till the sale of essential itemsis not ensured according to officially approvedprice list.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Police on Thursday claimed to havearrested two target killers involved in the mur-der of 15 people. According to Senior Superin-tendent of Police (SSP) Korangi Junaid Shaikh,two target killers, identified as Iqbal aliasShahzad and Ayaz, were arrested during a raid

Two target killers arrestedconducted in Korangi area of the mega city.

He said the accused were also involved inthe sectarian killings and murders of doctors. SSPShaikh added that the targeted killers had takenlives of 15 people in Landhi, Korangi and otherareas, saying they were also involved in the mul-tiple acts of extortion. Meanwhile, 20 gamblerswere also arrested in raids on gambling dens.

CITY REPORTER

KARACHI—Chief Minister Sindh SyedQaim Ali Shah has called for implemen-tation of Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline projectto overcome energy crisis. Addressingas chief guest at a programme to markthe 36th anniversary of Iran’s Islamicrevolution at the Consulate General ofIran here on Wednesday, he said Paki-stan and Iran enjoyed very closefriendly relations.

Qaim for implementingPak-Iran gas pipeline project

He said industrialists, traders of thecountry, specially from Sindh are keenlyinterested to further promote businessrelations with Iran. The Chief Ministersaid it will be in the interest of Pakistanto implement the gas pipeline agree-ment to facilitate industrial sector.

In his speech, Consul General ofIslamic Republic of Iran Mehdi Subhanisaid after the Islamic revolution underthe leadership of Imam Khomeini, Iranination has achieved remarkable

progress almost in all fields.He said Pakistan is Iran’s best

neighbouring country. He said Iran hasmade agreement with Pakistan to sup-ply gas for its progress and prosperity.He added that “hopefully we both coun-tries will take this agreement to its con-clusion”. The Iran envoy lauded the roleof former president and Co-Chairmanof the PPP Asif Ali Zardari and ChiefMinister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah forpromoting relations with Iran.

Later Chief Minister Sindh SyedQaim Ali Shah, Consul General of IranMehdi Subhani and other distinguishedguests cut a cake. The ceremony was alsoattended by Speaker of Sindh AssemblyAgha Siraj Durrani, Senior Sindh Minis-ter for Education Nisar Khuhro, SindhMinister for Works and Services MirHazar Khan Bijarani, Special Assistantsto CM Waqar Mehdi, Rashid Rabbani,leaders of other political parties, diplomatsof other countries and notable persons.

successfully implemented thepolicy of reconciliation whilethe MQM Chief also showedhis support well. The reunionof the two parties would behard to digest for the particu-lar vested interest but the factwas that the reunion wouldstrengthen democracy andwould bring radical changes inthe province and in lives of thepeople.

They said the distance be-tween the PPP and MQM hadonly cause the people of theprovince to suffer on which thePPP Co-chairman had deep

concerns and to mend the suf-ferings of the people, he con-tinued with his struggle for rec-onciling with the democraticforces of the province. Zardarialways had the interest of thepeople ahead and was anxiousto engage the MQM to servethe people jointly.

They said Zardari andHussain had once again failedthe negative forces that alwayswanted PPP and MQM shouldstay at war with each other andprotect their bested interest.However, the visionary ap-proach of the two leaders foiled

all such conspiracies.They said the PPP had al-

ways struggled for democracyand resisted the dictators andthere were still some puppets,who had been active in dupingthe people of Sindh at the be-hest of their masters. However,people of Sindh had great po-litical awareness and theycould never be befooled.

They also lambasted ImranKhan for applying tactic topeople of Sindh especially ofShikarpur by visiting them forcondolence. They asked wherehe was when the Shikarpur car-

nage was wreaked on the inno-cent people and why he wasthere to get some politicalpoints in the disguise of con-dolence.

They asked Imran Khanfirst to clarify his position andpresent a clear standing on theissue of terrorism and Talibanbecause he had been pro-activefor opening of Taliban office inPakistan. How could he guar-antee he was with the peopleof Sindh without condemningTaliban, who carried genocideof Shiite Muslims inShikarpur?

KARACHI—Administrator Karachi,Saqib Ahmed Soomro has directedofficials concerned to expedite car-peting and patch work of roads in thecity.

The administrator inspectingpatch work at ChaudhryKhaliquzzaman Road also directedIncharge Engineers to prepare listsof roads needing repair and carry outcarpeting/patch work on busy roadson a priority basis, said a press re-lease issued here.

It said that the Karachi Metro-politan Corporation (KMC) has been

KARACHI—The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) hasarrested Syed Hashim Raza Rizvi, son of Raza Imam Rizvi overalleged misappropriation of funds, said a handout issued here onThursday.

NAB arrests bank cashierfor embezzling Rs 225m

The accused was working as head cashier (OG-II) in abank’s KDA Civic Centre Branch.He allegedly misappropri-ated about Rs 225 million which was supposed to be depos-ited in the bank.—APP

Administratorfor expediting roads

repair workcarrying out roads’ repair work with itsresources, as motorists face inconve-nience due to potholes on roads.

Briefing the administrator, the rel-evant Engineer said sewerage and wa-ter supply lines leakage is developingpotholes on Chaudhry Khaliquzzamanand other roads, which recur after fewdays despite repair.

It was told that despite several let-ters to the Karachi Water and Sewer-age Board by the Director GeneralTechnical Service, satisfactory re-sponse has not been received.

It was informed that carpeting/patch

work is continuing at various roadsand it is hoped that this work will becompleted in the next few days.These roads include West WharfRoad, Ayesha Manzil, Shahrah-e-Pa-kistan, Shahrah-e-Faisal, UniversityRoad, Rashid Minhas Road, SohrabGoth and Sibghatullah Rashdi Road.

It was told that the KMC is car-rying out repair work only on theroads under its control. While therepair of local roads and streets is theresponsibility of relevant institutionsand they should repair roads in theirjurisdiction.—APP

Chairman Evacuee Trust Siddiq ul Farooq presenting a shield and sword to Indian State Minister for Petroleium and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhanat Gurdwara Dera Sahab.

Women members of Punjab Assembly getting their SIMs verified biometrically at PunjabAssembly building.

Girls selecting Valentine related material at a shop as Valentine’s Day is to be celebrated tomorrow.

CLENCHING your right hand mayhelp create a stronger memory of anevent or action, and clenching your

left hand may help you recall the memorylater, according to a new study.

The research was con-ducted by a team of expertsfrom Montclair State Univer-sity, led by Ruth Propper,and was published in thejournal PLOS ONE.

A previous study fromUCLA demonstrated thatstimulating key areas of thebrain can improve memory.

The authors of the cur-rent report pointed out that“Unilateral hand clenchingincreases neuronal activity inthe frontal lobe of the contralateral hemisphere.

Such hand clenching isalso associated with in-creased experiencing of agiven hemisphere’s ‘mode ofprocessing’.”

In order to examine how hand clenchingimpacted memory and recall, the investiga-tors asked 51 right-handed participants tomemorize 72 words.

Researchers suggest that squeezing yourright hand together into a fist may help withmemorising a list.

One group clenched their right fist forabout 90 seconds right before memorizingthe list and then did the same right beforerecalling the words.

One group clenched their left hand be-fore memorizing and again before recall-ing.

One group clenched their right hand

Clenching your fist canimprove your memory

prior to memorizing and their left prior torecalling.

One group clenched their left hand priorto memorizing and their right prior to recol-lecting.

A control group that didnot clench their fists at all.

Results showed that thevolunteers who clenchedtheir right fist when memo-rizing the list and thenclenched their left when re-calling the words performedbetter than all of the otherhand-clenching groups.

“The findings suggestthat some simple bodymovements - by temporarilychanging the way the brainfunctions- can improvememory.

Future research will ex-amine whether hand clench-ing can also improve otherforms of cognition, for ex-ample verbal or spatial abili-

ties.”More research is necessary to determine

whether their results with word lists extendto memories of visual stimuli, such as re-membering faces, or spatial tasks, such asremembering where your keys are.

“This effect of hand-clenching onmemory may be because clenching a fist ac-tivates specific brain regions that are alsoassociated with memory formation.”

A recent study published earlier thismonth in the journal Neuron showed that lis-tening to certain types of sounds while a per-son is sleeping can improve his or hermemory.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—TEVTA has enrolled 9140trainees in 3 and 6 months free de-mand driven courses in first phase.With the recommendations of the in-dustry, these 14 demand drivencourses have been started at selected186 TEVTA Institutes across theprovince of the Punjab while complet-ing its 100% admission target.

Chairperson TEVTA Irfan QaiserShaikh was addressing a meeting whichwas held at TEVTA Secretariat here onThursday to review the progress forlaunching demand driven short courses.Chief Operating Officer Jawad AhmedQureshi, General Managers Hamid

TEVTA enrolls 9140trainees for short courses

Ghani Anjum, Abdul Qayyum, Azhar IqbalShad, Akhtar Abbas Bharwana and otherswere present on this occasion.

Irfan Qaiser Shaikh said that 365 train-ees in Mobile Repairing, 865 in HomeAppliances, 505 in HVACR, 1115 in Elec-trician, 660 in Motor Winding, 415 inMotorcycle Mechanic, 235 in IndustrialStitching, 1250 in Beautician, 225 inKitchen Helper, 460 in Cooking, 760 inAutoCad, 1545 in Certificate in ComputerApplication, 590 in Web Designing and150 Spoken English males and femaleshave been enrolled. 6 courses for male, 4for female and 4 for both genders havebeen offered. 23000 students will benefitfrom these courses during one year inphases.

Chairperson TEVTA further saidthat Chief Minister Punjab MuhammadShahbaz Sharif is attaching top priorityto promote technical education acrossthe province of the Punjab. TEVTA isdoing all efforts across the province ofthe Punjab to impart skill to unem-ployed youth so that they may look af-ter their families after getting jobs.

Promotion of technical education isvital for rapid progress and developmentof the country. Stipend of Rs. 1000 permonth will also be provided to the train-ees to meet their traveling expenses.Trainees will also be given free consum-able material during the training period.Registration fee of trainees will also bepaid by TEVTA.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Advisor on HealthKhawaja Salman Rafiq has said thaton the directions of Chief MinisterPunjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif,provincial government is implement-ing a coordinated programme for en-suring provision of best treatmentfacilities to the people, under which,availability of medicines and remov-ing the shortage of doctors will beensured at all DHQ and THQ hospi-tals.

He said that coordination andmonitoring committees are being set

Coordinated programme underwayfor ensuring best treatment facilities

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has saidthat special children are not less thanthe normal children with regard to tal-ent and ability and they can be madeuseful citizens by providing best edu-cational and training facilities. He said

Special children are not lessthan normal children in talent

that Punjab government is implement-ing a comprehensive programme of re-habilitation, look after, education andtraining of special children.

The Chief Minister said that edu-cational facilities have been improvedin special children institutions and tal-ented special children have also beenincluded in the laptops distribution

programme. He said that Punjab gov-ernment is providing every possibleassistance to the institutions working forthe rehabilitation of special children.Shahbaz Sharif said that besidesmonthly stipend, government is alsoproviding books, uniform, transport,equipments and other facilities free ofcost to the children in the institutions

of rehabilitation of special children.He said that special children need

special attention of the society and PAFSchool of Special Children Cantt isplaying an important role with regardto education and training of special chil-dren. Shahbaz Sharif said this whiletalking to teachers and children at PAFSchool of Special Children Cantt.

up at divisional level for ensuring avail-ability of medical facilities to the peopleso that problems could immediately besolved at local level and grievances ofthe people be redressed.

He said this while addressing a spe-cial meeting at Commissioner Office,Sahiwal, in which Chief Minister’sHealth Sector Reforms programme andavailability of health facilities inSahiwal Division were reviewed in de-tail. Secretary Health Jawad RafiqMalik, DG Health Dr. Zahid Pervaiz,Commissioner Sohail Shahzad, DCOsof three districts and EDOs Health at-tended the meeting. Salman Rafiq said

that Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif is taking personal in-terest for ensuring availability of medi-cines and provision of best health fa-cilities to the people of far-flung areasand according to his vision, primaryhealthcare is also being improved. Hesaid that under this programme, short-age of doctors will immediately be re-moved at all Basic Health Units, RuralHealth Centers, DHQ and THQ hospi-tals and availability of medicinesthroughout the year will be ensured.

Secretary Health Jawad RafiqMalik told that biometric system is be-ing introduced for ensuring availability

of medical staff at health centers andhospitals so that medical staff shouldremain present and attend the patientscontinuously. He said that the pres-ence of 10 basic specialists and medi-cal equipments will also be ensuredin 145 DHQ and THQ hospitals ofthe province.

He warned that the absence of doc-tors will not be tolerated. SecretaryHealth stressed upon EDOs that everyBasic Health Unit has been providedfunds of Rs.3.47 lakh for the purchaseof medicines, therefore, availability ofmedicines throughout the year shouldbe ensured at every cost.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Pakistan Railways has decidedin principle to establish three museums inLahore, Karachi and Golra of districtRawalpindi to preserve its own heritageand Railways Heritage Council has beenestablished in this regard.

Railways Ministry has also hired theservices of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Bhuttaas Deputy Director Railways Heritage

Pakistan Railways to establish threemuseums to preserve heritage

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for Forests,Wildlife and Fisheries Malik Muhammad AsifBha Awan has said that Spring Tree PlantationCampaign 2015 has been started and 12 millionsaplings will be planted in the province. He saidthat 4.25 million saplings will be planted on theland under Forests Department, 1.3 million sap-lings on the land under Pak Army, one millionsaplings on the land of other departments while5.45 million saplings on private land.

He said this while addressing the participantsafter planting a sapling on behalf of Chief Minis-ter Punjab at the inaugural function of Spring TreePlantation Campaign 2015 on 7-Club Road, Thurs-day. Chief Conservator of Forests Rana ShabbirAhmad, Conservator Forests and other concernedofficers were also present on the occasion. TheProvincial Minister said that the basic aim of SpringTree Plantation Campaign 2015 is to create aware-ness among the people for planting maximum trees

Spring Tree PlantingCampaign 2015 starts

so that the menace of environmental pollution dueto increasing population could be overcome. AsifBha stressed the need for maximum tree planta-tion in view of the increasing requirements of woodand energy. He said that people of all walks of lifeshould take active part in this campaign.

Malik Asif Bha said that besides a target ofplanting 12 million saplings under Spring TreePlantation Campaign, Forest Department willalso plant saplings on one thousand miles alongside roads and on 13 thousand acres land underdevelopment and non-development budget dur-ing the year 2014-15. He said that 200 sale pointshave been set up for providing 16 million sap-lings to the people at cheaper rates.

Asif Bha Awan said that on the special di-rection of Chief Minister Punjab, financial as-sistance will be provided to the farmers for plant-ing on four thousand acres land for planting sap-lings under which, 50% cost will be borne byForests Department while remaining 50% by theconcerned farmers.

Council. Dr Bhutta has more than 20 yearsexperience in this field and also obtainedPhD degree in history. He is being con-sidered a senior archaeologist in the coun-try. He also served in Lahore Museum,Lahore Fort, Iqbal Museum and seniorposts in federal archaeology department.

Dr. Bhutta said that department has al-located Burt Institute and Golra station forrailways museums in Lahore andRawalpindi, while no site has been yet al-

located in Karachi. He said their preferenceis to establish the first modern railwaysmuseum in Golra. “This project consists ofthree phases including display arrange-ments, boundary wall and park, adding hesaid Initially we are working for display ar-rangements in Golra Museum which havealready more than 200 artifacts. He said theyare planning to establish different galleries,history and make the proper arrangementsfor display these artifacts.