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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar meeting with Air Chief Marshal TahirRafique Butt on Saturday.

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Today’s issue of PakistanObserver carries a one PageSpecial Report on National Dayof France on Page 11.

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—Director Gen-eral of Intelligence BureauAftab Sultan, and InteriorSecretary Major (retd)Qamar Zaman Chaudhry onSaturday visited Karachi’sconflict-ridden Lyari area toreview the situation.

Following the visit toLyari, DG IB Sultan and In-terior Secretary Major(retd) Chaudhry also vis-ited Chief Secretary ofSindh Ejaz Chaudhry.

Speaking to media,Chief Secretary of SindhChaudhry confirmed theirvisit, and added that theyhad been instructed byPrime Minister NawazSharif to visit Lyari, whohad taken special notice of

DG IB, Interior Secretary visit Lyarithe mass immigration of theresidents to safer areas.

Furthermore, the provin-cial chief secretary said thatthe DG of IB and the interiorsecretary were also given abriefing about the situationin Lyari. They were told thatthe Lyari situation was dueto the conflict between twogroups.

Moreover, DG IB Sultanand Interior SecretaryChaudhry were informedthat the federal governmenthad assured the provincialgovernment of its assistancein restoring law and order inthe conflict-ridden Lyari, in-cluding the supply of mobilelocators.

Chief Secretary of SindhChaudhry said that 59 casespertaining to the out-of-turn

promotions in Sindh policedepartment had been dis-posed of on SupremeCourt’s order, adding thatonly 12 cases of out-of-turnpromotions remained, andwould be resolved soon.

The Sindh chief secre-tary also said that those of-ficials who were transferredto the provincial police de-partment from other depart-ments had been sent back totheir previous departments.Meanwhile, Sindh Law Min-ister, Sikandar MehindroSaturday described the lawand order situation in Lyarias not an ideal one but re-fused to admit people’s mi-gration from there to otherparts of the city as thegovernment’s defeat.

“Some elements from

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Controlof Narcotics Substancescourt during Saturday’s hear-ing of the ephedrine quotacase, ordered the seizure ofassets belonging to formerprincipal secretary to theprime minister, KhushnoodAkhtar Lashari, as well asproprietors of three pharma-ceutical companies over theirfailure to appear for the hear-ing.

Also during the hearing,the wife and sons of formerpremier Yousuf Raza Gilaniand former federal ministerMakhdoom Shahabuddinsubmitted the details of their

Ephedrine case

Khushnood, 3 othersassets seizure orderedGilani’s wife, 2 sons, Shahab submit details

assets in the CNS court.Fauzia Gilani, Ali Musa

Gilani and Abdul Qadir Gilanisubmitted the details of theirproperties in the court.Shahabuddin also submitteddetails of his assets, addingthat he had inherited hiswealth and properties fromhis ancestors. M u s aGilani’s counsel, FaisalHussain Chaudhry, told thecourt that his client had threebank accounts which had alittle over a million rupees.Faisal also explained MusaGilani’s sources of income tothe court.

He also provided detailsof the bank accounts ofAbdul Qadir Gilani and

Fauzia Gilani. Chaudhryadded that Yousuf Raza Gilanihad no connection with orrole in the ephedrine quotacase and that he had not beenissued any notices over hisassets and properties.

The case’s hearing wassubsequently adjourned toJuly 30. The ephedrine quotacase first surfaced in Febru-ary 2012 after the SupremeCourt pointed out to politi-cal involvement in the al-leged illegal allocation of9,000 kilograms of ephedrineto two pharmaceutical com-panies and its conversion forsale in the local market.

Then in June 2012, arrest

WASHINGTON—Zero optionis not the preferred choice forthe Obama administration,the White House said, reiter-ating its enduring commit-ment to Afghanistan a post-2014 presence would bebased on negotiations withKabul.

“We do have an endur-ing commitment to Afghani-stan. And whether we have aresidual force there or not,that commitment will con-tinue. The commitment willcontinue through our Strate-gic Partnership Agreement,”White House Press SecretaryJay Carney said.

Carney told his dailynews conference the commit-ment to Afghanistan would

White House: Zero optionnot a preferred choice

Continued on Page 6

continue through a securityrelationship which would in-volve US efforts to continueto go after the remnants ofAl-Qaida in the region and tohelp train and equip the Af-ghan security forces.

“The question of whetheror not there’s a residual UStroop presence is somethingwe have to negotiate with theAfghan government. We’renot going to make a promiseabout a residual force if wehaven’t negotiated the cir-cumstances of that with Af-ghanistan. So it has to be thecase, as we’ve said as longback as far back as January,that one option is no troops,”he insisted.

Carney said no decision

had been made on the num-ber of troops in Afghanistanpost 2014 and it was not com-ing soon. “I’m not sayingthat’s the preferred option;I’m just saying to suggestotherwise would be to makeassumptions about negotia-tions that have not reacheda conclusion.”

President, Barack Obama,he added, would be discuss-ing with his national securityteam the issue of a potentialresidual force post-2014. Therange of options dependedon a number of things, hecontinued.

“We have discussionsgoing with the Afghansabout a bilateral security

Dar assures PAFChief of meeting

armed forcesfinancial needs

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief of AirStaff, Air Marshal TahirRafique Butt called on theFinance Minister SenatorMohammad Ishaq Dar in hisoffice on Saturday.

Air Marchal TahirRafique Butt briefed the Fi-nance Minister on the devel-opment needs of Pakistan AirForce including financialmatters.

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STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Chief Minister,Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif onSaturday said his govern-ment was employing emer-gency measures to controlthe power crisis afflicting theprovince.

Speaking to ChairmanWater and Power Develop-ment Authority (Wapda)

Govt employing emergency measuresto control power crisis: Shahbaz

Syed Raghib Shah during ameeting at the Chief Minis-ter House, he said theeconomy could only be im-proved by bringing the en-ergy crisis under control.

Shah gave a detailedbriefing to the chief ministeron Wapda’s performance andthe projects that it was plan-ning for the future.

Chief Minister Shahbaz

directed the Wapda chairmanto take steps to ensure aspeedy conclusion ofprojects undertaken to guar-antee smooth anduniterrupted supply of powerin the province.

He also directed Shah todevise a coherent strategy tominimise line losses andpower theft.

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Imran Khan fit;walks sanssupporting jacketISLAMABAD—Pakistan’scricketing hero andpolitician Imran Khan hasbeen declared fully fit bydoctors after check-up inLondon.

Imran Khan walkedwithout the supportingjacket for the first time afterinjury.

Imran Khan fell from afork-lifter which washoisting him up a platformto address an election rally.He remained in hospital for

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—A grand mani-fest of demotions in Policedepartment ever seen wasmade Saturday under the di-rectives of the SupremeCourt of Pakistan (SCP),which the provincial govern-ment had to comply in letter

59 SSP ranked policeofficers demoted

and spirit. However, some ofthe police officers in the listof demotions had escapedthe orders as the provincialgovernment had under rea-sons best known to the au-thorities asked some selec-tive officer to stay where theyare without changes to theirpolice grades. Continued on Page 6

Fifty-Nine police officersof grade 18 and of the rank ofSenior Superintendent ofPolice had been demoted totheir previous positions ofDeputy Superintendent ofpolice (DSP) or just PoliceInspector (PI).

The demotions were an-

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Katchi localities could beinvolved in disturbing thelaw and order of Lyari,” heobserved while addressinga press conference here atCircuit House but at thesame time added that put-ting the entire onus onKatchi community wouldbe unfair.

He said elaborate effortswere afoot to bring peaceto the violence-strickenLyari. Commenting on thelocal government system,the Minister told the report-ers that negotiations couldbe held even today with thegovernment allies. “Thecoalition partners can, if theso desire, introduce anamendment in the existinglocal bodies system,” headded.

Pervaiz deniesAbbottabad

Commission reportwent missing

ISLAMABAD—Minister for In-formation and Broadcasting,Pervaiz Rashid on Saturday

categoricallydenied mediareports thatAbbottabadCommissionReport hadgone missingfrom PrimeM i n i s t e r ’s

office, saying the report wasin safe custody of the gov-ernment.

No Haj visasfor old, sickRIYADH—To prevent thespread of Middle EastRespiratory SyndromeCoronavirus (MERS-CoV),the elderly and thosesuffering from chronicdiseases will not get Hajvisas this year, the Ministryof Health has announced.

“This new rule will beapplicable to the forthcom-ing Haj and the subsequentUmrah seasons,” HealthMinistry spokesman KhalidAl-Mirghalani told ArabNews. He said Saudimissions abroad would befollowing the strict instruc-tions of the Health Ministrysent to it by the Ministry ofForeign Affairs.

Haj and Umrah visaswill not be issued by Saudimissions to elderly pilgrimsand those suffering from

Postings, transfersABBOTTABAD, JulY 12(APP): Fifteen Tehsildars andNaib Tehsildars of Hazara di-vision have been transferredand posted AT different sta-tions. According to a notifi-cation, six Tehsildars andnine Naib Tehsildars ofHazara Division were trans-ferred and posted at the sixdistricts of the division. Thenotification revealed that,Tehsildar Iftrikhar Ahmedwas transferred and postedto Balakot from waiting posi-tion. Tehsildar MohammadTaj has been transferred fromPattan and posted inMansehra.

Abdul Haleem who wasworking as Tehsildar Palasnow had been transferred toAbbottabad. TehsildarWaheed Ahmed was trans-ferred and posted from Allaito Haripur. While TehsildarRahimdad Khan of Haripurhas been transferred andposted at Dassu.—APP

Motorcyclistkilled in road

accidentFAISALABAD—A motorcy-clist was crushed to death ina road accident in SargodhaRoad police limits. Accordingto police, 20-year-old Azeemwas riding a motorcycle whena speeding truck hit thim nearChak No 7-JB. He died on thespot. A watchman was killedas his pistol went off in BatalaColony police limits.

Dera Murad Jamali: Abomb blast occurred outsidehouse of retired police per-sonnel in Bohar Mahala area,here on Saturday, however, noloss of life was reported. Po-lice said that unknown menplanted explosive device out-side the house of Kazi KhanBugti, a retired employee ofPolice Department that wentoff, however, no loss of lifewas reported.—APP

HAMEED SHAHEEN

ISLAMABAD—Kashmir mar-tyrs day was observed inAJK, IHK and elsewhereKashmiris to renew their dedi-cation to the just cause ofKashmir. Big devotional con-gregations were held acrossthe state. APHC leadersMirwaiz Umar Farooq andSyed Ali Shah Gilani are un-der house arrest to preventthem to lead procession tothe martyrs of July 13, 1931graveground.

Public meeting paid trib-utes to the gallant sons ofKashmir who laid down theirlives but did not bow downto the oppression Dograforces in front of Srinagarcentral jail on this day. It was

such a catalyst event that im-mediately after it both theKashmiri stalwarts ShMohammad Abdullah and ChGhulam Abbas formed AllJammu and Kashmir MuslimConference with one its presi-dent and other its general sec-retary respectively in 1932. InMujahid Manzil Rawalpindi aspecial quran khwani was heldto pay home to the souls ofthe 22 martyrs who fell to thebullets of Dogra forces onJuly 13, 1931 in front ofSrinagar Central Jail.

In his brief address theveteran Kashmiri leaderSardar Mohammad AbdulQayyum Khan expressed hisconfidence that the Kashmiriswould sooner or later achievetheir chosen goal: liberation

of Kashmir and its accessionto Pakistan. He called uponthe Pakistani politicians tothink for the future as this re-gion is faces extraordinarysituation following with-drawal of US and Nato forcesfrom Afghanistan.

President Muslim Confer-ence Sardar Attique AhmedKhan who has returned lastnight from his British tourwhere he addressed the AllParties House of CommonsKashmir committee event, saidthat the whole world has beensensitized about Kashmir dis-pute. It is now for the politi-cians of Kashmir across thedivide to devise a course ofaction to have the UN Kash-mir mandate materialize assoon as possible.

Kashmir martyrs goalsupreme, achievable

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

FROM the outcome ofthe warm up match Pakistan cricket team

played against Guyana onits currenttour to theWest Indies,it can easilyby deci-phered thatour battingline up is stillvery vulner-able and thetour may turn out to be prob-lematic one. The victory by7 runs was very narrow—touch and go in fact. It wasa fight till the end—the fix-ture ending just two balls tospare. Not a good augury byany means. It was a secondor perhaps a third degree lineup with none of the mainCaribbean players in it. Mainscorers or all rounder s likeChris Gayle, Davo Bravo,Sammy and others weremissing. Yet Pakistaniscould not touch even the250 mark, Ahmad Shehazadbeing the only one to regis-ter half century, the rest werejust come and go cases,Shahid Afridi being the onlyother contributor to theside’s total with 31.

In my opinion,tomorrow’s opening onedayer will be much more de-manding , especially fromskipper Misbah whose abil-

ity to get quick runs has al-ways been handicap for theside. He plays too many dotballs which naturally bringsenormous pressure on thedressing room, and batsmenfollowing him, invariablygrope in the dark. Secondsuggestion is that Afridi mustlearn to stay at the wicket, andapply, not being too impatientfor lusty hitting. He shouldremember that he is playingfor a country, a flag, and fordignity of a nation, not for thegalleries to be called a heroby the fans. Afridi, luckily hasreduced weight, and was de-clared the fittest player in thesquad, tested for the tour.Some experts believe thatAfridi should bowl side-onand not open chested.

He will be much more ef-fective and recover the lostpride, he was famous for untilsome time ago. He is on trialand should cement his placein the side. Saeed Ajmal, al-though won the match with his5 for 37 in 10 overs, also shouldlose weight and so must NasirJamshed. The opener, whohelped by Ahmad Shahzad,did register an opening wicketpartnership of 62, but thencame the collapse. Nasir’sweight has been a hurdle in hisrunning between the wickets.Saeed Ajmal’s fielding is alsoaffected by his extra pound offlesh, which urgently need toshed. The team lacks a regularwicket keeper. Umar Akmal

may not be that dependable.Sarfaraz’s omission was tooglaring to ignore. If umar com-mits a mistake or two, by drop-ping catches or concedingbyes, then that would provecostly. Wasim Bari was a worldclass wicket keeper. He wasnot a batsman like Sangakarra,Alan Knott, Dhoni and the rest.

But Bari has been best be-hind the wicket and if he saved40/50 byes, then these wereassets for the side in the end.Yet another vital point to beremembered here while pickingup the final eleven fortomorrow’s match, will be real-ization that Pakistan’s strengthlies in spin attack. It has a fineleft arm bowler in AbdulRehman. He was victim ofgross and criminal neglect byMisbah. Twice on previoustours, he just was a sideliner,watching helplessly his sidelosing because of want of bal-ance in the bowling attach.World over wickets are nowbehaving to suit spinnersrather than fast bowlers.

Rangana Herath, Jadejaof India, Graeme Swann ofEngland, and Ajmal of Paki-stan have been match win-ners. Rehman must be pre-ferred over one of the pacerstomorrow. Junaid is good butone of the other two seamersmust make room for leg spin-ner in the side. That willstrengthen our bowling at-tack. Chris Gayle is in devas-tating form, but was bowled

neck and crop by SaeedAjmal.

He is vulnerable againstslow bowlers. So is Bravo.Then why not make a win-ning strategy? That is a vitalquestion, which touring se-lection committee must con-sider. Asad Shafiq is the onlyplayer from Karachi. Why ?.It is the job of the selectioncommittee members to hunttalent in Karachi, and notconcentrate on old and rick-ety list. We must find newplayers. That is the urgentneed now. All said and done,we must wish good luck toour team, but then Pakistaniskipper must act like Dhoni,his Indian counterpart whohas been a role model formany a captains of the worldteams.

In three balls, he fetchedthe match for India to lift theprestigious trophy in theWest Indies. Misbah on theother hand has been aspoiler and selfish in nature.Let us wait and see howteam performs tomorrow onthe West Indian tour, but tillthen we will have to keep ourfingers crossed and hopethat skipper and coach DaveWhatmore keep Pakistani’svital interest in mind, andnot just be arbitrary chosersor whimsical. Pakistan’sprestige will be at stake onthe tour, and that consider-ation alone must be on topof our agenda.

Pak batting still very vulnerable

Kashmiris observes martyrs day amid shutdownRAO ATIQ UL AMIN KHAN

MIRPUR—July 13: In Occu-pied Jammu & Kashmirpeople observed KashmirMartyrs Day on Saturdayamid exception restrictionsand shutdown across thestrife-ridden held valley withrenewal of pledge to con-tinue the 82-year old indig-enous struggle for freedomof Kashmir by continuingthe mission of the Kashmirimartyrs bring it to its logicalend, says a report reachinghere Saturday evening from

across the line of control.The occupying authorities

had imposed stringent restric-tions in Srinagar and otherparts of the valley to preventpeople from marching towardsthe Martyrs’ Graveyard atNaqshband Sahib on the callof separatists. At the same timea complete shutdown was ob-served in Srinagar and otherparts of the valley on Satur-day. The strike call was givenby all the freedom fighter lead-ers. And other organizations.

Kashmir Martyrs day isobserved every year on July

13, in Jammu and Kashmir tocommemorate those 22kashmiris gunned down bythe autocratic Dogra rulers in1931.for raising mutiny againstthe despotic regime. Eyewit-nesses from Srinagar told thisCorrespondent with conditionnot to be named in an e-mailmessage from Srinagar Satur-day evening that heavy con-tingents of Indian police andpara military troops were de-ployed in Srinagar and othertowns of the valley while allroads leading to NaqashbandSahib were sealed.

The occupying authori-ties placed the top separatistleaders under house arrest toprevent them visiting theMazar-e-Shuhda. The free-dom-monger leaders hadcalled for a march to Mazar-e-Shuhda. All the shops andbusiness establishments re-mained closed. . Governmentand semi-government of-fices, educational institu-tions and banks are also re-mained shut as a mark of pro-test against the long Indiancolonial rule and to pay hom-age to the Kashmiri martyrs.

LAHORE: Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami protesting against military coup in Egypt that resulted in the ouster of Mohamed Morsi.

Woman among 17 candidates submit nominations for NA-25

LAHORE/TANK—The Dis-trict Returning Officer hassent a letter to ElectionCommission of Pakistan(ECP) for the deployment ofarmy during by-elections inLahore. The letter for-warded by district return-ing officer Hamid HussainShah has requested theelection commission to de-ploy army to ensure freeand transparent elections.The army troops will beasked to supervise ballotpapers and deliver them toreturning officers.

The letter requested theECP to immediately issuenotification in this regard.It is important to mention

ECP asked for army deployment during by-electionsthat by-elections for one na-tional assembly and threeprovincial assembly con-stituencies will be held inLahore on August 22. Theconstituencies which havefallen vacant due to resig-nation of winners of morethan one seat in Lahore areNA-129, PP-142, PP-150 andPP-161. NA-129 was va-cated by Punjab Chief Min-ister Shahbaz Sharif, whoretained a provincial assem-bly seat.

Meanwhile electioneer-ing gaining momentum inNA 25 Dera cum Tank con-stituency for the by-polls tobe held on August 22, 2013as a total of 17 candidates

including a woman contes-tant submitted their nomi-nation papers with the Dis-trict Returning OfficerNadeem Muhammad. A to-tal of 17 candidates includ-ing a lady contestant are inthe run for the by-polls inNA 25 Dera cum Tank con-stituency. The seat was va-cant by Maulana FazlurRehman, the chief of JUI-Fafter winning the race ofGeneral Election 2013 simul-taneously on Dera cumTank-NA 25, NA-27 LakkiMarwat and NA-24 DeraIsmail Khan.

However, MaulanaFazlur Rehman decided tovacate Tank and Lakki

Marwat slots. The top fivecandidates among 17 con-testants who submittednomination papers with Dis-trict Returning officer in-clude Engineer DawarKundi of PTI, MaulanaAsad Mahmood (son of JUI-F chief Maulana FazlurRehman) JUI-F, MuhammadYusaf Barki Advocate fromPML-N, Abdul QaderBittani of Qaumi WatanParty.

Whereas Former deputyspeaker National AssemblyFaisal Karim Kundi, ladycontestant Gul Andama Bibiare contesting election asindependent capacity. PPPannounces candidates for

by-polls: The PakistanPeoples Party Punjab hasannounced candidates forby-elections on August 22.According to the PPPsources on Saturday,Khurram Jahangir Wattoohas been nominated ascandidate for PP-193, RanaM Akhtar for PP-161, ArifNaseem Kashmiri for PP-142, Haji Mushtaq MughalPP-123, Wajid MustafaBajwa for PP-51 and AsifNagra for PP-150. AshrafBhatti will contest for NA-129 while Mumtaz AliCheema for NA-83. PPPleaders have expressedtheir determination to winthe by-polls.—APP

LAHORE—Punjab Ministerfor Health Khalil Tahir Sindhupaid a surprise visit to Dis-trict Headquarter HospitalChiniot and expressed his in-dignation over the bloodstained bed sheets in wardsof the hospital. He summonedEDO Health Chiniot on thespot and conveyed his dis-pleasure to him. The Ministerreminded the EDO that moni-toring of health facilities in thedistrict was his prime respon-sibility and he should be an-swerable for that.

Khalil Tahir Sindhu imme-diately suspended in-chargesurgical ward Dr. TanvirAhmad due to absence fromduty. He also ordered provi-sion of best treatment facili-

ties to a female patient TahiraBibi who was lying unat-tended in surgical ward.

Meanwhile a spokesmanof Health DepartmentPunjab has said that no losshas occurred due to the fireincident in the ChildrenWard of Allied Hospital,Faisalabad. The spokesmanclarified that fire erupted inthe switch board due toshort-circuiting but it wassoon brought under control.The spokesman further saidthat as soon as the newsbroke on the media, Secre-tary Health Punjab HassanIqbal telephoned to theMedical Superintendent Al-lied Hospital and enquiredabout the incident.—NNI

Minister annoyed overdirtiness hospital conditionSuspends ward head over absence

Safe railways crossingsISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Rail-ways Khawaja Saad Rafique has writ-ten to all provincial chief ministers toconvert the unmanned level railwaycrossings into manned level crossings.In this regard, the minister would alsomeet all provincial chief ministers alongwith senior ministry officials, said apress release on Saturday. “Conversionof the unmanned level railway cross-ings into manned level crossings, reso-

lution of conflict over land ownership between PakistanRailways and provinces, payment of arrears to PakistanRailways, outstanding on part of provincial governmentsunder different heads and other related issues would bebrought under discussion during the meeting,” the pressrelease added. It may be noted here that under section 12of the Railways Act 1890, the responsibility for financingfor manning the unmanned level crossings lies with theconcerned path/road owning authority. Moreover, the min-ister has also directed the top notch of Pakistan Railwaysto approach various departments of federal and provincialgovernments as well as private sector for the acquisition/expansion of business for RAILCOP and PRACS, the twosubsidiaries of Pakistan Railways. Earlier, Member Na-tional Assembly of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Dr. Tariq Fazal Choudhary said that present govern-ment was fully committed to resolve issues of masses andtrying to provide relief. It was the top priority of PML-Ngovernment to maintain law and order situation in the coun-try, he added. Talking to a private news channel, he saidKarachi is the hub of economic activities so it is too impor-tant to restore the peace in the city, adding that provincialgovernment is responsible to maintain peace in Karachiand federal government is ready to provide every kind ofhelp or assistance in this regard.—APP

FESCO staff problems to be solvedFAISALABAD—Chief Executive OfficerFaisalabad Electric Supply Company(FESCO) Dr Rana Abul Jabbar Khan saidthe FESCO was making sincere effortsto resolve problems of employees. Ad-dressing a Joint Works Council meetingat FESCO’s Headquarters, he said em-ployees should also work with a com-mitment to achieve the set goals for theprogress and prosperity of this company.He advised the employees to adopt

safety culture while working on live lines as there was nosubstitute of human life. He expressed concern over theincreasing incidents of electrocution among the employ-ees. The chief executive issued orders for redressel of genu-ine problems on spot and assured to pay a sympatheticconsideration to the remaining problems. The meeting wasalso attended by Chief Engineer Technical Khurshid Alam,Chief Engineer Operation Khalid Rashid, Chief Engineer P&DTariq Mahmood, Director General (Human Resources)Naeemullah, Finance Director M. Iqbal Ghori, Addl Man-ager (HRM) Ather Ayub, Dy Manager PR Tahir Sheikh andother members of the union. Multan: Multan Electric PowerCompany (MEPCO) transferred and posted 17 officials here.According to official sources, XEN Operation MEPCO divi-sion Shujabad Basheer Ahmad has been transferred to XENM&T MEPCO division DG Khan while his predecessor XENMunsif Ali Laghari to Shujabad division, XEN SyedMuhammad Mubashir Rizvi from staff officer to XEN con-struction division Bahawalnagar while his predecessor XENRahim Buksh Sial to MEPCO Headquarters, SDO Gulgashtsub division Arif Wains to GC first sub division Multan,Saeed Zia from GC first sub division to Assistant Managerinspection GSC MEPCO while his predecessor SDO AbdulWaheed to Assistant Manager planning Directorate.—APP

Cold drinks causing diseasesHYDERABAD—The sale of fictitiouscold drinks being prepared in poor hy-gienic conditions is one of the majorcauses for seasonal diseases amongchildren during summer. We can findnumerous stalls of such drinks instreets, outside schools and colleges,hospitals as well as bus terminals,bazars, shopping centres and otherpublic places and mostly the poor getattracted towards these drinks due to

their lower prices. Eminent paediatrician Dr Salma Shaikhwhile talking to APP informed that the situation aggra-vates during every summer as hot weather forces peopleto take drinks which they would not have risked in otherseasons. She warned that fictitious and substandard drinksmay cause diseases like typhoid, hepatitis, diarrhea anddifferent kinds of infections and tonsillitis. She claimedthat the ratio of these diseases increased to around 60percent in summer because of unhygienic food and drinks.She suggested that the government immediately imposeban on the sale of unhygienic cold drinks outside schools.Dr Salma Shaikh also advised the people to avoid takingsuch fictitious drinks from roadside stalls and suggestedthat they use only boiled, filtered or genuine mineral drink-ing water. All such drinks are injurious to health, which areprepared through a blend of fruit-colours with iced water,she said and appealed to the people to avoid consumptionof substandard items. Inquiries show that many vendorsare selling juices of stale oranges at low prices particularlynear the railway station and bus and van stands. Majorityof the juice vendors do not observe any safety standardswhile washing their utensils in which they serve juices totheir customers. Moreover, drinks are sometimes sold inre-used bottles that are not cleaned properly.—APP

Windmills power projectH Y D E R A B A D — C o m m i s s i o n e rHyderabad Jamal Mustafa Syed hassaid that Gharo-Jhumpir WindmillsPower Project will bring economic pros-perity and convert the area into a devel-oped zone. This he observed while hold-ing meeting here at his office with ChiefRepresentative of Three Gorges SouthAsia Investment Corporation, WangShenliang who is also the Director ofThree Gorges First Wind Farm Pakistan

Limited. The Advisor to Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Gharo-Jhumpir Wind Power Project Tanveer Afzal Mirza,DIG Police Hyderabad Naeem Bhuroka and other officersfrom line departments also attended the meeting. The Di-visional Commissioner said that though initially Gharo-Jhumpir Windmills Power Project is designed to produce50 Megawatts of electricity however its capacity of powergeneration could be enhanced from 50 to 500 Megawattsby implementing its different phases. During the discus-sion, the Commissioner informed that as per survey madeby alternate energy experts, the total potential of Gharo-Jhumpir Wind Corridor is to produce more than 40,000Kilowatts electricity which according to him is sufficientto meet out the energy crisis of the country. The Commis-sioner said that this Windmills Power Project will not onlyproduce alternate energy to meet the energy challengesbut also provide income and employment opportunities tothe local people. Besides, the corporation engaged in thisproject is interested to facilitate the local people in educa-tion, health, drinking water needs under Corporate SocialResponsibility, he said.—APP

HYDERABAD: SP Headquarters Dr Wasi Hyder addressing a press conference at police station B Section.

ISLAMABAD—Director Paki-stan Meteorological Depart-ment (PMD) Dr. MuhammadHanif Saturday said that an-other spell of monsoon rainlikely to start from July 20 andheavy rains would occur inthe country, the weathereven more pleasant. Talkingto Pakistan Television, hesaid that mainly hot and hu-mid weather is expected inmost parts of the countryduring next 48 hours.

However, rain-thunder-storm is expected at isolatedplaces of North east Punjab,Kashmir and its adjoininghilly areas, he added. Dr.Hanif said that duringRamzan, weather trend is ex-pected with rains and muggyconditions. He said due tothe recent rain spells,weather would continue toremain pleasant in mostparts of the country. Reply-

ing to a question, he sai flowof water in Mangala Damwas around 40,000-50,000cusecs, which would in-

crease due to rains in Kash-mir valley. The flow in theTarbela Dam had reached200,000 cusecs due to melt-ing of glaciers.

He said that rain is ex-pected in Hyderabad andMirpur Khas divisions of theSindh province during thenext 48 hours. He said thecurrent rain system had de-creased temperature by 2-3degree salcius inBalochistan.—APP

New monsoon rainsspell from July 20

MULTAN—Assistant Com-missioner City Sadia Mehron Saturday warned shop-keepers of profiteering. Re-viewing an operationagainst encroachments onWater Works Road and atClock Tower Chowk, shesaid the district governmentwas utilising all possibleresources to make the cityclean and beautiful. Shesaid a strict action wouldbe taken against shopkeep-ers involved in profiteer-ing.

District CoordinationOfficer Syed GulzarHussain directed pricecontrol magistrates tolaunch a grand operationagainst hoarders and profi-teers. Addressing a meet-ing here on Saturday, theDCO said power of specialmagistrates had been givento 40 officers in the districtto control rates of com-modities in Ramazan.

He directed price con-trol magistrates to espe-cially check rates of veg-etables, fruits, rice, mutton,beef and other commodi-ties.

Karachi: Former Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lawmakers calledupon the government toevolve an effective strategyto ensure smooth flow of

Shopkeepers warnedagainst profiteering

traffic in Karachi during holymonth of Ramazan.

In a joint statement is-sued here on Friday, JIformer legislators includingMuzaffar Hashmi, LaeeqKhan, Nasrulllah KhanShajih, Hameedullah KhanAdvocate and Younus Baraiexpressed deep concernover the incidents of trafficjam at different roads of thecity.

The former lawmakerssaid that the traffic jam ondifferent roads will defi-nitely create nuisance forthe people during Ramazan.They emphasised on mak-ing an effective strategy toensure smooth flow of traf-fic during Ramazan, particu-larly in Iftar timings.

JI former lawmakers fur-ther said that the encroach-ments are also an impedimentin traffic flow. DG Khan: Com-missioner MuhammadAmeen ordered theconcerened officials to takemeasures for the provision ofquality vegetables and fruitsto the people. While visitingthe Model Bazar, he ex-pressed anger over poorquality food items being dis-played at the bazaar. He metconsumers along with goodssuppliers and shopkeep-ers.—APP

ISLAMABAD—A delegation ofthirty girls met Minister ofState for Education, Trainingand Standards in Higher Edu-cation Eng. MuhammadBaligh-ur-Rehman at his of-fice on Saturday. The delega-tion presented a resolutioncalling for girls’ right to edu-cation, enhanced opportuni-ties and more budgetary allo-cation.

The Minister appreciatedthe efforts of young girls andsaid they have highlighted animportant cause. He said thatwe are vigorously trying to im-prove the standards of edu-cation in the country.

He said that the pointsraised by the young girls inthe resolution are in line withour vision, and we have al-ready started working on it.He said that the governmentis trying to increase budget-ary allocation up to four per-cent of the GDP in a gradual

manner.Technical and Vocational

Education is being linked withthe general education, headded.

An Action Plan on acceler-ated MDGS and EFA is yet an-other step we have taken. Theaction plan has been sent to theprovinces and within a monththey will come up with theirsuggestions, the Minister said.

The Minister praised thebravery of Malala in champi-oning girls’ right to educationand said that brave girls likeMalala strengthens our re-solve. Minister of State forEducation and Training EngrBaligh-ur-Rehman earlier saidthe government would gradu-ally increase the budget foreducation to ensure free edu-cation under the Clause 25-Aof the Constitution.The gov-ernment has enhanced alloca-tion for education in the recentbudget.—APP

Girls’ education ourkey priority: Minister

ATTOCK—About 200,000children have been admin-istered anti-measles vaccineso far in the District, saidSpokesman of Health De-partment here Saturday. Hesaid the campaign will con-tinue till 18th July and400,000 children will be ad-ministered anti-measles vac-cine in the District.

He said 300 mobile teamswill go door-to-door to ad-minister vaccine in the Dis-trict. He said the vaccine isalso available at all hospi-tals, health centers, busstops, railway stations andentry and exit points of theDistrict.

With 92 new cases re-ported during the last 24hours, the number of measlescases reported in Punjab in thelast six and a half months hasreached 22,224. According to

Anti-measles vaccinesgiven to 0.2m children

health department officials, atleast 188 deaths have been re-ported so far while most deathsoccured in Lahore, Gujranwala,Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan,Kasur and Sialkot.

During the last 24 hours,around 92 cases of measleswere reported from Punjab,including only eight from cityhospitals on Saturday.

Officials appealed toparents to get their childrenupto five years of age vac-cinated against measleswithout delay and cooperatewith vaccinating teams.Meanwhile, EPI focal personDr Younas while talking toAPP said the current drivein five high risk districts ofPunjab was getting good re-sponse and people werecontacting them to vaccinatetheir children againstmeasles.—APP

LAHORE—Provincial Min-ister for Energy Sher AliKhan has said that City Dis-trict Government will focuson converting street lightsand offices to solar powersystem after Eid-ul-Fitr. Ad-dressing a news conferenceSaturday, the minister saidthat province could save2000MW of electricity un-der the energy saving cam-paign.

He said that Punjab willbe able produce additional3000MW electricity by Janu-ary 2015 in the light of agree-ments signed with the Chi-nese companies to produceelectricity by utilising coaland solar energy. She AliKhan said that China PowerInternational Holding will in-stall four power plants of

600MW each in differentparts of Punjab.

The electricity will besupplied at 12 cent per unit,he added. The minister alsosaid that Kalabagh Damshould be constructed withconsensus among all theprovinces.

Meanwhile the Punjabgovernment’s first energypolicy that it hopes to an-nounce in a month will focuson electricity generation fromhydel, biomass, coal, biogasand sun. The governmenthopes to incentives invest-ment in power generation.The policy also aims at re-ducing load sheddingthrough conservation mea-sures. The Punjab govern-ment had established an En-ergy Department in 2010, af-

Punjab govt set to introducenew energy saving regime

ter the passage of the 18thAmendment but this is to bethe first policy documentproduced by it.

The energy policy is be-ing evolved in consultationwith “all stakeholders,” anofficial privy to the develop-ments said. He said the gov-ernment was trying to per-suade foreign as well as lo-cal businessmen to invest inthe sector. The policy, ac-cording to the official, willfocus on two mechanisms:Build, Own, and Operate(BOO) and Build, Own, Op-erate, and Transfer (BOOT).Documents available withThe Express Tribune showthat the government plans onmaking it mandatory for newhousing schemes to run atbest 20 per cent of

streetlights by solar energy.Planning NOCs won’t be

issued if the condition is notmet. Shopping malls and pla-zas will be asked to replacetube lights and incandescentbulbs with LED lights to saveelectricity. A property tax re-bate will be available againstthe expenditures incurred inthis direction.

Violators will be fined.Construction companies willbe asked to provide for solarpanels while constructingpublic building or new malls.Town authorities will be toldnot to approve the plans ifthe provision is missing. Thegovernment also plans toswitch to solar power in pub-lic sector hospitals, educa-tional institutions and of-fices.—INP

Perhaps time for PIAprivatisation has comeTHE Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) on

Friday decided to give yet another package of seven billion rupeesto keep the national flag carrier air-worthy and deferred consider-

ation of business plan aimed at restructuring the institution and help standon its own feet. Though officially no mention was made of the total im-pact of business plan but media reports suggest the airline is seekinginjection of 16 billion rupees for the purpose and a decision would bemade in next meeting of the ECC.

The financial conditions, mismanagement and falling standardsof PIA are source of concern for all patriotic Pakistanis as the insti-tution has been allowed to sink despite enjoying almost monopolyin the field because it still has over 48 per cent market share with 52per cent shared by other domestic and foreign airlines. Despite claimsmade on the contrary to improve state of affairs of the corporation,it incurred staggering losses worth 30 billion rupees last year aloneand the situation is no different this year. PIA, along with PakistanSteel, Pakistan Railways and WAPDA, has almost become a whiteelephant due to lack of required interest on the part of successivegovernments to run it on professional and business lines. Speakingin the National Assembly in December last year, former DefenceMinister Naveed Qamar had acknowledged that corruption, misman-agement and overstaffing were at the heart of the problems con-fronting PIA. According to him, the sanctioned strength of PIA was19159 whereas actually there are 20448 employees besides 3058working on daily wages, pushing its aircraft-to-employees ration to552 as against the world average of 120. Political interference, ap-pointments based on other than merit, alleged presence of a largenumber of fake degree holders and foreign postings merely to favourblue eyed people are other causes that have pushed PIA to the vergeof disaster. There are reasons to believe that a stage has come wherethe only way out is to privatise the national airline to save preciousnational resources and restore its past glory.

Indeed pen ismightier than sword

MALALA Yousafzai, the teenaged activist shot at by Taliban in Swatin October last year because of his passion for education, celebrated

her 16th birthday in a unique and unprecedented manner as she washonoured by the UN that organized a youth assembly in New York on theoccasion to pay tribute to her and lay focus on the cause she worked for.In her eloquent speech on the occasion, Malala won applause by declar-ing that books and pens were their main weapons and urged governmentsto fight against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.

Malala charmed the audience throughout the world by her choiceof words, articulate manner and confident style of delivery. It was alsoan honour for her and indeed for Pakistan that she received standingovation from the assembly and her speech was punctuated with thun-derous applaud by the audience which included among others by UNSecretary General and UN Special Envoy for Global Education. Ev-eryone would tend to agree with Malala, who asserted that Taliban weretargeting girls, school buildings and teachers as they were frightenedby the prospects of change and equality of opportunities that educationhas the potential to bring about in the society. In fact, in the Pakistanicontext, there would have been no problem of extremism and terrorismif timely attention was paid to spread education in FATA and otherbackward areas that are breeding grounds for extremism and develop-mental initiatives were taken to address the problem of poverty. Thenew Government of PML(N) is entangled in efforts to confront themenace of terrorism and one doesn’t know whether it would spare nec-essary resources, time and energy to focus on education as investmentin this sector would prove to be a real harbinger of change.

Endless Lyari migrationLARGE number of desperate people are leaving their homes in vio

lence-hit Lyari area of Karachi to save their lives. It was extremelyshocking to listen to leaders of the Kutchhi community who narratedtheir ordeal saying that some eight buses and other vehicles carryingnearly 1,000 people, including women and children, have left for Badindistrict where they would live in camps and an abandoned place close toa shrine where dozens of such families were already staying.

It is a slur on the fair name of Pakistan that people have been madeto leave their homes and take refuge for security reasons. It is alsoshameful that certain areas of the country including Karachi have beenvirtually taken over by the underworld Dons and forcing peaceful peoplelike Kutchhi community to vacate their homes or face the consequences.The question arises as to what for the government is paying billions ofrupees on law enforcement agencies whose tens of thousands of per-sonnel are unable to control gangs of few hundred outlaws. Karachihas been witnessing daily incidents of target killings and kidnappingfor quite a long period and we have been warning in these columns forurgent measures otherwise the situation would go out of control. How-ever except for hollow statements and one or two halfhearted opera-tions in Lyari, nothing concrete has been done, there is no writ of thegovernment and people are forced to become refugee in their owncountry. In view of the gravity of the situation, the Prime Minister rightlytook notice and ordered the Interior Secretary and Director GeneralIntelligence Bureau to have an on the spot assessment and submit areport immediately. We are confident that the Prime Minister wouldtake required action in the light of the report on urgent basis to restorenormalcy and security for people to prevent the endless exodus.

Energies of a new Govt?

We have, in fact,two kinds ofmorality side-by-side; one which wepreach but do notpractise, andanother which wepractise butseldom preach.

Where isEgyptgoing?

During Hosni Mubarak’stenure mass protests wereunheard of in Egypt, but

since the last two years the coun-try has been intermittently hit byforceful demonstrations. Butwhere is this people power actu-ally taking the Land of the Nile?When demonstrations at TahrirSquare ousted Hosni Mubarak in2011, the world cheered at the top-pling of a tyrannical regime. Eventhe protests against the militaryand those pushing for democraticelections were lauded worldwide.

When Egypt got its firstdemocratically elected govern-ment, everyone thought that itwas the persistence of the protest-ers that proved fruitful. But thisnewfound culture of protesting isnow proving to be detrimental forEgypt. For the crowds at Tahrir,politics never quite graduatedfrom the streets to the parliament.Demands continue to be ex-pressed as angry chants, ratherthan be negotiated in the legisla-ture. And this has not helpedEgypt’s democracy in any way —in fact, it has only increased in-stability in the country and dealta heavy blow to the hitherto flag-ging economy. But the protestshave continued unabated.

First came the protests againstMohammed Mursi’s endeavour tocentralise power and hisgovernment’s Islamist tilt, whichultimately led to his ouster by themilitary. And now, Mursi’s sup-porters are not ready to accept hisouster and are out on the streetsprotesting against the military’smove. These pro-Mursidemonstraters have clashed withthe military, resulting in over 50deaths. Still, they have refused toback down. On the first Friday ofRamadan, thousands of Egyptiansgathered in Cairo, despite the cruelsummer heat, to push for theirleader’s reinstatement. Egypt istorn into two camps and the divideis starkly represented in the chaoson the streets of the country. It issafe to say that people power hasonly ruined the country, instead ofmaking it into a democratic, stableorder. In Egypt, it’s angry mobs,armed with Molotov cocktails andstones, that are determining thedirection of politics, not electedrepresentatives. — Khaleej Times

*****

A stain onhumanity

The last week saw the burialof 409 newly-identified victims of the Srebrenica mas-

sacre of July 1995, including 44boys aged between 14 and 18.Eighteen years after the Muslimmen and boys were deliberatelyslaughtered by Serb troops underthe command of Ratko Mladic,their remains have been definitelyidentified after years of painstak-ing work. From all over Bosniaand all over the globe, familiesgathered to take part in the burialsand the commemoration of theworst massacre on European soilsince the Second World War.

On July 1995, Serb troopskilled more than 8,000 BosnianMuslims over a period of fivedays, as their protectors from theUnited Nations and the Nether-lands failed to do anything to stopthe horror unfolding in front oftheir eyes. In 1999, the then UNsecretary-general, Kofi Annan,acknowledged that the interna-tional community as a whole mustshare responsibility for its inad-equate response to the ethniccleansing and speaking ten yearsafter the massacre, Annan had saidin 2005 that “we continue thefight, no matter how long it takes,to secure a full and proper reck-oning”. However, such wordsneed to be matched by actions.Such a brutal genocide is a stainon humanity which affects us all.It is essential that we never forgetthe depths to which humanity cansink and that we all work to avoidsuch horrors ever happeningagain.—Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

Bertrand RussellBritish phisolopher

The elections are over-theshouting has come to an endalmost. Whenever elections

take place there is a great euphoriaabout what will happen in the nearfuture. The promise of new thingsto come. We are almost to the prom-ised 100 days and the various gov-ernments have not been able to de-liver anything significant from thepromised manifestoes. KPK,Balochistan, Sind and Punjab allseem to be floundering. Lahore af-ter much time has had a bomb ex-plosion at the food street of oldAnarkali. This was and is a tradi-tional eating place providing foodto the millions who come to thevarious government offices that arein and around the place.

Pakistan’s track record to con-tain these attacks is abysmal. Thecurrent institutional arrangementsare what they are-neither here northere or as one of my Pathan friendis want to say –na he or na she. Hewas always shy of calling the gov-ernment functionaries eunuchs. Ihave had much interaction of latewith the Punjab functionaries. Allof them are petrified of the CM.Why I asked them? The CM Punjabhas spread the fear in them andtherefore they are shy of taking anydecisions. If they take a decisionand it falls short then they have hadit. The bureaucracy is so short onideas for if you do not exercise yourbrain then this is what happens. Thefunctionaries are in limbo-simplyhanging on and seeking new safe-

Time to grow up, Pakistan!

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

So far the new government ofNawaz Sharif has inherited astate of affairs in Pakistan that

will need a lot of staunch efforts andself-reliance to come out of it. Oneonly doubts that the people aroundNawaz Sharif and he himself willcome up to the mark. First thing hedid was to bring back the IMF toPakistan though he had promisedbefore that no new taxes will be in-troduced. Well may be its not somuch more taxes than higher taxeswhich come’s out to be the same.Higher taxes will bring more infla-tion and the price rise that had beena constant feature of the previousgovernment is going to stay with us.

With the holy month of Ramazanalready started prices in the marketshave exploded, administrative ma-chinery has failed to check prices ofessential items of daily use. How willthe poor be able to face this? Otherthan promised there are also reportsabout intermittent load shedding dur-ing Ramzan and the security situa-tion is worst. Especially in Karachiwhere target killing, abduction forransom and public extortion is at itspeak and they have rejected any ar-mistice during Ramazan. Only theday before the first day of Ramazanthe chief security officer of PresidentZardari was killed in broad daylightwhile travelling in a bulletproof ve-hicle. Our administration has failedto perform its duty to provide safetyand security to even such a VIP whatto say about common man in thestreet, robberies and killings are adaily feature and the newspapers re-port it as if it was business as usual.

guard alliances. That is not therequirement of our times. Thenew classical economicswould have us believe in freemarket system. A free marketsystem is not dependent on theprivate sector taking benefits

from the government and at subsi-dized rates. I have always main-tained that there is no private sectorin the country. What we terms pri-vate sector is the powerful mafia thatuses the resources of the public andthen siphons of the profits. It isunique. There is no competition de-spite there being a competition com-mission, indicating that what is eco-nomically adding to the bottom linecannot and will not be tolerated.

When one does not know whatto do to correct a situation then theeffort is at bullying. Imagine thestatements of the politicians whenthey call every one names that arederogatory in nature. Are they thecat’s whiskers that they should beallowed to make these statementsand should there not be a law oftorts? Why isn’t there one in Paki-stan? That is one reason where un-reasonable media men create aproblem for the poor innocent pub-lic. The political circles will saythat there should be no protectionfor any one that is opposed to them.Is that then the favorite effort bywhich to go by? Why the opposi-tion is unnecessarily harassed? Canthe political government indicatewhy some one was in jail for elevenlong tears without any kind of trialand why the courts kept quiet as itsuited them.

We have been successful in eco-nomic exclusion and that is whypoverty and crimes against propertyhave increased. But there is a muchbigger issues coming in and that has

to do with the social exclusion. Themajority of the people even in areasof Punjab now feel that the countrywas not meant for them. There willbe open revolt like the one in formerEast Pakistan. I still feel the pain ofthat break up and please do not tellme that we were not responsible forthe same. We are always good atdenials of everything. The mysteryof persistent failures has come tostay with us. Why as a nation wehave so many flawed policies? Is itbecause we are influenced by othernations? The reforms are not part ofour agenda and when we are toldwhat to do all that we really get is afew dollars s an inducement to dowhat we are told. USA used UNDPto influence police reforms and civilservice reforms. These were not wellthought out and not according to ourculture. Musharaf’s governmentmade the police independent andbefore that the magistracy was splitup. The police were told to act inde-pendent of the magistracy. Well youhave more policemen dead sincethen as compared to the entire pe-riod of partition onwards.

Pakistan is not going to go any-where unless and until the powerelites are taken to task. That includesthe waderas and the feudal. Thy havejumped on the shoulders of the poorincreased the levels of absolute pov-erty and made themselves rich. Goto Tarbella dam and see who werethe people that bought land from thepoor because they had internalknowledge of what was going to takeplace. Go to the ring road Lahore andsee who has massed wealth and be-come rich overnight. The politicalsystem is not right and the internalcensorship system of the parties doesnot operate. Aristotle made remarkway early. It was that traders should

not be politicians. Have you everseen Rothschild name in any trad-ing or manufacturing. They arebankers and there is a taboo on themembers ever becoming trader ormanufacturers.

By definition we are not in anydemocratic form of government.Why do I say so? Have a look atthe way the governments are func-tioning and instead of democracywe have a totalitarian functioninggovernment. That also means thatif the political boss is annoyed withyou then you have had it.

The political system has, andall parties have this, a coterie ofloud speakers that speak to anchorpeople without any reason. Theanchors themselves poor peoplewere under stress as a result of thethreatening attitude of some politi-cians. The threat of jail is furtheredin a most unreasonable manner.Pakistan has to enjoy the full po-tential of a fully endorsed demo-cratic system. Try readingTocqueville the Frenchman whosingle handedly gave to the USA ademocratic form. Intimidation ispart of the game. We have seen the‘chellas’ [or poodles] of the newgovernment talking tall.

Politicians have debased de-mocracy in the past and they shouldnot be allowed to do so again. Thereal problem is how does one bringabout a change in attitude and en-hance censorship within the indi-vidual. In this debasement lies theirdestruction. Truth has to be out, nomatter what. Sacrifice for truth maybe an essential element in the fur-therance of democracy. Pakistanishave to stand up for their convic-tions. That is easier said than done.It has to be done. Can we all mea-sure up to our requirements?

The second deed of NawazSharif was his visit to Chinafrom which he returned with ahandful of MoUs and the goodnews that from now onwardsall will be fine. China has re-ally been what the media usu-

ally call an ‘all-weather friend’ of Pa-kistan but we should not lose the re-alities of international relations out ofour sight. Nobody is anybody’s friendthere, we are friends only based oncommon interests. And who thinksthat China is just ‘just; a friend anddoes not think about its own nationalinterest should think again. China isundoubtedly an emerging economicpower with a largest population basebut resource constraint must be both-ering them, they have their own 6 to7 % availability of world water, oiland gas resources and are eager to ar-range for future requirement.

Well Pakistan is the first coun-try of the world that recognisedChina in 1950, unique and in friendlyspirit. A border agreement was signedlater accepting water sheds as bor-der dividing line all along the moun-tain when China conceded a lot ofterritory to Pakistan during AyubKhan days. As a result of YahyaKhan’s friendly personal relationshipwith US President Nixon and as aresult of the arranging of a secretmeeting between Kissinger & USwith China. China was even more en-couraged to be close to Pakistan trueto the old saying ‘the enemy of myenemy is my friend’. Since then theUS-China friendship seems to be his-tory but the Pakistan-China relation-ship is though as strong as ever butwe have to establish good gover-nance to qualify on merit and not re-main a liability. The reason being thatChina has other goals also, for in-stance the need for easy access to thewarm waters of the Arabian Sea by-passing the strait of Malakka. So

when the KKH was first built by thePakistani army engineers crossing onmountain tops, and in 1971 when80,000 men came to build and re-align KKH in few years for comfort-able movement of traffic.

At the same time China first en-tered into a Kashgher-Northern Areabarter trade agreement and started tak-ing fruits and other local produce andgave agricultural tools and silk fabricto Pakistan. In 1970ies China offeredmany small and medium size plantsfor cement, chemical industries and forharnessing water resources for indus-trial development but nothing muchcame out of it due to vested interest ofour ruling elite. During the PPP gov-ernment President Zardari made halfa dozen private visits to China in firstyear only the purpose of most of themmust have been his private businessrather than Pakistan’s interest. Why?In such an atmosphere China’s con-cerns about the future development ofPakistan will likely limit the extent towhich it will help Pakistan out of itseconomic difficulties. A bold initiativefrom a dynamic leader in Pakistan canbreak this stalemate to steer the coun-try out of present morass, which is notthere. While China has an interest inmaintaining strong security ties withPakistan, the notion that Chinese tiescould serve as a replacement for USties is far-fetched because of chang-ing international chess game in whichChina is also a player.

Now Nawaz Sharif has comewith the news about the Rail-road cor-ridor from Kashgher to Gwaderwhich is probably more a Chinese re-quirement then ours. While invest-ment into our poorly managed com-munication system by corrupt offi-cials should be suiting Pakistan also,we have to keep in mind that withsuch huge Chinese investment Paki-stan is becoming increasingly depen-dent on our all-weather friends.

Nawaz Sharif government shouldhave first evaluated reasons of col-lapse of railways during last twentyfive years, when Pakistan placed or-ders for purchase of locomotives onsome fake suppliers that lead topresent situation. Though China hasbuilt up Pakistan’s conventional de-fense requirements as well asnuclear and missile capabilities overthe years to help keep India off bal-ance. China’s concrete economicand political interests in Pakistan it-self are not that extensive.

China’s economic commitmentto Pakistan, for instance, is not espe-cially impressive in size and hasshown clear limits. China has shownlittle interest in propping upPakistan’s economy and has not pro-vided substantial economic aid, evenduring times of need. Whereas withIndia inspite of territorial conflicttheir volume of trade is quite size-able and they have decided to take itupto $100 billion in next few yearsdue to vigourish spirit of leadershipon both sides. If treated properly torectify our past mistakes and rampantcorruption this could help us to dis-tance ourselves from the US whoseproxy war on terror we are fightingthat has done a lot of damage to oureconomy and has strengthenedgrowth of militancy in the countrythat has created hurdles in Pak-Chinarelations in the past.

But getting rid of this US proxywar seems to be a far cry. Do we con-sider tribals part of our nation or not.British had controlled tribal areasunder carrot and stick policy withFCR now we are conniving to re-place it with US drones? It is quiteclear that there are still many hick-ups on our way and given the per-formances of the previous twostints in power of Nawaz Sharif weare right not to be too optimistic.God bless Pakistan.

Dr Zafar AltafEmail:dr_altaf@hotmail.com

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti@super.net.pk

Voice of the People

HappyMalala Day

ISRAR SINDHI

July 12, 2013 “Malala Day,” wascelebrated by UN assembly fordaughter of Pakistan, MalalaYousafzai and marking her 16thbirthday. The assembly brought to-gether over 1000 young peoplefrom around the world to call forexpanded educational access forall. On Malala Day, the global com-munity came together and high-lights the leading role that youthcan play in enabling all children toget an education.

Malala asked the UN secretary-general and any listening world lead-ers on the need to keep a promise toprovide universal primary educationby the end of 2015.She also handedover a petition to UN secretary-gen-eral signed by about four millionpeople calling on the 193 UN mem-bers to finance teachers, schools andbooks to meet the education. “Letus pick up our books and pens. Theyare our most powerful weapons.One child, one teacher, one pen andone book can change the world.Education is the only solution,”Malala said.

She told that according to UNcultural agency UNESCO, Pakistanhas 5 million children out of school,a number only surpassed by Nige-ria, which has more than 10 millionchildren out of school, Most of thoseare girls. Great Malala is fighting foreducation, we all of Pakistani standsbehind with her. On this occasion,we should wish whole world ‘HappyMalala day’. On the birthday ofMalala, Pakistan wishes her happybirth day to you Malala.—Via email

Water shortagein SindhABDUL KARIM

Sindh province is facing mountingchallenges in providing enough safewater for its growing population.More or less, all big cities and townssuch as Sukkur, Rohri, Larkano,Hyderabad, Jmashoro, SehwanSharif, Thatto, Badin, Sanghar andalso thousands of villages do nothave access to quality water wherepeople and animals, both wild anddomestic animals, quench their thirstfrom the same pond. The situationhas become more pitiable during thisHoly month of Fasting because non-availability of electricity in the prov-ince have created a plethora of prob-lems, non -availability of water onethose porblmes.

Pakistan as a whole is not ex-pected to achieve this MillenniumDevelopment Goals drinking watertarget; Regrettably, the high inci-dence of water-related and water-borne diseases related to the lack ofsafe drinking water is a drain onhuman and financial resources.However, the provincial rulers arerequested to learn lessons from sev-eral African and other countries ofthe globe and provide the desiredquantity and quality water to thepoor population.—Via email

Youth atSPSC mercy!

WAQAR ABRO

Theoretically, Sindh Public ServiceCommission (SPSC) is consideredto be an independent body of recruit-ing meritorious candidates of Sindhbut practically it is dysfunctional in-stitution of the province. Though,All other provincial service commis-sions announce PCS exam everyyear with a margin of 5 years agerelaxation while our legacy based ormerit slaughtering institution Spsctakes 5 years to announce PCS examfor dedicating and hard-working stu-dents of Sindh.

The Chief Minister and ChiefSecretary who are solely responsibleof Sindhis future, should have takennotice that why age relaxation hasnot been granted which is funda-mental right of the students? The in-

Intolerance and inflationHASHIM ABRO

Intolerance and inflation are not new phenomena. But one of those chronic problems and commonphenomena. Shockingly, both these problems rise incredibly during the holy month of Ramadan.

Precisely speaking, this nation goes extra-intolerant during Ramadan. Intolerance becomes visible in allwalks of life- be it in public sector of private office, be it on the road during driving or while purchasingitems for ‘ Sehri and Iftaari’. Of course, this intolerance is in contrast with the true spirit of holy monthof Fasting. Inflation has also created a deplorable condition in the Society. The prices of all basic foodcommodities have gone beyond the reach of the common people throughout the country. The poor andthe Fixed Income what we call “salaried” people are paralysed. Their lives have become hellish andsurvival is at stake. People are, indeed, discontent over food, fruit, vegetable and fuel prices. However,the federal and provincial governments are requested to take immediate, short-term and long-termdrastic steps to control growing ‘intolerance” and reduce inflation in the country. The concerned au-thorities in the Federal Capital, Islamabad, are also requested to closely monitor the official prices of thecommodities and impose tough punishment on the traders-sellers-hawkers who increase the prices ille-gally. The authorities should also work to prevent speculation and storage of goods to protect the poorand weak consumers in the society. The sooner, the better it is to protect consumer rights and gave somerelief to the price-hike hit ill-fated people of this country.—Islamabad

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

are requested to typetheir letters legibly withdouble spacing and only onone side of the paper.

—Editor

A reluctant US ally in the ME!

There was a time, not so longago, when any missiles directed at Iran from Saudi Ara-

bian soil would most likely have car-ried the insignia of the United States.But that was before al-Qaeda’s mur-derous campaign against Americaninfluence in the kingdom resulted inWashington relocating its militaryoperations in the Gulf.

So we should not be surprised thatthe latest images of Saudi ballisticmissiles directed at Iran and Israel bearthe Saudis’ distinctive green emblemof two swords beneath a palm tree.These days, rather than looking toUncle Sam to protect their interests,the Saudis realise they are very muchon their own. As the Obamaadministration’s inept handling of lastweek’s removal of Egypt’s first demo-cratically elected government hasdemonstrated, not even a military coupin one of its most important regionalallies will evoke much of a responsefrom the White House.

Indeed, with President BarackObama determined not to allow theUS to be drawn into any of theregion’s poisonous disputes, whetherSyria’s brutal civil war or the con-tinuing controversy over Iran’snuclear programme, former staunchAmerican allies such as the Saudishave come to the reluctant conclusion

that, so far as their own security isconcerned, they must be more self-sufficient in protecting their interests.

This certainly explains the rev-elations by IHS Jane’s IntelligenceReview that recent satellite intelli-gence photographs show the Saudishave built a new missile base deep inthe desert, stocked with powerfulChinese-made DF3 surface-to-sur-face missiles with a range of 1,500 to2,000 miles, which are targeted atIsrael and Iran.

The fact that the Saudis find itnecessary to point missiles at Israelis itself an alarming indictment of theObama administration’s decision toturn its back on an erstwhile ally. IfAmerica were fully engaged in tak-ing care of its allies, then there wouldbe no need for the Saudis to targetIsrael. After all, as the recentWikiLeaks disclosures revealed, theSaudis share the same strategic ob-jective as Israel: persuading the USto launch military action to destroyIran’s nuclear programme – or, as oneSaudi diplomat elegantly put it, to“cut off the head of the snake”. Butwith the Obama administration ab-sent, the Saudis believe they have nooption but to defend themselvesagainst potential Israeli aggression.

With the Iranians engaged in adangerous game of cat-and-mousewith the West over its nuclear inten-tions, the rivalry between the Gulf’stwo predominant powers is confinedto a proxy and ugly war being fought

between rival militias throughout theregion. In Iraq and Syria, Iran can befound backing murderous Shi’iteMuslim militias such as Hizbollah inits efforts to support, respectively, thegovernments of Shi’ite Prime Minis-ter Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad andthe Assad regime in Damascus, Iran’sclosest regional ally.

The Saudis, on the other hand, arecommitted to supporting Sunni Mus-lim opposition groups in both coun-tries although, unlike neighbouringGulf states such as Qatar, their sup-port falls well short of sponsoring al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups, such asthe Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra.One of Osama bin Laden’s originalobjectives, after all, was to secure theoverthrow of the Saudi royal family.The principal reason the Saudis feelobliged to involve themselves sodeeply in Syria’s sectarian conflict isthat, without America’s protection,they believe they must reshape the re-gional landscape in a way that betterprotects their interests.

This trend can be traced back di-rectly to Mr Obama’s decision to backthe overthrow of Egypt’s PresidentHosni Mubarak during the start of theArab uprisings in 2011. Just like theSaudi royal family, Mr Mubarak hadbeen a staunch ally of the UnitedStates for many decades, and the USadministration’s decision to abandonhim in his hour of need sent as manyshock waves through the royal pal-aces of Riyadh as it did through the

Views From Abroad

Con Coughlin

tensity of depravity has gone to suchextent that students of Sindh havestarted committing suicides for nothaving decent jobs despite hard-workof 5 years. I appeal to heads of allconcerned institutions, if you do notwant to take any action then pleaseliberate us from this SPSC existence.Shut its office, let seats be sold bybrokers. In the name of merit we arealways psychologically and sociallymurdered. SPSC has done enough toplay with educated youth of Sindh, ifyou intend to benefit the masses thengrant minimum 5 years age relaxationin the larger interest of public.—Karachi

Pak universitiesranking

M FAZAL ELAHI

The nation has every right to bask inthe glory of this landmark achieve-ment. Sustained and dedicated en-deavors must be made to move higherin this ranking in the years to come.It has truly been a long, long wait forthis turmoil-ridden nation to hearsome good news. After over six de-cades, Pakistan has ultimately madeit to the ‘Top 200’ universities of theworld. It certainly is a dream cometrue, and the Pakistani nation has ev-ery right to bask in the glory of thislandmark achievement. According toQuacquarelli Symonds (QS) WorldUniversities Rankings 2013, as re-ported by some leading dailies of thecountry recently, seven Pakistani uni-versities have won place in the list oftop 250 Asian universities, and threePakistani Universities are now amongthe top 200 world universities in ag-riculture and forestry.

The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)UK is the world’s most reputed andprestigious ranking agency. Accord-ing to its ranking for 2013, Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad,is ranked 119, National University ofScience and Technology (NUST),Islamabad, (120), Aga Khan Univer-sity (AKU), Karachi, (152), LahoreUniversity of Management Sciences(LUMS), (191) and University ofEngineering and Technology (UET),Lahore, (200), University of Karachi(201) and University of Punjab,Lahore, (250), are now in top 250Asian universities. Whereas, threePakistani universities, including Uni-versity of Agriculture, Faisalabad(UAF), (142), Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University,Rawalpindi, (152), and Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad,(172, are now among top 200 worlduniversities in the disciplines of ag-riculture and forestry.

Eminent educationists of thecountry including the ChairmanHigher Education Commission(HEC), Dr. Javaid R. Laghari have,with a justifiable sense of pride, at-tributed this outstanding achievementto the revolutionary reforms intro-duced in the higher education sectorof Pakistan by HEC, and the sus-tained and dedicated hard slog of thelearned faculties of the universitiesand researchers. Since the establish-ment of HEC in 2002, research out-put has grown eight-folds (from815in 2002 to more than 6,300 in2012) with the largest number of pub-lications in areas of relevance to eco-nomic development. As a result ofthis phenomenal increase in researchpublications, the world share ofPakistan’s research has gone up by300 per cent in the last five years. Itis known to all and sundry concernedwith higher education in the countrythat no Pakistani university could finda place for itself in the roster of topuniversities of the world, until threeyears ago. Now that some universi-ties of the country have succeeded inenlisting itself among top ranking uni-versities of the world, dedicated andsustained efforts must be made to notonly retain this remarkable status butalso to increase this number in theyears ahead. The target should be thatat least 10 or more Pakistani univer-sities must join the ranks of the lead-ing universities of the world withinthe next couple of years. This is notan unattainable task at all. If HEC,the country’s highest regulatory bodyin the field of higher education, con-tinues to regulate and mentor the per-formance of the universities the way

souks of downtown Cairo. From thatmoment the Saudis, in commonwith many other conservative Gulfstates, concluded that Washingtoncould no longer be trusted as a reli-able ally, with the predictable re-sult that the Saudis are embarkedon a course of taking every possibleaction to protect themselves fromthe dangerous revolutionary cur-rents sweeping the region.

The turning point was when MrMorsi launched Egypt on a courseof rapprochement with Iran, whichculminated in former Iranian presi-dent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visitto Cairo this year. For decades un-der Mubarak, Egypt shunned Iranto the extent that Iranian warshipswere denied access to the Suez Ca-nal, which severely limitedTehran’s ability to meddle in theMediterranean. Within weeks of MrMubarak’s departure, Iranian frig-ates were once more making theirway past Port Said.

The prospect of Iran and Egyptstriking up a strategic partnershipthat effectively encircled SaudiArabia was too much to bear.Rather than waiting for the Ameri-cans to wake up to the dire conse-quences of their disengagementpolicy in the Middle East, the new-look, assertive Saudis took mattersinto their own hands to make surethat no one posed a threat to theirsecurity and stability.— Courtesy: The Telegraph

US bid for ME peace

The readers going through Jeffrey Goldberg’s article ‘Kerry’sbid for Mideast peace’ (Paki-

stan Observer, July 8)) are requestedto check his background through theinternet in order to get a better un-derstanding of what he wrote, andwhy he wrote it. After putting in afew words of praise for “John Kerry’sgrit, determination and self-assurancethat he refuses to give up in his questto bring Israelis and Palestinians backto the negotiating table,” he wantsKerry to ask himself why HillaryClinton, whom he praises just asmuch, did not apply herself to theproblem in the same manner?

And then he goes on to answerthe question himself saying that itwas because Hillary Clinton saw noreasonable chance of even modestsuccess on the issue. Of course hewon’t say that being an aspirant forthe presidential position in the nextterm, Hillary wanted to get into thegood books of pro-Israeli lobbyists,the Israelis and their leaders and, assuch, she would not say or do any-thing which could displease themeven slightly. Moreover, she knewthat for the same reasons, first-termBarack Obama would not dare up-set Israelis which could spoil hissecond-term chances in the WhiteHouse. Being too sure of his abilityto read peoples’ minds, the writerhas already arrived at the conclusionthat both Palestinians and Israelisbelieve that talks about the most di-visive issues will not succeed butneither wants to say that for fear ofappearing as non-cooperative.

It is true that the Palestinian-Is-raeli talks have a chance of succeed-ing only if the United Sates, whichhas ample leverage over Israel, dem-onstrates a will to use some of it togoad Israeli leaders towards a peacesettlement. If the negotiations areconducted in the same disinterestedmanner as done during GeorgeBush’s presidency, of course they willflop simply because the US intentionthen, and of course that of Israeli lead-ers, was to just to create a facade ofpeace negotiations behind which Is-rael could accelerate settlement-building activity and create morefacts on the ground. This is why both

the ‘roadmap for peace in the MiddleEast’ as well as the ‘Annapolis con-ference failed to produce concreteresults. However, this time around,things seem to be a bit different. Theillegal settlement-building activityhas reached a stage where any moreof it, especially in the territory thatPalestinians want to be part of theirstate, would negate the establishmentof a viable Palestinian state. Perhapsthere is also some realization in theUnited States that doing the Israelibidding has made the American gov-ernment the most-hated one in theMuslim world, which hatred some-times results in attacks on Americansabroad and at home, apart from in-volving the US in unnecessary warswith Muslim states.

This became very obvious whendespite Benjamin Netanyahu’sstrong insistence, Barack Obama re-fused to invade Iran, and with thecoming to power of a new Presidentin Iran, who is known around theworld as a moderate, chances of in-vasion of Iran have receded. More-over, due to its extreme intransi-gence, sympathy for Israel has alsoabated among the European coun-tries. In a recent BBC survey ofpopularity of countries, Israel rankedfourth from bottom, with Iran, Pa-kistan and North Korea occupyingfirst, second and third positions. So,Israel is also not as free to have itsway as it was in the past.

The writer says “Peace for Is-rael and a state for the Palestiniansare goals worth achieving. Reach-ing these goals won’t change theMiddle East as much as Kerry thinksit will.” How could the writer de-scribe an objective as worth achiev-ing and then declare it as not worthbothering about, because it wouldnot change the Middle East. Weknow that while extremely tragic,the 9/11 attack was Osama binLaden’s retaliation for US policiesin the Middle East, and the chapterhas not quite closed even with thekilling of Osama bin Laden, becausevarious smaller incidents have beentaking place all the time.

Also, the attack on Afghanistanto kill Osama bin Laden and the hugecosts in men and materials are di-rectly related to the US policies inthe Middle East, specially in relationto Palestinians. The writer says “TheMiddle East is erupting all aroundIsrael, which makes even centrist and

some left-leaning Israelis fear the ideaof tangible territorial concessions; thePalestinian Authority is weaker thanever; the two territories that wouldmake up the future state of Pales-tine (the West Bank and Gaza) aredivided between the Muslim Broth-erhood-affiliated Hamas and themore moderate Fatah; and the IsraeliCabinet is under the de facto con-trol of the settlement movement,which continues to expand its hold-ings on the West Bank.”

In a situation where, as in writ-ers words, Middle East is eruptingaround Israel, it is all the more rea-son for Israel to make peace withpeople living in close proximity:those under Palestine Authority andin Gaza. It is a coward’s way to keeppostponing the inevitable, waitingfor better times to emerge whichmay not arrive, and in the meantime,problem may aggravate further,making solution even more difficult,if not exactly impossible. The timeto take on the problem is now.

There is an interesting article byDaniel Pipes titled ‘Is Netanyahuturning left?’ published in the Wash-ington Times on July 5 which in ef-fect says that ‘ Israeli leaders oftensteal their legacy with accommoda-tion’ and Benjamin Netanyahu mightjust do that in order to go down thehistory as a renowned Jewish leader.A unilateral Israeli withdrawal“would blow the Lapid-Bennett al-liance out of the water — somethingwhich is Netanyahu’s highest politi-cal priority.” The prime ministerwould then “bask in the glow ofpraise of Washington and Tel Avivelites,” pick up support from the cen-ter and left, and presumably coastto another electoral victory.

As for John Kerry’s enthusiasmfor the issue, it is stated that he (JohnKerry) and other liberals think thatthe Arab and Iranian (and now Turk-ish?) war on Israel boils down to anIsrael-Palestinian conflict. It is niceto learn that there are people inAmerica who think clearly and do notlook at every thing through AIPAC’seyes. So, if John Kerry and BenjaminNetanyahu are serious about the Pal-estinians-Israeli problem, there is agood chance that it will get solvedwhich would prove to be a blessingto the Palestinians, to Israelis, and toother people in the region and beyond.Unfortunately, Jeffrey Goldberg,Daniel Pipes and others who are in

a position to give sound advice tothe Israelis are instead intoxicatedby Israel’s might and feel that sinceIsrael can easily ‘contain’ the Pal-estinians and manage others in theregion, it does not really have tomake peace, especially if it in-volved giving back part of the ille-gally occupied Palestinian territory.As a result of this high-handed ap-proach, Israelis are not only losinginternational sympathy but are alsoincreasing their enemies, while alsoturning their former friends into ad-versaries, of which Turkey is oneexample. Israel treats Iran as an ex-istential threat which is absurd be-cause even if Iran acquired nuclearbombs, which intention Iran denies,how could it pose a threat to Israelwhich is an old-established nuclearpower, with its security also guar-anteed by the United States. Andthere is nuclear Pakistan, which Is-rael has declared to be an evengreater threat than Iran.

Would it not be a better strat-egy for Israel to win friends insteadof fighting, or preparing to fight anever-increasing number of enemies,when both options are within itsgrasp? If Israelis make peace withPalestinians on reasonable terms,just why would Muslim countries,whose attachment to Palestinians isemotional, continue opposing Is-rael, especially when their anger atIsrael is only due to its repressionof Palestinians?

So the people who are advis-ing Israeli leaders not to make peacewith Palestinians are not being realfriends and well-wishers of Israel.Rather, through their imprudent ad-vice, they are pushing Israel in aposition where it could face terribleretribution, with not many countriescoming to its rescue. Israeli leadershave to remember that balance ofpower changes with times and withrapid advancement in technology,even a weak but desperate adversarycould cause enormous damage.

With some hope for a peacefulsettlement emerging, It is time forpeople of goodwill to join handsand work for a just settlement ofthe long-standing Palestinian-Is-raeli conflict in order to bringmuch-deserved relief to the suffer-ing Palestinians, security and peaceof mind to Israelis and satisfactionto people all over the globe for ajob well-done.

it has been, since the past over a de-cade, there is no reason why this ob-jective cannot be successfullyachieved.—Islamabad

Car parking athospitals

RAJA GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN

Other day, my nephews took his 85years old grand mother in Emegencyposition to Ahmed Medical ComplexHospital Sadiqabad Rawalpindi. Thismedical Complex is situated on amost busiest main narrowed road ofSadiqabad just in front of Bilal Hos-pital. Both Medical complexes aremost big and there is always heavyrush of patients during evening hours.Most patients come in their privatecars or hired taxi cabs.

But it is surprising to note thatthere exist no sufficient spaces for thepurpose of car parking. It is also mostdangerous and unsafe to park the carsat very far away distances from suchmedical hospital. When they reachedat Ahmed Medical Complex, theywaited outsite closed gate of medicalComplex it was very hot and suffo-cated day. At last, one of my nephewtook his grand mother on foot insidethe hospital while my other nephewpark his vehicle just near BohriJammat Khana near Wapda CustomerService centre and he remained therewith his vehicle.

I hope that in future governmentwill frame and impose necessaryrules and regulations for this purposefor the businessmen who desire toconstruct medical complexes by ob-serving the prescribed rules and regu-lations in this regards.—Rawalpindi

Quota systemS S AHMED

Will the quota system in Sindh cometo an end next month after complet-ing 40 years? The government mayextend or abolish it. It has kept theprovince divided into rural and urbanpopulation where the rural populationenjoyed a big edge over the urban onein case of appointments in govern-ment departments. The followingimportant points must be consideredby the authorities before extendingthe same:

The system had allotted jobs ona different percentage basis depend-ing upon population. This basisshould be revised as the populationpattern has drastically changed dur-ing the last 40 years.

Why is it only in Sindh? Howlong should it continue? There mustbe an end to it. If this was and is agood policy, then it should have ben-efited the rural populace during allthese 40 years and surely it has, bring-ing rural and urban population at par.Why is this policy only applicable tojobs? It should also apply to admis-sions to colleges etc.

In fact, this policy is only ben-efiting affluent families, having ru-ral domicile but living in urban areasreaping benefits of good educationand then getting good jobs on a ruraldomicile basis. The poor of those ar-eas have not benefited from the sys-tem during the last 40 years ago. Thispolicy is providing a good job to aperson who is at, say, position 240from the rural area but depriving aperson at, say, position 18 from theurban area.After all, how long this injusticewould prevail. If at all this has to beextended for any reason, then thispolicy must not apply to jobs in for-eign office, DMG, police and otherimportant areas where only meritshould count. It is an established factthat an overly protected child cannever develop.—KarachiThis is just a tale: Grandpa

and Grandma always gotvery excited when they re-

called the old days gone by. Theydecided, one day to make it “yes-terday once more” and made a dateon the riverbank they used to gowhen they were young.

The next day, Grandpa got upsix in the morning, dashed to thebank, picked up a big bunch of wildflowers before sunrise and waitedthere for his sweetheart to come.

But grandpa ended in disappoint-ment grandma never showed up.

Grandpa went home in such an-ger. He opened the door and seeinggrandma lying on the sofa threw theflowers on the floor and asked:“Why didn’t you come to our date?”

Grandma hid her head in the pil-low and replied shyly: “Do you re-member, mom didn’t allow me to go!”

“Yes I do remember,” saidgrandpa slowly, “I was so disap-pointed I nearly committed suicide!”

“Thank God you didn’t,” whis-pered Grandma, “otherwise you’dhave been dead and I in jail for abet-ting you to commit suicide!”

“Maybe I should have done it,”grinned grandpa, “your mama alsowould have been jailed for the same

crime!”After you’ve laughed yourfill, d’ you understand this ain’t ajoke; in our country our police havesuddenly, gleefully realized that sui-cide is no more an open and shutcase, there’s chances of immediategratification, instant publicity and nodetective work in finding criminal.

“What did you say to her be-fore she committed suicide!” “Thatour relationship is over!” “You areunder arrest!”

Suddenly lovers look at eachother fearfully. “Dearest will youstay with me throughout my life?”“Oh yes, yes, perish the thought I’lldo anything else! I don’t want to landup in prison!” Police go to a housewhere failed student hangs from ceil-ing then go straight to his school,

A new harassment..!“How did he do in his exams?” “Hefailed!” “Who corrected his pa-per?” “I did!”

“You are under arrest, pleasecome to the police station, you willbe in custody for a few weeks, andthen its prison!” How do we toler-ate such terrible atrocity?

Wake up, before its too late,and you find yourself behind bars:Tomorrow, any employee, subor-dinate, spouse or friend can black-mail you, “Promote me or else…!”“Marry me…or else!” SaidGrandma to grandpa as they curledup in each other’s arms, “I wonderwhy our Chief Minister and PrimeMinister aren’t arrested every timea farmer commits suicide?”—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com

S R H HashmiEmail: srh_hashmi@hotmail.com

Imran Khan fitFrom Page 1

over two weeks and missedthe crucial last few days ofelectioneering.

In a tweet Imran said ‘Iam walking for the first timewithout braces after almost 9and a half weeks’.

Few days ago the PTIchief left for Britain to con-sult medical specialists aboutback injuries he sustained af-ter a dramatic fall ahead of theMay 11 historic polls.—INP

ShahbazFrom Page 1

The chief minister more-over said that the govern-ment was also going toutilise alternative sources inenergy production alongwith employing traditionalmethods.

Dar assuresPAF Chief

From Page 1

The Finance Ministersaid that national securitywas the highest priority ofthe government of PrimeMinister Muhmmad NawazSharif and the governmentwill meet all the needs ofArmed Forces including theAir Force.

Air Marshal Tahir RafiqButt thanked the governmentand the Finance Ministry forextending support to PakistanAir Force and assured thatthey will replicate austeritymeasures without compro-mising operational readiness.

White House: Zero optionnot a preferred choice

From Page 1agreement, we have a veryimportant strategic partner-ship agreement that we con-t inue to implement withthem that has to do withour substantial commit-ment to Afghanistan andAfghanistan’s future, in-cluding a strong civi l iancomponent,” Carney con-cluded.

Meanwhile, Secretary ofState John Kerry said Satur-day that the U.S. wants to seeproposed peace talks with theTaliban “get back on track”after being thrown into doubtthis week amid a diplomaticdispute with the Afghan gov-ernment.

“We need to see if we canget back on track,” Kerry tolda news conference in Qatar.“I don’t know whether that’spossible or not.”

Peace talks between U.S.and Taliban representativeswere thrown off courseWednesday after irate Af-ghan President Hamid Karzaisuspended his involvementdue to a dispute over a re-cently opened Taliban officein the Qatari capital of Doha,which had been establishedin anticipation of the pro-posed talks.

Secretary of State JohnKerry said the U.S. wants to

see proposed peace talks withthe Taliban “get back ontrack” after being thrown intodoubt this week amid a diplo-matic dispute with the Afghangovernment, NBC News re-ported.

In a statement, Karzai ac-cused the U.S. of a “contra-diction” after a sign that wasplaced over the Taliban officebore the name of the “IslamicEmirate of Afghanistan” – thecountry’s title during theTaliban regime of the 1990s.

Amid a diplomatickerfuffle, the State Departmenton Wednesday announcedthat the Qatari governmentremoved the sign board bear-ing the disputed name.

Related: Kerry callsAfghanistan’s Karzai to easeanger over Taliban office

“The Qatari Ministry ofForeign Affairs has issued astatement clarifying that thename of the office is the Po-litical Office of the AfghanTaliban and not the PoliticalOffice of the Islamic Emirateof Afghanistan, and that it hadthe sign with the incorrectname in front of the door takendown,” State Departmentspokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Kerry on Saturday warnedthat the Taliban office mayneed to be shuttered if peace

talks do not resume asplanned.

“If there is not a decision… to move forward by theTaliban in short order, then wemay have to consider whetheror not the office has to beclosed,” Kerry said.

The Taliban has offeredto deliver the only knownAmerican prisoner of war fromthe 12-year-long conflict inreturn for five senior opera-tives held at Guantanamo Bay,Taliban sources told NBCNews.—NNI

CORRECTION OF NAME

I, NAHEED KHAN, onNIC my name has beenmentioned asNAHEED KHANMUGHAL which isincorrect. I want to get myname changed fromNAHEED KHANMUGHAL to NAHEEDKHAN. If any person /organization /agency has any objection,the same may be intimatedin writing.My NIC NO-82203-5717225-7My CorrectName NAHEED KHAN Father’s Name ABDULLATEEFADRESS: Athshaal, Post

Office Muzaffarabad,District Muzaffarabad,

Azad Khashmir

CORRECTIONOF NAME

I, ISHFAQ AHMED, onNIC my name has beenmentioned asMUHAMMAD ISHFAQwhich is incorrect. I want toget my name changed fromMUHAMMAD ISHFAQto ISHFAQ AHMED. Ifany person / organization /agency has any objection,the same may be intimatedin writing.My NIC NO-37403-8060898-9 My CorrectName ISHFAQ AHMED Father’s Name NOORMUHAMMADADRESS: House # 12-A,

Street # 235, Sector G-7-3/4, Islamabad.

KhushnoodFrom Page 1

warrants were issued by theANF magistrate forShahabuddin on the day hewas submitting nominationpapers for the prime ministerslot.Shahabuddin had be-come a contender for the PMslot after former premier Gilaniwas disqualified by the Su-preme Court for refusing towrite a letter to the SwissCourt with regard to NROimplementation case.

Musa Gilani was alsonamed in the case and wasdeclared by the ANF at onepoint as one of the abscondersin connection with the contro-versy. Arrest warrants had alsobeen issued against the formerpremier’s son.

59 SSP rankedFrom Page 1

nounced in pursuance to theorders of the Supreme Courtof Pakistan because the pro-vincial government hadgiven shoulder promotionsto those police officer thatwere now demoted to theirprevious ranks. Sindh gov-ernment had issued a notifi-cation in this regard thusconfirming the demotions.However, the provincial gov-ernment had still asked someSSPs to continue with theirpresent ranks and were notdemoted despite orders bythe apex court. Those 12 po-lice officers asked to con-tinue working wit the presentranks included SSP CIDChaudhry Aslam, SSP NiazKhosso, SSP Farooq Awan,SSP Fayyaz Khan, SSPMazhar Mishwani and RajaUmer Khattab and others.

SP district Malir RaoMuhammad Anwar wasamong those that were de-moted and was made DSP.Khurram Waris, MuneerAhmed Phalphoto andWaqar Malhan were also de-moted to the ranks of PI.They had been promoted tohigher ranks out of turn.

Twenty-Two police offic-ers who were also promotedout of turn were also de-moted from their SP ranks tograde 17 and they includedAftab Ahmed Phalphoto,Staff Officer to the Inspectorgeneral of Police, Sindh,Irshad Sehar, Lateef AhmedSiddiqui, Syed MuhammadAli Raza and Syed Imdad AliShah. They were demoted tothe ranks of DSP.

The demotions were theresult of a notice that theSupreme Court had takenafter appearance of reportsregarding out of turn promo-tions of some blue-eyed po-lice officers. Out of turn pro-motions had demoralized ofpolice officers that deserveddue promotion.

Pervaiz deniesFrom Page 1

The original report is insafe possession of the gov-ernment and no unauthorizedperson can have access tothe document, he told APP.

“The report has neitherdisappeared nor got leakedfrom PM office,” the Ministerclarified.

He said media reports andcomments are based on unau-thentic, incomplete and dis-torted version of the report.

Replying to a question onthe possibility of official re-lease of the report, the Minis-ter said former Prime Ministerhad set up a committee on Feb-ruary 1 this year, headed bythe then Minister for Law withForeign and Defence ministers

No Haj visasFrom Page 1

chronic diseases such asdiabetes and other illnessesinvolving the heart, kidneysand the respiratory system.

Others excluded are pa-tients with immune deficien-cies, terminal malignant dis-eases, pregnant women andchildren, the spokesman said.

Al-Mirghalani did notstipulate an age limit but saidthe elderly who are feeble andmedically unfit to travel wouldnot be considered for pilgrim-age visas. The new coronavirushas affected 66 people, whichincluded 38 deaths since Sep-tember last year in the King-dom. The ministry has taken allpreventive measures to combatthe spread of the disease withthe help of local and interna-tional medical experts includingofficials from the World HealthOrganization.

In addition to these re-quirements, he said the minis-try had spelt out the quaran-tine regulations of the King-dom. They include a valid cer-

tificate of vaccination againstmeningitis 10 days before thedeparture of pilgrims to theholy cities of Makkah andMadinah, and for polio vacci-nations by pilgrims hailingfrom countries where the dis-ease is prevalent.There is alsoan optional requirement forvaccination against influenzaas a precaution against flu at-tacks, he added.

He said the ministry is in-sisting on pilgrims havingproper personal hygiene. Theyshould also ensure hygieniccooking, storing, transportingand serving methods to avoiddiarrhea, vomiting, food poi-soning, dysentery, typhoidand cholera. “Hands shouldbe washed before eating. Dis-posable shaving kits should beused.”Wearing masks made ofcloth during the performanceof various Haj rituals will bevery useful in preventing res-piratory infections such ascolds, coughs, sore throatsand pneumonia.—NNI

as members to decide aboutcomplete or partial release ofthe report.

The committee was alsomandated to decide whetherthe report should be made pub-lic at all. However, thegovernment’s tenure con-cluded on March 16, 2013 andthe findings of the committeecould not be finalized by thattime. The Minister said thepresent government is lookinginto the matter and shall makea decision about release of thereport in the national interest.

Pervaiz Rashid urged themedia not to jump the cart andwait for release of the authen-tic version to make any analy-sis or judgment.—APP

Turkey cautionsHezbollah toleave Syria

ANKARA—Turkish Ministerof Foreign Affairs AhmetDavutoglu said that they hadsupported Hezbollah in itshonorable fight in Lebanon;however, Hezbollah shouldbe taken out of Syria.

Davutoglu and Iran’sMinister of Foreign AffairsAli Akbar Salehi held a jointpress conference in Turkishcapital Ankara.

Davutoglu said, “We arecompletely against the exter-nal intervention in Syria, “including Hezbollah.

“All foreign actorsshould be taken out fromSyria. Hezbollah, which wentinto Syrian cities includingAl-Qusayr, should be alsotaken out from Syria,” saidDavutoglu. Turkey to appre-ciate all aid to Egypt

Davutoglu drew atten-tion to recent incidents inEgypt, saying,”Turkey willappreciate all aid to Egyptwhich will eliminate the eco-nomic troubles of all Egyp-tians.” Davutoglu underlinedthat the most valuable aid toEgypt was to establish ademocratic administrationwhich would take its powerfrom the will of the public.

“No administration,which did not take its legiti-macy from the will of the pub-lic, could achieve its targetswith economic aids,” saidDavutoglu. Everyone shouldrespect public will in Egypt

Davutoglu underlinedthat everybody should re-spect the will of the Egyptianpublic who displayed theirwill in last year’s election.Salehi touched on the inci-dents in Egypt, saying,“Egyptians will determinetheir future. The public willshould be confirmed what-ever it is.”—WB

Indonesianprovince bans

female secretariesover affairs

JAKARTA—The governor of anIndonesian province on Satur-day said he had ordered his topstaff to replace their female sec-retaries with men following astring of extra-marital affairs.

“I received inputs thatmany government officeheads here are involved inextra-marital affairs with theirfemale secretaries,” RusliHabibie, the governor ofGorontalo province on north-ern Sulawesi island toldAFP.“They treat them muchbetter than their own wives.They bring them presents fromofficial trips like perfumes orbranded bags while their poorwives get nothing,” he said.

“For these reasons, I or-dered them to replace their fe-male secretaries with male as-sistants or with old women whoare no longer attractive,” headded.

Habibie is convinced thathis subordinates will follow hisinstructions, though therewon’t be any punishment forthose who don’t comply.

“This is a moral sanction.I’m pretty sure they will fol-low my order, and all of themwill get a male secretary soon,”he said, adding that there wereabout 50 senior officials in theprovince who had hired fe-male secretaries.—AFP

MIAMI—Most prisoners onthe hunger strike atGuantanamo Bay have re-sumed eating, the U.S. militarysaid Friday, suggesting a pos-sible end, or at least a pause, toa protest that brought renewedattention to their indefinite de-tention at the base in Cuba.

The military tally of pris-oners on the hunger strike wasstill at 102, but 99 of them hadeaten a meal within the past 24hours, according to Army Lt.Col. Sam House, a detentioncenter spokesman.

They were still consideredhunger strikers because themilitary requires several daysof sustained eating and a mini-mal caloric intake before a pris-oner is removed from the list.In addition, some men were re-ceiving meals in a controlled

manner because they had beenreceiving liquid nutrients andcan’t safely resume consumingfood at a normal pace, Housesaid.

It wasn’t clear whether pris-oners intended to abandon a pro-test that has roiled Guantanamofor more than four months andprompted President BarackObama to renew his efforts toclose a prison that holds 166men.

Navy Capt. Robert Durandsaid most of the prisoners tookpart in a meal of lamb to breakthe first day of the traditionalfast during the Muslim holy pe-riod of Ramadan, which laststhrough the month. He also saidit had been unusually peacefulin the camps, largely free ofconflict between guards andprisoners. “We are just

pleased that they are for themost part eating and for themost part we are having goodorder and discipline in thecamps,” Durand said.

Ramadan, an importantperiod in the Muslim calendarin which the observant abstainfrom food and drink from sun-rise to sunset, has typicallybeen a relatively tranquil pe-riod at Guantanamo. Prison of-ficials issued a “pardon” thaterased the men’s accumulateddisciplinary infractions andpermitted many of them topray together this week afterhaving spent recent weekslargely isolated from eachother.

Durand declined to specu-late about whether the hungerstrike might flare again afterRamadan. ”—AP

Gitmo prisoners ending hunger strike: US

Power projects toyield results soonLAHORE—The government isworking on power supply projectson war footing and efforts in thisregard will start yielding resultsvery soon. PML-N MNA PervezMalik expressed these views at theinauguration ceremony of a gassupply project at Shadbagh hereon Saturday. MNA ShaistaPervez, a large number of indus-trialists, traders and masses werealso present. He said a number ofpower projects were in progressto produce at least 10,000 MWelectricity in next three years.“Economic revival, progress oftrade & industry are top prioritiesof the government”, he said.

Musharrafchallenges banISLAMABAD—Former presidentGeneral (Retd) Pervez Musharrafon Saturday filed a petition in theSupreme Court challenging lifetime ban on his contesting elec-tions for national and provincialassemblies. On May 1, a largerbench of the Peshawar HighCourt (PHC) disqualified GenMusharraf for life time to con-test polls, while dismissing hisappeal against the rejection of hisnomination papers for NA-32(Chitral) constituency.—INP

5 pc GST on usedimported clothesISLAMABAD—Federal Board ofRevenue has issued notificationon imposition of 5 percent GSTon import of old and usedclothes. Media reports said 17percent GST was levied on im-port of old and used clothes er-roneously in federal budget forthe fiscal 2013-14. On the otherhand tax at the rate of 2 percentwas being charged on the importof old clothes prior to announce-ment of budget for the currentfinancial year. FBR has issuednotification in respect of slap-ping of 5 percent sales tax bycorrecting the error.—Online

FC nabs threecriminalsQUETTA—Frontier Constabu-lary launched operation and ap-prehended three criminals in theprovince of Balochistan on Sat-urday and also recovered hugecache of arms and ammunitionfrom them. Upon receiving se-cret information, FC Balochistanstaff has raided a house locatedin the suburbs of Quetta at Seryaband nabbed three criminals in-volved in plundering, robbery,kidnapping and also recoveredsnatched Motorcycles, cars, mo-bile phone from them.—Online

6 accusedarrestedKARACHI—Police carried outsearch operation in MusharrafColony area of Maripur, detain-ing six accused here in the weehours of Saturday. According tothe police, the operation wascarried out in 500-Quarters areaof Musharraf Colony in whichsix accused were arrested whileweapons were also recoveredfrom their possession.—Online

Bhutanese women wait in line to cast their votes at the Changbangdru polling station inThimphu on Saturday.

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Realizing thepower of media in the present dayworld, Imam-e-Kaaba Abdul

Rahman Al-Sudais has urgedMuslims all over the world to ven-ture in this field.

Talking to Pakistan observeron Saturday, Senator Prof SajidMir, who is Ameer of MarkaziJamiat-e- Ahle-Hadith said Imam-e-Kaaba had stressed the need toopen more and more channels tocounter propaganda against Islamand Muslim Ummah by the en-emies of Islam.

Sajid Mir, who met the Imamduring his recent visit to the HolyLand, said there was consensusduring the discussion on the issuesof Muslim Ummah that there wasinvasion on fundamentals and val-ues of Islam.

Anti Islam values are pen-etrating in our homes, particularlyyoung generation with the help ofmedia tools. It was the time to setup TV channels to counter them.Media is a powerful mediumwhich can influence opinions andthere is strong need to launchmedia houses to promote Islamicvalues.

He said the Imam was alsooptimistic that there will be apositive change in Pakistan aftertaking over the charge by the newelected government in Paki-stan. During the meetingSajid Mir lauded the role ofSaudi Arabia in promotingcauses of Muslim Ummah.

Imam-e-Kaaba advocatesventure in media field

2 Karachi blastsuspects escape

City CourtSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Two believed to beinvolved in the Pirabad blastescaped from the Karachi CityCourt on Saturday.

The prisoners were broughtto the court amidst tight secu-rity for an identification parade,where a witness identified themas the criminals involved in theblast. After the hearing was ad-journed, the prisoners managedto flee easily while the CID po-lice officials were taking themback to the jail.

Even the court securityfailed to stop them. AdditionalChief Secretary Home Depart-ment Muhammad Waseem saidthat this incident of prisonersescaping from City Court is sus-picious and investigation will becarried out. This is not the firstcase of its kind. Earlier onThursday, three criminals in-volved in serious terrorism casesfled from a court lockup inKarachi.

Ammar, Arsalan and Zubairwere brought to the Anti-Terror-ism Court for a hearing andwere kept in the lockup until thehearing commenced. However,they managed to cut open thebars of the small window in thelockup and escaped.

CAIRO—Tens of thousands ofEgyptians packed into squaresand marched along streets inCairo on Friday to protest againstthe military overthrow of Islam-ist President Mohamed Mursi,and the United States called forthe first time for him to be freed.

A large crowd of Mursi’sMuslim Brotherhood supportersmade its way along RamsesStreet, close to Tahrir Square, andhundreds were on 6 OctoberBridge, where some of the worstclashes with anti-Mursi demon-strators took place a week ago.

On Tahrir, thousands morepeople gathered to attend a cel-ebration of the holy fastingmonth of Ramadan, organized by

US seeks Mursi release asprotests grow

groups who had called forMursi’s resignation.

The proximity of the rivalfactions, only a few hundredmeters (yards) apart, raised con-cerns about more violence. In lastFriday’s clashes between thetoppled leader’s supporters andopponents, 35 people were killedand hundreds wounded across thecountry. Three days later, soldierskilled 53 Muslim Brotherhoodsupporters at the RepublicanGuard compound where Mursi isbeing held, in bloodshed that hasdeeply divided Egyptian society.

Four members of the secu-rity forces were also killed in thatconfrontation, which the militaryblames on “terrorists”. Mursi’s

supporters call it a massacre andsay those who died were prayingpeacefully when troops openedfire. The Muslim Brotherhood’skey demand is that he be rein-stated, but for now, that looks likea lost cause.

Asked whether Washingtonagreed with the German ForeignMinistry’s call for Mursi to be re-leased, U.S. State Departmentspokeswoman Jen Psaki said:“We do agree.”

At a Cairo mosque whereMursi supporters have held avigil for more than two weeks,crowds swelled as people werebussed in from the provinces,where the Brotherhood has strong-holds.—Reuters

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI/LAHORE—The fed-eral government is violating theconstitution by not forming acouncil on common interests(CCI), Pakistan People’s Partyleader Raza Rabbani said in apress conference in Karachi,Express News reported.

“A lot of problems and is-sues now come under the CCI.Therefore the non-formation ofthe CCI is giving the impressionthat the federal government hasstill not accepted devolution ofpower,” said Rabbani.

Rabbani said that the fullreport from the AbbottabadCommission should be madepublic, the confusion regarding

Raza: Non-formation of CCIviolation of constitution

CCI was formed on June 27: Pervaiz Rashidthe subject should be removedand the chapter should be closed.

Rabbani said that if theSindh government was abol-ished, or if efforts were set un-derway to transform it into aone-unit, there will be seriousconsequences.

“These are actions that hintthat perhaps we are moving backtowards a one-unit structure,” hesaid.Meanwhile, the Federal In-formation Minister PervezRasheed has said that the coun-cil had been formed as early as20 days ago.

Meanwhile, responding toPPP criticism of the govern-ment, federal information min-ister Senator Pervaiz Rashid hassaid that the Council of Com-

mon Interests was formed onJune 27 and a notification wasalso issued on the same day.

He said that Prime MinisterNawaz Sahrif was head of theCCI while chief ministers offour federating units and twofederal ministers SadruddinRashidi, Abdul Qadir Balochand Sardar Yousuf were itsmembers.

He said that President AsifAli Zardrai visited China 20times and never took any chiefminister along while PPP’sprime minister had also not in-cluded any chief minister in hisentourage during his visit toChina. “I wonder, how the fed-eration is in danger now, whenit was not, back then”.

WANA—The Pakistani Talibanhave banned tight or see-throughclothing for men, threatening toimpose a fine and shutter busi-nesses selling the items, tradersfrom the country’s restive tribal

Taliban ban tight dress in Waziristanbelt said Saturday.

Shopkeepers in Wana, themain town of South Waziristantribal district along the Afghanborder told AFP the written warn-ing came ahead of the Muslim

holy month of Ramzan which be-gan on Thursday in Pakistan.

“All such clothes which areof a thin material and which donot properly cover men’s bod-ies are un-Islamic.

Mirza in Londonto expedite probe

against AltafKARACHI—Former home min-ister of Sindh Dr Zulfiqar Mirzaon Saturday reached London tohelp British authorities investi-gate among other charges,money laundering and incite-ment to violence against MQMchief Altaf Hussain.

Sources told media that theformer provincial ministerwould meet Scotland Yard offi-cials in next few days. Mirza,who is settled with his family inDubai, had flown to Londonwhen he was contacted by theBritish officials. Meanwhile,President Asif Ali Zardari, whois at present in London also, tele-phoned Mirza requesting him tonot meet with the British inves-tigators. The latter, however, re-fused to abide by the president’sadvice. The Scotland Yard offi-cials requested Mirza to repro-duce the evidences, he had of-fered to present against theMQM.—Agencies

EXPOSURE to diesel fumes, for even afew hours, is putting diabetics at a higherrisk of developing respiratory and car-

diovascular diseases, a study has found. Nano Diesel Exhaust Particles (DEP) en-

ter the blood stream of dia-betic patients through the na-sal/respiratory tract and causesystemic inflammation(swelling) of heart tissues andother vital organs, proves thestudy, Health News reported.

Exposure of between 24-48 hours can have an acuteeffect on the patients by caus-ing a risk of developing car-diovascular and respiratoryissues, while long-termchronic effects can lead to thedevelopment of cancer cellsin the human body.

Though harmful envi-ronmental particles affecthealthy humans as well, theeffect is greater on diabeticpatients, said ProfAbderrahim Nemmar who carried out the two-year study at the UAE University’s Departmentof Physiology, College of Medicine and HealthSciences.

The experiment was carried out on micewith Type 1 (genetically inherited) diabeteswith the dose of particle exposure comparableto human exposure. According to the profes-sor, similar international environmental stud-ies have proved that pollutants can affect theheart and brain.

“Our studies demonstrate an increase insusceptibility to the respiratory and cardiovas-cular effects of DEP in Type 1 diabetic micecompared to healthy ones,” said Prof Nemmar.

“We found that acute exposure (24hours) of mice to DEP induced pulmonaryand systemic inflammation and oxidativestress, liver dysfunction and thrombotic (clot-ting) events in cerebral micro vessels and that

these effects were aggravatedin diabetic mice.”

“Upon observation,small aggregates of carbon-aceous particles and a substan-tial amount of ultrafine (nano)-sized particles (less than 100nanometres) were seen,” heexplained.

“The inhaled nano-sized particles can penetratedeeply into the respiratorytract, pass into the systemiccirculation and reach variousorgans,” added theprofessor.Concluding from thestudy Professor Nemmar saidthat it would be advisable fordiabetics to avoid peak traffichours and extreme heat. “Facemasks can be worn but even

then these nano-particles get through.” “Doctors should also pass on this advice

to their patients,” he added. “It proves that pollutants from heavy

trucks that use diesel because it is cheaperthan other kinds of fuel, have a bad impacton our health,” he said. “The particles notonly affect the lung functions but all parts ofthe body,” he added.

“Concerted efforts are needed to reducethe air pollution with such dangerous ele-ments either by working on reducing the ratesof the consumption of diesel by using otherkinds of fuel, or by reducing heavy truck traf-fic in the residential areas,” he said.

Diesel fumes pose highrisk to diabetics

A large number of people breaking their fast by free food provided at Eidgah Sharif Rawalpindi.

ISLAMABAD: Special Ramazan delicacies are being prepared at a makeshift stall, in thefederal capital, which are most popular among people.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—As month ofRamazan draws near, exhibi-tion of dresses and jewelleryof different designers are at-tracting women in large num-ber, especially those who feelit difficult to shop after iftarand prefer to complete theirshopping before the holymonth.

These exhibitions, featurea variety of exclusive jewelleryand fabric collection includingSarees, beddings, kids wearwhich attracts a large numberof females and fashion loversthrough its vibrant colours anddesigns. “Usually, embroi-dered fabrics, casual and for-

mal trendy wear are displayed inthese exhibitions, with variety ofkids wear including local and im-ported garments”, Hiba a studentof Comsats said.

“My mother and aunt preferto complete eid shopping muchbefore Ramazan so that all therituals of the holy month couldbe performed with zeal,withoutany pressure of shoping for theeid”,she said.

Besides, famous designershave already announced upto50% off on all their moutlets.

Shoes of different brandedcomapanies are also available inless prices,and upto 75% off isannounced on almost all the out-lets. A four days exhibitionshowcasing exclusive collection

of designers wear and sophisti-cated Egyptian jewellery,here infederal capital attracted a largenumber of fashion lovers, re-cently. Variety of exclusiveEgyptian jewellery and fabriccollection including ‘sarees’,beddings and kids wear weredisplayed on this occasion.

Designer, Mona told thatthe dresses depicting figurativework of Mughal era were spe-cially designed to introduce tra-ditional work with new style.

While the collection of fab-rics showcased various newstyles of casual and formalwears. “We brought exclusivenew styles every time instead ofrepeating the old ones. Uniquefabric paints are introduced in our

collection to attract a number offashion lovers”, she added.However about jewellery col-lection, she said ,”Jewellery inall forms provides confidence towomen by enhancing their in-nate beauty and also expresstheir individuality with style,”Mobashira said.

She said that “Gem stonejewellery is increasingly be-coming requirement in today’sfashions with additionalcolours in both gold and artifi-cial items.” “Women alwaysconsider jewellery as a mostimportant part of their appear-ance and such exhibitions pro-vide them an opportunity tofind perfect extravagant acces-sories,” said a visitor.

Women throng exhibitions forexclusive jewellery, fabric collection

Unique fish specimenliving without water

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Museumof Natural History (PMNH) hasbrought about 40 specimens of aunique fish recovered recently,which can live without water,toits fish repository section, foridentification and research.

The fish procured from theBotanical Garden,Nowshera,during a routine yearlypractice of digging and clearingof the drainage channels of Cen-tre of Plant Biodiversity, havenever been reported from Paki-stan and representshe first recordof this species from the country.

A team of researchers fromPakistan Museum of Natural His-tory including Dr MuhammadRafique, Mr Rafaqat Masroor andMr Shabir Ali Amir and anotherteam from University ofPeshawar including Dr ZaighamHassan, Dr Basit, Mr QaiserJamal, Miss Sawera and MissBaseerat visited the BotanicalGarden for gathering data to re-

solve the mystery of this uniquefish recovered from the driedbed. The team led by DrMuhammad Rafique, and underhis expertise, noted down theimportant ecological data of thefish and started laboratory work.

Talking to newsmen, DrMuhammad Rafique said as a re-sult of careful and extensivelaboratory work, it was revealedthat the species belongs to fishfamily Cobitidae and is com-monly known as OrientalWeather Loach while scientifi-cally named Misgurnusanguillicaudatus. The uniquecharacteristic of this fish comesfrom the fact that during dry pe-riods some of its habitat maybecome stagnant with blooms ofalgae and resultant oxygendepletion.

“Under such conditionsmembers of this genus are ableto use the posterior portion of theintestine and skin as supplemen-tary breathing organs and oftendart to the surface to gulp atmo-

spheric air whilst simultaneouslyexpelling intestinal gases fromthe vent. Some species have evenbeen recorded to survive periodsin moist sand or mud in the ab-sence of water”, he said.

Dr Muhammad Rafique in-formed that this fish is native toSiberia, Sakhalin island, Korea,Japan, China, northern Vietnamand possibly Laos but introducedpopulations are now establishedin Germany, Spain, Italy,Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan, the Philippines,U.S.A., Canada and Australia.

This continuing range expan-sion is largely attributed to theaquarium fish industry althoughits use as a food fish or live an-gling bait are also thought to becontributing factors.

This fish is most commonlyfound in shallow, slowcmovingsections of rivers and streams orcalm habitats such as swamps,oxbows, backwaters and paddyfields. These are oftenheavilycvegetated or littered with

submerged roots, branches andleaf litter, with substrates com-posed of soft mud or silt.

Dr Muhammad Rafique fur-ther added that this fish is an ex-ceptionally hardy and adaptablespecies tolerant of a wide rangeof physiological variables andflexible of diet, factors whichhave allowed it to become estab-lished as an alien speciesthroughout the world.

He also stated that this spe-cies could become invasive withthe tendency to spread widelythat might does or is likely tocause environmental, economicand ecological harm,but this re-quires future research on theecology, distribution and biol-ogy of this species. The high re-productive potential and low vul-nerability to predation have madethis fish a cause for concern toconservation scientists althoughas yet there remains no proof ofit exerting a negative effect on na-tive fish in countries outside itsnatural range.

MS/PhD admissionwith late fee

ISLAMABAD—Allama IqbalOpen University (AIOU) has an-nounced that the admission formsof MS/M Phill and PhDprogrammes for the SemesterAutumn, 2013 will be receivedtill July 26 with late fee chargesof Rs.500.

This was announced by Dr.Hamid Khan Niazi, Director,Board of Advance Studies andResearch (BASR).

Admission forms, he saidcan be downloaded from theUniversity’s websitewww.aiou.edu.pk.

He said the admissions ofPh.D Programmes (On MS/M.Phil Basis) are offered in Is-lamic Studies (General), IslamicStudies (Quran and Tasfeer),Chemistry (Offered in Islamabadonly), Iqbal Studies, PakistaniLanguages & Literature (withspecialization in Pushto/Balochi/Brahul/Sindhi/Saraiki/Punjabi)and Urdu.—APP

Avoiding trafficjams duringRamazan

RAWALPINDI—City Traffic Of-ficer (CTO) Superintendent Po-lice (SP) Syed Ishtiaq HussainShah has said that the traffic war-dens have been directed to makeall-out efforts to avoid trafficjams on city roads, especiallyduring Ramazan.

He said the City Traffic Po-lice Rawalpindi had made spe-cial arrangements to control traf-fic on city roads, aimed at avoid-ing traffic mess.

He said that a comprehen-sive traffic plan had been devisedin this regard which was beingimplemented in order to averttraffic jams. The CTO said thatall the available traffic wardenshad been deployed at variousplaces to manage traffic, withspecial arrangements forRamazan Dasterkhawans andRamazan Sasta Bazaars ofRawalpindi city.—APP

Chairlift at PirSohawa orRawal Dam

ISLAMABAD—The Capital De-velopment Authority (CDA) ismulling over installing achairlift at some public place ofthe federal capital to attract thetourists and encouragecreational activities.

According to the civic bodyofficials, CDA ChairmanNadeem Hassan Asif directedMember Environment Ahsan AliMangi to start working on theproject of installation of chairliftin the capital city. He directed tohire the services of some inter-national consultant firm for thefeasibility report of the project sothat safety of the future visitorscould be ensured. The CDA of-ficials said that two points are un-der consideration for the instal-lation of chairlift; it would be in-stalled either at Pir Sohawa orRawal Dam.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Decision hasbeen taken that all the transac-tion related to transfer of flatsof multi-storey buildings lo-cated in posh areas of federalcapital will be conducted byCapital Development (CDA).

Decision has been taken toenhance the revenue collectionof CDA. It has been learnt thatsurvey work in respect of theflats of multi storey buildingshas been launched. In future thetransfer of these flats to the pur-

chasers will be done by CDA.Annual property tax will alsobe recovered from the ownersof these flats.

CDA has also taken deci-sion to bring to tax net work theflats and commercial plazas lo-cated in Blue Area, F-10Markaz, Super Market, JinnahSuper Market, Karachi com-pany, F-11 Markaz, G-11Markaz and other commercialareas. The offices of privatecompanies are operating in

these flats but no tax is beingpaid to CDA. A 3-memberteam comprising BCS inspec-tor, officer of state managementand a revenue inspector willobtain statistics of these flats.

Sources said over 10000flats are constructed in differ-ent centers and commercial pla-zas and CDA is likely to gen-erate revenue income rangingbetween Rs 50000 to Rs100000 from these flats. —Online

Transfer of flats to beconducted by CDA

ISLAMABAD—Minhaj-ul-QuranWomen League (MWL) Saturdaydistributed ‘Ramazan rationpacks’ among poor widows andneedy families of different locali-ties of the federal capital.

Food packets worth Rs1400, comprising 10 kg flour, 2kg rice, one kg sugar, one litreoil, one kg dates, noodle pack-ets, Rooh Afza syrup besidespulses were supplied to over 300underprivileged families duringa ceremony here at communitycentre, sector G-9/2. “We hadidentified around 300 families invarious areas of the Capital tosupply the ration,” said RaziaNaveed, President MWLIslamabad.

She said that her organizationdistributes rations among the poorevery year at the outset ofRamazan. She said that Minhaj-

ul-Quran would continue facilitat-ing people in distress, especiallythe families. “The participation ofwomen in uplift of home is onlypossibility if they are empoweredand given the due respect,” shemaintained.

General Manager PTVFarkhanda Shaheen, who was thechief guest of the ceremony hailedthe efforts of MWL for providingrelief to the poor families duringthe holy month of Ramadan. Shesaid that donors should come for-ward to join hands with organiza-tions like MWL for helping theneedy people.

Chairperson B.B WelfareTrust Zakia Safdar, PresidentPositive Life Trust SayyedaFirdous, Chief Organizer All Pa-kistan Muslim League Dr. AmanaSadaf and other notable ladies alsoattended the ceremony.—INP

Ramazan ration packsdistributed among needy

Cheaper items atRamazan Bazaars

RAWALPINDI—AdministratorRawal Town Ch Muhammad AliRandhawa has said that SastaRamazan Bazaars were provid-ing quality essential items to thepeople at cheaper rates.

He said that strict actionwould be taken against those whowere selling substandard andpoor items in these bazaars onhigh rates. During his visit toSasta bazaar here on Saturday, hedirected officials to ensure theavailability of daily use items insufficient quantity.

He said, the monitoringteams had also been constitutedbesides setting up complaintscentres to redress the complaintsof consumers and to ensure theavailability of good quality foodstuff on fixed rates in these ba-zaars. Earlier, District manage-ment has announced to launch 19Ramazan Sasta Bazaars and 140Daster Khawan throughout dis-trict Rawalpindi.—APP

A view of dysfunctional filtration plant in G-7 Sector. People have turned it into a parking lot.

“Some problems are socomplex that you haveto be highly intelligentand well informed justto be undecided about

them.”

— Laurence J Peter

PQ remains activeKARACHI—Three shipsarrived at Port to load/ offloadcontainers at QICT, LPG atEVTL and diesel oil at FOTCOon 12th July, 2013. Berthoccupancy was maintained at57% at the Port on Fridaywhere a total of eight shipsnamely M.V Kps-I Alican Bey- Powership, M.V Faith, M.VSofia, M.V Michaels-S, M.VMsc Kerry, M.T Akaki, M.TSena- 4, M.T Al Salam-II arecurrently occupying berths toload/offload cement, contain-ers, LPG, diesel oil, furnace oil.Cargo handling operations werecarried out smoothly at the Portwhere a cargo volume 68580tonnes comprising 52222tonnes import 16358 tonnesexport 1619 (TUES) washandled at the Port during last24 hours. M.T Akaki, M.VMichaels-S sailed on Fridayafternoon. M.T Sena-4 sailedon Saturday morning. M.TGinga Tiger arrival on 13thJuly, 2013 as per arrivalschedule.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan’s firsthydropower IPP in privatesector will be officially inau-gurated sometime next week.The 84 MW “New Bong Hy-dropower Project” (NBHP)has been successfully com-missioned two months aheadof schedule.

Hubco spearheaded thedevelopment of IPPprogramme in the 1990s,when it establishedPakistan’s first IPP, a 1,292MW power station inBalochistan. Hubco contin-ued to meet the wideningenergy needs of the nation,

Hydropower IPP to be inaugurated next weekand established its second planti.e. 225 MW power station inNarowal, Punjab.

The company also took con-trolling interests in Laraib En-ergy Limited to be the first hy-dropower project. Hubco is nowpoised to be the first IPP to con-vert its power station to coal toprovide even cheaper energythan at present and save hun-dreds of millions of dollars be-ing spent on oil imports everyyear.

Laraib’s New Bong Hydro-power Project in AJK will con-tribute 540 GWh (Gigawatt) ofgreen energy annually into thenational grid under a 25-yearPower Purchase Agreement

(PPA) with National Transmis-sion & Dispatch Company(NTDC). This project will pro-vide cheaper electricity and en-ergy security to the country. Thebenefits of the run-of-the riverNew Bong Energy-HydropowerProject (NBE HPP) include re-placement of some 135,000 tonsof oil import valued in excessof US$ 100 million per annumand reduction in carbon emis-sions.

According to an informedsource, one of the biggest is-sues of power sector in Paki-stan is the expensive powergeneration, and the inaugura-tion of country’s first privatesector hydro IPP by Laraib has

paved the way for private sec-tor investment in hydro powerprojects for producing cheapelectricity.

The project was scheduledto be completed in 42 months,itself a demanding target, buthas been completed over twomonths earlier; comparingthree similar low-head hydro-power projects on the OhioRiver, USA totaling 191MWstarted one year before NBEHydropower Project but stillhave one year to commercialoperations.

The New Bong HydropowerProject has the distinction ofbeing Pakistan’s first hydro-power project to be registered

with the United Nations’ Frame-work Convention on ClimateChange as clean mechanism de-velopment (CDM) Project, andhas made solid contribution inoffsetting green house emissionglobally.

The Asian DevelopmentBank and other lending banks,multilateral IDB, IFC andProparco France and two do-mestic commercial banks NBPand HBL, played a very pro-ac-tive and constructive role instructuring the project and fi-nance documents thus makingthis pioneering project a reality,source said.

The successful completionof Pakistan’s first independent

hydropower project by a privateinvestor, in record time, hasgiven hope for harnessing thevast potential of country’s wa-ter sector. As per official esti-mates, Pakistan has 100,000MW of hydel power generation.However, only about 6,500 MWof potential has been harnessedso far.

There are many firsts withthe completion of this IPP inhydropower sub-sector. It wastermed ‘Project FinanceMiddle East Deal of the Year’by Euromoney in the year2009. The New Bong Escapehydropower project is of fur-ther importance due to its se-curity package, which has

been accepted by global in-vestors and lenders as a bank-able document and nowforms the basis for other pri-vate hydropower projects tocome. Furthermore, its tariffmechanism forms the basisfor tariff determination forfuture hydropower IPPs inPakistan.

The project had openeddoors for immediate implemen-tation of a portfolio of hydro-power projects for full scale de-velopment of untapped nationalpotential by developing a bank-able framework. It would pro-vide impetus to private hydro-power projects under process,he said.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—U.S. OverseasPrivate Investment Corporation(OPIC) President and CEO Eliza-beth L. Littlefield is visiting Pa-kistan this week to meet with busi-ness leaders and government of-ficials, and with U.S. companiesinvesting in Pakistan. The OPICdelegation will also tour one of itsinvestment projects, the Aga KhanHospital and Medical Foundationin Karachi, which is known for itswork on social welfare in Paki-stan.

“The United States is com-mitted to strengtheningPakistan’s economy, and with it,the prosperity of its citizens,”said Littlefield. “OPIC has a

US OPIC President, CEOElizabeth Littlefield visit Pakistan

long history of supporting U.S.private-sector investment in Pa-kistan, and we look forward toseeing firsthand how theprojects we support are buildingon past progress and paving theway toward a more prosperousfuture.”

Littlefield will meet withkey business leaders and gov-ernment officials to learn moreabout Pakistan’s investmentclimate and new opportunitiesfor U.S. investors to partnerwith Pakistani businesses.Recognizing how critical theenergy sector is to Pakistan’slong-term economic growth,OPIC will pay close attentionto how it can best support in-vestors willing to address this

challenge.“As the U.S. government’s

development finance institution,OPIC plays an important role incatalyzing private investment inPakistan,” said U.S. Ambassa-dor Richard Olson. “OPICPresident Littlefield’s visitbuilds on the successful U.S.-Pakistan Business OpportunitiesConference held Dubai lastmonth, and clearly demonstratesthat trade and investment are thefuture of the U.S.-Pakistan re-lationship.”

The OPIC delegation willvisit the Aga Khan Hospital andMedical Foundation in Karachi,which is being renovated andexpanded with the support of anOPIC loan.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Government hasbeen pumping in billions of ru-pees to bail out Pakistan Interna-tional Airlines and keep it afloat,but its performance is going downday by day. The best option forgovernment is to privatise PIA asearly as possible to improve itsperformance and save the nationalexchequer from further drain, saidZafar Bakhtawari, President,Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce & Industry while giving hisreaction on the approval of Rs.7-billion by the Economic Coordi-nation Committee of the Cabinetto bail out the national flag car-rier.

He said according to PIA’s

Govt pumping billions ofrupees to bail out PIA

own report, the airline has suf-fered losses worth Rs.119.84billion over the last ten years,which is not acceptable for acommercial entity and shows theextent of its bad performance.Flight delays and cancellationhas become the norm of PIA asits flight delay ratio is more than35% due to which its passengersare now shifting to other airlines.

He said out of the 34 aircraftsin PIA’s fleet, 24 are serviceablewhile the aircraft-to-employeeratio in PIA currently stands at552 per aircraft compared to glo-bal average ratio of 120. All theseindicators call for urgent restruc-turing of the airline and prepareit for privatization to bring pro-fessionalism in its operations and

get rid of huge subsidies whichthe government has to pay tokeep the PSEs in running con-dition.

Zafar Bakhtawari said gov-ernment has been providing un-necessary protection to PIA,which made the airline more in-efficient turning it into a big li-ability. He said terrorism is notthe only cause for isolation ofPakistan, bad performance ofPIA is also an important factordiscouraging tourists fromcoming to Pakistan due to non-availability of direct flights.

He said government shouldadopt an open sky policy andprovide incentives to other air-lines to commence directflights to Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The National Di-saster Management Authority(NDMA), in collaboration withthe World Bank, organized a se-ries of trainings for members ofthe National Working Group(NWG) on Vulnerability andRisk Assessments.

The trainings were deliveredby experts of the World Bank,and were focused on Probabilis-tic Flood and Seismic Hazardsand Exposure Modeling. Thesetrainings were part of the WorldBank’s technical assistance toNDMA and to National Work-ing Group on Vulnerability andRisk Assessments, in creating anational platform for risk assess-ments, which brings together a

NDMA, WB hold series oftrainings for NWG members

number of Pakistan’s technicalagencies to collaborate underone umbrella, for the first time.

The participants of the train-ing course belong to various gov-ernment departments and agencies,including the NDMA, PDMAs,Geological Survey of Pakistan,SUPARCO, Pakistan Meteoro-logical Department, EarthquakeReconstruction and RehabilitationAuthority (ERRA), NESPAK, aswell as academia. ChairmanNDMA, Maj. Gen. MuhammadSaeed Aleem, said that such capac-ity building activities not only fos-tered a healthy exchange of knowl-edge between international and Pa-kistani experts, but would also leadtowards mainstreaming DRRthrough informed planning anddecision making.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The governmentis considering giving Gwadar astatus similar to Hong Kong interms of special business incen-tives - a vision that aims to turntides on the region’s economichorizon.

Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif dur-ing his recent visit to China hasexpressed his intention to de-velop Gwadar port on themodel of Hong Kong - theChina’s Special Administra-tive Region that enjoys spe-cific trade regulations.

Gwadar, having a naturalhammerhead-shape geographyprotruding from the country’scoastline into Arabian Sea, is nolonger just a fishing harbour. Itis now deemed as an importantdeep seaport with a vast poten-tial of becoming the hub of busi-ness activities for the entire re-gion.

For Pakistan, free trade andlow taxation environment in

Gwadar envisioned attaining‘Hong Kong splendor’

Gwadar is the inspiration to bederived from Hong Kong,which is regarded as one of theworld’s leading internationalfinancial centres and one of themost tax friendly economies inthe world.

Necessary legislation willallow Gwadar to set its own fi-nancial targets such as eco-nomic freedom and competi-tiveness similar to Hong Kong,which also has one of the high-est per capita incomes in theworld. Gwadar is expected tobe declared a Special Eco-nomic Zone for a certain pe-riod to facilitate rapid com-mercial and economic devel-opment.

The specific incentive-re-gime is likely to include gen-eral tax-holidays, no ValueAdded Tax (VAT), no capitalgains tax, no withholding taxand generous incentives per-taining to business ownershipand employment of foreigners.The establishment of SpecialEconomic Zone, Free Trade

Zone, and Export ProcessingZone in the port city would at-tract foreign investment creat-ing innumerable job opportu-nities for local youth andwould directly raise the livingstandard of their families. Themain purpose of this conceptis to accelerate economic de-velopment and investments,both foreign and local. This inturn will increase the port traf-fic and thus spur industrial de-velopment.

Gwadar was officiallyhanded over to the state-ownedChina Overseas Port HoldingCompany Limited in Februarythis year for the port’s construc-tion and operation. According tothe contract signed between thetwo countries, a full-fledgedcommercial port will be con-structed with an initial Chineseinvestment of $750 million.

Prime Minister NawazSharif in a recent meetingwith President China Over-seas Port Holding CompanyLimited, Sun Ziyun in Beijing

stressed no delay in theinfrastructural developmentof Gwadar. He assured Paki-stan government’s full coop-eration to the Chinese compa-nies engaged in the port’s de-velopment. The President ofChina Overseas Port HoldingCompany Limited told PrimeMinister Sharif that financialassistance for this projectwould be sought from ChinaDevelopment Bank.

China will also assist Pa-kistan in the construction ofan airport of internationalstandard in Gwadar. One ofthe accords inked duringPrime Minister NawazSharif ’s visit to China andalso witnessed by Premier LeKeqiang envisages the estab-lishment of an Economic Cor-ridor between Gwadar andKashgar - the historic SilkRoad city in western Xinjiangregion of China, connected toGilgit-Baltistan through the15,397 feet al t i tudeKhunjerab Pass.

Contract of Kabir & Co terminated

KARACHI: Indonesian Ambassador to Pakistan M. Burhan presenting crest to GovernorState Bank of Pakistan Yaseen Anwer at a ceremony. Indonesian Consul General RossallsrAdenaniseen is seen in the picture.—PO photo Sultan Chaki

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The contract ofKabir & Co has been terminatedby Pakistan Railways due to theviolation of the agreement, hall-marked by awfully poor perfor-mance and security moneythereto was also forfeited.

While, one of his recent in-spection visits, Khawaja SaadRafique, Federal Minister for Pa-kistan Railways showed his ex-treme discontentment over thestate of affairs at Jaffer Expressregarding the service delivery tothe passengers.

Taking cognizance of the dis-

mal conditions depicted by JaffarExpress, he ordered immediateenquiry and resultantly the guiltycontractor had to be deprived ofhis contract, in addition to a for-feiture of security moneyamounting to Rs 250,000. TheMinister was of the view that the‘customer promise’ was part ofthe inherent agenda of gover-nance for the public sector andset out the standard of service thathis government was required toprovide to the people at large.

During the inspection, theMinister checked the dining carpersonally and was extremely dis-pleased to note the quality of food

and edibles available to the passen-gers, during their journey. More-over, the Minister showed his sheerdisapproval over the level of clean-liness, maintained by the adminis-tration. He was informed by thetrain manager that the contractorwas performing the contractthrough subletting it, earning asmuch as up to 30 million out ofwhich Railways was getting a pea-nut share of 2.2 million per annumas findings of the inquiry report.

Rafique said, “The public sec-tor being, collectively, the world’slargest service provider enjoys thepivotal position in any nation’seconomy.

KARACHI: Tariq Quddusi, Head of Manufacturing, Dawlance receiving the 10th AnnualEnvironment Excellence Award from Wajahat Siddiqui, former Petroleum Minister.

KARACHI: Country Manager Dell Pakistan ShahzadAslam Khan and Naveed Siraj Country Manager Intel Pa-kistan inaugurating Dell and Intel second ExperimentalCenter.—PO Photo

FCCI Presidentdemands reduction in

power-sheddingOBSERVER REPORT

FA I S A L A B A D —PresidentFaisalabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (FCCI)Mian Zahid Aslam urged thegovernment to reduce electric-ity load shedding and announceEnergy Policy as soon as pos-sible.

He said that the energy situ-ation was affecting theeconomy by hampering the in-dustrial production. Mian Zahidsaid that Faisalabad being tex-tile-export oriented city, about1.5 million workers had di-rectly and indirectly employ-ment with the sector besidesbackward and forward linkagewith the agriculture and domes-tic commerce.

Many of the textile units hesaid were at the verge of closureand unemployment could in-crease due to lay-offs of theworkers. He hoped that the gov-ernment would take short andlong term steps for uninterruptedsupply of electricity to the in-dustries in the forthcoming En-ergy Policy, for smooth runningof businesses, trade and indus-try.

He maintained that textilesector in Faisalabad had po-tential to enhance export earn-ings for the country far abovethe export target set for 2013-14, and made huge investmentin the near past on adoptingmodernization of equipmentand machinery, but all the in-vestment was wasted due tolong load-shedding of elec-tricity.

PM’s visit toChina will reviveeconomy: APBF

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The All PakistanBusiness Forum has said thevisit of Prime Minister NawazSahrif and Punjab Chief Minis-ter Shahbaz Sharif to China willplay an effective role in revivalof the country’s economy, boost-ing the morale of the generalpublic and business community.

APBF Chairman NabeelHashmi said that China has as-sured all-out cooperation inmaking Nandipur power stationfunctional and it is a matter ofsatisfaction that Dong FengElectricity Company has sent ateam of Chinese engineers toPakistan immediately fulfillingthe promise.

“The APBF supportsagenda of PML-N to eradicatepoverty through developmentas past government interruptedthe process of recovery by mis-management,” said Mr.Hashmi.

“We have wasted a lot oftime, rather decades, now ourpolicymakers should realizemajor shifts in patterns of invest-ment, saving, and capital flowsand explores ways beneficial forfuture of Pakistan.”

He observed that handingover of Gwadar Port to Chinawas one of the most prudent de-cisions ever taken by Pakistanileadership which will open newavenues of cooperation and de-velopment.

Appreciating the visit, theAPBF chairman said that themain focus was on resolvingenergy crisis in Pakistan. Hesaid that Chinese investors willspend in energy sector in Paki-stan while discussions were alsoheld with China government ongenerating electricity from coaland solar energy.

The visit shows commit-ment of the PM to resolve en-ergy crisis on sustainable basisand take all necessary steps toput country on the path of de-velopment, he said.

“National Economic Corri-dor” between Pakistan andChina from Khunjerab toGwadar will open new avenuesin trade and economy betweenthe two countries.

Minister briefed onKW&SB affairsStaff ReporterKARACHI—ManagingDirector Karachi Water andSewerage Board MisbahuddinFarid called on Minister forLocal Bodies Syed AwaisMuzaffar and briefed himabout KW& working system,performance and issues iscurrently facing. The MDWater Board requestedMinister for Local Bodies tovisit KW&S8 Head office andallow KW&SB to brief himabout its Departments anddevelopment projects. Duringthe meeting, the MD KW&SBalso briefed the minister aboutmajor issues KW&SB isfacing including tariff problemwith NEPRA, Karachi MasterPlan, Collection of BettermentCharges from CantonmentBoards, illegal possessions ofKW&SB land allocated fordevelopment projects andtransfer of lands to KW&SB.

Operation againstsmuggled cigarettesStaff ReporterISLAMABAD—A special teamof Directorate of Intelligence& Investigation Customs,Lahore conducted a raid nearrailway station Lahore andseized huge quantity ofsmuggled cigarettes. Theintelligence team, intercepted aSuzuki pickup bearingregistration number W- 1296near railway station. Thepickup was carrying 50 cartonsof Pine Cigarettes estimated tobe worth Rs. 750,000. Taxesapplication on the smuggledgoods is estimated to beRs.925, 000. In the last fewmonths the Government hasstepped up its enforcementefforts against the smuggledcigarettes especially theKorean brand which is causinga huge loss to the nationalexchequer.

France to seek 14beuros in cutsPARIS—France will pursue 14billion euros ($18.2 billion) inspending cuts next year as itattempts to reduce the publicdeficit to 3 percent of economicoutput by 2015, Le Mondereported. France’s Socialistgovernment aims to tame thedeficit by trimming ministerialbudgets, cutting state aid tocompanies and reducing localgovernment funding. With theeconomy back in a shallowrecession, jobless claims at anall-time high and his approvalratings around 30 percent,President Francois Hollandehas been reluctant to acceleratethe cuts. Annual growth inoverall wage costs for Frenchpublic employees will be cut to0.15 percent from 3 percent.—Newswire

KARACHI: Pakistan Hindu Council members with Provincial Minister Giyan Chand athis residence.—PO photo

KARACHI: The General Manager of the Pearl Continental Hotel Karachi, Mr.Azeem Qureshi, hosted an Iftar dinner for the local electronic and printmedia journalists at hotel premises. Picture shows host with journalists.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

Diesel fumes pose highrisk to diabetics

EXPOSURE to diesel fumes, for evena few hours, is putting diabetics at ahigher risk of developing respiratory

and cardiovascular diseases, a study hasfound. Nano Diesel Exhaust Particles (DEP)enter the blood stream ofdiabetic patients through thenasal/respiratory tract andcause systemic inflamma-tion (swelling) of heart tis-sues and other vital organs,proves the study, HealthNews reported.

Exposure of between24-48 hours can have anacute effect on the patientsby causing a risk of devel-oping cardiovascular andrespiratory issues, whilelong-term chronic effectscan lead to the developmentof cancer cells in the humanbody. Though harmful en-vironmental particles affecthealthy humans as well, theeffect is greater on diabeticpatients, said Prof Abderrahim Nemmar whocarried out the two-year study at the UAEUniversity’s Department of Physiology,College of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The experiment was carried out on micewith Type 1 (genetically inherited) diabeteswith the dose of particle exposure compa-rable to human exposure. According to theprofessor, similar international environmen-tal studies have proved that pollutants canaffect the heart and brain.

“Our studies demonstrate an increasein susceptibility to the respiratory and car-diovascular effects of DEP in Type 1 dia-betic mice compared to healthy ones,” said

Prof Nemmar. “We found that acute expo-sure (24 hours) of mice to DEP induced pul-monary and systemic inflammation and oxi-dative stress, liver dysfunction and throm-botic (clotting) events in cerebral micro ves-

sels and that these effectswere aggravated in diabeticmice.”

“Upon observation,small aggregates of carbon-aceous particles and a sub-stantial amount of ultrafine(nano)-sized particles (lessthan 100 nanometres) wereseen,” he explained.

“The inhaled nano-sized particles can penetratedeeply into the respiratorytract, pass into the systemiccirculation and reach variousorgans,” added theprofessor.Concluding fromthe study Professor Nemmarsaid that it would be advis-able for diabetics to avoidpeak traffic hours and ex-

treme heat. “Face masks can be worn buteven then these nano-particles get through.”

“Doctors should also pass on this ad-vice to their patients,” he added. “It provesthat pollutants from heavy trucks that usediesel because it is cheaper than other kindsof fuel, have a bad impact on our health,” hesaid. “The particles not only affect the lungfunctions but all parts of the body,” he added.

“Concerted efforts are needed to reducethe air pollution with such dangerous ele-ments either by working on reducing the ratesof the consumption of diesel by using otherkinds of fuel, or by reducing heavy truck traf-fic in the residential areas,” he said.

KARACHI: A view of big hole in the middle of road covered with wooden boxes.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Medical expertshave urged the public to showextreme caution while takingedibles specially drinking wa-ter when travelling during va-cations.

As summer vacationshave started, people with theirfamilies will go to northernareas where they are likely todrink contaminated lake wa-ter and eat food from outside,Dr. Iqbal Memon, PresidentPakistan Paediatric Societysaid.

This is happening every-where in Pakistan, no mattervacation or not; as a matter of

Hepatitis: Prevention is better than curefact in summer this happens inhot areas as well. It may benoted that contaminated waterand even filtered sources ofwater, with their viral infectivecomponents continue to affecthealth of all users, thus theywill be exposed to the dangerof Hepatitis A. It is importantto ensure that every familymember including adults &children are vaccinated beforevisiting such areas, he said.

Dr. Iqbal Memon said thatunsafe water can lead to manyintestinal and liver diseases,particularly Typhoid, Hepati-tis A & E, Gastroenteritis, Dys-entery, etc. Dairy products alsoare good sources of these ail-

ments. With summer ap-proaching, use of unsafe wa-ter, over ripe fruits, cooked oruncooked food left in open,even without cover, and in-creased need and demand ofwater for drinking and drinksshall add to the issues.

Shortage of water with in-creased consumption will addto health problems further. Itis unfortunate that whateverlittle water treatment facilitiesare available are not managedwell.

Besides the hand washingand other hygiene measures,clean water, cooking well andreheating food items beforeuse again shall decrease the

burden but virus in the waterremain to haunt us.

“Parents should get them-selves and their children vac-cinated for Hepatitis A as theywill be exposed to contami-nated water and food duringtheir journey and stay at dif-ferent locations up-north,where the sanitary and hygieneconditions are unfortunatelypoor and substandard,” Dr.Iqbal said.

He advised the parents,“Prevention is better than cureand the cost of vaccination isfar less than the treatment andcure procedures. So it is bet-ter to protect yourself and yourchildren on priority basis be-

cause Hepatitis A is a seriousand costly disease when itcomes totreatment.”Vaccination forHepatitis A is time tested, ef-fective and available. We mustcapitalize on this innovationand vaccinate children withtwo doses at about 2-6 monthsinterval. It is also important toincrease awareness throughevery possible means, headded. Immunization is one ofthe most cost effective andquick means, protecting peopleagainst preventable ailments;non-utilization of vaccines isequivalent to crime against hu-manity, particularly children.We must ensure vaccination of

all children against every dis-ease prevalent in our commu-nity and at the very least uti-lize maximally every vaccineavailable free of cost to ourchildren and pregnant ladiesthrough National Immuniza-tion program. All EPI programmanagers and health officialsare urged to ensure delivery ofall vaccines in most convenientmanner and with maximumoutlets along with awarenessdrive locally through schools,mosques and madarsahs peri-odically and achieve vaccina-tion targets.

The residents of the scenicand exotic cities in the northof the country unfortunately

are already complaining aboutand suffering from Hepatitis Aoutbreak due to lack of aware-ness and medical facilities, hementioned.

An example of this is anoutbreak of Hepatitis-A thatinfected hundreds of people inSwat early this year and it wasattributed to poor hygiene inthe area. Various health offi-cials in discussion with mediasaid that there is a pollutedstream running through thecenter of the city and all thesanitation lines fall into thestreams running through theMingora Bazaar.

According to the medicalunit of the Saidu group of hos-

pitals, majority of the wardswere full in the month ofFebruary. “Every other pa-tient at the outpatient depart-ment has been diagnosedwith Hepatitis-A and morecases are still trickling in.However, all the patients arebeing admitted and beingtreated well,” said an officialat the administration of themedical unit.

“Hundreds of patientssuffering from Hepatitis-Ahave already been admitted invarious hospitals. It seems thatcontaminated water has mixedinto the drinking water whichhas caused the epidemic,” Dr.Abdul Wasay said.

Ramazan, month ofdivine blessingscelebrated at PC

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Pearl Conti-nental Karachi serves a sump-tuous and lavish Iftar Dinnerfeaturing our restaurant special-ties and culinary delights createdespecially for the Holy month –complete with traditional staplesand festive favourites. Also en-joy refreshing Ramadan drinks,a great selection of desserts anddaily lucky draw of National /International Airline Tickets andmany more.

Pearl Continental Karachivalues freedom of culture, col-ors and food which is an amal-gamating venture. Mr. AzeemQureashi with great zeal has al-ways put Pearl ContinentalKarachi forward in various reli-gious, cultural & Internationalactivities. He and the Hashoogroup thoroughly believe in thespirit of Islam.

Our main goal is to alwaysput Pearl Continental Karachiforward in variousplatforms.The Sponsors ofRamzan Iftar Dinner Festivalare Faisal Bank, BankAlfalah, Advance Telecom,Silk Bank, Servis, Shan , HumTv, Masala Tv,Soya Supreme,Air Arabia, Hajmola, AtlasHonda, Qarshi, Olivia, RosePetal, Ary Digital, Ary Zauq,Lipton, and Haier.

Sharjeel hailsMalala’s

UN addressKARACHI—Sindh InformationMinister, Sharjeel Inam Memon,has hailed the address of MalalaYousufzai, at the United Nations.In a statement here on Saturday, hedescribed this as a historic addresssaying that it is a matter of pridefor thr entire Pakistani nation.

It may be recalled that theUnited Nations had designatedJuly 12 as the ‘Malala Day’.

Sharjeel further pointed outthat the entire world is appreci-ating Malala’s struggle for thecause of education especiallythat of the girls. 1 He maintainedthat we can overcome the men-ace of terrorism and militancywith the spread of education.The Minister said that the Gov-ernment of Sindh congratulatesand salutes Malala Yousufzai forher contributions towards thecause of education.—APP

KARACHI—Jamaat-e-Islami(JI) Karachi Amir, MuhammadHussain Mehnati has called fortaking a serious notice of thePakistan Steel Mills issues, be-sides demanding a bailout pack-age.

Talking to a delegation oflabour union at Idara Noor-e-Haq on Saturday, he praised theefforts of new government tosafeguard national institutionsincluding Pakistan Railwaysand to cope with the power cri-

JI calls for bailout package,restructuring for PSM

ses. He also called upon thegovernment to pay attention toresolve the issues of PSM, saida statement issued on Saturday.

He expressed his concernover non-payment of staff sala-ries in the PSM and hoped thatcompetent measures could pullthe PSM out of crisis and makeit again a profitable public en-tity.

PSLO Union General Sec-retary Zafar Khan apprised theJI leadership of the issues of

Pakistan Steel Mills.The JI Karachi Amir as-

sured the labour’s representa-tives of JI’s full cooperationand support for PSM workers,like the past.

JI Karachi Secretary Infor-mation Zahid Askari, labourleader Haji Khan Lashari,Rehan Shah and officers’ rep-resentatives Adil Khan, SabirRaza, Matee- ur-Rehman, ChAkbar and others were alsopresent on the occasion.—APP

Malik’s dualnationality

case adjournedtill July 24

KARACHI—Former interiorminister Rahman Malik has saidthat as the Pakistan People’sParty government eliminatedTalibanisation and terrorismfrom Swat and MalakandAgency the militancy could beeliminated from across the coun-try.

Talking to media personsoutside sessions court on Satur-day after appearing in the courtin dual nationality case, RahmanMalik said the nation togethercould fight against terrorists foreliminating them from the coun-try.

He said that two monthsremained in the expiry of thedate of post of President AsifAli Zardari, adding that hisparty would bring its candi-date for the president’s slot.He said the party would de-cide final nomination forpresidential election.

He condemned killing ofBilal Sheikh in a suicide attack,adding that the attack was amessage to the PPP. RahmanMalik said that he was still re-ceiving threats but he was notafraid from terrorists.

Meanwhile, Rahman Malikappeared before the sessionscourt in dual office case and thecourt adjourned the hearing tillJuly 24.—INP

KARACHI—The United States(US) Government has launchedprogram to improve infrastructurefor water supply in Karachi.

The program has been startedin collaboration with the UnitedStates Agency for International De-velopment (USAID)’s Power Dis-tribution.

Program is helping KarachiWater & Sewage Board(KW&SB) in improving infra-structure for water supply. It uses anetwork of pumping stations topump water from the filtrationplants like Dhabeji and Hub to 21million inhabitants of Karachi.These pumping stations are thebackbone of KWSB’s water sup-ply operations, and are vital to thedistribution of water across the city.

The USAID Power Distribu-tion Program is currently replac-ing the worst performing old

USAID launches improvedwater supply to Karachiites

pump-sets with modern high effi-ciency pumpsets from USAIDProgram certified pumpset suppli-ers. So far 41 pumps have beenreplaced and operating efficientlyand effectively.

The USAID Power Distribu-tion Program will replace approxi-mately 75 old KW&SB’s waterpump . This will upgrade the wa-ter supply to the city and decreaseKWSBs financial burden by $1.15million per annum, and provide acontinuous supply of clean waterto the communities under its juris-diction” John Pullinger, DirectorField Operations of USAID PowerDistribution Program remarked.

The Program is helping gov-ernment-owned DISCOs im-prove their performance by re-ducing losses, increasing rev-enues and enhancing customerservices.—Online

KARACHI—Karachi traffic po-lice vigilance teams have beenassigned special responsibilitiesto ensure smooth flow of trafficduring the month of Ramadan.

According to police depart-ment press release AdditionalDeputy Inspector General Traf-fic Police has been detailed withthe responsibility of focal per-son while FM radio service gasalso been launched from the firstof the fasting month.

According to the report, sub-mitted by the AIG Traffic Sindh

Vigilance teams to monitortraffic flow at peak hours

to Inspector General of PoliceSindh Shahid Nadim Baloch, incase of information receivedabout traffic congestion on anyroad the DSP of the concerneddivision would rush additionalstaff to control the situation.

The five districts of the cityhave been divided in four sec-tors for the purpose of trafficmanagement and SSPs traffichave been given the responsibili-ties to oversee traffic flow.

Sector-I is from Tower toQuaidabad, Sector -2 Eidgah to

Sohrab Goth, Sector-III Gurumandar to Power HouseChowrangi while sector-IVHabib Bank Chowrangi toMawacha Goth. The DSPs of allthe five districts would ensuresmooth flow of traffic in theirsectors and arrange alternateroutes in case of traffic jams.

The IGP Sindh directed thetraffic police to make use of FMradio transmission to inform thepeople about traffic jams and ad-vise the them to take alternateroutes.—APP

MPA’s killer diesmysteriously in

CID police custodyKARACHI—Killer ofMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) MPA Sajid Qureshidied in a mysterious way in theCrime Investigation Department(CID) police custody.

Two days ago the police hadarrested six terrorists of thebanned militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi sister organization ofoutlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba(Yazeed), for allegedly killing30 people, including MQMMPA Sajid Qureshi, his son andNoted Shia Scholar Prof SibteJafar Zaid—Online

Diesel fumes pose highrisk to diabetics

LAHORE: People taking rest in their leisure time at Chauburji.

EXPOSURE to diesel fumes, for evena few hours, is putting diabetics ata higher risk of developing respira-

tory and cardiovascular diseases, a studyhas found. Nano Diesel Exhaust Particles(DEP) enter the blood stream of diabeticpatients through the na-sal/respiratory tract andcause systemic inflamma-tion (swelling) of heart tis-sues and other vital or-gans, proves the study,Health News reported.

Exposure of between24-48 hours can have anacute effect on the pa-tients by causing a risk ofdeveloping cardiovascu-lar and respiratory issues,while long-term chroniceffects can lead to thedevelopment of cancercells in the human body.

Though harmful envi-ronmental particles affecthealthy humans as well,the effect is greater on dia-betic patients, said Prof AbderrahimNemmar who carried out the two-yearstudy at the UAE University’s Depart-ment of Physiology, College of Medicineand Health Sciences.

The experiment was carried out onmice with Type 1 (genetically inherited)diabetes with the dose of particle expo-sure comparable to human exposure.According to the professor, similar inter-national environmental studies haveproved that pollutants can affect the heartand brain.

“Our studies demonstrate an in-crease in susceptibility to the respiratory

and cardiovascular effects of DEP inType 1 diabetic mice compared tohealthy ones,” said Prof Nemmar.

“We found that acute exposure (24hours) of mice to DEP induced pulmo-nary and systemic inflammation and oxi-

dative stress, liver dys-function and thrombotic(clotting) events in cerebralmicro vessels and thatthese effects were aggra-vated in diabetic mice.”

“Upon observation,small aggregates of car-bonaceous particles and asubstantial amount ofultrafine (nano)-sized par-ticles (less than 100nanometres) were seen,”he explained.

“The inhaled nano-sized particles can pen-etrate deeply into the res-piratory tract, pass into thesystemic circulation andreach various organs,”added the

professor.Concluding from the studyProfessor Nemmar said that it would beadvisable for diabetics to avoid peaktraffic hours and extreme heat. “Facemasks can be worn but even then thesenano-particles get through.”

“Doctors should also pass on thisadvice to their patients,” he added.

“It proves that pollutants fromheavy trucks that use diesel because itis cheaper than other kinds of fuel, havea bad impact on our health,” he said.“The particles not only affect the lungfunctions but all parts of the body,” headded.

LAHORE: People returning after buying flour on subsidized rates from ShalamarRamazan Bazaar.

LAHORE: Rescue workers are busy in their work after fire erupted in a chemicalfactory on Circular Road.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-N Punjab, has askedall its Senators, MNAs andMPAs to visit Ramadan Ba-zaars regularly to monitorprices of daily-use items andother products. SecretaryGeneral, PML-N Punjab RajaAshfaq Sarwar who is alsoLabour and Human Re-sources Minister told report-ers here Saturday that ChiefMinister Punjab MuhammadShahbaz Sharif was spendinga sum of Rs 4 billion for theprovision of edibles at sub-sidized rates to the poor seg-ment of the society during theholy month of Ramadan.

He said that for this pur-pose, more than 370 RamadanBazaars had been estab-lished in all districts of theprovince and all Senators,MNAs and MPAs as well asdivisional commissioners,district coordination officersand assistant commissioners

have been directed to checkthe prices of edible items intheir respective areas. Profi-teers and hoarders must betaken to task.

Raja Ashfaq Sarwar saidthat Chief Minister was him-self monitoring the perfor-mance of all teams.

Meanwhile, Punjab Min-ister for Food Bilal Yasin onSaturday visited variousRamzan Bazaars in the cityand inspected facilities forthe general public and pricesof commodities.

The minister also orderedto dismiss from serviceKhurram Shahzad, an officialof the Market committee,while two others Afaq andNaseer were also suspendedover negligence.

Bilal Yasin accompaniedby officials of the district ad-ministration paid surprisevisits to Ramazan Bazaars inIslampura and Shadman.

He directed the districtadministration and in

charges of Ramazan Bazaarsto ensure sufficient supply offood items with control ratesand standard quality.

Meanwhile, the CitizensProtection Committee (CPC)has called for a crackdownon hoarders and profiteers.

In a statement on Satur-day, committee convenerZulfiqar Hussain said thesale of daily-use items at ex-orbitant prices despite thechief minister’s warning wasa failure of district machineryand it needed prompt action.

He said the chief ministershould take serious notice ofthe situation and order pricecontrol committees to ensurethe availability of commodi-ties at cheaper rates in openmarket. Zulfiqar, however, ap-preciated the government’seffort of the availability ofdaily-use items in SastayRamazan bazaars. The gov-ernment has made excellentarrangements for the provi-sion of articles at fixed rates.

PML-N asks MPsto monitor prices

Power projectsefforts to yieldresults soon’

LAHORE—The government isworking on power supplyprojects on war footing and ef-forts in this regard will startyielding results very soon.PML-N MNA Pervez Malik ex-pressed these views at the in-auguration ceremony of a gassupply project at Shadbaghhere on Saturday. MNA ShaistaPervez, a large number of indus-trialists, traders and masseswere also present.

He said a number of powerprojects were in progress toproduce at least 10,000 MWelectricity in next three years.“Economic revival, progress oftrade & industry and early so-lution to social issues are toppriorities of the present gov-ernment”, he said.

Pervez Malik said the gassupply project was a tokenof PML-N’s commitment withthe nation and its serious-ness in solving issues. Hesaid that record corruption ofthe previous governmentwas the biggest reason ofloadshedding but PrimeMinister Mian Nawaz Sharifhad evolved a strategy toovercome the issue.—APP

Meeting on doctorsservice structure

next weekLAHORE—Another meetingof office-bearers of the YoungDoctors Association (YDA)and Secretary Health HasanIqbal will be held in the nextweek to discuss doctors ser-vice structure and other al-lowances.

YDA leader Dr NasirAbbas told APP on Saturdaythat a committee of YDA rep-resentatives including he,Dr Amir Bandashah, DrShabir, Dr Usman and DrNasir Abbas would negoti-ate service structure andother allowances with thesecretary.

He said that the YDA wasinitiating dialogue with thehealth department with an in-tention to produce good re-sults. A meeting with the sec-retary was held on July 10which remained inconclu-sive.—APP

SC moved for stayingimplementation of

death penaltyLAHORE—Supreme Court(SC) has been moved forstaying the implementationof death penalty in respectof 400 prisoners.

Media reports said a pe-tition has been filed in SCLahore registry in this con-nection. The petitioner hastaken the plea in the petitionthat interior ministry has writ-ten a letter to the presidentfor implementation of deathsentence orders in respect of400 prisoners who have com-pleted their punishmentterm.—Online

LAHORE—Provincial Minis-ter for Women DevelopmentHameeda Waheed-ud-Dinhas said that more hostels arebeing set up for workingwomen under a phasesprogramme.

She was talking towomen during her visit toworking women hostel atSocial Welfare Complex. TheMinister said that on the in-structions of Chief MinisterPunjab Muhammad ShahbazSharif, all out measures werebeing taken for the welfareand resolving the problemsof working women.

She said that better facili-ties would be provided in 15working women hostels inPunjab operating under theadministrative control ofWomen Development De-partment.

She said that maximumjob opportunities were be-

ing provided to women andtheir recruitment quota hasbeen increased to 15 percent . The Minister saidthat daycare centres werebeing established in vari-ous districts of the prov-ince.

The Minister assuredthat provision of heavy dutygenerator and potable water

would be ensured to thewomen staying at the hostelon priority basis.

The Minister on this oc-casion, constituted a fivemembers supervisory com-mittee comprising workingwomen which will play itsrole in improving the admin-istrative affairs of the hos-tel.—APP

More hostels being built forworking women: Minister

PPP candidatesfor by-polls

LAHORE—The PakistanPeoples Party Punjab has an-nounced candidates for by-elections on August 22. Ac-cording to the PPP sourceson Saturday, KhurramJahangir Wattoo has beennominated as candidate forPP-193, Rana M Akhtar forPP-161, Arif NaseemKashmiri for PP-142, HajiMushtaq Mughal PP-123,Wajid Mustafa Bajwa for PP-51 and Asif Nagra for PP-150.

Ashraf Bhatti will contestfor NA-129 while Mumtaz AliCheema for NA-83. PPP lead-ers have expressed their de-termination to win the by-polls.—APP

Two killersarrested

LAHORE—CIA Policeclaimed to have arrested twoaccused involved in a mur-der case of two friends andrecovered pistol and motor-cycle. SP CIA Umer Virk toldthis while talking to the me-dia at CIA’s Nawan Kot hereon Friday.

He said Falak Sher, Ikram,Siddique and Asif of Pakpattanwere working in a constructioncompany near Sundar Indus-trial State. Siddique often vis-ited the house of Falak Sherand developed illicit relationwith his wife, Nozaht Bibi,which caused the dispute. Towhich, Falak Sher and Ikramstrangled Siddique and Asifand buried their bodies in aroom.—APP

ConvocationLAHORE—The FAST-Na-tional University of Com-puter and Emerging Sciencesis holding its 33rd convoca-tion at its campus here onMonday (July 15). PunjabChief Minister MianMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifwill grace the occasion asChief Guest.

The university has fivemodern campuses at Karachi,Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawarand Faisalabad where over10,000 students (male & fe-male) are receiving educationin Undergraduate, Graduateand Ph.D degreeprogrammes.—APP

Fire at chemicalstore controlled

LAHORE—Fire fighters con-trolled a fire on Saturdaymorning which had eruptedin a chemical store at DheliGate on Friday evening.

According to Rescue1122, ten fire vehiclesreached on the spot andstarted an operation. The firefighters controlled the fireafter hectic efforts. However,no loss of life was reported.

Meanwhile, police havearrested owners identified asImran, Babar and Amer andregistered a case.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Ministerfor Education and Youth Af-fairs Rana Mashhood AhmadKhan officially launched thePunjab Adolescent Strategy& Strategic Plan 2013-17,here on Saturday.

This comprehensive strat-egy has been developed un-der the umbrella of PunjabYouth Policy 2012. Addressingto participants of the launch-ing ceremony, RanaMashhood Ahmad Khan saidthe adolescents of ages be-tween nine to nineteen yearsare significant part ofPakistan’s population. Of theestimated Pakistani popula-tion of 169 million, adolescentsmake up 26% of the total popu-lation. Keeping this in view,

the government has focusedvarious age groups of adoles-cents to provide them a thera-peutic milieu, he added.

The Minister said, ado-lescents go through transi-tion period between child-hood and adult hood. Theissues and challenges facedby this group undergoingphysical, emotional, devel-opmental and hormonalchanges, require that they betreated as a distinct segmentof the population with spe-cific developmental needsafter classifying them intoearly adolescents from nineto thirteen years of age,middle adolescents from 14to 16 years of age and lateadolescents from 17 to 19years of age. All these threecategories need separate

strategies for protection oftheir rights. The Ministeremphasized the need to fo-cus on adolescents to de-velop their abilities and ca-pabilities up to full potentialso that their capabilities beutilized in lien of their naturalaptitude besides protectingthem from bad company asfar as peers are concerned.

The Minister urged uponmedia and the civil society toplay their positive role in timelyidentification of wrong doingsin violation of the PunjabAdolescent Strategy. UNICEFChild Protection SpecialistsSohail Abbas and ShaguftaHameed Bhatti, SecretaryYouth Affairs, Sports, Archae-ology and Tourism Punjab, Dr.Saqib Aziz also spoke on theoccasion.

Adolescent strategy &strategic plan launched

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Several cities inthe country including differ-ent parts of the provincialcapital were hit by poweroutage during Sehri timings,despite tall claims of the gov-ernment.

The citizens agitated byunscheduled load sheddingcame out on the streets andchanted slogans against thegovernment for making falseclaims.

Several areas in Lahoreincluding Iqbal Town, JoharTown, Shad bagh,Islampura, Faisal Town, oldAnarkali and Shahdara wereamong the areas worst hitby the powers outages dur-ing Sehri.

In Karachi, residents ofGora Qabristan area pro-tested against power cuts onShahrah-e-Faisal. Heavycontingent of police arrivedat the scene and resorted to

baton-charge to disperse theangry mob.

Protestors in Multan sur-rounded Mepco office in PakGate area. Some of the pro-testers vandalized the build-ing and torched the furnitureof Mepco office.

Angry mob blockedLahore-Sheikhpura road andchanted anti-governmentslogans. Earlier on July 6,Federal Information MinisterPervez Rasheed had assuredmasses that no load shed-ding will take place in themonth of Ramazan duringSehri, Iftar and Tarawih tim-ings.

Also, the governmenthad paid off Rs503 billion inloans to power companies injust four weeks in order toboost power generation.

Meanwhile, PunjabMinister for Energy SherAli Khan has said that CityDistr ict Government wil lfocus on converting street

Citizens protest againstSehri power cuts

lights and offices to solarpower system after Eid-ul-Fitr.

Talking to a private newschannel on Saturday, the min-ister said that province couldsave 2000MW of electricityunder the energy savingcampaign.

He said that Punjab willbe able produce additional3000MW electricity by Janu-ary 2015 in the light of agree-ments signed with the Chi-nese companies to produceelectricity by utilising coaland solar energy.

Sher Ali Khan said thatChina Power InternationalHolding will install fourpower plants of 600MW eachin different parts of Punjab.The electricity will be sup-plied at 12 cent per unit, headded.

The minister also saidthat Kalabagh Dam should beconstructed with consensusamong all the provinces.