ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister of ThailandMs. Yingluck Shinawatra jointly addressing a press conference.

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RAWALPINDI—Former Presi-dent General (Retd) PervezMusharraf and six others wereindicted in Benazir Bhutto mur-der case by an anti-terrorismcourt here on Tuesday. How-ever, Musharraf denied thecharges. Others who have beenindicted in the case includeFormer DIG Saud Aziz‚ Super-intendent of Police KhurramAijaz‚ Rafaqat Hussain‚Hussnain Gul‚ Sher Zaman andAbdul Rashid.

Former President Gen(Rtd) Pervez Musharraf was

produced before ATC judgeChaudhry Habib Ur Rehmanwith heavy escort from ChakShehzad sub-jail.

A formal trial could beginany time. If convicted,Musharraf could face a maxi-mum sentence of death or lifeimprisonment, a prosecutionlawyer said. There are three wit-nesses in the case, including USjournalist Mark Siegel who wasa close friend of slain BenazirBhutto.

There had been some doubtwhether police would produce

him in the court due to deaththreats by Tehreek-e-Taliban.Taliban insurgents had said inrecent weeks that they wouldsend suicide bombers to killPervez Musharraf.

The expected indictmentwas temporarily postponed at anAugust 06 hearing because po-lice did not take Musharraf tocourt due to a specific threat.

The government at the timeblamed Pakistani Taliban mili-tant leader Baitullah Mehsudwho was killed in US drone at-tack, and Musharraf has said he

warned her of the danger shefaced. During Tuesday hearing,the charges were read out to himin the court. He, however, de-nied all charges, before the judgeadjourned hearing of the case tillAugust 27 for evidence to bebrought.

Public prosecutor ChaudhryMuhammad Azhar saidMusharraf, who is also chief ofAll Pakistan Muslim League(APML) “was charged with mur-der, criminal conspiracy for mur-der and facilitation for murder”.

“All the cases against

Musharraf are fabricated. Hedenied all the charges,” saidAfshan Adil, the counsel of theformer president. Defence law-yer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said hisclient would fight the charges.

Benazir Bhutto, who wastwice elected prime minister,was assassinated in a gun andbomb attack in December 2007.Musharraf is fighting a series ofcharges relating to his time inpower, which began with himousting Nawaz Sharif in a 1999military coup.

Musharraf, six others indicted in BB murder case

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US namesPeshawarmadrassa as ‘terrortraining centre’WASHINGTON—The USTreasury on Tuesday seteconomic sanctions on aPakistani madrassa (Islamicschool) it branded a “terroristtraining center” supporting AlQaeda and the Taliban.

The Treasury said theGanj madrassa in Peshawarwas being used as a trainingand recruiting base by the twomilitant groups, as well as theLashkar-e-Taiba blamed forthe November 2008 Mumbaiattacks that killed 166 people.

The head of the madrassa,Fazeel-A-Tul Shaykh AbuMohammed Ameen Al-Peshawari, known as ShaykhAminullah, has been a US andUN-designated terrorist since2009, for his support for AlQaeda and the Taliban.—Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator IshaqDar and Finance Minister of Nepal Shanker Prasad Koiralaexchanging documents after signing an MoU.

Pak, Nepal to boost coop in various fieldsJoint Economic Commission concludes deliberations

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The two-daysixth session of Pakistan-NepalJoint Economic Commissionconcluded here on Tuesdaywith a pledge for bilateral co-operation in a number of fieldsincluding trade, commerce,banking, agriculture, energy,health, education, informationtechnology, postal services andcivil aviation.

The session was led by Fi-nance Minister MohammadIshaq Dar while the Nepal sidewas represented by its Minis-ter for Finance, Commerce, In-dustries and Supplies, ShankarParsad Koirala.

A number of decisionswere taken during the meetingsof the sixth session and toimplement the decisions, min-

utes of the JEC were alsosigned.

Briefing media personsabout the decisions taken dur-ing the meetings here at a lo-cal hotel, Senator Ishaq Darsaid that a draft of the FreeTrade Agreement between Pa-kistan and Nepal was handedover to the Nepalese side fortheir examination. Further ne-gotiations in this regard, hesaid will be discussed by a jointtrade committee of the twocountries.

He said the Federation ofPakistan Chambers of Com-merce and Industry will ex-plore areas of trade diversifi-cation particularly involvingthe private sectors of the twocountries in collaboration withFederation of Nepal Chambers

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Earthquakes mayhit 11 world

regions tomorrowHAMEED SHAHEEN

ISLAMABAD—The world earth-quake prediction center ofTiempe has predicted that aquake of varied intensity tomor-row would hit a raft of elevenregions of the world. Followingare the likely hits, as per Tiempeweb posting details:

XINJIANG-XIZANG BOR-DER REGION (35.88N 81.14E)(Probable 4 and probable mul-tiples); NEW BRITAIN RE-GION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA(-5.105 151.633) (Probable 4 andprobable multiples); NORTH-ERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA(4.00N 96.36E) (Probable 4 andprobable multiples);TAJIKISTAN area (38.87N71.18E) (Probable 4 and probablemultiples); West Richland, WAarea (46.393N 119.290W), (Sec-ond day symptoms. Probable 3.5and probable multiples); SOUTH-

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MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Intelligence agen-cies have busted Al-Qaeda’s in-ternational technical hub inLahore on Tuesday.

Two alleged terrorists linkedwith the group were also ar-rested during the raid while threesuspects managed to flee fromthe scene when law enforcement

Al-Qaeda’s technicalhub busted in Lahore

agencies raided the centreThe suspects are allegedly

involved in the kidnapping offormer premier Yousaf RazaGilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani.Former Punjab governorSalman Taseer’s son ShahbazTaseer was also abducted withthe communication assistance ofthe network.

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Indian troops againviolate LoC

RAWALPINDI—Indian troopsagain violated the ceasefirewhen they opened unprovokedfire at Pakistani positions inNakyal sector at the Line ofControl (LoC) in Kashmir, re-ports said on Tuesday.

Indian forces opened unpro-voked firing and shelling at theLoC causing harrassment in thepopulation of the area.

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PTI MPA’s degreedeclared fakeISLAMABAD—The degree ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa ministerand Member of ProvincialAssembly Yousaf Ayub hasbeen declared fake.YousafAyub was the candidate ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf fromPK-50 Haripur 2, and waselected as the member ofprovincial assembly afterwinning in the generalelections of 2013.

The Higher EducationCommission had sent hisdegree to the Punjab Univer-sity for verification, followingthe instructions from theElection CommissionTribunal.—Online

DSP’s daughter, 2nephews shot deadNAUSHEROFEROZ—Threestudents including a daughter ofpolice official and his twonephews were killed whenunknown armed men openedfire on a car here on Tuesday.According to details, unidenti-fied assailants sprayed bulletson a car in Habib Chowk area

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan andThailand Tuesday expressed theresolve to build a strong eco-nomic partnership, double theirtrade figures to US two billiondollars in next five years andeventually enter into a FreeTrade Agreement. Prime Minis-ter Muhammad Nawaz Sharifand Thai Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra addressinga joint press conference after around of bilateral talks also ex-pressed their commitment tocollaborate in the field of trade,culture, infrastructure develop-ment, science and technology,defence, education and tourism.Prime Minister Sharif said the

two sides held a “comprehensivediscussion” on wide range of is-sues and noted the convergenceof views on important bilateraland international issues. The twosides also discussed regional andinternational issues of mutualinterest.

Prime Minister Shinawatraextended her country’s supportto Pakistan in becoming a FullDialogue Partner with theASEAN, as Prime MinisterSharif appreciated Thailand’s“consistent support” forPakistan’s enhanced partnershipwith the regional forum.

Sharif also expressed satis-

Pakistan, Thailand toexpand trade to $2b

Nawaz, Shinawatra hold talks, agreements inked

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—The Asian De-velopment Bank (ADB) is onboard and supportive of the con-struction of Diamer BhashaDam. “We have now movedahead and work to find a way tostructure it and we are alreadylooking at various models in thisregard”, said Mr. Xiaoyu Zhao,Vice President (Perations-1) ofthe Bank.

Xiaoyu Zhao during meet-

ing with Finance Minister, Sena-tor Mohammad Ishaq Dar at hisoffice on Tuesday said that ADBis appreciative of the bold stepstaken by the present governmentfor reviving the economy espe-cially for successfully clearingthe circular debt which was cru-cial for bringing in new inves-tors and financing in the energysector.

Mr. Xiaoyu said that he wasgratified to learn that the new

ADB supports DiamerBhasha dam, TAPI

$ 430m for Income Support Programme

Swollen riversplay havoc inPunjab, Sindh

LAHORE/HYDERABAD—Withmost of the rivers playing havocin Punjab, 50 more villages inthe province were inundated onTuesday as flood posed threat toMultan city. Jhelum, Ravi,Chenab and Sutlij rivers wereflowing in high flood. Reportssaid over 50 villages came un-der water in Jhang district. Thefloodwaters have inundatedhundreds of acres of agricultureland in the area.

The local administrationwas moving people to safer

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STAFF REPORTER

QUETTA–The Frontier Corpsclaimed to have foiled a majorterror bid by seizing more than100 tons explosives from Quettaon Tuesday night. Commandant

FC, Col Maqbool told reportersthat the forces seized a hugequantity of explosive materialduring a raid at a warehouse inNew Addah area of Quetta.

“Forces recovered 104,480kilograms of explosive materi-als from the godown,” he in-formed. Maqbool said the explo-sive material included potas-sium chloride, aluminum chlo-ride, improvised explosive de-vices, detonators, circuit wiresand other arms and ammunitionduring the operation.

Over 100 tons explosivesseized in Quetta

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

DERA ISMAIL KHAN—By-elections scheduled to be held onAugust 22 have been postponedfor NA-25 constituency due tosecurity concerns. The NA 25constituency includes the area ofDera Ismail Khan that has beendeclared to be extremely sensi-tive.

The Election Commissionof Pakistan has postponed pollsin that constituency for a few

days only, and would take placeas soon as the security situationimproves. Jamiat-Ulema-e-Is-lam-F Chief Fazlur Rehman’sson Asad Mehmood and Paki-stan Tehrik-e-Insaf’s DawarKundi were taking part in the by-elections in NA-25.

The ECP on Tuesday an-nounced that five security offi-cials would be deployed at ‘nor-mal’ polling stations whereasseven security officials in addi-tion to army officials would be

deployed at all polling stationsdeclared ‘sensitive’. The ECPdecided on Monday to go aheadand hold by-elections in all 42constituencies on August 22,despite flooding and securitythreats.

The decision, which wasmade at a meeting of the ECPchaired by acting Chief ElectionCommissioner TassadiqHussain Jilani, came after thecommission turned down re-

NA-25 by-polls postponeddue to security concernsIndia puts Pak

talks offer onhold till Sept endNEW DELHI—its stance,India has decided to put talkswith Pakistan “on freeze” andofficial meetings will not beheld till September end,sources said here Monday.

However, there is apossibility of a meetingbetween Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and hisPakistan counterpart Nawaz

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Today’s issue of PakistanObserver carries a 4-PageSpecial Report on 7 Top Uni-versities of Pakistan.

Show causenotices served on250 lady teachers

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhawa (KP) Educa-tion Department has servedshow cause notices on 250female employees who re-peatedly refused to performspecially assigned duties. Ameeting was held here onTuesday with district return-ing officer Peshawar, BashirKhan in the chair, to reviewthe arrangements made forby-polls scheduled on Au-gust 22. The meeting decidedto take legal action against thefemale teachers and lecturerswho excusing security con-cerns denied to perform dutyin by-elections. The provin-cial educational department inaccordance with the decisionissued show cause notices to250 female employees of thedepartment.—INP

QUETTA—Balochistan Elec-tion Commissioner SultanBazeed has said that by-elec-tions would be held in all con-stituencies in the provinceand special arrangementwould be made in floods af-fected areas. Talking to Ra-dio Pakistan, Sultan Bazeedsaid that only four of the 60polling stations set up in theconstituency were inundated.He added that all arrange-ments have been finalized forone National Assembly andthree Provincial Assemblyseats in bye-elections.

He added that 368 pollingstations were set up for thepurpose in the province and

all of them were declared sen-sitive. “We have option topostpone by-elections in PB-32 (Jhal Magsi) to three to fourweeks after the Provincial Elec-tion Commission has receivedreports from the district admin-istration that 14 of the 51 poll-ing stations are still under wa-ter after torrential monsoonrains and flood,” he said.

Meanwhile, Election Com-mission of Pakistan (ECP) hasallowed the Free and Fair Elec-tion Network (FAFEN) to ob-serve by-elections on 16 Na-tional Assembly seats to beheld on August 22 across thecountry. According to thestatement, FAFEN will deploy

more than 500 trained andnon-partisan citizen observ-ers on this occasion.

FAFEN appreciated theECP to allow citizen observa-tion in keeping with its stra-tegic plan that seeks to en-hance electoral transparency.The ECP has sent letters tothe Provincial Election Com-missioners instructing themto facilitate FAFEN observ-ers in all the four provincesof the country.

Peshawar: Jamiat Ulema ePakistan (Noorani) has an-nounced to support joint can-didate of ANP, PPP and JUI (F)for NA 1 Haji Ghulam AhmedBilour in the by-elections due

for August 22. Secretary Gen-eral JUP (N) MuhammadFayyaz Khan announced it ata press conference held hereat Bilour House on Tuesday.He said Haji Ghulam AhmedBilour is true follower of Islamand “Sachhay Aashiq eRasool hain”. Therefore ourparty has decided to fully sup-port him in the by-polls.

He also urged the otherpolitico/religious parties toelect Haji Ghulam AhmedBilour with thumping major-ity in the upcoming by elec-tions. Haji Ghulam AhmedBilour in his remarks on theoccasion alleged that his op-ponent was trying to rig the

by-polls and added that hehas informed the ElectionCommission in writing. Hewas confident that ElectionCommission would not allowany kind of rigging in thepolling and would ensure fairand transparent polls. Pro-vincial government and armyfinalized all arrangements forholding peaceful by-elec-tions in the provinces.

Khyber PakhtunkhwaElection Commissioner SonoKhan has said that all arrange-ments for bye-elections havebeen put in place in the prov-ince. Talking to a private newschannel, he added that by-elections would be held on

five National Assembly andfour Provincial Assemblyseats in KP. He stated thatpolling materials were alsoready and a day before bye-elections would be dispatchto presiding officers. Headded that army would bedeployed on sensitive poll-ing stations. He stated thatvoter turnout would be bet-ter as general elections in theprovince. Balochistan Elec-tion Commissioner SultanBazeed also said that all ar-rangements have been final-ized for one National Assem-bly and three Provincial As-sembly seats in bye-elec-tions.—APP

JUP supports ANP in NA-1; FAFEN allowed to observe by-elections

Special arrangements underway for inundated constituencies

PML-N MPA,others booked for

blocking roadHYDERABAD—The Luni Kotpolice in Jamshoro districthave booked the PML-N MPASyed Aijaz Shah Sherazi alongwith 200 other people on Tues-day in an FIR for blocking theSuper Highway and creatingviolence during the blockade.According to the police, thepeople nominated in the FIRhad kept the highway blockedfor almost 24 hours and thatthey resist the police attemptsto disperse them.

The PML-N candidateSyed Riaz Hussain ShahSherazi for by-election on NA-237 constituency in Thattadistrict told the APP that theywere holding protests in Thattaand parts of Jamshoro in reac-tion to the undeclared arrestof his chief polling agentHaneef Memon.—APP

MUZAFFARABAD: People gathered at the site after traffic accident at Airport Road.

SWAT: Brig Sohail Nasir Khan talking to media persons during a tree plantation cam-paign at a school.

KHAIRPUR—At least six per-sons including two womenwere killed and 13 others in-jured when a passenger busover turned here in the weehours of Tuesday. Accordingto police, an over speedingKarachi bound passengerbus coming from Punjabturned turtle in Thari MirWah town in districtKhairpur of Sindh due toopening of tie-rod.

As a result of accident sixpeople including two womenwere killed on the spot while13 others sustained injuries.Police, rescue personnel andlocal people reached thescene of the accident andstarted rescue operation.

The bodies and injuredwere shifted to various hos-

pitals in Thari Mir Wah andGambat where according tohospital sources conditionof some injured people wasserious. Police said the overspeeding coach was packedto capacity and the driver lostcontrol over it while negoti-ating a sharp turn.

Chitral: At least five per-sons killed and four others in-jured when a jeep plunged intodeep ravine in mountainousarea here on Tuesday. Accord-ing to details, a jeep with 10persons on board, travelingfrom Chitral city to Tirich skid-ded off the road and fell into aravine in Mastuj area. Fivepeople were killed on the spotin the accident and four othersustained wounds.

The local people on self

help basis shifted the injuredto Shahgiram hospital. Itshould be mentioned thatsuch incidents are frequentin northern areas of Pakistandue to difficult terrains andpoor condition of roads.

Murree: At least 11 per-sons sustained injuries whena passenger bus plungedinto ravine here on Tuesdaymorning. According to res-cue sources, a Rawalpindibound passenger bus fellinto gorge while negotiatinga sharp turn in Nandkot lo-cality of Murree. The policeand rescue personnelreached the scene, pulled outthe injured and shifted themto hospital for treatment. Theinjured passengers said thataccident took placed due to

over speeding and carelessdriving.

Kurram Agency: Threechildren were killed when roofof a dilapidated house cavedin here on Tuesday. Accord-ing to political administration,roof of a mud and stone madehouse located in CentralKurram Agency collapsed asheavy rain lashed the area onlate Monday night and earlyTuesday morning.

Three children died in theincident while other familymembers fortunately sur-vived unhurt. It should bementioned that eight peoplehave died in roof collapseincidents due to recent tor-rential rains besides destroy-ing hundreds of residentialhouses.— INP

Three children die in roof collapse

11 killed, 11 hurt in various incidents

ISLAMABAD—Former InteriorMinister Rehman Malik hasclarified that MuhammadSikandar, the prime suspect ofIslamabad stand-off, had neverbeen a security guard ofBilawal Bhutto. Speaking toreporters outside the SupremeCourt, Malik categorically dis-pelled rumours that Sikandarwas Bilawal Bhutto’s securityguard. “Whatever is written onsocial media doesn’t becomea truth,” he said.

Islamabad firing incidentwas not any movie scene, hesaid, adding that those werereal guns. “Chaudhry Nisar Aliis a good politician. He is do-ing a fine job. But if I was theinterior minister, there wouldhave calls for my resignation,”he said. He said it is his prayerthat the present governmentand Interior MinisterChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan com-plete their five year tenure.

Rehman Malik said thegovernment and the opposi-tion should jointly frame thenational security policy andwarned that the country’s

integrity would be in dangerif all the stakeholders did notagree on National SecurityPolicy. He said the opposi-tion would extend all the sup-port to the government in theformulation and execution offoreign and security policies.

He said it was the fore-most duty of police to arrestSikandar and if ZamarudKhan put his life in dangerand did a good job, thatshould have been appreci-ated rather than making hima target of criticism. He ex-pressed fear that law and or-der situation in Karachi andQuetta could worsen andadvised the federal govern-ment to launch crackdown onLashkar-e-Jhangvi to restorepeace in Karachi andBalochistan.—INP

Sikandar had never beenBilawal Bhutto’s guard

CPGS to hostseminar onextremism

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—A 2-day inter-active Seminar on 21st and22nd of August, 2013 is be-ing organized by the Centerfor Pakistan and Gulf Stud-ies (CPGS). The Seminar willbe held here in a local Hotel.Pertinent Scholars, defenceand security experts, sea-soned academics and ana-lysts have been invited todiscuss and deliberate on in-novating ways and means toaddress the issue of radicalextremism in Pakistan. TheCentre for Pakistan and GulfStudies (CPGS), a non-parti-san and independent think-tank has initiated a projectnamed ‘SALAM’ (meanspeace), which is the primaryobjective of the CPGS.

ABDULLAH MADNI

TIMERGARA—Speakers of aseminar on harassment atwork places said that harass-ment had been a commonpractice at different levels inall parts of the country andshould be addressed by theconcerned authorities. A lo-cal non-governmental orga-nization, the Falahi TanzeemAhalian Dherai Talash(FTADT) organized the semi-nar in collaboration with theStrengthening ParticipatoryOrganization (SPO) at Talash.

Teachers, students, so-cial and political activists andelders of the area attendedthe seminar. President of theorganization MuhammadAyaz shed light on the term‘harassment’ and said thatembarrassing someone wasa crime in the law. The facili-tators Muhammad Asad andjournalist Haleem Asad in-formed the participants thatbonded labour, low wages ofworkers, deprivation fromproperty rights, over worktime and denial of holidays

Work places harassmentneeds strict remedy

or sanctioned leaves werecommon examples of harass-ment which was against thelaw. They said that some ofthe senior government offi-cials, teachers, and owners ofauto workshops, hotels, res-taurants and factories wereinvolved in harassment.

They said that after thepassage of harassment bill2012 it was a crime andshould be dealt accordinglyless than 509 Pakistan panelcode. A retired police inspec-tor Rahman Gul while speak-ing on the occasion said thatseveral girl students in thearea had given up educationas they felt insecurity of theirway to schools and colleges.“Similarly some of ill-charac-ter youth stand in the way tosprings and fields causingharassment for visiting la-dies,” he said, adding thatelders should notice it.

He said that there was nolaw or sections before theharassment bill 2012 to dealwith people involved in tor-turing others mentally, so-cially and psychologically.

SWAT—Dengue virus has hitSwat valley and its adjoiningareas as several personshave been found affectedand they were admitted inSaidu Sharif Hospital, in-formed Medical Superinten-dent, Dr. Khurshid. As per

details, four cases of denguevirus have been reported forthe first time in Swat, astested positive for the viruswhom were admitted in SaiduSharif hospital.

Whereas on Monday twonew cases were registered at

hospital while two were dis-charged from the hospital, Dr.Khurshid said. The virus isspreading in the valley whileno anti-virus campaign wastaken to control the virus bythe district administration.The patients who were diag-

nosed as dengue affectedwere identified as Sardar,Neelam, Matiullah, Saifur-rehmen and Asad, Dispenserofficer medical ward Ijaz toldAPP.

“My 14 years son hadfever and did not recover af-ter a month treatment so weconsulted a doctor whoasked us to get him tested fordengue,” said Ihsanullah. Headded after the tests his sonwas admitted at the SaiduTeaching Hospital.Ihsanullah disclosed that nomedicine for the dengue pa-tients is available in Saiduhospital and they purchasedit at high rates from the localmarket.

Two patients, Sardar Aliand a woman named Neelamwere taken to Shifa Hospitalin Islamabad while the 36-year-old Saifur Rehman wasprovided treatment on Sun-day and asked to visit againafter two days. While brief-ing to APP, Dr. Khurshid saidthat the recent floods haveprovided perfect breedingenvironment for the denguemosquito. He suggestedemergency steps should betaken to drain low-lying ar-eas from rainwater in order toprevent the virus fromspreading.—APP

Dengue virus hits Swat

PESHAWAR—The PTI ledcoalition government inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa is go-ing to launch an awarenesscampaign in media regard-ing Right to Information Or-dinance 2013.

Speaking in a one-dayseminar here under the aus-pices of United Nations De-velopment Programme(UNDP) here on Monday,Secretary Information,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Azmat Hanif Orakzai said be-side publishing specialsupplements in the print me-dia, awareness seminarswould also be held to dis-seminate necessary infor-mation among the massesabout the right to informa-tion. The process would bestarted from divisional level.

The seminar was also

KP kicks off awareness drive for RTI lawaddressed by senior journal-ist, Mohammad Riaz andpresident, Peshawar PressClub, Nasir Hussein while alarge number of journalistsfrom both print and electronicmedia participated.

Briefing the journalistsabout the salient features ofthe ordinance, the SecretaryInformation, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Azmat HanifOrakzai said that the promul-gation of the ordinance ispart of the institutions build-ing endeavours under thereforms agenda of thepresent provincial govern-ment to guarantee account-ability and transparency inpublic bodies and legislativeframework for its charter ofgood governance.

The secretary informa-tion said that the draft of the

ordinance is already sharedwith civil society and PCNAproject. The Right to Infor-mation law, he said basicallyexists in 92 countries of theworld and every one has itsown rating.

The KhyberPakhtunkhwa Right to Infor-mation Law, he said is com-prised of 32 sections, whichinclude the definition of in-formation and identificationof public bodies. The law, hesaid covers all 32 provincialsubjects including Governor,Chief Minister Secretariats ,Public Service Commissionand even lower judiciary tobenefit the general public.The law besides, media isalso for general public.

For making the law fur-ther effective, an appellate tri-bunal would also be estab-

lished with the name of In-formation Commission. Thecommission will be com-prised of three members in-cluding a retired judge ofPeshawar High Court, a law-yer and member of civil so-ciety as commissionerswhile a retired senior gov-ernment servant would beChief Information Commis-sioner. In case of denyinginformation to any indi-vidual, the InformationCommission would initiateproceeding against the of-ficial concerned and theprocess would completewithin a period of 60 days.The law also contains a spe-cial penal clause under whichthe denying officer could bepunished that includes a fineof Rs.250 per day or maxi-mum fine of Rs.25000.—APP

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—As-sistant Commissioner MandiBahauddin Kashif Awanwith a police party raided aghee factory on ShahtajSugar Mills Road and ar-rested three culprits busy inproducing ghee with fat andintestines of dead animals.

The police party recov-ered dozens of tins filledwith fate made ghee fromfactory stores along withother raw material and tookit into its possession; Po-lice booked three culpritsunder section 269, 273and278 PPC. During investiga-tion the accused revealedthat they had been supply-ing the ghee produced withfats to different markets ofLahore and Islamabad. The

3 held for making gheefrom dead animals’ fats

accused included Abid Ali,Sardar Hussain and UmarZaman.

****Water level at Qadirabad

Brrage has decreased afterpassing flash flood in theChenab River the previousnight. Due to heavy flood theriver over flowed and waterspread over thousand acresof standing crops.

The area was inundated.No loss to life occurred as theinhabitants had alreadyshifted to safer places alongwith their cattle and house-holds. Protective embank-ment stood strong to facepressure of the flood. How-ever floodwater entered areaacross the bund when pres-sure of speedy flowing ofwater made its way throughBhuddin Drain back ward.

Illegal green numberplates use on rise

SHAFFAAT MALIK

TALAGANG—Illegal use ofgreen number plates, tintedglasses, plying unregis-tered vehicles and othertypes of non-prescribedregistration plates on ve-hicles and underage driv-ers can be seen in Talagangand increasing day by day.Personalized plates like‘Applied For Registration’,or ‘AFR’ for short is the com-mon thing now a days. Theunauthorized and inexperi-ence drivers of the publictransport vehicles are pos-ing great threat to the livesof people due to the negli-gence of Talagang Police.

The public circles ofTalagang demanding strictaction against them. Themost of drivers of these ve-hicles are not only unautho-rized but also inexperienceand underage that mightcause major accident, theyadded. Several people havesuffered injuries due to theseinexperience and unlicenseddrivers who usually make il-legal turns and drive ruth-lessly.

PM strategies energy, terror crisesISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Plan-ning and Development Ahsan Iqbal hassaid that Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif has taken the nation intoconfidence on government’s strategyfor terrorism and energy crisis in hisspeech. He said that the Prime Ministerhad informed the people about the pref-erences of his government. The gov-ernment is taking emergency steps toresolve the issue of energy problem in

the shortest possible time , he said and added that thetransmission system of electricity would also be improved. Talking to a private news channel, Ahsan said that noconcrete steps were taken by the former regimes to over-coming the challenges of economy, energy and terrorism.To a question, the minister said that economic stabilitywas a top priority of the government. The value of Paki-stani rupee would also be stable soon. He said that foreigninvestors were showing confidence and taking interest toinvest in Pakistan as the government was ensuring goodgovernance and transparency. He was of the view thatleadership of his party had the ability to steer the countryout of the crisis. Earlier, Federal Minister for Science andTechnology Zahid Hamid Tuesday hailed Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif’s address to the nation and saidgovernment would steer country out of crisis and will fos-ter economy. He stated that the policies enunciated by thePrime Minister in his address would contribute towardsthe political stability in the country. “ We welcome PrimeMinister’s commitment to overcome challenges such asterrorism, militancy, poverty and unemployment”.—APP

No slackness to be brookedBashir Ahmad Rahmani

HAFIZABAD—Minister of State SairaAfzal Tarar has warned that no slack-ness or negligence in the provision ofrelief and rehabilitation of the floodaffectees would be tolerated. Address-ing a meeting which was attendedamong others by DCO Mansoor Qadir,District Focal Person for Flood ReliefShahid Abbas, MPAs Ch. Asad UllahArian and Malik Fayyaz Ahmad, shesaid that relief material including ration

were being sent by Provincial Disaster Management Au-thority (PDMA) which should be distributed among theaffectees transparently. She also directed the Health andLivestock departments to ensure vaccination to theaffectees and their animals to prevent break out of anyepidemic. The Focal Person and DCO while giving briefingto the Minister of State said that 58 villages in TehsilHafizabad and 43 villages in Pindi Bhattian were inundatedby the recent flash flood and the personnel of differentdepartments were providing relief to the affectees swiftlyround-the-clock at nine Relief Centres. Meanwhile, AmanUllah Chatha President District Kissan Board Hafizabadhas called upon the district administration for an early sur-vey of the damage caused to the standing crops and fod-ders and also to arrange for draining out standing water indifferent villages near the Qadirabad barrage. He also de-manded construction of protective bund on the left bankof river Chenab near Qadirabad barrage to save the vil-lages in future. He also demanded adequate compensa-tion to the affectees in lieu of damage to their crops. Theflow of floodwater at river Chenab Qadirabad barrage hasbeen further reduced to 77,488 cusecs Tuesday evening.

Support to flood affectees assuredISLAMABAD—State Minister for Parlia-mentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab apprisedthe law makers in the National Assem-bly that federal government as well asprovincial governments are giving re-lief to the people in flood effected ar-eas. Answering to the question of law-makers he assured that federal govern-ment would give all possible relief tothe flood affectees. Earlier, MNASheikh Qaiser informed the National

Assembly that flood has destroyed the roads, electricitysystem and crops in his constituency. He appreciated thesteps taken by the Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in floodeffected areas of Punjab. He requested the federal govern-ment to direct the local government, give relief to floodaffectees. MNA Saibzada Tariq Ullah said that previousgovernment had allocated 750 million in PSDP for install-ing flood warning system in province KhyberPakhtunkhwa but this amount was not released yet. Herequested the government to release this amount as soonas possible. MNA Ashraf Chaudhry termed the Kala Baghdam as a solution of flood in the country and added if anybody has any objection on its name it could be built withother name. MNA Sher Akbar said that due to recent floodthe school, colleges and crops in KPK have badly de-stroyed. He said that students facing many difficulties astheir school and colleges have been destroyed. Mean-while, it is also reported that after the release of water inthe Ravi river and recent rains, floodwater entered morethan 100 localities of Sheikhupura and Nanakana Sahib.According to official sources on Tuesday, crops on 25,000acres have also been damaged in both districts due toflood. According to an official at a relief camp in NankanaSahib, floodwater had entered about 40 localities of thedistrict including Shafiqabad and Narooki. He added thatwater level was about 5 to 6 feet.—APP

Gilani denounces arrest spreeISLAMABAD—Hurriyet leader, Syed AliGilani has strongly condemned the ar-rest and torture of pro-freedom activ-ists by the Indian police in the IndianOccupied territory. Syed Ali Gilani in astatement in Srinagar said that Hurriyetleader, Farooq Ghautapuri, was beingsubjected to severe physical and men-tal torture in police custody, KMS re-ported. “Another Hurriyet activist, NazirAhmad Tantary, was arrested and

slapped with draconian Public Safety Act for teachingQuran and leading prayers in a local mosque. He was ar-rested on August 3 and on August 14, the District Magis-trate Baramulla sent him to jail under PSA,” he added. Theveteran leader said that his forum had received detentiongrounds of Tantray wherein he had been charged for hisfreedom ideology and for imparting Quran, religious teach-ing and leading prayers in a local mosque. He said that thepuppet Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in this regard hadachieved something that even Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) and Sangh Parivar could not. “In order tocrush people’s spirits and sentiments, he has surpassedrule of law and all moral limits,” he stated. Strongly lashingout at Omar Abdullah-led puppet administration, Syed AliGilani said that even Narendra Modi in Gujarat could notdare to declare openly the teaching of Quran as an of-fence. However, Omar Abdullah’s administration has donethis job and even sentenced a person for teaching Quranand leading prayers, he said. The veteran leader said thatthe police had unleashed a reign of terror in Shopian. Hedemanded immediate release of all illegally detained youth.He deplored that Indian policemen were killing innocentpeople for getting promotions.—APP

KARACHI—National Com-mission on Status of Women(NCSW) has taken strongexception to reduced repre-sentation of women inunion councils and otherlocal bodies from 33 percentto 22 percent under SindhLocal Government Billadopted on Monday. NCSWChairperson, KhawerMumtaz and its former headAnis Haroon on Tuesdaysaid the reduction in womenrepresentation fall far shortof Pakistan’s own pastbench mark of 33 percentseats in local government atall levels.

This, they said is alsoagainst the internationalstandards that identifies 33percent as the necessary criti-cal mass for women’s mean-

ingful representation. Thetwo senior activists alongwith members of Women Ac-tion Forum and Resident Di-rector of Aurat Foundation,Mehnaz Rehman have re-quested the Government ofSindh to amend the said law.The experience of women’sparticipation in local govern-ments in large numbersacross the country, they saidwas instrumental in bringingordinary women into the po-litical mainstream and actedas a nursery for women poli-ticians.

“A number of womenMPAs and MNAs wereschooled in that experi-ence,” said Anis Haroon.Urging the provincial gov-ernment to amend the saidlaw, they said besides in-

crease in women’s represen-tation to 33 percent at alltiers there must also be aprovision of honoraria forwomen members as part ofaffirmative action to enabletheir full participation inmeetings.

They were also of theopinion that the earlier draftof the Bill was much closerto the aspirations of womenof Pakistan. Mentioning thatthere was already token rep-resentation of women di-rectly elected to the unioncouncils and union commit-tees they said reduced num-ber of seats reserved forwomen at grassroots leveldecision making bodies is amajor setback for more than50 percent population of thecountry. —APP

NCSW protests reduction inwomen local bodies seats

PESHAWAR—The manage-ment of the Pesco team hasalleged that power supply tothe areas of Ghari Chandan arural locality of Peshawar dis-trict was illegally restored bythe inhabitants of the areawith the help of the electedrepresentatives yesterday,said a release of Pesco hereTuesday. The release addedthat Pesco team will again dis-connect these premises. Inthe meantime Pesco Recov-ery teams of Lala Sub-Divi-sion recovered about Rs. 2.5lacs from the defaulters.

Similarly, the Pesco alsodisconnected power supplyto Regi Lalma and AchiniMaira due to nonpayment ofRs 22 lacs. Defaulters havebeen warned to deposit theirdues, otherwise electricity

will not be restored. Due toillegal use of electricity inthese areas, power supplysystem was severely overloaded and was causing fre-quent power break downs. Onthe other hand the defaultersare warned if they did not paythe arrears and current dues,strict legal action will also beinitiated against them.

The defaulters are alsodirected to make payment oftheir outstanding dues other-wise their power supply willbe disconnected without fur-ther notice and will not be re-stored until payment of dues.Power shutdown notice: Dueto maintenance work , powersupply will remain off from 132KV Peshawar Industrial Gridstation on 22nd and 26th Au-gust from 7.AM to 1 PM,

resultantly the consumers of11 KV Landi Arbab-II, Gulbergand Pishtakharra feeders willface inconvenience.

Faisalabad: TheFaisalabad Electric SupplyCompany (FESCO) has is-sued a shutdown notice forrepair, maintenance and ex-pansion of electricity lines.According to the notice is-sued here on Tuesday, powersupply from Liaqat Abad,Lakkar Mandi, Bakkar Mandiand Sheikh Colony feedersemanating from 132-KVJhang Road grid station willremain suspended from 7 amto 1 pm while Elyas Park andKamala Abad feeders origi-nating from 132-KV JhangRoad grid station will ob-serve shutdown from 5 am to11 noon on August 21.—APP

Defaulters power connections cut off

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Me-teorological Department(PMD) on Tuesday forecastmainly hot and humidweather for most parts of thecountry with chances of rainand thundershower at iso-lated places of NortheastPunjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Kashmir andGilgit Baltistan during thenext 24 hours. According tothe synoptic situation, sea-sonal low was lying overnorthwest Balochistan andadjoining areas. Weak mon-soon currents were still pen-etrating into Northeasternand central parts of the coun-try.

Rain-thundershower isexpected at isolated places ofMalakand, Hazara, Kohatand Kalat divisions as wellas few places of Kashmir,Gilgit-Baltistan and north-east Punjab, during next 24hours. The highest maximumtemperature recorded duringthe last 24 hours inDalbandin, Dadu, ShaheedBenazirabad and Nokundiwas 41 C. While the maximumtemperatures recorded inother cities were Islamabad

Chances of isolatedrain in various parts

34 C, Lahore 33 C, Karachi 32C, Peshawar 37 C, Quetta 33C, Murree 23 C andMuzaffarabad 34 C.

The chief amount of rain-fall recorded during the last24 hours was Rawalakot 44mm, Nurpur Thal 29, Kohat

14, Garidupatta 12, Chitral 08,Gupis 04, Skardu,Muzaffarabad 03, Sialkot 02,Hunza, Chirat, Kalam,Balakot, Gilgit and Astore 01mm. The Karachi Met Officeon Tuesday forecast a partlycloudy weather with chancesof drizzle in the metropolisduring the next 24 hours. Themaximum temperature will re-main in the range of 32 to 34degree celsius during thenext 24 hours. Mainly hothumid weather is likely toprevail elsewhere in the re-gion, the weather forecastsaid.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The UpperHouse was informed onTuesday that constructionwork on Karachi - HaidrabadMotorway (M-9) will likelyto start in August 2014 aftercompletion of codal formali-ties. Replying to a questionof Senator Syed TahirHussain Mashhadi, StateMinister for ParliamentaryAffairs Sheikh Aftab saidthat the contract was givento Malasyain firm in 2012,however the contract wasterminated because of fail-ure to achieve financial closewithin stipulated time pe-riod.

He informed the housethat advertisement for ten-der had been given in newspapers and hoped that theprocess would be com-pleted till September 2013.He said that after thecompletion of this processthe construction work to bestarted. Replying to anotherquestion, State Ministersaid that NHA has plannedconstruction of Faislabad,Khanewal, MultanMotorway ( M-4) in 4th

Construction ofKarachi-HyderabadMotorway in 2014

packages that areFaislabad- Gojra (58 KM),Gojra-Shorkot (62 KM),Shorkot- Khanewal ( 64 KM) Khanewal-Multan (57KM).

He said that Faislabad-Gojra section will likely to becompleted by December2013 adding that work onGojra- Shorkot Khanewalcould not be started due tonon availability of funds forland acquisition. He in-formed that the said projectwould be completed in 30months after land acquisi-tion. The Minister informedthat estimated cost as perapproved PC-1 of M-4 is Rs47 billions.

However he said that costhas now increased as origi-nal PC-1 was prepared in Sep-tember 2007 while contract forFaislabad -Gojra only wasawarded for Rs 10.289 billionand contract for Gojra-Shorkot-Dinpur-Khanewalare yet to be awarded. Thesepackages are getting delayedas additional funds requiredfor land acquisition , headded.—APP

PESHAWAR—Chief Minister,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pervez Khattak Tuesdaylaunched monsoon planta-tion campaign throughplanting a plant in the pre-mises of Chief Minister ’sSecretariat. Besides, SeniorMinister Siraj-ul-Haq, Secre-tary Environment, Syed SaidBadshah Bokhari, chief con-servator, conservator, DFOand other officials con-cerned were also present onthe occasion. Speaking onthe occasion, the chief min-

ister said that the presentgovernment is taking differ-ent measures for the welfareof the people in which treeplantation, development andprotection of forests is promi-nent.

He said that forests notonly play crucial role inkeeping environment clean,but also provide strongfoundations for economy.Due to the numerous envi-ronmental and economicbenefits the importance offorests is recognized every-

where in the world. Thestep of the provincial gov-ernment, the chief ministersaid will not only help in-crease the asset of forests,but will also help end envi-ronmental pollution, eras-ing of land and floods.

Earlier, briefing the chiefminister, Secretary Environ-ment, Syed Said BadshahBokhari said that departmenthas set a target of plantingmore than 8.9 million saplingsduring the current monsoonplantation drive.—APP

KP CM triggersmonsoon tree plantations

ISLAMABAD—State Ministerfor Education, Training and

Standards in Higher Educa-tion, Muhammad Baligh urRehman on Tuesday said thegovernment has finalized a

National plan of action for educationfinalized to achieve EFA, MDG goals

national plan of action for edu-cation to achieve the set tar-

gets of Millennium Develop-ment and EFA by the year 2018.He was speaking at the inau-gural session of three-day In-

ternational Conference on theApplications of Molecular Bi-

ology in Medicine and Agri-culture started at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU).

The Conference was orga-

nized by the Department ofBiochemistry, QAU, ISESCOWomen in Science Chair, incollaboration with Islamic Edu-cational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization (ISESCO) andPakistan National Commissionfor UNESCO to foster fellow-ship and collaboration amongthe biochemists, molecularbiochemists and the scientistsof related fields.

He said that PrimeMinister ’s Youth TrainingProgramme is being launchedto provide an opportunity foryouth to equip themselveswith practical knowledge andto get hands-on experience.He appreciated the organizersand said that internationalscientists, researchers andscholars from universities,biomedical and agriculturalresearch institutions, hasmade the conference a perfectplatform to share experience,foster collaborations andevaluate emerging technolo-gies in molecular biologyacross the globe.

The Minister appreciatedthe efforts of QAU and itsfaculty for providing man-power to the various institu-tions including civil service.Addressing the inauguralceremony Prof. Dr. MasoomYasinzai, Vice ChancellorQAU, said that in recent pastthe colossal development ofthe biological information isan outcome of vast advancesin the field of molecular biol-ogy.—APP

MULTAN: Garrison Commander Maj Gen Umar Farooq Durrani visiting the flood hit area.

SWAT: Activists of Swat Rickshaw Union hold a demonstration in support of their de-mands outside Commissioner office.

PESHAWAR: Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Social Welfare, DrMehr Taj addressing a seminar.

Sinking PublicSector Enterprises

PRIME Minister Nawaz Sharif took comparatively longer period inaddressing the nation after assumption of the coveted office of thechief executive of the country. It was generally believed that he was

waiting for a time when he will have something concrete and definite toshare with people of Pakistan and going by this yardstick his maiden addressfell short of the expectations of the masses as it was mere reiteration andexpression of good intents.

We have been hearing that PML-N had started work on different sectorsand programmes and plans much before taking responsibility of governanceand that its Committees and Task Forces had completed their homework onhow to proceed. In fact, in some areas, the Government did move with speedlike retirement of draconian circular debt; campaign against electricity andgas thieves and signing of MoUs with China for some gigantic projects. Itwas, however, expected that during his address the Prime Minister wouldshare with people the roadmap to address the ills of the economy and thesystem but nothing of the sort happened. One such example is that of thechaotic state of affairs of loss-incurring Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs),like PIA, Pakistan Railways, WAPDA and Pakistan Steel that are consideredto be white elephants and the successive Governments have been emphasizingthe need to reform and restructure them but nothing has changed. All theseand similar other institutions are not only still a huge burden on the nationalexchequer but no worthwhile step has been taken so far to improve theirworking and output. What we have been doing is injection of billions afterregular intervals whereas the need is to carry out surgery to cure the malaise.There are many factors responsible for pushing these organizations to thebrink of virtual collapse and one such is apathy and callousness of thepoliticians themselves who mercilessly inducted thousands of their favouritesin corporations and entities to get regular salaries and fringe benefits withoutdoing anything. Similarly, heads of these PSEs were also appointed on politicalconsiderations rather than merit and these heads and their Boards playedhavoc with these Enterprises. We know the reasons — corruption,mismanagement, inefficiency, overstaffing — but what the nation wants toknow is the strategy and timeframe for putting them back on track. If wehave no capability to do that then the best answer would be their privatisation,as mere chest beating would lead us nowhere.

Do more abouttalks with militants

IN line with his declared policy of resolving the issue of extremism andterrorism preferably through peaceful means, Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif, in his address to the nation on Monday, once again extended aninvitation to militants for talks. While making the offer, he pointed out thatthe Government has more than one options to deal with the problem but itwanted to bring the vicious cycle of bloodshed to an end through dialogue.

There are no two opinions that the dream of the Prime Minister totransform Pakistan into an Asian Tiger would remain unfulfilled until andunless there prevails complete peace and tranquillity. People of Pakistan heaveda sigh of relief when from the day one the present Government made dialogueas preference number one for resolution of the problem of extremism andterrorism but unfortunately no practical step has been taken towards that end.As for the lip-service is concerned, the previous PPP Government too hadbeen telling throughout its tenure the presence of its so-called 3-Ds approachand the then Interior Minister Rehman Malik repeatedly made offers of talksbut it all remained mere sloganeering. We are sorry to point out that thePML-N Government too has not been able to formally make an offer of talks,which might have followed by real and genuine contacts with militants forthe purpose. We have been emphasizing in these columns that Taliban are nooutsiders but part and parcel of the society and they can’t be brushed aside orcrushed as such. Most of them are students who have been brainwashed andthey can definitely be brought back to the mainstream through a number ofintermediaries with which the present Government has good rapport.

Pakistan rightlylooks towards East

WHILE the PML-N government looks determined to address thechronic problems ailing the economy, particular attention is being

paid to revive interaction with several countries at different levels to boosttrade and economic relations. In this perspective, Thailand’s Prime Minis-ter Ms Yingluck Shinawatra and Nepalese Finance Minister Shanker PrasadKoirala are in the Federal Capital now and their dialogue with the Paki-stani leadership would certainly lead to further promotion of trade, tourismand other links to their mutual advantage.

Thailand is an important member of ASEAN and has emerged as a fastdeveloping country in the region with farsighted policies of the leadership.A large number of Pakistanis travel to the country for business dealingsand it is also one of the major destinations of the tourists from all over theworld. Pakistan and Thailand can cooperate in the field of tourism andenhance two-way trade for their mutual benefit. Pakistan is seeking to be-come full member of the ASEAN, which has become a major trade andeconomic block and Thailand’s support would certainly be of great help tojoin this Forum. The Pak-Nepal Joint Economic Commission also met af-ter a long time and the two sides agreed to expand the areas of cooperationin economic and cultural fields that would help consolidate the foundationof bilateral relations and would ultimately enhance the welfare of theirpeople. The two countries are also members of SAARC and despite certainknown hurdles in their way, can boost cooperation in different fields. Paki-stan can help the Himalayan State in the field of agriculture and establish-ment of fruits and other food processing plants. The interaction with Thai-land and Nepal is certainly part of Pakistan’s ‘Look East policy’ that is nowrightly being given priority and we would emphasise that the Governmentshould continue to pursue this policy vigorously.

Extremism haunts India & Pakistan

Learning is atreasure whichaccompanies itsowner everywhere.

UnderstandingNSA’s errors

We’re a human-run agencyoperating in a complexenvironment with a num-

ber of different regulatory regimes,so at times we find ourselves on thewrong side of the line.” That’s howone senior National Security Agency(NSA) official defended his outfitto The Post. It’s also what’s beenmaking many people nervous aboutrecent reports on the organization’svast capabilities to collect informa-tion about people’s lives. Even ifanalysts don’t abuse their tools,mistakes happen. The Obama ad-ministration has repeatedly assuredthe public that procedures are inplace to limit the NSA’s use of itsextraordinary powers, and it evenadmitted in recently-declassifieddocuments that occasional errorshappen. But, until now, the publicsimply didn’t have a firm sense ofhow often the process failed.

On Friday, The Post publishedan internal intelligence oversightreport detailing “incidents” inwhich the agency failed to complywith the various restrictions on itsmassive information-gathering op-eration. Over a year’s span in 2011and 2012, NSA employees violatedthe rules at least 2,776 times. Abouta tenth of the violations involvedtypographical errors. Many moreinvolved user errors such as “inac-curate or insufficient research,”“failure to follow standard operat-ing procedures,” and “training is-sues.” Automated error detectionsystems caught a lot of these prob-lems. But sometimes technical sys-tems themselves also led to viola-tions. In one case, the NSA col-lected US and foreign e-mails in away its judicial overseers called“deficient on statutory and consti-tutional grounds,” once they heardabout it in 2011. The audit The Postpublished not only discloses theraw number of violations in theperiod it covers, but also breaksdown those violations by the legalauthorities under which the NSA’sreviews were supposed to takeplace, such as the Foreign Intelli-gence Surveillance Act.

It’s no secret these authoritiesexist, so why not do the same regu-larly, and in public? The agencycould also release information onthe types of violations it’s seeing— user or systems — and how itcaught them. There’s nothing dan-gerous about any of that. Mr.DeLong, finally, suggested that thevery existence of the audit showsthat the compliance program isworking. Now that the NSA willbe getting a lot more scrutiny, onemore question to answer is what, ifanything, these sorts of audits havemissed. — The Washington Post

*****

A sinistermotive

The civil war in Syria is pulling the country apart and asit continues, it will get harder

and harder to rebuild a unified Syr-ian nation. Many groups seek tac-tical advantage in war, hoping tobuild Jabhat Al Nusra, an extremeSunni organisation that is workingin coordination with Al Qaida inIraq while fighting alongside theopposition and the Lebanese ShiiteHezbollah militia fighting for thegovernment, as forces supplied bythe Iranian government.

In addition, the Kurds of Iraq’sautonomous Kurdistan region havetaken a hand in helping their fel-low Kurds, with a shrewd eye onlong-term political expansion. Overthe past few weeks, thousands ofSyrian Kurds have sought refugein Kurdistan from the fighting inSyria, where they faced daily at-tack, while also trying to make aliving in the chaos of a failingeconomy. The relative calm andprosperity of Kurdistan will be veryappealing as they can find work tokeep themselves going, while theywait out the long civil war in theirhomeland. The Kurdish RegionalGovernment’s President MasoudBarzani has already taken a keeninterest in the Kurds of Syria,which he has referred to as WestKurdistan. A few months ago, hehad issued a call for young mento come to Kurdistan to be trainedin a militia that could return toSyria and fight to protect Kurdishinterests. As the Syrian civil warcontinues, all these regionallybacked militias will be a seriousdanger to the future unity of thecountry. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

—Chinese proverb

PARTITION of the Indian Subcontinent is 66 years’ old. OnAugust 14, 1947, the states of

India and Pakistan came into beingin the wake of division. Even todaythey have not settled down asneighbours, much less as friends.Borders are bristling with troops andclashes are inevitable. A few daysago, five men from the Indian armywere killed. The Pakistan army maynot be directly involved. But it helpsthe jihadis and even the Taliban intheir plan to destablise India. It looksthe Pakistan army is not interestedin conciliation between Islamabadand New Delhi. One incident or theother always takes place before thetalks between the countries begin.What surprises me is that no front-rank politician, historian or any otherperson of eminence has given me acogent reason, much less a convinc-ing one, to explain why the two com-munities, Hindus and Muslims,separated after having lived togetherfor more than a thousand years.

The radicals may claim that theymaintained peace because they werethe rulers. Yet the fact is that Hin-dus and Muslims had developed acomposite culture which recognizedthe mingling of two civilizations andwhich had overcome the pulls ofpolarization. Social contacts wereregular and festivals of the two com-munities were celebrated jointly.Still it did not take the articulatorsof religious identity to tear the fab-ric apart from the thirties. Was plu-ralism only a cover to hide differ-ences? And in reality, the two com-munities had never occupied thecommon ground and had remained

Jump starting Afghan peace process

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Pakistan is contemplating to release another batch of AfghanTaliban detainees at the request

of President Hamid Karzai. Talibanprisoners would be on the agenda oftalks during the upcoming visit ofAfghan president to Pakistan; he isexpected to be accompanied by se-nior members of Afghan High PeaceCouncil. This would be Pakistan’sfresh contribution towards revivingthe peace process in Afghanistan.Since November 2012, 26 Talibanprisoners, including some seniorfigures, have been released. Someof the freed Taliban commanderswere instrumental in bringing insur-gents to the negotiating table andled to the opening of the Talibanoffice in Doha. Foreign officespokesperson has commented that:“We look forward to the visit of theAfghan President and are ready todiscuss all issues of mutual inter-ests during the visit,” Pakistanwould extend “all assistance that wedeem is helpful to advance the rec-onciliation process”.

During Karzai’s visit, the twosides are also likely to discuss themodalities for shifting the Talibanpolitical office from Qatar to eitherSaudi Arabia or Turkey. The idea torelocate the Taliban office fromDoha has been floated by Pakistanand the US to break the deadlock intalks. Kabul has officially confirmedthat it would support the move toshift the Taliban office from Qatar.The Doha office was closed within24 hours of its opening in a row overthe Taliban displaying their banner

distant from each other. Hadthis been the case, why theexchange of population wasruled out when the separationwas contemplated? EvenMuslims on their own did notraise any objection that those

left behind in India would numbermore than the ones in the Muslimhomeland, Pakistan. Hindus left Pa-kistan and Muslims from Punjab anda few other cities in the north. It wasa forced eviction.

The shadowy demand for vivi-section was in the background for along time. But it never swept Mus-lims off their feet until the thirtieswhen the idea of a two-nation theorywas propounded. The MuslimLeague in which Qaid-e-AzamMohammad Ali Jinnah infused lifewon hands down. While in the 1937elections, the League won 57 out ofthe 248 Muslim seats in 11 provinces.A decade later in 1946, it won all overIndia: 116 seats out of 119 in Bengal,43 out of 50 in Bihar, 54 out of 61 inUP, 34 out of 34 in Sind and so on.The League failed to get a majorityonly in the mountainous North WestFrontier Province where the CongressParty (Red Shirts) won.

It is useless to debate the birthof Pakistan which is getting moreand more radical and Talibanized.But there are liberal Hindu and Mus-lim leaders in the two countries andother parts of the world to questionthe people of the two communitiesparting company from one anotherafter having shared a common wayof living and following the sametradition for centuries. A top Con-gress leader Maulana Abul KalamAzad warned that the Muslims inUP, Bihar and Madras would“awake and discover overnight thatthey have become aliens and for-eigners. Backward industrially, edu-cationally and economically, theywill be left to the mercies of what

would then become an unadulteratedHindu Raj.” Jawaharlal Nehru saidthat the splitting up of India did notsolve the problem of “two nation”for there were Hindus and Muslimsall over the place.

Humayun Kabir, Azad’s privatesecretary, told me that Azad thoughtthe Congress leader (Nehru was then58 years old and Sardar Patel 72) ac-cepted partition because they hadgrown too tired; too old to continuethe agitation against the British andwanted to devote the rest of their livesto build an India of their dreams. The

Muslims community dubbed Azad as“Hindus’ show boy.” It was an ava-lanche of migration. Humanity wason the move on both sides.

None expected it, none wanted itbut none could help it. The two coun-tries blamed each other as they triedto grapple with this and other chaoticproblems of partition after the firstfew heady days. The refugees car-ried with them to the country theywent not only bitterness and venge-ful thoughts but also stories of atroci-ties in the villages where they hadlived peacefully with other commu-nities for centuries. If partition was

and flag. Habibullah Fouzi, a seniormember of the High Peace Councilsaid, “The problem is the Talibanraised their flag and banner at theDoha office and they would be em-barrassed now to hold talks withoutthem.” Fouzi further said that he waspessimistic about the Doha office re-opening: “For us what is most im-portant thing is to begin the talks withthem in a second location, either Tur-key or Saudi [Arabia].”

Supporters of the peace processsay Taliban involvement is essentialto ensure security at next year’s presi-dential election as well as stabilityfollowing the departure of foreigntroops from the country next year. Ifthe Taliban refuse to participate, theycould play a powerful spoiling roleby attacking election facilities andofficials and intimidating Afghansinto not voting. Certainly, Talibanhold the key to success of Afghanelections, both in terms of turn outand credibility. This time Eid mes-sage from Mullah Omar was morethan a personal communiqué, it wasindeed a mission review for his po-litical followers. Mullah Omar hasconveyed that the Taliban will try toreach an understanding with the Af-ghan people for “an inclusive gov-ernment based on Islamic principles”.

While at the same time it showedthe determination to continue with thearmed struggle post 2014, should theforeign forces decide to linger on inany role. “The aim of our contactsand talks with the invaders which areconducted through the Political Of-fice is to put an end to occupation ofAfghanistan…No one should per-ceive that the [Taliban] will relinquishof their lofty religious principles andnational interests,” the statement said.Message condemned NATO’s plans

to keep a small military training andsupport mission in Afghanistan after2014 as an encroachment on thecountry’s independence. The Talibansay the difference in numbers androles means nothing if any foreignforces remain on Afghan soil. “TheAfghans consider the presence of asmall number of invading troops asan encroachment against their inde-pendence as they are not willing toaccept the presence of thousands offoreign troops.

The occupying countries shouldlearn from bitter experiences of thepast 12 years. They should not try theirfate once more by prolonging the oc-cupation or by establishing permanentbases,” statement said. There was alsoa promise of no retribution attacks ifthe group achieved political power: “Iassure all, no personal revenge will betaken on any one following end of oc-cupation because our struggle is nei-ther for achievement of personal gainsnor personal power.” This stanceshows that Taliban have learnt a lotfrom their past experiences and theyare willing to go an extra mile forachieving meaningful intra-Afghanreconciliation. On the negotiationtrack, members of the Afghan HighPeace Council have disclosed thatthey’ve held secret talks with theTaliban to try to bring momentum toDoha peace process has flounderedright from beginning. “There havebeen individual talks with Taliban,”said Habibullah Fauzi, “Talks havetaken place many times,” he added.Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahidhas refuted the claim, “We don’t havecontact with them, not individual talks,not group talks.”

Mullah Omar vowed not to useAfghanistan as a base to threatenother countries, which is a key Ameri-

can demand. There is, by now, muchevidence for the view that a moder-ate or pragmatic wing exists in theTaliban, that actively seeks talks andsuch group has the backing of theirtop leadership. They share amemory of the civil war, interna-tional isolation and have a desire tobe part of a government that will getboth outside recognition and finan-cial support. These are big objec-tives and they require sustainedtalks, with the Americans and notso much with the Afghan HighPeace Council. Peace processshould be restarted and peace talksshould be pursued at all levels.These are worth pursuing. No mat-ter where and under which brandname the peace process proceeds,the ground reality is that: the Talibanhave the initiative, it’s a compulsionfor the Americans to talk to Taliban;and the Karzai dispensation has togo along. With each lost day, Talibanwould gain further advantage, andthe other two parties are poised tobe on downslide.

As the drawdown timeline isapproaching fast, all focus shouldbe on a smooth political transitionin Afghanistan. It is necessary thatthe new president should be acredible tall figure, acceptable toall the parties, including theTaliban. He should be able to takethe crucial decisions and carry thepublic along. As regards the cur-rent status of peace process, it re-quires a lot of background prepa-ratory work to narrow down theperceptional gaps between thethree parties. Mere change ofvenue may not give requisite mo-mentum to the peace process.—The writer is Consultant, Policy& Strategic Response, IPRI.

on the basis of religion, these in-stances only furrowed it deep.

I personally felt the privationsof partition only when I crossedthe border penniless. I was notalone. This happened to most Hin-dus and Muslims who were con-fident to return to their own homesonce things settled down. But itdid not happen that way. Howcome that the same people fromUP and Bihar, a bastion of theMuslim League, looked with dis-dain the ideology of secularism tillthe formation of Pakistan? Today,they swear by secularism.

How do they justify the twocontrary stands before their chil-dren or grandchildren? Secularismis the anti-thesis of separation. Ifit is not the conviction of the com-munity, it is for it to introspect.Many Hindus are becoming preyto the same anti-national ap-proach. I thought that the religiousphobia was over after the Britishleft and Pakistan was constituted.But I did not reckon with the sepa-ratists working within the Hinducommunity. The BJP is the Mus-lim League of pre-partition days.Gujarat chief minister NarendraModi has become the biggest ex-ponent of Hindutva.

Religious approach divided theSubcontinent. The same thesis, ar-ticulated by the BJP, is destroyingnational unity. Imagine Modi, whoblessed the killing of Muslims asGujarat Chief Minister, becomingIndia’s Prime Minister. It means thebattle for a secular polity has to befought all over again. There is noalternative to it because the aggres-siveness of the majority can turn intofascism. People thinking in terms ofdemocracy and pluralism cannot sitidle at this juncture.—The writer is a veteran Indianjournalist, syndicated columnist,human rights activist and author.

Iqbal KhanEmail:wonderous101@gmail.com

Kuldip NayarEmail:kuldipnayar09@gmail.com

Religiousapproach dividedthe Subcontinent.The same thesis,articulated by theBJP, is destroying

national unity.Imagine Modi, whoblessed the killing

of Muslims asGujarat Chief

Minister, becomingIndia’s Prime

Minister.

Voice of the PeopleFloods havoc

HASHIM ABRO

While some parts of my homeProvince Sindh such as Thar Desertand Kachho are praying for morerains and crying for water for drink-ing and other purposes, northernSindh is drowning in it. Weeks ofnon-stop monsoon rains havecaused rivers, canals, water chan-nels, water courses, streams, andlakes to overflow and flash floodsto destroy movable and immovableproperty including homes, busi-nesses, shops, and infrastructure inKacha area along river Indus inKashmore/ Kandh Kot, Shikarpur,Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur Mirs,Larkano, Dadue and other districtsin the province.

The floods cover a huge areain the Province and in the lastcouple of days it has started to in-vade the towns, villages and settle-ments of millions and this invad-ing will continue for weeks to comebecause Sindh is the lower ripar-ian and ultimately suffers in theend. Unfortunately the rulers andthe Government machinery is no-where visible in the affected areas,to cope with disaster. So much soeven the media, with the exceptionof a few daily newspapers and TVchannels, are not highlighting thedoom and destruction, displace-ment and specific needs of the ill-fated victims in Sindh. Is there any-one to sensitize our rulers and themedia channels that humanity ismore important than politics andglamorization of violence? Let’s bemore curious about humanitarianissues and be less curious aboutpolluted people and money politicsin Pakistan which rule the roost inPakistan today.—Islamabad

Efficient LahoreTraffic Police

SULEMAN MANSHA

On 28-7-2013 a traffic warden finedme for violating a traffic rule in thejurisdiction of Thana(Police Station)Gulberg. I paid the fine on 5-8-2013and went to thana Gulberg, Lahorefor getting my national identity cardback. There I was told that the saidwarden had not submitted my iden-tity card in the respective office bythat day. On 16-8-2013 again I wentto the police station and asked theofficer on duty for my identity card.He was unable to tell that where myidentity card was. He gave me hismobile number and asked me to re-main in contact with him. He prom-ised to trace out my card with thehelp of other officers.

I had been in contact with himbut all the time received the samereply,”I am not in the office”.Thrice,on 19-8-2013, I took thecourse to the police station but ofno use. Ultimately I requested theThana Muharrar to register my com-plaint. I shocked to hear his replythat his ball pen was running out ofink. He ordered me to bring a ballpen from the bazaar and threatenedme that if I would not bring a ballpen, my complaint would not be reg-istered. He treated me just like hispersonal servant. Then I filed anapplication, containing a complaintagainst the traffic officers, in CTOTraffic Lahore’s Office. No actionhas been taken against the “publicservants” yet. I have suffered severemental disturbance and heavy finan-cial loss due to lethargic attitude ofthe said officers. I am sure that theycan misuse my identity card. Canany ruler hear my voice?—Lahore

Karachi inutter turmoil

M FAZAL ELAHI

The lifeline of Pakistan – Karachi,is in utter turmoil. Bomb blasts, tar-get killings, kidnapping for ransom,bank robberies and extortion havebecome a routine affair in this oncevivacious cosmopolitan city andeconomic hub of the country. Day-in and day-out tens of innocentpeople are becoming victims of thetrigger happy killers and terrorists.Life has become utterly insecure andmiserable for the residents of thisgreat city. Nobody knows when hewill fall victim to a treacherouskiller’s bullet or will be mugged inbroad daylight.

Earlier, the mess that Karachi isin today was attributed to differentpolitical groups having vested inter-est in the city’s affairs. Now vari-ous terrorist groups, with theirdreadful motives to achieve, havealso joined the ranks. While theblame-game goes on between dif-ferent factions involved creatinglawlessness in Karachi, the innocentpeople continue to get killed cold-bloodedly. The prevailing doomsdayscenario has already taken a heavytoll on the businesses running in thecity and is bound to further deterio-

A plea for Universities, HECSAKHI SARWAR

One fails to understand the logic behind the peculiar schedulingby the Pakistani universities, of the BA/B,Sc. results vis-a-viz

their timeframe for admissions in the MA/M,Sc. programmes. It islike putting the cart before the horse that the admissions are com-pleted a few weeks before the announcement of the results whichimpels the passing out graduates to wait for a whole year or at leasta semester to get admission in a postgraduate programme; thusinflicting a deliberate break in their studies and so ending up in thewastage of their precious academic time. Will the high-ups of theHigher Education Commission (HEC) give a serious thought to thisissue and evolve a mechanism of better coordination among ouruniversities to save the precious time of the students?—Islamabad

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

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

—Editor

Egypt in the rear-view mirror

When it comes to Egypt, theUS has little leverage andtherefore no real options.

That’s according to the prevailingwisdom, at least. Yet this analysis— endlessly reiterated in main-stream commentary — is mislead-ing. The absence of leverage doesnot preclude options. It certainlydoes not require the Obama admin-istration to debase itself by pretend-ing that the military overthrow of afreely elected government is not acoup or by accepting the Egyptianarmy’s slaughter of civilians withno more than a tsk-tsk. The admin-istration may choose to do thesethings, but not because circum-stances oblige it to do so.

Identifying our options inEgypt requires examining USpolicy in a broader context, sincethe events unfolding in that coun-try are emblematic of a muchlarger failure. It may help to re-call how the United States forgedits perverse relationship with theEgyptian army in the first place.That relationship dates from the1978 Camp David accordsbrokered by President JimmyCarter. Rather than receiving acommission, the broker in this caseended up on the hook, promisingto compensate the contracting par-ties for doing what each had agreedto do. From that day to the present,the United States has annuallyfunnelled billions of taxpayer dol-

lars to Egypt and Israel. Ratherthan furthering the cause of mu-tual understanding — funding edu-cation programs or cultural ex-changes, for example — most ofthat money has gone to the pur-chase of advanced weaponry. Whatare we to make of this arrange-ment? Writing in the New YorkTimes, Thom Shanker and EricSchmitt recently noted that “in thefour decades before Camp David,Israel and Egypt fought several ma-jor wars; in the nearly four decadessince, none.” True enough, and awelcome development. Yet no lesstrue, if much less welcome, is this:In the four decades before CampDavid, the US had managed to steerclear of war in the Middle East; inthe nearly four decades since, USinvolvement in hostilities through-out the region has become routine,with little to show as a result.

What becomes clear in retro-spect is that Camp David matteredless as a milestone on the road topeace than as a departure point sig-nalling a radical transformation ofUS policy. Before Camp David, inthe Pentagon’s eyes, the region hadqualified as an afterthought. AfterCamp David — and especially asthe Cold War wound down — it be-came the centre of attention. Un-derlying the shift in US policy in-augurated by Carter was the expec-tation that military “engagement”(to use a favourite Pentagon term)was going to enhance US leveragethroughout the region. Leverageadroitly applied, whether directly orthrough proxies, would enable the

US to promote stability and perhapseventually help pacify the MiddleEast. As a means of solving prob-lems, or at least keeping them man-ageable, military power was dis-placing diplomacy. In the years thatfollowed, in ways that Carter him-self neither envisioned nor in-tended, a flurry of military activityensued. Egypt and (in its way) Is-rael became Washington’s favouredproxies, but they were by no meansits only ones. During the 1980s, inits efforts to “contain” Iran, the USenlisted Saddam Hussein’s Iraq asan ally. Throughout that same de-cade, responding to a perceivedSoviet threat to the Persian Gulf,Washington provided weapons andother support to the Afghanmujahedin.

Yet the US appetite for directmilitary action in the region wasalso increasing. First there was the“tanker war” of 1984-88 againstIran, the initiation of hostilitiesagainst our erstwhile Iraqi ally in1991, and armed intervention in So-malia the following year. USairstrikes against various targetsthroughout the greater Middle Eastpunctuated the Bill Clinton era.Then, after 9/11, came the (ongo-ing) Afghanistan war, Round 2 ofthe Iraq war, armed intervention inLibya and small-scale actions inPakistan, Yemen and elsewhere.

This crowded narrative pro-vides the context for assessing what“engagement” has wrought not onlyin Egypt but throughout the region.What can we say of the resultsachieved? Evidence that US mili-

Views From Abroad

Tension on LoC

Both countries are back againto their old fashioned practice of looking at the floor

and not the ceiling. No wonder whywe are still stuck with unresolvedissues and disputes. ‘Provocations’these days are the hot items sellinglike hotcakes and the public on bothsides of the divide is more thanhappy buying and eating them.Given the spin it has on it now —this new cycle of hostility acrossthe LoC is likely to sustain itselfand continue at least up to nextmonth when the Prime Ministers ofboth the countries are scheduled tomeet on the sidelines of UnitedNations General Assembly in NewYork. If the goal of all this fuss onthe Eastern border is to prevent theholding of the proposed dialoguebetween the two leaders than I amafraid this goal is being achieved.

The hawks in the Indian estab-lishment are quick to call ‘strate-gic patience’ as a failed Indianpolicy. Riding on the back of In-dian military might these hawkslook at Pakistan only as a problemthat will not simply go away at itsown. ‘We need to do something’ istheir favorite adage every time acrisis erupts. Escalating tensionsand attempting to extract conces-sions from Pakistan under the threatof Indian military might seems tobe their favourite pass time. Indi-ans know well that they wouldnever have managed to build thefence all along the 740KM LoC hadGeneral Musharraf not relented andconceded to the Indian forwardmilitary posture and their forcespresence on our borders during theescalation in 2001. The 2003ceasefire agreement along the LoCis actually the child of this Indian

military buildupand pressure.

This agree-ment had not onlythe blessings butalso the approvalof a military ruler.

Considering this it amazes me whenon the subject of easing tensionsacross the LoC the Indian ForeignMinister Salman Khurshid says‘our meeting point is the civilianelected government of Pakistan, notthe Pakistan army or any otheragency.’ I do think the Indian FMand his team can connect some dotshere to understand who influencesand controls the building tempera-tures at the LoC. His statementcannot take away the leverage fromthe Army whose military leadermanufactured the 2003 ceasefireaccord. A credible act by a uni-formed person representing armymore than the elected governmentof that time.

The Indian press also reportsthat Indian Army Chief GeneralBikram Singh reprimanded his topcommanders during his visit toJammu and Kashmir on 8 Augustfor not launching massive artilleryand mortar retaliatory strikesagainst the Pakistan army when thesix Indian soldiers were killed inthe Poonch Sector. This statementof Indian Chief only reflects theform of military posture that Indianpolicy on Kashmir is taking. If theIndian military boss continues tomake provocative statements andthe Indian government cannot stophim from doing that than obviouslyit’s the Indian military that is walk-ing the Indian establishment’s talk.Under such circumstances can any-one in Indian government seriouslyexpect the ‘civilian elected govern-ment in Pakistan’ to be the actualcontact point.

Given the current circumstancesin which we live in our country-plagued by ever increasing funda-mentalism and extremism there is no

doubt in my mind that we need astrong army to combat this mush-rooming trend in our society. For ifwe cannot stop its growth than ex-tremism as a disease will not only killus but infect the whole neighborhoodincluding India. Pakistan army is al-ready contemplating shifting its

troops from its border with Afghani-stan to combat the growing externalthreat on the eastern border. This low-ering of the shield on our westernborder does not bore well for com-bating terrorism as a common enemyfor both India and Pakistan. Thisbrings me to the one important ques-tion that I cannot refrain myself fromasking. What frightens India more:

A Pakistan without a powerful armyor a Pakistan with it? Because In-dia through its actions continues topropel Pakistan army to make ei-ther of the two choices. Continueto prepare and invest for all expen-sive and indecisive conventionalwars which makes it strong and ca-pable to confront external threatonly. Or re-deploy to fight the all-important internal preventive war-the war against terrorism. A strongPakistan army that is sufficientlyand appropriately equipped to un-dertake counter terrorism andcounter insurgency operations is notonly in the interest of the region butthe whole world.This India mustunderstand.

But if the Indian militarycommanders are propagating Pa-kistan army’s fixation with bothwars as a strategic military imbal-ance and weakness and recom-mending to Indian government totry and do in words of VikramSood something ‘zara hatke’ (‘Nolunch in Lahore Yet’ HindustanTimes, 11 August) than I amafraid they only write a script ofdisaster for the dooms day.

Dramatic statements for pub-lic consumption aside the currentstand-off between the two coun-tries can become dangerous. Bothsides are on high alert. Full-scaleconflict which neither side wantscould be sparked or triggered bya mistake. This is not time forpoliticians to split hairs sitting onthe margins of this crisis while al-lowing their military command-ers to occupy the center stage andcall the shots. Its actually time forthe political leadership of the twocountries to play their role in re-versing this trend which unfortu-nately is showing signs of yetagain developing into a uselessand pointless military confronta-tion that suits the interest of none.—The writer, a retired Lt Col, isa research scholar doing PhD incivil-military relations from KU.

Andrew J Bacevich

Sometime back a chief engineer of a ship and his wifevisited me: The chief, slim,

tall, bearded and on his way for avigorous walk to keep fit. Theyhad dropped by to say hello.Strange hello it was. The chiefcribbed about weather, about hisneighbours, his son, his daughterand would have even includedwife had she not been sitting nextto him.

I asked him about shippingand he talked about the slump, Iasked him about his seafarerslife, he told me what a bore itwas, and how with all the sacri-fice of being away at sea, hecame home to find that children

and wife did not deserve his hand-some wages. He came by to sayhello, t’was a bitter hello. And ashe talked I closed my eyes andwalked with Tom Sawyer andHuckleberry Finn along the banksof the River Mississippi. They leftme at a tugboat and I went on in.

I saw there was a new engi-neer. He was black, a Negro. Hewas fat and squat but immaculateand in his eyes was the splendourof ancient wisdom and he was atpeace with the world. In his handsI saw a holy book. He was readingand hardly glanced up at me,though I knew from half smile thathe had felt my presence.

As I paused to talk with him, Inoticed that the characteristicodours that emanated from the en-gine room were no longer there, andthe engine! Ah the engine, itgleamed and shone! From beneathits seat all the bilge water was gone.In stead of grime and filth and

stench, I found beauty and order. Ilooked at old engineer and askedhim how in the world he had man-aged to clean up the old engineroom and the old engine, he an-swered in words that I have neverever forgotten. “Its just this way,”he said, “that ole engine is myglory..!” He went back to readingthe scriptures in his hand, and I con-tinued looking at him, tears stream-ing down my eyes as I realised thatmaking an old engine the best in theriver was the glory of his life, andhaving a glory he had everything.

I walked down the ramp andsmiled at the two lads Mark Twainhad created, they smiled back at meas I drifted back into my own roomwhere the chief and his wife stillsat. The chief engineers face wasnow twisted with bitterness and de-spair, and in my mind I spoke tohim.. “You need a glory,” I said.

I took bearded chief and wifedown back in time with me and

Find your glory..!

tary actions have produced stabil-ity or have planted the seeds for apeaceful future is, to put it mildly,hard to come by. Rather than solv-ing problems, the application ofAmerican military power has ei-ther exacerbated them or provedto be irrelevant. In this regard, thecrisis enveloping Egypt merelyconfirms the results achievedelsewhere. The approach thatWashington has pursued in culti-vating this key ally simply hasn’tworked.

To argue, therefore, thatWashington has no choice but topreserve its links to Egypt’s armyqualifies as the height of absur-dity. It’s throwing good moneyafter bad, doubling down in hopesof redeeming dubious bets thathave repeatedly failed to pay off.So what’s the policy option? Ac-knowledge the failure. Fold thecards. Try something different.Whatever the problems roiling theMiddle East, weapons sales won’tfix them. Nor will proxy wars.Nor will the further commitmentof US troops.

Egypt today offers Washing-ton the opportunity to demilitariseUS policy toward this region.Such a change is long overdue.Terminating further assistance toEgypt’s army will mark a neces-sary first step. Wisdom lies in al-lowing others to determine theirown destiny so that we may pur-sue our own. The writer is a pro-fessor of history and internationalrelations at Boston University.— Courtesy: Los Angeles Times

pointed out to them old tug boat.The chief climbed in with me, hiswife following timidly behind.The old man smiled as he lookedup at the chief. “You need aglory!” he said and went back tohis reading. The wife she lookedat him and there were tears inpretty eyes. “I need a glory too,”she cried. “Take,” the old mansaid, and gave them his holy book.“this here’s the instruction book.When you find your glory’s bothof you, just follow book, just fol-low the book..!”

I walked the river with Huckand Tom and threw flat stonesinto the waters, a flat stone camerolling behind. I looked and sawthe chief and wife and children.They were laughing and playingand having fun. “They’ve foundtheir glory’s,” the old engineercried, “now just follow de in-struction book..!”—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

rate in times to come if the situationis not brought under control urgently.It is an undeniable fact that the vola-tile situation in the city has dis-turbed peace in the entire countryand has also badly affected the af-fairs of the state. Though the grav-ity of the situation has always beenappreciated by all and sundry in thecitadel of power not much has beendone in the past or is being donenow to take stock of the criticalstate of affairs prevalent in this vi-tal nerve centre of the country.

Undoubtedly, since the passing ofthe 18th Constitutional Amendment,law and order has become a Provin-cial subject thus making maintenanceof security and law and order prima-rily the responsibility of the Provin-cial administration. Does this how-ever absolve the Federal governmentof its responsibility to provide requi-site support to the Provincial govern-ment to effectively control the lawand order situation in Karachi? No,it certainly does not. In the larger in-terest of the country and in the pri-mary interest of the city of Karachiand its fretful citizens, the Federalgovernment must extend full supportto the Provincial administration todeal with the rapidly deterioratingsituation in the city. It must give thesecurity agencies a free hand to dealwith the perpetrators of heinouscrimes with an iron hand and with-out discrimination. Those found re-sponsible for disturbing the peace andtranquility of the city and are bring-ing it to the brink of utter collapsemust be quickly apprehended andgiven exemplary punishment. Unlessthis is done bringing peace to Karachiwould, as always, remain a far cry.—Karachi

Plight of anorphan pensioner

SHAMA AFZAL

I am a pensioner and request you topublish my letter in your “Voice ofthe People” section of Daily PakistanObserver. I hope that despite yourbusiness compulsions, you will man-age to publish this letter purely onhumanitarian grounds. My father wasrecruited as Civil Servant in PakistanTelegraphs and Telephone Depart-ment. After rendering forty years ofservice, he retired in 2002.He hadbeen granted all the increases in pen-sion announced by the Governmentof Pakistan time to time till 2010.Dur-ing the previous regime, in a devia-tion to previous practice, partial in-creases were allowed to these pen-sioners which put them in severe fi-nancial crisis. My father due to thisfrustrating act of non-increase in pen-sionary benefits expired in 2012.

As per family pension policy, Iwas entitled for pension after thedeath of my father as my mother hadalready been expired. It was aston-ishing to get only 50% pension de-spite 75% announced by the Govern-ment of Pakistan in 2010.Even more,I was denied Medical Allowance al-together admissible to all retired CivilServants w.e.f:01-07-2010. I am notthe only one to face this financial ca-lamity but the 13,000 widows andorphans throughout the country. It isrequested to the Prime Minister,President and Chief Justice of Paki-stan to kindly take notice of this clearviolation of the orders of the Gov-ernment of Pakistan and direct theconcerned authorities to pay all thepensionary benefits as announced bythe Government of Pakistan.—Sialkot

Three cheers forEgyptian nation

RAQIM HAQUE

PEOPLE loyal to democracy, humanvalues and Muslim Brotherhood, sup-porting the ousted elected presidentMohamad Morsi, are being crushedunder tanks, burnt and fired upon withlive ammunition and gunship helicop-ters. Hundreds of civilians, accord-ing to moderate estimate, have beenkilled while thousands are injured atthe hands of the military backed byliberals in Egypt and aided militarilyby the West.

These people are being threat-ened with dire circumstances whiletheir leader Morsi is kept at an undis-closed location to give up and resign.The international community — even

a prominent part of the Arab world— disowns the sacrifices being ren-dered for democracy, and has turnedits back to the tears, blood and criesof the unarmed people. But despiteall, they, the Muslim Brotherhood andtheir supporters, stand firm and de-serve a salute for their resilience, faithand commitment. It is time Pakistanisraised voice in their support.—Karachi

A sad stateof affairs

A TAXPAYER

WHILE watching the recent ‘crisis’of the family hostage in Islamabad, Ifelt that there were many lost oppor-tunities to bring down the criminal.The police and commandos werestanding twiddling their thumbswhile the criminal was nicely walk-ing away from the hostages/car. Hewas also indulging in drinking andsmoking and even talking to somesenior police official quite away fromthe car with the family hostages.

I would term this phenomenon atotal failure of adequate training andwillingness of law-enforcement agen-cies to take safe risks of bringingdown the hostage-taker. Where are allthe sharp shooters and snipers andcommandos who are paid out of ourtaxes? This drama could have endedin a few minutes but lasted for morethan four hours. Is there a lack ofwillingness and the lack of strong willto take on these criminals and terror-ists? Such a sad state of affairs!—Karachi

The scamsforgotten

M AZHAR KHWAJA

DURING the last PPP regime theelectronic media brought to lightmany scandals which involved bil-lions of rupees. I wonder if it was todivert the public attention from mainissues or they were real ones. Wewould like to know about the fate ofthose scandals and those who weredirectly and indirectly involved inthose cases. Otherwise, it can be as-sumed that the present governmentis also party to some other scandalsand is scared that those involvedwould name the leaders of the presentgovernment as no one is Mr. Cleanto carry out the accountability of cor-rupt people.

Some prominent cases in pointare NICL scandal (Moonis Elahi),Haj scandal (Mr Kazmi), Ograscam (Tauqir Sadiq), and RiazMalik vs Arsalan case. The publicis keen to know the outcome ofthese cases. Or have they beenbrushed under the carpet?—Lahore

Where isQuaid’s Pakistan

TASKEEN ISLAM YOUSAFZAI

History is replete with the exemplarydeeds of our ancestors .Our ancestorsstruggled a lot to make us a free na-tion. But if we look upon today’s situ-ation of Pakistan it’s horrible, thereare so many social issues, shortageof electricity and above all terrorismand target killing. We are so selfishthat we even forgot the sacrifice andstruggle of our forefathers. We for-got the hard work of the Father of theNation “Quaid-e-Azam MuhammadAli Jinnah”.

He gave us separate and freehomeland just for our good future andwhat we did to this land? And whatare political leaders doing? Is today’sPakistan the dream of our Quaid? Hewas sincere dedicated and pure andwe are selfish and impure. We aredoing wrong things just for our ownbenefits. In short we left behind theQuaid’s Pakistan.—Lahore

Muhammad Ali EhsanEmail: muhammadaliehsan1@hotmail.com

This is not timefor politicians tosplit hairs sittingon the margins ofthis crisis whileallowing their

militarycommanders to

occupy the centerstage and call theshots. Its actually

time for thepolitical leadership

of the twocountries to play

their role inreversing this trend

whichunfortunately isshowing signs of

yet againdeveloping into a

useless andpointless militaryconfrontation that

suits the interest ofnone.

Nawaz Sharif is now backin power having emphaticallywon May 11, elections. His gov-ernment has said that it alsoplans to put Musharraf on trialfor treason.

Musharraf is also facingcharges for conspiring to killBaloch politician Nawab AkbarBugti, proclaiming emergencyin the country on November, 3,2007 and placing 60 judges ofsuperior judiciary includingchief justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry underhouse arrest.—INP

MusharrafFrom Page 1

ERN IRAN area (27.40N 53.70E)(Probable 4 or stronger and prob-able multiples); Frazier Park, CAarea (34.868 -118.963); (Probable3 and probable multiples)NOVAYA ZEMLYA, RUSSIAarea (74.51 53.56) (Probable 3 andprobable multiples); ThunderBay,ON area (48.93N 89.80W)(Probable 3 and probable mul-tiples); Pinnacles, CA area(36.408 -120.988) (Probable 3 andprobable multiples); and BandaSea area (6.00S 130.47E) (Secondday symptoms. Probable 4.5 andprobable multiples). In October2005 a devastating earthquake hadhit Kashmir and northern parts ofPakistan. Affectees are still reel-ing under the woes of that naturalcalamity.

Earthquakes mayFrom Page 1

The communication centrewas being run through sophisti-cated digital devices and wasserving communication needs ofthe extremists.

The group was engaged inmaligning the Pakistan Tele-communication Limited Com-pany (PTCL) and other privatemobile phone operators of thecountry by using their SIMcards.

The suspects had been en-gaged in mobile phone trac-ing of their victims and wereplanning to kidnap son of akey political figure, sourcessaid.

Bilal Latif, Shahid Jabbar,Umair Nadeem, Tariq and Imranae also mentioned in their tar-get list. Sources said suspectsbelong to Hasan Gull and DaudShah Group, the sub groups ofAl-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda’sFrom Page 1

Pakistani forces retaliated tothe Indian firing and silenced theguns across the LoC.

Line of Control is the defacto border between Pakistaniand Indian administered partsof Kashmir. Pakistan and Indiahad signed a bilateral ceasefirein November 2003 which hadbeen holding for all theseyears.—NNI

Indian troops againFrom Page 1

of Commerce and Industry andthe exchange of business delega-tions will be made a regular fea-ture. Furthermore, he said a draftof MoU on establishing linkagesbetween Alternative EnergyDevelopment board of Pakistanand Alternative Energy Promo-tion Center of Nepal was givento the Nepali delegation for for-malization of mutual coopera-tion in the sector. A draft MoUbetween State Bank of Pakistanand Central Bank of Nepal for aregulatory regime between theBanking Sectors of two coun-tries will be exchanged for fa-cilitating business community.

“It will help in the achieve-ment of the objectives of the pro-posed Free Trade Agreement”,the Minister added.

Ishaq Dar said the both sidesalso discussed areas of coopera-

tion in the field of agriculture un-der the provisions of an agreementsigned between the two countries.In this connection, he said it wasagreed to hold the meeting of theJoint Working Group constitutedunder the said Agreement on Au-gust 28, 29 in Islamabad. Increasein the frequency of cargo and pas-senger flights for Nepal will bediscussed in the next meeting ofJoint Commission of Trade andalso in Air Services Agreement(ASA) talks scheduled in Septem-ber 2013, Ishaq Dar remarked.

The Finance Minister ex-pressed his resolve to boost theexisting cordial and friendly re-lations between the two coun-tries into substantial economicand trade relations.

He further said Pak-NepalJoint Economic Commissionwill play a pivotal role in har-

nessing the true potential ofmutual trade and economic co-operation. Speaking on the oc-casion Shanker Prasad Koiralasaid that there is a good scopeof promoting trade and eco-nomic cooperation between thetwo countries. Cooperation inthe fields, such as, agriculturetourism, education and culture,health, textiles and leather in-dustries would contribute in theeconomic development andprosperity of our people, headded.

Shankar Prasad said thatfrequent exchange of businessdelegations, organization oftrade and tourism festivals inboth the countries and collabo-ration between the two privatesectors would give further im-petus to the promotion of tradeand commerce.

Pak, Nepal to boost coopFrom Page 1of Nausheroferoz while the

driver was going to drop the stu-dents at local school.

As a result of firing a studentstated to be daughter of DeputySuperintendent of Police (DSP)Headquarter Jumma KhanPanhore was killed on the spotwhile his two nephews sustainedinjuries. The attackers managedto escape from the scene aftercommitting crime. The injuredstudents were rushed to hospitalwhere they also succumbed towounds during treatment raisingdeath toll to three.—INP

DSP’s daughterFrom Page 1

COURT NOTICE

In the Court of Mr. RanaMuhammad Yousaf Shahib,Judge Banking Court No-I

Gujranwala OLD P.W.D RestHouse OPP. Commissioner

Officer, Gujranwala. Suit No.250-1/2013HBL Railway Road BranchShakargarh —PlaintiffVersusMst. Razia Begum etc —Defen-dantSummons U/S 9 (5) of the Fi-nancial Institutions (Recoveryof Finances) Ordinance; 2001(Ordinance No.XLVI of 2001)Summons to: (1) Mst. RaziaBegum W/O Nazir Hussain R/O Dudan Kalan P/O DelraTehsil ShakargarhDistt,Narrowal 2nd Address MohallahHaji Ilam Din Park Qaiser TownShahdara Lahore Tehsil LahoreCity Distt, Lahore.(2)Muhammad Hussain S/O NazirHussain R/O Mohallah Ilam DinPark Qaiser Town ShahdaraLahore.WHEREAS the aforesaid plain-tiff has instituted a suit againstyou and other for the recoveryof Rs=482330.25/- along withmark up/interest and cost etc,claimed to be payable by you.A Summons u/s 9(5) OrdinanceXIVI of 2001 referred to aboveis hereby issued requiring youto make within 30 days of theservice of the Summon, an ap-plication for leave to defend thesuit in the form of written state-ment U/S 10 of the said ordi-nance.

Take notice that on yourfailure to file such applicationwithin time specified above, theBanking Court shall pass a de-cree as prayed for in the plaint,in the favour of the plaintiffBanking Company. Next datefor further proceedings, in thecase has been fixed on17.09.2013.

Given under my hand andthe seal of the court, this15.08.2013

Seal of the CourtBanking Court I Gujranwala

faction with the progress madein recent years in the political,economic and defence spheres.

“We agreed to further consoli-date and expand this partnership forthe mutual benefit of our twopeoples,” he added. Prime Minis-ter of Thailand also noted coopera-tion in security and defence par-ticularly in the areas of training andjoint exercises. The Prime Minis-ter said building robust economicand trade relations were a prioritywith the government. “Both sideshave agreed to work towards a FreeTrade Agreement to form the cen-ter piece of our economic partner-ship,” the Prime Minister said andmentioned that both the countrieshave agreed to establish a JointTrade Committee and a Joint Busi-ness Council at the private level topromote business-to-business con-tacts on the two sides.

“We are happy to note that pri-vate business sectors on both sideshave also met today,” the PrimeMinister said and also mentionedthat the inaugural session of theJoint Trade Committee was beingheld tomorrow to identify areas offuture collaboration.

He expressed the hope thatthese desired steps would expandbilateral trade and investments andfacilitate business partnerships.“We have invited Thai private busi-nesses to invest in Pakistan in vari-ous sectors including infrastructuredevelopment, energy, autopartsmanufacturing, food processing,packaging, gems and jewelry, tour-ism and hospitality,” Prime Minis-ter Sharif said. Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif said greater connec-tivity between Pakistan and Thai-land was also very important to fa-cilitate trade and investment andsaid “to this end we believe thatPakistan and Thailand may utilizeeach other’s geo-strategic loca-tion.” He said people to people con-tacts were one of the most impor-tant aspects of their relations. Hesaid the number of Pakistani tour-ists visiting Thailand was steadilyincreasing and expressed the hopethat “Thai Buddhist communitywould visit the land of AncientCivilisation - Gandhara, known asa bedrock of their faith and spiritu-alism.

Sharif said Pakistan and Thai-land were connected by commonlinkages through Gandhara civili-zation. “We have agreed on theneed to enhance and deepen coop-eration in the regional and multi-lateral frameworks,” the PrimeMinister said. “We desire to com-prehensively upgrade our relation-ship with Thailand in all areas ofcooperation,” he said and termedit a critical component of “VisionEast Asia” policy that comple-ments Thailand’s “Look West”policy. The Prime Minister ofThailand also mentioned the im-portance of enhancing people topeople contacts and agreed on needto further enhance bilateral and re-gional cooperation through variousmultilateral fora, like Asian Coop-eration Dialogue and for enhancedSouth Asia and South East Asia in-teraction.

She expressed the belief thatinternational cooperation will helpaddress the challenges being con-fronted by extremism and terror-ism and also sought support of Pa-kistan at the Organisation of Is-lamic Conference.

Prime Minister Sharif saidmentioned his “comprehensive dis-cussions” with Prime MinisterShinawatra on a wide range of is-sues and said there was a conver-gence of views on important bilat-eral and international issues.

Prime Minister of ThailandYingluck Shinawatra said thatthough Pakistan and Thailand en-joy deep friendly relations for thelast sixty years, she was the firstThai PM to visit Pakistan in morethan a decade.

She expressed the condolencesof government and people of Thai-land over the losses of life andproperty in the recent floods inPakistan. The Thai Prime Minis-ter also felicitated Pakistan on thesuccessful holding of the generalelection and the Presidential elec-tion. She said Thailand believes invalue of democracy and the respectthe will of the people.

The Thai Prime Ministerlauded the sacrifices of the peopleof Pakistan in confronting extrem-ism and terrorism and said the twocountries can share their experi-ences in what her country had to

face in its Southern parts. “We havecommon concern on the challengeof extremism and terrorism andThailand respects the sacrificesgiven by the government andpeople of Pakistan in dealing withthese challenges. She also invitedPrime Minister Sharif to visit Thai-land. The bilateral meeting was at-tended by Deputy Prime Ministerof Thailand Plodprasop Suraswadi,Deputy Minister of CommerceYanyong Phuangrach, Ambassa-dor of Thailand Marwin Tan-Attanawin. While the Pakistan sideincluded Adviser to Prime Minis-ter on National Security and For-eign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, SpecialAssistant to PM Tariq Fatemi, Min-ister of State for PrivatisationAnusha Rehman, Minister of Statefor Privatisation Khurram Dastagir,Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilaniand senior officials of the two coun-tries.

Pakistan, Thailand sign agree-ments: Pakistan and Thailand onTuesday inked an agreement andtwo memorandums of understand-ing (MoUs) to ease visa require-ments for diplomats, establish jointtrade committees and a joint busi-ness council to further strengthentrade and economic ties betweenthe two countries. The inking of theagreement and MoUs here at thePM house were witnessed byPrime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif and her Thai coun-terpart Yingluck Shinawatra, aftera round of bilateral talks that cov-ered the whole range of issues be-tween the two countries. TheAgreement on Mutual Exemptionof Visa Requirements for holdersof diplomatic passports was inkedby Special Assistant to Prime Min-ister Tariq Fatemi and Vice Minis-ter of Foreign Affairs of ThailandJullapong Nonsrichai. The MoUon establishment of a Joint TradeCommittee was inked by Ministerof State for Privatisation Engr.Khurram Dastgir Khan and DeputyMinister of Commerce YangyongPhuangrach.

The MoU on establishment ofa Joint Business Council wassigned by President FPCCI ZubairAhmed Malik and ChairmanBoard of Trade of Thailand IsaraVongkusolkit.—APP

Pakistan, Thailand to expandFrom Page 1

government has zero tolerancefor corruption and it is commit-ted to transparency and that thismessage would reap rich divi-dends for Pakistan.

The Vice President ADBsaid that time has come to begina new relationship with Pakistanand reverse the present trend ofnegative inflows. He also as-sured that the bank will soonrelease $430 million for incomesupport programme as it sharesthe policy of the present govern-ment to support the poorer sec-tions of the society.

He said the ADB is commit-ted to TAPI which will encour-age energy connectivity in theregion.

Senator Ishaq Dar apprisedthe Vice President ADB that1700MW were added to the na-tional grid after clearance of cir-cular debt. We are working to

check leakages, reduce linelosses and eradicate theft as apart of our energy policy.

Dilating on the future plansat hand for construction of newpower plants the Finance Minis-ter said that the Nandipur Projecthaving a capacity ranging from425 to 525MWs, Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project of969MW, Karachi CoastalProjects of 2017MW are undervarious stages of implementa-tion. Prime Minister NawazSharif, the Finance Minister said,has recently inaugurated PakistanPower Park in Gadani where tencoal-fire thermal power plantswould be installed. The govern-ment has already acquired 1800acres of land and intends to ac-quire the remaining 3200 acresfor the park shortly. A jetty is alsobeing constructed so that importof coal for these plants can be fa-

cilitated.A lot of interest is being

shown by foreign and local in-vestors to set up thermal powerplants in Pakistan including Chi-nese and other foreign investors.

Senator Ishaq Dar said thatour present focus and priority ison the construction of DiamerBhasha Dam and we would liketo fast track this project.

The Finance Minister in-formed the Vice President ADBthat during his recent visit toKarachi Stock Exchange he hasdiscussed the possibility of rais-ing capital for infrastructureprojects and was encouraged tolearn that the markets had sub-stantial appetite.

Senator Ishaq Dar said thatAsian Development Bank’s con-tribution as a development part-ner of Pakistan has been phe-nomenal.

ADB supports DiamerFrom Page 1

He said the forces havepicked up 10 suspected militantsalso during the operation thatlasted for more than an hour.“All suspects have been shiftedfor interrogation,” Maqboolsaid. Senior FC and police of-ficers are interrogating the sus-pects picked up by forces.

“For the first time in the his-tory of country, such huge quan-tity of explosives have beenseized,” the FC commandantsaid, adding that the forces de-serve to be appreciated for theirefforts. He said the miscreantshad made secret rooms andplanted explosive materials infive rooms to carry out subver-sive activities in Quetta, plaguedby sectarian violence and attacksby Baloch separatists.

Maqbool said the same ex-plosive material was used inHazara town bombing on April16, which had left more than 100people dead. “These explosivematerials could be used in sui-cide jackets as well,” he added.All explosives were shifted to anunknown location and the bombdisposal squad was called in tosweep the area. Extra FC troopswere also called in the area tomaintain the order. The opera-tions were carried out after aseries of bombings in Quettathat claimed scores of preciouslives. Balochistan in general andQuetta city in particular are un-der the grip of rocketing, bomb-ings and targeted killings for lastmore than a decade.

Over 100 tonsFrom Page 1

places, issuing warning for themto evacuate homes. Army is alsoassisting the district administra-tion in relief and rescue activi-ties. Over five hundred villageshave been inundated in Multan,Jhang, Chiniot and Kamoke re-gion owing to high floods inChenab river as floods startedthreatening more Multan city.

Meanwhile, in River Indus,the high flood peak has enteredGuddu Barrage in Sindh. The lo-cal authorities have claimed thatall protective bunds have beenfortified. The flood waters haveinundated thousands of acres ofagriculture land in the Katcha ar-eas of Sindh, inundating scores ofvillages in Kashmore, Kandhkot,Khairpur, Nawabshah and Daduregion, with people for Katchaareas leaving their homes for saferplaces due to rising flood wa-ters.—INP

Swollen riversFrom Page 1

quests for postponement of by-elections in some constituenciesof Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Further the Elec-tion Commission of Pakistanhas imposed ban on keepingmobile phones during the poll-ing of votes.

Electioneering for by-elec-tions to be held on Thursdaycame to an end on August 20 atmidnight. By-elections would beheld on 42 seats of the nationaland provincial assemblies. TheECP has directed the ReturningOfficers to send unofficial re-sults via fax immediately afterthe vote count and official re-sults by using the computerised

result management system.The ECP has issued the di-

rective to the Presiding Officersto ensure the secrecy of vote.Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl(JUI-F) chief Maulana FazlurRehman has connected the de-cision with incompetence of theElection Commission. He wrotea letter to the commissioncriticising the decision.

“We condemn this decisionby Election Commission,” saidthe JUI-F chief following theECP press release. “Law andorder situation was worse thanwhat it is today in the area,” headded. He vowed to protestagainst the potential postpone-

ment on Monday saying keep-ing in view popularity of theJUI-F, some political forces inthe constituency were seekingways to run away from the con-test.

“We will not allow anyoneto postpone polling in the con-stituency.” “If any attempt ismade to put off the polls, theparty would strongly resist it,”he said. JUI-F candidate forNA-25, Maulana AsadMehmud had said that Tankdistrict was peaceful, and de-laying the polls in the constitu-ency would amount to denyingpeople’s right to elect theirrepresentative.

NA-25 by-polls postponedFrom Page 1

Sharif on the sidelines of the UNGeneral Assembly in New Yorkin September last week. And a callwill be taken on how to proceedon dialogue process after thatmeeting, official sources said.

They said India will not re-spond to the suggested dates forwater secretary-level meeting,as well as dates for the jointcommission, which were to beheld in September.

No dates for a possible HomeSecretary-level talks are beingconsidered now, which were ear-

lier proposed to be held in Octo-ber, sources said. The decisionhas been taken in the backdropof the killing of five Indian sol-diers on the Line of Control andincessant ceasefire violationsover the past few days.

With the Central govern-ment on the backfoot since theOpposition has been critical dur-ing the current session, NewDelhi is keen to not be seen toobe weak in response as far asrelations with Pakistan wereconcerned.—INP

India puts Pak talksFrom Page 1

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Muttahida QaumiMovement’s (MQM) DeputyConvener, Engineer Nasir Jamalexhorted the inhabitants of urbanareas of Sindh to get prepared fora struggle aimed at achievingtheir rights. In a hard-hitting

Sindh urban population could demandpolls under UN supervision: MQM

statement issued on Tuesday, theMQM leader said that the Paki-stan People’s Party which hadbeen confined to Sindh after fac-ing crushing defeat in the recentelections was now fighting for itssurvival. Under such circum-stance, the narrow-minded lead-ership of provincial PPP while

taking shelter under its preju-diced policy was nowadays busyin creating misunderstanding andhatred among permanent resi-dents of Sindh, he added.

He said that the local govern-ment bill adopted in Sindh As-sembly on Monday was a clearproof of the PPP’s hatred andanti-people policy.

The MQM leader urged thePPP to realize that the groundrealities had been changed as theratio of population in Sindh hadbeen changed altogether andwhere the urban population hadfar exceeded than the rural popu-lation and all the statistics avail-able now was a clear proof of ourclaim. In this regard, Jamal saidthat when PPP could seek helpof the United Nations in the in-vestigations of martyrdom ofBenazir Bhutto, the urban popu-lation of Sindh was also justifiedin demanding population census,fresh de-limitation of constituen-cies and polls under the supervi-sion of the United Nations.

He said that since the urbanpopulation of Sindh had been de-prived of their rights since long inthe wake of population censuscarried out under the supervisionof prejudiced people, the urbanpopulation should get ready forlaunching struggle for their rights.

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—The IPL pacebowler Praddep Sangawnhas hired the SupremeCourt lawyer to defend thedrug charges. This was re-vealed by ChetanChauhan, the DDCA (Delhiand District Cricket Asso-ciation) vice president.

Speaking exclusivelyover telephone from Delhion Tuesday evening,Chetan Chauhan said,“Sangwan has hired theservices of Singhania, theSupreme Court barristerto fight his case”.

Earlier this season, the23-year-old all rounder,Pradeep Sangwan was

Pradeep Sangwan hiresSupreme Court lawyer to

defend drug chargestested positive in a randomdope test conducted duringthe 2013 IPL season. His ‘A’samples reportedly showedpresence of banned sub-stances.

“I was not present whenhis first and preliminary in-quiry was held.

It was a sort of an intro-ductory hearing, where hislawyer was made aware aboutthe charges he has been fac-ing”, Chauhan added.

“The regular hearing isnow likely to take place withinfew weeks”.

Sangawan has been rep-resenting Delhi and hasplayed for Delhi Daredevils,Kolkata Knight Riders in twodifferent seasons.

His personal coach, A. N.Sharma, who has also been

Virender Sehwag’s coach,said, “Sangwan took thedrug substance to minimisethe shoulder pain. Perhaps,he may have consumed itunknowingly”.

“Yes, he is under reha-bilitation after underwentsurgery in England. I methim once after his returnand was inforfmed his firstmeeting with the BCCI offi-cial went well”.

“The result of his sec-ond urine sample is un-likely to be different be-cause the second sampleis taken from the remain-der of the first urinesample”.

The BCCI is in the pro-cess of forming the tribu-nal commission consistingof foreign experts.

BRISTOL: Luke Wright pulls during his century, England Lions v Bangladesh A, 1st unofficial ODI.

LONDON—Alastair Cooksaid Tuesday the prospect ofbeing the first England sideto win a home Ashes series4-0 was a spur as they pre-pared for the fifth and finalTest against Australia at TheOval.

At 3-0 up, England havealready retained the Ashesand won the series.

But England captainCook was in no doubt aboutthe worth of a 4-0 scoreline.

“I think it would be veryspecial. To win the InvestecAshes 4-0 has never beendone before (by England) sothat is our motivation as aside,” Cook told reporters atThe Oval on Tuesday, theday before the match.

“We have a lot of record-breakers in this team and thechance to add another littlenotch is a great motivation,”added Cook, the only En-gland batsman to havescored 25 Test hundreds.

“Any time you can beatAustralia is a great feeling.”

Unlike the past twoAshes series in England, in2005 and 2009, this one hasbeen decided before TheOval Test and Cook said: “Itis a good feeling, of course.When we were sitting beforethe series, to be here at The

Cook eyes Englandrecord in Ashes finale

Oval 3-0 up you’d certainlyhave taken it then.

“But every time you pullon that England shirt you aredesperate for a performancethat merits that shirt and mer-its the lions and we are des-perate to do that.”

For all England’s recentsuccess, Cook’s captaincyhas still come in for criticism,with the likes of Australiagreat Shane Warne deridingthe opener’s “way too cau-tious” approach during thefourth Test in Durham, whichEngland won by 74 runs af-ter Stuart Broad sparked anAustralian batting collapse.

“I’d much rather be in myposition getting criticised formy captaincy and being 3-0,make no mistake about that,”Cook said.

“It hasn’t been the firsttime I’ve been criticised as aplayer or a captain and it cer-tainly won’t be the last,” headded.

Cook enjoyed a superbseries with the bat duringEngland’s 3-1 Ashes win inAustralia in 2010/11, scoring766 runs at 127.66 with threehundreds.

However, it’s been a dif-ferent story this series, with218 runs in four matches anda best of 62.

But Cook insisted thecares of captaincy were notaffecting his batting.

“That’s certainly not whyI haven’t scored the runs I’dhave liked in thisseries.Sometimes it’s thenatural ebb and flow of form.

“All I can do is know thatmy record suggests that I willscore runs. I’m hammeringmy basics—I’m doing thegood stuff—and it’s just amatter of time hopefully be-fore it turns and I get a littlebit of luck, which you alwaysneed at the top of the order,and get that score.”

Cook has lost just one ofhis 13 Tests as England cap-tain since being appointed tothe role full-time after the re-tirement of former openingpartner Andrew Strauss lastyear, with his record includ-ing a series win in India.

But the 28-year-old, whoinspires great loyalty from hiscolleagues, found it hard todescribe his captaincy style.

“It’s for other people tojudge whether you’re a goodleader or not. I can only saythe guys have been excellentfor me, and long may thatcontinue.”

And no-one has beenbetter in this series than En-gland batsman Ian Bell, who

has so far scored exactly 500runs, including three hun-dreds.

“He’s got to be veryclose to the man-of-the-se-ries (award) because thoseruns he’s scored have beenfantastic when we’ve neededthem the most,” Cook said ofBell.

“They’ve been vital runsall the time, all three of hishundreds. He couldn’t havedone any more.”

England v Australiateams: England (from):Alastair Cook (capt), JoeRoot, Jonathan Trott, KevinPietersen, Ian Bell, JonnyBairstow, Matt Prior (wkt),Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann,James Anderson, ChrisWoakes, Chris Tremlett,Steven Finn, Simon Kerrigan

Australia (from): ChrisRogers, David Warner,Usman Khawaja, MichaelClarke (capt), Steven Smith,Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(wkt), Peter Siddle, MitchellStarc, Ryan Harris, NathanLyon, Jackson Bird, MatthewWade, James Faulkner

Umpires: Aleem Dar(PAK), Kumar Dharmasena(SRI), TV umpire: Tony Hill(NZL), Match referee:Roshan Mahanama (SRI).—AFP

MOSCOW: Rollins (5), US record-holder in 100-meter hurdles race, could face two former Olympic champions atthe world championships.

Jozy Altidore had a strong debut in Sunderland’s loss to Fulham.

LAHORE—Pakistan nationalcricket team batsman UmerAkmal returned from the Car-ibbean early on Tuesday andclaimed that he was “fit”.

Akmal, who had beenhanded the additionalcharge of keeping the wick-ets on Pakistan’s recent tourto West Indies, had stayedon in the Caribbean after thetour ended to play in the Car-ibbean Premier League(CPL).

While away, Akmal hadbeen included in the nationalsquad that will face Zimba-bwe in the upcoming tour.But it was subsequently re-ported that Akmal had pulledout due to a back strain.Keeping this in view, the Pa-kistan Cricket Board (PCB)had announced thatwicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmedwould replace Akmal on thetour.

SPORTS REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The sale of2014 FIFA World Cup™ tick-ets will start next Tuesday,August 20th, 2013 via FIFAofficial website(www.fifa.com). For interna-tional football fans, ticketprices start at USD 90 for thegroup-stage matches in cat-egory 3 (apart from the open-ing match, which costs USD220). For Brazilian residents,

Sale of FIFA World Cup tickets startsthe cheapest tickets are pricedBRL 30 (USD 15) and avail-able for 47 of the 48 group-stage matches (again apartfrom the opening match,which costs BRL 80 in cat-egory 4).

In total, about three mil-lion tickets will be available forfans to purchase during thethree sales phases.

According to FIFA, dur-ing the first sales periodfrom August 20th to Octo-

ber 10th 2013, ticket appli-cations may be submitted atany time during the periodand at the end all requestswill be collected and pro-cessed together. If the num-ber of applications receivedper match and category ex-ceeds the number of avail-able tickets, a random selec-tion draw will take place todetermine the successfulapplicants for the respectivematches or categories.

Umar Akmal claims he is fit

“Umar is out of the Zim-babwe tour after suffering aback strain in the CPL,” a se-nior Pakistan Cricket Board

official said. “The doctorshave advised him to rest a fewweeks and the team manage-ment will now be sendingSarfaraz Ahmed as his re-placement.

On Tuesday morning, thew i c k e t k e e p e r - b a t s m a nshocked media persons gath-ered at Lahore Airport byclaiming that he was fit andthat the media had incorrectlyreported on his health.

“I am fit, and I havebrought my medical reportswith me and will talk to thePCB chairman.”

Akmal added that suchreports caused distress to hisfamily and that he will hold apress conference.—INP

LAHORE—A spokesman ofPCB has strongly denied amedia report quoting RashidLatif that an Indian bookiewas a “guest of PCB” duringthe tours of India and En-gland tours in 2005 and 2006,respectively.

“It is a baseless and stu-pid accusation. We cannotbelieve that a cricketer likeRashid Latif could have madeit. If he did, he should havebacked this up with proofs.Under the circumstances, it isregrettable that such an irre-

PCB rejects Rashid Latif’s claimregarding Indian Bookmaker

sponsible statement has beenmade causing immense dam-age to the reputation of theBoard and the country”, saidthe PCB spokesman.

Meanwhile, PCB Chair-man Najam Sethi has con-gratulated Pakistan Under-19squad on its Tri-Nation tri-umph in England. Pakistantrounced England in the fi-nal in Nottingham on Mon-day by 192 runs to lift the tro-phy on the back of a splen-did century by Man of theFinal skipper Sami Aslam and

a four-for by Zafar Gohar.The third team in the tour-

nament was Bangladesh.In a message to captain

Sami Aslam and the teammanagement, the PCB Chair-man expressed his delightover the emphatic victory ofPakistan’s young guns. “I amespecially pleased with theconsistency and talent of thisyoung lot. The entire teamplayed well throughout theevent and even its oppo-nents would concede that itmerited the title.—Online

Zaheer: Thaw inPak, India relations

can bettercricketing ties

ISLAMABAD—Former cap-tain Zaheer Abbas on Tues-day said a thaw in Pakistan-India ties could also bettertheir cricketing relations.

Zaheer Abbas, who isalso Asian Bradman, said thathe had earlier proposed thata special stadium or groundshould be built in a neutralarea for holding Pak-Indiacricket matches. It could beconstructed on the two coun-tries’ border in a way that itsone half be in Pakistan andthe other in India. It can beeven at Wagah border, headded.

Talking to APP, ZaheerAbbas, who made his Testmatch debut in 1969, said thatbesides the cricket stadium,a multi-sports centre couldalso be built for other sports.

“It is my personal opin-ion that the teams of bothcountries can play differentsports games at the mid-point,” he added.

The ‘Run Machine’, an-other name given to the greatcrickter of his time, said thatsports could be used as a toolto bring the two countriescloser.

“Sports are also a sourceof income. If the sports ties be-tween the two countries wererevived, their economies wouldalso grow and trade opportu-nities would be created fortheir businessmen,” headded.—APP

New Zealand’sRyder bannedover drug test

WE L L I N G T O N—TroubledNew Zealand cricketer JesseRyder was handed a six-month ban Tuesday aftertesting positive for outlawedsubstances contained in aweight-loss supplement, theNew Zealand Sports Tribu-nal said.

The disciplinary bodysaid Ryder, who has beenin self-imposed exile frominternational cricket sinceFebruary 2012, tested posi-tive after a domestic matchin March this year.

It said Ryder ’s sampleshowed traces of the stimu-lants PBA and DEBEA, andthe batsman admitted hetook two supplement tab-lets in the days before thetest.—APP

Saif excels inEast GreensBasketball

KARACHI—Agile shooterSaifullah contributed asmany as 22 points to leadKarachi East Greens to 51-41victory over Karachi SouthGreens in the 7th NBP CupBasketball Tournament atArambagh flood light courton Monday night.

Saif controlled the gamewith his brilliant dodging andshooting to keep their oppo-nent at bay. An Arabianplayer Ahada scored awhooping 26 points butfailed to save his team fromdefeat.

Malir Whites defeatedMirpurkhas 61-28 after onesided affair. Bukhtiar Aliscored 16 points while UmarCheema and Hammad Ali gotten points each. Haris starredfor the losers with 21 points.

East Greens beat WestGreens 31-30 in low-scoring ,But nerve breaking encoun-ter. Hammad Ali andMuhammad Ali both scored10 points apiece for the win-ners. Kamil Khan andMuhammad Hassan scoredeight points each.—APP

Security personnelattackedHANGU—Some unidentifiedarmed men on Tuesday openedfiring at security forces in KohSaray area here, however, theyremained safe and one attackerwas injured in retaliatory firing.According to security sources,security and police personneljointly visited PK-42 polling sta-tions for inspecting when someunidentified armed men openedfire at them however they re-mained safe.—INP

FC, policenab 11 suspectsQUETTA—Paramilitary Fron-tier Corps and police conducteda search operation here on Tues-day, arresting 11 suspects. Ac-cording to a spokesperson of theFC, acting on a tip-off, policeand FC personnel jointly raidedKali Shadikhel area onQambrani Road and arrested 11suspected people. One doublebarrel shotgun and 15 bulletswere also recovered from thecustody of suspects. The sus-pects were handed over toSaryab Police for interroga-tion.—Online

Postings/transfersbanned in PunjabLAHORE—Ban has been im-posed on posting and transfersin Punjab health department tillfurther orders in the wake ofcurrent flood situation and antisdengue operation. Ban will notbe applicable on appointmentsthrough fresh recruitments andtransfers on administrationgrounds.—Online

‘MQM’s suggestionscan beaccommodated’KARACHI—Any suggestionsfrom the Muttahida-Qaumi-Movement (MQM) can be ac-commodated in the Sindh LocalGovernment Bill 2013. This wasstated by the Sindh Minister forInformation, Sharjeel InamMemon, here on Tuesday. Hewas of the opinion that there isroom for improvement in anylaw. Sharjeel pointed out thatthe committee that was formedin connection with the local gov-ernment law 2013, had met withthe MQM representatives andhanded over the draft of this lawso as to elicit their opinion re-garding the same. —APP

KARACHI: Pakistan Army soldiers patrolling the area as they move towards the polling stations for by-elections.

NEW YORK—UN High Com-missioner for Human RightsNavi Pillay has asked the UnitedStates and Israel to clarify thelegal basis for using dronesagainst Pakistan‚ Yemen‚ andGaza.

She was participating in thedebate about the protection ofcivilians in armed conflicts atthe UN Security Council.

Without naming the UnitedStates and Israel‚ she assertedthat drone strikes violate humanrights.

Top UN human rights offi-cial said the current lack oftransparency surrounding theuse of drones created an “ac-countability vacuum” and af-fected the ability of victims toseek justice.

Pillay said she is seriouslyconcerned about human rights of

UN asks US‚ Israel toexplain legal stance

for drone strikesPakistan’s ambassador to UN

demands stoppage of drone attackscivilians hit by drone strikes car-ried out in the context ofcounter-terrorism.

Earlier speaking in the UNSecurity Council‚ Pakistan’sambassador to the UN MasoodKhan called for stopping dronesstrikes describing them againstthe international law.

He said Islamabad supportsthe Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s stand that the dronestrikes must be operated withininternational law.

Meanwhile‚ in a statementafter his return to New Yorkfrom a visit to Pakistan‚ the UNSecretary-General Ban Ki-moonhas assured full support of theworld body to Pakistan in meet-ing its challenges.

He said the close bonds be-tween Pakistan and the UN aregrowing even stronger.—NNI

Renownedpoet Saeed

Ahmed Akhtarpasses away

DERA ISMAIL KHAN—Re-nowned Urdu poet and philoso-pher Saeed Ahmed Akhtar passedaway on Tuesday.

Saeed Ahmad Akhtar wasborn on 3rd March, 1933 inPishin, Balochistan. He was awell known Urdu poet, and edu-cationist. He got his masters de-gree in English Literature fromPeshawar University in 1958 andthen got another masters degreein Urdu Literature from sameUniversity in 1965.

He also performed his dutiesas a teacher, lecturer and profes-sor of English in provincial Edu-cation Department in 1954 andafter this he joined West Pakistancivil services in 1968 as Assis-tant Political Officer. He retiredin 1990 after serving in many dis-tricts of NWFP as AssistantCommissioner, Deputy Commis-sioner and Additional Commis-sioner for 22 years. His first Urdupoetry collection “Diyaar e Shab”came up in 1976. Diyaar e Shabwas a best selling book of yearand got many awards like“Abbasin Arts Council Award”for best book of year. —INP

CAIRO—Egyptian authoritiesescalated their crackdown on de-posed President MohamedMursi’s Muslim Brotherhood byarresting the Islamistorganization’s top leader, statemedia reported on Tuesday.

Mohamed Badie, 70, was de-tained at a residential apartmentin Nasr City in northeast Cairo“after information came to thesecurity apparatus locating hisplace of hiding,” the state newsagency reported.

The Interior Ministry’sFacebook page showed a pic-ture of Badie, with dark ringsunder his eyes, sitting in a carbetween two men in black bodyarmor, with a caption confirm-ing his arrest.

“Carrying out the decisionsof the public prosecutor to arrestand bring forward the ‘general

Egyptian authorities escalate crackdown

Key Brotherhood leader arrestedguide’ of the Muslim Brother-hood, Mohamed Badie, andthrough collected informationand observation of movements,it was possible for the criminalsearch apparatus under the direc-tion of Cairo’s security (services)to arrest him,” according to thecaption.

Badie was charged in Julywith inciting the murder of pro-testers. Together with his twodeputies, he is due to stand trialon August 25.

Interior Minister MohamedIbrahim told the Al Masry AlYoum newspaper that Badie wasarrested in the early hours ofTuesday.

The military removed Mursifrom power on July 3 after massprotests against his rule. Mursi,who was freely elected but alien-ated many Egyptians during his

year in power, is in detention atan undisclosed location.

Egypt’s public prosecutorpressed new charges againstMursi of inciting violence in amove coinciding with a court rul-ing on Monday that toppled mili-tary strongman Hosni Mubarak- arrested after his overthrow in2011 - can no longer be held on acorruption charge.

Mursi was already facing aninvestigation into accusationsstemming from his escape fromprison during the anti-Mubarakrevolt. These include murder andconspiring with the PalestinianIslamist group Hamas.

Almost 900 people, includ-ing more than 100 soldiers andpolice, have been killed since theauthorities forcibly dispersedMuslim Brotherhood sit-ins inCairo last Wednesday.—Reuters

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) leader AltafHussain said that the MQMwould support Pak Army andPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led federal governmentfor the integrity, sanctity and de-fence of the country.

The Pakistan People’s partyParliamentarian (PPPP) had onMonday, Aug 19, 2013 had laidthe stone of its fall by passing theimperialistic municipal system inthe province, which had also ini-tiated emergence of hatred

Passage of LG Bill startof PPPP’s fall: Altaf

among rural and urban Sindh’speople. He was addressing a hugegathering of people over tele-phone from London in Korangi,Orangi, North Nazimabad inKarachi and in Mirpurkhas on theoccasion of election campaignfor the by-elections-2013.

He said that the PPPP hadwhile exercising its simple ma-jority in the Sindh assembly hadsought the passage of the Britishcolonial local government sys-tem, which the British Crownhad during its oppression in Sub-continent applied to control thelocal population.

Opposition summonsAPC against Punjab

LG systemMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Joint opposition inPunjab on Tuesday summonedAll Parties’ Conference (APC) todiscuss province’s new local gov-ernment system.

Local Govt bill violates Ar-ticle 140-A of the Constitution,says opposition.

Opposition parties includingPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Paki-stan Peoples Party, Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan MuslimLeague-Qauid termed the localgovernment bill as unconstitu-tional. Opposition parties havevowed to strongly protest againstthe move.

Opposition leader in thePunjab Assembly, Mehmood-ur-Rasheed told media that protestswill be lodged inside and outsideof the assembly building if thebill gets approval.

He said protest demonstra-tions have been planned on Fri-day across the province.

Shahbaz pledgesto rehabilitateflood affectees

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Mian Muhammad ShahbazSharif has said that relief andrehabilitation of flood affecteesis more important to him thananything else as service to thepeople is the pivot of his poli-tics.

He said that he is visitingflood affected areas to gain first-hand knowledge about the situ-ation for taking immediate mea-sures for resolving the problemsof the calamity-hit people.

He said that flood hit peoplewill not be left alone in this hourof trial.

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chair-man Imran Khan on Tuesdayaccused Punjab administrationof backing PML-N’s candidatesin the coming by-election.

He also alleged that the cur-rent government was makingall out efforts to rig by-elec-tions.

Khan said the Punjab gov-ernment is openly supportingPML-N’s candidates.

Addressing different elec-tion rallies, he said the currentgovernment had failed to stopthe prevailing wave of violence,while collective national issuesand inflation were increasingon daily basis.

He also alleged that wher-ever he wished to go and ad-dress the masses for the elec-

Govt bent on riggingby-polls, accuses Imran

Demands deployment of Army at all polling stationstion purpose, he was not al-lowed. Besides these, thePunjab government was creat-ing obstacles in their rallies,however, his party would putall his strength to win the elec-tions.

To a question, Khan saidthat Ayla Malik’s degree wasgenuine, adding that she wasdisqualified for intermediatecertificate.

Meanwhile, addressing apublic meting at Pindi Bhattianin wake of election campaignfor August 22 by-polls, Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf ChairmanImran Khan has said that hisparty wanted new Pakistan thatis characterized by justice‚equality and respect for people.

He said that we introducedsuch system in KhyberPakhtunkhwa where justicewould be given to the people at

village level and would intro-duced self-accountability sys-tem and every one would an-swerable before the people.

Imran Khan has demandedthe deployment of the army atall polling stations in the coun-try on 22 August, not just the“sensitive” ones identified bythe ECP, to ensure fair elec-tions. In terms of rigging, allpolling stations across thecountry could be categorised as“sensitive”, Khan pointed out.

Khan said the polling staffdrawn from the provincial bu-reaucracies had failed to main-tain the sanctity of the ballot inthe May 11 Election and there-fore it was essential to have thearmy present at all the pollingstations. He reiterated that PTIwould not tolerate a repeat of theirregularities and rigging thathad marred the May 11 Election.

ISLAMABAD—Chief Justice ofPakistan Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry has said that nationalassets and installations can’t behanded over to investors for mer-cantile purposes.

The country is facing direenergy crisis while generation ofpower has been halted for vestedinterests of a few people.

A three-member headed bythe Chief Justice resumed hear-ing of Lakhra Power Project caseand while passing his remarkssaid that this aforesaid case hasbeen pending since six years

National assets, installationscan’t be used for business: CJP

without any justification. Thecountry is passing from sensitivephase of history, facing dire en-ergy crisis while at the same timepower generation have beenstopped just for interests of a fewcapitalists.

He contended that price ofeverything is going up with hikeof petroleum products whilemasses are bound to purchaseelectricity at cost of Rs 18 perunit; that is clear cut exploitationof masses who already are livinglives under the line of poverty setby United Nations.—NNI

10 killed inKarachi violence,firing incidents

KARACHI—Restoration of lawand order in Karachi is yet a ques-tion mark on part of PML-N fed-eral and PPP led Sindh govern-ment as eight more people werekilled in separate incidents of vio-lence and firing in different lo-calities of metropolis on Tuesday.

According to police, an un-known man gunned a man inGulshan-e-Bahar area of OrangiTown. The body was shifted tomortuary where identity of thedeceased was yet to beconfirmed.Another man wasgunned down by unidentifiedarmed men near Islam Chowk ofOrangi Town.

The police recovered twodead bodies from Surjani Town.Police said that the victims hail-ing from district Turbat ofBalochistan were subjected totorture and later strangulated todeath.Moreover, four bulletsriddled, tortured dead bodieswere found in Malir Town, ShahLatif, Memon Koth and nearKorangi Vita Chorangi.

According the police, thevictims might have been torturedto death after they were abducted.The man killed in Memon Gothwas identified as Hassan whileidentity of remaining three wasyet to be identified.

Two robbers were killed andanother injured while their threeaccomplices managed to flee infiring of residents during robberyattempt in a house in Green Townarea of Shah Faisal colony.—INP

KARACHI—The economicplight of over 180 million pluspopulation of the country by andlarge attributed to internationalpressures which not only ma-ligning the huge energy poten-tial of Thar coal field but alsohalting completion of Iran-Pa-kistan Gas Pipeline which cru-cially important for fulfilling theenergy needs of the country,

It is the time when Pakistanshould clarify its position espe-cially regarding chronic energyshortage having paralyzing ef-

International pressures addingto energy woes of Pakistan

fect on its economic growth andever increasing number of peopleliving below poverty line prima-rily due to depressed economicactivity, high cost of oil importswhich constitutes 75 percent ofthe total fuel consumed for powergeneration in Pakistan.

In fact development of Tharcoal for power generation andimplementation of Iran Gas pipe-line on war footings to save theeconomy and the rising povertylevel, it is the right of the coun-try to protect its economic inter-ests and not the internationalforces. It may be mentioned thatthe 2,000-kilometer IP pipeline,

which is projected to cost 1.2 to1.5 billion dollars, would enablethe country to get rid of thechronic gas shortage which isaffecting a number of capital in-tensive industrial unit like UreaIndustry, cement industry, trans-portation and the captive plantsin the industrial area.

It is unfortunate that inter-national forces while not lend-ing to practical support Pakistan,to overcome the energy crisisseverally affecting the growth ofthe country in all directions dueto delay in the Implementationof the gas pipeline project whichis directly related to Pakistan’s

national interests and notagainst any country creatingproblems in the way of earlycompletion of this importantproject which has been delayedfor over a decade.

The 2,000-kilometer IPpipeline, which is projected tocost 1.2 to 1.5 billion dollarswould add 21.5 million cubicmeters of natural gas per dayto Pakistan’s gas distributionnetwork. It is interesting to notethat Iran has already con-structed more than 900kilometres of the pipeline on itsterritory while the work on thePakistan side yet to be started.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The KhyberPakhtunkhwa government onTuesday announced to set up anew accountability commissionto check corruption in province.

“A 10-member legislativebody comprising members fromgovernment and opposition willselect a 7-member Search andScrutiny Committee for a four-year term,” provincial informa-tion minister Shah Farman toldmedia persons during a pressconference in Peshawar.

The government Tuesdaypresented draft of proposedEhtesab Commission to be setup in the province, he said, with

KP govt setting upaccountability commission

the objective of ending themenace of corruption and re-covering the looted moneyfrom corrupts.

The plan to set up EhtesabCommission is in its last stage,but we want to get feedbackfrom people before finalizing ittherefore presenting its synop-sis for the information of gen-eral public, said Provincial Min-ister for Information, ShahFarman

After presenting the draft ofproposed Ehtesab Commission,government will wait for thefeedback and than finalize it af-ter making some improvementson the basis of suggestions madeby general public, he added.

NEPRA approvesreduction inpower tariff

ISLAMABAD—National Elec-tric Power Regulatory Author-ity (NEPRA) has approved de-crease in the electricity tariff byRe 0.30 per unit.

According to NEPRA, theapproval has been made on ac-count of fuel adjustment chargesfor the month of July, and theconsumers would get benefit innext month’s bill.

NEPRA said revision in ref-erence tariff mechanism, and risein hydro power generation werethe main reason behind reductionin power tariff.—Online

MQM to move courtagainst LG Bill-2013:SabzwariStaff ReporterKARACHI—Opposition leaderin Sindh provincial assemblySyed Faisal Sabzwari said thatthe Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment (MQM) had totally re-jected the local government bill-2013 and believed it was a car-bon copy of the local govern-ment act-1979. The newlypassed local government billwas in contrast to the provisionsof the constitution and hence theMQM would move court againstthe passage of the bill.

CommentsAmanullah Khan

COLON and lung cancer patients whoregularly took low-dose aspirin beforetheir diagnosis tended to have less ad-

vanced tumors, in a new study.Scientists already knew that aspirin was

tied to a decreased risk ofdeath for people with coloncancer, said senior authorYudi Pawitan.

“We showed evidencethat it is also beneficial forlung cancer, and has bothearly and late protective ef-fects,” Pawitan, of the de-partment of medical epide-miology and biostatistics atthe Karolinska Institutet inStockholm, Sweden, toldReuters Health.

However, the findingdoesn’t mean everyoneshould be taking aspirin toward off advanced cancer,researchers said.

Pawitan and his coau-thors analyzed data fromSwedish cancer and prescription drug regis-tries that included 80,000 patients withcolorectal, lung, prostate or breast cancer.

One in four people with colorectal, lungor prostate cancer had regularly taken low-dose aspirin before being diagnosed - typi-cally one 75-milligram tablet per day - com-pared to about one in seven breast cancer pa-tients.

The researchers found 20 to 40 percentfewer colon, lung and breast cancer patientswho had taken aspirin had tumors that hadspread to other areas of the body than thosewho had not taken aspirin.

For example, 19 percent of regular aspi-

rin users with colon cancer had metastaticdisease, compared to close to 25 percent ofnon-users.

Tumors on average were smaller and lessadvanced among aspirin users with colon and

lung cancer, but not those withbreast or prostate cancer, ac-cording to results published inthe British Journal of Cancer.

“The fact that they did notfind a similar result for breastand prostate cancer does notexclude the possibility thataspirin may work at a differ-ent point in the cancer processfor those cancers,” said Dr.Michelle Holmes, who re-searches cancer risk factors atBrigham and Women’s Hos-pital and Harvard MedicalSchool in Boston.

“This paper confirmswhat is already known: aspi-rin use is associated with de-creased risk and better sur-vival,” said Dr. Gerrit-Jan

Liefers, a cancer surgeon at Leiden Univer-sity Medical Center in The Netherlands.

Liefers said it was interesting that thestudy found aspirin was associated withsmaller tumors but not with whether nearbylymph nodes were involved, which can bean indicator of a cancer’s aggressiveness.That’s a new finding and will fuel more dis-cussion about how aspirin works, Liefers,who was not involved in the study, toldReuters Health.“The mechanism is not fullyunderstood,” Pawitan said. Some research-ers believe the anti-inflammatory and bloodthinning effects of aspirin contribute to thelowered risk of certain cancers, he said.

Aspirin tied to smaller lungand colon cancer tumors

Billboards with portraits of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, PM Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari installed at Constitution Avenueto welcome the distinguished guest.

Masahisa Sato, Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Defence called on Air Chief Mar-shal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force at Air Headquarters.

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—After over 25years of turbulence, the Pak-Afghan region is in full cry forpeace. The new era is going tobe dawned after 2014 whenUS-led NATO forces will exitfrom Afghanistan leaving be-hind altogether a new atmo-sphere for changing destiny ofthis unfortunate region.

Pak-Afghan relations haveseen ups and downs in the past.The forthcoming visit of Presi-dent Hamid Karzai to Pakistanafter the new Government inPakistan has taken over thecharge, will determine futurerelationship. Talks withTaliban in Doha, peace on Pak-Afghan border, issue ofTaliban prisoners in Pakistanand terrorism will be the mainsubjects to come under discus-sion.

In the back drop of allthese fast moving events, thegrand show arranged byMuhammad Umar Daudzai,Ambassador of Afghanistan onMonday evening in a local ho-tel to celebrate 94th National

Day of Afghanistan got a newimpetus and importance.

There was a massive par-

ticipation in the gala as politi-cians, parliamentarians,Pashtun leaders from KPK and

Balochistan, Businessmen anda large number of diplomats,particularly from Europe, re-

tired civil and military offic-ers and a large number ofpeople belonging to differentsegments of society throngedthe show.

Ch. Shujaat Hussain,Mushahid Hussain Syed,Mahmud KhanAchakzai, USAmbassador Ri-chard Olson, UKHigh Commis-sioner AdamThomson and Indian HighCommissioner TCA Raghavanwere part of the celebrations.

On arrival of the ChiefGuest LT. Gen (retd) AbdulQadir Baloch, Minister forStates and Frontier Regions,national anthems of both thecountries were played fol-lowed by cake cutting cer-emony.

The festivity was a showof friendship, fraternity andlove for peace. The twoscreens in the corners werebeaming out socio-economiclife of Afghanistan. The guestswere treated with flavours oftraditional Afghan and Paki-stani dishes.

Afghan National Day

Turbulent region to take a new turn after 2014Close proximity plays pivot role in shaping up ties; Kabul working for congenial ties with

Pakistan: Umar Daudzai; Massive participation in show reflects strong desire for peace

ISLAMABAD: Chief Guest Federal Minister for SAFRON Lt. Gen (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch,Ambassador of Afghanistan Muhammad Umar Daudzai, President Pakistan Muslim League-Q Chaudhry Shujat Hussain, President Qaumi Wattan Party Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpaoand others cutting cake to celebrate the 94th National Day of Afghanistan at a local hotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

There was a good showof traditional dance per-formed by Afghan artists.Traditional music was alsoplayed by musicians to enter-tain the guests.

The Afghan Ambassadorhas said repeat-edly that hiscountry wantscongenial tieswith Pakistan.

Peace inthe region depends uponclose and trusted relationshipbetween Pakistan and Af-ghanistan.

Both countries can notignore the hard facts of theirclose proximity, commonfaith and culture and historiclinks.

Their destiny is inter-connected as Pashtun race isliving on both sides of the di-vide. Despite misunderstand-ings and divergence of inter-ests under different circum-stances, the people of boththe countries have unbreak-able bonds and their destinyis the same— peace andprogress.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Mr. MasahisaSato, Parliamentary Vice Min-ister of Defence of Japan calledon Air Chief Marshal Tahir

Japanese Vice Defence Minister meets Air ChiefRafique Butt, Chief of the AirStaff, at the Air Headquarters,here on Tuesday.

Both the dignitaries re-mained together for some timeand discussed matters of mutual

interest. Various areas of furtherco-operation were also dis-cussed during the meeting.

The Air Chief also pre-sented souvenirs to the visitingdignitary.

August 21-23

THIRD International Con-ference on Aerospace Sci-ence & Engineering at In-stitute of Space Technology,Islamabad from 08:00 am to05:00 pm.

CONTINUES

PAKISTAN PNCA hasscheduled a photo exhibitiontitled ‘the Land of diversecultures and civilizations’from 11 am at NAG, F-5/1,Islamabad. The exhibitionwill continue till August 31.

ISLAMABAD—The NationalAssembly adopted a resolutionTuesday urging the governmentto take effective steps to end beg-gary in Islamabad Capital terri-tory.

Seema Mohiuddin whomoved the resolution said thatinfluential people are behind thismenace in the capital. She saidthat groups of beggars aredropped in the capital throughbig vehicles and in the absenceof any law against beggary, theyare set free by police. She asked

NA adopts resolution toend beggary in Capital

the government to introduce ef-fective legislation to curb thismenace.

Other members from thegovernment and treasurybenches termed the profes-sional beggars as a menace forthe society but said that elimi-nation of poverty from thecountry was necessary to endbeggary.

PTI’s Dr Arif Ali said beg-gary is a problem across Paki-stan and said that gangs werebehind this menace. Sheikh

Rashid Ahmad of Awami Mus-lim League in taunting and sar-castic remarks said Islamabadhas become a Friday Bazar ofbeggars as some are beggingfrom IMF and others from theWorld bank. He said the capitalbeggars had vowed to break thebegging bowl but it is being wid-ened further.

Seema Mohiuddin alsomoved a motion calling upon thegovernment to cut-down ex-travagant spending of Pakistaniembassies abroad.—INP

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Speaking at theinaugural ceremony of interna-tional conference on the appli-cation of molecular biology inmedicine and agriculture orga-nized by Quaid-e-Azam Univer-sity, the Minister of State forEducation, Trainings and Stan-dards in Higher Education Eng.Muhammad Baleegh-ur-Rehman said that education iscrucial to national development.Skilled and trained youth canalways change the destiny of acountry. Unless and until we are

Education crucial to national devequipped with modern educa-tion and latest technologies wecannot compete with the world.

Our government is com-mitted to provide more train-ing opportunities to the youthunder the national internshipprogramme 50 thousand freshgraduates would be providedtraining opportunities. Theywould also be given a stipendten thousands rupees a month.Similarly, MPI has been givenfresh guidelines to provide ex-tra training opportunities. TheMinister appreciated the ef-forts of Quaid-e-Azam Uni-

versity for organizing such awonderful event. He addedthat such events would provideopportunities to the peoplearound the globe to visit andappreciate the scientific workwhich has been done by thisnation.

It opens several avenues andopportunities for all students toexchange their work and experi-ences with other nations. It bringstogether scientists, researchersand scholars from universities,biomedical and agricultural re-search institutions, making theconference a perfect platform.

Dead body ofmiddle-aged

man recoveredISLAMABAD—Police recovereddead body of a middle-aged manin the jurisdiction of Golra Po-lice station at sector G-14.

Upon receiving informa-tion, Police reached on the siteand shifted the dead body toPakistan Institute of medicalSciences (PIMS) for autopsy.

Later on, police claimed thatthe slain person was identifiednamely Samuel (42) who waskilled with sharp dagger.

Police registered the caseand started thorough investiga-tion.—Online

CDGR resumes LehExpressway ProjectRAWALPINDI—City DistrictGovernment Rawalpindi(CDGR) has resumed the LaiExpressway Project.

The paper work on the ex-pressway project was firststarted in the era of former Presi-dent Pervez Musharraf. Theproject was named SheikhRasheed Expressway back then.It was planned that 22-kilome-ter Lai Expressway would beconstructed from Khayaban-e-Sir Syed to Sawan but theformer government cancelledthe project.—INP

Briefs

The herd instinctamong forecasters

makes sheep look likeindependent thinkers.

— Edgar R Fiedler

ISLAMABAD: Members of Japan-Pakistan Business Forum called on Federal Minister for Planning, Development andReforms, Prof Ahsan Iqbal.

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for IT, Anusha Rahman during a meeting with CEO Alcatel.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Ali Ashraf KhanChairman, Pakistan Commer-cial Exporters of Towels As-sociation has said that twelveyears of companionship withthe US in their ‘war on terror’and five years of PPP govern-ment have brought Pakistan’seconomy to the brink of col-lapse and the people into pov-erty. Last elections received

Friendship with US: PPP caused downfall of national economyenthusiasm from the voters be-cause they were fought under thebanner of ‘change’ initiated byImran Khan and his party andtaken up by Nawaz Sharif’sPML (N) party also.

The first hundred days of thenewly elected government areover, what has changed? Unfor-tunately, the sceptics who hadbeen saying that ‘Nawaz Sharifwas Prime Minister twice anddidn’t do any good how can we

expect him to be different for thethird time’ seem to be provenright. Pakistan is back in thearms of IMF & World Bank andthe economy is not going toshow any sign of recovery.Government’s recent decisionfor extraordinary increase inpower tariff would badly affectproductivity as input cost wouldincrease up to 40 per cent.

Ali Ashraf said that the tex-tile industry could not bear ex-

traordinary increase in powertariff and towel products of Pa-kistan, which are already underheavy strain and would not beable to compete in the interna-tional market.

“More than Rs6 per unithike, implementation of acqui-sition charge, fuel price adjust-ment surcharge, income tax,electricity tax, implementationof General Sales Tax on FPAwith deteriorating law & order

was equal to destroying the in-dustrial sector,” He further saidthat industrial units would bearadditional financial burden dueto government decision and af-ter adding tax and duty, the in-crease would be more than Rs8/- per unit. He said that the gov-ernment decision would result inthe closure of industrial units,and ultimate unemployment.

He said that prices of rawmaterial increased due to

implementation of the GSTwhile increase in petroleumprices resulted in an increasein transportation charges nowthe dollar exchange rate isfloating as a result yarn pricewill increase and our competi-tive edge will finish. Becauseelectricity tariff for the indus-trial sector in Pakistan ishigher than industrial sectorsof regional countries, which isone of the main hurdles in

meeting country’s export tar-gets.

One of the first and foremostprojects announced had been theenergy crisis. For the last threemonths, load shedding did notcome down and KESC is com-plaining that the dues they haveto be given have not arrived andthat load shedding in Karachiwill be the consequence. In-stead, the government as alreadyannounced a rise in energy

prices and seems to be planninga 60% rise in energy costs forindustrial units. Do they expectthat this will bring the indus-try back? Due to heavy loadshedding and high costs of gasand electricity many small andmiddle size units in the towelproducing and other textile fac-tories have already closeddown in Pakistan; even highercosts for energy will push moreof them out from the market.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Korea has recog-nized some of the electrical ap-pliances and electronics goodsmade in Pakistan for their lowcarbon quality which is the needof the hour for environment pro-tection.

According to details LGElectronics (LG) products - fivehandheld Bedding Cleaners(model VH9200DS) and theDoor-in-Door TM refrigerator(model R-F874HBSM) —have received low-carbon rec-ognition from the Korea Envi-ronmental Industry and Technol-ogy Institute (KEITI).

These are the latest in a se-ries of LG products certified bythe KEITI. In fact, a total of 14LG appliances including wash-ing machine and refrigeratormodels have been recognizedsince 2011, cementing thecompany’s status as a leader inproducts designed with the en-vironment in mind. In Decem-

Korea accepts made-in-Pakistanelectronics, electrical appliances

ber 2012, LG also became thefirst company in the home ap-pliance industry to achieveInternal Verification Systemcertification for its washingmachines, refrigerators, vacuumcleaners and Light wave ovens,based on the level of carbonemissions produced.

“LG has worked tirelesslyto develop more sustainableappliances that are consumerfriendly and more kind to theenvironment,” said Seong-jinJo, President and CEO of the LGHome Appliance company.“We’re delighted that our prod-ucts have been officially recog-nized for their lower carbonfootprint. LG’s goal is to leadthe global home appliance in-dustry with the most energyefficient products, developedwith the environment in mind.”

LG’s Bedding Cleaner,which helps reduce the amountof dust mites and harmful aller-gens commonly found in bedsand mattresses, is the first prod-

uct in its category to acLG’sLow-carbon Certified BeddingCleaner and Refrigerator quirethe KEITI’s Low-Carbon cer-tificate. LG’s Bedding Cleanerwas designed to reduce carbonlevels by 10 percent during itslife cycle, including manufactur-ing, distribution, usage and dis-posal. LG’s stylish, metallic fin-ish Door-in-Door TM BottomFreezer refrigerator also earnedthe Korea Environmental In-dustry and TechnologyInstitute’s Low-Carbon certifi-cate. In addition, Green houseGas Emission certificationswere issued to LG’s T4632V0Ztop-load washing machine andthe FR4960MQ1TZ front-loadwashing machine.

The Greenhouse Gas Emis-sion and Low-Carbon certifi-cations issued by the KoreaEnvironmental Industry andTechnology Institute rewardsmanufacturers for creatingproducts with lower carbonfootprints.

Collection of capitalgains tax on 22ndAugust: NCCPLAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—National ClearingCompany of Pakistan Limited(NCCPL) has announced todaythat the aggregate amount ofCapital Gains Tax (CGT) for theperiod July 2013 to be collectedon Thursday (August 22).

The NCCPL said that theCGT would be collected throughrespective settling banks of theclearing members. The clearingcompany asked to ensure requi-site amount in respective settlingbank’s account. “In case of noneor partial collection of amountof CGT, necessary action wouldbe taken in accordance with theRules and NCCPL Regula-tions,” said a letter issued toKarachi Stock Exchange.

Necessary details and re-ports for the period July 01 –July 31 have already been madeavailable in the CGT System.Clearing Members have beenadvised to verify their client /proprietary account wise detailof capital gain or loss and taxthereon through reports/down-loads.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The drive againsttheft of natural gas which is inlegal terms called unaccounted-for-gas yielded illegal gas con-nections in different part of thecity.

The SSGC’s Customer Re-lations Department (CRD) TaskForce conducted a raid againstillegal connections in two ofKarachi’s populated areas,Rabia City (Gulistan-e-Johar,Block-18) and Shah Latif Townsituated on National Highway.In Rabia City, on August 20,2013, the Task Force dismantled400 illegal connections of thoseinhabitants who were involvedin direct gas use through theCompany’s distribution lines.The residents were found using

Crackdown on illegalgas connections

at least four connections fromone point. These illegal connec-tions were resulting in the lossof 22,576 mcf gas which in mon-etary terms translates to lossesof Rs. 3.6 million per annum.

Earlier on August 19, theTask Force also cracked downon direct gas use in Shah LatifTown, where they removedaround 2,700 illegal connec-tions. The illegal connectionswere resulting in the loss of152,388 mcf gas which amountsto Rs. 2 million per annum.

The residents found usinggas directly from the Company’smain supply lines, were askedby the CRD team, during theraid to settle their arrears imme-diately with the Company in or-der to avoid future disconnec-tions.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Dr IftikharAhmad, Chairman Pakistan Ag-ricultural Research Council(PARC) presided over a meetingwith ADB Mission led byJiangfeng Zhang and Dr.Surapong Sarkarung, an IRRIPhilippines Rice Breeder, at hereto identify key challenges andopportunities for Basmati RiceValue Chain development inPunjab. Dr. Shahid Masood,Member (Plant Sciences) PARC,Dr. Muhammad Azeem, DG(NARC) Dr. Akbar ShahMehmand, Senior Director(Crops), Dr. Abdul Rehman, Na-tional Coordinator (Rice) and

PARC chairman meetswith ADB mission

other senior scientists/officerswere also present in the meeting.

During the meeting variousaspects of the Basmati Rice ValueChain Development, AgriculturalInnovation Program (AIP) Incep-tion in Pakistan and role of ADB,IRRI Philippines, PARC, PARB,RRI KSK, NIAB, NIBGE,Emkay Seeds Limited and otherdonors and national institutes werediscussed before implementation.

PARC being an apex body ofagricultural research at nationallevel runs all international collabo-ration and interacts with CGIARcentres and NARES. Germplasmacquisition from IRRI and distri-bution to the provincial scientistsis the sole responsibility of PARC.

ISLAMABAD: Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, Chairman PARC is presiding over a meeting with ADBdelegation headed by Jiangfeng Zhang.

Export of fruits,vegetables increasesOur CorrespondentMULTAN—A remarkableincrease in export of fruits andvegetable was observed during2012-13 as it reached $625million from $538 million.According to a representativeof the agriculture departmenton Tuesday, three new marketsincluding South Koria,Mauritius and Japan hadrecently been introduced toexports of Pakistani fruits.Similarly, the export ofvegetables and fruits to MiddleEast countries had also begun.Kinow, onion and patato haveset new records of exports, headded. The representative,Naveed Asmat Kohlun, saidthe Punjab government hadtaken many practical steps toenhance production of fruitsand vegetables by offeringdifferent facilities includingsubsidies.

ICI Pakistan posts37pc growthStaff ReporterKARACHI—The Board ofDirectors of ICI PakistanLimited has announcedfinancial results for the periodended June 30, 2013. Anofficial of the company saidhere on Tuesday that due tochange in the financial year ofICI Pakistan from January-December to July-June, resultshave been compiled for aperiod of six months with acomparative analysis of thesame period last year. He saidthat the company posted netsales income of PKR 18.3billion for the period which is9% higher than same periodlast year mainly due to higherrevenues in the Polyester andSoda Ash businesses. Profitafter tax at PKR 688 million is37% higher compared to thesame period last year onaccount of robust top linegrowth and lower Administra-tion and General Expenses.

LSE down by15.88 points

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Bearish trend pre-vailed in Lahore Stock Ex-change on Tuesday as it shed15.88 points, following theLSE-25 index opened with4912.72 and closed at 4896.84points.

The market’s overall situa-tion, however, correspond to anupward trend as it remained at2.695 million shares to closeagainst previous turnover of2.568 million shares, showingan upward move of 127,100shares. While, out of the total 97active scrips only 29 moved up,47 remined equal with 21 shedvalues.

Oil and Gas DevelopmentCompany Limited, Attock Re-finery Limited and Pakistan Pe-troleum Limited were majorgainers of the day by recordingincrease in their per share valueby Rs 7.15, Rs 6.50 and Rs 1.97,respectively. Engro Foods Lim-ited, Muslim Commercial BankLimited and Highnoon Labora-tories Limited lost their pershare value by Rs 4.53, Rs 2.25and Rs 1.91, respectively.

The Volume Leader of theday included The Bank ofPunjab Limited with 1.395millionshares, Fauji CementCompany Limited with 205,000shares and Silk Bank Limited(Saudi) with 193,000 shares.

AMANULLAH KHAN

K A R A C H I — M u h a m m a dHaroon Agar, President KarachiChamber of Commerce & Indus-try (KCCI) has expressed deepconcern over hike in power tar-iffs of 56 per cent for industrial,33 per cent for commercial and15 per cent for residential con-sumers and termed this decisionas “penalty on honest consumersfor dishonesty of others”.

The government has tried tofind a short cut solution for cir-cular debt as average cost ofpower produce in Pakistan isaround Rs.14/15 and the tariffwas between Rs.10/11. Therewas a gap of Rs.4 and this gapneeded to be bridged due to theinefficiency of concerned to con-trol power theft. Primarily thisdifference is because of theft andpilferage of electricity that sim-

Honest consumers penalized for dishonesty of others

Trade, industry pleadfor tariff revision

ply means that instead of appre-hending the culprits who are in-volved in steeling electricity, theGovernment of Pakistan hasgiven up or has shown its inabil-ity in reducing the electricity theftbut very surprisingly the Govern-ment has decided to increaseelectricity tariffs instead of con-trolling the electricity theft tomeet both ends while the unscru-pulous elements will be at libertyto continue stealing electricity.This simply means penalizing thehonest consumers for dishonestyof others. Or in other words Gov-ernment is asking consumers tojoin the bandwagon of these un-scrupulous elements stealingelectricity as this tariff of Rs.18in peak hour and Rs.13 in lowpeak hours will make the indus-tries unstable and unviable. In-dustries are left with no choicebut to shut down or start stealing

electricity, President KCCIadded.

Haroon Agar stated that theKCCI takes a very exception toutilities tariff hike. He cautionedthat the decision would severelyharm the economy, affect themasses as well as the Business andIndustrial Community. He saidthat on one side government iscontemplating to increase targetsfor nominal growth and on theother side its harsh decisions toincrease utilities and POL prices,in the presence of gas and poweroutages and unbridled criminalactivities are posing as detrimen-tal threats for achieving the saidtarget. At present, country is go-ing through a very serious eco-nomic crisis in terms of escalat-ing cost of production/ manufac-turing based on continuous rise onPOL products/ fuels, utilities andcostly industrial materials.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The deficit intrade of services witnessed sharpdecrease of 64.31 percent, asexports surge 31.46 percent andimports decrease by 5.70 percentduring the fiscal year 2012-13as compared to the correspond-ing last year.

The overall exports of ser-vices during July-June (2012-13) were recorded at $6.618 bil-lion against the exports of$5.035 billion in July-June(2011-12), showing surge of31.46 percent, according to thedata of Pakistan Bureau of Sta-tistics (PBS).

On the other hand, importsduring the period decreased

Services trade deficit shrinks 64.31pcin FY2012-13, exports up 31.46pc

from $8.227 billion in FY2011-12 to $7.758 billion in FY2012-13, showing decrease of 5.70percent.

Based on the figures, thetotal deficit during the fiscalyear under review was recordedat $1.139 as compared to thedeficit of $3.192 billion in 2011-12, showing negative growth of64.31 percent. Meanwhile, onyear-on-year basis, the exportsof services in June 2013 in-creased by 8.55 percent whencompared to the trade of samemonth of FY 2011.

Exports of services duringJune 2013 were recorded at $470million against the exports of$433 million in June 2012. Onthe other hand, the imports of

services into the country duringJune 2013 were recorded at $589million against the imports of$859 million in June 2012, show-ing negative growth of 31.51 per-cent. Based on these figures, thetrade deficit during June 2013stood at $118 million against thedeficit of $426 million in June2012, showing negative growthof 72.19 percent.

On month-on-month basis, theexports of services in June 2013witnessed increase of 17.66 percentwhen compared to the exports of$399 million in June 2012. Whilethe imports in June 2013 decreasedby 19.34 percent when comparedto the imports of $730 million dur-ing the same month of the last fis-cal year, according to FBS figures.

Jewellery,precious stones

exports increasesSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—In the last fiscalyear of 2012-13 the exports ofprecious stones and jewelleryhas increased by 28.54 percent.

According to the report of thePakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS)from July 2012 to June 2013 theexports were of worth 1.170 mil-lion dollars, whereas, during thefiscal year 2011 to 2012 the ex-ports were about 916.4milliondollars. During the described pe-riod the exports of only jewellerywas 45,75,000 dollars whereas inthe fiscal year 2011-12 the exportsof precious stones were recordedat 39,51,000 dollars.

PSMC postsPAT of Rs1.26b

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan SuzukiMotor Company (PSMC), wip-ing out market consensus re-ported Profit after Tax (PAT) ofRs 1.26 billion in the first halfof this year, depicting 15 percentdecline in PAT of Rs 1.47 bil-lion in the same period last year.

The company announced thefinancial results for the periodended June 30, 2013. In a state-ment sent to Karachi Stock Ex-change (KSE), the company an-nounced first half 2013 EPS ofRs 14.05, which was down 16percent against EPS of Rs 16.64in the same period last year.

However, the company’sprofitability in second quarter2013 increased by 119 percentQuarter on Quarter (QoQ) basisto Rs 433 million. However, thecompany did not declare anydividend with the results.

HUBCO profitsincrease by 15pcStaff ReporterKARACHI—Hub PowerCompany (Hubco) postedprofit of Rs 9.4 billion withEarnings Per Share (EPS) Rs8.11 on stand-alone basis inFiscal Year (FY) 2012-13,registering 15 percent yearlyincrease over Rs 8.19 billionin FY 2011-12. The Com-pany announced its financialresults for the year endedJune 30, 2013 on Monday.The announcement wasaccompanied by a final cashannouncement of Rs 4.5 pershare translating into a fullyear payout of Rs 8.0 pershare. Asad Siddiqui of TopLine Securities said the resultwas below the streetconsensus of Rs 8.6-8.8. Afactor that played its role inearnings growth is U-shapedbased return while higherindexation factor (rupeedepreciation and inflation) isalso expected to have playedits part. In fourth quarter FY2012-13 low earnings arebecause of less energyproduced and dispatched asthe company was ailing dueto circular debt crisis.

Gold Tezab 45000.00Silver Tezabi 737.14

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 45690.00Gold 22 Ct 41770.00SilverTezabi 690.00Silver Thobi 630.00

USA 102.70 102.50

UK 160.44 160.13

EURO 136.83 136.56

Canada 99.39 99.20

Switzerland 110.79 110.57

Australia 94.62 64.43

Sweden 15.76 15.73

Japan 1.0519 1.0499

Norway 17.36 17.33

Singapore 80.56 80.40

Denmark 18.35 18.31

Omani Riyal 256.00 253.00

Saudi Arabia 27.38 27.33

Hong Kong 13.24 13.22

Kuwait 360.81 360.11

Malaysia 31.27 31.21

Newzeland 83.39 83.22

Qatar 28.20 28.15

UAE 27.96 27.91

KR WON 0.0921 0.00919

Thailand 3.277 3.271

Auto IndustryCommittee

reviews cases ofnew entrantsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—SixteenthMeeting of the AIDC here onTuesday at Engineering De-velopment Board (EDB) re-viewed the cases of new en-trants in the automotive sec-tor including M/s TayyabaMotors (Pvt) Limited forMini Van/ Cargo Van/ Pick-up. M/s New Allied Motors(Pvt) Limited for Mini Van/Mini Truck/ Pick- up/ singleCabin Diesel Engine, 2200cc.

The meeting was heldunder the chairmanship ofSecretary, MoIP/ CEO,EDB.

Representatives of Engi-neering Development Board,Ministry of Industries & Pro-duction, Ministry of Science& Technology, PakistanStandards & Quality ControlAuthority (PSQCA), Paki-stan Automotive Manufac-turers Association (PAMA),Pakistan Association of Au-tomotive Parts & Accesso-ries Manufacturers(PAAPAM), Pakistan Insti-tute of Development Eco-nomics (PIDE), Develop-ment Analysis ResearchTeam (DART), National Vo-cational & Technical Train-ing Commission(NAVTTC), Japan Interna-tional Cooperation Agency(JICA), major OEMs includ-ing Toyota, Honda and PakSuzuki and other stakehold-ers from the Auto Industryparticipated in the meeting.

The Committee also re-viewed Localization Plan is-sued for the manufacturingof automotive vehicles by M/s. Al-Haj FAW Motors (Pvt)Ltd.

The AIDC also deliber-ated upon a request made byPunjab Provincial TransportAuthority (PPTA) to stop li-censing for the production of3-Wheeler Auto Vehicle, 4-Stroke motorcycle Rickshaw.

Under the Motor Ve-hicles Rules, 1969 the speci-fied seating capacity of Mo-tor Cab Rickshaw is not morethan two, excluding thedriver.

KARACHI—Follow-ing were the bullionrates in major citiesyesterday.

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

Currency Selling Buying

Bullion Rates

RS PER 10 GRAMS

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The FederalGovernment will undertake allnecessary steps to assist provin-cial governments in eradicatinganimal diseases particularlyPPR and Foot and Mouth dis-ease in livestock.

Sikandar Hayat KhanBosan Federal Minister for theMinistry of National Food Se-curity & Research said thiswhile speaking on the occasionof Inception Workshop of theProject “Progressive control ofPPR in sheep and goats in Pa-kistan”, here today. The Work-shop was organized by Foodand Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations which wasattended by Seerat AsgharJaura, Secretary Ministry of

All efforts to be made for promotionof livestock sector: Sikandar

National Food Security, DrKevin Gallaghar, FAO Repre-sentative in Pakistan, Dr DavidAshford, Animal Health Atta-che’ of US Embassy and live-stock professionals from all theprovinces of the country.

Bosan said that Pakistanwas blessed with a large live-stock population well adapted tothe environmental conditions ofthe region and 8.5 million fami-lies were connected with it.Therefore, it was imperative tocontrol livestock diseases whichwere one of the major impedi-ments to the further develop-ment of livestock sector in thecountry. Federal Minister furthersaid that the present governmentwas committed to initiate na-tional programs for control oftransboundary animal diseases

particularly Foot and Mouth dis-ease and PPR to boost interna-tional trade and to bring reliefto the rural families raising live-stock for their livelihood.

Sikandar also thanked USDepartment of Agriculture forproviding the necessary finan-cial support and FAO forlaunching a project for the pro-gressive control of PPR in thecountry whose purpose was todemonstrate effective diseasecontrol strategy and also trainprovincial field veterinarians.The federal minister also high-lighted the importance of farm-ers’ awareness about the animaldiseases for which holding ofseminars and farmers’ meetingin each district of the countrywill play a vital role in this re-gard.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan speaking on theoccasion of Inspection Workshop on progressive control of PPR.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Trade and Tour-ism Ministers of Maldives haveurged for tangible and resulted-oriented measures to spur up theeconomic integration process inSouth Asia and to move SAFTAat required pace. While address-ing at the 58th Executive Com-mittee Meeting of SAARC

Chamber of Commerce & In-dustry (SAAC CCI) held underthe chair of President Mr.Vikramjit Singh Sahney inMaldives, Mohammad Ahmed,

Measures to spur upregional growth urged

Trade Minister of Maldives sug-gested for action-oriented pub-lic-private partnership model tounleash the true potential andstrengthen the regional mecha-nism. He invited the businessleaders from South Asia to takeadvantage of the open economicpolicies of Maldives and investin areas of mutual benefits in-cluding renewable energy, tour-ism, hotels and hospitality in-

dustry.Mohammad Adeeb, tourism

Minister informed that tourismwas the fastest growing sector

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—In view of ser-vice problems faced by consum-ers, Pakistan Telecommunica-tion Authority (PTA) has askedall the users of illegal jammersto remove the unauthorized de-vices immediately otherwiseaction will be initiated againstviolator as per Pakistan Telecom(Re-Organization) Act 1996.

It has been repeatedly in-formed that jammer(s) installedin public and private placesacross Pakistan are causingproblem in cellular mobile net-works and their Quality of Ser-vice. Those jammers seriouslyimpact the service quality andresultantly increase the dissatis-fied customers and complaints.

Illegal mobile jammersto be removed

It may be mentioned thatGovernment of Pakistan has is-sued a Policy under which anInter-Ministerial Committee(IMC) has been constituted hav-ing secretariat in Ministry of IT(MoIT) with mandate to autho-rize the use of jammers anddisabler devices in the contextof national security. Installationof jamming devices /disablerswithout permission is illegal.PTA as a regulator is vigilantand taking measures to stop thisunlawful activity. In this connec-tion PTA has warned all thoseinvolved in selling or installingof jammers to stop such unlaw-ful activities, otherwise strictaction will be initiated againstthem as per the law.

PTA also carries out exten-

sive field surveys to identify il-legal/unauthorized users of fre-quency spectrum and coordi-nates for its vacation from them.For persistent unauthorized us-ers, PTA and FIA conduct jointraids for vacation and seizure ofwireless equipment. PTA hasremoved around 60 jammersacross Pakistan during currentyear to ensure interference freespectrum for the telecom opera-tors.

Use of jammer without per-mission is illegal. The individu-als or institutions must get NoObjection Certificates (NOCs)before installation of such de-vices in order to ensure interfer-ence free spectrum for legiti-mate licensee and improved ser-vice quality.

President SAARC CCI Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Iftikhar Ali Malik, Vice President areseen at the occasion of 58th SAARC CCI executive meeting at Male, Maldives.

of Maldivian economy, project-ing arrival of more than 1.0 mil-lion tourists in 2013. He identi-fied shortfall of hotels soughtFDI in multi-specialty hospitals,while referring Governmentplan envisioned for Maldives asHealth Tourism destination.

President SAARC CCIbriefed the Maldivian Ministersabout role and functioning of theorganization and sought their as-

sistance for free movement of busi-ness people across South Asia,which was inevitable for promo-tion of economic cooperation.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—President ofthe Federation of PakistanChamber of Commerce andIndustry (FPCCI) ZubairAhmed Malik on Tuesdayasked Pakistan and Thailandto expedite efforts to pro-mote prosperity and ensurea better future for people ofboth countries.

He asked the Thai pri-vate sector to explorePakistan’s enormous poten-tial and discover opportuni-ties in the energy sectorwhich is backed by investor-friendly policies.

Zubair Ahmed Maliksaid this while deliveringthe keynote address at aheavily attended seminar

FPCCI chief asks Pakistan, Thailand to join hands for larger prosperitytitled, “Pakistan’s Potential-Opportunities for Trade andInvestment with Thailand”organised by commerce min-istry and TDAP.

The seminar was precededby business-to-business meet-ings with 28-member Thaibusiness delegation.

Thai Deputy PM, Minis-ter of Industr ies PrasertBoonchaisuk, Deputy Minis-ter of Commerce YanyongPhuangrach, Vice ForeignMinister JulapongNonsrichai, Chairman Boardof Trade of Thailand and ThaiChamber of Commerce MrIsara Vongkusolkit, SecretaryCommerce Qasim Niaz, DG,Board of Investment FalakSher, Director TDAP MsShahida Qaiser, high officials,

business leaders and otherdignitaries were also presenton the occasion.

Zubair Ahmed Malik saidthat we should promote liai-son and consultation betweenthe business circles of the twocountries and submit recom-mendations to both govern-ments to promote effectiveeconomic relations.

It will boost exchange ofinformation in spheres oftrade, commerce, services andoverall economic cooperationand organise exchange ofbusiness delegation as well assingle country exhibitions.

Efforts would be made toidentify and remove barrierswhich have been barring pro-motion of the bilateral tradeand investment, he said.

He said that the visit ofPrime Minister of ThailandMs Yingluck Shinawatra isthe first high-level engage-ment between the two sides ina very long time which is verypromising as it will bring twocountries closer and deepeneconomic, political and cul-tural relations.

He asked Thai govern-ment and private sector to ex-plore Pakistan’s enormous po-tential and discover opportu-nities in the energy sectorwhich is backed by investor-friendly policies.

Zubair Ahmed Malik saidthat bilateral trade volume ismere USD 1 billion despitethe fact that Pakistan beingSouth Asia’s second largesteconomy is si t t ing at the

President FPCCI Zubair Ahmed Malik speaking at seminartitled, ‘Pakistan’s Potential – opportunities for trade and In-vestment with Thailand.’

crossroads of South and Cen-

tral Asia as well as West and

East Asia while Thailand, be-

ing member of ASEAN, offers

500 million consumer marketwhich is an opportunity forPakistani exporters.

The dismal tow-way tradenecessitates us to harness fullpotential through exchangedelegations, exhibitions and aPTA leading to FTA to sys-tematically promote botheconomies, he said.

Thailand has developedexpertise in food processingwhich can help us to increasethe shelf life of fruits and veg-etables and curtail post-har-vest losses, he said.

Pakistan is ready and will-ing to share the geo-politicaladvantages of its locationwith Thailand while the latershould invest in Pakistan’senergy, readymade garments,automotive, SME, food, tour-

ism, manpower, oil and gasand mineral exploration sec-tors, the leader of the busi-ness community demanded.

Pakistan has a large num-ber of young populationwhich is competitive and ac-customed to operating inmulti-cultural environment,which could help addressshortages of ski l led andsemi-skilled manpower invarious sectors of Thailand,said Malik.

Thai investors lauded thepolicies of government andtook genuine interest in themega projects of Pakistan.

Secretary Commerce andvisiting officials also spokeon the occasion and vowed topromote trade between thetwo countries.

PNAC attains MLA signatory statuswith PAC/IAF thru support of EU

Livestock Secretaryvisits UVAS, callson Vice-Chancellor

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Secretary Livestockand Dairy Development(L&DD) Department Punjab DrSajid Yoosufani paid a visit tothe University Veterinary &Animal Sciences Lahore onTuesday.

The secretary held a meet-ing with Vice- Chancellor ProfDr Talat Naseer Pasha and se-nior faculty members and dis-cussed various developmentprojects of the UVAS and mat-ters related to the developmentof livestock sector. The Vice-Chancellor briefed the secretaryon the academic, research andextension services of the univer-sity.

Later, the secretary took around of various departments,laboratories and clinics of theUVAS. He appreciated the uni-versity efforts for the promotionof quality education, researchand extension services and as-sured full support of the govern-ment for all the developmentprojects of the UVAS. He saidthat he would also visit othercampuses of the UVAS at Jhang,Layyah and Pattoki.

The secretary also planted apalm sapling in the lawn of theDepartment of food Science andHuman Nutrition.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A one- day work-shop was organized in the SirSyed University of Engineeringand Technology on 19 August2013. Engr. Noman Ali, RegionalManager, Siemens Saudi Arabiawas the main speaker. Engr.Noman Ali gave presentation on“Supply Chain Management(SCM)”. The workshop waslargely attended by Prof. Dr.Jawaid Hasan Rizvi, Vice Chan-cellor, Prof. Dr. S.M. MakhdumiDean Engineering, Prof. Dr.Najeeb Siddiqui Associate Dean,Chairmen of various faculties,Head of the departments, facultymembers and students.

The topic was particularly rel-evant to students of final year whowould soon enter in to practical lifewhere knowledge of supply chainmanagement would be quite ben-eficial to them. Engr. Noman Aliexplained the concept of supplychain management. He stated thatit was a new field with wide appli-cation. He stated that supply chainmanagement was an integrated

Workshop on supply chain management

process that spans the movementof and storage of raw materials,inventory, and finished goods frompoint of origin to point of consump-tion. He defined it as the designplanning and execution, controland monitoring of supply chain ac-tivities with the objective to ensureefficient and effective use of timeand resources by avoiding wastage.

In his concluding remarks

Prof. Dr. Jawaid Hasan Rizvi,Vice Chancellor appreciated thecomprehensive presentation givenby Engr. Noman Ali and thankedhim for sparing time. Prof. Dr.S.M. Makhdumi Dean Engineer-ing mentioned that in view of im-portance of the subject Sir SyedUniversity would consider to statea short course on supply chainmanagement.

KARACHI: Vice Chancellor SSUET Prof Dr Jawaid HasanRizvi present certificate and shield to Engr Noman Ali, Re-gional Manager Siemens Saudi Arab.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Exports of 145,000tonnes mangoes could be in-creased to 250,000 tonnes in thenext two to three years to dif-ferent countries with the avail-ability of latest hot water tech-nology and state-of-the -artworld’s two biggest processingplants.

These plants would help earnhandsome foreign exchange forthe national kitty and expansionof modern agro-based sector ofthe country.

This was stated by DurraniAssociates CEO Dr A Q Durraniin a press briefing. He said Paki-stan could enhance its mangoexports manifold in next threeyears because the production of

Mango exports can beenhanced to 250,000 tonnes

mangoes stands at 1.8 million peryear in the country.

The hot water is not a newtechnology in the world to main-tain the freshness of fruit andvegetable up to seven days buttechnology of hot water in Paki-stan, which has been developedby Durrani Associates keeps thefruit and vegetable fresh up to 40days, he added.

At present, the technologyincluding processing and export-ing mangoes could be kept freshfor 40 days as its pulp is madefree from nine bacteria elementsthrough temperature at 47 de-grees Celsius.

Durrani Associates has intro-duced Pakistan’s mangoes inseven new markets in the last twoyears including Iran, Mauritius,

South Korea, Jordan, Lebanonand China.

South Korea and Mauritiusmarkets have started exportingmangoes in the recent summerwhereas the exports of mangowill start to Australia in comingdays.

Currently, there are twoplants of Durrani Associates,which are biggest in the world asfar as hot water technology isconcerned. One plant processes15 tonnes mango per hour andsecond 10 tonnes per hour. Thethird biggest plant in Mexico pro-cesses 4.5 tonnes per hour.

Our products are subjected tostringent quality control that iscarried out during its severalstages of production, processingpackaging and export.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—“The Pakistaniexporters are facing complianceand quality issues as major chal-lenges in accessing the globalmarkets. The tests performed inPakistan and certificates issuedhere in the country have limitedacceptance in target markets. Allit requires is to improve confor-mity assessment infrastructureand services in Pakistan,” thiswas stated by the Federal Minis-ter for Science and Technology,Mr. Zahid Hamid. He further saidby acquiring the ‘MLA’ status,the PNAC has enabled the coun-try to save its foreign exchangeincurred on account of accredi-tation from foreign accreditationbodies and this will also increaseexports contributing ultimately toimprovement the Balance of Pay-ments.

The Pakistan National Ac-creditation Council (PNAC) hassecured a Multilateral Recogni-tion Arrangement (MLA) withthe Pacific Accreditation Coop-eration (PAC) and InternationalAccreditation Forum (IAF) forQuality Management System –ISO 9000 (QMS) and Environ-mental Management System –ISO 14000 (EMS) during thecourse of 20th PAC Plenary

Meetings at Honolulu, USA.Now PNAC is the 13th Accredi-tation Body of the pacific regionto attain MLA signatory statusin QMS and 15th AccreditationBody to attain signatory statusin EMS. PNAC achieved thisstatus with the support of theEuropean Union (EU) fundedTrade Related Technical Assis-tance (TRTA II) Programme.

In recognition of this achieve-ment, Ministry of Science andTechnology (MoST) and TRTA IIProgramme implemented byUNIDO organized a ceremony on19 August 2013 in Islamabad.Hon. Zahid Hamid, Federal Min-ister for Science and Technologyand Mr. Pierre Mayaudon, ActingAmbassador at the Delegation ofthe European Union to Pakistanhanded-over the MLA signatorystatus certificate to the DirectorGeneral of PNAC.

Pierre Mayaudon, ActingAmbassador at the Delegationof the European Union to Paki-stan on the occasion said that theEU is the first trading partner ofPakistan with a total volume ofexchanges in excess of 8.5 bil-lion Euros. And we are con-vinced that EU Pakistan coop-eration will progress further ifPakistan is granted the new GSPPlus status by end, this year.

Businesscommunity hails

PM addressto nation

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Business Com-munity of Twin cities ofIslamabad-Rawalpindi Tuesdaytermed the Prime Ministerspeech to the nation as business-friendly which would help re-vive the economy of the coun-try.

The business communitywould support the governmentin resolving the energy crisis onpriority basis and for ensuringlaw and order in the country.

“The government intentionto resolve energy crisis has cre-ated new hope among the busi-ness community and if this prob-lem is resolved, it would helppromote economic growth,”President Islamabad ChamberCommerce and Industry (ICCI),Zafar Bakhtawari said while re-sponding the Prime Minister’sSpeech to the nation on Mondayevening.

The ICCI President said thatthe prime Minister announcedseveral business friendly mea-sure that would help lead thecountry towards sustainable de-velopment.

Past 14 yearsbrought worstenergy crisis

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Unplanned pastfourteen years have landed us inworst energy crisis said AhsanIqbal, Federal Minister for Plan-ning, Development and Re-forms.

“If we continued on thispath, the next year a bigger wa-ter crisis will hit us”, he said ad-dressing a meeting. “Non-imple-mentation is bad, but planning isworst. Pakistan is not an under-developed country, but it is un-der managed country,” he said

Between 1999 and 2013,there was no long-term plan inPakistan, we cannot afford an-other era on non-planning.

Ahsan Iqbal at the first con-sultative meeting for Pakistan2025 Programme said, “theforces of knowledge and infor-mation revolution, globalisationand citizen empowerment requirespeedy response and transforma-tion of society and economy tomeet the challenges of knowl-edge revolution era.”

The government has decidedto develop Pakistan 2025Programme with a view to trans-forming Pakistan into a developedand prosperous country, which willbe finalised by December31, 2013and formally launched by thePrime Minister Nawaz Sharif.Unfortunately all elements of Pa-kistan 2010 programme are as rel-evant today as they were in 1998because no progress was made onthe agenda set under it.

COLON and lung cancer patients whoregularly took low-dose aspirin beforetheir diagnosis tended to have less ad-

vanced tumors, in a new study.Scientists already knew that aspirin was

tied to a decreased risk ofdeath for people with coloncancer, said senior authorYudi Pawitan.

“We showed evidencethat it is also beneficial forlung cancer, and has bothearly and late protective ef-fects,” Pawitan, of the de-partment of medical epide-miology and biostatistics atthe Karolinska Institutet inStockholm, Sweden, toldReuters Health.

However, the findingdoesn’t mean everyoneshould be taking aspirin toward off advanced cancer,researchers said.

Pawitan and his coau-thors analyzed data fromSwedish cancer and prescription drug regis-tries that included 80,000 patients withcolorectal, lung, prostate or breast cancer.

One in four people with colorectal, lungor prostate cancer had regularly taken low-dose aspirin before being diagnosed - typi-cally one 75-milligram tablet per day - com-pared to about one in seven breast cancer pa-tients. The researchers found 20 to 40 per-cent fewer colon, lung and breast cancer pa-tients who had taken aspirin had tumors thathad spread to other areas of the body thanthose who had not taken aspirin.

For example, 19 percent of regular aspi-rin users with colon cancer had metastatic

disease, compared to close to 25 percent ofnon-users.

Tumors on a1verage were smaller andless advanced among aspirin users with co-lon and lung cancer, but not those with breast

or prostate cancer, accordingto results published in the Brit-ish Journal of Cancer.

“The fact that they did notfind a similar result for breastand prostate cancer does notexclude the possibility thataspirin may work at a differ-ent point in the cancer processfor those cancers,” said Dr.Michelle Holmes, who re-searches cancer risk factors atBrigham and Women’s Hos-pital and Harvard MedicalSchool in Boston.

“This paper confirmswhat is already known: aspi-rin use is associated with de-creased risk and better sur-vival,” said Dr. Gerrit-JanLiefers, a cancer surgeon at

Leiden University Medical Center in TheNetherlands. Liefers said it was interestingthat the study found aspirin was associatedwith smaller tumors but not with whethernearby lymph nodes were involved, whichcan be an indicator of a cancer’s aggressive-ness. That’s a new finding and will fuel morediscussion about how aspirin works, Liefers,who was not involved in the study, toldReuters Health.

“The mechanism is not fully under-stood,” Pawitan said. Some researchers be-lieve the anti-inflammatory and blood thin-ning effects of aspirin contribute to the low-ered risk of certain cancers, he said.

Aspirin tied to smaller lungand colon cancer tumors

KARACHI: Prominent politicians from Sindh Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Shah Muhammad Shah, Imdad Chandio, Ismail Rahu and Dr Badar Channa called onPresident-elect Mamnoon Hussain at State Guest House.

KARACHI: Jamat-e-Islami holds a rally in support of Egyptian people resisting govt.—POphoto by Sultan Chaki

KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah attends marriage ceremony of daughter ofTV anchor Mujahid Baraveli at local hotel.—PO photo

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e Islami (JI)Chief Syed Munawar Hasantermed the loss of Egypt was theloss of entire Muslim World, de-manding the restoration of Morsigovernment without any discus-sions. He made this demand whileaddressing a protest rally of JIWomen Wing on M A JinnahRoad near Numaish Chowrangiagainst the army crackdown inEgypt Tuesday.

Addressing a rally, JI Chiefsaid that the western world shouldacknowledge its own norms i.e.to respect the democracy insteadof dictatorship. He said that theUnited States of America and

Loss of Egypt is loss ofMuslim world: Munawwar

other western powers want thatthe Muslim adopt the way of vio-lence for getting their legal rights.

General Cisi was spreadingterrorism in Egypt, as his strategyhad pushed thousands of peoplein jail, said JI Chief adding thatthe JI condemned large scale mas-sacre in Egypt and feared that agigantic Islamic movement wasgoing to start if the Morsi govern-ment could not be restored inEgypt”, he asserted.

On the occasion, JI Chiefquestioned the leading mediaowners that which forces re-stricted them by giving coverageof the current situation of Egypt.JI Chief termed the address ofPrime Minister (PM) Muhammad

Nawaz Sharif wasting of 180million hours of 180 millionpopulation of the country, add-ing that the PM had failed topresent any effective strategybefore the nation.

Hasan stressed upon callingan All Party Conference (APC)with the view to address the rais-ing terrorism and extremism is-sues.

JI Sindh Chief Dr Mairaj UlHuda Siddiqui, JI Karachi ChiefMuhammad Hussain Mahenti, JIKarachi General SecretaryNaseem Siddiqui and others alsospoke on the occasion. Naib JIKarachi Chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Nasrullah Shajih,Younus Barai and other JI leaders

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI–Opposition leader inSindh provincial assembly SyedFaisal Sabzwari said that theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) had totally rejected thelocal government bill-2013 andbelieved it was a carbon copy ofthe local government act-1979.The newly passed local govern-ment bill was in contrast to the

MQM to move court againstLG Bill-2013: Sabzwari

provisions of the constitution andhence the MQM would movecourt against the passage of thebill.

He was talking to the news-men outside the Sindh assemblyMonday after the House hadpassed the LG Bill-2013 with thesupport of Pakistan MuslimLeague Nawaz and PakistanMuslim League functional mem-bers provincial assembly. He was

flanked by MPA Izhar Ul Hassanand Deputy Parliamentary leaderin Sindh Assembly, Syed SardarAhmed. Sabzwari said that theMQM had represented a total of33 percent population in the wholeof the province and millions of itssupporters had also rejected thecarbon copy of the local govern-ment system of 1979. Thosepeople would rise for their rights.

The Pakistan People’s Party

Parliamentarian (PPPP) hadbrought that LG bill because itwanted to keep all the powers withit depriving the masses to see thedevolution of powers at the grassroot level, alleged Sabzwari.

He said that the MQM hadrejected the LG Bill-2013 becauseit was against the spirit of the con-stitution as the constitution hadclearly stated that the local gov-ernments.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI–Karachi Water andSewerage Board (KW&SB)Managing Director (MD)Misbahuddin Farid said thatthe Pakistan Steel Mills wasnot taking steps for the settle-ment of outstanding duesamounting to Rs 480 millions.The MD also alleged the PSMof sale of water being suppliedto the mills.

In this regard, the MD hadasked the deputy Managing Di-rector (RRG) to formulate aneffective policy in this regard.

KW&SB, PSM wrestle over duesKW&SB has speed up the re-covery process from Govern-ment Institutions on the direc-tives of Minister Local Bod-ies and KW&SB ChairmanSyed Owais Muzaffar.

The MD said that the PSMhad been delaying KW&SBpayments for past 5 months de-spite the fact that KW&SB pro-vided the PSM water on spe-cial rates for Industrial Con-sumers. On the other hand, thePSM was practically closeddown but was still taking thesame amount of water as be-fore and selling this water to

different Industrial Units,which was neither legally normorally right. The water sup-plied to the PSM could be pro-vided to citizens living in resi-dential areas around the PSMto overcome watershortage.The MD said that theKW&SB was facing financialcrisis and did not have enoughfunds to disburse salaries to theemployees and in that case, thePSM would be responsible forthe crises and KW&SB wouldface severe troubles in provi-sion of services to more than 30million residents of Karachi.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI–Although the dam-age was already done and ex-change of curses and warningswas also voiced over the imple-mentation of a new local gov-ernment system in the provinceof Sindh, efforts were very lateinitiated to mend ways but itlooked sure as there would beno use of crying over spilt milk.

Sindh Information MinisterSharjeel Enam Memon said thatthe provincial governmentwould still welcome positiveproposals from the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) to

Sindh government seeks positivesuggestions from MQM on LG system

amend the newly passed localgovernment system Bill-2013.The provincial government wasready to incorporate their asthere is always chance of im-provement in any law.

He said that MinisterialCommittee constituted bySindh Chief Minister for localgovernment law 2013, heldmeetings with leaders of theMQM and handed them thedraft of local government bill2013 to seek their proposals forthe bill.

Memon said that the Minis-terial Committee would still re-main in contact with the MQM,

if any positive proposals broughtup by MQM would be includedin the new local government law2013 through amendments.

Sindh Information MinisterSharjeel Enam Memon hadwhile representing the provin-cial government hinted at ac-cepting what the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM)would present as suggestions tothe already passed local govern-ment bill-2013. This would asheer gesture to pacify the an-ger that the former coalitionpartner, the MQM had showedon Monday in reaction to thepassage of the local government

Bill from the Sindh assembly.The MQM chief Altaf

Hussain had termed that thePakistan People’s party Parlia-mentarian (PPPP)-led provin-cial government had imposedthe British colonial local gov-ernment system in the prov-ince and it would lead to surefall of the PPPP and it wouldsoon disintegrate into pieces.

Memon had late on Mon-day night addressed a scuddingpress conference in its reactionand said that if the PPPP hadimposed the British coloniallocal government system in theprovince.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI–In Pakistan morethan 100 patients of LysosomalStorage Disorders (LSD) havebeen diagnosed in the last 8months and a large number ofsuspected cases of LSD havebeen due to the strong trend ofinterfamily marriages. The lead-ing Pediatricians dealing withLSD have formed a NationalLSD Core committee whose aimis to aid in the diagnosis andtreatment of this disorder.

Medical experts on LSD inPakistan stated this in a seminaron the LSD held at a local hotelMonday in Karachi.

They said that the LSD areinherited genetic defects which

Above 100 LSD cases reported in Pakistanaffect multiple organs and causeprogressive physical and/ormental deterioration over time.Some patients survive intoadulthood, but others with moresevere symptoms may die intheir teens or earlier.

Previously, it was very chal-lenging to diagnose these casesand few doctors were sendingblood samples to different coun-tries like UK, USA, Germany,Argentina, and India for the di-agnosis and the cost of each testwas Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000,they said adding that now it iseasy to diagnose LSDs as thescreening/diagnostic support inPakistan is now being facilitatedfree of cost at Children hospitalLahore, Military Hospital Pindi,

AKUH, Civil Hospital Karachi,NICH Karachi, Ziauddin Hos-pital Karachi, Nishter HospitalMultan and Children HospitalComplex Multan.

Professor Salman Ali, Prin-cipal and Head of Paediatrics atNUST, stated: “Since LSDs usu-ally affect young children,there’s a time lag before parentsrealize that something is wrongwith their child. In some cases,months and years could passbefore the child’s disease isproperly diagnosed.”

According to Dr. ZareenFasih, Professor and Head ofPaediatrics, Ziauddin MedicalUniversity, Karachi, about 30%of the children diagnosed withLSDs die at a young age.

Action againstirregularities inhomoeopathy

demandedKARACHI—Former ActingPresident, National Council forHomoeopathy, H.Dr. JawedHussain Shah , has urged uponthe concerned authorities to takeimmediate notice of rampant ir-regularities in Homoeopathyand the falling standard ofHomoeo education.

In a statement issued hereSunday, he called for initiationof immediate action against allcolleges providing sub-standardeducation, conduct of sub-stan-dard education and above allfake admissions. He reiteratedhis demand that the authority forconducting Homoeo examina-tions be with drawn from theCouncil and entrusted to someBoard or University to bring anend to ongoing irregularities andcorruption.— APP

PML-N, PML-Faccuse PPPP of

victimisingcandidates

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Functional (PMLF)leader Jam Madad Ali and Pa-kistan Muslim League-Nawazleader Irfanullah Khan Marwathad while speaking on point oforder in the Sindh assemblyMonday said that the provincialgovernment was committingpolitical victimization of thecandidates of the PMLF andPMLN during the process of by-elections in Sindh.

Ali alleged that the provin-cial government was facilitatingthe candidate of the PakistanPeople’s party Parliamentarian(PPPP) for the seat of NA-235with full state protocol and thatfake cases were being registeredagainst the candidates of thePMLF and PMLN. The educa-tion departments and town mu-nicipal administrations were alsobeing involved in providing stateprotocol to the PPPP candidateand in political victimization ofthe opposite candidates.

Marwat said that fake caseswere being registered againstthe workers of the PMLN inThatta and threats were beinggiven for dire consequences incase they would not stop elec-tion campaign. In response tothe allegations, Sindh SeniorMinister Nisar Ahmed Khuhruand Sindh Information Minis-ter Sharjeel Enam Memon re-futed the allegations.

Killing ofmissing Balochyouth slammed

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Central Coordi-nation Committee of the MuttahidaQaumi Movement in London ex-pressed strong reservation over re-covery of bodies of Baloch youthfrom Karachi, whose names wereincluded in the missing personsfrom Balochistan. The Commit-tee said that dumping of the mu-tilated dead bodies of Balochyouth near Karachi whosenames were given to the previ-ous government by the supremecourt of Pakistan was not onlya serious issue but also a matterof serious concern for the patri-otic people of Pakistan.

The People across the coun-try were truly justified in rais-ing the question that what are thehidden, mala-fide intentions andheinous motives of the secrethands behind the finding ofmissing Baloch youths in formof dead bodies near Karachi.

Aspirin tied to smaller lungand colon cancer tumors

LAHORE: Rescue workers shifting people to safe place in flood-hit area of Kala Shah Kaku.

COLON and lung cancer patientswho regularly took low-dose aspirin before their diagnosis tended

to have less advanced tumors, in a newstudy.

Scientists already knew that aspirinwas tied to a decreasedrisk of death for peoplewith colon cancer, saidsenior author YudiPawitan.

“We showed evi-dence that it is also ben-eficial for lung cancer, andhas both early and lateprotective effects,”Pawitan, of the depart-ment of medical epidemi-ology and biostatistics atthe Karolinska Institutetin Stockholm, Sweden,told Reuters Health.

However, the findingdoesn’t mean everyoneshould be taking aspirinto ward off advanced can-cer, researchers said.

Pawitan and his coauthors analyzeddata from Swedish cancer and prescrip-tion drug registries that included 80,000patients with colorectal, lung, prostateor breast cancer. One in four people withcolorectal, lung or prostate cancer hadregularly taken low-dose aspirin beforebeing diagnosed - typically one 75-milli-gram tablet per day - compared to aboutone in seven breast cancer patients.

The researchers found 20 to 40 per-cent fewer colon, lung and breast cancerpatients who had taken aspirin had tu-mors that had spread to other areas ofthe body than those who had not taken

aspirin.For example, 19 percent of regular

aspirin users with colon cancer had meta-static disease, compared to close to 25percent of non-users.

Tumors on average were smaller andless advanced among as-pirin users with colon andlung cancer, but not thosewith breast or prostate can-cer, according to resultspublished in the BritishJournal of Cancer.

“The fact that they didnot find a similar result forbreast and prostate cancerdoes not exclude the pos-sibility that aspirin maywork at a different point inthe cancer process forthose cancers,” said Dr.Michelle Holmes, who re-searches cancer risk fac-tors at Brigham andWomen’s Hospital andHarvard Medical School inBoston.

“This paper confirms what is alreadyknown: aspirin use is associated withdecreased risk and better survival,” saidDr. Gerrit-Jan Liefers, a cancer surgeonat Leiden University Medical Center inThe Netherlands.

Liefers said it was interesting thatthe study found aspirin was associatedwith smaller tumors but not with whethernearby lymph nodes were involved,which can be an indicator of a cancer’saggressiveness. That’s a new findingand will fuel more discussion about howaspirin works, Liefers, who was not in-volved in the study, told Reuters Health.

LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah talking to media outside Punjab As-sembly building.

LAHORE: Opposition Members of Punjab Assembly applying black bands on the armsof each other before the provincial assembly session.

PTDC: Roads toKaghan, Naranclear for traffic

LAHORE—Pakistan TourismDevelopment Cooperation(PTDC) has announced thatroads leading towardsKaghan and Naran valleysare clear for general trafficand there is no risk of anyinconvenience regardingsafety and travelling on saidroads.

PTDC has made it clearthat accidents on the way tolake Saif-ul Malook were theresult of careless driving, notthe roads.

Landsliding and flow ofwater from glaciers is nodoubt a hindrance but nevera hurdle as these problemsare being monitored 24hours and solved immedi-ately.

Local hotel manager toldAPP, the hotel never barrenas this place attracts touristsin large number.—APP

CTO seizescell-phones of

wardensLAHORE—Chief Traffic Of-ficer (CTO) Capt retd SohailChaudhry on Tuesday vis-ited traffic sector of Sherakot,Lower Mall and Anarkali toreview arrangements forsmooth flow of traffic.

A spokesman for trafficpolice said during the visit,the CTO confiscated cell-phones of 21 traffic wardensand action would be takenagainst them.—APP

Rain may risecases of dengue

LAHORE—Due to currentwave of heavy rains thecases of dengue virus mayrise however no death hasoccurred due to dengue fe-ver during the current year.

This was stated by DrFarrukh, focal person ofDengue Control Programme,here on Tuesday. He saidthat 29 cases of dengue fe-ver had been reported thisyear so far.

He said that four denguepatients were under treat-ment in different governmenthospitals while the remaininghad been discharged afterrecovery.

He appealed to thepeople to act upon the ad-vises of the anti-dengue ex-perts and keep their environ-ment neat and clean.—APP

Traffic plan forby-election

LAHORE—The city trafficpolice on Tuesday evolveda comprehensive traff icplan to ensure smooth flowof traffic on various busycity roads during by-pollsbeing held on August 22.

Chief Traffic OfficerCapt (retd) Sohail Chaudhryon Tuesday said that traf-fic police would regulatetraffic outside the pollingstations, election commis-sion office, returningofficer ’s office and otherbusy roads to facilitate themotorists.

Two SPs, 7 DSPs, 51 In-spectors and 653 traffic war-dens under the supervisionof CTO, will perform duty onAugust 22.—APP

LAHORE—Opposition inPunjab Assembly Tuesdaysaid that it would move courtagainst the holding of localbody election on non-politicalbasis if Punjab government didnot agree with its demand.

“We would move courtagainst the holding of polls onnon-party basis”, MianMahmudur Rasheed, the op-position leader in the assem-bly, said while talking withmedia here.

Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) led provincialgovernment in the easternprovince is trying to bring asystem which could work un-der the provincial government.

On the other hand, oppo-sition parties including Paki-stan Tehrik e Insaf (PTI),Jamaat e Islami, PakistanPeoples Party and Pakistan

Muslim League-Q havepressurising the governmentto opt party-based polls in theprovince. The opposition par-ties in the Punjab Assemblywore black bands on Tuesdayto protest the unilateral ap-proval of the local bodiesbill.—Online

PML-N’s govt in Punjabin trouble as opposition

likely to move court

End corruptionto make county

prosperousLAHORE—The PakistanMedical Association (PMA)has called for elimination ofcorruption from national in-stitutions to put the countryon the road to progress.

Commenting on the ad-dress of Prime Minister NawazSharif to the nation on Mon-day evening, PMA GeneralSecretary Dr Izhar Chaudhrysaid the prime minister hadpointed out problems of thecountry in a befitting manner.

Dr Izhar said corruptionin government departmentshad devouring national re-sources which needed to bechecked with an iron hand.

He urged the governmentto take steps for the relief ofthe common man. He said thegovernment should pay heedto preventive health policyinstead of tertiary healthcareand gradually increase fundsfor healthcare.”—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Ombuds-man Javed Mehmood hasordered to proceed againstSP InvestigationSheikhupura, DSPChichawatni, SHOGhaziabad, Sahiwal JawadAfzal, Sub Inspector B. Divi-sion Sheikhupura HumayunRasheed, Sub InspectorNasir Khan, ASI PervezAkhtar, ASI Hafizullah, ASIMuhammad Arif, ASIMuhammad Amin and ASIMumtaz Hussain of policestation Mughalpura Lahorefor showing negligence,poor investigation in thecases and not implementingthe orders of OmbudsmanPunjab.

In the light of report sub-mitted by Advisor Investiga-tion Muhammad Alamgir

Poor performance

Initiation of proceedingsagainst police officials ordered

Khan, Ombudsman Punjabhas issued necessary in-structions to IG Punjab, RPOSahiwal, DIG Lahore andCCPO Lahore in this regard.

According to details,Muhammad Saeed Shah hadsubmitted an application toOmbudsman Punjab that dueto dacoity at his residence,the dacoits looted jewelry,cash and motorcycle but SubInspector of Police StationTibbi Division and Investiga-tion Officer HumayunRasheed did not arrest theculprits despite identifyingthem and not taking interestin investigation.

Ombudsman Punjab di-rected Advisor InvestigationMuhammad Alamgir Khan toconduct inquiry. Accordingto the inquiry report of advi-sor investigation, investiga-tion officer Humayun

Rasheed neither conductedinvestigation on right direc-tion nor made any effort toarrest the accused or recov-ered the stolen articles andnor SP InvestigationSheikhupura correctly super-vised the investigation. Om-budsman Punjab has orderedIG Punjab and DIG Lahore totake action against both theofficers.

Munir Ahmad ofChichawatni submitted anapplication that SHO PoliceStation Ghaziabad JawadAfzal arrested the accusedinvolved in a dacoity and re-leased them after takingheavy bribe.

Ombudsman Punjabconducted inquiry which re-vealed that SHO and DSP bydisplaying negligence, havenot taken any legal actionagainst culprits.

LAHORE—The PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) onTuesday submitted a resolu-tion against US drone strikesin the Punjab Assembly.

The resolution was filedby Mian Muahmmad AslamIqbal, a Member ProvincialAssembly (MPA) of theparty.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) belongedMPA Rana Sanaullahstrongly opposed the sub-mission of the resolutionagainst US drone attacks byPTI and termed it as useless.

The submitted resolutioncontents include killing ofinnocent people by the spyplane strikes and attacks werecalled as attack over inde-pendence and sovereigntyagainst Pakistan.

While opposing PTI reso-

PTI submits anti-droneresolution in PA

lution, Rana Sanaullah saidthat the federal governmentalready discussed the matterwith United Nations (UN)chief Ban Ki-Moon duringhis visit to Pakistan while fil-ing resolution again on theissue is not better move.

Earlier, PTI submittedresolution in KhyberPakhtunkhwa provincial as-sembly against drone strikesand termed as violation ofhuman rights as well asagainst the country’s sover-eignty. Meanwhile, PunjabLaw Minister Rana SanaullahKhan opposed a resolutionagainst drone attacks in thePunjab Assembly here Tues-day.

Moved by oppositionmember Mian Aslam Iqbal,the resolution could not bepassed as the treasury

benches did not support it.The mover in his resolutionwas of the opinion that droneattacks were against basichuman rights as they werebeing carried out on vagueinformation and assess-ments.

He urged the governmentto take up the issue with theUnited States properly. Hesought Pak-US relations onequal basis.

Opposing the resolution,Law Minister Rana Sanaullahtold the House that the cen-tral government had alreadyraised the issue and resolu-tions were passed in the par-liament. Moreover, he said,the government had con-veyed its stance to the UNSecretary General Ban KiMon during his recent visitto Pakistan.—Agencies

Sabira Sultana ofManawan Lahore submit-ted an application to Om-budsman Punjab that herson along with his friendswas passing in front of po-lice station Moghulpura forpurchasing clothes and po-lice arrested them and latertortured and kept them in ahouse near Railways HighSchool in illegal custody formany days.

Later, police challanedthem in 13 false cases andthree old cases but in theinquiry of CCPO all casesproved false and actionwas recommended againstthe police officers whichwas not being complied. Inthe light of the inquiry re-port of advisor investiga-tion Muhammad AlamgirKhan, Ombudsman Punjabhas ordered CCPO Lahoreto take action against SubInspector Nasir Khan, ASIPervez Akhtar, ASIHafeezullah, ASIMuhammad Arif, ASIMuhammad Ameen andASI Mumtaz Hussain ofpolice station Moghulpurafor registering false casesand involving in old casesillegally and submit a re-port to Ombudsman Punjabwithin fifteen days.

Majority ofMPAs in favour

of non-partybasis LG polls

LA H O R E—Punjab LawMinister, Rana Sana Ullahsaid on Tuesday that 67percent members of thehouse were in favour ofnon-party base local bodyelections and protest in thisregard useless.

Talking to the media out-side the Punjab Assembly, hesaid that Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif was in favourof party base LG polls, buthe left the decision of elec-tions on the majority of thePunjab Assembly.

He rejected theopposition’s call for launch-ing protest against the partyless local body polls, andclaimed that the decision ofprotest had been taken onthe direction of PTI leader-ship.

He said that oppositionmembers had been attendingall sessions of the specialcommittee on local bodies billand various proposals by theopposition members hadbeen incorporated in the bill.

Replying to a question,he said that Prime Ministerhad rightly declared the op-tion of dialogue with mili-tants to establish peace inthe country. He said the gov-ernment had two options,either to hold dialogue oruse of force against mili-tants.—APP

Postings, transfersbanned

LAHORE—Ban has been im-posed on posting and trans-fers in Punjab health depart-ment till further orders in thewake of current flood situa-tion and anti dengue opera-tion. Ban will not be appli-cable on appointmentsthrough fresh recruitmentsand transfers on administra-tion grounds.—Online

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Chief SecretaryPunjab Javed Aslam presidedover a meeting to review floodarrangements in the provincehere on Tuesday at Civil Sec-retariat, Lahore.

Senior Member Board ofRevenue Nadeem Ashraf, Sec-retary Health Hassan Iqbal,Secretary Higher EducationFarhan Aziz Khawaja, Secre-tary Schools Abdul JabbarShaheen, Secretary Local Gov-ernment Jawwad RafiqueMalik, Secretary InformationMomin Agha and officials ofPDMA and Rescue 1122 at-tended the meeting.

Chief Secretary stated that

CS reviews flood arrangementsPunjab government will con-duct a proper survey with thehelp of Geographic InformationSystem (GIS) of the flood af-fected areas to know about thereal damages. He said thatWorld Food Programme (WFP)is collecting and analyzing alltypes of geographical data ofthe flood hit areas with thehelp of PDMA and Punjabgovernment will make all outefforts to help the flood vic-tims.

Chief Secretary was in-formed by the PDMA officialsthat water has started reced-ing and there are bleakchances of rain in the comingdays. PDMA officials briefedthat the level of floodwater is

decreasing day by day. ChiefSecretary reiterated that themost important point is to pro-vide relief and undertaken res-cue activities. Chief Secretaryfurther said that DivisionalCommissioners, district ad-ministration and concernedinstitutions should remainfully alert to cope with anyemergency.

He said that relief activitiesand rehabilitation work of thecalamity- hit people is in fullswing. Chief Secretary was in-formed that only 59-cases ofsnake-bite were reported in theflood hit areas. He was briefedthat anti-malaria and snake-bitevaccine is available in all theflood affected areas.