BANNU: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif distributing relief goods among IDPsof North Waziristan during his visit to IDPs camp.

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has declaredboth the Army and the govern-ment stood side by side to re-habilitate the Internally dis-placed Persons (IDPs) of theNorth Waziristan agency.

“We are well aware of thedifficulties confronting theIDPs who have left theirhomes in the wake of theArmy Operation against themilitants challenging the gov-ernment writ in the region andwe will be utilizing all re-sources to facilitate the ef-fected people”, Nawaz Sharifvowed during his visit to theIDP camps in Bannu districton Friday.

Army Chief GeneralRaheel Sharif welcomed theprime minister on his arrivalto Bannu district. Chief Min-ister KP Pervez Khattak, Gov-ernor Mehtab Abbasi, Federalministers Pervaiz Rashid andAbdul Qadir Baloch accompa-nied the premier.

The PM was briefed in

detail over the problems anddifficulties being faced by theIDPs and the arrangementsmade for their relief.

Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif vowed to address andsolve all the problems faced bythe displaced families. He saidthat it is the government’s re-sponsibility to provide relief to

the affected families.The Prime Minister on this

occasion also announced toenhance the financial packagefor the IDP families to 20000

Govt, Army work together forIDPs’ care, rehabilitation: PM

Each IDP family to receive Rs40,000 in Ramazan

Continued on Page 7 India replicates Israelimodel settlements for

Hindus in IHKMUZAFARABAD—Kashmiri leaders are expressing grave con-cerns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government’s reportedplan to establish Israeli-style settlements for Hindu Pandits inoccupied Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a report in Hindustan Times from Srinagaron June 23, 2014, Kashmiri Muslim leaders have expressedtheir concerns at the reported move of the Centre to grant citi-zenship to 1947 West Pakistan refugees and its proposal to settlemigrant “Kashmiri Pandits” in enclaves in Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has alreadyrecorded its dissatisfaction over the move.

JKLF leader Yasin Malik was quoted by Hindustan Timesas saying that “The enemies of J&K are again out to destroyour Muslim identity. The RSS and the BJP are planning to de-clare lakhs of outsider refugees as citizens here to change thedemography of the state. People of Kashmir will not remainsilent spectators to these nefarious designs.” Yasin Malik, waslater arrested and detained in Srinagar along with his associ-ates while attempting to launch a ‘Quit Kashmir’ movementwith a march towards Lal Chowk.

Kashmiris fear that in the name of re-settlement the IndianGovernment would make an Israeli-style move to turn Muslim

Continued on Page 7

Sri Lanka cancelson-arrival visa

facility forPakistanis

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Sri Lankangovernment on Friday can-celled the on-arrival visa facil-ity for Pakistanis.

Pakistani citizens intendingto travel to Sri Lanka have beenadvised by the government toapply for a visa before taking aflight.

The decision, which wastaken in view of the rising num-ber of political asylum cases inSri Lanka, was officially com-municated to Pakistan’s For-eign ministry.

Sri Lankan daily CeylonToday reported last week thatnearly 1,500 Pakistanis, many

President Putin reassures...

Russia will fulfilprospective projects

in PakistanAKHTAR JAMAL

ISLAMABAD—For the first timein decades, a top Russian leaderhas vociferously assured thatRussia will implement “prospec-tive projects” in Pakistan and thatMoscow pays great attention todevelop ties with Islamabad.

On Friday Russian news ser-vice “RIA-Novosti” quoted Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin assaying that Russian companiesplan to implement prospectiveprojects in Pakistan, including inenergy and metallurgy.

Addressing a diplomatic ac-creditation ceremony for foreignambassadors to Russia, President Putin remarked: “We pay greatattention to developing cooperation with the Islamic Republic ofPakistan.” Suggesting a revival of Moscow’s participation in ex-pansion of Pakistan Steel Mills, President Putin was also quotedas saying that “Russian companies are ready to fulfill prospectiveprojects, including in the energy and metallurgy industry, in thesectors that were created with the help of specialists from (Rus-sia),”

He also suggested Russian Pakistani cooperation in other fieldswhen he stressed that “the important task is fighting terrorism andillegal drug trafficking.” The head of Russia’s Rostec Corpora-tion, a high-tech industrial producer and exporter, Sergei Chemezov,

Continued on Page 7

Ramadan startson Sunday in MEABU DHABI: The first ofRamadan will be on Sunday,June 29, 2014, according tothe UAE Moon SightingCommittee.

Dr Hadef Jua’an AlDaheri, Minister of Justice,said after the committee’smeeting at the JudiciaryDepartment in Abu Dhabi,that after contactingneighbouring countries andfollowing all Sharia proce-dures to site the new crescentof Ramadan, the crescent wasnot seen on Friday night,hence, Saturday will be thecompletion of the month ofSha’aban and Sunday, June29, 2014, will be the first dayof Ramadan.—WAM

Abdullah rousesprotesters in

election stand-offKABUL—Afghan presidentialcandidate Abdullah Abdullah ledseveral thousand demonstratorsthrough Kabul on Friday, uppingthe stakes in his protest againstalleged election fraud that hastriggered a political crisis.

Abdullah has vowed to re-ject the election result, sayinghe was the victim of massiveballot-box stuffing in the June14 poll, while his rival AshrafGhani has claimed victory bymore than one million votes.

As tensions rise betweenopposing supporters, the UnitedNations has expressed fears ofspiralling ethnic violence at thesame time as US-led troops pullout after their 13-year waragainst Taliban insurgents.

“Death to Ashraf Ghani!

STAFF REPORTER

BA H AWA L P U R—PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf ChairmanImran Khan announced at arally here on Friday eveningthat the time to open up inves-tigations into vote rigging inthe four constituencies is over,and now government had onlyone month to comply with hisfour demands, otherwise, therewill be a tsunami march onAugust 14 in Islamabad.

“The entire Pakistanknows that the general elec-tions were rigged,” he boomedfrom the stage.

Khan demanded that the

Imran warns of tsunami marchon August 14 in Islamabad

Gives Govt one month to meet his demands

ruling Pakistan MuslimLeague-N declared themselvesvictorious at 11:20pm on the

day of the elections when only15% of the results had been an-nounced.

The PTI leader further de-

manded to know why thereweren’t any returning officersunder the election commissionof Pakistan and what theformer Chief Justice IftikharChaudhry was doing.

He further demanded toknow what the role of PakistanCricket Board ChairmanNajam Sethi’s was during the

N-League hitsback at ImranSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Taking a strongexception to Imran Khan’sannouncement of launchinga long march on Islamabadthe Pakistan Muslim League-

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Interest-free loans and lessinterest loans................................................PPP sticks to democracy................................................Zero conviction of rapists,extortionists and killers

See Page 04

saying besides each familywould get an additional amountof Rs 20000 during the holymonth of Ramzan which meanseach family would receive Rs40000 during Ramzan.

Nawaz said that the gov-ernment and military werejointly working day and nightto resolve the issues faced bythe IDPs. He acknowledgedthat it was not easy for thefamilies to leave their houses,but hoped that the difficulttimes will be over soon.He said that damage assess-ment will be done once IDPsreturn to their houses and deci-sion about the constructionphase would take place. Healso vowed to ensure the safeand early return of the effectedfamilies to their homeland andextend every help in this re-gard. He also prayed for thesafety of Pakistan and eliminat-ing terrorists and militancyfrom the country.

While more than 450000people have fled from six

Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7

Shahbaz planfor uplift

of garments,textile sectors

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif says the government hasformed six working groups forthe development of garmentsand textile sectors and increas-ing exports. He said that aproject has been evolved to setup Quaid-i-Azam Apparel Parknear Motorway.

He said that Quaid-i-AzamApparel Park project is of vitalimportance in the wake of grant-ing of GSP Plus status to Paki-stan. He said that more facilitiesare being offered to garments andtextile sectors for getting maxi-mum benefit from GSP Plus sta-

Picture on Back Page

ATTOCK—Minister of State for Par-liamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab AhmedFriday said that it was the mission ofthe present government, under thedynamic leadership of Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif to for mak-ing the country an economic tiger.

Talking to media persons whileinaugurating a shuttle railcar servicefrom Attock to Jand, Sheikh Aftab re-iterated that the present governmentwould never compromise on its prin-cipals.

The minister categorically statedthat there will be no loadshedding inthe country in coming years due tothe pro-active policies of the govern-ment and bulk of investment in theenergy sector.

“Unfortunately, the pervious gov-ernment has maligned the nationalentities like Pakistan Railways, Paki-stan Steel Mills, Pakistan InternationalAirlines and others,” he said.

The government is committed to

Govt resolute to turn Pakistan intoeconomic Asian tiger: Sh Aftab

bring these institutions back on theright track and convert them in profitearning institutions, he added. Givingdetails of the shuttle railcar service,the minister said that the service hasbeen restored after a great demandfrom the people of the area. SheikhAftab said that the people of theseareas were facing huge problems dueto closure of the train service two yearsback by the previous governmentwhich has been restored.

He also thanked Minister for Rail-ways Khawaja Saad Rafique for restor-ing the train service and said, “We al-ways believe in politics of social wel-fare and uplift of people.” Sheikh Aftabsaid that thousands of the passengersof Attock, Jand and adjacent areas willget benefit after the restoration of thetrain service.

The minister informed that he hadalso discussed the project of the pro-vision of sui-gas in the Attock Rail-way Colony with the Railway Minis-

ter. Sheikh Aftab said that there are275 villages in Attock District whereall basic facilities and infrastructuresuch as schools, hospitals and roadsnetwork was available.

The minister maintained that hehad always conveyed his sentimentsfor the uplift of Attock and bringing itat par with Lahore and Islamabad inhis meetings with the Prime Ministerand Chief Minister Punjab MianShahbaz Sharif. On the occasion, Di-visional Superintendent Peshawar AliMuhammad Afridi said that PakistanRailways has restored the train serviceon the demand of Sheikh AftabAhmed.

Afridi said that in the past sixcoaches were attached with the shuttleralicar between Attock to Jand but nowit would be increased to sevencoaches. He appealed the local pas-sengers of the areas that nobodywould travel in the train without ticketto make this service successful.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—King Abdullah’s Re-lief Campaign for Pakistani People(KARCPP), is starting distributionof 15000 food packets containing allessential items, among the flood af-fected people of Pakistan.

This distribution will start dur-ing the holy month of Ramazan tohelp provide rel ief to masses af-fected by floods in the recent years.

Regional Director KARCPP DrKhalid M. Al-Othmani, while talk-ing to media said that the food itemsweighing 800 tones, include rice,pulses, wheat bag, milk, tea and

KARCPP to distribute 15,000 foodpackets to needy persons

cooking oil, would benefit as manyas 15000 families l iving in floodprone areas, says a press releasehere Friday.

The food project worth Rs. 65million, would be distributed equallyand transparently among the fami-lies living in different districts ofPakistan that hit by natural calam-ity in the recent years.

In a ceremony organized here,Acting Ambassador Saudi Arabia toPakistan, Jassim M Al Khalidi saidthat Saudi Arabia will continue tosupport Pakistani people affectedby natural calamity.

It is pertinent to mention here,

the people of Pakistan had faced anumber of challenges due to thefloods that played havoc in differ-ent distr icts of this region. Thepeople deprived of basic facilitiesduring the monsoon season con-verted into floods and damaged theinfrastructure.

Following the mission of helping hu-manity and the directives of the Custo-dian of Two Holy Mosques, the peopleof Saudi Arabia always stand by thepeople of Pakistan in any hour of need.The leadership and the people of SaudiArabia would continue supporting Paki-stani flood affected brothers and sisterstill their complete rehabilitation.

PESHAWAR—Health officials struggling toeradicate polio virus from Pakistan are con-sidering exodus of tribesmen fromWaziristan Agency as an opportunity tovaccinate those children, who have beeninaccessible to vaccinators since June2012.

“The displacement of tribesmen fromWaziristan Agency has given an opportu-nity to get them vaccinated against the crip-pling disease,” said Dr Akbar Jan, DHOBannu, who is also a focal person for vac-cination.

“Till the end of holy month of Ramzanwe will successfully vaccinate almost all theIDPs, who have shifted to Bannu, Tank,Lakki Marwat, D.I.Khan and FR Bannuarea,” Dr Akbar added.

He said population of NorthWaziristan was left unvaccinated for the

Waziristan exodus an opportunity forhealth workers to eliminate polio

last around three years due to securityconcerns.

He said most of the cases reported insettled areas had origin in Waziristan orother parts of FATA from where peoplemoved to different parts of the country.

Giving the data of polio vaccinationof IDPs, DHO Bannu said more than470,000 people from NWA had been reg-istered at various registration points outof which 221,253 had been vaccinated sofar.

According to the data shared by dis-trict administration of Bannu, a total of221,253 people had been vaccinated so farout of which 149494 had been vaccinatedat FR Bannu, 9180 at Bannu, 8430 at Tank,5081 Lakki Marwat, 6247 D.I.Khan, 17838Hangu, 9847 Kohat, 179 Karak, and 14957Peshawar.—APP

Former AddlDirector NABBalochistanregion held

QUETTA—National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB)has arrested former Addi-tional Director NABBalochistan region on cor-ruption charges here Friday.

A NAB spokesman toldAPP that investigation wasin progress for last two yearsagainst Colonel retired Ishaq,former official of the bureau.The recent meeting of Execu-tive Board held under thechairmanship of ChaudhyQamar Zaman gave approvalfor the arrest of former AddDirector after evidenceproved him guilty.—APP

ATTOCK: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Incharge Minister for Prime Minister’s GrievancesWing, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed addressing after the inauguration of Attock-Jund Shuttle Train Service at Attock Rail-way Station.

PESHAWAR: Students take interest in a project during Open House of CECOS Univer-sity of IT and Emerging Sciences on Friday.

Total number of registeredIDPs 4,57,048: PDMA

PESHAWAR—The total num-ber of Internally DisplacedPersons (IDPs) from North

Waziristan Agency hasreached to 4.57.048 individu-als, comprising of 36,904families.

According to daily re-port released by ProvincialDisaster Management Au-thority, registration did nottake place at Saidgai checkpost on Friday due to cur-few.

Giving the break up oftotal figures of 4,57,048 indi-viduals, 1,20,276 are male,1,44,112 are female and1,92,660 are children.

Details of DPs in DistrictDera Ismail Khan as last re-ported by the Deputy Com-missioner Dera Ismail Khanare total number of families2593 and 30990 individuals.

District Administrationthrough a notification hasestablished three Govern-ment Assistance Centers(GACs) to facilitate and pro-vide instant relief in the formof FIs and NFIs to the DPs.

A Polio vaccination cam-paign in 23 high risk UCs is

also underway in D.I.Khandistrict. Polio drops are alsobeing administered to DPsChildren at Chunda CheckPost. Medical Camps at theGACs are providing basicmedical treatments to theDPs on daily basis. TheDeputy Commissioner to-day has also requestedNADRA to provide two mo-bile units for verification ofdata of IDPs at GAC Shorkotand Naivela.

In Bannu in addition toalready established threedistribution points estab-lished at Sports ComplexBannu, Government Elemen-tary College Ghoriwala, andDegree College MamashKhel, a fourth DistributionPoint at Vocational TrainingCentre for Women at Bannuhas been set up.

Similarly, in Tank district,total number of registeredIDPs is 724 individuals, 60families. In Lakki Marwat,the total number of IDPs is879, 72 families.—APP

IG Balochistanorders purchase ofscanning stuff tocope with terror

QUETTA—Inspector Gen-eral of Balochistan Police,Mohammad Amlish has di-rected to purchase the scan-ning stuff to contain inci-dents of terrorism and sub-versive acts in the province.

“Elements opposed topeace have adopted latesttechniques to create law andorder by increasing the stan-dard of intelligence, scan-ning stuff was being pur-chased to protect the livesof people,” he said while talk-ing to a group of media per-sons here.

He said that maintainingthe law and order, capacitybuilding of the police force,upholding merit and restora-tion of the public confidenceon police department would bethe top most priorities of hisoffice. “I fully enjoy the sup-port of the coalition govern-ment of Balochistan as theyhave given men go ahead tomaintain peace and tranquilityin the region,” IG said whileeulogizing the commitment ofthe government.—APP

Monsoon onset likelyin coming week

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)has predicted the onset of monsoon during the first weekof July.

According to the PMD, ‘monsoon trough’ is very likelyto develop in coming few days that will activate monsoonprogression which would result in the onset of monsoonin Pakistan during first week of July.

First spell of regular mon-soon rains will be confinedover upper parts of the coun-try, producing scattered rain/thundershowers overIslamabad, upper Punjab in-cluding Rawalpindi,Gujranwala, Sargodha andLahore divisions, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa includingMalakand, Hazara, Peshawar and Kohat divisions andKashmir during Tuesday to Thursday.

Some isolated heavy falls are also expected in Hazara,Rawalpindi, Gujranwala divisions, Kashmir and Islamabadduring the spell. —APP

PESHAWAR—Chief Minister Pervez Khattakhas declined lifting ban on any kind of forestcutting, including windfall disposal adding acomprehensive environment policy has beenprepared for increase in forest covered areaand scientific cutting of trees in the province.

The policy, Pervez Khattak said is beingannounced next month.

Talking to a representative delegation offorests owners and notables from DistrictUpper Dir, which called on him here Thurs-day, he said that besides other solid mea-sures several good news were also in thepipeline for forests owners and timber mer-chants .

The delegation while fully agreeing withthe policies of the coalition government ofPTI, said that the government should continuestrict policy for maintaining check on forests

cutting.However, they stressed for granting tem-

porary permission for transportation of wind-fall timber to market.

The Chief Minister said that he is fullyaware of the problems of forest owners andtimber merchants due to ban on cutting as itis the only source of employment for them.

He said that his government even couldnot think of any loss to anyone including for-est owners, rather from the first day PTI ledgovernment was making efforts for mitigationof the victims of poverty and unemployment.

Pervez Khattak said that in past we hadfaced the outcome and losses of the unnatu-ral cutting of forests.

He said that during last one decade thedevastation rendered by floods have no pre-

cedent in past, whose basic reason is defor-estation and battle against nature.

He said that destruction of environmentfor the sake of few rupees and inviting futurenatural disasters is no wisdom rather it is tan-tamount to mass suicide.

The Chief Minister said that provincial au-tonomy achieved under 18th ConstitutionalAmendment had multiplied ourresponsibilities.He said that from next monthhis government is going to announce a com-prehensive environment policy, which alsoinclude scientific management plan for forests.

Under the new policy, he said, each for-ests division will have separate plan. Underwhich after the harvesting of windfall in anorganized and scientific manner there wouldbe complete ban on timbers cutting. —APP

CM to unfold first KP environment policy,forest management plan next month

Mardan gridtransformerenergized

PESHAWAR—A new powertransformer was energizedby Peshawar Electric SupplyCompany (PESCO) at 220KV Mardan grid station onthe directives of SecretaryWater and Power NergisSethi on Friday.Accordingto PESCO Spokesman, anew power transformer at220 KV Mardan grid stationwas installed and energizedby PESCO on the directivesof Secretary Water andPower Nargis Sethi that willbenefits a large number ofconsumers of different cit-ies and towns.The trans-former was burnt and out oforder from the last 6 monthsand people were facingproblems during hotweather.-APP

‘Removal of deprivationsof Sindh govt priority’

ISLAMABAD—Minister of State for Communications AbdulHakeem Baloch said on Friday the foremost aim of thepresent government was to alleviate the deprivations ofSindh, including Karachi.

“The only objective of our politics is to solve the prob-lems being faced by the common man,” he added.

Abdul Hakeem Baloch expressed these views whileaddressing a “Khuli Kachehry” and a public gathering atMeerpur Sakro, said a press release issued here.

He said, “We intend to boost trade, tourism, industryand agriculture by laying a network of roads and high-ways throughout the country.”

The government was making allout efforts to material-ize the development dream of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,he added.

Later, the minister visited Gharo-Keti Bandar RoadProject to inspect the construction work. On this occa-sion, Member National Assembly Ayaz Ahmad Sherazi alsoaccompanied him.

Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Hakeem Balochsaid,”Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s golden prin-ciples of diligent and unrelenting work are our guidelinesas we move forward on the road to progress and prosper-ity.” He directed General Manager Gharo-Keti Bandar RoadProject Tufail Ahmad Sheikh and other officials concernedto speed up the construction process and not to compro-mise on quality.

Abdul Hakeem Baloch said delay in completion ofprojects created serious problems and directed to ensuretimely completion of all projects.

He said the government wanted to provide consider-able relief to the people in all sectors. Due to the revolu-tionary steps taken in the communications sector, the PrimeMinister deserved to be called Sher Shah Suri of the mod-ern era, he added.—APP

LOWER DIR: Commandant Dir Scouts Col Nasar Umar Hayat Laleka with students of Girls Primary School at Maidan Bandy on Friday.

Interest-free loansand less interest loans

IN yet another major initiative aimed at stimulating economic activityand ensuring job generation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Thursday, launched Prime Minister’s Interest Free Loan Scheme. Speaking

at the ceremony held for the purpose, he said small businesses to be startedby the people through these loans, will enable them not only to providesustenance for their families but help others as well.

The present Government has launched several important schemes forthe same objective under PM’s Youth Programme but the latest is singu-lar in that Rs. 2.5 billion would be distributed as Qarz-e-Hasna among250,000 most deserving people in the first year of the scheme. In all,about one million people will benefit from the scheme among whom anamount of Rs. 10 billion would be given in four years. Another scheme isalready in vogue under which banks offer small loans to people for initi-ating their own businesses and about half of the mark up is paid by theGovernment. There are, of course, many people who have skills or abili-ties to carry out some business activity but they find themselves in disad-vantageous position as they cannot afford to pay even half of the mark upbecause of their peculiar family circumstances. These people too haveevery right to have access to loans and we are glad that the Prime Minis-ter has realized their position and offered them an opportunity to engageinto some sort of healthy economic activity. Pakistan’s main problemsare job generation and poverty alleviation and the scheme would helpaddress them to some extent. It is also appreciable that the scheme isintended to be implemented in a transparent manner without consider-ation of political or party affiliations. However, in our view, there is alsoneed to create a business friendly environment for all. At the moment,mark up rate is prohibitive and this, along with other inputs, pushes thecost of doing business high. The countries witnessing high growth rateare those who have reduced the interest rate to single digit but unfortu-nately despite our claims to be investor friendly the rate is in double digitin Pakistan. We hope that the Prime Minister and the Finance Ministerwould look into this matter as well and address this problem.

PPP sticks todemocracy

SINDH Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, who is quite vocal, has categorically stated that Pakistan Peoples Party will not be

part of the forces bent upon derailing democratic process in the country.Speaking at a programme of Karachi Press Club, he said PAT and PTIhave the same objective but their approach is different.

This is not for the first time that the PPP leadership has extended itsunflinching support to the democratic process. Earlier too, leader of theOpposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah had warnedthose trying to undermine the democracy and the message has gone wellto all concerned. The clear cut stand adopted by the PPP leadership istimely and relevant in wake of the so-called revolution being ignited byTahir ul Qadri. The circumstances under which Qadri and his associatesare pulling legs of the Government, have raised many questions abouttheir designs and at whose behest they are indulging in conspiraciesagainst a democratically elected Government that is trying to deliver asper its mandate and manifesto. It is good that major and influential demo-cratic forces are mindful of the London Plan and its negative impact onthe country and are not, in any way, encouraging the trouble-makers.Political differences apart, but when it comes to harming the system, itis for genuine democratic forces to join hands for the sake of future ofthe democracy and the country. Destabilization and discontinuation ofpolicies are among the major factors that have deprived Pakistan of itsreal potential for development. Therefore, repeated assurances by PPPto go to any extent to safeguard democracy are appreciable. The standadopted by Mr. Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who havecounselled revolution mongers to wait for 2018, is reflective of theirdemocratic credentials and their commitment to the policy of reconcili-ation. We hope that other parties would also shun policies of expedi-ency and support the democratic process at all costs.

Zero conviction of rapists,extortionists and killers

THE revelation made during meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice that there was zero conviction in rape cases in

the country for the last five years, which should serve as an eye-openerfor those responsible for dispensation of justice. The conclusion is basedon the date provided by the Government and the reason is lacunas in PPC,CrPC and Law of Evidence.

The Committee rightly expressed its resolve to engage into a processof discussions with all stakeholders so as to bring about necessary amend-ments in the relevant laws but the malaise is not just restricted to law butgeneral apathy at governmental and societal level. There is sharp increasein incidents of rape and gang rape but nothing goes beyond coverage ofthese abhorring incidents by media and rhetorical statements and photovisits of the authorities concerned. The trend can be stemmed instantly ifpolice investigates such cases fairly and expeditiously and courts de-liver deterring judgements but this does not happen and there are nosigns that it is going to happen in near future. It is unfortunate that allthis is happening in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. We have beenemphasizing in these columns that instead of taking suo moto notices ofhigh profile cases, the judiciary should focus on eradication of corrup-tion from its ranks and reforming of the judicial process that makes italmost next to impossible for an ordinary soul to get justice. The liti-gants are penalized for years and decades for their ‘sin’ to knock thedoor of justice and ultimately they get frustrated as, in many case, justiceis sold and purchased and not delivered as per dictates of law. It is be-cause of unholy informal alliance of the judiciary, black coats and policethat rapists, extortionists and killers are roaming freely. Time has come toreview the situation as frustration of people is touching extremes.

Zarb-e-Azb for peace

Polls inLibya

THE second ballot since theoverthrow of ColonelMuammar Gaddafi is being

held in the midst of coup fears anda governance crisis. But this timearound more than 2,000 candidatesare contesting in their individualcapacity, as the culture of politicalparties seems to have fallen apart.Most religious elements do notenjoy public support and only can-didates that are liberal and nation-alist have an edge. A successfulpoll and a valid result that is ac-ceptable across-the-board willprove to be a shot in the arm inLibya’s transition towards a stabledemocratic state.

The question that has gatheredimportance, however, is what willbe the fate of militant groups thathave mushroomed since 2011,when the wave of Arab Spring ledto somersaults. At least three suc-cessive prime ministers have notbeen able to overcome the crisis.That had led a section of the statearmy to assert under the leadershipof General Khalifa Haftar, whichhad come as a deathblow to thugsand militants who had created astate within the state. Apparentlythat is why the United States haddeveloped a soft corner for Haftar,hoping that he is realising anagenda that Washington was sup-posed to implement by going afterthe criminals.

Underlying political divisionsand armed groups are two of theissues that Libya’s polity faces andthe crisis is compounded in the ab-sence of a leader who can rally thepeople. But the good point is thatLibyans still strongly believe in apluralistic-cum-representative so-ciety and it is this aspect that isgoing to rebuild the country. Thevote is meant to beat the chaoticenvironment crippling the country.—Khaleej Times

*****

Lebanon’sfragility

exposed yetagain

THE fragile calm in Lebanonsuffered a blow when thecountry suffered its third

suicide bombing in a week, thistime in a section of Beirut domi-nated by Hezbollah. The AbdullahAzzam Brigade, which is appar-ently linked to Al Qaida, haspromised that such attacks willcontinue while Hezbollah contin-ues to fight in the Syrian civil waralongside President Bashar AlAssad’s forces.

Compounding the dangers ofthese attacks is the failure of theirresponsible politicians in theLebanese parliament to elect anew president. The collection offormer warlords and sectarianleaders, who pass for politiciansin that sad country, continue toindulge in their factional and sec-tarian politics while seeking theirown advantage as the country triesto cope with the fallout of theSyrian civil war.

Syrian fighting has spilledinto neighbouring Lebanon on nu-merous occasions and inflamedsectarian tensions, not least be-cause there are now more than amillion Syrian refugees in Leba-non, which has a native popula-tion of only four million. A par-ticular example of the misery pil-ing up for the one million Syrianrefugees is the fate of the 360,000who are aged between 15 and 24but are not allowed to attendLebanese universities, for fear ofswamping the system.

This may be understandable inthe short term from the Lebaneseside, but as the Syrian war dragson, these youths will need to finda way to rebuild their lives andeducation is a vital way out of theirterrible predicament. A more co-herent Lebanese political establish-ment may be able to not only finda better way forward but also re-build its own politics.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

ZARB-e-Azb operationagainst ‘local and foreign terrorists’ in North Waziristan

was launched by the Armed Forcesof Pakistan on June 15, 2014 on thedirection of Government of Paki-stan. The main purpose of the op-eration is to promote peace by elimi-nating all the militant groups alongwith their sanctuaries without anydiscrimination. While explainingwhy this operation has been under-taken, the DG ISPR said that the ter-rorists were using North Waziristanas a base in their war against the stateof Pakistan. They had been disrupt-ing national life in Pakistan not onlycausing enormous loss of life andproperty but also damaging socio-economic development and foreigninvestment. Further, they have alsoparalyzed life within NorthWaziristan by terrorizing the peaceloving and patriotic local population.

Through the resolution, on June16, 2914, the National Assembly ex-pressed the fullest resolve to supportthe decision of the government tolaunch a military operation by thevaliant Armed forces against themilitants in the tribal areas, who areusing Pakistani soil for their nefari-ous activities It was noted that mili-tants were engaged in attacks on thesecurity forces and law enforcingagencies as well as on public andprivate property resulting in tragicdeaths and injuries to military per-sonnel and innocent citizens andcolossal damage to economy. Fur-ther, resolution expressed the resolveto stand shoulder to shoulder withArmed forces till final victory. It

Linkage between insurgents & takfiris

IT appears that there is a nexus between the TTP, LeJ and otherbanned outfits of Baloch Sub-Na-

tionalists (BSN). They subscribe todifferent ideologies and have differ-ent objectives but converge on onepoint i.e. to weaken state of Pakistan.The attack of 8th June 2014 on shiaZaireen at Taftan Balochistan near theIranian border was tragic and quitealarming where two suicide bomb-ers armed with SMGs conducted in-discriminate firing before blowingthem up. In this attack, 24 zaireenwere killed and 14 injured. Spokes-man of Jaish-e-Islam had acceptedthe responsibility. Massacre of inno-cent Shia pilgrims in Balochistan,attack on Karachi airport and suicidalattack on Security Force at Boyawithin 24 hours prove the fact thatthe above banned terrorists outfits areworking in tandem with the aim todestabilize Pakistan. Their foreignmasters synchronize cowardly acts indarkness to hurt Pakistan domesti-cally, and malign them regionally andinternationally.

Claiming responsibility forKarachi attack by TTP and recoveryof Indian weapons, ammunition andchemical syringes from terroristsclearly indicate that RAW is directlyinvolved in all terrorist acts in Paki-stan. Activities of BSN’s go on asmiscreants carried out rocket attacks,target killings, damaging gas pipe-lines and firing on security forces par-

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

Let me remindyou what thewary fox saidonce upon a timeto the sick lion:‘Because thosefootprints scareme, all directedyour way, nonecoming back.’

ticularly in Awaran, Kech,Dera Bugti, Khuzdar andPanjgur areas. There ap-pears to be linkage be-tween BLA/BRA and re-ligious militants. Promi-nent religious scholarsshould take notice ofTakfiri ideology and de-clare them as “Khawarj”.

In Muslims history, Khawarij Takfirishave come from various sects in vari-ous times at various places. Sectariandifferences and religious disagree-ments are present in the entire Mus-lim world but they cannot be calledKhawarij until start killing and slaugh-tering the Muslims who do not accepttheir ideology. In the past, Khawarijkilled Hazrat Ali (RA), they had de-molished shrine of Hazrat Fatimah(RA). Today, the TTP and Jundalla aretermed khawarij by religious scholars.

Sectarian groups are activethroughout Pakistan. There is a per-ception that Saudi Arabia and Iran arefunding their proxies to settle theirscore on Pakistani soil. Anyhow, num-ber of Shias killed is more than anyother sect. Hazaras were attackedmany a time, and scores of them werekilled by sectarian groups like LeJ.Last year, eighteen people weregunned down when about a dozen uni-dentified armed men opened fire on abus bound for Gilgit from Rawalpindiwhen it reached Dassu of Kohistandistrict (PK), in a pre-dawn strike.Many scholars in the Muslim worldhave condemned the killings on basisof sect or faith, as Islam is a religionof peace, and killing one innocent per-son means killing the entire human-ity. In March 2014, hundreds of Mus-lim clerics from all over the world hadgathered in Beirut to take part in a con-ference focusing on how to deal withextremist groups who kill in name of

Islam. Most speakers stressed that trueIslam teaches forgiveness and dia-logue, not killing. Ahmed Karima ofAl Azhar University said that Takfirisconsider all other sects as infidels thatdeserved to be killed.

In Pakistan, media has been giv-ing undue importance to the leadersof banned organizations. PTV andother electronic media channels shouldbe stopped to air even a single minuteinterview or tickers of statementsgiven by terrorists. No nation allowsanti-state elements to present their dis-torted ideology the way it is happen-ing in Pakistan. This must end forth-with. Pakistan will have to keep vigilon the activities of National Director-ate of Security (NDS) of Afghanistanand India’s RAW, which is operatingfrom consulates in Afghanistan citiesbordering Pakistan. Despite the factthat Pakistan is sincere in its coopera-tion to bring peace and stability in Af-ghanistan, the Afghan government isensconcing terrorist Fazalullah inKunar, Afghanistan. The question iswhy the US has not been able to dronehim as CIA did to eliminateHakimullah? Pakistan has launchedoperation in North Waziristan andkilled hundreds of terrorists of differ-ent hue and shade. In this backdrop,there is no reason to distrust Pakistan,as by bombing the hideouts and strong-holds of the terrorists Pakistan hasproved its detractors wrong.

Not only Americans and Indians,even some chattering classes in Paki-stan have been saying that Pakistanconsiders some groups as its assets,or distinguishes militants betweengood Taliban and bad Taliban. Al-though Armed forces of Pakistan aredecimating terrorists hideouts andcamps, there is need to put in place amechanism so that militants do notsurface again to restart their vile acts.

—HoraceRoman poet

hoped that the operation wouldnot only help restore peace butalso bring socio-economicprosperity to people.

Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharifwhile addressing the National

Assembly clarified that his govern-ment had tried its utmost to make dia-logue process result-oriented but theterrorists persisted with bloodshedand violence. Terrorism and dialoguecould not go side by side. He addedthat the government sincerely gavepeace a chance for four and a halfmonths but its sincerity was not re-ciprocated and the government hadto take the decision to launch the op-eration as a last resort. He pointed outthat there could have been two opin-ions about the operation and the dia-logue process in the past but now thischapter should be closed and the en-tire nation including media, politicalparties, religious leaders and tribalpeople should extend a helping handto make the operation a success.

Some analyst like FarrukhSaleen, believe that Zarb-e-Asb ap-pears to be one of the most carefullyplanned, targeted and a limited op-eration. All exit and entry points lead-ing into South Waziristan Agency(SWA), Bannu, Hangu, Kurram andKarak are being monitored. Surren-der points, for those willing to laydown their arms, have been estab-lished. The FATA Disaster Manage-ment Authority is active in setting upIDP camps, registration centers andtransportation facilities for safeevacuation of the local populationThe Afghan National Army (ANA)has been requested to seal off entrypoints into Paktia, Khost and Paktika.

Zarb-e-Azb is considered a com-prehensive operation which is differ-ent from previous operations. Earlieroperations were selective against someparticular groups but Zarb-e-Azb is an

all out operation against all the terror-ist groups without any discrimination.Only those militants and groups wouldbe spared who would surrender.

This strategy of the governmentto target all groups, including thosewho have been in agreement with themilitary authorities in the past, hasboth positive and negative aspects.The positive aspects of this strategyinclude: first, Pakistan’s most imme-diate goal is naturally to ensure thesafety of their own citizens by tar-geting terrorist groups which werecarrying out domestic attacks: sec-ond, because of all inclusive ap-proach, it will increase the credibil-ity of the operation in the internationalcommunity; third, it will facilitate inmeeting the requirements for releas-ing $300 million of the $900 millionCoalition Support Fund under theCarl Levin National Defence Autho-rization Act for fiscal year 2015;fourth, this strategy will also dispelthe impression that Pakistan is reluc-tant to take any action against somegroups such as Haqani Network;fifth, Chinese concerns regardingpresence of members of the EastTurkestan Islamic Movement(ETIM) in North Waziristan havealso been taken care of in the opera-tion as many ETIM terrorists andtheir affiliates had also been killed inthe strikes; sixth as now the militantsof Haqani Network have moved toAfghanistan and high command ofTTP had already taken refuge there,Pakistan is now in a position to askAfghanistan and USA to take neces-sary action on their side of border.

The negative aspects of the all in-clusive approach include: first, thestrategy of targeting all terroristgroups might have a severe blowbackand may end up uniting the militantgroups; second, Pakistan may lose theleverage on Haqani Network that itcould have used for reconciliation in

Afghanistan; third, lack of action byAfghan and NATO forces against themilitant groups who have sneakedinto Afghanistan would remain aconstant threat to Pakistan; fourth,the issue of terrorism is no more aglobal threat due to decrease in Al-Queeda’s global reach and its focushas been shifted to regions, in viewof this transformation there are veryless chances that the internationalcommunity would come forwards tohelp Pakistan specially to overcomethe economic losses and even for re-habilitation and settlement of IDPsfrom North Waziristan.

There are two major challengesthat Pakistan is facing due to Zarb-e-Azb-first is the rehabilitation andsettlement of large number of dis-placed people. The number of Inter-nally Displaced People (IDPs) fromNorth Waziristan due to the ongo-ing operation against militants hasexceeded 4 lacs. According to thelatest official data as of June 23,2014, the National Database Reg-istration Authority (NADRA) hasregistered 35,381 families compris-ing 435,429 IDPs (114,596 males,137,301 females and 183,532children).The second challenge isthe fear of backlash of these mili-tant groups at a time of their choice.In order to meet these two chal-lenges there is need for effectiveand continuous coordination be-tween Federal and Provincial gov-ernments on one hand and betweengovernment and Armed Forces onthe other hand. The role of mediaand civil society for the rehabilita-tion of IDPs is equally important.There is a need to project Zarb-e-Azb as an operation for peace notonly for Pakistan but also for theregion and the World.—The writer is working asResearch Fellow at IslamabadPolicy Research Institute (IPRI)

But it needs investment on Law En-forcing Agencies. The governmentalso needs to set its priorities right.In the Budget 2014-15 there arehardly any resources earmarked forimproving capability of LEAs and in-telligence agencies; instead billionsof rupees are allocated for megaprojects like METRO bus. Anotherpriority should be to keep vigil on theactivities of Indian RAW and NDSof Afghanistan. Of course, Pakistanshould have cordial relations with allits neighbours, but Pakistan shouldnever lower its guard, and ensure thatnational interest is watched all time.

When PM Nawaz Sharif is sin-cere in having good relations with In-dia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sresolve to revoke article 370 of In-dian Constitution (granting specialstatus to Indian held Kashmir) is aprovocative act. Modi’s associationwith RSS, (mother outfit of Hindutva– VHP) should be noticed by thosewho are hell bent in mending rela-tions with India unilaterally. There isa perception that unless there isprogress on core issues like Kashmir,water terrorism, Siachen, Sir Creekand presence of Indian proxies inBalochistan/FATA, there can be nopeace with India. When idea of initi-ating ‘Aman-ki-Asha’ was presented,the exponents of this initiative had ar-gued that it would provide a platformto Pakistan to make peace and endhostilities with India. And ‘Aman-ki-Asha’ would also facilitate resolutionof core issues between India and Pa-kistan including Kashmir, Siachen,Sir Creek, and water disputes througha dialogue process. The powerful pre-sentations made by Geo Group hadconvinced politico-military leader-ship that initiative was a noble effort.—The writer is Lahore-based seniorjournalist.

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Muhammad MunirEmail: munirwarsi@yahoo.com

Voice of the People

Poppy-free stateQAISER SHAH

There was a time in the 1980s whenPakistan was deeply involved in theprocessing of opium, and many in-fluential people in the country wereinvolved in its smuggling. But thatis no longer the case.

The total area under poppycultivation in Pakistan was 6,694hectares which is reduced to 493hectors by ANF; far less than 1000hectors - the United Nations’ cri-teria of declaring a country“Poppy-Free State”. There areabout four million drug addicts inPakistan, of which 500,000 aresaid to be chronic heroin users and60,000 to 100,000 intravenousdrug users. ANF, with hardly acouple of thousand personnel at itsdisposal, is humbled by the enor-mity of the challenge. Afghanistanremains in a state of war and theborder is too long for the ANF tomonitor.

ANF has successfully re-moved the stigma of poppy grow-ing state from Pakistan. Pakistanhas been acknowledged as PoppyFree State for the year 2011 andwill retain the same status for 2012and 2013 as well. With less inforce and lacking the monetaryassistance the performance incomparison with other countries isoutstanding and laudable. Thegovernment and the internationalinstitutions must not only appre-ciate the courageous performanceof ANF but should also do morein terms of funds and human forceso that it may further achieve moremilestones to counter the menaceof narcotics.—Haripur

Cross-borderdrug trafficking

QAISER SHAH

The alarming drug production inAfghanistan is the main factor in-fluencing the drug situation notonly in Pakistan but World over.Afghanistan is producing almost74% of the total world opium andis the largest producer of cannabis.The smuggling of precursorchemicals to Afghanistan alsoposes serious intrinsic intimida-tions to Pakistan. Spill over effectson Pakistani society being a tran-sit country are an obvious phe-nomenon as it has been ravagingits national fabric since the war hasstruck the ill-fated country. Beinga transit country Pakistan is sub-jected to domestic spread and useof drugs, as well.

An estimated six per cent or6.45 million of the population inPakistan aged between 15 and 64used drugs in the last 12 monthswith cannabis being the most com-monly used drug among the popu-lations of addicts. There have beenover 1.1 million opium users inPakistan while maximum numberof opiates lies between 20-30 yearsof age. With this factual propaga-tion there also exist the risingtrends of addiction of amphet-amine type stimulant (ATS), ec-stasy, cocaine, MDMA(methylenedioxy methamphet-amine), psychotropic substancesand crystal that mars the situationto further extend.

Owing to porous border, poorborder management and avail-ability of numerous frequentedand un-frequented routes, hugequantity of drugs have been pro-liferated into Pakistan from Af-ghanistan. Cross-border drugtrafficking can hardly be stopped,no matter how large a force is em-ployed, unless optimum bordercontrol measures are put in place.

The two strategic issues ofdrug production and poor bordermanagement have been seldomtaken up with Afghan Govern-ment vehemently; that is a weak-ness on our part. Given the seri-ousness of the situation, Pakistanremains cognizant of its respon-sibility to counter the drug men-ace through a three-pronged strat-egy on: supply reduction, through

Int’l Day against drug abuseIMRAN MANGHAT

The observance of world drug day stimulates reflection on the effectiveness, and the limitations, ofdrug policy. The review resulted in the reaffirmation that illicit drugs continue to pose a health

danger to humanity. That’s why drugs are, and should remain, controlled. Despite continued andincreased efforts by the international community, the world drug problem continues to constitute aserious threat to public health, the safety and well-being of humanity, particularly the young people,besides the national security and sovereignty of various countries and that it undermines socio-eco-nomic and political stability and sustainable development. In Pakistan, operating with scarce re-sources through 2538 km porous western border with Afghanistan, 909 km rugged terrain along Iranin South-west, 1600 km long Indian-controlled barbed-fenced perimeter in the East, 1062 km ex-tended coastal belt in the South and throughout the whole territory of Pakistan, Anti Narcotics Force(ANF) has come up with agency’s highest ever drug seizures last year. The year 2013 brought greatersense of achievement for the force in terms of contributing significantly towards denting major drugtrafficking organizations by apprehending important members of these networks. The number ofdrug cases registered remained almost the same (693 in 2012 and 692 in 2013) however number ofdrug traffickers arrested was ten per cent higher than 2012. The total number of persons arrested in2013 was 796 as compared to 722 in 2012. The nation hopes that these commendable achievementsmust be further carried on to make us proud of this valuable institution.—Mandi Bahauddin

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

—Editor

“Democracy” in Afghanistan & Iraq

DEMOCRACY in Afghanistan is a western project. Itserved as a face saver after the

invasion of Afghanistan under a falsepretext to establish US era of jingo-ism in the region by seemingly link-ing it to the World Trade Center plotwith yet another big lie that 9/11 at-tackers had link with Islamic govern-ment of Mullah Omar in Afghani-stan. In reality though it was thatonly few months back the Texas OilCartel had failed to reach an agree-ment to secure oil and gas pipelineproject coming from CAR throughAfghanistan which resulted in thetoppling of the Taliban government.

‘Democracy’ and a new constitu-tion was used in order to justify inter-vention by bringing ‘progress’ to thecountry in line with 19th century ‘whiteman’s burden’ propaganda and sec-ondly, in order to be able to put afriendly-to-the west- government inplace that will allow the West to ex-ploit Afghanistan’s mineral and othernatural resources for their own profit.Mr. Karzai was the first Americanstooge that was installed and then ‘re-elected’ in highly questionable elec-tions marred by corruption. Corrup-tion –though a characteristic of any so-ciety and of the Afghan society as well-has been sky rocketing during the 13years of western occupation of Af-ghanistan. The inflow of so muchmoney and the lack of any control ofits spending promoted corruption inthe Afghan government, NGOs andother institutions, but in the US armyand NATO as well through the so-called contractors who pocketed morethan 50% war expenses.

The latest election that was goingto replace Mr. Karzai of course, wasno exception to that rule. Corruptionand manipulation was a trade mark this

time as well. But apart from this,what preconditions does Af-ghanistan have to organize elec-tions? The answer is hardly any.Neither is there a census avail-able so that one could know howmany people are there , what age

and gender, identity cards are a prob-lem, and there of course are no propervoter lists available. The country is incivil war with large parts of the terri-tory not under the control of the gov-ernment and Taliban not only boy-cotted the election but actively pre-vented the electoral process from tak-ing place by a large number of attackson voters and polling stations. Whatcould possibly be the authority of agovernment come into being on thebasis of such a flawed process? Thelack of authority was the problem ofthe Karzai government and it will beproblem of the forthcoming one re-gardless of the result. Now even theresult seems to be in danger. AbdullahAbdullah, one of the candidates whoin the second round of election is fight-ing for the final win has complainedabout rigging in the electoral processand demanded to halt vote counting.

He announced that he would notrespect the outcome of this election,while Mr. Ashraf Ghani also expressedsome concerns on the manner in whichthe election is held. Before a referenceto the court in this regard could havebeen made, the Chief of Afghan Elec-tion Commission has resigned accept-ing the onus. On the other hand AttaMohammad Noor, the powerful gov-ernor of Balkh Province and supporterof Abdullah Abdullah, posted a photoon Facebook on June 18. The photodepicted tanks making their way to-ward the front line during the jihadagainst the Soviet occupation in the1980s. The accompanying text read:“To become President, Ashraf Ghanihas to cross this border. Passing thisborder is impossible.”

The US has to learn a lesson fromIraq and remember that Afghanistanhas a history of revolts against occu-pation; no warrior of the world could

ever establish his writ to rule Afghani-stan. What is happening in Iraq is theresult of the ill-conceived blunder thatthe George W. Bush administrationand the oil cartel in mad rush to filltheir own coffers were agitating forinvasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Ac-cording to the Council on ForeignRelations, ISIS in Iraq “emerged fromthe white lie that Saddam had Weaponof Mass Destruction.” So, the publicopinion has now emerged that No in-vasion, No ISIS overrunning Iraq.Minus the invasion, there wouldn’thave been Noorul Maliki’s Shiitegovernment isolating Iraq’s Sunniand Kurdish minorities under Presi-dent Obama umbrella that was boundto land Iraq in this sectarian war. Per-haps this is the ongoing Westernagenda to crush Islamic renaissance.There are no two opinions about howhorrible Saddam Hussein was, but healso ran a secular government readingthe pulse of his people.

Now after the US invasion, Iraqhas been converted into a more reli-gious and less secular state. More thanhalf a million Christians have fled thecountry in fear for their lives. Now wehave emerging fear of a radical theoc-racy governed by Sharia Law wher-ever ISIS gains control. These are ex-actly the kind of fanatics the Iraq Warproponents promised to eradicate. In-stead, the war has spawned a new andreportedly even more barbaric revo-lution set on establishing a global net-work to create fear among their ownfollowers who were reportedly beingtrained in World Cup 2014 to trans-late Catholic belief to Evangelicalpractices as a declaration on sport andthe Christian life.

In Afghanistan as well it is a factthat a second generation of jihad isbrought to the country. This is creat-ing a crisis in the political process be-cause the West and especially the USis waiting anxiously for the new gov-ernment to come into existence to gettheir BSA signed that should enablethem to keep about 10.000 troops inAfghanistan for two more years. This

outcome might now not be in sight ifa new fight for power is gettinglaunched due to recent turning ofevents in the Afghan election. Sign-ing of the BSA is also a sure recipefor disaster: foreign troops in thecountry mean that the Taliban insur-gency will keep fighting against thetroops and against a governmenteven if President Ghani, in all prob-ability might have assured to signthe BSA and come into power by adefective electoral process whichthey don’t recognize. If Abdullahis now also up in arms he will jointhe civil war fighting against a gov-ernment that–according to him- hascome into existence due to flawedelections. Western political systemsthat require different societies andmind sets from what is available inAfghanistan will not bring peace butprolong the war and thus bring moremisery not only in Afghanistan butsurely Pakistan will be a victim of ourwrong decisions of the past andpresent. Together with the evolvingsituation in Iraq, the whole region isgoing to be destabilized further withjihadis traveling from country tocountry and the countries splitting upin the process. This is a really darkperspective for Pakistan that is con-nected to these developments in somany ways: one is the Pakistani jihadimovement that will get encourage-ment and new safe havens to survive,secondly the state of Pakistan that isfighting with inner instability and civilwar and thirdly as an ally of the US –an alignment that will make us de-pendent and infringe on our decisionmaking. What we need in this situa-tion is to free ourselves from theclutches of the US and finally putPakistan’s national interest in the cen-tre of our policy. Secondly, we needa government that can balance nec-essary military action and improvedcivilian governance. The alternativeis doom only. GOD Bless Pakistanand humanity.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

Views From Abroad

Time for introspection

WATCHING the latest funand games in Iraq and thefine mess that the empire

has made of the fabled Mesopotamiais both edifying and sobering. This iswhere it all began: Civilization, soci-ety, culture, art and perhaps life it-self. The home of Euphrates andTigris, the cradle of civilization.

This is the land of Dar Al-Hikma,the house of wisdom from where thelight of knowledge shone across theworld and saw the Muslim civiliza-tion touch the pinnacle of its glory.This is where the magical world ofthe thousand and one nights camealive and Scheherazade spawnedmyriad fantastic tales. This is wherescholars like Imam Abu Hanifa taughttens of thousands of seekers ofknowledge who came from far cor-ners of the known world. This iswhere Imam Hussain, the greatmartyred grandson of the Prophet,lies buried. He went down, with therest of his family in Karbala, valiantlyfighting in what is known as the ulti-mate epic battle between good andevil. And it wouldn’t be the first orthe last time that Iraq would see thebloodletting of Muslims at the handsof fellow believers.

Iraq is witnessing another epicbattle today, perhaps to end all battles,as they always claim. Iraq’s GrandAyatollah Ali Al-Sistani last weekcalled for “a jihad” to fight the march-ing hordes of ISIL fighters. It is abattle between the good and evil, in-sisted his spokesperson during theFriday sermon.

In response, tens of thousands ofShiite men, young and old, are rush-

ing to enroll themselves, many ofthem from neighboring countries andeven doctors and professionals livingand working in western climes, inwhat they see as the “holy war.”

Given the sharp, sectarian battle-lines already drawn across the MiddleEast, we may be in for an Armaged-don, a free-for-all war that threatensto consume the whole of Islamicworld. Is this indeed a battle betweenthe good and evil though? Who isright and who is wrong? There areno easy, simple answers. What I seeis a fratricide, a battle between broth-ers. What I see is the red tide of Mus-lim blood drowning and overwhelm-ing the borders of the Middle East.

And whoever wins in this war,in the end it is the so-called Ummahand all that it stands for which willbe the loser. It already seems to havelost. You will have to experience thesweetness and light that the Sunnisand Shiite have been spreadingagainst each other in social media andfrom the pulpit to know what I mean.

In response to my piece about Iraqlast week, I received scores of mailsfrom both sides of the divide. All ofthem accusing me of taking the other’sside while listing the historical crimesthe other side apparently visited ontheir community. I didn’t know wewere capable of such unadulteratedhatred and spite against our own!

I wonder if they follow the samefaith, the same Book and the sameProphet? How did we end up here?Of course, much of this mess in Iraq— comedian Jon Stewart rightly callsit Mess-o-potamia — and extendedneighborhood is a legacy of the em-pire. The role our Israeli and Zionistfriends have played in the US inva-sion of Iraq is also well known anddocumented. Indeed, their shenani-

gans aren’t confined to Iraq. Thewhole of the Middle East remains thetarget. The object is not just an all-powerful Greater Israel, from theriver to the sea. The plan envisionsand necessitates the dismembermentand dispossession of the whole neigh-borhood. This is what the Zionists andChristian extremists have longdreamed of and have been workingtoward it — silently and dispassion-ately. I am not a sucker for conspiracytheories. But this growing Shiite-Sunni fratricide from Arabia to Cen-tral Asia fits in nicely with the plot.And those who promote and fuel sec-tarian hatred and call for arms againsteach other are deliberately or other-wise advancing the designs andagenda of those who see Islam as thelast stumbling block in the way totheir total global hegemony.

And these so-called champions offaith, these spurious scholars issuingedicts declaring each other apostateand justifying the killing of innocentMuslims have proved themselves farmore dangerous and harmful than ouropen enemies. For they sit in our midstto undermine us from within. You can-not go on blaming the West and Israelfor all our woes. In this respect, ourown incredible talents haven’t exactlybeen found wanting.

Despite all the resources includ-ing oil which is the lifeblood of glo-bal economy being at their disposalall these years, if Muslim countriesremain so far behind the rest of theworld on every front, who is toblame? Look at the farce that has beengoing on in the name of democracyand justice in the neighborhood. IfOrwell had lived long enough hewould have to invent a new languageand grammar to make sense of thestate of affairs prevailing today.

Is it any wonder then the groupslike ISIL, Al-Qaeda and Taleban areincreasingly winning? When thevoices of reason, sanity and peaceare suppressed, when people are de-nied their legitimate aspirations andare deprived of their basic humandignity, extremism wins.

This is what is happening acrossthe region, from the edge of Africato Arab Maghreb and Iraq and Syria(western commentators have startedcalling it “Syraq”!) to Pakistan andAfghanistan and beyond.

For far too long, Muslim intel-lectuals and governments haveurged — and rightly of course —the western powers to look at theroots of this conflict to understandthe phenomenon of extremism andviolence in the region and aroundthe world. Perhaps, it is about timewe pose the same question to our-selves. What has been our own —both individual and collective —role in contributing to this state ofall-round chaos and corruption?Surely, we wouldn’t have come thisfar entirely without some of ourown efforts and double standardshelping it. Why the Muslim worldremains stuck in a time warp whenthe rest of the world has moved onis something that all of us — espe-cially our intellectuals and politi-cians — need to ask ourselves.

This is certainly not somethingthat our faith gifted us. It came toliberate us. Those who truly em-braced it transformed the world. Itis we who have invented all thesechains and bonds to enslave our-selves. It is we who chose to remainprisoners of monsters of our owncreation. Perhaps, it is about time wefaced our demons.—Courtesy: Arab News

Aijaz Zaka Syed

Really secular..!

MANY in our country areafraid of being calledsecular. Does it mean anti

Hindu, anti Muslim, does it meanpro minority? Strangely a similarsituation exists in America. TheUSA like ours, and unlike the UK,is a secular country, but for nearlythree centuries, Christian thought inall forms prevailed in all walks oflife, which is okay till it was alsoslammed on the face of citizens ofother faiths.

Suddenly in the last decade ortwo, through courts and judge-ments passed, prayers which werepart of school functions, ten com-mandments which were part of any

inscription on legislature hall walls,and even reference to ‘Merry Christ-mas’ was intentionally, forcedly re-moved, and frowned on. MerryChristmas became Happy Holidays.Hundreds of protest letters askingpeople to sign them went around,some of them I have seen.

What actually happened?America woke up and found that themeaning of secular was to keep theirfaith and beliefs in private thoughtand not publicly.

They reacted, they are still re-acting and for a country that is 87%Christian, they are angry. But sincethis thinking is based on the Consti-tution, and since citizens there holdthat constitution more precious thentheir religious beliefs, the protestingChristians, or shall we say practic-ing Christians, are being looked atas radicals, and that too in their own

country and where they are suppos-edly a majority.

I think the same situation existshere: The Hindu who professes hisor her faith finds he or she is beingbranded as un-secular, and feels iso-lated and alone living in a majority.In the process of separating statefrom religion this is bound to hap-pen, but really should not. TheChristian in America, the Hindu inIndia, the Muslim in Bangladesh andPakistan need to work out that theirreligious faith is a personal thing.How I worship and how somebodyelse worships, should not even bementioned outside the confines ofones own walls.

I have spent decades visiting thehomes of my Hindu friends and havenever felt any unease with pujas orreligious rituals followed, thoughthey are different for me, and so have

those friends in attending a reli-gious function in my church. I dofeel we have been through child-hood, conditioned to thinking, thatother forms of worship are wrong,ours is the right method: It’s a sillyargument, because we had nothingto do with being born into a Hindu,Christian or Muslim family, howthen are we to be blamed for whatwe are taught to follow, how thendo we profess that our path to Godis better than others?

Let us look at each other as‘people’. Let us recognize the hu-manness in each other, but morethan anything else let us learn torespect each other’s path to God.This is important not just as indi-viduals, but if an India, a Pakistan,a Bangladesh and an America needto exist together..!—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com

invigorated and strengthened lawenforcement; demand reductionthrough accelerated initiatives; andinternational cooperation.—Haripur

Day againstdrug abuse

MUHAMMAD AMJAD

Every year on June 26, countriescommemorate the “InternationalDay Against Drug Abuse & IllicitTrafficking” with a slogan deter-mined by the United Nations Of-fice on Drugs and Crime(UNODC).

On this day different countriesexpress their challenges in the fieldof narcotics, measures taken and thesolutions for resolving this prob-lem. This day is a universal sym-bol which reminds the conse-quences of cultivation, traffickingand consumption of drugs and re-quires governments’ firm resolvefor an all-out campaign against thisgrave social problem.

Over the past 25 years we havewitnessed international anti-drugconferences at the UNODC head-quarters and other countries to fur-ther reveal the importance of thenations’ political determination instruggling against the destructivephenomenon, that is, narcotics. Inthis regard, programmes like pre-vention of addiction, media’s rolein rehabilitation of addicts to nor-mal life, eradicating illegal poppycultivation, destruction of the maindrug trafficking networks, legalcooperation of countries in fightingagainst addiction and drugs, are re-minded to different countries in-volved in addiction and drug traf-ficking. But unfortunately theworld is witness to individuals’ in-clination to addiction; and the hav-ocs created by drug abuse pave theway for the collapse of many cul-tural and ethical values.

In Pakistan, achievements in itsdomain, huge volumes of the seizeddrugs are burnt as a symbol of seri-ous campaign against drugs, thussymbolizing full annihilation ofdrugs in the world in the near fu-ture. Undoubtedly, strugglingagainst illicit drugs smuggling andaddiction needs collective action byinternational community, free fromcommercial profiteering. If allcountries embark on the campaigntogether, victory is certain.—Via email

Psychosocial effectsof drug addiction

ANWAR PARWEEN

All of us are indebted to Anti DrugForce for its efforts to control drugabuse. But still there needs to be anawareness regarding the use andabuse of drugs so that our teenag-ers are protected from this menace.No one ever wants to get involvedintentionally in any negative activ-ity and especially when it is a riskto physical and mental life and re-lationships.

Teenage is a time when young-sters are growing up. They developa feeling of being capable to takeresponsibilities and do what theywant. They experiment a variety ofactivities as well as taking drugs.In teenage mostly it is introducedby friends, and in order to remain apart of peer group the individualtakes it for the first time with a viewnot to take it again or become ad-dicted. Some take it as an adven-ture and for fun. There are thosewho are frustrated due to failuresor pressures of life and they findcomfort in drugs to forget the harshrealities of life for some time.

A person who starts takingdrugs always believes that he iscapable to manage the effects andcan leave whenever he would like.He tries again and again and in be-tween when there are no immedi-ate negative consequences, the per-son is confident that he is in con-trol of the situation. But slowlyand gradually he becomes depen-dent on it. Drugs if taken fre-quently have serious consequences

which affect the life pattern of theindividual. The teenager may haveproblems at school due to extremelaziness, poor grades, disciplineproblems and loss of interest inactivities which once were consid-ered as favourite. Mood swings arealso common which create prob-lems for the people around as atone time the person is happy andparticipates in the family activityand suddenly shows no interestand wants to be alone.

Other symptom may beshow of violent behaviour on mi-nor issues blaming others for hisdistress as he is not loved andcared anymore. The individualwants to remain in his room allalone in a state of depression notlistening to anyone or discussinganything. The person may showlack of concern regarding his ownself as not taking care of his per-sonal hygiene. In order to get drugsthe youngster may steal money orother valuables from home. Thesame behaviour is exhibited out-side home. Under the influence ofdrugs, the teenager can get in-volved in criminal activities re-lated to theft, violence and sex.Suicidal behaviour is also seen inadolescents involved in drugs.

They may give threats ofsuicide. Teenagers who use drugsmay also have diseases like HIVand Hepatitis B and C. Drug abusecan affect the brain in a way thatit can shrink it, impair the learn-ing abilities, cause memory prob-lems such as amnesia. The think-ing and reasoning is affected andthe person depends on others todecide for him. Accidents are alsocommon leaving the person in-jured or causing death. Terroristsalso allure the young into the trapthrough drugs. This damages theshort and long term memory andthey follow the instructions of theterrorists who continuously brain-wash them and keep them undertheir influence.

We as a nation are fighting onso many fronts. The use of drugs isalso one of them. It is a lethalweapon which needs to be coun-tered very tactfully because it causedamage the person, family, socialsystem and then on the nationallevel. Fighting against it needscourage and will at the national andsociety level.—Via email

Pak dramarevivalDANYA ZAIDI

We have heard so much criticismregarding Indian content boughtand shown by Pakistani channels.Although Pakistani shows are neverpromoted in India still Indian showsare shown and liked by our people.It was a time when they almost be-came part of our society and every-one seemed to be crazy about them.

But now for the very first thepeople are more focused towardsour own shows. Zee Entertainmentnetwork is launching a new chan-nel which will be broadcasting thefamous and conceptual Pakistanidramas. They have bought manyfamous and high rating dramas ofPakistan for it. On the top of thatthey think that Pakistani artists andwriters are very hardworking andthey deserve to be on the top. Itseems to be a very positive stepfrom Indian network. Apart fromthis it’s a good news for our in-dustry that their hard work is ac-knowledged, appreciated and pro-moted so well.—Karachi

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

The end of Americandemocracy?

THOMAS V. DIBACCO

THERE are so many scandals plaguing the administrationof Barack Obama that any sentient historian would have tocontemplate whether this nation’s status as the world’s

model democratic nation has finally come to an end. The reasonis that past scandals plaguing presidential administrations, withthe notable exception of Watergate, essentially involved eithermoney-taking by subordinate officeholders, or personal miscon-duct, as in the case of the Monica Lewinsky affair under Presi-dent Clinton.

Never before in the nation’s history has the machinery offederal government departments been used to cover up seem-ingly obvious misconduct to protect a president from impeach-ment proceedings. Never before has the mainstream press largelyignored the political machinations, never before has the party ofthe president in power been so united in defense of the chiefexecutive. Never before has the attorney general of the UnitedStates, in the face of obvious crimes in the administration or hisoffice, failed to take any significant action. Recall that the infa-mous Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, under PresidentWoodrow Wilson from 1919 to 1921, gained notoriety, much tothe chagrin of liberals, for taking too much action against for-eign radicals that the public viewed as antithetical to the nation’sdemocracy.

Never before has the opposition party — in this case, theRepublicans — been so divided that a unified front in the up-coming midterm elections, to say nothing of the presidential elec-tion in 2016, has been so elusive, making it likely that the Demo-crats will continue the cover-up status quo. Worse, the leadingDemocratic candidate for the presidency, Hillary Clinton, maywell be victorious in two years, ensuring that the Benghazi scan-dal under her watch resulting in the death of four Americans, aswell as the rest of the Obama scandals, will be swept unresolvedunder the rug.

Not wanting to criticize the first black man to hold the presi-dency, Mrs. Clinton, in short, will be given free rein to emulatethe sordid policies of her predecessor. American democracy, asit was known until 2009, will be difficult to restore, especially inforeign affairs. For never since 1980 has American policy abroadbeen in such shambles that nations ignore State Department andWhite House remonstrations, knowing that the administrationwill not follow up. Never since Sept. 11, 2001, has Americansecurity against terrorists been so weakened as a result of releas-ing captured terrorists to ply their trade, with the defiant boast,to “see us in New York.”

The dilemma of the nation, first noted by French visitor Alexisde Tocqueville in his penetrating analysis, “Democracy inAmerica” (1835), is that representative government eventuallycan sink to the lowest common denominator when elections toall offices become synonymous with public appeal rather thanthe quality of the candidate. “I do not know if the people of theUnited States,” wrote de Tocqueville, “would vote for superiormen if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that suchmen do not run.”

—Courtesy: Washington Times.[Thomas V. DiBacco is professor emeritus at American Uni-versity].

ISIL led bycharismatic man

DAVID IGNATIUS

WASHINGTON ? A glimpse of the passionate loyaltyinspired by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of theinsurgent group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and

the Levant (ISIL), comes in a recent video made by a 20-year-old Muslim recruit from the British city of Cardiff, Wales.

“We understand no borders,” says the young man, identifiedas Nasser Muthana, a recruit who apparently joined ISIL abouteight months ago. “We have participated in battles in (Syria)and in a few days we will go to Iraq and will fight them, and willeven go to Lebanon and Jordan, wherever our sheik (Baghdadi)wants to send us.”

“Send us, we are your sharp arrows. Throw us at your en-emies, wherever they may be,” pledges the young man toBaghdadi on the video. The British recruit is dressed in a simpleuniform and a light head scarf, his thin beard a sign that he isbarely out of high school. Before he decided to join the jihad,Muthana, whose family emigrated from Yemen to Britain, hadbeen accepted by four medical schools in Britain, according toan analysis by the Daily Mail. Baghdadi’s ability to inspire suchintense support worries U.S. officials. His fighters seeminglywill go anywhere and do anything for the cause. They combinea fanatical passion with an unusual degree of organization, tech-nical skill and tactical planning.

“Baghdadi is a ruthless, resilient and ambitious terroristleader who unfortunately has shown a knack for tactical opera-tions and, it seems, military strategy,” says a U.S.counterterrorism official. He describes Baghdadi as “headstrong”and “opportunistic” in his ability to break with core al-Qaidaleadership and fashion alliances with Iraqi and Syrian tribal lead-ers.

Baghdadi may be more skillful in the field than either of hismentors, Osama bin Laden or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leaderof al-Qaida in Iraq. He is creating his own “emirate,” guardedby tanks and heavy weapons, something bin Laden only dreamedof. And he has recruited Sunni tribal leaders with more finessethan Zarqawi, whose hyper-violent tactics ultimately turned theIraqi population away from him.

“Baghdadi is the unquestioned leader of (ISIL) and relies ona set of trusted lieutenants, but he has empowered local com-manders to make decisions and seems to have employed a some-what decentralized command structure,” says the U.S.counterterrorism official. It’s a mob-like approach, with Baghdadiusing “brutal methods to terrorize civilian populations” and fi-nancing operations with “coercive methods that would be fa-miliar to an organized crime group,” the official explains.

Baghdadi’s gang-leader charisma may reflect the time hespent as a prisoner at Camp Bucca, a U.S.-run detention facilitythat U.S. military officers feared was becoming a school forjihadists. The likelihood these camps were radicalizing inmateswas “a very real concern,” Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone, then deputycommander for detainee operations, told Newsweek in 2007.

It’s telling that as Baghdadi has built his organization over thelast several years, one of his most effective tactics has been toliberate Iraqi prisons that were holding al-Qaida detainees. ISILmounted a sophisticated attack on Abu Ghraib and Taji prisonsnearly a year ago, which freed up to 1,000 inmates, many of themhardened al-Qaida fighters. An Iraqi government communiquenoted then how sophisticated the attack was, combining car bombs,suicide bombers and coordinated mortar fire. When ISIL sweptthrough Mosul this month, the group freed another 2,000 to 3,000veteran fighters from a prison outside the town.

Though the U.S. official describes Baghdadi as a “home-grown terrorist” who has never traveled outside Iraq and Syria,his group has cleverly mobilized international social media toboost its cause. The online journal War on the Rocks this weekanalyzed a “Twitter storm” on #AllEyesOnISIS. In a 24-hourperiod that began last Friday, there were 31,500 tweets, with thetop 50 tweeters accounting for nearly 20 percent of the volume,or an average of 126 messages per person.

“This shows that a small number of enthusiastic and deeplyinvested activists shouldered the burden,” the journal noted.

Baghdadi’s semi-official biography, disseminated on jihadistwebsites, stresses his piety and family values. His father is atribal elder who “loves the religion.”

—Courtesy: KH

MARK ADOMANIS

BACK when he was still a head of stateand not an occasional organizer of awkward press conferences in Rostov,

former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovychwas renowned for many things.

He stood out for the poor quality of hisspoken language, his background in petty crimi-nality, his less than fulsome embrace of the ruleof law, and his family’s completely unbridledfinancial corruption.

What Yanukovych was not particularly fa-mous for was his enthusiasm for European in-tegration. Why, then, did he go so far in hisembrace of the Association Agreement with theEuropean Union? Why did he repeatedly prom-ise to sign a deal that posed such self-evidentrisks to Ukraine’s relationship with Russia?

While there was certainly some simplemiscalculation involved, Yanukovych’s supportwas conditioned on a very simple fact: a lot ofpeople in Ukraine are firmly convinced thatintegration with the European Union is the sur-est way for their country to get rich and for a“normal life” to be within reach. This convic-tion has outlived Yanukovych’s time in office,and, barring some kind of bizarre or unfore-seen occurrence, his successor PetroPoroshenko will sign the Association Agree-ment today.

Today’s EU Doesn’t Have Room for UkraineThe Ukrainian equation of “Europe” with

normalcy and prosperity has noticeable domes-tic roots, but it very clearly did not arise out ofa vacuum. In fact, some of the most active pro-ponents of the exceedingly simplistic idea thatjoining Europe guarantees material prosperityare Europeans, particularly those who work inthe enormous bureaucratic machine centeredon Brussels. These people expound at greatlength and monotonously about the “conver-gence machine” that they have created, and willtell anyone who wants to listen about the won-ders of the EU’s legal acquis communaitaireand other bits of obscure EU terminology.

Politicians from the newer and more success-ful member states, counties like Poland, Slovakia,and the Czech Republic, are even better advo-cates of a “European choice.” These people cantell Ukrainians with great clarity, sincerity, and,even more importantly, direct personal experienceabout the economic and social benefits that EUaccession has brought them. By any reckoningthey have been by far the most effective advo-cates of Ukraine’s initially cautious and nowswiftly accelerating move towards Europe.

The problem is that when they describe thebenefits of EU integration, and the “guaran-teed” rapid growth that it brings, both the Brus-sels mandarins and the Eastern Europeans aredescribing a world that no longer exists.

Europe in 2014 is a much more austere place

than it was when Poland, Hungary, Slovakia andthe Czech Republic started their long march to-wards membership. This is true not just in an ex-istential sense, but in very basic questions aboutmaterial and financial assistance. Put simply, thegenerous support that helped guide the first roundof “new” EU entrants is now politically impos-sible. If Ukraine wants to become part of Europe,it’s going to have to do something that none ofthe other EU entrants did: it’s going to have topay its own way.

Consider the experience of Poland, the EastEuropean country that everyone insists Ukrainecan imitate. Poland, as everyone knows, man-aged to weather the great recession in betterhealth than any other country in Europe. To alarge extent this reflected the dynamism ofPolish industry and the astute economic man-agement of the Polish government.

However, there is another part of the storythat people do not often mention: over the pastdecade, Poland has received more than $154billion dollars in direct assistance as a result ofbeing in the EU. Known as “structural adjust-ment funds,” the money has helped Polandbuild new roads, repair old ones and generallyovercome its baleful socialist inheritance. $154billion dollars is a lot of money, and that eye-popping figure does not include any of the as-sistance that Poland received during its initialtransition from communism, or any of the funds

it received while it was still a candidate for EUmembership. Poland’s successes have beengenuine, but they have to a large extent beenunderwritten by a degree of support thatUkraine will never receive. The amount cur-rently on offer by the EU is precisely $0.

It does not take a very active imaginationto see how the Kremlin could exploit this situ-ation to its advantage. In order to pursue its“European choice” the Ukrainian governmentis going to have to embark on an extended andquite severe campaign of austerity: it is goingto have to raise gas prices, cut subsidies to in-dustry, raise taxes and cut welfare payments.

In other words, Ukraine is going to have tosimultaneously confront all of its own mostsignificant political interest groups and it isgoing to have to do so on a shoestring budget.The Russians, meanwhile, will be able to offerfinancial and political support to whateverpopulist political figure arises to confront thenew austerity campaign and they can do soconfident that the pro-European groups aregoing to have to pay their own way.

If Ukrainians want to be in Europe that is en-tirely their choice to make. But no one should un-derestimate the difficulty of the path that the coun-try is now embarking on: it is fraught with politicaland economic difficulty and with an endless seriesof opportunities for the Russians to play the spoiler.

—Courtesy: Moscow Times.

DHAKA—The government is going to enact aformalin control law to check widespread useof the chemical solution across the country.

The commerce ministry has sent the draftof the law to the cabinet division for placing itat the next cabinet meeting on Monday.

A ministry official said the proposed law willempower deputy commissioners (DC) andupazila nirbahi officers (UNO) to monitor andcontrol use of formalin.

Formalin is a clear, colourless solution offormaldehyde in water. Widespread use of for-malin in preservation of fish, fruit and other fooditems is posing a serious threat to public health.

The chemical, usually used as a preserva-tive for biological specimens, is now being usedto preserve edible items.

As per a provision of the drafted law, takinglicence from the commerce ministry for bothimport and use of formalin will be made man-datory, commerce secretary Mahbub Hossaintold The Daily Star.

The importers and users will have to main-tain ledgers to record the volume of import andusage of the chemical.

Apart from the DCs and UNOs, the Direc-torate of National Consumer Rights Protection(DNCRP) will also monitor the import and use

Bangladesh govt to controlformalin by law

N. Korea fires3 rockets in

East SeaSEOUL—North Korea firedthree short-range rockets intothe East Sea, raising militarytension, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs ofStaff said.

At around 5pm, the com-munist state fired three short-range projectiles with a rangeof some 190km from the east-ern coastal city of Wonsan.

“We are strengthening ourreadiness posture in case thereare additional launches,” saidthe Defense Ministry in a pressrelease.

Pyongyang fired a series ofrockets and missiles in Febru-ary and March this year in anangry response to the annualSouth Korea-US military drills.Some observers say that theNorth’s intentions in firing theprojectiles may have been tostrengthen internal unity in itsmilitary or probe South Koreaand the US to see how they re-spond to the provocativemove—KH.

of formalin. The DNCRP will open its branchin every district, added the secretary.

Once the law is ratified, related rules willbe framed specifying the responsibilities of theofficials and organisations involved in monitor-ing and controlling the import and use of thechemical. Mahbub Hossain also said the defini-tion of formalin will be elaborated in the pro-posed act, which will also cover formalin dehy-drate, para-formalin dehydrate and some othersolutions that can be converted into formalin.

Talking to this correspondent recently,Touhid Islam of Kalaroa upazila in Satkhira saida huge amount of quality mangoes are producedin the area. But after harvesting the fruit, trad-ers take those to Kalaroa Bazar and use calciumcarbide to ripen the fruit. Later, they treat themangoes with formalin.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednes-day told parliament that formalin control law isbeing formulated with provisions of tough pun-ishment and hefty fines for production, importand sale of the chemical without valid licences.

The law will have provisions of a maximumpunishment of life term and a minimum sevenyears’ imprisonment, along with the highest fineof 2 million Bangladesh taka (US$25,710) forthe offenders, she added—Star.

B R U S S E L S — U k r a i n i a nPresident Petro Poroshenkohas signed up to a trade andeconomic pact with the Eu-ropean Union, saying it maybe the “most important day”for his country since it be-came independent from theSoviet Union.

The European Unionsigned similar associationagreements with two otherformer Soviet republics,Moldova and Georgia.

Businesses in the threecountries whose goods andpractices meet EU standardswill be able to trade freely inany EU country without tar-iffs or restrictions. Likewise,EU goods and services will beable to sell more easily andcheaply to businesses andcustomers in Ukraine, Geor-gia and Moldova. “It’s abso-lutely a new perspective formy country,” Poroshenkosaid. It was the decision of hispredecessor, Viktor

Ukraine, EU tradeecono-pact dilutes

Russian pushYanukovych, to back out ofthe EU association agreementin November that touched offmassive protests in Ukraine,and that eventually led toYanukovych’s flight to Rus-sia and Russia’s occupationand annexation of Ukraine’sCrimean Peninsula. Beforethe signing, Poroshenko bran-dished a pen, saying it was thesame pen Yanukovych wassupposed to use the sign theAssociation Agreement at theEU summit in Vilnius lastfall.

“Historic events are un-avoidable,” he said.Perhaps more important thanthe trade deal is an accom-panying 10-year plan forUkraine to adopt EU productregulations.

Such rules are important be-cause they ease the way for in-ternational trade beyond Eu-rope. The deal also demands thatUkraine change the way it doesbusiness—AP.

IZVARYNE, Ukraine—As a shaky cease-fire inthe east entered its final hours, thousands ofUkrainians in cars stuffed with belongings linedup at the border to cross into Russia, some vow-ing never to return.

Many said they were most frightened fortheir children and desperate to take them tosafety.

Also on Thursday, four of eight observersfrom the Organization for Security and Co-op-eration in Europe who were held hostage in east-ern Ukraine were released, the organization saidin a news release.

A commander at the rebel-controlled bor-der post outside the city of Luhansk said 5,000people had left by evening, joining a stream thathe said has continued unabated during theweeklong truce that has failed to end the gun-fire and shelling.

Russia says tens of thousands of Ukraini-ans have come in the 2 1/2 months sinceUkraine’s government began fighting separat-ists in the east, a heavily industrial region witha large population of ethnic Russians, many ofwhom feel strong ties to Moscow.

Air strikes and artillery attacks by the Ukrai-nian military have infuriated many residents, andmany crossing the border on Thursday said theywere fleeing the fighting, which has killed more

Thousands flee Ukraine into Russiathan 400 people since mid-April by the UnitedNations’ estimate.

Those who talked to Associated Press jour-nalists, however, said nothing to indicate thatthey supported the armed separatists, who haveseized government buildings, declared indepen-dence and asked Russia to annex the region.

With the cease-fire set to expire on Friday,Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called onRussia to support his peace plan “with deeds,not words.” He urged Moscow to stop the flowof fighters from Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry said they, too, werelooking for more action from Moscow ahead ofa summit on Friday of European Union leaders,who will be considering a new round of sanc-tions against Russia.

“It is critical for Russia to show in the nexthours, literally, that they’re moving to help dis-arm the separatists, to encourage them to dis-arm,” Kerry said in Paris.

The summit also will see Ukraine sign asweeping trade agreement with the EU thatwill bind it more closely to the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has urgedPoroshenko to extend the truce and hold talkswith the separatists in the eastern Donetsk andLuhansk regions.

Poroshenko announced Thursday that rep-resentatives of the mutinous regions have agreedto talks with Russian, Ukrainian and Europeanenvoys. It will be the second round of talks sinceMonday in which the rebel leaders have partici-pated.

Russian news agencies quoted AndreiPurgin, a leader of the self-proclaimed DonetskPeople’s Republic, as saying the next roundwould be held Friday in Donetsk.

Poroshenko has shown no willingness toextend the cease-fire, and his next step mayhinge on the outcome of the talks.

It was unclear how many Ukrainians willend up settling in Russia. Russia’s migra-tion service said last week that it had regis-tered the arrival of 90,000 Ukrainians, butfew asked for refugee status, which wouldoblige them to stay in Russia at least sixmonths.

Many of those at the Izvaryne crossing onThursday were taking household items, includ-ing refrigerators. One family from a village nearSlovyansk, a separatist stronghold that has comeunder frequent shelling from the military, saidthey “hated Ukraine” and would not return.

The rebel commander, who would give onlyhis first name, Alexander, said the flow of refu-gees increased whenever there was a spike in

hostilities. The day before the cease-fire wasannounced, the line to cross the borderstretched for 5 kilometers (3 miles).

Even though some rebel groups agreedto observe the cease-fire, Poroshenko said18 government troops have been killed thisweek. Separatist leaders also have reporteddeaths among rebel fighters.

Meanwhile, Germany announced that itis easing its immigration restrictions forJews from Ukraine because of reports of anincrease in anti-Semitic incidents since thecrisis broke out.

OSCE said in its news release that fourof eight of its observers who were kidnappedby pro-Russian separatists in easternUkraine a month ago were released inDonetsk.

In late May, the OSCE lost contact withfour monitors from its Donetsk team andfour monitors from its Luhansk team, theorganization said. The Luhansk-based teamhas not yet been released.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Ger-many and France had agreed on Wednesdayin a telephone call that the hostages shouldbe freed without delay, Chancellor AngelaMerkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert said—AP.

President Xi tovisit S. Korea, a

message to NorthBEIJING—China’s Xi Jinpingwill visit Seoul next week, bothsides said Friday, going to theSouth for his first presidentialjourney to the Korean penin-sula as Beijing’s frustrationsmount with the nuclear-armedNorth and its confrontationalyoung leader Kim Jong-Un.

China is the North’s keyally, energy provider and dip-lomatic protector, their tiessealed in the Korean War, andsees its neighbour as a bufferagainst finding US troops sta-tioned on its own border.

Beijing and Seoul only es-tablished diplomatic ties in1992 after decades of Cold Warhostility and suspicion, but itwill be the second summit be-tween Xi and South KoreanPresident Park Geun-Hye, whovisited China soon after shetook office last year.

The July 3-4 visit will dis-cuss “ways to cooperate on is-sues related to the situation onthe Korean peninsula, includingthe North Korean nuclear issue”,South Korea’s presidential BlueHouse said in a statement. Chi-nese foreign ministry spokesmanQin Gang told reporters it wouldcover “issues of common con-cern”. On the other hand therehas been no Chinese summitwith the North since the death ofits then leader Kim Jong-Il, KimJong-Un’s father, in December2011. Ahead of the announce-ment South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbonewspaper called the trip “a mes-sage of considerable weight” tothe North in an editorial.

“It is significant, definitely,that Xi Jinping and Park havea very public, close relation-ship,” John Delury, an experton China at Yonsei Universityin Seoul, told AFP.

“And the contrast with thefact that he hasn’t even had hispicture taken with Kim Jong-Un is starkly significant.”

Kim inherited the NorthKorean leadership from his fa-ther, becoming the third memberof the Kim dynasty to rule thehermit state, and his reign has sofar largely been seen as provoca-tive, capricious and destabilising.

He has had his own uncleJang Song-Thaek — seen asChina’s primary point of contactwith the regime — executed in apurge, and threatened nuclearwar against the US—AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over an urgent operation meeting on the Korean People’s Army StrategicRocket Force’s performance of duty for firepower strike at the Supreme Command in Pyongyang, March 29, 2013. Thesign on the left reads, Strategic force’s plan to hit the mainland of the U.S.

pp

TerroristsFrom Back Page

population into a minority.Meanwhile Hurriyat chair-

man Syed Ali Geelani said theplan to create special enclavesfor returning Kashmiri Panditmigrants was dangerous.

“No Kashmiri Muslim isopposed to the return of thePandits. But by creating separatecities for them the governmentis working on a dangerous planto harm our centuries-old broth-erhood, to divide our society andto give our freedom struggle acommunal colour,” he said.

Kashmiri leaders have re-ported that Chief Minister of In-dian held Jammu and Kashmir,Omar Abdullah had been calledto New Delhi recently and askedto “identify 16,800 kanals(approx 2,082 acres) of land inKashmir to establish three sepa-rate cities for KashmiriPandits.”

“It’s a grave issue… Wewill try to create a national con-sensus against these policies ofthe Indian government and willstart consultation with (separat-ist) groups and religious orga-nizations,” he said. As early asin 2012 Syed Ali Shah Geelanihad threatened to launch a cam-

India replicates Israeli-modelFrom Page 1

Death to the election commission!” Abdullah’s supporterschanted near the presidential palace as he was carried throughthe rowdy crowds on the roof of a truck.

Friday’s protest was the biggest since the fraud disputeerupted and was the first that Abdullah attended, sending a pub-lic signal that could fuel further angry demonstrations and in-crease the risk of civil unrest.

“If our demands are not met, we will continue our protest aslong as fraud votes are not separated from clean votes,” saidAhmad Zia, 22, waving an Abdullah poster and the Afghan na-tional flag.

Shaperai, 55, one of the few female protesters, said: “Thegovernment and the election commission have stolen our votes.They are traitors and cheats.”

Abdullah went into the second-round run-off election asthe favourite to succeed President Hamid Karzai, who came topower after the Taliban regime was ousted by a US-led offen-sive in 2001.

But, with no result due until July 2, Ghani’s campaign re-leased unofficial figures late Thursday saying that their candi-date had won 4.2 million votes (59%) to Abdullah’s 2.9 million(41%). Ghani put his improved performance down to targetingwomen, workers, farmers and other social groups, rather thanrelying on ethnic loyalties.

“These cross-cutting ties bind us, and our campaign delib-erately focused on them,” he said, accusing Abdullah of desper-ate manoeuvering to avoid defeat. “The economy is imploding,governance is at a standstill, people want certainty not ambigu-ity,” Ghani said. “The people need clarity.”

A smooth Afghan election is seen as crucial by the US-ledalliance that has fought the insurgents since 2001 and donatedbillions in aid in the hope of fostering a functioning state toreplace the harsh Islamist rule of the Taliban.

UN Afghanistan mission chief Jan Kubis warned on Wednes-day of “rising tensions following the second round (of elec-tions), including increasing ethnic overtones”.

A contested election result “might lead to protracted con-frontation with a danger of a slide into violence,” he added.

Any clashes between supporters could ignite wider trouble

as Ghani attracts much of his support from the Pashtun tribes ofthe south and east, while Abdullah’s loyalists are Tajiks andother northern Afghan groups.

The government on Friday said the army and police weresuccessfully beating back a major Taliban offensive in thesouthern province of Helmand, with at least 250 insurgentskilled in five days of fighting. NATO’s 50,000-strong combatforce will leave Afghanistan by December, though about 10,000US troops will stay into next year before all exit by the end ofthe 2016.—

AP The impasse has revived longstanding ethnic tensionsin Afghanistan because Abdullah’s base of support is with theTajiks, the second largest ethnic group, while Ghani is Pashtun,the largest group. It also comes at a dangerous time, with theTaliban insurgency still raging and most NATO-led forces pre-paring to leave the country by the end of the year. A member ofthe Ghani team, former candidate Daud Sultanzoy, said on Fri-day that based on information from election observers it pre-dicted a lead of about 1.2 to 1.3 million votes over Abdullah.“We are not claiming anything as we respect the election com-mission and will wait for its official announcement of the win-ner,” he said. “However, we know we are comfortably ahead.”

Abdullah’s supporters marched across Kabul and gatheredin front of the presidential palace. Abdullah drove alongsideaboard a small truck, waving a flag. “Our beloved president isAbdullah Abdullah,” shouted supporters, along with additionalcries blaming the incumbent, President Hamid Karzai, for thepolitical stand-off. Karzai was constitutionally barred from run-ning for third time.

Abdullah has accused Karzai, provincial governors and policeof complicity in efforts to rig the election. Around 15,000 peoplejoined the protest, according to police and Reuters witnesses. Somedemonstrated their outrage by destroying posters of Karzai and shout-ing angry slogans against the president and the independent elec-tion commission. “We want the mujahideen back. We don’t wanttechnocrats and slaves of Jews and Christians,” said Badam Gul, aformer mujahid. “We want justice at any cost. There’s fraud andthat is unacceptable for us. We will fight for our right until the lastdrop of blood in our body.”—Agencies

Abdullah rouses protesters in electionFrom Page 1

of whom are registered with theUnited Nations refugee agency,UNHCR, have been picked upby the Sri Lankan Depart-ment of Immigration andEmigration and the CriminalInvestigation Department.According to the newspaper,these people were to be de-ported because of their al-leged involvement in ‘anti-state activities’ in India andPakistan.

The Foreign Office dis-tanced itself from the re-ported arrests of registeredPakistani refugees and asy-lum seekers in Sri Lanka, butaid workers from the islandnation have confirmed thatPakistani refugees are beingrounded up by the authori-ties.

Foreign Office spokes-person Tasneem Aslam wasunsympathetic to the plightof the detained refugees inSri Lanka, saying: “Thesepeople [asylum seekers] ob-tained asylum in Sri Lankaby badmouthing Pakistan. Ifthey are in trouble, I have noidea.”

Earlier, Pakistani nation-als were granted on-arrivalvisas in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankawill soon communicateguidelines to Pakistan’s HighCommission which will statedetailed travel requirements.

Sri Lanka cancelsFrom Page 1

was earlier quoted as saying that“supplies of military equipmentto Pakistan were to resume, in-cluding Mi-35 helicopters.”

According to PPA corre-spondent in Moscow, Pakistanand Russia have also agreed toenhance cooperation in regionaland international fields duringJune 20, 2014 meeting betweenNational Security and ForeignAffairs, Mr. Sartaj Aziz andRussian Foreign Minister Mr.Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

RussiaFrom Page 1

BRUSSLES: Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko (C) poses with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso(L) and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (R) at the EU Council in Brussels on Friday.

capacity to destroy anarmoured van and were firedfrom a moving boat some 20nautical miles away from theshore.

The sources also claimedthat terrorists wanted to targetthe sea port but since the boatwas in motion during the timewhen the rockets were fired,terrorists could not specificallyhit the target.

The security forces hadalso examined all boats at theKarachi fisheries but could notdetermine as which one wasused for the attack.The law enforcement agenciesfollowing the rocket attackbeefed up security at the keyand strategic installations, of-fices and a search operationwas underway to locate the ex-act boat that was used in theattack.

Meanwhile, the intelli-gence agencies had taken sev-eral suspects in custody fromislands of the city’s West partincluding Menorah and inter-rogations were being carriedfrom the suspects.

Sources had also expresseddoubts about alleged involve-ment of India secret service, theResearch and Analysis Wing(RAW) in the attack as the Seaboundaries of Karachi andMumbai were adjoined.

with the EU. “You are sharersin this project,” he said.

Leanca pledged Moldovawould make the most of its as-sociation agreement, promisingthat after “many ups and downs... we will do everything tomodernise” the country.The accords open up the hugeEU market of 500 million con-sumers to its new partners andoffers them aid and help inmodernising their economies.

In return, they have to matchEU norms on protection of hu-man rights, civil society, goodgovernance and an independentjudicial system. The signaturesFriday are hugely symbolicgiven the crisis in Ukraine wherea Poroshenko peace plan andceasefire due to expire late Fri-day hang in the balance.

The last-minute ditching ofthe association accord byUkraine’s pro-Russian presi-dent Viktor Yanukovych inNovember sparked demonstra-tions that eventually led to hisouster in February.

That, in turn, led to an an-gry Russia annexing Ukraine’sCrimea peninsula, plunging theWest’s relations with the Krem-lin to their lowest level since theend of the Cold War. Agree-ments signed Friday let busi-nesses in former Soviet repub-lics of Ukraine, Moldova andGeorgia trade freely in any ofthe EU’s 28 member nationswithout tariffs or restrictions, aslong as their goods and practicesmeet EU standards. Likewise,goods and services from the EUwill be sold more easily and

EU signs ‘historic’ accordsFrom Back Page

Tehsils of NWA in the wake ofoperation titled Zarb-e-Azb ini-tiated against the miscreants inthe region some two weeksback, tens of thousands offamilies have reached the townof Bannu, close to NorthWaziristan, while thousandsmore have moved further toLakki Marwat, Karak and DeraIsmail Khan towns.

Nawaz is also reported tohave invited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman, Imran Khanto undertake a joint visit withhim to the camps established forthe IDPs, but Imran respondedin negative saying he has al-ready visited the camp and thathis party had planned a rally inBahawalpur the same day.

Premier Sharif on the oc-casion also met the officers andJawaans of the Pakistan Armyand the district administrationand apprised himself of the ar-

Govt, Army work togetherFrom Page 1

rangements made for the facili-tation of the IDPs who havebeen complaining of the lackof facilities and improper dis-tribution of the food items inthe camps.

He underscored that terror-ism had challenged the state’swrit. He said that the homes de-stroyed during the operation inNorth Waziristan would beconstructed soon, adding thatthe government would alsobuild new schools, hospitalsand roads.

Addressing the displacedfamilies in Bannu, the PrimeMinister pledged unlimitedfunds for support and suste-nance of hundreds of thousandsof people displaced amid anongoing military operationagainst terrorists in NorthWaziristan tribal region.

Nawaz Sharif said safe andpeaceful return of the displaced

to their homes would be en-sured after the establishment ofpeace in North Waziristan.

He, then, prayed for thesafety of Pakistan and eliminat-ing terrorists and militancyfrom the country.

Nearly half a millionpeople have fled a military op-eration Zarb-e-Azb againstTaliban strongholds in NorthWaziristan.

paign against the creation of aseparate settlement for theKashmiri Pandit community inthe Valley.

He warned that such settle-ments can create an Israel-Pal-estine type situation in Kashmirand permanently divide the ma-jority and minority communitiesin the state. —PPA

elections.Talking about the inter-

nally displaced persons, ImranKhan urged Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif not to do poli-tics on internally displaced per-sons.

He said that Nawaz hasasked him to visit the IDPswith him but there is no pointof them going and taking pic-tures there. He further added,that if the prime minister wasactually concerned he wouldhave informed him about theoperation beforehand.

Saying that the burden ofIDPs will fall on KhyberPakhtunkhwa government,Imran Khan said that he and hisgovernment in the provincecould not prepare for the IDPsas they found out that the armyhas launched a military opera-tion against the militantsthrough television.

The PTI leader said it is thewhole country’s obligation tosupport the IDPs and weshould not leave themstranded.

Imran warns of tsunami marchFrom Page 1

He questioned why thePunjab and Sindh governmentshave refused to let the IDPsenter their provinces.

Imran Khan criticisedPrime Minister Nawaz Sharifand warned him of a ‘tsunamimarch’ to Islamabad on August14 if his demands regardingalleged election fraud in the2013 General Elections werenot met.

Addressing PTI support-ers, Khan made four demandsto Nawaz Sharif’s governmentwhich he said he wanted to beaddressed within one month.

He said that one millionpeople will be gathered in thefederal capital if his demandswere not addressed.

Imran Khan’s first demandwas to know how NawazSharif declared victory in theMay 11 elections beforehand.Secondly, he demanded toknow the role played by formerchief justice IftikharChaudhary in the elections.

Third, he demanded toknow the role played by the

caretaker government in theelections, and specificallyhighlighted Pakistan CricketBoard Chairman Najam Sethi.

His final demand was ofthe government to answerabout voter fraud in 90 con-stituencies.

“All of Pakistan knowsthat the elections were rigged,”Imran Khan said during hisspeech.

During the speech, he alsowarned Nawaz Sharif not topoliticise the issue of InternallyDisplaced Persons.

He said that Nawaz Sharifshould not make the mistake ofthinking that unity over theWaziristan operation meansthat the PTI will not be a strongopposition.

The PTI chief also con-demned the PML-N govern-ment in Punjab over its han-dling of Lahore tragedy, say-ing that the shooting of protest-ers only took place during dic-tatorships and not under demo-cratic governments.

He also lashed out at thegovernment for what heclaimed fake economic growthduring its tenure saying all hecould see was “Jangla Bus Ser-vice,” referring to the MetroBus Project in Lahore.

N leaders has advised the PTIchief to show maturity whilespeaking.

Abid Sher Ali, PML-Nleader and Minister of Statefor Water and Power, askedwhether Mr Khan wanted totake revenge of his failure infulfilling his promises to thepeople.

“We also have workersand we can take out ralliestoo, we won’t allow anybodyto spread anarchy,” he said.

He said that Imran Khanwanted to derails democracyon the basis of alleged riggingin four constituencies.

Federal Minister forRailways Khawaja SaadRafique also criticized ImranKhan over his announcementof long march saying the PTIchief realize that the days ofderailing democracy throughsit-ins and long marches wereover.

N-League hitsback at Imran

From Page 1

tus as well as creating new job opportunities in the country and in-creasing exports. He was addressing a meeting held to review thesteps taken for development of garments and textile sectors afterawarding of GSP Plus status award to Pakistan here Friday.

The Chief Minister said that Punjab government is taking solidsteps for the uplift of garments and textile sectors in the wake ofawarding of GSP Plus status to Pakistan by the European Union.

He said that work is in progress speedily on Quaid-i-Azam Ap-parel Park near Motorway where special incentives will be offeredto investors for setting up industries. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifsaid that government is taking comprehensive measures for furtherdevelopment of garments and textile sectors and increase in exportsand Quaid-i-Azam Apparel Park project is a revolutionary step inthis regard. He said that latest facilities will become available to thegarments and textile industry under one roof in Quaid-i-Azam Ap-parel Park which will promote garments and textile sectors. The ChiefMinister also issued instructions for setting up a business council forthe solution of problems of garments and textile sectors.

The business council will formulate its recommendations afterconsultation with industrialists. he Chief Minister expressed indig-nation over the delay in the setting up of Quaid-i-Azam ApparelPark Company and directed that the company should immediatelybe got registered and work on the project be started at the earliest.

Shahbaz plan for upliftFrom Page 1

cheaply in the three countries.“There will undoubtedly be

serious consequences forUkraine and Moldova’s sign-ing,” Russian Deputy ForeignMinister Grigory Karasin said.

Georgia has already lostchunks of its territory and BlackSea coast to rebels backed byRussia after a brief war withRussia in 2008. “The most im-portant thing is to guarantee along-term cease-fire as a precon-dition for meaningful talks be-tween the Kiev authorities andrepresentatives of the southeast(of Ukraine),” Putin said Friday.

A second round of talkswas being held Friday in east-ern Ukraine between represen-tatives of the mutinous regionsand the Kiev government, alsoinvolving envoys from Russiaand the EU, Russian newsagencies quoted rebel leaderAndrei Purgin as saying.

Perhaps more importantthan the trade clauses is an ac-companying 10-year plan forUkraine to adopt EU productregulations. Such rules ease theway for international trade be-yond Europe.

The trade deal also de-mands that Ukraine change theway it does business. AdoptingEU rules on government con-tracts, competition policy andcopyright for ideas and inven-tions should improve Ukraine’seconomy by reducing wide-spread corruption and makingit more investor-friendly.

Amanda Paul, a policy ana-lyst at the Brussels-based thinktank European Policy Center,

said Russia has levers to inflictserious economic pain onUkraine, Moldova and Georgiathrough trade restrictions, cutsin energy supplies or the depor-tation of migrant workers fromthose countries.

In Brussels, Poroshenkoreminded EU leaders of theUkrainians who died opposingYanukovych’s government andin the ongoing battle against thepro-Russian insurgency in thecountry’s east. He said Ukraine“paid the highest possible priceto make her European dreamscome true.”

He asked EU leaders totake a further step and formallypledge that one day Ukrainecan join the EU as a full-fledged member. That “wouldcost the European Union noth-ing,” he said, “but would meanthe world to my country.”—Agencies

ObamawarnsCentralAmericansWASHING-TON—President Obamasays tens of thousands ofCentral American childrenflooding into the U.S. alongthe southern border havecreated a “humanitariancrisis,” and he appealeddirectly to parents to stopsending kids north. “Ourmessage absolutely isdon’t send your childrenunaccompanied, on trainsor through a bunch ofsmugglers,” Obama toldABC’s Chief AnchorGeorge Stephanopoulos inan exclusive interview here.“We don’t even know howmany of these kids don’tmake it, and may have beenwaylaid into sex traffickingor killed because they felloff a train.”—AP

BRUSSELS—The European Unionsigned “historic “association accordswith Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova Fri-day as the three former Soviet repub-lics pledged themselves to a future inEurope in the face of bitter Russian op-position.

“This is a great day for Europe...the European Union stands by yourside today more than ever before,” Eu-ropean Council head Herman VanRompuy said at the ceremony withUkraine President Petro Poroshenkoand prime ministers Irakli Garibashviliof Georgia and Iurie Leanca of Moldova.

Van Rompuy said the deals con-tained “nothing that might harm Rus-sia in any way” and offered all sidesthe chance “to chart together a saferfuture.“

EU officials insist Russia has no rea-son to fear the accords, which offercloser political and economic ties, butMoscow condemns them as harmful toits interests and an intrusion into whathas traditionally been its sphere of in-fluence.

It did so again Friday immediatelyafter the signing ceremony in Brussels,warning of “serious consequences” tofollow. “We will take all the necessarymeasures to protect our economy,”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov toldthe ITAR-TASS state news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putinsaid Friday that Ukrainian society issplit after being forced to choose be-tween Europe and Russia.

Friday’s signing is a bit-ter pill to swallow for Putinwho wanted Ukraine tojoin his own Eurasian CustomsUnion, aimed at bringing the formerSoviet states back into the Russianfold. Even if Ukraine has eluded him,Putin can, however, claim partial suc-cess .

The EU originally offered thesame deals to Armenia, Azerbaijanand Belarus but they changed tackonce Moscow warned of seriousconsequences. Poroshenko saidthe deal would open up a whole newfuture for Ukraine, including Crimea

which Moscow annexed in March,adding it set the country firmly oncourse for membership of the EuropeanUnion.Ukraine had paid a high price in recentmonths for its ambitions to become partof Europe, he said, but it was worth itbecause the country’s future as a Eu-ropean state, sharing European values,was at stake.

“Long Live Ukraine,Long Live Europe,”he said in closing hisaddress at the cer-

emony, attended by all 28 EU leaders.Garibashvili said Georgia shared the

European values of democracy andfreedom, switching into his native lan-guage so he could “share his emotionwith the Georgian people.“Significantly, he said Abkhazia andSouth Ossetia, breakaway regionsrecognised by Russia as independentsince a 2008 war with Tbilisi, would alsosee the advantages of closer ties

EU signs ‘historic’ accords withUkraine, Georgia, Moldova

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Dispelling impression of at-tempting to topple the elected government,Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr TahirulQadri on Friday said it was‘too small’ an agenda to fol-low and his objective was tochange the system.

Speaking to media repre-sentatives here, he said thathis party was not interestedin forming any grand alliance,refuting reports circling in thelocal media about a political al-liance between the PAT andImran Khan’s PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf with ShiekhRashid and Chaudhries ofPML-Q alongside them.

Qadri said he never talkedabout forming the alliance be-cause in such an alliance parties agree anddisagree on achieving goals.Speaking on the killings of his party’s sup-porters in the Model Town tragedy, he saidthat the “martyrs’ blood will not go in vain.”

Meanwhile, talking to Reuters, Tahirul

Toppling govt is ‘too small’an agenda, claims Qadri

I will fight against the army if it tries to take over

Airport managerdismissed over

‘mismanagement,negligence’

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—Karachi airportmanager Azfar Malik hasbeen removed from his postfor mismanagement andnegligence during theKarachi airport attack onJune 8.

Malik has been replacedby Ali Jan Agha as CivilAviation Authority takesmeasures against officialsfollowing the airport attack.

CAA fire officer FaizAkhtar and CAA GeneralManager Fire Raza Rizvihave also been removedfrom their posts.

On June 8, militantsstormed into the Karachi air-port in a midnight siegewhich left 39 dead, includ-ing all 10 militants. TheTehreek-e-Taliban hadclaimed responsibility forthe attack.

Earlier in the day, an in-quiry committee absolvedthe CAA, Airport SecurityForce and firefighters ofblame for a devastatingblaze which engulfed acargo warehouse after theJune 8 attack at the Karachiairport, leaving seven dead.On Tuesday, Chief JusticeTassaduq Hussain Jillanihad taken notice of the coldstorage fire incident and re-quested reports from the in-terior secretary and the CivilAviation Authority chair-man regarding the incident.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Terrorist group bent upon wreak-ing havoc in Pakistan especially in the eco-nomic hub of the country, the port city ofKarachi had a day earlier used sophisticatedassault weapons in attacks in city’s West part,Keamari area. Terrorist groups had changedtheir strategy and had used sea routes forcompleting their vested designs as they hadfired 3 rockets from some 20 nautical milesaway from the coastal belt of West part of thecity.

This was disclosed in recent investiga-tions being carried by the security forces asthe security forces had examined the rocketthat could not go off and ascertained the right

Terrorists used sea routes forattacking the port

direction of the spot in open Sea wherefromthe rockets were launched.

Of 3 rockets that were fired by terroristgroups a day earlier had fallen at 3 differentlocations. One had fallen inside the premiseof the International Container Terminal of theWest Wharf. Subsequent to that rocket blast,a container of the Delta Stack 4 had completelydestroyed along with the stuffs inside thecontainer. The second rocket had hit a resi-dential premises in Docks Colony and hadinjured a woman while the third rocket fellinside an empty house in Machchar Colonybut could not go off, which the security forceshad taken in possession.According to sources, the rockets had the

Park’sleadershipunderquestionSEOUL—SouthKorean President ParkGeun-hye rejected theresignation of her primeminister on Thursday andasked him to stay on afterher second nominee for thejob stood aside overcontroversial comments hehad made about Korea’stroubled past with Japan.The decision to keepincumbent Prime MinisterChung Hong-won, whotendered his resignationtwo months ago over thegovernment’s flawedresponse to a ferry disaster,heightened concerns abouther ability to rule and pushthrough reforms.—Reuters

Junckernew EUleaderBRUSSELS —EuropeanUnion leaderson Friday picked formerLuxembourg Prime MinisterJean-Claude Juncker tobecome the bloc’s newchief executive despiteBritain’s outspokenopposition, furtheralienating the U.K. from itscontinental partners. Withthe move, the EU leadersbroke a decades-oldtradition of choosing thepresident of the EuropeanCommission by consensus.Summit chairman HermanVan Rompuy said 26 of thebloc’s 28 countries votedfor Juncker, with onlyBritain and Hungaryopposing him. “Sometimesyou have to lose a battle towin the war,” British PrimeMinister David Camerondeclared after the vote,calling the long-timeBrussels insider “thewrong person” for thehigh-profile job of leadingthe bloc of 500 millionpeople.—AP

BAHAWALPUR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan addressing a public meeting here on Friday.

Qadri, who has been vowing to bring downthe country’s government, denied wide-spread speculation he is backed by thepowerful military.“I will fight against the Pakistan army if ittries to take over,” Qadri told Reuters in an

interview, but stopped shortof giving details of how hewould do this.“I am against military rule. Mydestination is true democ-racy,” he added, speaking inthe sitting-room of hisheavily guarded home onThursday night, surroundedby aides and pictures of Mus-lim holy sites.

Qadri said he feared forhis safety because nine peoplewere killed in a stand off be-tween his supporters and po-lice the week before.

He renewed his calls for a peaceful revolu-tion, but was coy about his strategies, tim-ing and ultimate goals. “I will achieve mygoal just through the struggle of the masses,”he said. “They will come out on the roadsand will force the rulers to resign.”

SARAJEVO — Marking the centennial of the beginning of World War I in their own way,Bosnian Serbs have unveiled a monument in their part of Sarajevo to the man whoignited the war by assassinating the Austro-Hungarian crown prince on June 28, 1914.

At the other end of the city, the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra was rehearsing Fridayfor Saturday’s grand EU-sponsored performance planned as a symbolic start to a newcentury of peace at the place where the century of wars started 100 years ago.

The two evidence testify to the depth of lingering divisions, with one side promotingpeace to the tunes of Joseph Haydn’s “God save the Emperor” while the other erects amonument to the assassin of the emperor’s heir.—AP

Bosnian Serbs erect statue to man who ignited WWI

JEDDAH—Custodian of the Two HolyMosques King Abdullah met with US Sec-retary of State John Kerry in Jeddah on Fri-day to discuss ways to resolve the crisis inIraq.

According to a spokesman from the USEmbassy in Riyadh, Kerry briefed the kingon his trip to Iraq, and to discuss the ongo-ing civil war in Syria, reports Arab News.

“King Abdullah is a leader of great im-portance when it comes to regional issuesand cares very deeply about the situationin Iraq,” Johann Schmonsees, press atta-che, said following the talks.

The audience was attended by CrownPrince Salman, deputy premier, and minis-ter of defense; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, min-ister of foreign affairs; Deputy Crown PrinceMuqrin, the second deputy premier;Ibrahim Al-Assaf, the minister of finance;Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, the Saudi am-bassador to the United States; and the USambassador to the Kingdom JosephWestphal.

Kerry had earlier met with Ahmad Jarba,the head of the moderate Syrian opposi-

Abdullah, Kerry takestock of Iraq crisis

tion, at the start of his visit to the Kingdom.“President Jarba represents a tribe thatreaches right into Iraq,” Kerry said at theirmeeting at the airport.

Jarba had lashed out at Iraqi Prime Min-ister Nouri Al-Maliki. “The policies of Al-Maliki after eight years in power have re-sulted in greater division,” Jarba said. “Nowthe situation is very grave, and there aresectarian militias ruling the country.”

The top US diplomat came to the King-dom after hosting urgent talks in Paris withthe Saudi, Jordanian and United Arab Emir-ates foreign ministers on the widening cri-sis in Iraq and Syria.The Kingdom has consistently called forgreater US military support for the Syrianrebels. According to reports, the WhiteHouse said Thursday it intends to “rampup US support to the moderate Syrian op-position.”

The request is part of a $1.5 billion re-gional stabilization Initiative to bolster sta-bility in Syrian neighbors Iraq, Jordan,Lebanon and Turkey, and to support com-munities hosting refugees. —AP

Continued on Page 7

Picture on Page 7

PEOPLE need to more than halve their intake of added sugar to tackle the obesitycrisis, according to scientific advice for

the government in England. A draft report bythe Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutri-tion (SACN) says sugaradded to food or naturallypresent in fruit juice andhoney should account for5% of energy intake.

The sugar industry said“demonising one ingredi-ent” would not “solve theobesity epidemic”. The bodyreviewed 600 scientificstudies on the evidence ofcarbohydrates - includingsugar - on health to developthe new recommendations.

One 330ml can of fizzypop would take a typicaladult up to the proposed 5%daily allowance, withoutfactoring in sugar from anyother source. Jump mediaplayerMedia player helpOutof media player. Press enterto return or tab to continue.

Prof Ian MacDonald, chairman of theSACN working group on carbohydrates, said:“The evidence that we have analysed showsquite clearly that high free sugars intake inadults is associated with increased energy in-take and obesity. “There is also an associationbetween sugar-sweetened beverages and type-2 diabetes.

“In children there is clear demonstrationthat sugar-sweetened beverages are associatedwith obesity. “By reducing it to 5% you wouldreduce the risk of all of those things, the chal-lenge will be to get there.” The target of 5% ofenergy intake from free sugars amounts to 25g

for women (five to six teaspoons) and 35g(seven to eight teaspoons) for men, basedon the average diet.

Public Health England will now recon-sider its recommendations on fruit juice and

smoothies in its five-a-daycampaign. The current advicefrom the NHS is that juicecounts as a maximum of oneportion a day, while a smoothiemay count as more than oneportion, depending on how it ismade.

It will also investigatemeasures to protect childrenfrom food advertising whileonline and whether a sugar taxwould have any merit. DrAlison Tedstone, the chief nu-tritionist at Public Health En-gland, said: “We are very con-cerned around sugar intakes inEngland.

“It doesn’t mean havinga completely different diet fromtoday, it is thinking about swap-ping high sugar foods for a

lower sugar alternative. “Instead of fizzydrink, have water or low-fat milk, instead ofa chocolate bar, have a piece of fruit.”

There’s something noticeably missingfrom a call to halve added sugar - how wouldyou go about doing it? This group was setup to assess the science and determine whatwe should be eating. Its role was not to comeup with policies. The target of 5% is a hugechallenge when teenagers are currently get-ting 15% of their calories from added sugar.One option that doctors have called for is atax on sugary drinks. The measure is beingtried in Mexico, although there is still littleevidence on its impact.

Call to halve target foradded sugar

Ambassador of Switzerland Christoph Bubb, Governor Balochistan Muhammad KhanAchakzai, and Ambassador of Argentine Rodolfo Martin Saravia cutting the cake during aceremony to celebrate the National Day of Switzerland.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D —Pres iden tMamnoon Hussain Friday saidthat country’s valiant armed forcesand Operation Zarb-e-Azb hasfull support of the nation and thepeople stand united in the struggleto rid the country from the men-ace of terrorism. “We greatlyvalue the sacrifices being madeby the people of the tribal areas,particularly the people of NorthWaziristan who have been dis-placed as a result of the Opera-tion and every effort would bemade to facilitate and provide re-lief to the affected families”.

He was speaking on the oc-casion of dispatching two Medi-cal Mobile Health Units for In-ternally Displaced Persons (IDP)provided by Shaheed Zulfikar AliBhutto Medical University andPIMS.

The President said the gov-ernment was cognizant of the dif-ficulties that were being faced bythe people in IDP camps and ev-ery possible effort was beingmade to alleviate their sufferings.

Press Secretary to the Presi-dent Ms. Saba Mohsin Raza in-formed the media that ShaheedZulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical Uni-versity and PIMS have dispatched two mobile health unitsfor provision of medical care to the Internally DisplacedPersons (IDPs) of North Waziristan.

She said these Medical Mobile Health Units will servethe displaced persons and their families. Ms. Saba Mohsinsaid that during his meeting with the delegation of ShaheedZulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University, the Presidentgreatly appreciated the gesture of the University and PIMSfor providing Medical Mobile Health Units and also de-tailing paramedical staff and doctors for taking care of thehealth requirements of IDPs.

These mobile units, doctors, paramedics staff wouldremain in the affected area for the next 18 months, thePress Secretary said.

“This gesture of sending Mobile Health Units is a

President Mamnoon Hussain offering Dua on the occasion of dispatching two medical mobile health units for IDPs pro-vided by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University and PIMS, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

reflection of sentiments of the entire nation and symbol-izes the level of appreciation of the sacrifices that are be-ing made by our brethren of tribal areas,” Ms. Saba quotedthe President as saying. The President said the brave peopleof tribal areas have always served as frontline defence ofthe country against external threats and extremism andmilitancy.

The President reiterated his call for manifesting greaterunity at this critical juncture and prayed for complete suc-cess of armed forces and those who were braving greatdifficulties for a better future of the country.

President Mamnoon said that it was a matter of greatsatisfaction that the government’s effort to provide reliefto the affected people were being generously comple-mented by all sections of the civil society and it was forth-

coming in assisting the displaced families. However, inview of the enormity of the challenge there was need forgreater efforts in this regard, he said. He advised BarristerUsman Ibrahim, Minister of State for Capital Administra-tion and Development Division to sensitize the businesscommunity for taking a lead role in providing financialassistance for relief activities for the IDPs. The Presidentwas informed that in addition to these mobile health units,PIMS would provide 10,000 blood bags to Pakistan Army.Around 7,000 employees of PIMS would also donate oneday salary for the IDPs. The Vice Chancellor said theseMobile Health Units would also act as vaccination pointof polio for the IDPs and thus would help government inits mission to contain spread of polio virus from the af-fected tribal areas to the rest of the country.

Every effort being made toalleviate sufferings of IDPs

Ambassador of Japan Hiroshi Inomata, Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Surgeon General PakistanArmy Lt. Gen Azhar Rashid, HI (M) cutting the cake to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Japan Self-Defence Forces Day.Colonel Ken Asada, Defense Attaché of Embassy of Japan is also present at the occasion.—PO Photo

ZUBAIR QURESHI

RAWALPINDI—The districtadministration of Rawalpindion Friday announcedRamazan package offering10-kg flour bag on subsi-dized rate of Rs310 (insteadof Rs400) and sugar for Rs46(instead of Rs60). Besidesflour and sugar other fooditems, daal, ghee, rice spices,

etc would also be offered onsubsidized rate. These itemswill be available on subsidizedrates in all the 19 RamazanBazaars (Ramazan Markets) inthe Rawalpindi city. On the in-struction of Chief MinisterPunjab Mian Shahbaz Sharifoverall 39 Ramazan Bazaarare being held in theRawalpindi division. Prices offlour bag and sugar have been

reduced not only in theRamazan Bazaars but in theopen market too, subsidy isbeing offered on these itemsand a 10-kg bag will be avail-able for only Rs330.

C o m m i s s i o n e rRawalpindi Zahid Saeed whilechairing a meeting of the cityadministration officers di-rected the magistrates andfood inspectors to ensure the

prices of the food and utilityitems will remain fixed aswere on June 15. “Those whoincrease prices or hoard itemswill be treated with an ironhand,” waned the commis-sioner.

The meeting was attendedby DCOs of Rawalpindi,Chakwal, Attock and Jhelum.Officials from the Labour andFood Department also at-

tended the meeting. It was toldduring the meeting that the 10-kg flour bag available at theRamzaan Bazaar will be ofgreen colour while the onebeing sold in the open market(on subsidized rate) will be oforange colour. Provincial Min-ister for Social Welfare SyedHaroon Sultan and SecretarySchools Abdul Jabbar Shaheenwill monitor the prices of the

food and utility items inRawalpindi city, it was told inthe meeting.

In District Attock Secre-tary Communication & Hous-ing Mian Mushtaq Ahmed, forChakwal Secretary WomenDevelopment Ms IramBukhari and for Jhelum Sec-retary Forest Sher Alam willbe monitoring the prices. SixRamazan Bazaar will be held

in Attock, 8 in Jhelum and sixin Chakwal, it was further toldin the meeting. Apart fromRamazan Bazaar 212Ramazan Dastarkhwan(Ramazan free food arrange-ments) will also be ensured.Out of 212, 90 RamazanDastarkhwan will be held inRawalpindi.

Traders and philanthro-pists are generously extending

their cooperation in holdingRamazan Bazaars andDastarkhwan, it was ob-served in the meeting. Spe-cial measures have beentaken to provide relief to theelderly people, women andchildren who visit these ba-zaars. On the occasion vari-ous measures for securityand safety of the people werealso reviewed.

Ramazan package for Pindi from today

10-kg flour bag for Rs310, 1-kg sugar for Rs46

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Board of Intermediate andSecondary Education (FBISE) on Friday declaredthe result of Secondary School Certificate AnnualExaminations 2014 with pass percentage of 77.25.According to the details of the result, a total of57420 regular candidates appeared in the examsout of which 52084 candidates could pass the examwith pass percentage of 90.71.

A total of 20119 private candidates appearedin the exam out of which 7815 candidates couldpass it and the pass percentage remained 38.84. InScience group, Hamza Siddiqui of Army PublicSchool and College, Bahawalpur secured over allfirst position with 1031 marks.

While the second and third positions wereclinched by Miral Saleem of Fazaia Inter College,Lahore with 1030 marks and Ammar Khawar ofArmy Public School and College, Sargodha with1029 marks respectively. While in Humanitiesgroup, Kulsoom Tariq of H.H Sheikh Rashid Al-Makhtoom Pakistan School, Dubai secured firstposition with 969 marks while the second and thirdpositions were obtained by Moaviya Naseer ofInstitute of Islamic Sciences, Islamabad with 968marks and Hajra Aamir of Quality School,Rawalpindi with 958 marks respectively.

In Science group, a total of 49120 regular can-didates appeared out of which 45452 could passthe exam against 5677 private candidates passedout of total 13705 candidates appeared. In Humani-ties group, 8300 regular candidates appeared inthe exam out of which 6632 candidates passedagainst 2138 private candidates passed out of total6414 candidates appeared.

The marksheets of the institutions would bemade available at the One Window Cell of FBISEon June 30 (Monday). The result would be avail-able on Federal Board website at the addresswww.fbise.edu.pk and will also be available onSMS unified code 5050. The candidates are re-quired to send SMS in the format FBspace[rollnumber]. This year 47 unfair means cases werereported and all cases have been decided and noti-fied through adopting a judicious procedure.

The Result Cards of regular candidates arebeing dispatched to the heads of their respectiveinstitutions and those of Ex/Private candidateswithin country are being sent on the addresses givenby them in their admission forms and those ofoverseas candidates are being sent to Head of In-stitutions from where they appeared. The resultcards of candidates both regular and private be-longing to Gilgit- Baltistan are being sent to theFBISE’s Sub-office, Gilgit-Baltistan.

FBISE declares SSC Exam resultwith 77.25 pass percentage

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Higher Edu-cation Commission (HEC) Dr MukhtarAhmad has assured the Islamabad HighCourt that the matter with regard toregularization of services of two HECofficers would be settled amicably.

Dr Mukhtar who is facing a con-tempt petition filed by MuhammadAnees Sadozai, Director Academics for“not implementing court orders regard-ing regularisation of his service” sub-mitted this reply on Friday during thehearing of the case.

The petitioner through his counselShoaib Shaheen submitted before the

court that not only his services havebeen regularized he is being denied hissalary too.

On Thursday Justice Noorul Haq NQureshi had directed the HEC chief toappear on Friday however, Dr Mukhtarcould not appear before the court in time.On this the judge taking exception to hisabsence ordered the standing counsel toconvey the court’s displeasure and di-rect the HEC chairman to immediatelyappear before the court. Some thirtyminutes after the court’s strict order, DrMukhtar along with his counsel RaiNawaz Kharal rushed to the court andassured the amicable and early settle-ment of the issue. Another officer of the

HEC (DG) Zia Batool has also filed asimilar petition in the same court. HECchief assured the court that he wouldpersonally look into the matter.

As far as reply to the contempt pe-tition, the counsel for petitioner submit-ted that he needed time to study the caseand moreover he was also leaving forUmrah. On this the court adjourned thematter for July 8.

On June 26, the IHC single bench,in its order, had noted “From the recordit appears that respondent No 1 (DrMukhtar Ahmad) has not complied withthe orders passed by this court. There-fore, respondent No. 1 is directed to ap-pear in person on next date of hearing”.

HEC chief draws court’s ire Arshad electedpresident of PR

associationSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Public RelationsOfficer of the Ministry of Reli-gious Affairs and Interfaith Har-mony Muhammad ArshadChaudhry has been elected presi-dent of Public Relations Asso-ciation of Pakistan (PRAP).

He was elected president ofthe association during a meet-ing of the executive committeeof the PRAP chaired by the out-going president Ishrat Masoom.The meeting was also attendedby all the members of the bodyincluding the outgoing secretarygeneral Anjum Khalique.

The executive committeeof PRAP delegated powers toits new president to form newexecutive body to run the af-fairs of the association activelyfor the promotion of the publicrelations profession.

04:30 01:3005:30

09:15

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

Firefighters extinguishing fire which erupted in Satellite Town area due to electricity short circuit.

June 28

EMBASSY of the Islamic Re-public of Afghanistan inIslamabad is to organize open-ing ceremony of Art Exhibitionby Afghan Painter HamidMuqtader for the purpose of do-nation to victims of recent natu-ral disaster in Afghanistan at ArtyGallery, 57B, Street 26, SectorF-6/2 on 27th June. The exhibi-tion will continue on 27th to 28th

from 6:00 p.m. to 10;00 p.m.

****

THE Human Rights Commis-sion of Pakistan will hold a con-sultation on laws on sexual ha-rassment and their implementa-tion in Pakistan on Saturday, June28. Venue: Kahkshan Hall II,Islamabad Hotel, Time: 2.00pmto 6.00pm.

Women busy in shopping of old clothes which are cheaper than those available in market, at Friday bazaar.

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—A first batch of 180 unem-ployed male and female youth on Fridaycompleted their six-month job trainingcourse organized by Hashoo Foundation incollaboration with Punjab Skill DevelopmentFund (PSDF) and UKAID. “Around 80 percent trainees, under the project executed at acost of Rs 54 million, got attractive job of-fers during the course,” Senior Manager Pro-grams Hashoo Foundation Javaid Akhter saidaddressing the passing out ceremony here.

The youth were from seven districts ofPunjab including Lodhran, Bahawalnagar,Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, Vehari,Khanewal and Rahim Yar Khan enthusiasti-cally participated in the programme titled“Skills for Job 2013-14” under which hos-pitality, management, cooking, housekeep-ing, food and beverage serving skills wereimparted to them.

The Second batch, Javaid said, wouldstart training in November for which adswould be issued in national dailies invitingapplications from interested unemployedyouth.

During this phase, he said, opportunitywould be provided to youth of another sevendistricts of Punjab including Faisalabad,Sargodha, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Chiniot andGujranwala with the aim to make them self-reliant and useful citizens of the country.

PSDF Chief Operating Officer Ali Akbar

Bosan, who was chief guest, distributed cer-tificates and shields among the course par-ticipants .

He congratulated the graduates andHashoo Foundation team for successfullycompleting the course, highlighting theachievements of getting jobs during the train-

ing in different hotels, motels and private sec-tor companies on attractive salary packages.

Among others, Director ProgramsHashoo Foundation Aqeel Nawaz Khan, Di-rector General National Training BureauQazi Zaheer Ahmed, Director OperationsWestern Global Services (Pvt.) Ltd Abid

Zaheer, Director Human Resources PC Ho-tel Lahore Col (retd.) Shehzad Rafique, Di-rector Human Resources Marriott HotelIslamabad Lubna Qamar and CEO NOHAGlobal Group Neelofar Kazmi were alsopresent on the occasion.

Talking to media Senior Manager Javaid

Akhtar said his foundation would set up anoverseas employment bureau in Dubai to fa-cilitate youth in getting jobs abroad.

Our priority will be to accommodate suc-cessful participants of “Skill for Jobprogramme against the demand and vacan-cies received on priority,” he said.

The project, he said, would not only de-velop skills of the youth but also help elimi-nate unemployment and strengthen the na-tional economy.

After getting training and job especiallyabroad, they (youth) would support their fami-lies by sending foreign remittances, whichwould ultimately also improve the nationaleconomic condition as flow of foreign remit-tances would increase, he added.

Jubilant Umme Habiba, who hailed fromdistrict Lodhran, told APP that she not only gottraining but also a good job. She appreciated thejoint venture of PSDF, UKAID and HashooFoundation for providing an effective platformand mitigating the financial sufferings of edu-cated youth. Muhammad Talha, another partici-pants from Vehari, expressed happiness for step-ping into practical life as he too secured a jobduring the course. He was pleased to become anearning hand for his family.

Hashoo Foundation is a progressive anddynamic non-profit organization, leading theway in human development and poverty alle-viation by implementing viable economic de-velopment, educational and capacity-buildingprogrammes in the country since 1988.

First batch of unemployed youthcompletes job training

Participants of graduating trainees of ‘Skills for job 2013-14’ project organized by Hashoo Foundation in collaboration withPunjab Skills Development Fund after award ceremony at a local hotel.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—University Institute of Infor-mation Technology (UIIT) of Pir Mehr AliShah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi(PMAS-AAUR) organized 7th annual OpenHouse here on Friday to strengthen the link-age between industry and academia. It pro-vide an opportunity to the students to showtheir abilities as well as enable them to under-stand market trends, said a press release.

More than 150 students of UIIT, includ-ing BSCS, MCS, MIT, and MS (CS) dis-played their variety of unique and innovativeIT based projects in a day-long Open House,which was attended by the 134 industry pro-fessionals from 35 different software devel-opment companies.

Speaking on the occasion, AAUR, ViceChancellor, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad laudedthe projects presented by young students andemphasized to develop more agriculture re-

lated applications so that farmers and peopleof Pakistan can benefit from latest informa-tion and communication technologies.

He urged the students to give equal im-portance to theory and practical applicationof their degree subjects.

Ria Niaz said science and technologyplays vital role in the progress of developingcountries that is why AAUR keenly focuseson further improving its information technol-ogy institute.

He stressed upon the students to de-vote their selves for knowledge and as-sured them of every possible support fromAAUR in the regard of creative and uniqueprojects.

Earlier, Dr. Muhammad Mubashir, Direc-tor, UIIT, also gave a detailed briefing to theVice Chancellor about the projects of the stu-dents. Vice Chancellor along with facultymembers of the university visited the stallsarranged by the students and appreciated the

efforts and creativity of the students.He said that active participation of the stu-

dents with unique and innovative ideas in theuniversity open house is a proof of the factthe students of the institute have a lot of po-tential. The software projects are integral com-ponent of every computing related degreethrough which students can showcase the soft-ware solutions to resolve issues of real lifeproblems.

Students not only displayed their projectsbut also availed the opportunity to meet ex-perts from industry and academia. The eventalso provided a great opportunity for all theindustry professionals and students alike totake maximum benefit from this “OpenHouse”.

On the occasion, these companies con-ducted on spot interviews of 120 graduatingstudents, 19 students were offered jobs at spot,while some of the companies will call the morethan 30 students after initial processing.

Open House at AAUR to strengthenlinkage between industry, education

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—About 35 percent workof Metro Bus Project has been com-pleted so far and the whole projectwould be completed two months beforethe target date, said Hanif Abbasi, Chair-man, Metro Bus Project Committee. Hewas briefing the business communityand civil society on Metro Bus Projectat Islamabad Chamber of Commerce &Industry. MNA Dr. Tariq FazalChaudhry, Chief Commissioner ICTJawad Paul, Member (Admn) CDAAmir Ali Ahmed and many officers ofadministration were present at the oc-casion.

Hanif Abbasi said that Punjab gov-ernment has initiated many projects inRawalpindi during the last five years in-cluding Rawalpindi Institute of Cardi-ology, 400 bed kidney hospital, Techni-cal Training Institute and Flyovers atChandni Chowk & 6th Road. Now thePunjab government has started MetroBus Project to provide modern transport

facility to the lower middle class of thetwin cities.

He said Metro Bus will costRs.44.31 billion and will run on a trackof 22.5 Kms with 8.6 Km elevated cor-ridor in Rawalpindi and 13.9 Km onground track in Islamabad. An amountof about Rs.7 billion is being used toconstruct a modern interchange atPeshawar More. 10 elevated stationswill be set up in Rawalpindi and 14 atgrade stations in Islamabad. All stationswill have underpass or flyover facilityfor commuters with ramps for specialpersons.

He said the project has been dividedinto 8 packages with January 2015 astarget date for completion. However, hewas hopeful that the project would becompleted within 6-8 months. The af-fected traders would be paid compensa-tion ranging from Rs.3.7 million to 4.6million per marla as per value of thelocality. Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry saidall stakeholders have been taken onboard for Metro Bus mega project and

termed it as a gift of Punjab governmentfor the citizens of twin cities. He saidMetro Bus will benefit 1.5 to 2-millionlow income people with Rs20 fair.

He said the Metro Bus track has theprovision to accommodate railway trackin future without major changes to theinfrastructure. He assured that all con-cerns of business community would beaddressed and their suggestions wouldbe given due consideration. ShabanKhalid, President, Islamabad Chamberof Commerce & Industry, said thatMetro Bus would be a new milestone ofdevelopment in Rawalpindi andIslamabad as it is a people friendlyproject and will provide a respectablemode of transportation to low incomecommuters and especially ladies whootherwise have to travel in unpleasantconditions.

He said an overhead bridge shouldbe built to connect the H-8 with H-9 andto facilitate access of traffic comingfrom the Islamabad Highway toMargalla Dry Port and Railway Station.

Metro Bus Project to be completed2 months ahead of schedule

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Bar Council(PBC) has suspended the affiliation of theFederal Urdu University regarding lawfaculties for running law campuses ille-gally and unauthorizedly and issued aShow Cause notice to the management ofthe university.

According to Show Cause notice No.1036 /PBC/SEC/2014 dated June 24, 2014issued by the secretary of the Pakistan BarCouncil Muhammad Arshad to Registrarof the Federal Urdu University as per de-cision of the PBC, the Committee consid-ered the matter of affiliation of the Fed-eral Urdu University in detail and after fulllength deliberations was of the view that

the irresponsible and ill-becoming conductof the said University having un-authorizedly starting LL.B., LL.M. andPh.D classes at Lahore and Islamabadcampuses in gross violation of the Rules,has prima facie rendered itself liable to bede-recognized. The Committee also keptin view the past ill becoming conduct ofthe Federal Urdu University when it ille-gally and un-authorizedly affiliated the

Al-Mizan Law College at Rawalpindiand instead of de-affiliating the said lawcollege, on asking of the Pakistan BarCouncil dragged the Council into uncalledfor litigation for years together jeopardiz-ing thereby the career of hundreds of law

students, said a PBC press release. It was,therefore, resolved that the Federal UrduUniversity of Arts, Science and Technol-ogy in view of its continued irresponsibleand unbecoming conduct, be asked onceagain through Show Cause notice as towhy it should not be de-recognized andits law degrees are declared invalid for thepurpose of enrolment as an Advocate.

The University must submit its replywithin a forthnight. It was further resolved thatpending final decision in the matter the rec-ognition earlier granted to the Federal UrduUniversity of Arts,Science and Technologyvide letter No. 58/PBC/SEC/2013 dated 09-01-2013, shall remain suspended.—APP

PBC suspends affiliation of Federal UrduUniversity regarding Law campuses

Security ofRamazan bazaars

to be ensuredRAWALPINDI—The securityof Ramzan Bazaar’s would beensured and profiteers wouldface strict action while heavyfine would be imposed on thoseindulging in profiteering in theHoly month of Ramzan.

Assistant CommissionerQurat-ul Ain said that maxi-mum relief would be providedto the public.

Talking to media, she saidthat an effective mechanismwould be evolved to checkprices of daily use commodi-ties. —APP

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Director General, PunjabEmergency Service Rescue 1122 Dr. RizwanNaseer reviewed monsoon preparedness and con-tingency planning of division Rawalpindi in ameeting held at Central Station, Rescue 1122Rawalpindi. The meeting was with reference tofunctioning of Early Warning and ForecastingSystem installed by Japan International Coopera-tion Agency JICA, preparedness of EmergencyService and arrangements of the districts for flashflood in Naulla Lai, which is prone to adversemonsoon flooding and largely effect the popula-tion residing on its either sides.

He discussed all effective preventive measuresand timely identification of trouble zones to miti-gate the fallouts. The District Emergency OfficerRescue 1122 Rawalpindi, Emergency OfficerHeadquarters, Emergency Officer Rawal Town,Emergency Officer Potohar Town, Emergency

Officer Murree, Control Room Incharge, StationCoordinators, and head of all wings participatedin the meeting.

The Director General was briefed by DistrictEmergency Officer Rawalpindi Rescue 1122 Dr.Abdur Rahman through presentation on Flood Pre-paredness Plan and action taken for preparednesswith collaboration of City District Government andall allied departments. He said that flood prepared-ness plan is active from 1st July and mock exer-cises have also been conducted to ensure effectiveresponse in case of any emergency situation.

Dr. Rizwan Naseer emphasized to ensure pre-paredness for flood mitigation by testing all equip-ment, early warning system, response mechanismand joint flood response exercises with concernedstakeholders. He also directed District EmergencyOfficer to have a close liaison with neighboringdistricts and concerned departments to ensuretimely backup and assistance in case of any emer-gency of flash flood.

Monsoon preparedness,contingency plan reviewed

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Elaborate arrangements arebeing made in all power distribution com-panies including the Islamabad ElectricSupply Company (IESCO) to ensuresmooth power supply at Iftar, Saher andTravih timings during the holy month ofRamdan.

The minister for water and Power andthe state minister have already directed all

the Chief Executives Officers of power dis-tribution companies to ensure smooth anduninterrupted power supply during the saidtimings in the holy month.

The CEOs were also directed to maketimely repairing in case of any technicalfault. The state minister would personallymonitor the power load-shedding duringholy month of Ramdan in all DISCOs.Earlier, Peshawar Electric Supply Company(PESCO) also announced that there will be

no power outage during Sehr, Aftar andTraveeh timings during the holy month ofRamadan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov-ince.

PESCO spokesperson while announc-ing the good news, said that federal gov-ernment has ordered the shift and we willtry our best that citizens shall not have tobear power cuts during Sehar (a meal be-fore fasting), Aftaar ( a meal to break fast)and Traveeh (special prayer after fasting).

No power load-shedding during Iftar,Saher, Traveeh timings

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Federal Governmenthas announced the office timing during themonth of Ramazan.

According to an office memorandumissued by the Establishment Division Fri-day, offices working five days a week, tim-ings would be from 08:00 a.m. to 02:00p.m. from Monday to Thursday and from

08:00 a.m. to 01:00 p.m. on Friday.For the offices working six days a week,

timings would be from 08:00 a.m. to 01:00p.m. on Monday to Thursday and Saturdaywhile 08:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Friday.

Office timing during Ramazan

MUZAFFARABAD: AJ&K Prime Minister Chudry Abdul Majeed addressing AJK Assembly Sessions here onFriday.

MUZAFFARABAD: Police personnel taking part in firing course on Friday June,2014.

DR SHEIKH SHOWKAT HUSSAIN

FOR most of the analysts ascendance ofNarendra Modi as leader of single partyto power was a surprise. Given the fact

that for past three decades coalition has beenthe grand norm of Indian politics and Indiansociety remained polarized on caste & re-gional lines none anticipated it. For those vi-sionaries who had first encounter with In-dian nationalism on its inception India be-coming Hindu state was a foregone conclu-sion. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan once persuadedby his friends to develop a positive approachtowards Indian National Congress out rightlyrejected the suggestion saying that it is in-conceivable to perceive a state belonging totwo different communities and one has surelyto subdue another to constitute a polity.

It was this idea which was articulated byhis colleague Nawab Mohsin ul Mulk thatled to emergence of Muslim League as a sepa-rate party in 1906 barely three years after thedeath of great Sir Syed. Ascendance of Hindufascism is often attributed to partition bysome liberal Muslims. It is a wrong notioncontrary to their perception India could havebecome RSS dominated much earlier in anundivided India. Partition rescued 66% of thefaithful to the eastern and western Pakistanthere by reduced Muslims in India. Hindus

Kashmir and challenges to Modi-fied Indiashould have been relieved of Muslim phobiabut contrary to these expectations Muslimphobia remained part of Hindu psyche andwas cultivated by Hindu right-wing partiesowing allegiance to RSS. Partition simply de-ferred the emergence of Hindu extremism. Itcould have otherwise emerged in much morelethal way and far earlier had there been nopartition and India as a home of more than400 million Muslims. Now all the illusionsabout India emerging as a secular nation havedissipated and Modi remains Indian primeminister. Ascendance of Modi to powermaybe detrimental to the interests of Mus-lims in mainland India, Modi-ficaton of Indiahas however several positives for Kashmirresistance. Kashmiris, now, do not need toconvince the world that they are subjugatedunder a fascist majoritarian setup because no-toriety of Modi and Hindutva forces is tooobvious to whole of the world to need anyintroduction. There are other positives inascendance of Modi for Kashmiris. Ever sinceinsurgency erupted in Kashmir, India oftenexperienced coalition governments. Everygovernment projected coalition politics as animpediment in the way of its efforts towardsresolution of Kashmir problem. Modi doesn’thave any baggage of coalition compulsionsto use them as a pretext for deferring resolu-tion of Kashmir. Their presence in power au-

gers well as it is the Hindu extreme right thatoften paralyzed the UPA government fromembarking upon any initiatives on Kashmir.

Locally the election has been an avenueof assertion of the dominant sentiment ofKashmir. After a long time Kashmir experi-enced an overwhelming boycott of electionsas propagated and desired by various seg-ments of Hurriyat. Through this boycottpeople of Kashmir have made it amply clearthat they aren’t satisfied with status-quo. Theboycott was not result of any coercion asportrayed by some fifth columnists whothrough their writings had consistently pre-dicted a doomsday scenario for the pro-free-dom camp on election days.

This interpretation remains either an ex-cuse for their ill-conceived predictions or analibi for providing a face saving for the sta-tus-quo whose beneficiaries they remain. Theboycott was complete in mainland Kashmirwhereas in militarized hinterland it was less.People in those areas can’t take the risk ofendangering their existence by defying thewrit of the security apparatus with which theyhave to co-exist. While participating theyused their vote as an instrument of penaliz-ing those who have been responsible forlarge scale killings of youth and hanging ofAfzal Guru. Modi can’t overlook this phe-nomenon he has to take initiatives to address

it. He can’t afford invest in unproductive ex-ercise of keeping one third of Indian army ina perpetual state of mobilization within a hos-tile population and dream of vikas of India.

At global level, dominance of bloodtainted extremists at Delhi creates a possibil-ity of a reaction from the Muslim world. Thisavenue has been further expanded throughpublic appreciation of Narendra Modi’sascendance by Israeli Prime Minister. Goneare the days when Nehru used to outwit Pa-kistan as ‘messenger of peace’ in the MiddleEast. Modi and his India now blatantly re-main part and parcel of US containment zoneagainst the Muslims world. Given the fact thatrecords of Modi as Chief Minister have beennegative towards Muslims he can’t remain ingood books of the Muslim community acrossthe globe.

If he pursues the same agenda to appeasethe RSS he can invoke retaliation from theMuslim world. Given the fact that Muslimnation states face the problems of extremismdomestically they can overlook such a reac-tion from the non-state actors in order to de-flect attention from their own failures andmisdeeds. If Modi becomes a cause of provo-cation for extremism it can ruin the prospectsof peace and investment within India, thusblunting the expectations of the Multination-als for an investment friendly atmosphere.

Invite to Nawaz Sharif on oath taking cer-emony is an effort to evade possibility ofsuch a reaction.

If Modi remains indifferent to RSS agendaand obliges the business houses whobrought him to power he has to direct hisguns towards deprived masses through with-drawal of subsidies, acquisition of lands anddisinvestment of state assets. A move in thisdirection is surely going to provide fuel tothe Maoist insurgency which remains deeplyentrenched in 1/3rd of the Indian Territory.The downtrodden in other parts of India toocan pursue the same path, thus bringing moreand more Indian areas under the influence ofleft-wing insurgency.

Given the fact that Punjab overwhelm-ingly didn’t vote in favour of BJP is clear in-dication of the fact that they refused to be-come instrument in the hands of BJP for de-feat of Manmohan Singh led government inDelhi. Apart from his credentials as an econo-mist consolation of raj karega khalesa aspira-tion of Sikhs remained one of the reasons forelevation of Manmohan to the position ofPM. Punjab, too, may not remain comfort-able with the successor of Manmohan Singhin Delhi. Akalis under pressure from theirvoters are shying away from joining the Modicabinet.

—Courtesy: Kashmir Dispatch

SALAMABAD, IHK—The Amarnath Yatra tothe cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’sAnantnag district starts Saturday and willend on August 10, coinciding with ShravanPurnima festival.

State Agriculture Minister GhulamHassan Mir flagged off the convoy carry-ing the first batch of yatris from here forthe Baltal base camp in Ganderbal district.

“A total of 42 vehicles, including 23buses and 19 light motor vehicles, carrying1,160 pilgrims left Jammu amid tight secu-rity.

There are 957 men, 187 women and 19children among the yatris,” an official ofthe Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB)that manages the affairs of the yatra toldIANS here.

Amarnath Yatra begins in KashmirSituated at an altitude of 13,000 feet, the

Amarnath cave shrine houses the HolyLingam, an ice stalagmite structure believed tosymbolise Lord Shiva.

For this year’s yatra, 193,000 pilgrims haveregistered with the SASB.

Due to heavy snow along the traditionalPahalgam route in south Kashmir, the yatrawill start Saturday only via the Baltal routein north Kashmir, the official said.

The official said a decision on when tostart the yatra from the Pahalgam routewould be taken by the SASB on July 1.Governor NN Vohra is the chairman of theSASB.

Assisted by a chief executive officer andother staff, the governor is personally super-vising the smooth conduct of the yatra—KD.

SRINAGAR—An 18-year-old girl has slippedinto coma after eating unwashed cherrieswith pesticides on them.

She has been admitted in Sher-e-Kash-mir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura fortreatment.

Dr Showkat Ali, HoD Emergency Medi-cine said that they have admitted an 18-year-old girl who has consumed unwashedcherries. The girls have developed OrganPhosphorus poisoning. It was revealed thatthe pesticides were sprayed on cherries fewdays back, according to a press statementissued by SKIMS.

Health experts at SKIMS have warnedpeople of unwashed fruits and vegetables,which can have serious health implications.

“We request people to take onlywashed fruits and vegetables and in ap-propriate quantities to stay safe and

Girl in coma after eatingunwashed cherries

healthy.”Experts at SKIMS warn people about

consumption of unwashed fruits and veg-etables, loaded with pesticides which theysaid can lead to serious health issues.According to a statement issued here, Muftiinformed that they received 18 years oldpatient with MRD No. 801755 on 15-6-2014in coma and shock who had consumedabout one Kg unwashed cherries. Exami-nation and investigations revealed that shehad developed Organ Phosphorous poi-soning. It was revealed that the pesticidewas sprayed on cherries few days back.However, the patient was saved by teamefforts of doctors at emergency medicine,he added. We request people to take onlywashed fruits and vegetables and in ap-propriate quantities to stay safe andhealthy—RK.

SONAWAR, IHK—Police and paramili-tary forces were deployed in strengtharound the high-security zone ofSonawar here as angry protesters tookto streets, a day after a local youthwas killed in Indore by a franchiseholder of the company he worked for .According to the reports, authoritiesimposed restrictions in some areas ofSonawar area after clashes betweensome youth and forces were reported.

At 4 P.M when the last rites of theslain Tahir Hussain Dar were offeredat his ancestral graveyard, some youthresorted to stone throwing after whichpolice used tear gas shells to dispersethe angry mob.

While the Police has not yet givenout its version of the incident, Tahir’sfamily said that he was MBA pass outfrom Bobal and was doing the job thereas the state head in Intex mobile tech-nology. Reports said the deceased,Tahir Hussain Dar, was shot dead bya pistol borne person at Indoor inMadhya Pradesh, GNS quoted offi-cials as saying .

A senior police official had saidthat the youth, who was working asan operator of a private mobile com-pany (Intex), was killed by a man iden-tified as Govind, who was running thecompany’s franchisee on Khajranaroad at Chanderloc Churaha in the city.

Earlier, the body of the deceasedarrived here in Sonwar. “As soon as

Kashmiri youth killed in Indore,laid to rest in Sonawar.

his body reached here, a pal of gloomdescended in the entire area withwomen wailing and beating theirchests,” a neighbor of the deceasedwas quoted as said. Witnesses saidhundreds of people offered the funeralof Tahir.

The deceased is survived by hiswife and one-year-old son. “Since heused to be out of state, he married agirl there some two to three years agoand he, approximately a year ago, be-came father of a boy,” Tahir’s anotherrelative said. The accused, who is onthe run, was operating a franchisee ofthe company’s mobile service centrebut was unable to run it properly, fol-lowing which he was asked to stop, apolice official said.

“The accused reached Ravi Apart-ment in Intex Technology’s regionaloffice located in Chandralok Colonyto discuss the issue of closure of hisfranchisee with the company’s headTahir”, he said.

“Since then he was angry with thecompany officials and that day he ar-rived in the office along with an asso-ciate to discuss the issue. When theydid not respond to his plea, he shot atTahir from close range,” the officersaid.

The bullet hit Tahir in the stomachand back. Govind also fired at anotherofficial, who had a narrow escape.

“He paid price for his honesty,”

his aunt, said in the compound of hismodest house in Sonwarneighbourhood of the city.

The Sonwar area observed a com-plete shutdown amid protests andclashes. Witnesses said soon afterTahir’s funeral, local youth took tostreets and resorted to heavy stone-pelting on the cops who were addi-tionally deployed in the area.

“Angry youth also pelted stoneson public and private vehicles andsmashed their glasses resulting in haltof the traffic,” witnesses said. “How-ever, a huge contingent of police wasrushed to the area and they chasedaway youth and restored traffic.”

The women also took out a pro-test rally in the area and demandedsevere punishment to the accused.“Whatever may be the reason but it isa fact that no Kashmiri youth is safein outside states whether they go forstudies or for business,” a woman pro-tester, who had covered her face, said.Senior police officers, who werepresent in the area, pacified them andlater they dispersed peacefully.

The deceased is the cousin of LateIzhar Wani, who was the prominentjournalist of Kashmir.The police haves registered a caseunder FIR no. 418/2014 under section302, 307, 34 RPC in police stationPalasiya and further investigations inthis regard has been inititated—KO.

URI, IHK—Prime Minister Narendra Modiis likely to visit Jammu and Kashmir on July4, his first visit to the state after assumingthe office. Among other programs on hisitinerary, Modi is expected to inauguratethe NHPC’s 240-MW Uri-II power project.

Sources told Greater Kashmir that thePrime Minister’s Office (PMO) and variousassociated union ministries are finalizingthe program of Modi’s JK visit.

During the visit, sources revealed, Modiwould fly to north Kashmir to formallythrow open the Uri-II power station (4x60MW). A senior NHPC official, wishing ano-nymity, said they have been conveyed bythe Union Power Ministry that Modi mayvisit north Kashmir to throw open the 240-MW Uri-II power station.

Modi to visit IHK on July 4“But this is a tentative program as noth-

ing has been finalized yet,” he said.The project, second on river Jhelum in

Uri town, is located downstream of 480-MW Uri-I and is operated by the NHPC.

Modi’s predecessor, Dr ManmohanSingh was expected to inaugurate theproject during his two-day visit to thestate last year, but the program was can-celled following technical snag in theproject during tr ial run.According tosources, Modi is also expected to inau-gurate 25- km long Udhampur-Katra rail-way line during his visit to Kashmir.Pert inently, the inauguration ofUdhampur-Katra rail link missed severaldeadlines for want of the security clear-ance—GK.

SRINAGAR—Stating that any move aimedat communal polarization of the state isfraught with dangerous consequences forthe entire region, CPI (M) State SecretaryMohammad Yousuf Tarigami cautionedpeople to remain vigilant against ‘BJP’smischief’ ahead of upcoming assembly elec-tions in the State.

Addressing a public rally at Kulgam inSouth Kashmir, Tarigami said, “BJP has al-ways been viewed as party which standsfor communal polarization for its vote bank,but it would never succeed in dividing thepeople on the basis of regional or commu-nal calls. BJP agenda is a challenge to thesecular democratic fabric of the countryparticularly to the State of Jammu and Kash-mir which is worldwide known for its secu-lar and pluralistic ethos.”

While referring to BJP as a party whichhas never subscribed to the concept of

Communal forces out to putJK on fire: Tarigami

State’s autonomy, the CPI (M) leader saidthat BJP manifesto makes it amply clear thatthey will be playing mischief to divide thepeople in the State on the basis, religion,region and ethnicity.“The people must re-main cautious about the nefarious designsof the communal forces who are hell bentto put the State on fire for their narrow elec-toral considerations,” he stressed.

Pointing to the ‘manifestations of mis-governance’ in the State, Tarigami la-mented the ‘failure’ of administration toaddress the electricity crisis emanating outof damaged transformers in small townsand far off places in the State especially inValley.

He said that people are made to face thebrunt of electricity crisis especially inKulgam constituency for weeks togetherin case their electricity transformers developany mechanical snag—RK.

Full bodytruck scannersat LoC soon

SRINAGAR—The full bodytruck scanners will be in-stalled at cross-LoC tradingpoints in Jammu and Kash-mir while traders engaged inthe trade may soon get ISDand banking facility.

A joint meeting of the of-ficers of State and CentralGovernments to review anddiscuss the issues related tocross LoC trade was held heretoday. Khurshid AhmadGanai, Financial Commis-sioner, Industries and Com-merce, Joint Secretary, J&KAffairs, Ministry of HomeAffairs, R.K Srivastava, Prin-cipal Secretary, Home, SureshKumar, IG (CID), J&K Dr BSrinivas , Deputy Secretary(K) Ministry of Home Affairs,Ms Sulekha besides officersof Industries and CommerceDepartment, J&K Bank andBSNL attended the meeting.

“During the meeting, itwas felt that there is urgentneed for further augmentationand streamlining of the crossLoC trade. It was agreed thatthe additional items to be in-cluded for trade shall be for-warded by the Industries andCommerce Department to theMinistry of Home Affairs forits inclusion in the agreed listof items in the Standard Oper-ating Procedure,” an officialspokesman said.

He said provision of ISDfacilities to the senior offic-ers dealing with the crossLOC trade and the desig-nated heads of traders as-sociation was agreed to.

Regarding banking fa-cilities, Srivastava said thematter has already beentaken up with the Govern-ment of Pakistan and theMinistry will pursue thematter with them vigorously.

He further said tenderingprocess for purchase of FullBody Truck Scanners hasbeen completed and a team ofexperts will be sent soon toidentify the location and ad-vice on the preparatory workbefore installation. The instal-lation of full body scannershas been long pending de-mand of the traders associatedwith the cross-LoC trade.

“Enhancement of cashamount to be carried by thepassengers travelling acrossto Pakista -administered Kash-mir was also agreed to and aproposal to this effect will besubmitted by the Home De-partment to the MHA for ap-proval,” an official spokesmansaid—RK.

Former IGPjoins PDP

SRINAGAR—Former Inspec-tor General of J&K PoliceRaja Ajaz Ali along with hishundreds of supportersjoined Peoples DemocraticParty, saying he was “im-pressed” by the party’s“progressive policies”.

According to a state-ment , Raja Aijaz was wel-comed by the Party presi-dent Mehbooba Mufti intothe party-fold during a func-tion organized in his honour.Raja Aijaz has been a mem-ber of the national team of 5IPS officers tasked to planvision project on securitygadgetry, technical equip-ment, forensic lab equipmentand communication for next20 years as Prime Minister’svision programme.

On his joining occasion,Raja Aijaz said that it was theprogressive agenda of PDPthat impressed and moti-vated him to join the party.He said that PDP in its briefperiod of governance hadrestored the trust of peoplein democratic institutions byfollowing its words with ac-tion on the ground.

“The state had witnesseda new era of developmentand peace under PDP rule ledby Mufti MohammedSayeed. Not only the PDPbrought the havoc createdby cross border shelling toan end, but this PDP turneda border area like Uri into acorner stone of its people topeople connectivity plansacross the border,” RajaAijaz remarked.

Party chief MehboobaMufti said PDP’s doorswere open to all the rightthinking people who havethe welfare of the state atheart and want to contrib-ute positively to peoples’growth in every respect.She said that the partywants to deliver the changethat people are expecting tocome in the next electionsthrough right thinkpeople—KO.

PAHALGAM, IHK—The Jammu and Kash-mir government has confiscated the prop-erty of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen deputy chief,senior resistance leader Shabir Ahmad Shahsaid on Friday.Shah, the Democratic Free-dom Party chief, said government has con-fiscated the house of Hizb deputy chiefAamir Khan in South Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

Aamir is a resident of Pahalgam. His

House of Hizb deputy chief confiscatedparents were asked to vacate the house bygovernment forces, he said.

He said: if such ‘atrocities’ are notstopped, its repercussions are inevitable.

He stated: “Aamir is on his mission andon the other hand his parents are being de-prived from their own property which is noth-ing but a clear pressure tactic and must becondemned.—KM

Anyone working fora big company

might be skepticalthat a large busi-ness, or even astrictly online

business, can formthe same kind of

friendly, loyalrelationship withcustomers as a

local retailer. I’msaying it’s already

been done be-cause I lived it.

—Gary Vaynerchuk

KARACHI—It is vital that each country maintainsits sanctity and operates under its defined bound-ary nonetheless like EU, it is high time that coun-tries in South Asia and Central Asia should coordi-nate effectively to support the economic horizonsacross the region. This was enforced by PAJCCI’sCo-President and Delegation Leader to Tajikistan,Mr. Muhammad Zubair Motiwala while addressingthe session at Multilateral Business to BusinessForum between Afghanistan, Krygyztan, Pakistanand Tajikistan held in Dushanbe.

PAJCCI in its endeavors to unveil untappedopportunities across the region is actively pursu-ing its objective to enhance business linkages withCIS countries and strengthening ties with Afghani-stan. In order to pursue its objectives to facilitateregional integration and rejuvenate links with CIScountries, PAJCCI took this initiative to visitDushanbe, Tajikistan to attend Business to Busi-ness meetings conducted by USAID/AfghanistanTrade Revenue Project (ATAR). The forum wasinaugurated with a comprehensive preview by Mr.

5th rental couponrate of 3-year GoPIjara Sukuk (GIS-12)KARACHI—State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) hasdeclared 5th rental couponrate for 3-year Governmentof Pakistan Ijara Sukuk,GIS-12; which wasauctioned on June 20,2012. This rental couponrate will be applicable to allaccepted bids in thisauction, said SBP releasehere on Friday. The rentalcoupon rate is 9.9685percent per annum and thepayment date will beDecember 28, 2014.— APP

Shipping activity atPort QasimKARACHI—Three shipscarrying containers andchemical were berthed atQasim InternationalContainers Terminal andEngro Vopak Terminalrespectively. MeanwhileThree more shipscarrying containers,canola and furnace oilalso arrived at outeranchorage of Port Qasimduring last 24 hours.Berth occupancy was55% at the port on Fridaywhere six ships namelyDubai Express, BuxContact, KN Forest,Golden Trader, BrightWorld and Argent Iris arecurrently occupyingberths to load/offloadcontainers, cement/steelcoil, urea, chemical andedible oil respectivelyduring last 24 hours. Acargo volume of 53521tonnes comprising 31828tonnes imports and 21693tonnes exports inclusiveof containerized cargocarried in 1984 containers(TEUs) were handled atthe Port during last 24hours.—APP

Pakistan MarketPotential HighlightedZÜRICH—SwitzerlandGlobal Enterprise (S-GE;Switzerland’s officialtrade promotion andinvestment agency),organized a focusedsession on Pakistanbeing one of the impor-tant South Asiandestinations for SwissSMEs to do business in.At the occasion, Swisscompanies alreadyworking in Pakistanshared their successstories. Special focus ofthe event was to provideSwiss firms the relevantinformation about doingbusiness in Pakistan inareas such as wastewatermanagement, building &construction, textilemachinery. An exclusivereport on agro-foodprocessing, prepared bythe Institute of BusinessAdministration (IBA)Karachi was alsopresented. “Pakistan isan emerging market andseveral Swiss companiesare interested in it.Keeping this in mind, aB2B trade delegation willbe organized later thisyear”, said Mr. BeatIneichen, S-GE’s SeniorConsultant for SouthAsia. Pakistan’s Ambas-sador to Switzerland, Dr.Aman Rashid, andPresident of SwissBusiness Council, Mr.Mujtaba Rahim, werealso present at theoccasion.—PR

Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar and Saudi Finance MinisterIbrahim Bin Abdullaziz Bin Abdullah Al-Assaf signing protocol for Fianancial Assis-tance of Saudi Riyals 100m for Earthquake Victims and their rehabilitation, at Jeddah.

JEDDAH—Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar held a meet-ing with Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz binAbdullah Al-Assaf to discuss matters pertaining to provi-sion of Saudi funding for new viable development projectsin Pakistan at Jeddah today. Finance Minister Ishaq Darthanked Minister Assaf for continued Saudi support andassistance in various projects in Pakistan.

He specifically mentioned projects like reconstructionof government buildings, official residences, health units,educational amenities, rehabilitation of a college, hospitaland construction of a University in earth quake affectedareas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Finance Minister IshaqDar also highlighted that nearly half a million people havebeen displaced due to the military operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’against terrorists in North Waziristan.

He informed that tens of thousands of families havemoved to the town of Bannu, close to North Waziristan,while hundreds more have moved further to Lakki Marwat,Karak and Dera Ismail Khan, since the offensive began inmid-June.

He also said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has set

Ishaq Dar meets his Saudi counterpart in Jeddah

Protocol signed for financial assistance of SR 100mto Pak earthquake victims, their rehabilitation

up Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for providing financialhelp to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of NorthWaziristan. Both the Ministers also reviewed progress onpower generation plant at Neelum Jhelum and export ofSaudi fertilizer to Pakistan. Saudi Minister Ibrahim binAbdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Assaf expressed willingnessof Saudi Arabia to explore new opportunities and avenuesfor financial partnership and assistance to its brotherlycountry.

Saudi Finance Minister assured that Saudi Arabia val-ues its relationship with Pakistan and would stands by it,shoulder to shoulder, whenever situation so warrants.Later, a Protocol was signed between Saudi Fund for De-velopment and Pakistanfor financial assistance of Saudi Riyals 100 million to earth-quake victims and their rehabilitation. The protocol wassigned by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Saudi FinanceMinister Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Assaf. Thetotal Saudi financial assistance for earthquake reconstruc-tion and rehabilitation through ERRA has now risen to anamount of Saudi Riyals 600 million.—INP

Regional biz integration for Asia is a dire need: ZubairKayumova Gulru, Deputy Minister of EconomicDevelopment and Trade of Tajikistan. She deliber-ated upon trading, business and investment op-portunities in Tajikistan and also on Tajikistan’ssignificant placement as a first link in CIS region.Ms. Suzan Elliott, US Ambassador in Tajikistangreatly appreciated this effort to bring togetherbusiness representatives from the four countriesat one platform to help capitalize the mutually ben-eficial opportunities cumulatively. She furtheradded that US Embassy and USAID are eagerlyfollowing the mission to develop strong ties be-tween Central and South Asia through direct pri-vate sector engagement.

Mubin Rustamov, Program Coordinator UNDPalso shed light on their contributions to facilitatebusiness ties across the region and showed greatintentions to facilitate the same from this platformin future as well. Mr. Motiwala, Co-PresidentPAJCCI also highlighted significant opportunitiesin Pakistan and discussed the possibilities formutually beneficial ventures. He also highlighted

success of forums like Pakistan Afghanistan JointChamber of Commerce and Industry and enforcedthat regional forum like such may be developed tonourish each other’s strengths and weaknesses.The session also had presentations from Mr.Asananali Karamaliev - Deputy Chairman ofTajikistan Chamber, Mr. Hassib Rahimi, ExecutiveDirector Kabul Chamber and Ms. Rima Apasova,Deputy Chairman Krygyztan Chamber. The ses-sion was very well-attended by participants fromTajikistan and delegation from Afghanistan, Paki-stan and Krygyztan.

The session was followed by discussions ontrade, transit and travel issues and advocacy pa-rameters were identified accordingly. Each delegatewas provided an opportunity to introduce his or-ganization and desired field of interests, followingwhich face to face negotiations amongst mutuallyinterested parties was initiated. The business com-munity was also given sectoral tours of Textile,Construction, Confectionary and Food process-ing units. Individual visits as per delegates’ re-

quirements were also planned. On the last day,chamber to chamber meetings in order to finalizeadvocacy plan and development of joint forum tofacilitate businesses in respective countries wasalso conducted, moderated by USAID / ATAR rep-resentatives. PAJCCI delegation also met Mr.Moinuddin Khan, General Manager National Bankof Pakistan who deliberated upon banking prac-tices, opportunities and challenges in Tajikistan.

He also highlighted contributions of NBP tofacilitate Pakistani businesses in Central Asia. Mr.Motiwala also met Ambassador of Pakistan - Mr.Amjad Sial along with General Manager NBP andSecretary General, Faiza Nasir. The discussionsincluded initiation for important business collabo-rations, need to revisit APTTA to include Tajikistanand openings for travel connections and visa fa-cilitations across the region to strengthen eco-nomic ties. PAJCCI through this platform will sig-nificantly aid in enhancing bilateral trade withTajikistan and also would register impact through-out Central Asia.—NNI

LA H O R E—Polish engineers expressedtheir interest in working in several areasof the Pakistan Railways in a meeting withfederal minister Khawaja Saad Rafiqueheld at PR headquarters here on Friday.The minister assured cooperation of thegovernment and the department to thedelegation and said it would welcome anycompany that wanted to work for itsmodernisation.

The Polish delegation showed their in-terest especially in rehabilitation andmodernisation of out-of-order locomotives,transportation of coal to energy projectsand repairing of traction motors. In the ini-tial meeting with the Polish engineers,Khawaja asked them to arrange a detailedvisit to the department so that they coulddevelop a better understanding of it.

Polish engineers call on SaadThe minister directed the PR adminis-

tration to provide all related documents tothe engineers in a week and also said theembassy of Pakistan in Poland and Paki-stan foreign office would soon be directedto cooperate with the Polish engineers. ThePolish delegation comprised of engineersof Newag Group Poland led by Chief Ex-ecutive and President of the boardZbigniew Konieczk and EuroAsia Com-pany led by Chief Executive Agnieszk HKhan.

PR General Manager Operation AnjumPervaiz, PR GM Maintenance Asad Ehsaan,AGM Traffic Javaid Anwar Boobak, AGMMechanical Rana Ibrar and Chief EngineerLocomotives Tariq Khan were also present.Later, the delegation visited the locomo-tive workshop in Mughalpura.—APP

LAHORE: Polish Delegation of engineers in a meeting with Federal Minister for Rail-ways Khawaja Saad Rafique at Pakistan Railways.

Shaban Khalid, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry is presentinginsignia to Hanif Abbasi, Chairman, Metro Bus Project Committee during his visit to ICCI.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Lahore Chamber of Com-merce & Industry has urged all the politicalparties to set aside their difference and jointlyfocus on national agenda as political unrestis impeding the national growth. “At a timewhen the country is facing various internal& external challenges and Pakistan ArmedForces are busy in operation to deracinatethe menace of terrorism, political harmony isdirely needed to support our Armed Forces.”

In a statement issued here Friday, theLCCI Acting President Mian Tariq Misbahsaid that all political parties should followthe present government and join hands withthe private sector to put economy back onrail. He said that opinion differences are partof the democratic system but all should beunited on national interests that would givea good signal to the foreign investors whoare planning to make investment in Pakistan.

Mian Tariq Misbah said that to competewith the economic giants of the world, coun-try needs a selfless and visionary leadershipwho has the ability to think beyond tomor-row to tackle all the governance-related is-sues and for the sake of future generations. Itis a matter of satisfaction that Prime MinisterMian Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister PunjabMian Shahbaz Sharif have a clear economicvision and believe on consultation with thestakeholders. Their economic team is movingin right direction to get rid of the economicworries, the LCCI Acting president added.

The LCCI President said that all the politi-cal forces should follow the suite and initiateconsultations with the economic leadership,including the Chambers of Commerce andIndustry, to chalk out an elaborate plan of

LCCI stresses of political forcesunity for national growth

action, aimed at achieving the economic goals.Mian Tariq Misbah said that heavy govern-ment borrowings in the yester years have notonly pushed the economy to the wall but alsohampered the process of industrialization.

He said that it was a good omen thatpresent government wants to be self-reli-ant and business community hopes thatgovernment would stop borrowing andwould draw up a strategy to boost exportsto bring much-needed foreign exchange inthe country. He said that the country’s ex-port base could be widened by encourag-ing especially the local investors and thenthe foreign investors. “The local investorshave the ability to convince the foreign in-vestors for investment in various sectors.”

The LCCI Acting President said thatavailability of cheaper financing, by bring-ing down high mark-up rates, is a prerequi-site to help expedite the process of indus-trialization in the country that would alsobring down the graph of unemployment.“Unemployment is mother of a number ofsocial ills being witnessed by the countrytoday. The private sector has the solutionof this worry provided it is facilitatedthrough a well-thought methodology.”

He also urged the government to createan early consensus for Kalabagh Dam toovercome electricity & water shortage andhigh power tariff issues. He said thatKalabagh Dam was a project of utmost im-portance and present regime should get thisfeather in its cap. He said that present re-gime has shown its seriousness in creatinga business-friendly atmosphere by incor-porating a number of LCCI proposals in thefederal budget and has already initiatedconsultation with the stakeholders.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan Industrial & TradersAssociations Front (PIAF) has presenteda 5-point facilitation agenda aimed at getfull advantage of GSP Plus status to Paki-stan by the European Union. The 5-pointagenda was presented by the ChairmanPIAF Malik Tahir Javed while addressing ameeting of export related Standing Commit-tee. The members of the committee werealso present on the occasion.

Chairman PIAF said that GSP PlusStatus to Pakistan by the EU was a hugeopportunity as Pakistan could easi lyachive the mark of $ 100 billion as far asexports are concerned. He said that it wasa very good sign that 25% increase inexport was already registered but wehave to move through a well-plannedstrategy and an export target of $ 50 bil-lion should be set for the first phase.Malik Tahir Javed said that whole gov-ernment machinery should play a role offacilitator for the export-oriented indus-tr ies as red tapism and bureaucrat ic

PIAF gives 5-point facilitation agendato reap benefits of GSP plus status

hurdles could impede the progress tothis regard.

He said that government should givepriority in electricity and gas supply tothe export-oriented industries. He saidthat resolving of issues like energy short-age were must to boost the country’s ex-ports. He also demanded that one per-cent duty on coal should be withdrawnas a large number of industrial units wereusing coal as fuel. Chairman PIAF saidthat DTRE rules should be simple andeasy to under for the exporters as com-plicated rules were creating a number ofdifficulties for them.

He said that all those rules should bechanged that are obstructing the exportgrowth. The PIAF Chairman said that theprivate sector would play its due role andextend its fullest support to the governmentfor weeding out the menace of corruption.Malik Tahir Javed also demanded of theChairman TDAP to restore facility of freightsubsidy in the larger interest of economy.He said that PIAF 5-point facilitation agendacould give a jumpstart to the export.

NESPAK sets alltime high biz

recordLAHORE—National Engi-neering Services of Paki-stan (NESPAK), a govern-ment owned engineeringconsultancy organization,has set an all time highrecord of business acquisi-tion for the Fiscal Year 2013-14. it was learnt in a pressbriefing here on Friday. Ac-cording to a spokesman ofthe NESPAK, theCompany’s business ac-quisition both at nationaland international levelsbroke all previous recordsand brought in a total rev-enue of Rs 7.6 billion.

The Company has alsomade extensive penetrationin the overseas market andnow about 35 percent rev-enues are being generatedfrom international projectsthrough NESPAK officeslocated in Oman, SaudiArabia, State of Qatar, Af-ghanistan, Iran and Yemen.

All administrative andfinancial affairs ofNESPAK have witnessed anumber of positivechanges during this year.Strict adherence to auster-ity policy has resulted inabout 20 percent cut inroutine expenditures ascompared to spending ofthe previous year. Therehas been zero expenditureon purchase of vehicleswhile foreign visits byNESPAK officials havebeen curtailed consider-ably.

The hiring of all newstaff as per project require-ment has been made purelyon merit and in a transpar-ent manner through properadvertisements in media.While only those employ-ees have been promoted tonext grades, who met the setcriteria of the Company andshowed outstanding perfor-mance.

In order to ensure qual-ity of construction on fast-track projects going on un-der the supervision ofNESPAK, Quality Inspec-tion Team has been formedwhich helped in minimizingconstruction quality prob-lems and brought more qual-ity to the projects commen-surate with NESPAK’sname.—APP

Mobilink and NUSTLaunch “MobilinkDiscover NUSTBusiness Plan

Competition 2014”

ISLAMABAD—Mobilink incollaboration with the Na-tional University of Sci-ence and Technology(NUST) has launchedMobilink Discover –NUST Business PlanCompetition - 2014. Thecompetition is organizedon a national level and isaimed at encouraging stu-dents to introduce inno-vative business and entre-preneurship ideas. 2500students from 70 univer-sities are expected to be apart of Mobilink Discover-NUST Business PlanCompetition 2014.

Omar Manzur DirectorCorporate Communica-tions, Mobilink said” Cor-porate as well as indi-vidual patronage has al-ways been one of the coremotives of Mobilink.Mobilink Discover - NUSTBusiness Plan Competi-tion 2014 provides theyouth with the opportu-nity to showcase theirskills and play their partin bringing innovation tothe business industry. Iam confident that the com-petition will play a posi-tive role in contributing tothe economic develop-ment and bringing betterbusiness opportunities tothe country. I wish all theparticipants the best ofluck for Mobilink Discover- NUST Business PlanCompetition 2014”

The competition wasfirst held in 2011 and is oneof the few events en-dorsed by the Prime Min-ister of Pakistan. In 2013the competition attractedmore than 1600 studentsfrom 55 different universi-ties and was recognizedon an international forumfor the business ideas itgenerated.—PR

Talented PakistanPerform Live underthe Dawlance D’Talent Season 1

Platform

KARACHI—Winners ofthe Dawlance D’ Talentcampaign mesmerized theaudience with live perfor-mances in several catego-ries including music,dance, comedy, art anddrama. Participants wereencouraged to showcasetheir extra-ordinary talentsand consequently re-quired to submit video en-tries via an exclusiveDawlance D’ Talent app onFacebook. The event wasconducted at The SecondFloor (T2F) Café, and in-volved several celebritiesfrom varied genre.

Dawlance, renownedto be the no.1 home appli-ances brand of Pakistan,launched this D’ Talentplatform as part of their newcampaign “Dawlance andYou Making PakistanProud”, that aims to pro-mote Pakistani talent andthe good being done in Pa-kistan. Participants weredeclared winners on the ba-sis of number of Facebook“likes”, the final winnerswere given the opportunityto perform live on stagethrough the D’ Talent plat-form and will also get achance to appear on differ-ent mainstream TV and ra-dio channels.—PR

Currency Selling Buying

USA 8.60 8.40

UK 68.00 67.66

Euro 34.14 33.86

Canada 92.04 91.85

Switzerland 110.27 110.05

Australia 92.79 92.60

Sweden 14.61 14.58

Japan 0.9687 0.9667

Norway 16.06 16.03

Singapore 78.84 78.68

Denmark 17.99 17.96

Saudi Arabia 26.29 26.24

Hong Kong 12.72 12.69

Kuwait 349.69 348.99

Malaysia 30.64 30.58

Newzealand 86.39 86.22

Qatar 27.08 27.02

UAE 26.85 26.79

Kr. Won 0.0970 0.0968

Thailand 3.035 3.029

Daily opening& closing ratesTotal Volume (Lots): 18,373Traded Value (Rs): 4,932,966,268

Commodity .......................... Price Quotation ................... Open .............. CloseCRUDE OIL ......................... $ Per Barrel ............................ 106.32 ............ 105.92SILVER ................................. $ Per Ounce ........................... 20.828 ............ 21.022GOLD ................................... $ Per Ounce ........................... 1,310.0 ........... 1,316.8GOLD ................................... Rs Per 10 gms ........................ 41,956 ............ 41,952MTOLAGOLD .................... Rs Per Tola ............................ 50,136 ............ 50,374GOLD ................................... Rs Per Tola ............................ 50,136 ............ 50,374RICEIRRI6 ........................... Rs Per 100 kg......................... 3,569 .............. 3,568PALMOLEIN ...................... Rs Per Maund ....................... 4,368 .............. 4,372SUGAR ................................ Rs Per kg ................................ 46.79 .............. 47.10ICOTTON ............................ US Cents per pound ............ 74.53 .............. 74.45WHEAT ............................... Rs Per 100 kg......................... 3,293 .............. 3,292

The total value traded increased by 25.94 percent to Rs. 4.9b from Rs. 3.9b recordeda day ago. Number of lots traded was reported at 18,373 and PMEX Commodity Indexclosed at 3,065. Major business was contributed by gold amounting to Rs. 2.3b, a 10percent increase when compared to the previous trading day. This was followed bycrude oil (Rs. 2.1b) and silver (Rs. 438m).

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Ghulam Murtaza KhanJatoi Participated as Chief guest in consultative workshop on inclusive and Sustain-able Industrial Development.

: Federal Minister for Housing and Works, Akram Khan Durrani chairing core groupmeeting of Prime Minister Low-Cost Housing Scheme.

ISLAMABAD: Group photo of participants of training on ‘3G/4G Qos Monitoring andBenchmarking Training’ with Chairman PTA Dr Syed Ismail Shah at PTA HQs.

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Industries and Produc-tion (MOI&P), Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi Friday saidthat the government was promoting Inclusive and Sus-tainable Industrial Development (ISID) to harness full po-tential of the industry for economic growth. Launching aconsultative workshop on “UNIDO future cooperation withMoIP-Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development”,the minister said the government was striving hard to fur-ther strengthen the industrial sector for social and eco-nomic development of the country.

The minister said that reducing poverty was one of thepriority goals of the government adding that industry hasbeen playing an important role in wealth and job creation.Acknowledging the efforts of United Nations IndustrialDevelopment Organization (UNIDO), the minister said thathis ministry has joined hands with the UNIDO to chalk outfuture framework of cooperation. Jatoi highlighted the needfor addressing industrialization as a solitary goal in theforthcoming post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary MOI&P, RajaHasan Abbas said that Pakistan has devised investment-friendly policies in order to reduce the cost, and enhancethe ease of doing business. Creation of various exportprocessing zones, national industrial parks, industrial clus-ters and special economic zones were the examples of suchpolicies.

However, he added, efforts are on to further improvecountry’s business environment to encourage economic

IDB to pushup growth in

Muslim worldHAMEED SHAHEEN

ISLAMABAD—The IslamicDevelopment Bank (IDB)is undertaking to help ac-celerate socio-economicgrowth in the Muslimworld with a special $2 bfunding, Arab media saidFriday. There are 56 Mus-lim countries as the IDB’sloanees. This is the secondpart of the IDB’s financialhelp programme. The partone has completed. Nowpart two is being under-taken.

The OIC has, anotherworld level socio-politicoforum of 57-Muslim coun-tries, prioritized its agendagiving top position to eco-nomic development of theMuslim world.

On human rights plankthe OIC (Organization ofIslamic Cooperation) hadset up a Permanent HumanRights Commission 2011 tomonitor instances of rightsviolation in the Muslimworld. The OIC forum hasclose coordination withEU and UN.

3G/4G QoSmonitoring,

benchmarkingtraining arranged

OBSERVER REPORT

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTelecommunication Au-thority (PTA) on Friday or-ganized a training for itsofficials to effectivelymonitor the Quality of Ser-vice (QoS) parameters in3G/4G environment. Thetwo days training was con-ducted in collaborationwith NEMO Anite (Finlandbased Company) here.

On the occasion, Chair-man PTA, Dr. Ismail Shahthanked the company forproviding an upgradedmodel to the regulator andsaid this solution wouldenable it to monitor li-censed QoS Key Perfor-mance Indicators (KPIs) of3G/4G networks in thecountry to ensure thatquality standards are metand users get the servicesat anticipated quality stan-dards. With this upgradeand training, PTA officialshave been up skil led on3G/4G and LTE technolo-gies .

Earl ier in 2006, PTAprocured NEMO outdoorequipment to measure theQoS of GSM mobile net-works and now, Anite hasprovided an upgrade of itsNEMO QoS MonitoringPlatform to PTA for 3G/4G.The NEMO Invex (ToolModel) enables outdoordrive test measurementsand benchmarking to en-sure QoS of the cellularnetworks.

Anite has an estab-lished position in mobilebenchmarking, drive testmeasurement, and optimi-zation solutions for per-fecting the air interface ofwireless networks. Saybi,the local partner of Anite,has also supported thetraining, with the aim to im-part the 3G/4G QoS knowl-edge and hands on experi-ence on NEMO Invex 7.0.

Govt promoting ISID to giveboost to econo-growth: Jatoi

progress. Abbas said that promotion of bilateral and re-gional trade, enhancing investment promotion, enhanceenergy and physical infrastructure was one of the mosteffective ways to promote sustainable economic growth.On the occasion, UNIDO Representative to Pakistan, EsamAlgararah shared UNIDOs new vision for inclusive andsustainable industrial development.

He pointed out the importance of industrialization asan effective instrument for poverty reduction, particularlywith reference to the countries which achieved successby following ISID. Algararah reiterated UNIDO’s commit-ment to further strengthen the cooperation between theMOI&P and said that his organization was looking for-ward to contribute further in the areas of creative indus-tries, trade promotion, youth skills enhancement as wellas sustainable environmental and energy initiatives.

The workshop concluded on the mutual understand-ing between UNIDO and MOI&P to further strengthenthe existing cooperation and to look for new areas of tech-nical support at policy, sectoral and entrepreneurial lev-els, which can then provide an enabling environment andplatform for localizing inclusive and sustainable industrialdevelopment in the country. Among others, the workshopwas attended by a large number of high ranking officialsand dignitaries from government institutions includingallied departments of MOI&P, representatives from Min-istry of Science and Technology,Ministry of Commerce,Climate Change Division, Chambers of Commerce and In-dustry and private sector stakeholders.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Successful financial inclusionrequires out of box thinking and innova-tions” said Mr. Saeed Ahmed, Deputy Gov-ernor, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) whilechairing the signing ceremony for Finan-cial Innovation Challenge Fund (FICF)Round 2 on Promoting Innovative Rural &Agricultural Finance in Pakistan under theUK’s Department for International Devel-opment (DFID) funded Financial InclusionProgram.

The FICF round 2 was earlier launchedby the Honorable Finance Minister Mr.Ishaq Dar on March 06, 2014. Saeed Ahmadcongratulated the successful institutionson proposing winning ideas for promotinginnovations in agricultural finance. “I per-sonally believe that the successful propos-als have potential to challenge the statusquo and transform the landscape of agri-cultural finance in the country in a positiveway” said the Deputy Govornor.

He shared that the FICF Committee hasa very broad based membership from SBPofficials, Mr. Waqas ul Hasan from DFIDPakistan and private sector including Mr.Shamim Ahmad Khan Ex-Chairman SECPand Mr. Mahmood Nawaz Shah, a progres-sive farmer. The Committee held a series ofmeetings to independently evaluate theapplicants and selected the best 12 projectsfrom the long list of proposals receivedunder the challenge round. He also sharedthat the decision was based on a well de-fined uniform evaluation criteria including,uniqueness of the proposed innovations,sustainability of the ideas and potential forfinancial inclusion to establish value for

LAHORE—The ever-increasing smugglingand under-invoicing of auto parts and ac-cessories is severely affecting the businessof local manufacturers of spare parts be-sides causing loss of billions of rupees tothe national exchequer, said, Pakistan As-sociation of Automotive Parts & Accesso-ries Manufacturers chairman Usman Malik.PAAPAM chief has invited the attentionof FBR, Chairman towards this big menaceof Customs value determination of importedauto parts at the Directorate General ofCustoms Valuations, Karachi, arbitrary cus-toms valuation rulings of imports by cus-toms authorities are turning the country intoa trading hub by favoring commercial im-porters on one hand while on the other af-fecting collection of federal taxes at the im-port stage.

Malik said that the low valuation of im-ports has adversely affected sales tax, with-holding tax, customs duty and Federal Ex-cise Duty on imported items during 2013-14 and the major reason of less revenuecollection is the absence of foolproofmechanism for accurate assessment of du-ties and taxes at the import stage. Millionsof rupees’ under-invoiced auto parts arecoming into the country from China. Chi-nese motor bikes manufacturers are import-ing spare parts under commercial imports

Customs valuation rulingshard hitting auto parts industry

through outsourcing, which is a real chal-lenge to the local vendors.

Mr. Malik said that almost all types ofauto spare parts including rings, pistons,gas kits, filters and Radiators are beingimported from Thailand and Dubai in as-tonishing quantities at extremely lowervaluation. Pakistani markets are floodedwith under-invoiced and smuggled goodsof all descriptions and the dealers are sell-ing these parts at 50-60 percent less ratesthan the parts made locally. Quoting thefigures, he said that major discrepancy inprices has been witnessed on imports fromUAE in various sectors, causing aboutRs150 billion losses each year due to un-der-invoicing in imported goods.

Per Kg. Assessing values of parts havebeen made without taking into consider-ation , the material cost or manufacturingoverheads etc . That’s why these valuesare extremely on the lower side . Local manu-facturers are required to go through a mostprimitive and completely obsolete systemof deductive values . This method itself is aproduct of corruption and lack of under-standing on part of customs valuationteams. On the other hand National Tariffcommission is also unmoved , whereas thissubject should also fall in ambit of antidumping laws.—PR

Successful financial inclusionneeds out-of-box innovation

money etc.Saeed Ahmed shared that SBP has now

fulfilled its commitment of completing theevaluation phase before the end of June2014 to pave the way for projects imple-mentation in July 2014 and urged the suc-cessful institutions to now implement theirprojects over the next 6 months to test Ag-riculture Value Chain Financing, Ware-house Receipt Financing against agricul-tural commodities, use of third party ser-vice providers by the banks’ agri staff, greenagricultural financing, Islamic microfinance,use of ICT solutions for agricultural financeand price information etc.

Samar Hasnain, Executive Director, whilesigning the project documents on behalf ofSBP, also assured that State Bank would con-tinue to spur innovations for financial inclu-sion through future initiatives. The ceremonywas held to sign 10 projects committing PKR240 million in funding assistance under FICF.The successful institutions were namely;HBL, Faysal Bank, Ace Global DepositoryPakistan (Pvt.) Ltd, First Microfinance Bank,Agrow Ltd, FINCA Microfinance Bank, NRSPBank, Global Financial System (Pvt) Ltd,NRSP-MFI and Bank of Khyber.

FICF is a component of larger FinancialInclusion Program (FIP) being implementedby SBP under the funding assistance of UKAid to spur innovative financial inclusionin Pakistan. The 1st round of the fund washeld on Financially Inclusive Governmentto Person (G2P) Payments. Under the firstround, SBP has been supporting a numberof innovative pilots for adoption of finan-cially inclusive G2P payments, covering theentire spectrum of G2P payments includingsalaries, pensions and welfare payments.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Bank of Punjab (BoP) hasrecently launched SMS Banking that offersits customers a wide range of services. SMSbanking is a technology-enabled service of-fering bank accountholders the liberty toavail banking services using SMS (ShortMessage Services). BoP’s SMS Bankingallows its customers to view their accountbalances from anywhere 24/7. BOP SMSalert service provides instant notificationwhenever any transaction happens of youraccount. Now activation and de-activationof BOP Debit MasterCard made easy and

BoP announces launch of‘BoP SMS Banking’

convenient through BOP SMS service; justsend a single SMS for activation and de-activation of your BOP Debit MasterCardor get instant balance inquiries.

Naeemuddin Khan, President, the Bankof Punjab stated: “In line of BOP’s visionto introduce new technological and state-of-the-art solutions, BOP will continue toform new partnerships and roll out initia-tives to ensure that its customers enjoy thegreatest level of customer experience. BOP’ssolutions are reliable and their expertisecommendable. We look forward to provideour customers many more convenient andreliable services in the future.

KA R A C H I—Pakistan Standards andQuality Control Authority (PSQCA), un-der the Ministry of Science and Tech-nology, as the National StandardizationBody of Pakistan organized 02 daysAwareness Training Course based onISO 9001-2008 on Quality ManagementSystem which was held at Regent Plaza,Karachi The ISO 9001:2008 specifies re-quirements for a Quality ManagementSystem where an organization needs todemonstrate its ability to consistentlyprovide product that meets customer andapplicable statutory and regulatory re-quirements, and aims to enhance cus-tomer satisfaction through the effectiveapplication of the system, including pro-cesses for continual improvement of thesystem and the assurance of conformity

PSQCA organized awarenesstraining on ISO 9001-2008 quality

to customer and applicable statutory andregulatory requirements.

All requirements of ISO 9001:2008 aregeneric and are intended to be applicableto all organizations, regardless of type,size and product provided. The trainerEngr. Zaheer Channa, Director of IdealExperts, Karachi delivered the informationand highlighted the importance of Qual-ity Management system. At the end oftraining, Dr. Barkat Saeed Memon, Dy.Director General (Finance), PSQCA dis-tribute the Certificates of the said Train-ing among the participants from morethan 30 industries. Mr. Khalid AhmadBablani, Secretary, PSQCA, Mr. AbdulWaheed Memon, Media Advisor, PSQCAwere also present during the certificatesdistribution ceremony.—PR

WAH CANTT: Brig Javed Iqbal awarding trophy to WAPDA team on winning 26th Junior Volleyball Championship.

Lin throughto semis at

Australian OpenSYDNEY—China’s Olympicand world champion LinDan overcame a slow startto win through to the semi-finals of the Australian Bad-minton Open in Sydney onFriday.

The two-time Olympicgold medallist and five-timeworld champion, who had toqualify for the Sydneyevent, downed Korea’s SonWan-Ho 21-17, 21-10.

Lin, 30, considered thegreatest badminton playerof all time, saw his rankingdrop to 104 after a seven-month sabbatical from thesport, returning to win theAsia Championships andChina Masters this year.

Lin will play compatriotTian Houwei in Saturday’ssemi-final after Tian elimi-nated China’s WangZhengming 25-23, 21-16.

On the other side of themen’s draw, Simon Santosowill play Tommy Sugiarto inan all-Indonesian semi aftervictories Friday. Santosoousted Hong Kong’s WongWing-ki 21-17, 21-15 andSugiarto beat Kento Momotaof Japan, 21-18, 21-7.

Top seed and defendingchampion Li Han of Chinawas knocked out of thewomen’s singles by Japan’sYui Hashimoto, 21-18, 21-18.

Li never looked confi-dent once she lost the firstgame while Hashimoto pow-ered on consistently execut-ing the sweetest of timingand tightest of net shots.

Hashimoto will take onCarolina Marin in the semisafter the Spaniard eliminatedIndia’s PV Sindhu 21-17, 21-17. Chinese top seed WangShixian got past Taipei’s TaiTzu-ying in straight gamesand will take on sixth seedSaina Nehwal of India in thelast four.—AFP

Mardan, Peshawaradvance to nextround in Inter-

Region BaseballPESHAWAR—Mardan andPeshawar advanced to nextround after registering victo-ries on the opening day of theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Inter-Region Women BaseballChampionship, which got un-der way here at Jinnah Collegeground on Friday.

Secretary Pakistan Ar-chery Federation WisalMuhammad Khan was thechief guest on this occasionwho formally inaugurated theChampionship in which teamsfrom six regions comprisingBannu, Kohat, Mardan,Malakand, Hazara and hostPeshawar are taking part.

In the opening matchMardan defeated Hazara by10-3. For Mardan Haleema,Mariym, Aysha made two runseach while Haseena, Nadra,Masooma and Irum scoredone goal each. For HazaraUlfat, Sumaira and Mariascored one runs each. In thesecond match Peshawar out-classed Bannu by 6-1, forPeshawar Sana, KiranShabnam, Qurat-ul-Ain,Nousheen and Afsheen gotone runs while for Bannu Nailagot one run.—APP

PESHAWAR—The Regional Cricket Asso-ciation FATA Friday distribution prizemoney of Rs. 0.65 million among the vic-torious team of Quaid-e-Azam TrophyGrade-2 Cricket Championship in recep-tion held in their honor at FATA OlympicSecretariat, Qayyum Sports Complex.

Chairman Regional Cricket Associa-tion Shahid Khan, President Noor-ul-HaqBaloch, office-bearers of the BajaurCricket Association, Khyber AgencyCricket Association and District TankCricket Association were present on thisoccasion.

Speaking on this occasion, ShahidKhan Shinwari lauded the efforts of theplayers for winning the Championship forthe second time. He appreciated everyplayer for giving their cent percent dur-ing the event.

He said the prize money was sent byPakistan Cricket Board to distributeamong the players. Besides this, ShahidKhan also announced Rs. 50,000 for the

PE S H AWA R—Qurat-ul-Ain andNousheen’s four wickets haul eachguided Peshawar to a comfortable victoryagainst spirited Bannu in the final of theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Inter-RegionWomen Cricket Championship playedhere at Jinnah College for Women Uni-versity of Peshawar on Friday.

Provost University of Peshawar MissShaheen was the chief guest on this oc-casion and before the start of the finalthe players of the two teams were intro-duced to him. Organizing Secretary RahamBibi, officials, players and spectators werealso present.

Peshawar won the toss and elected tobat first by setting up 156 runs for theloss of five wickets after playing the 20overs. Opener Roheeda hammered 49 runsand was bowled out by Naila with her ex-cellent seam bowling.

She was a run away from her 50.Roheeda played well and smashed fiveboundaries and two sixes in her elegantknock.

Roheeda was also supported byNousheen who made 34 runs includingfour boundaries and one while Qurat-ul-Ain made 17 runs. Kiran of Peshawar just

Peshawar win KP Inter-Region Women Cricket

Championshipfaced four balls and hit two towering sixeson consecutive For Bannu Kausar,Naila,Tehmeena took two wickets eachwhile Shah Rukh got one wicket.

In reply, Bannu bowled out for 115runs. Opener Tehmeena hammered acracking 41 runs including four bound-aries and a six, Naila made 36 runs includ-ing four boundaries and Shah Rukhscored 30 runs.

For Peshawar Qurat-ul-Ain, the rightarm spinner, grabbed four wickets in herthree overs spell. Medium fast bowlerNousheen also took four wickets in herfour overs spell while Roheeda took twowickets.

At the end, the chief guest MissShaheen gave away trophies and cashprizes to the winners and runners-up. Thewinner was awarded Rs. 10,000/- as cashprize while the runners-up got Rs. 7000as cash prizes.

She lauded the efforts of the organiz-ing committee for holding the Champion-ship. She termed sports activities very vi-tal for shaping the players personalityand building up their character. She saida healthy body resides in healthy body.—APP

SPORTS REPORTER

LA H O R E —The Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) and the PakistanCricket Board (PCB) have agreed six bi-lateral tours between the two countriesduring the period 2015-23.

The two boards have signed an MoUdetailing the tours with the first tourscheduled for Dec. 2015 to be hosted byPCB at a venue, to be mutually agreed,said a spokesman of the PCB here onFriday.

Commenting on this development,Sanjay Patel, Secretary BCCI said: “Werecognize that there is no other contestin world cricket as exciting as an India-

SHAHZAD AKHTAR

LAHORE—Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethion Friday was elected on thenewly-formed, all powerfulICC Executive Committee(ExCo). The ExCo comprisesof five members with repre-sentations from India, En-gland and Australia besidestwo others with Pakistan be-ing elected as the fourth andthe West Indies as the fifthmember of the committee.

The ExCo will have anumber of committees re-porting to it and will deal withimportant matters like consti-tution, anti-corruption, eth-ics, integrity, developmentand H.R. This will be the corecommittee of ICC which will

meet with as much frequency as required to assist and ad-vise the ICC Board on operational, management and admin-istrative activities of ICC. Sethi on this occasion said: “Clearlythese are some great news for the people of Pakistan.

Our representation on the ExCo would ensure that Paki-stan remains involved in the important decision-makingconcerning the game of cricket.

It also reflects that Pakistan now holds an importantand undisputed position within the top echelon of thecricketing fraternity”.

Sethi elected asmember executivecommittee of ICC BCCI, PCB sign MOU for

bilateral seriesPakistan series. Sports fans of both thecountries eagerly look forward to thesetours as this promises to be one of themost anticipated sporting events in theworld.”

Chairman, PCB, Najam Sethi said:“We are delighted to announce the re-vival of Pakistan-India series, which wewish to hold on a regular basis. I amhappy that PCB has been able to executean MoU with BCCI for these bilateraltours .

We will be announcing the scheduleand other arrangements with regard tothese tours at the earliest. I am confi-dent that the cricket fans of Pakistan willlook forward to these exciting contests.”

FATA Cricket Associationholds reception for cricketers

players and 20,000 each for KhyberAgency and Tank to play the final of theSenior Inter-District Cricket Champion-ship of Regional Cricket AssociationFATA.

He urged upon the players to continuetheir hard work for winning more eventsin future.

He appreciated President FATA Olym-pic Association Engr. Shaukat Ullah forhis efforts in winning back separate re-gions for the players of FATA. Now theplayers of FATA have better opportunityof reaching at national and internationallevel through showing of their skills invarious events.

Noor-ul-Haq Baloch on this occasionassured the players that the selection ofall the teams would be made on meritsand only merits would be the criteria forrepresenting FATA in any form of cricket.

At the end, checqes were distributedamong the players who were part of thevictorious team.—APP

KARACHI—Pakistan ace cricketer ShahidAfridi said that he is planning a Twenty20match to raise funds for the people dis-placed by the military operation inPakistan’s northwest region.

“I am in talks with the authorities andwill soon announce a Twenty20 match inLahore to raise funds,” he told reporters atthe launch of his charity foundation.

“I want to return to my country what ithas given me and with an aim to serve mypeople.”

Afridi said the foundation had set up a16-bed maternity hospital in the remoteTangi Banda village which is located inthe northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Afridi to stage charity T20match for IDPs

KARACHI: Former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi addressing the inaugural cermeony of ShahidAfridi Foundation.

province. The hospital, named afterAfridi’s father Fazlur Rehman, was paid forby Afridi who said he had been inspiredby former Pakistan captain Imran Khanwho runs a cancer hospital in Lahorethrough charity.

Afridi added that his foundation wouldalso work on education and sports to turnyoungsters away from the path of extrem-ism. “The youth in remote areas have noeducation,” he said. “If we educate themthen they can be really helpful for the coun-try.”

Afridi said he would spare more timefor his foundation after the 2015 WorldCup.—APP

Work on ICCanti corruption

code in progressSPORTS REPORTER

LAHORE—The work on thedrafting of the new ICCAnti-Corruption Code hassubstantially progressedwith a draft clause insertedinto the Code permitting abanned player to be in-volved in domestic matchesprior to the end of his banperiod.

Last year, on requestfrom Chairman, PakistanCricket Board, Najam Sethiand subsequent advicefrom a Queen’s Counsel inthe United Kingdom soughtby the Pakistan CricketBoard on Mohammad Amir’sban, the InternationalCricket Council had agreedto form a committee to re-view its Anti-CorruptionCode as under the existingcode there were no provi-sions for early entry intocricket of a banned player.

The Anti-CorruptionCode will now be placed be-fore the Board for approvalsoon after which the PCBwill be in a position to makean application forMohammad Amir.

Sorrizai clubwin Kabaddi

ChampionshipPESHAWAR—Sorrizai clublifted the trophy after defeat-ing Wahid Gari club in thethrilling final of the PeshawarDistrict Inter-Club KabaddiChampionship played atKhalisa Village on Friday.

Former Internationalkabaddi player Shafi Akbarand International RefereeSyed Sultan Shah graced theoccasion as chief guest. Or-ganizing Secretary KhyberPakhtunkhwa Kabaddi Asso-ciation Arbab Naseer Khanand large number of gamespectators were also presentand witnessed the final withtheir cheering hands all thetime.

In the final match theplayers of Sorrizai club, hav-ing full support of the sit-ting spectators, defeatedWahid Gari in a hotly con-testant encounter. Thescore was 33-29. At the endof the final the chief guestsgave away trophies andcash prizes.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Federation of International Crick-eters’ Association (FICA) has slammed the Interna-t ional Cricket Council (ICC) for appointing NSrinivasan, BCCI’s president-in- exile, as the new chair-man even before his name had been cleared by thecommission probing the 2013 Indian Premier League(IPL) spot- fixing and betting scandal.

Srinivasan is one of the 13 people named by theMudgal panel which is investigating charges of cor-ruption during the 2013 edition of the Indian PremierLeague. Acting on the report, the Supreme Court ofIndia suspended him from discharging his duties asthe president of the BCCI, Cricbuzz reported.

FICA, expressed disappointment over the decision.“We’ve seen in recent days significant changes at ICClevel, which represent a new era in terms of the admin-istration and leadership of world cricket,” outgoingFICA executive chairman Paul Marsh said.

“Federat ion of International Cricketers’Associat ion’s posit ion on this is well known. Ourstrong preference was for the controversy involvingMr Srinivasan in India to be resolved before the ICCmade a decision on the chairmanship.”

“While it’s disappointing that this did not occur,we can’t let this distract FICA from its responsibilityof helping shape cricket’s future,” he said.

In related developments, South Africa’s Tony Irishwas appointed Friday as FICA’s new executive chair-man to replace Marsh, who is leaving to take charge ofthe Australian Football League’s Players Association.

Former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams was re-appointed as president at FICA’s annual meeting inMelbourne.—APP

U-16 hockeycamp begins

FA I S A L A B A D—Under-16Hockey summer camp hasstarted under the aegis ofPunjab Hockey Associationat Madina Town HockeyStadium Faisalabad. Interna-tional hockey player RanaKhalid Iqbal said here on Fri-day that summer camp wasinaugurated by Coach Paki-stan Hockey Team OlympianShafqat Malik.The campwould continue till July 16.

Hockey experts will imparttraining to players on modernlines, he added.—APP

FICA slams Srinivasan’sappointment aschairman ICC

Pakistanadvance in

last-16 of WorldTeam Snooker

K A R A C H I — R e i g n i n gChampion Pakistan ad-vanced in the prequarterfinals of World TeamSnooker Championship af-ter an impressive 3-1 victoryover Australia in Sharm-ul-Sheikh (Egypt) on Friday.

Like Pakistan team,riding on the crest waves,top cueman MuhammadSajjad also sailed into thelast 16 stage of 6-Red WorldSnooker by hammering In-dian cueist Laxman Rawat 3-1 in the last 32 round.

Pakistani duo ofMuhammad Asif andMuhammad Sajjad main-tained their brilliant run inthe team with a resoundingsuccess against an Austra-lia pair.

Asif-Sajjad victory wasfighting as they havedropped the first frame be-fore chalking 01-64, 88-63(53), 62-06, 80-20(51) winwhich included breaks of 53in the second and 51 in finalframe. The second frameturned about be an excitingas Pakistanis came from be-hind to grab it 88-63.—APP

CURITIBA, BRAZIL: Essaid Belkalem of Algeria and Aleksandr Kerzhakov of Russia compete for the ball during the 2014 FIFA World Cup BrazilGroup H match between Algeria and Russia at Arena da Baixada.

Group ABrazil ............ 3-2-1-0-7-3-7Mexico ......... 3-3-1-0-4-1-7Croatia ......... 3-1-0-2-6-6-3Cameroon .... 3-0-0-3-1-9-0

Group BNetherlands 3-3-0-0-10-3-9Chile ............. 3-2-0-1-5-3-6Australia ...... 3-0-0-3-3-9-3Spain ............ 3-1-0-2-4-7-3

Group CColombia ..... 3-3-0-0-9-2-9Greece .......... 3-1-1-1-2-4-4Côte D’Ivoire3-1-0-2-4-5-3Japan ............ 3-0-1-2-2-6-1

Group DCosta Rica ... 3-2-1-0-4-1-7Uruguay ...... 3-2-0-1-4-4-6Italy .............. 3-1-0-2-2-3-3England ....... 3-0-1-2-2-4-1

Group StandingsTabulated under: Played, won, drawn, lost, goals for,goals against, points

Group EFrance .......... 3-2-1-0-8-2-7Switzerland .. 3-2-0-1-7-6-6Ecuador ....... 3-1-1-1-3-3-4Honduras .... 3-0-0-3-1-8-0

Group FArgentina .... 3-3-0-0-6-3-9Nigeria ......... 3-1-1-1-3-3-4Bosnia andHerzegovina 3-1-0-2-4-4-3Iran ............... 3-0-1-2-1-4-1

Group GGermany ...... 3-2-1-0-7-2-7Portugal ....... 3-1-1-1-4-7-4USA ............. 3-1-1-1-4-4-4Ghana ........... 3-0-1-2-4-6-1

Group HBelgium ........ 3-3-0-0-4-1-9Algeria ......... 3-1-1-1-6-5-4Russia .......... 3-0-2-1-2-3-2Korea Republic3-0-1-2-3-6-1

SAO PAULO—The last 16 teams at the 2014World Cup in Brazil have been decided, andthe knockout rounds get underway on Satur-day when Brazil take on Chile.

Notable casualties from the group stagesinclude reigning champions Spain as well asItaly, England and Portugal.

Costa Rica were the surprise package inthe first round, coming through on top of agroup including the Three Lions, the Azzurriand South America’s Uruguay.

The Netherlands have so far looked oneof the best sides in the tournament, winningall three of their games including a 5-1 demo-lition of Spain.

They take on a strong Mexico side—whoheld Brazil to a draw in Group A—in one ofthe last 16’s best matchups, which could wellgo to extra time or penalties.

Colombia will be buoyed by the suspen-sion of Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, per FIFA WorldCup, and should see themselves through tothe quarter-finals as a result. They have beenone of the tournament’s standout teams sofar, impressing with their attacking flair.

One of Costa Rica or Greece will also makethe last eight, having both upset the odds tomake it out of the group stages to the sur-prise of many.

Many people’s favourites for the compe-tition, Argentina, face a Switzerland side whohave bucked their previous trends in the tour-nament so far, conceding plenty but also scor-ing more goals than many had expected.

Lionel Messi should have enough to in-spire his side to victory but the Swiss haveshown their quality and will present a stifftest. The last 16 is where the World Cup re-ally gets interesting. The games do not comequite as thick and fast, but they are of evengreater importance as survival is on the line.

Apart from Spain, most of the pre-tourna-ment favourites still remain and the quality offootball is likely to only get better as the com-petition moves forward and last-eight places

World Cup 2014 entersknock out stage

are on the line.In their last Group G game, Germany beat

US 1-0 in Recife but both sides went into thelast of 16 of the World Cup. A 2-1 win forPortugal over Ghana in the section‘s othergame was enough to push both the Ameri-cans and Germans through four and sevenpoints.

The Germans dominated the openingquarter-hour. The Europeans pressed forwardwith power and speed, perhaps eager tosquash suspicion that they would play for amutually-beneficial draw.

US had very little possession of the ballin the first-half and they were clearly set-upto break on the counter-attack. Their bestchance came in the 22nd minute but BradDavis’ curling shot from the edge of the areakept rising over the bar and landed in thecrowd behind.

Finally, in the second half that was alsodominated by Germany, Thomas Mullerscored on a rebound from the US goalie TimHoward. Though Germany had many scor-ing chances, they failed to send the ball intothe American goal.

Even as the Europeans and Americansmade it into the pre-quarter final stage, Afri-can football is still alive in the World Cup. Forthe first time in its history, Algeria qualifiedfor the last of 16 round. The milestone wasachieved with a 1-1 draw with Russia at theArena da Baixada in Curitiba.

Here is the full schedule for the last 16,the first stage where a loss categoricallymeans returning home: World Cup 2014: Last16 Schedule June 28 9pm PST Brazil vs. ChileJune 28 1am PST(Sunday) Colombia vs. Uru-guay June 29 9pm PST Netherlands vs.Mexico June 29 1am PST(Sunday) Costa Ricavs. Greece June 30 9pm PST France vs. Nige-ria June 30 1am PST(Sunday). Germany vs.Algeria July 1 9pm PST Argentina vs. Swit-zerland July 1 1am PST(Sunday). Belgium vs.USA.—AFP

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Shoaib Akhtar’s continuousdenial about his reported marriage witha 20-year-girl has surprised the CourtRegistrar Mohammad Qasim Qayyan inHaripur.

Speaking exclusively over his mo-bile from Pakistan, he says, “I am to-tally surprised with pace bowler ’sbouncer (denial). The nikah (marriage)took place in my presence at the resi-dence of Mushtaq Khan, the business-man in this town. The nikah was readby Moulavi Shabbir Khan at girl’sTanoly House here in the presence ofclose relatives of Shoaib Akhtar andRubab Khan”.

“It is understandable when Shoaibhad initially denied the news that thegirl was minor, but there is no reason

Shoaib Akhtarcontinues to deny his

secret marriagefor his denial now when the fact is thatthe girl is of the age 20-year of age asshe was born in 1994”, the registraradded.

“In my 20-year career as Court Reg-istrar, I have attended hundreds of mar-riages but this was the first celebrity-cricketer of whom I am fortunateenough to have witnessed this mar-riage”.

“Yes, the age difference of about 18years between the couple is notable butI understand the girl’s father was happyto have celebrity cricketer as his son-in-law”, the registrar added.

“The fact is also that the beautifulgirl was chosen by Shoaib’s mother butShoaib has accepted the proposal. Hewas happy and glad at the marriage”.“I wish couple to live peacefully and ahappy time ahead”, the registrar con-cluded.

Greece’s defender Jose Holebas controls the ball during a training session in Aracaju,Brazil on Friday, two days before the 2014 FIFA World Cup round of 16 football matchagainst Costa Rica.

LONDON—Liverpool are consideringlegal action against FIFA after LuisSuarez was hit with a wide-rangingfour-month ban from football for bit-ing Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini atthe World Cup.

The Uruguay striker has left Brazilafter world game’s governing bodyalso suspended him for nine interna-tional matches and fined him £66,000,but Liverpool have been angeredabout how the tough punishment im-pacts on them with their striker pro-hibited from “any football-related ac-tivity” until the end of October.

Suarez and Uruguay - who beatItaly 1-0 to reach the knockout stages- will appeal against the decision andthe country’s FA has indicated it isprepared to take the case to the Courtof Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Liverpool to fight FIFA over Suarez

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: Divock Origi of Belgium and Yun Suk-Young of South Koreacompete for the ball during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group H match betweenKorea Republic and Belgium at Arena de Sao Paulo.

Liverpool are also taking special-ist legal advice over the global ban,which excludes him from training withthem or anyone else and from goingto any stadium but does not preventhim being transferred to another club.

The club view the incident andpunishment as unprecedented andhave been left in an difficult position.Liverpool have supported Suarez dur-ing previous problems and relyingheavily on him last season as heearned PFA and FWA player of theyear awards and was the PremierLeague’s top scorer with 31 goals.

The player’s lawyer, AlejandroBalbi said that he will meet with legalrepresentatives from the Merseysideclub on Friday. “We will meet inBarcelona with Liverpool’s lawyers,’’he told Cadena Cope.

Interestingly, Balbi also claimedPere Guardiola, the agent brother offormer Barcelona manager PepGuardiola, will also be present at themeeting - something which will fuelclaims Suarez could be set to move toBarcelona, who have been stronglylinked with signing him this summer.

“Tomorrow we will talk with PereGuardiola,’’ Balbi added when askedabout a potential move for Suarez fromLiverpool to Barcelona.

FIFA’s decision means it is thethird time Suarez has been sanctionedfor biting opponents with the two pre-vious offences occurring in club foot-ball. He was banned for 10 matches in2013 for biting Chelsea’s BranislavIvanovic and in 2010 he was given aseven-game ban while playing for Ajaxfor biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman

Bakkal.He also served an eight-

match ban for racially abus-ing Manchester United’sPatrice Evra three yearsago.Liverpool chief executiveIan Ayre said on Thursdaythat Liverpool will wait toread a full report from FIFAbefore ultimately decidingwhat to do next.

But The Times claimsLiverpool are furious withthe decision to punishSuarez at club level for anincident which occurredduring an internationalcompetition as they hadreleased him to play for hiscountry.

Liverpool may arguethat Suarez is registered tothe FA and appealingagainst the decisionthrough them could be oneavenue.

If the punishmentsstand, Suarez will miss theirfirst nine Premier Leaguegames as well as their firstthree Champions Leaguematches.—AFP

Malaysiapolice arrest

200 overWorld Cup

bettingKUALA LUMPUR—Malay-sian police have arrestedalmost 200 people in raidson illegal World Cup bet-t ing that bust a groupdrawing daily wagers of$2.3 million, an official saidFriday, after similar crack-downs in Macau,Singapore and Thailand.

The arrests includedfour people held for alleg-edly being involved in thegroup which raked in 7.5million ringgit ($2.3 mil-l ion) in bets every daysince the tournamentkicked off , saidMalaysia’s federal crimeinvestigation deputy di-rector Mazlan Mansor.

The total amountwaged was about 105 mil-lion ringgit ($33 million).

He added 12 servers,believed to be supportinga gambling website withnetworks in the Asia-Pa-cific region, were seized inthe raids in the capitalKuala Lumpur.

Since the World Cupbegan on June 12 in Bra-zil, a total of 194 people,mostly men, have beenheld, Mazlan told AFP,adding he expected policeto make more arrests be-fore the competition endsnext month.

They could face up tofive years in prison ifcharged and found guiltyunder the Muslim-major-ity country’s betting act,he added.—AFP

Brazilian Presidentcommends WC success

ISLAMABAD—Brazil’s President Rousseff celebrated thesuccess of the FIFA World Cup, which is taking place in 12Brazilian cities and has so far not featured any major inci-dents. In an analogy to last year’s protests, in which pro-testers called for ‘FIFA-standard’ public services as a wayto say that education and healthcare needed a quality boost,President Rousseff said that the World Cup now needs tohave a ‘Brazil- standard’.

“The Cup is being a source of pride for us, as Brazil andthe Brazilian people are showing that we can make, in andout of the soccer field, a World Cup the way it must be done:with a Brazil- standard,” she said in a ceremony to launchurban mobility projects in Sao Paulo, Xinhua reported.

She praised the performance of Latin American teams inthe competition, which has been very positive so far out ofthe 16 teams qualified to the Cup’s knock-out stage, sevenare Latin American: Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, ruguay,Colombia, and Argentina.

“I have reached the conclusion that this is a CELAC Cup,”she joked, referring to the Community of Latin American andCaribbean States. “The amount of Latin American teams withgood chances in the Cup, good teams, is huge. It is beautifulto see Latin America so strong.” The other teams whichqualified for the knock-out state, which starts on Saturday,are the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Greece,Belgium, United States, Algeria and Nigeria.—APP

Aguero out of last 16clash with Swiss

PO RTO AL E G R E (Bra-zi l)—Argentina str ikerSergio Aguero’s miserableWorld Cup took anotherturn for the worse with himbeing ruled out of nextTuesday’s last 16 matchwith Switzerland becauseof a leg injury.

The 26 year oldManchester star —who hadseveral injury problems lastseason —went off in thefirst-half of Tuesday’s finalgroup game with Nigeriaand scans revealed thedamage, said Argentineteam doctor DanielMartinez. The Argentiniancamp, though, deniedrumours that the injury ismore serious than they aresaying and that he couldmiss the rest of the tourna-ment.—AFP

PEOPLE need to more than halve theirintake of added sugar to tackle theobesity crisis, according to scientific

advice for the government in England. Adraft report by the Scientific AdvisoryCommittee on Nutrition (SACN) sayssugar added to food ornaturally present in fruitjuice and honey shouldaccount for 5% of energyintake.

The sugar industrysaid “demonising oneingredient” would not“solve the obesity epi-demic”. The body re-viewed 600 scientificstudies on the evidenceof carbohydrates - in-cluding sugar - on healthto develop the new rec-ommendations.

One 330ml can offizzy pop would take atypical adult up to theproposed 5% daily allow-ance, without factoringin sugar from any other source. Jump me-dia playerMedia player helpOut of mediaplayer. Press enter to return or tab to con-tinue.

Prof Ian MacDonald, chairman of theSACN working group on carbohydrates,said: “The evidence that we have analysedshows quite clearly that high free sugarsintake in adults is associated with in-creased energy intake and obesity. “Thereis also an association between sugar-sweetened beverages and type-2 diabe-tes.

“In children there is clear demonstra-tion that sugar-sweetened beverages are

associated with obesity. “By reducing itto 5% you would reduce the risk of all ofthose things, the challenge will be to getthere.” The target of 5% of energy intakefrom free sugars amounts to 25g forwomen (five to six teaspoons) and 35g

(seven to eight teaspoons)for men, based on the aver-age diet.

Public Health Englandwill now reconsider its rec-ommendations on fruit juiceand smoothies in its five-a-day campaign. The currentadvice from the NHS is thatjuice counts as a maximum ofone portion a day, while asmoothie may count as morethan one portion, dependingon how it is made.

It will also investigatemeasures to protect childrenfrom food advertising whileonline and whether a sugartax would have any merit. DrAlison Tedstone, the chiefnutritionist at Public Health

England, said: “We are very concernedaround sugar intakes in England.

“It doesn’t mean having a completelydifferent diet from today, it is thinkingabout swapping high sugar foods for alower sugar alternative.

“Instead of fizzy drink, have water orlow-fat milk, instead of a chocolate bar,have a piece of fruit.”

There’s something noticeably miss-ing from a call to halve added sugar -how would you go about doing it? Thisgroup was set up to assess the scienceand determine what we should be eating.Its role was not to come up with policies.

Call to halve target for added sugar

Justice Majida Rizvi speaks during a seminar on “Access to Justice for All, Constitutional Rights and Legal Protection for Vulnerable Popula-tions” organized by Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research at a local hotel on Friday.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Justice (Retd.) MajidaRazvi, Chairperson of Sindh HumanRights Commission said that the pro-vincial Commission is issuing no-tices to the influential landlords,many of whom are in the assembliesand have recently held Jirgas, whichare illegal courts to stop this illegalpractice.

She was speaking at a seminaron “Access to Justice for All: Con-stitutional Rights and Legal Protec-tion for Vulnerable Populations,” or-

ganized by Pakistan Institute ofLabour Education and Research(PILER) at a local hotel on Friday.

Justice (Retd.) Majida Rizvi saidthat the Commission has noticed thatrecently many influential landlordshave been holding Jirgas in Sindh todecide cases, which is illegal. “Wehave taken serious notice of this il-legal practice and Supreme Court hasalso declared Jirgas illegal.”

Speaking on minorities rights, thesenior lawyer Faisal Siddiqui said theSupreme Court’s recent decision onminorities’ rights was a landmark

verdict in the history of Pakistan,which interrupts the Article 20 of theConstitution to ensure equal reli-gious rights to each citizen of Paki-stan. A permanent three-memberbench has been established by theSupreme Court to implement its de-cision, he said. Senior human rightslawyer Ms. Noor Naz Agha spokeon discrimination against women inPakistan. She said there is discrimi-nation in many laws including fam-ily laws, evidence act. No legislationis present in Pakistan on honour kill-ing. Ms. Agha underlined the need

to increase legal awareness amongthe masses. Change in the mindsetand in the attitude is essential. “Startfrom your own home and treat yourboys and girls equally. There shouldbe a change in our educational sys-tem, which is creating hatred for mi-norities.

Dr Shahida Rahman, MNA ofPakistan People’s Party (PPP) saidIslam has provided equal rights toevery human being. She said herparty has always worked for uphold-ing the rights of minorities and dis-abled persons.

Notices being issued against holdingillegal Jirgas: Justice (Retd.) Majida

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The first phase of the train-ing cycle jointly organized by the SindhPolice and GIZ of Germany under theCapacity Development Support toSindh Police (CDSP) Project was incollaboration with German experts.

The Inspector General of PoliceSindh Mr Iqbal Mehmood and H.E. MrHans-Juergen Paschke the Acting Ger-man Consul General of Germany dis-tributed certificates of attendance tothe officers of Sindh Police.

During the first phase of the train-ing cycle, the CDSP project organizedworkshops on the importance of Fo-rensics and Crime Scene Investigation.As many as 650 officers of Sindh Po-lice attended these Workshops.

The Project also conducted the fol-lowing courses for Instructors andtrainees of Police Training CollegesSaeedabad. Shahdadpur, Larkana andSpecial Branch: Course on Method of

Training for capacity building of policeInstructions, First Responder Course,Investigation Management Course,Moharar / Duty Officers Course, Sta-tion House Officers Course, Basic In-telligence & Surveillance Course

In the first phase over 200 Instruc-tors and 2000 Police Officers of vari-ous units and branches of Sindh Po-lice successfully completed the train-ing. The second phase of the CDSPtraining cycle will be held from Augustto December 2014 and it is envisagedthat as many as 3000 Police officers willundergo specialized training coursesduring this training phase.

The Capacity Development Sup-port to the Sindh Police Project is be-ing managed by the Gesellschaft fuerInternational Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).The CDSP Project is fully funded bythe German Federal Foreign Office, andaims at providing expertise and equip-ment to the police in Sindh.

The Vision of the project is to pro-mote a professionally efficient and re-

sponsive police force dedicated to theestablishment of the rule of law andcapable of effectively meeting presentday challenges and expectations ofcivil society.

In pursuance of its aim to improvethe professional capacity of Sindh Po-lice, the CDSP Project is committed toassist the Police in conducting special-ized courses in Police Training Institu-tions throughout the Province ofSindh. With this end in view the Projectstaff is working closely with the Train-ing Branch and the “Need assessmentGroup” of Sindh Police.

The CDSP Project has already de-livered training aids, furniture and ITEquipment worth Rs. 1 crore 57 lacs (1hundred 10 thousand Euros) to Sindhpolice. Furthermore the project hasprocured five state of the art latentmaster fingerprint systems for the Fo-rensic Division at a cost of 15 Lacs andfurther 17 lacs material will be given inthis year.

Cold storage destructionlooming vaccine crisisSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Life-saving vaccines against 5deadliest diseases might be unavailable inKarachi due to destruction of the cold stor-age at the Jinnah International AirportKarachi. The cold storage was destroyedby terrorists that attacked JIAK.

The cold storage had fallen into flamesthe night of the deadly attack and even af-ter the security forces had declared theJIAK as clear of terrorist, the cold storageincident had claimed more precious lives,which was a manifest of utter inefficiency

of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).The importers of life-saving vaccines

against 5 deadliest diseases includingmeasles, diphtheria, typhoid, small pox andcerebral meningitis had halted their ordersfrom foreign countries because of lack ofproper arrangements for preserving the vac-cines in the cold storage at the JIAK. Sub-sequent to suspension of import of vac-cines, stocks at open medicine markets andat hospitals was also being consumed fastwhile the stock in small quantity availablein market was being sold to the needy athigher rates.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A new case of Polio-affected citizen of Pakistan was re-ported in Landhi. The polio-af-fected child was identified asMurad aged one year.

According to Sindh Health De-partment, Landhi was one of thoseareas in Karachi where the anti-Po-lio drive remained unsuccessfuldue to armed assault on the volun-teers of the anti-Polio drive whilethe people lived in that particulararea had migrated from other prov-

ince and had always resistedagainst the administration of anti-Polio vaccine to their children.

The overall count of Polio-af-fected cases across Pakistan hadcome to 63 while those cases ofPolio reported during this currentyear 2014 were 7.

Seven Polio-affected cases hadso far been reported in Sindh while9 cases were reported in KhyberPakhtoonkhawa and 48 cases werereported in federally administeredtribal area (FATA), which totaledto 63 cases excluding those 7 casesof Sindh.

New polio case emerges in Karachi

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Inspector General (IG) ofPolice, Sindh Iqbal Mehmood saidthat investigators had found someclues with which chances had beenhigh to reach the master minds of ter-

Investigators very close to reach JIAK attack masterminds: IG

rorists that carried attack on JinnahInternational Airport Karachi.

The IG said that the investigatorswere confident to foil the entire con-spiracy shortly and a good newswould be available for the nation.

He was addressing a certificate

distribution ceremony among thecops and Police officers for beingtrained for carrying out crime inves-tigations while using modern scien-tific tools. Karachi Police Chief Addi-tional IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo wasalso present.

Man dies inpolice custody

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A man waskilled by police when he wastrying to flee from policestation on Friday.

Officials in Sachal Gothpolice station said that po-lice have arrestedMuhammad Ali on Wednes-day for killing a minor girlafter rape in Bhakkar Goth.On Fridaymorning, he toldpolicemen that he was feel-ing pain in his abdomen andrequested them to shift himto hospital.

When a policemanopened the lock-up to shifthim to the hospital, he triedto snatch rifle of the cop.Another cop reached at thespot after listening hue andcry and opened fire onMuhammad Ali who wassnatching rifle from a cop.The criminal was died onthe spot. The dead bodywas taken to AbbasiShaheed Hospital (ASH)for postmortem.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—At least four people includinga general physician, Muttaheda QaumiMovement (MQM) activist were shot deadin fresh spate of targeted killing in the met-ropolitan city on Friday.

As per details, a doctor was gunneddown by unidentified armed assailants inhis clinic near Liaquat Chowk, Gulbahar.

Officials in Rizvia police station said thatSharafat Ali,50, son of Syed Shaukat Aliwas sitting in his clinic and engaged in treat-ment when unidentified armed men restoredstraight firing on him and escaped away.

Police reached at the spot and shiftedthe dead body to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital(ASH) for treatment. Police said that thevictim was general physician and residentsof New Karachi Sector 11/B. He belongs tointerior Sindh area of Tando Allahyar. Amedico-legal officer at ASH said that thedoctor received three bullets in his uppertorso which proved fatal.

An activist of Muttaheda Qaumi Move-ment (MQM) was shot dead by unidenti-fied armed men in Sector 6/E, Mujahidabad.

Officials in Orangi police station said thatSajid alias Kala Munna, 30, son of Fakhar-ud Din was sitting inside a rickshaw out-side his house when some unidentifiedarmed men fired a single bullet in his headfrom back which proved fatal.The dead body was taken to ASH for au-topsy and later handed over to heirs forburial. Police claimed that the victim wasworker of MQM Qasba Colony Sector andclose aide of Javed Binda.

Body of K Electric employee recovered:A torture-marked dead of K Electric employeewas recovered from a house located in Fed-eral B Area Block 5.

Officials in Gulberg police station saidthat the police received information regard-ing a dead body in a house. Police reachedat the spot and shifted the dead body toASH for postmortem.

Later, he was identified as Asim Faheem,45, son of Muhammad Akhtar. Police saidthat the victim was unmarried and worker ofK Electric.

Separately, a 25-year-old man was shotdead by unidentified armed men in MachiMianai Market.

General physician, MQMactivist among four killed

Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Culture and Tourism Ms Sharmila Faruquiinaugurating Computer Centre at Liaquat Memorial Library.

PEOPLE need to more than halve theirintake of added sugar to tackle theobesity crisis, according to scientific

advice for the government in England. Adraft report by the Scientific AdvisoryCommittee on Nutrition (SACN) sayssugar added to food ornaturally present in fruitjuice and honey shouldaccount for 5% of energyintake.

The sugar industrysaid “demonising oneingredient” would not“solve the obesity epi-demic”. The body re-viewed 600 scientificstudies on the evidenceof carbohydrates - in-cluding sugar - on healthto develop the new rec-ommendations.

One 330ml can offizzy pop would take atypical adult up to theproposed 5% daily allow-ance, without factoringin sugar from any other source. Jump me-dia playerMedia player helpOut of mediaplayer. Press enter to return or tab to con-tinue.

Prof Ian MacDonald, chairman of theSACN working group on carbohydrates,said: “The evidence that we have analysedshows quite clearly that high free sugarsintake in adults is associated with in-creased energy intake and obesity. “Thereis also an association between sugar-sweetened beverages and type-2 diabe-tes.

“In children there is clear demonstra-tion that sugar-sweetened beverages are

associated with obesity. “By reducing itto 5% you would reduce the risk of all ofthose things, the challenge will be to getthere.” The target of 5% of energy intakefrom free sugars amounts to 25g forwomen (five to six teaspoons) and 35g

(seven to eight teaspoons)for men, based on the aver-age diet.

Public Health Englandwill now reconsider its rec-ommendations on fruit juiceand smoothies in its five-a-day campaign. The currentadvice from the NHS is thatjuice counts as a maximum ofone portion a day, while asmoothie may count as morethan one portion, dependingon how it is made.

It will also investigatemeasures to protect childrenfrom food advertising whileonline and whether a sugartax would have any merit. DrAlison Tedstone, the chiefnutritionist at Public Health

England, said: “We are very concernedaround sugar intakes in England.

“It doesn’t mean having a completelydifferent diet from today, it is thinkingabout swapping high sugar foods for alower sugar alternative.

“Instead of fizzy drink, have water orlow-fat milk, instead of a chocolate bar,have a piece of fruit.”

There’s something noticeably miss-ing from a call to halve added sugar -how would you go about doing it? Thisgroup was set up to assess the scienceand determine what we should be eating.Its role was not to come up with policies.

Call to halve target for added sugar

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister forExcise & Taxation and FinanceMujtaba Shuja ur Rehman has saidthat target of admission of 40 lakhstudents in schools will be achievedduring the enrollment campaign andenrollment of all children of the prov-ince in schools would be ensuredby 2016.

He said that Punjab School Re-forms Programme is leaving a posi-tive impact on education sector andattendance of teachers in schoolshas sustainably improved.

He said that due to practicalmeasures of Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif, theenrollment of students in govern-ment schools had been enhancedto 11.273 million. He said that Headof DFID Richard Montgomery has

Target of admission of 40 lakhstudents to be achieved

maintained that textbooks havebeen provided in schools for thefirst time before the start of newacademic session which is a splen-did achievement of Punjab govern-ment and an example of good gov-ernance.

He said that British education-ist Sir Michael Barber while laudingthe efforts of Punjab government,said that the attendance of teach-ers in schools has considerably im-proved due to implementation of thereforms programme being jointlyimplemented by Punjab governmentand DFID and the rate of attendanceof teachers in schools of the Punjabhas reached up to the level of theBritish schools.

Addressing Annual function ofa NGO at Alhamra, Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that the Depart-ment for International Development

(DFID) has especially lauded theChief Minister’s roadmap for devel-opment of education sector in theprovince. He said that under ChiefMinister’s Reforms Roadmap, 92%attendance of teachers & studentsand 96% availability of facilities andinspection of schools have beenensured, whereas earlier, this ratiowas 60% and 62 percent respec-tively. He said that an amount ofmore than seven billion rupees wasbeing spending on the provision ofmissing facilities in schools acrossthe province.

He said that for the purpose ofpromotion of quality education,more than one lakh 40 thousandteachers have been recruited onmerit and in a highly transparentmanner during the last five yearswhile this process is also continu-ing during the current year.

He said that the number ofteachers in schools is being ratio-nalized with the ratio of students.He said that Punjab EducationFoundation is playing a vital role inpromotion of education and in thisway the total number of schoolsunder the control of the Founda-tion has reached 3600 where 15 lakhboy and girl students are studying.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman saidthat IT labs had been set up in morethan 5000 high schools and 515middle schools during last fiveyears. He said that scholarships of12 billion rupees are being providedto more than 50 thousand studentswithin the country and abroad fromEndowment fund.

He said that modern science labhave been established in one thou-sand high schools of the provinceat a cost of one billion rupees.

Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif is presiding over a meeting for promotion of garments and textiles sector.

Two killed, 3injured in

building collapseLAHORE—Two personswere killed and three otherssustained injuries when aroof of a house collapsed atBedia road, cantonment areaon Friday.

On information, Rescueteams reached the spot andrecovered dead bodies andinjured persons from thedebris and shifted to LahoreGeneral Hospital.

The dead were identifiedas Irfan (28) and Zia (28) andinjured were identified as Ali(14) Muhammad Asif (17)and Abdul Rehman (3).—APP

LAHORE—The vacation judges ofthe Lahore High Court will regu-larly hear the cases in their courtrooms during summer vacationscommencing from July 1 to Septem-ber 6, 2014.

According to a LHC press re-lease, the old cases civil revisions,regular first appeals, regular sec-ond appeals & intra court appealsfiled up to the year-2006, writ peti-tions, murder references along withthe connected appeals upto 2010and criminal appeals filed upto theyear-2008 will come up for adjudi-cation during this period.

Writ petitions for registrationof cases/FIR - directions to police,quashment of FIRs, family and rent

matters will be fixed in routine. How-ever, no early hearing applicationwill be entertained.

Urgent cases including habeascorpus petitions/detention matters,bail applications, petitions seekinginjunction/stay orders involving im-minent threat of irreparable loss, pe-titions for the Quashment of FIR, pe-titions against the orders of 22(A)and 22(B) Cr.P.C., applications forthe cancellation of bails, petitionsseeking direction against the publicfunctionaries, suspension of sen-tence applications and any othermatter of genuine urgency with theapproval of the Chief Justice/SeniorVacation Judge at the Principal Seatand the Vacation Judge at the

benches shall also be entertained.Moreover, the cases of pre-ar-

rest and post arrest bails will befixed in urgent and ordinary causelists, fixed by court cases beforethe same bench, if available, andsuspension of sentence applicationand in civil cases, those cases in-volving stay matters which arediarized during the summer vaca-tions and in which notices havebeen issued by the courts will befixed during the summer vacation.

The presidents of High CourtBar Associations Lahore PrincipalSeat and at Bahawalpur, Multanand Rawalpindi Benches have alsobeen informed about the workingof LHC during the vacation.—APP

LHC to hear cases during summer vacations

LAHORE—The Human Rights Com-mission of Pakistan (HRCP) has calledfor more efficient arrangements for in-ternally displaced persons (IDPs) ofNorth Waziristan.

Zohra Yusuf Chairperson HRCPsaid in a statement here on Friday.

She said the Human Rights Com-

HRCP for more IDPs arrangementsmission of Pakistan (HRCP) welcomedthe prime minister’s initiatives to pro-vide maximum facilities to the NorthWaziristan IDPs and expressed hopethat the instructions issued by the PMwill significantly reduce hardships ofthese people.

“The government has done well to

appeal to the country’s entire popula-tion to join the efforts to meet theneeds of the IDPs”, she said.

The authorities should create aworkable mechanism for government- civil society collaboration in the bestinterests of the affectees, sheadded.—APP

LAHORE—The Lahore High CourtFriday, adjourning the hearing ofpetitions against Haj quota allot-ment till June 30, sought a certifiedtranslated copy of an agreementbetween the Pakistani and Saudigovernments on Haj quota distri-bution.

Justice Muhammad KhalidMehmood Khan passed the orderon petitions filed by MuhammadArif Idrees and tour operators chal-lenging Haj policy-2014.

Court seeks translated copy of pactwith Saudi govt on Haj quota

As the proceedings started, thepetitioner ’s counsel MuhammadAzhar Siddique submitted before thecourt that the Haj quota was allottedto old Haj Group Organisers (HGOs)who were tax and bank defaulters.

He said that the Haj package un-der the government Haj scheme wasabout Rs 272,000 whereas HGOswere charging up to Rs 600,000 forit.

However, a deputy attorney gen-eral submitted that the Haj quota was

distributed to government Hajscheme and HGOs under an agree-ment between the Pakistani andSaudi governments and the divi-sion could not be changed.

To a court query, the law officersubmitted a copy of the agreementwhich was in Arabic. The courtdirected the law officer to submit acertified translated copy of theagreement and adjourned thematter until June 30.—APP

LAHORE—Punjab Agriculture MinisterFarrukh Javed said on Friday the govern-ment had decided to provide Rs 10 billionsubsidy to improve the proportion of phos-phorus and nitrogen fertiliser.

Addressing a meeting of district agri-culture officers here at Agriculture House,he said that the use of phosphorus fertiliserwould help increase the yield of differentcrops. The minister stressed the officers to

ensure the provision of quality inputs tofarmers.

He said, “We have to compete with In-dia and other countries in the agriculturesector and the government is seriously fo-cusing on increasing the production of veg-etables and fruits,” he added.

He said 20,000 tube-wells would be op-erated with bio-gas and subsidy on themwas being increased.—APP

Rs 10b subsidy on fertilisers: Farrukh

LAHORE—The Town Planning Wing ofLahore Development Authority, during itsongoing drive, demolished nine illegallyconstructed properties in Allama IqbalTown on Friday.

Special squads of the LDA raided plot

No. 179 Karim Block, 551 Karim Block, 303Gulshan Block, Asad Centre Moon Mar-ket, 14-15 Kashmir Block, 356-357 KashmirBlock, 09 Pak Block, and 288 Sikandar Blockwhere construction was made without get-ting approval.—APP

Illegal constructions demolished

A view of under construction Azadi Chowk flyover project, on Friday.

Activists of Safe Child Foundation are participating in a rally on occasion of Interna-tional anti-narcotics Day on Queen’s Road.