E-Paper October 19, 2012

MMA sans JI revived

Wattoo’s appointment

PPP, PML-Q alliance on test NADEEM SYED

Malala’s attacker was held, freed in 2009 ISLAMABAD—The alleged organiser of the Taliban shooting of Malala Yousafzai was captured during a 2009 military offensive against the militant group but was released after three months, two senior officials told Reuters.

They identified the man who planned the attack on 14yearold Malala only as Attaullah, and said he was one of the two gunmen who shot her on a school bus this month in Swat. Believed to be in his

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Balochistan

Rabbani presents five points in Senate

L AHORE —Appointment of Manzoor Wattoo who made his niche in the politics of Punjab as a master manipulator, as PPP’s provincial president will be the test case for the smooth functioning of PPP_PML (Q) alliance in coming days.

Some political analysts hinted that the advent of Mr. Wattoo in the Punjab close to the general elections in the country could be problematic for the two allies hitherto sailing quite smoothly with the Chaudhrys having great

Though there was hardly any element of surprise to it but the donning the mantle of provincial leadership to Mr. Wattoo did not pass unnoticed in the Chaudhrys’ camp, raising a few eyebrows among the party leadership well-versed with the dynamic of politics in the largest province.

Sources in the League say that the PML (Q) leadership found the original PPP leadership more pliable and dependable and as such they would have been more comfortable to faith in the person of Presi- co-exist with a PPP jiala in the dent Asif Zardari.

Punjab than a person with

Armed Forces bound to abide by constitution: CJP Ex-MI official unveils funds distribution ISLAMABAD—Chief Justice of forces. ISI be brought under the assumed his responsibilities Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry observed Thursday it was also binding on armed forces to adhere to the constitution like judges and elected government. CJP gave these remarks while presiding over a 3-member bench of Supreme Court during the course of hearing of Asghar Khan case.

Akram Sheikh, Counsel for Gen (Retd) Aslam Beg prayed the court to issue orders for introducing reforms in armed

discipline of army and notification for keeping it under chief executive be annulled.

The CJP said “ it is not our job. Aslam Beg remained army chief from 1988 to 1991. Aslam Beg could tell President Ishaq he would not become party in the distribution of money. He should have resisted before President Ishaq.

It was only your client who could bring any change”. Akram Sheikh told the court Aslam Beg

ISLAMABAD—Senator Mian Raza Rabbani presented before the Upper House five points for the resolution of Balochistan issue.

He said Aghaz-e-Haqooqe-Balochistan Package must be completely implemented and a mechanism should be defined for the implementation of the provincial autonomy granted to the provinces under the 18th amendment. He said FC should be put under the control

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Grossman to discuss Afghan situation with Pak LIAQAT TOOR ISLAMABAD—The US Special Representative, Marc Grossman, who is expected in Islamabad soon will discuss with Pakistan authority on Afghan situation, post-Malala attack scenario and possibly about operation in North Waziristan. Foreign office Spokesman Moazzam Ali

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within 3 hours after air crash on August 17.

Earlier Brig (Retd) Hamid Saeed filed his written statement during the hearing saying paragraphs 1 to 8 of his statement be kept secret while there is no need to keep paragraphs 9 to 14 secret.

CJP observed it was his discretion that he should file separately what he wanted to keep secret. Brig (Retd) Hamid Saeed

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Dual nationality of MPs

MQM, PPP bodies to decide SC directs Malik submit list in fate of electoral alliance tothree weeks JAVED MAHMOOD

ISLAMABAD—Separate committees of the Muttehida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will examine the possibility forming electoral alliance in Karachi.

In their recent meeting in London, MQM chief Altaf Hussain and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari discussed the possibility of the formation of an electoral alliance in Karachi.

“For the first time the MQM

chief stated that his party could consider the possibility of the formation of an electoral alliance with PPP,” Engineer Nasir Jamal, a spokesman of the MQM told Pakistan Observer from Karachi.

He, however, stated that MQM would form a committee that would examine the pros and cons of the electoral alliance and at this time it would be premature to talk about the formation of alliance. Similarly, the PPP would also set up a committee,

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STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Interior Minister Rehman Malik to submit within three weeks a list of all lawmakers who still hold dual nationality.

A three-member Bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing the case

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Nawaz lauds unflinching SHC disposes of China support for Pakistan sheep culling case SALIM AHMED LAHORE—Former prime minister and President Pakistan Muslim League-N Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has lauded China’s unflinching support for Pakistan over the decades, while urging her to intensify its cooperation with Pakistan in all sectors. He was speaking at a Li Changchun meeting hosted by

him in honour of the visiting Chinese delegation, led by Member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Mr. Li Changchun, in Lahore on Thursday. During the course of their warm and cordial exchanges, the two leaders held a wide ranging review of Pakistan-China bilateral ties, while

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KARACHI—Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday disposed of Australian sheep case after the owner withdrew the petition, media reports confirmed.

Owner of the sheep, imported from Australia, had filed a petition to withdraw case against culling of the sheep. The court had also granted him time Continued on Page 7

Karzai asks Pak to unite in fighting extremism K ABUL —Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on Islamabad on Thursday to join him in an “honest” fight against extremism, which he said was threatening both neighbouring nations equally. Karzai said he hoped the shooting of 14yearold Pakistani activist by the Taliban would convince Islamabad that “using extremism as a tool” against others was not in its interest.

Karzai said that the shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who campaigned for the right of girls to an education, showed that Islamabad’s

strategy was hurting Pakistan too.

“I hope this very bitter truth… has convinced our brothers and sisters, the officials in Pakistan… that using extremism as a tool against others is not in the interest of Pakistan,” Karzai said.

The Afghan president’s blunt words came during a joint press conference with visiting Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen here in Kabul. The Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan “has been the consequence of safe havens on Pakistani soil”, alleged Karzai, describing extremism as a snake which could turn and bite anyone who tried

to use it against others. Karzai government – a charge regularly accuses Pakistan of Islamabad denies. supporting Afghan Taliban insurThe United States, along gents trying to topple his with Saudi Arabia, sponsored the 1980s war in Afghanistan against Soviet troops which ultimately gave rise to the Taliban. Islamabad, an ally of the 19962001 Taliban regime, formally sided again with the United States after the 9/11 attacks that precipitated the LONDON—In a letter to the USled invasion which brought power Karzai’s founder and leader of into Muttahida Quami Movement Westernbacked administration.

Altaf Hussain, the Afghan Yousufzai, who remains in a hospital in the UK following

Karzai for positive response from Altaf

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greater interests in the politics of province. Mr. Wattoo, a veteran politician otherwise having a life-long stay in politics of the province, has big stakes in the Punjab. It is but natural that he would look for consolidating his personal hold and that of his party in the Punjab in the coming days with surely his eyes set on the ultimate office of Punjab Chief Minister.

It is in every body’s knowledge that President Zardari has promised his party worker next Punjab Chief Minister to be

STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of religious parties, was formally revived without Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) by JUI-F leader Fazlur Rehman on Thursday.

Speaking to media persons after chairing a meeting of several religious parties here, Fazlur Rehman said that it was jointly decided by the participants to revive the MMA. Office bearers of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Markazi Jamiat Continued on Page 7

Son-in-law of Shahbaz on 14-day President‚ PM judicial remand L —The Judicial magisfocus on trate on Thursday sent to jail Chief Minister’s son-innational issues Punjab law Ali Imran on 14 days judi-

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AHORE

STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—President Asif

Picture on Back Page

Ali Zardari and Prime Minister cial remand for allegedly beatRaja Pervez Ashraf held a meet- ing the bakery employee.

Defence Police Station had ing here on Thursday. They discussed political situation of the arrested Ali Imran under Section

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5th anniversary of Karsaz martyrs message

Parliament stands shield against dictators: Zardari STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —Co-Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said the Parliament, representing the will of the people, is the shield against dictatorship. In his message on the 5th anniversary of Karsaz martyrs, the President said, “Let us also re-dedicate ourselves to fighting extremism as well as the new forms and manifestations of dictatorship. Let us reiterate our resolve to strengthen the Parliament.” The President stressed the need to stand up to all those who perceiving the Parliament as a threat to their dictatorial ambitions, openly or ABBOTTABAD: Commander Army Strategic Force Command (ASFC) Lieutenant General Tariq Nadeem Gilani secretly, seek to undermine it. receiving the salute during passing-out parade of a batch of 450 Security Soldiers of the Strategic Plans Division at Baloch Regimental Centre.

Another batch of 450 SPD Security Force passes out

Strategic security capacity upped: Gen Gilani OUR CORRESPONDENT ABBOTTABAD—As part of its comprehensive programme to ensure the security of strategic assets, the Strategic Plan Division is laying greater emphasis on the training of personnel deployed for the very sensitive and extra ordinary duty to confront any challenge.

In an impressive ceremony, a batch of 450 security soldiers of the Strategic Plans Division passed out from the Frontier Force Regimental Centre at

Abbottabad on Thursday.

Commander Army Strategic Force Command (ASFC) Lieutenant General Tariq Nadeem Gilani was the Chief Guest. A day earlier, a similar batch had passed out at the Baloch Regimental Centre.

Addressing the successful trainees, the Chief Guest appreciated the high standards of training achieved and highlighted the responsibilities and challenges ahead. He urged the soldiers to discharge their duties with

utmost commitment and dedication so as to come up to the nation’s expectations. He appreciated the instructional staff of Regimental Centre that had trained this batch in line with international standards.

Highlighting the significance and enormous contribution of HQ Security Division (SPD) Commander ASFC said that the organization has made valuable contributions towards the security of strategic installations of the country. The organization

has attained international standards in a short span of time, he added. He also commended the progressive outlook of the organization and its focus in security matters.

It may be recalled that the SPD has undertaken a comprehensive plan to significantly augment the capacity of its force to ensure fool proof security of strategic assets. Nuclear security is a special focus area and efforts to inculcate a nuclear security culture is deeply rooted in the nuclear establishment.

Media threatened with dire consequences

APNS concerned over Taliban statement STAFF REPORTER K ARACHI —“The APNS expressed its concern over the statement of a spokesman of Tahreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan wherein the media persons and establishments were threatened of dire consequences, stated a press release of APNS”. Mr. Masood Hamid, Secretary General of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society has stated that the Executive Committee of the APNS at its meeting held on October 15, 2012 at Karachi under the chairmanship of its President, Sarmad Ali, considered the threats issued by Taliban against the media.

The APNS stated that such threats to the media

Road Safety Institute soon OUR CORRESPONDENT W A H C A N T T —Inspector General (IG) National Highways & Motorway Police (NH&MP) Zafar Abbas Lak has said that planned to establish state of the art Road Safety Institute at a cost of Rs.100 million in Islamabad.

It will become the first Traffic Management University of the country where research and analysis on accidents, road and traffic engineering would be carried out. He was addressing a seminar on road safety with title Safety is a way of life at University of engineering and technology (UET) Taxila.

Acting Vice Chancellor UET Dr Saeed Ahmed, DIG Abbass Hussain Malik, SSP Asim Gulzar and SSP Tahir Khan were also present on this occasion. Earlier Sector Commander M-1, Mohammad Tahir Khan gave the detail briefing to the participants about road safety, causes and prevention of road accidents. Zafar Abbas Lak also said that the Motorway Police was establishing its own driving licensing system and will also introduce Mobile driving licensing teams, which will facilitate the people of farflung areas. He said that NH&MP has also planned to establish road safety driving institutions at every district of the country to produce quality drivers. IG NH&MP said that all professional drivers are our main stake holders.

Raisani calls on Zardari STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani called on President Asif Ali Zardari here at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.

The Chief Minister apprised the President about overall situation of Balochistan, especially the law & order and the developmental projects in the province that were aimed at raising the standards of living of the people and to generate socio-economic opportunities for them.

The President reiterated the commitment of the Government to accord priority to addressing the issues of the Province and to continue striving for the socio-economic development of the people of Balochistan.

5 die of gastro in Thul Tehsil

were aimed at to curb the freeNAZIR SIYAL dom of press and browbeat the voice of the people to L ARKANA —Five including force it to accept the dictates four children and a woman of different political and milidied of gastroenteritis in 24 tant groups. The Executive hours here in the flood-afCommittee resolved that fected village Ali Bux of Thul such threats or any militant tehsil Jacobabad district, action cannot stop media to said the sources late discharge its professional Wednesday. The gastroenduties to disseminate the teritis is spreading in the news and views to the pubflood-affected areas of lic. The media in Pakistan has Jacobababad and other parts remained the watch dog of of Kamber-Shahdadkot disthe “People’s Right to trict and clamed lives of four Know” even in dictatorial rechildren and a woman in vilgimes and would continue to lage Ali Bux at Thul tehsil. brave the threats to its freeThe victims included 40-year dom attained after a proold Sony wife of Yaseen tracted struggle. The ExecuSarki and four children intive Committee urged upon the Federal Government and CHINIOT: Students of a local govt school demolishing cluding Noman (3), Asad (2), Khan Mohammed Sarki (4) shops built on school land illegally. especially. and 13-year old, Amna.

According to doctors, gastroenteritis and other stomach related viruses are spreading swiftly after the flood and due to the drinking of polluted water, inadequate diet and unhygienic moving in right and positive ernor said it was the sacrifices living conditions in the STAFF REPORTER direction and all resources of workers that the PPP had area.The PDMA and District P ESHAWA R —The Khyber are being utilized for the emerged victorious from ev- administration, health dePakthunkhwa Barrister socio-economic uplift of ery difficult situation and in- partment authorities have Masood Kausar on Thurs- people and prosperity of the troduced record reforms for failed to provide basic well-being of masses. day underscored the need for province, he maintained. healthcare to the poor people He said workers are real He said PPP was making all- of affected districts. national unity to tackle the difficult challenges faced by assets of the party as they out efforts to live up to the exthe country today. Address- had rendered great sacrifices pectations of the people and ing the workers convention for PPP and democracy. The provide them maximum relief. of Pakistan Peoples Party Governor said PPP did not Today, he said, the situation here at Governor House, the believe in the politics of po- demands from workers to show Governor said unity in our litical discrimination and vic- unity and inform masses about rank is the need of the hour timization, instead it was the major achievements of the to confront the difficult chal- working for the promotion of elected government and work lenges. The situation of harmony, peace and brother- tirelessly for strengthening of STAFF REPORTER Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is hood in the society. The Gov- democracy in the country.

ISLAMABAD—Approximately 6.7 million Pakistanis are working around the globe, which includes Pakistanis living and studying abroad, said an official of Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis. He said the database of Overseas Pakistanis will be available on line with international networking and having links with State Bank of Pakistan and NADRA. Replying to a question, he said a separate data of Overseas Pakistanis who have already returned from abroad and those who returning in future shall also be maintained with the purpose of utilizing their skill and expertise. To another question, he said Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) was providing multiple services to the Overseas Pakistanis and their families. These include education, health, housing ,economic rehabilitation of QUETTA: Bolan Mail is ready to leave for its destination from Quetta Railway Station after disabled returnee Pakistanis, closure of train service for one month and six days due to flood situation in the province. transportation of bodies.

He said the 18th day of October is an occasion to pay homage to the memories of those brave sons and daughters of the nation who laid down their lives and suffered immeasurably in the cause of democracy and fighting against extremism. He recalled that on this day, five years ago when Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan from exile to lead from the front the fight against dictatorship and militancy, her caravan was brutally attacked by the extremists and militants. “On this day, we pledge to continue her mission to banish extremism and root out dictatorship in all its forms and

manifestations,” he said.

President Zardari said the phase of the journey to oust dictatorship that began on October 18th in 2007, achieved a milestone on August 18, 2008 when the dictator was sent home packing. “However, the dictatorial mindset still appears to rear its ugly head occasionally by assaulting the Parliament, the voice and the will of the people, employing different ways and different methods.” He said the fight against this dictatorial mindset must also continue. “Not one will be allowed to assault the Parliament. Let there be no doubt or mistake about it,” he said.

The President said the extremists and militants who

Dry weather forecast I SLAMABAD —Pakistan Me- hours. teorological Department (PMD) on Thursday forecast mainly dry weather for most parts of the country during the next 24 hours. However, light rain may occur at few places of Makran, Kallat, Larkana, Malakand divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan during next 24 hours. Dry weather will prevail in most parts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

According to the synoptic situation, a shallow westerly wave is prevailing over northern part of the country and likely to persist during next two days. The rainfall recorded during last 24 hours was Parachinar 10 mm, Turbat 04 and Mirkhani 01. The Quetta Met Office has forecast a dry weather and cold night for the city on Friday with the maximum temperature expected to range between 27 degrees Centigrade and 29 degrees Centigrade.

Dry weather has been forecast for the rest of the region. On Thursday, the highest temperature of 37 Celsius was recorded at Turbat and the lowest of 3 Celsius at Kalat Hill Station.

The Karachi Met Office has forecast fair/partly cloudy with hazy morning in the city during the next 24 hour, said a weather report issued on Thursday. According to the weather report, minimum temperature in the port city would remain in the range of 22 to 24 degree centigrade during the next 24

It added that mainly hot and dry weather is likely to prevail elsewhere in the region. However, chances of rain at one or two places in Makran, Kalat divisions of Balochistan. The Multan local Met. office has forecast partly cloudy weather for the city and its suburbs during the next 24 hours. On Thursday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded as 31.2 and 19.7 Celsius, respectively. Humidity

was recorded as 82 per cent at 8am and 47 per cent at 5pm.

According to met office, Continental air would prevail over most parts of the Country. A shallow low lies over Balochistan and its adjoining areas. Dry weather is also predicted in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh Balochistan and Kashmir during next 24 hours.

The Met Office has forecast a dry weather for the city on Thursday with the maximum temperature expected to range between 27 degrees Centigrade and 29 degrees Centigrade. Dry weather has been forec1ast for the rest of the region. On Wednesday, the highest temperature of 39 Calsius was recorded at Turbat.—APP

could not stand the power of Mohtarma’s call, are continuing their attacks on the progressive and democratic forces behind the facade of religion. He mentioned the recent cowardly attack on Malala, Kainat and Shazia and said it was a proof yet again of the threats from the extremists. “The battle lines that were drawn on this fateful day in 2007 have sharpened. The battle must continue till it is won,” he added.

He saluted the courage, devotion and loyalty of martyrs and fans of democracy who laid down their lives or were wounded while protecting Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Heroin worth Rs 60m, arms seized OUR CORRESPONDENT SUKKUR—Around two kilogram of pure heroin worth over Rs60 million was found during a raid conducted by Sukkur police in Qasim Khoso village on late Wednesday night. After a tip-off, ASP Sukkur city Masood Ahmed Bangash led a raid on the house of suspected drug dealer Mujahid Khoso. They arrested ten suspects and found three Kalashnikovs and a number of rounds of ammunition in their possession. A case was registered against five people including Mujahid Khoso, his brother Munawwar aka Munoo Khoso, Jawed Khoso, Altaf Khoso and Zulfiqar Khoso.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP), Sukkur zone. Dr Ameer Shaikh, has directed that a comprehensive security plan should be devised on priority basis on Eid ul Adha.

On the directives of IGP Sindh, the DIG Sukkur instructed that such an extraordinary security arrangements should be adopted for ensuring the protection of the people and their property on Eid. He directed that in collaboration with the intelligence organizations, concrete measures should be taken for the security of Mosques, Imambargahs, Eidgahs and other places. He also instructed that arrangements be made for sweeping.

‘Formidable national unity needed to tackle challenges’

6.7m Pakistanis working around globe

QUETTA: Relatives of allegedly missing persons sitting in a protest camp.

Serbia appreciates Pak stance on Kosovo issue STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister of Defence Syed Naveed Qamar yesterday held a meeting with the highest leadership and command in the House of Guards in Topcider, Belgrade. The Defence Minister is leading a four member delegation to Serbia. Speaking about the importance of the meeting, the Defence Minister and Deputy PM of Serbia Mr. Aleksandar Vucic said that Pakistan was and remained a friend of Serbia and has always been on the side of Pakistan in the international context.

During the visit, Syed Naveed Qamar met the Serbian President, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, the Prime Minister, Mr. Ivica Dacic, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minis-

ter, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic and Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Mr. Nebojsa Stefanovic. The Defence Minister also visited various defence installations and witnessed a demonstration held

by Serbian Special Forces. The visit is aimed at identifying avenues for cooperation between the defence establishments of the two countries. In this context, a prospective Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of defence also came under discussion.

The Minister also broached issues of opening of Serbian Embassy in Islamabad, concluding Preferential Trade Agreement and holding of Joint Ministerial Commission. The Serbian dignitaries assured their full-

est cooperation and stated that these issues will be addressed at priority. Topic of the meeting held with Serbian President and Deputy PM was the promotion of bilateral cooperation in different fields, and the two sides talked about the military-to-military, military-economic and militaryeducational cooperation.

Minister Vucic agreed that a military delegation of the Republic of Serbia should visit Pakistan as soon as possible and also there were discussions about the development of cooperation in the field of technology transfer, which is of great importance for Serbia, he said, adding that this would open the doors for various types of cooperation between the two countries.

27th Founders’ Day of Fazal Haq College Mardan JI devises polls code MULTAN—Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General, Liaqat Baloch said the JI had evolved strategy for upcoming elections and the party would gain victory. Addressing a ceremony in his honour in PP194, Liaqat Balcoh said the media should not broadcast such news that the JI was making alliance with any other political party. He said the JI was carrying on campaign at grass root level and claimed that it would show outstanding results in the upcoming elections. On this occasion, Professor Iftikhar Chaudhary, Abdul Mohsin Shaheen and Hafiz Muhammad Aslam also addressed. Meanwhile, it is reported from Lahore that Secretary General Jamaat-e-Islami Liaqat Baloch has impressed upon the Punjab government to accept the lawful demands of the young doctors and not place them at the mercy of the bureaucracy. He was talking to a delegation of the Punjab Doctors Association (PDA) which called on him at Mansoora. Liaqat Baloch said that under the 18th constitutional amendment, Health had been made the responsibility of the provinces which were however not giving due attention to the doctors problems. He said, it would be unfortunate if the provincial government used state power against the doctors. Instead, the government should take keen interest in removing the doctors’ grievances. He said, all three demands of the YDA, for a service structure, phased promotions and security of service were genuine. He said it was only due to the hard attitude of the government that thousands of able doctors were leaving the country. The JI Secretary General also impressed upon the young medics to press their demands within the law and not resort to strikes which caused problems for the patients.—APP

Mian Iftikhar in UK Staff Reporter

PESHAWAR—The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who is on a 10-day private tour, has reached England on the invitation of Awami National Party, England Branch. During his stay there, he will participate in various meetings/ functions of the party, says an official statement here on Thursday. Involvement of all stakeholders necessary for durable peace: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations Mian Iftikhar Hussin has said that bringing durable peace to the region requires the collective involvement of all stakeholders. Mian Iftikhar Hussain made these remarks while delivering a lecture on “Socio Political impact of war on terror” at National Defence University Islamabad. The Minister said that terrorists are terrorists and they have destructive tendency to scare the people for creating space for them. He said that we have to get out from the confusion that some terrorist are our enemies and some are of others. Terrorists are our common enemies and we should unite to eliminate them, he said. Mian said his party is willing for negotiations if it leads to durable peace but in the process of negotiations real stakeholders should sit together and agree for a peace building process. He said that our province is the last defence line and its sacrifices in all fronts including lives, property and economically are unmatched. He regretted that acts of terrorism are happening everywhere in the world but our province has been portrayed incubator adding it is a wrong perception. Provincial Minister blamed Martial Law for all ills in the country adding that political and democratic dispensation are the only way out for national development.

Teachers, students’ social role hailed Our Correspondent

B AHAWALPUR —The Vice-Chancellor, Islamia University, Bahawalpur, Prof Dr Muhammad Mukhtar has congratulated the students and faculty members of the Social Work department, IUB in a meeting and appreciated their devotion and hard work for the relief and rehabilitation of the flood affectees of the country under the banner of the IUB Flood relief/rehabilitation Cell which was also acknowledged not within the country but abroad too. He assured the IUB will provide all possible assistance and support to the students interested to serve the suffering humanity and flood affectees of the country including Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Muzzafar Garh where the torrential rains badly affected the people recently. It is worth mentioning that the services of the IUB Relief Cell were appreciated in the past too when they joined the relief and rehabilitation works in the flood hit areas of the country and contributed in the relief/rehabilitation operations of the federal and provincial governments, Rangers, Saudi Arabia’s Shah Abdullah Flood Relief Campaign and German Organization, Senior Expert Service. The Dean Faculty of Education, IUB, Prof Dr Karamat Mehmood and the Head, Social Work department, IUB, Prof Dr Qazi Ahmed Rasheed were also present on the occasion. ViceChancellor Islamia University, Bahawalpur Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar announced that Punjab government will shortly provide internships to around 1000 students of the University which is appreciable and a encouraging step. This initiative will help the internees to gain financial and working assistance and support in their respective fields to improve their skills and the university will soon conduct a seminar on career planning for the students.

Edu only panacea to meet challenges of extremism: Hoti STAFF REPORTER PESHAWAR—Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has said that promotion of education was the only way forward to cope with challenges of extremism, terrorism, poverty, illiteracy, law and order and unemployment. While addressing a gathering on occasion of 27th Founders’ Day of Fazal Haq College Mardan on Thursday, he said that we must have to inculcate in our youth the spirit of tolerance, respect and moderation in order to combat extremism.

The Chief Minister said that quality of work force and education and skills were central to growth of a country. Education was the major factor in socio-economic development of the country. He said that the youth was our future and asset. He said that the present elected government has undertaken unprecedented steps for the promotion of basics, higher, technical and professional education. He said that Fazle Haq College has not only striving hard for academic excellence but also making emphasis on character building of the youth and the old Haqs were

excelling in various walks of natural attachment with this life not only in Pakistan but college. He said that the college has earned name in both curricular and extracurricular activities. He paid rich tributes to founding fathers of the college Lt. Gen Fazal Haq (Late) and Khan Abdul Wali Khan (Late) and said that the plant they planted; now bearing fruits. The chief minister said that Mardan has the best road infrastructure in the province. He said that seven thousand student were enrolled in Abdul Wali Khan also earning a good name for University. He said that bethe country abroad. sides Bacha Khan Medical He said that being son of College, a Girls Commerce Mardan, I had a special and College in Mardan was also

under construction.

Educational efforts were not limited to Mardan, seven new universities in the province were established in four and a half year while 75 colleges for boys and girls were under construction. He said that an educated mother was the need and guarantee for a successful man. He said that success was due to prayers of mothers and better rearing.

The chief minister said that the government has provided Rs 123 million to the college.

He said that more than Rs 106 million was provided for Ameer Haider Auditorium, repairing and rehabilitation of

Sher Shah House and Academic Bloc, Six classrooms, construction of Admin Bloc, rehabilitation and Black topping of roads inside college, reconstruction of summer school camp in Swat and Gratuity Scheme for college staff while additional Rs. 17 million was provided from the special package for rehabilitation of water supply scheme and transport facilities.

Earlier, the principal of the college Colonel Sultan Zeb presented the welcome address. He highlighted the achievements of students of the college in curricular and co-curricular activities.

Voters Day observed in Lower Dir

Osteoporosis causes 1.5m annual fractures

OUR CORRESPONDENT

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TIMERGARAH—The first na-

H YDERABAD —Chairman of

the Bone Care Trauma Centre tional voters’ day was oband famous Orthopedic Surserved in Lower Dir district geon Dr.Parvez Rais Khan said aimed at educating and inthat every year in the world forming young voters about Osteoporosis causes 1.5 milimportance of vote in the lion fractures of the hip, wrist, country’s progress and devertebrae and other bones in velopment. In this connection, the World, it accounts for 70 a function was held at Repercent of all the fractures ocgional Election Commissioner curring annually in people Office Timergarah that was over the age of 45 and twenty attended by district officers, percent of the women who workers of political parties, suffer a hip fracture. elites, members from the civil Talking to this scribe on society, teachers, students Thursday Dr.Parvez Khan and minorities organizations said that women, generally in large number here on are greater risk of developThursday. The participants ing Osteoporosis than men held detailed discussion on and this is because, followimportance of votes in a demoing the menopause, women cratic and parliamentary sysexperience a rapid loss of tem. The prime focus of the bone from the skeleton due day was to emphasize the importance of votes for the citi- QUETTA: A woman patient sits outside the ODP of Civil Hospital during doctors’ strike against kidnapping of a to a decrease in estrogens production. zens in a democratic setup. doctor of LRBT.

Unemployment, corruption, inefficient education system breed poverty B K TAHIR B AHAWALPUR —A function was held here in connection with the International Day for the allevation of Poverty, which was largely attended by the people belonging from all shades of life to express their sentiments significant to the occasion. A local NGO, GOHER Foundation held young leaders’ dialogue on the eve of “International Day for the Alleviation of Poverty” under its programme, Youth Leadership and Empowerment Centre (YLEC) at Civil Servants Academy Bahawalpur.

The theme set by GOHER’s young leaders for this year’s poverty day was

“Crisis of Governance and Poverty”. Young leaders presented their papers on the plight of governance and its correlation with poverty. The local youth, representatives from different NGOs, media, civil society, politicians, government officials, teachers and peoples from different occupations enthusiastically participated the event.

A youth resolution for alleviation of poverty was also passed at the forum reminding the government to formulate and implement effective policies to solve the crisis of governance as it is directly related with poverty. The young scholars, Waqas Hassan, Ms. Shazia Kanwal, Zunnurain

Ahmed, Ms. Sajida Nazir, Ms. Zoraiz Cheema, Habib-urRehman and Farrukh Imtiaz in their address discussed different issues related to poverty and good governance. Young scholars also presented the Sufi Kalam of different Sufi poets to highlight the importance of Sufi thoughts in fighting the social evils like poverty while Aamir Ghauri from Awaz Foundation insisted to practice Sufism thoughts, so the sense of sacrifice is produced in the nation. Addressing the dialogue, the Coordinator YLEC Ms. Naima Khan was of the view that the unequal distribution of wealth, unemployment, overpopulation, corruption.

Parachinar Militants attack police post turns cold following rain 3 persons shot OUR CORRESPONDENT PARACHINAR—The weather of Parachinar, the headquarter of Kurram Agency, turned cold after lashed by moderate rain, signaling the dawn of winter season. According to Met Office here on Thursday, Parachinar has received 10 millimeter rain during last 24 hours. The weather of Parachinar will remain party cloudy with chances of rain during next 24 hours. The rain coupled with cold breeze have forced tribal people to wear additional warms cloths and sweaters A shallow westerly wave is prevailing over northern parts of the country and is likely to persist during next 2-3 days. Mainly dry weather is expected in most parts of the country, however light rain may occur at a few places of Makran, Kalat, Larkana, Malakand divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan during next 24 hours. The weather of Peshawar, Abbottabad and Bannu will remain partly cloudy during next 24 hours.

dead in Mardan STAFF REPORTER P ESHAWAR —Three persons were shot dead and one sustained critical injuries during a clash between two rival groups in Mardan district, police said on Thursday. Bilal Khattak and Umair groups after exchanging hot words on petty issue, started indiscriminate firing on each others at Mohalla Noormand Khel in the limits of Par Hoti Mardan police station. As result Umair, his brother Farman and another unknown person was killed on the spot while Bilal Khattak sustained critical wounds.

The dead and injured were rushed to District Headquarters Hospital Mardan while Bilal Khattak was referred to Peshawar due to critical condition. Police have started investigation into the incident. The City police successfully repulsed a brazen attack of militants on its check post in the limits of Badabar

police station, however no casualty was reported.

According to district police, the militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers,attacked a police check post in Mashogagar on late Wednesday night that was retaliated by police with full might, forcing the outlaws to flee from the scene. The firing continued for half an hour and no casualty was reported.

Meanwhile in Multan a labourer was shot dead by unknown outlaws in the limits of Sadar police station here. According to police, labourer Allah Ditta (30) resident of Suraj Miani was returning home when some unknown outlaws opened fire and killed him. The body was shifted to the morgue of Nishtar Hospital for autopsy.

In Pashin unidentified armed men gunned down a police officer in Babo Mahala of the town.

Pak Post extends EMO service I SLAMABAD —Pakistan Post from Rs. 2,000 and up to Rs. from Rs. 15,001 and up to Rs.

Unprecedented development work Staff Reporter

P ESHAWA R —Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) provincial President for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Anwer Saifullah Thursday said the party under the leader- MULTAN: Camels have been decorated to attract the customers at sacrificial animales ship of co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari market set up at Nag Shah. completed record number of development works across the country having no precedent in the history of the country. Addressing the PPP worker convention here at Governor House, he said that PPP is symbol of federation Similarly, the strength of people and labour rights.

STAFF REPORTER and it has great credibility across the country, adding labourers’ residential flats Wazir said popularity graph that President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has the credit have been increased from of PPP was increasing with that PPP is serving the nation under his leadership. He P E S H AWA R —The Khyber 3000 to 75000 by the present each passing day in the said that he would go home to home and village to village Pakthunkhwa Minister for government, which was a country in general and to make the party stronger in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Labour and Provincial Vice record. He said a kidney cen- Khyber Pakthunkhwa in parto win the mandate of the people in upcoming general President PPP, Sher Azam tre was already providing ticular and will win next genelections. He said PPP would struggle for peace in the Khan Wazir said Thursday quality service to labourers. eral election with overwhelmprovince and elimination of unemployment if it would the first burn and trauma The Minister said the present ing majority. in Khyber come to power again in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He reiter- centre government has fulfilled the The Minister said inated that PPP would not make alliance with any political Pakthunkhwa will soon promises of provincial au- crease of popularity graph of start function wherein chilparty for upcoming general elections, rather it would win tonomy, restoration of 1973 PPP could be judged from the the mandate of the people on the basis of its performance. dren of labour and terror- constitution in original form, triumph of its candidates in ism victims would be proAnwer noted that due to the sincere efforts of PPP-led identity to Pakthoon, intro- Multan by election and joinfederal government the dream of provincial autonomy vided free of cost treatment. duced reforms in Fata and ing of people from every walk was fulfilled and provinces were enabled to utilize its Talking to reporters here, implemented NFC award. of life to our party. He said resources on the uplift of their own people. He said that the Minister said the govHe said these major re- no party can match PPP’s ernment has taken unprecthe KPK province is having rich natural resources which forms introduced by PPP led popularity and people will rewould be utilized to end power loadshedding, adding edented steps for welfare of Government has restored the elect our candidates in large labour class by increasing that the projects of power generation from natural gas confidence of masses in de- number for completion of reserves found in Karak and Kohat would soon be inau- their educational institutes mocracy and this system has ongoing projects and from 16 to 200 providing gurated. He said PPP took pragmatic measures to overstarted flourishing. He said strengthening of democratic quality education facilities come energy crisis and added 5, 000 mega watt electricity PPP is the custodian of institutions. to their children. in national grid station.

KP burns centre to function soon

has extended Electronic Money Order (EMO) service to various cities including Muzaffarabad General Post Office (GPO), Chakwal GPO, Jhelum GPO, Attock GPO, Mirpurkhas GPO, Sukkur GPO and Nawabshah (Benazirabad) GPO. Initially EMO service has started between eleven major cities including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi and Hyderabad through 17 General Post Offices (GPOs).

An official of Pakistan Post said that the service would be extended to all 83 General Post Offices (GPOs) across the country. The service would facilitate the citizens for transferring up to Rs 100,000 within 30 seconds, he added. He said that Pakistan Post is emphasizing in the use of new communication and information technologies to move beyond what is traditionally regarded as a its core postal business.

Conventional money order service used to take few days for delivery however, this new revamped service is said to be as quick as any other mobile banking solutions. Value of EMO and commission rate: value up to Rs. 2,000, commission Rs. 50,

5,000 commission Rs. 100, from Rs. 5,001 and up to Rs. 10,000 commission Rs. 200, from Rs. 10,001 and up to Rs. 15,000 commission Rs. 250,

20,000 commission Rs.350, from Rs. 20,001 and up to Rs. 30,000 commission Rs. 400, from Rs. 30,001 and up to Rs. 40,000 commission.—APP

HYDERABAD: Fire fighters trying to extinguish fire, which erupted at Resham Gali.

Army’s concern over cross-border attacks

MEDIA WATCH

Taliban’s cruelty

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HE 69th Formation commanders’ meeting convened by Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani understandably took stock of the prevailing regional security situation and other related issues including NWA operation and drone attacks.

It is also worth mentioning that besides reiterating the oft-repeated position on NWA operation, the army top brass also expressed concern over NATO’s, ISAF’s failure to contain and coordinate about crossborder attacks by terrorist elements on Pakistani border check-posts and security forces, deciding to raise the issue with American and Afghan military sources in future meetings. The issue of cross-border attack is there since long and this should have been sorted out during discussions on rules of re-engagement with the United States but unfortunately our leadership did not press the issue as it should have been and that is why it remains there to serve as one of the irritants between the two sides. This is because there are reasons to believe that attacks on Pakistani security check-posts as well as raids on border villages take place with active connivance of the occupation forces. It is beyond imagination that hundreds of armed militants would mount attacks kilometres away (in Pakistan) from their safe havens in Afghanistan without knowledge and support of NATO/ISAF forces. A number of innocent Pakistani civilians have also been killed in these attacks but regrettably there is more mention of cross-border attacks from Pakistani side into Afghanistan than vice versa. Pakistan should not only convey its concern both through military and civilian channels but also demand a strong surveillance mechanism on border to prevent such attacks. This would also take care of oft-repeated allegations by Karzai administration about cross-border attacks from Pakistan side.

Shahbaz meets highest demand of justice I

N yet another historic development, Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif himself ordered police to proceed as per requirements of the law in the incident of alleged bakery assault involving his son-in-law. Not only that, he also instructed his son-inlaw Ali Imran to court arrest and he did so on the night falling between Wednesday and Thursday.

Of course, now the law would take its own course and things would become clear as the CM has also categorically asked police to carry out investigations without any fear or favour. But the incident has once again highlighted the fact that Mian Shahbaz Sharif, who has established himself as a role model administrator by ensuring transparency and good governance, has now shown to his critics that he has the courage to meet the highest demands of justice. This reminds one of the good old days of Islam when during caliphates and also during the era of some other honest leaders Qazis proceeded as per dictates of law and Shariah and pronounced verdicts on merit.

Shahbaz Sharif has emerged taller by ordering action even against his close relative. It is pertinent to mention that the PML-N leadership did not hesitate to initiate action against partymen when incidents of fake degree holders or slapping emerged in the past. In this case, the other side of the story has also surfaced as the video repeatedly telecast by some television channels appeared to have been pieced together to make a case against son-in-law of the CM. On the face of it, there were two separate occasions one in the morning where daughter of the CM was seen at the bakery counter and the other in the evening when the scuffle took place but at that time the son-in-law and daughter of the CM were not present. It is also regrettable that some PPP elements are trying to take political mileage out of the issue forgetting that it runs against our traditions and Islamic teachings.

Be it Bilawal, Hamza or son-in-law of the CM Punjab, it is highly disgusting to drag children into political rivalries. Raja Riaz had to eat a humble pie by levelling baseless allegations on account of dual nationality and now another PPP leader is asking the SC to take notice of bakery incident. Anyhow, Punjab CM has further established his credential as a leader who believes firmly in rule of law.

Rehman Malik speaks truth for a change I

NTERIOR Minister Rehman Malik has very rightly stated that major ity of those killed in US drone attacks were innocent people. Talking to media outside the Parliament House on Wednesday, the Minister admitted that only 20 percent of those killed in drone attacks were militants while the rest were innocent people.

We are glad that at least this time the Minister has not only spoken the truth but also pleaded the just case of people of FATA who are highly angered and concerned about repeated drone attacks. Earlier on many occasions while speaking on issues relating to the US, he did not necessarily reflect the ground realities or convey the sentiments of the people of Pakistan. In fact sometime these statements were perceived by the people as pro-America. People are convinced that as he is holding an important portfolio and is a close confidant of the leadership, he speaks on their behalf.

Therefore the people at large and political and diplomatic circles siphon his remarks very seriously. In our opinion as a responsible and senior Minister, he should be very careful in making statements that have far reaching implications. US drone strikes in Pakistan are a clear violation of international laws, human rights and despite repeated demands by the political leadership, Washington is not ready to bring an end to the firing of missiles by unmanned aircraft. They continue to hover over FATA causing scare among the people and they avoid attending even burial and marriages fearing drone strikes. In fact continuous predator attacks are inflaming animosity against the United States and undermining Pakistani efforts in the war on terror. Therefore we would urge the Interior Minister to speak for the people affected by drone attacks as that would bring some credibility for the government and the tribal people might start backing government efforts to bring stability in the lawless areas.

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India misses Kuwait opportunity which remained strong only because of the residual goodwill of the region towards the subcontinent.

Manmohan Singh was the Union Minister of Finance M D Nalapat while Rao was the PM. However, he Email: mgnalapat@gmail.com seems to have learnt very few lessons in foreign policy from a boss who brought econ 1994, Prime Minister nomic reform to India. During OctoPamulaparthy Venkata ber 15-17,the State of Kuwait hosted Narasimha Rao implemented the first Summit of the Asia CoopIndia’s “Look East” policy. Al- eration Dialogue, a group of 32 Asian though Jawaharlal Nehru had given countries that includes Saudi Arabia, many speeches on Asia,and had Kuwait, Bahran, the UAE, India, joined hands with President Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Achmed Soekarno of Indonesia to Iran, Japan, South Korea, Russia, hold the Bandung Afro-Asian Sum- China and since 2012,Afghanistan. mit in 1955,the focus of his succes- No fewer than 22 Heads of Governsor Indira Gandhi was on Moscow, ment and Heads of State attended the which is why India disdained efforts Summit, making it a major internaby the newly-formed ASEAN to get tional event. associated with the bloc in Only two countries made the 1966.Even during Nehru’s time, mistake of sending low-level delegamost of the attention was paid to tions, China and India, the latter councountries which were then closer to try being represented by a junior minMoscow than to Washington, such ister who stopped over in Kuwait for as China, rather than to Japan, South two days en route from New York. The Korea and Singapore, countries that Prime Minister of Pakistan was had launched on a high-growth tra- present, as were the Presidents of Sri jectory. So far as the countries Lanka and Bangla Desh. Although the which now comprise the Gulf Co- Kuwaitis had invited Vice-President operation Council were concerned, Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Singh very little was done to leverage the and External Affairs Minister S M immense goodwill for India in this Krishna, none of the three showed up. region. Gradually, the people of the Indeed, had the articulate and charmGCC began turning away from In- ing Vice-President of India, former dia, a country that had been a sec- diplomat Hamid Ansari, showed up, ond home to their grandfathers and it would have made a world of diffathers, and with which they had ference to the country’s image among earlier been very familiar. the participants.

Concentrating as they did on Although China has extensive Europe, the USSR, China and the economic stakes in the GCC, the links US, successive regimes in Delhi ne- binding India to the region are far glected to nourish India-GCC ties, greater. About six million citizens

Geopolitical notes from India

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work in the GCC and send home a substantial amount of foreign exchange, which helps in making the purchase of petroproducts from the region. Despite this, the invite from Kuwait for the first-ever ACD Summit was ignored by the External Affairs Ministry, whose bosses Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s have a fixation with the countries forming NATO. The two visit NATO capitals frequently, but thus far, have devoted very little time in touring the GCC. The non-participation by India at the needed level has harmed India’s interests but is explainable in a context where the government follows a unipolar foreign policy just when the world has become visibly multipolar. This capacity - of missing the right bus – is endemic in Indian foreign policy.

When the country needed to be close to fast-growing Asian economies, it was aloof from them. When it needed to be a balancer between the US and China, it has followed a policy of “stealth alignment” with NATO. Where it needs to focus on Asia, especially the capital-rich GCC, the concentration of attention is on giving concessions to the very NATO-based financial entities that have caused the 2008 financial crash.

Although Manmohan Singh has no time to attend the ACD Summit, he finds time to meet with high-level delegations from financial enterprises that are making billions of dollars in India through speculation. Not just him, but the Reserve Bank of India too is very partial to such entities.

Clearly, those at the top in India are still suffused with reverence for their former colonial masters.

Kuwait has the right credentials to serve as the Headquarters of the ACD Secretariat. It is time that major international institutions established HQs in the GCC, and Kuwait is a country that has good relations

across the board: north, south, east and west. The reason for this is the fact that there is no discrimination in the country against people of different sects and faiths. The Kuwaiti side has presented an ambitious agenda for uniting Asian countries behind a non-divisive agenda that has a focus on development,culture and education,and if this be realised,it would mark a huge step forwards in intra-Asia cooperation.

It is therefore no surprise that NATO-based media such as CNN and BBC have largely ignored the Kuwait Summit.

The Kuwait Summit indicates that the GCC has launched its own Look East policy.That the states within it understand that placing all their trust in NATO-based institutions may lead in the future to losses even greater than the $1.3 trillion the region lost during the 2008 crash. That it is Asian countries such as India,China,South Korea and Japan that will be the biggest purchasers of petroproducts,and who can partner with the GCC to craft educational models that reflect both traditional values as well as the need for skills relevant in a globalised world.

The Kuwait initiative has potential to be a game changer for the region,in that it could unlock the door towards the forms of unity in Asia that have been witnessed in Europe during 1955-75.

Hopefully,Manmohan Singh will ensure that India hops on to the bus,by getting energetically involved in the ACD, rather than miss an opportunity for closer ties with the GCC,the way he did in Kuwait by staying away from the October 15-17 Summit.

—The writer is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University, Haryana State, India.

Mengal leads to misconception are totally rejected as mendacity.

Sardar Mengal forgets that the Security Sultan M Hali Forces themselves are also Email: sm_hali@yahoo.com victim of violence and brutal acts of terrorism. They are sacrificing ardar Akhtar Jan Mengal their lives to safeguard the national former Chief Minister and interests. Security Forces are always head of Balochistan National are constrained to conduct operations Party (BNP-Mengal) appeared be- against own people, however, crimifore the Supreme Court of Pakistan nal elements disturbing the law and (SCP) to assist the court to resolve order situation in the province need the issue of missing persons and to be dealt with assertively. To label target killing of the citizens in the such actions as genocide depicts perprovince of Balochistan. The peace- verted thinking. Balochistan is a part loving people of Pakistan expected of Pakistan. It is as independent as that his return will usher a sense of the other provinces. Political leadercalmness promoting peace and se- ship, especially Sardars are responrenity in the province. Unfortu- sible for oppressing the Baloch nanately, his statements before the tionals. As modern democratic norms court and the media caused confu- challenge the Feudalism, the Baloch sion among the masses enhancing Sardars feel threatened in the wake their sense of insecurity and anxi- of ongoing development projects in ety. His musings led to serious mis- the province.

Armed Forces of Pakistan played conceptions.

Some aspects of his musings a crucial role in the development necessitate a rejoinder. His pro- projects including education, communouncement that “survival of nication infrastructure and enhancing Baloch people is at stake with the youth employment. These projects systematic and organized acts of need to be appreciated. Unfortunately genocide being carried out by the Sardar Mengal failed to acknowledge Security Agencies; all the param- them for political reasons. The ersteters indicate a classical colonial re- while estranged Baloch Sardar claims lationship between Pakistan & that “An indirect system of colonial Balochistan” is based on falsehood. rule was employed to rule Law and order situation in Balochistan by proxy, to gain control Balochistan is a serious source of of its economy, culture and politics. concern for all Pakistanis. The al- Intelligence agencies created unlegations leveled against the Secu- known breed of politicians/ religious rity Agencies, being product of leaders in a secular Baloch society jaundiced mindset negatively and was incorporated in the scheme charged against the Security Forces of ruling Balochistan by proxy.”

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In democracy every individual has an equal right to get a chance to compete for the highest offices through elections. To argue that unknown breed of leaders (non-entities) were given the chance to govern, ignoring big families like Marris, Bugtis and Mengals speaks of a Sardar’s lust for power. So far Sardar Akhtar Mengal is also a nonentity and he needs to wait till next elections are held to prove his popularity/merit for top position. The Sardar asserts that “Baloch access to the political process has been deliberately suspended, to the detriment for (sic) conciliation and coexistence with the state”.

The record should be set straight that Sardar Akhtar Mengal participated in 2002 elections and joined the Assembly, only to quit after two years. He boycotted the 2008 elections. When politicians do not contest elections, they should not blame others for their isolation. Since the election was termed fair by all observers, therefore, elected members cannot be termed as proxies. His claim that “Beginning from 1970s a new and previously unknown breed of politicians, the ‘religious leaders’ was created” should be taken with a pinch of salt. A fair critique of their performance in power would have been more constructive. To say that their only credential was their loyalty to the state is not a valid criticism.

Moreover, loyalty to the state is not a bad thing?

We need to recall the roster of Governors and Chief Ministers of Balochistan since 1970s to test the accuracy of this assertion. Nawab Akbar Bugti and Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s names come readily to mind; and let us not forget the late

Mir Ahmed Yar Khan of Kalat.

While the leadership of these worthy luminaries is acknowledged, the dismissal of all other political leadership of Balochistan representing the 98% population not under the above Sardars as mere “non-entities” does not reflect a democratic and inclusive mindset.

The basis of Akhtar Mengal’s argument that “Various new exploratory schemes to discover and utilize the remaining natural resources in ……. Balochistan are on the agenda of the military establishment”, needs to be checked for veracity. Actually it is the agenda of the government, as it should be. The question is why it is not on Sardar Mengal’s agenda. 18th Amendment has given the provinces vast ownership over their resources; the political leaders are expected to manage these resources for the betterment of their people rather than straining to keep them buried. Targeting foreigners working on various schemes that would benefit Balochistan is criminally shortsighted. As to depletion of gas reserves, actually the rate of depletion has been reduced by using new technologies. No doubt mineral exploration management has not been so good, but to remain mired in the past is not so helpful either. Sardar Akhtar Mengal and for that matter all Baloch leadership, if it is genuinely interested in the uplift of its people, must take pragmatic cognizance of the issues rather than just pay lip sympathy to them and play to the gallery.

—The author, a retired PAF Group Captain, served as Air & Naval attaché at Riyadh and is currently a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host.

ou’ve heard this horrific story by now: A Taliban gun man boarded a school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley badlands last week and shot 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai in the head. The reason?

Malala wanted to go to school.

That’s forbidden by the Taliban.

Over the years, Taliban terrorists in Pakistan have destroyed at least 200 girls schools. But Malala would not back down. She started at 11, blogging about her dream to be a doctor or a politician. Last year, she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. She won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize. She became a potent symbol of defiance against the Taliban. “I have the right of education,” she said. “I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up.”

Now Malala lies in a hospital bed in England. Doctors say she’ll need surgery to repair or replace damaged bones in her skull and is also expected to need neurological treatment. British doctors on Monday said Malala has every chance to make a “good recovery.” We hope the world again hears Malala’s voice. And we hope that Pakistan officials hear its echoes now. This is a brutal reminder that Pakistan’s long battle against the Taliban still rages. In 2009, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari surrendered the Swat Valley on its border with Afghanistan to Taliban terrorists in hopes of placating them. Instead, they re-armed and pushed toward Pakistan’s capital.

That spring, Pakistan’s military launched a massive assault and reclaimed the valley. Last week’s attack shows that the Taliban are creeping back and just as vicious as ever in their assault on women. What will Pakistan’s response be? Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told CNN that she believes the attack on Malala marks a “turning point” in Pakistan’s pursuit of the Taliban and other extremists. “Pakistan, at the diplomatic, political and every level, has been asking ... to take this matter seriously, to not let them (the Taliban) have a safe haven,” she said. Those are the right words. Now they need to be backed by strong military action. Pakistan’s leaders must launch a renewed assault against the Taliban along the Afghan border. That’s also a base for al-Qaida.

After last week’s attack, Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan boasted that Malala had been targeted. He called her crusade for education rights an “obscenity,” The New York Times reported. “She has become a symbol of Western culture in the area; she was openly propagating it. Let this be a lesson,” he said. Yes, let this be a lesson. Let it be a lesson — another lesson — about the Taliban’s barbarism. Just last spring, over the border in Afghanistan, about 150 Afghan schoolgirls were poisoned after drinking water contaminated by the Taliban at a high school. Several of the girls, suffering headaches and vomiting, were admitted to a local hospital. A month later in the same province, more than 120 schoolgirls and three teachers were poisoned when Taliban terrorists used an unidentified toxic powder to contaminate the air in classrooms. That attack left scores of students unconscious, Reuters reported. In 2010, Time magazine put on its cover a harrowing portrait of an 18-year-old Afghan girl who was brutally disfigured by the Taliban for fleeing her abusive in-laws. In 2009, the world watched a video of a shrieking 17-year-old girl, flogged for refusing to marry a Taliban official.

That same year came the tale of 19-year-old Gul Pecha and her fiance, 21-year-old Abdul Aziz.

They were bound, blindfolded and shot dead by a Taliban firing squad in Afghanistan for the crime of trying to elope. This savagery is what the Taliban stand for. They cannot be appeased or accommodated.

They pose a grave threat to Pakistan, to Afghanistan, to international security ... and to every woman within their reach who would have the temerity to dream.

— Chicago Tribune All men dream: But not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

—T E Lawrence British soldier, writer

Can Islamic finance help?

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he meltdown of the global fi nancial system has raised pro found questions of its fundamental structural reform. The downward spiral in the US and Western Europe is described by financial experts as deleveraging : the forced reduction of accumulated debt by households and financial institutions. As more assets get dumped into the market, prices are driven down further, which in turn necessitates more deleveraging. This vicious cycle has gained such momentum that even the massive bailout packages may not be sufficient to stop it. The bursting of the debt-fuelled property bubble in the US, together with the crippling losses suffered by banks, has set in motion a chain-reaction that, in a worst-case scenario, (according to Prof Niall Ferguson of Harvard) could lead to a 21st century version of the Great Depression.

The immediate cause of the current financial crisis appears to be the excessive and imprudent lending by banks. This in turn is attributed to the unbridled power of private bankers to create money out of nothing, and then to loan this bank-created money on interest. In this present

monetary framework, money is ing to Prof John Gray of Oxford Unitraded as a commodity, instead of versity, derivatives have created a performing its true function of op- “virtual financial economy” which erating as a medium “has a terrible potenof exchange. This The Spirit Of Islam tial for disrupting the system favours the underlying real rich against the ineconomy as seen in dustrious poor. Dethe collapse in 1995 spite the fact that deof Barings, Britain’s posits are sourced oldest bank”. It is from a broad crosstherefore no surprise section of the society, that George Soros their benefit goes has described derivamainly to the rich. tives as “hydrogen James Robertson bombs”. Warren in “Transforming Buffet described Economic Life” them as “financial states that: “Today’s weapons of mass demoney and finance M Shoaib Omar struction”. The Bank system is unfair, ecofor International logically destructive and economi- Settlements (BIS) currently estically inefficient. The money – must mates the notional amount of all out– grow imperative … skews eco- standing derivatives (including nomic effort towards money out of credit default swaps) to be a stagmoney, and against providing real gering 600 trillion dollars, more than services and goods”. A substantial 10 times the size of the world proportion of this privately created economy. bank-money is invested in speculaAlthough debt-financing cannot tive wagering instruments, such as be ruled out, the solution lies in a shift derivatives based on futures, swaps, to equity-based financing, posited on and options. Such betting instru- profit and loss sharing, which is the ments are not connected with trans- primary characteristic of Islamic Fiactions in the real economy. Accord- nance. In this equitable manner, eco-

nomic effort would be directed at providing useful goods and services, instead of simply making money out of money. At the same time, the wide gap between the supply of money and the supply of real goods and services would be decisively narrowed. The distinguishing features and benefits of Islamic Banking were aptly summarized by the Islamic Development Bank, based in Jeddah, (established 1975) in the following words: “Islamic banking is distinctive in two respects: concentrating on the real sector of the economy, it imparts tremendous stability to the economic system by achieving an identity between monetary flows and goods and services, and by operating on a system of profit and loss sharing in its evolved state, it insulates the society from the debtmountain on the analogy that if the economies enter into recessionary or deflationary phases, the principles of profit and loss sharing protects the states and economic operators from the evils of accumulation of interest and minimizes defaults and bankruptcies.”

—The writer is corporate & Islamic finance attorney.

Maritime security & life at sea Asaf Humayun Email:dprnavy@gmail.com

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ince 1980, International Mari time Organisation (IMO), a specialized agency of UN, is celebrating World Maritime Day each year in the last week of September.

IMO selected 27th September as World Maritime Day for 2012. On this day, the World celebrates the contribution of maritime industry to the well-being of human race. The day focuses on maritime industry, shipping safety, maritime security, marine environment, and on the work of IMO. This year in remembrance of Titanic, WMD focuses on safety of life at sea.

Pakistan has a large fishing community. We have nearly 15 thousand fishing boats, many of which are not registered. They do not even carry the bare minimum lifesaving equipment. They do not always possess radio or other communication means to contact shore authorities in case of an emergency.

Like many other occupations in Pakistan our fishermen continue to earn their living in hazardous con-

ditions. In the aftermath of this accident, Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) has announced that it would study measures to ensure fishing boats are not overcrowded and adhere to minimum safety requirements. The federal and provincial authorities must assist KFHA in achieving this laudable aim.

Pakistan also faces spectre of an unimaginable maritime disaster when dhows carry illegal immigrant back to Pakistan from Oman. Several times in a year, the authorities in Oman pack more than 500 deportees like sardines in a small dhow and send them back to Pakistan. What to talk of lifesaving equipment, even the living conditions on board these boats are appalling. The last such instance occurred in August this year. If such an overcrowded boat met an accident at sea, the loss of life will be of horrendous proportions.

Thus, the theme of WMD 2012 is very relevant to Pakistan. Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (MSA) is responsible for search and rescue (SAR) at sea. We do hear that MSA frequently saves many lives at sea; more than 60 this year so far.

Nevertheless, the situation requires

greater compliance with SOLAS convention by all, especially by those who go out to sea and the authorities responsible for safety and SAR at sea.

Safety of life is only one of the important maritime issues facing Pakistan. The pollution inside and near our ports is horrible. In spite of many committees, conferences, seminars, fact finding missions, the situation is becoming worse over time. The industrial and human waste flows freely into our port channels. The stench on our sea shore occasionally snatches all sense of enjoyment from a relaxing picnic or a pleasant boat ride. On the other hand, the surreptitious oil pollution by merchant men visiting our water goes on unchecked.

The ship breaking industry at Gadani also throws all waste and oil into sea.

We have no means to catch the offenders and impose the laid down penalties on them.

The sea pollution has already caused rapid deterioration of our mangroves and fisheries. The damage caused by TASMAN SPIRIT is still fresh in our memory. The suit for liability and damages continues in courts and is far from settlement.

The long term damage to our marine environment cannot even be fully

assessed. Pakistan is a maritime nation. Our economy and daily life depends on sea, marine environment and maritime transport. Every year maritime nations in the World celebrate WMD. In Pakistan, the day passes without any notice.

World Maritime Day is an occasion when we must remember the blessing of bounties of the sea.

We should celebrate that Allah has bestowed us with direct access to sea through our long coastline.

We have a large number of industrious Pakistanis who earn their living through fisheries, sea trade and merchant marine. We need to improve all aspects of our maritime endeavours, play a proactive role in international maritime arena and earn economic benefits. We should celebrate World Maritime Day each year and take careful stock of the maritime issues facing Pakistan.

This year’s World Maritime Day reminds us to improve Safety of Life at Sea. Let us resolve that in the next one year we will address the deficiencies in SOLAS in Pakistan with zeal and vigour.

—The writer, a retired Vice Admiral, is DG National Centre for Maritime Policy Research.

Views From Abroad

Madonna’s tone-deaf tattoo Meghan Daum

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here goes Madonna, classing up the joint again. To show her support of Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot and critically wounded by the Taliban because of her advocacy for girls’ education, the Material Girl (a.k.a. Madge, Esther, the Queen of Pop, the Hottest Bod in the AARP) took the opportunity during a recent concert at L.A.’s Staple Centre to pull her pants down and reveal a (fake) tattoo of the girl’s name inked across the small of her back. Take that, Taliban! Mess with girls’ education and you’re messing with a 54year-old pop star in a leather corset.

Malala was already famous in Pakistan. In 2009, when the Taliban shut down girls schools in her area, she began writing a blog for the BBC. Last year she became the first recipient of Pakistan’s National Youth Prize, and Desmond Tutu nominated her for an International Children’s Peace Prize. Meanwhile,

a Pakistani group called the National Youth Assembly has appealed to the government to nominate her for the Nobel Peace Prize. And if all that weren’t enough, now Malala has received (quite literally) the ultimate stamp of approval in America: her name spelled out across Madonna’s backside.

If only Malala were conscious and aware of this honour! How proud she would be to share the company of other recent Madonna causes, such as the persecuted Russian punk band Pussy Riot. How gratified she’d be knowing she was among the many straws at which Madonna is grasping as her latest album, “MDNA,” delivers some of the worst sales of her career. How humbled that she provided an American woman for whom education was a given (and who even attended college) with an occasion to take her clothes off in front of about 20,000 people.

Madonna’s activism has been particularly wearying of late. At an August concert, she superimposed a swastika on the forehead of

French politician Marine Le Pen; the next month she “ironically” called President Obama a “black Muslim” while “endorsing” him at a performance in Washington. But somehow her co-opting of the attack on Malala leaves an especially sour taste in the mouth, and not just because it seems a wee bit tone deaf to honour a modest Muslim girl by stripping down to your underwear and displaying her name on your skin. No, what’s most troubling about Madonna’s “Malala moment” is that it doesn’t promote Malala’s message as much as twist it.

With her head scarf and her earnest, un-primped face, Malala symbolizes the idea that girls can transcend their status as potentially exploitable sex objects. Madonna doesn’t transcend objectification, she courts it. Sure, she tried to start a girls school in Malawi, but the feminism she’s best known for is one that constantly plays with the archetypes of female sexual objectification: the cheerleader, the Catholic schoolgirl, the femme fatale, the dominatrix. She may in-

tend it as cleverly transgressive, but to a lot of people — particularly those less accustomed to viewing everything through an ironic lens — it looks like plain and simple depravity With her relentless self-promotion, envelope pushing and obsession with her body, Madonna is, in a very real sense, an extremist. And, sadly, that means she taps right into extremist ideas about “Western freedom” and what happens when women gain power, not to mention an education. In other words, by “supporting” Malala, Madonna might be putting the teenager even more into harm’s way.

Of course, what matters most right now is not sexual politics but Malala’s condition. Doctors call her prognosis good, but her treatment and rehabilitation could take months. In the meantime, maybe Madonna should find a new stencil for her back. After Tuesday’s presidential debate, the word “binders” ought to fit nicely.

— Courtesy: Los Angeles Times

Women in the Army..!

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ost of the armed forces in the world, are not sure how to deal with the fact that women want to join the army, so I decided to interview a serving general: I met my friend Gen Kishore Kumar and his elegant wife at the command mess where the good general had decided to wine and dine me.

“Ofcourse women are needed in the army,” said the general as he poured himself a large rum and beamed at the waiter who topped it up with soda and water, “tell

them dear what a busy time you have in the army!”

“Yes,” I said, “tell me what you do?” “The generals breakfast looks after my morning,” said the general’s wife. “A breakfast that helps me make important decisions for the country,” said the general.

“The general’s lunch looks after my afternoon!”

“A lunch that relaxes me for a strenuous evening,” said the general as he smiled at the waiter who poured him another water and soda mix. “Do you see how important she is for the army?”

“Do you sleep in the afternoon?” I asked the general’s wife.

“How can she?” asked the general looking at his wife fondly and then having a quick gulp from his glass when she looked away. “I have no

time for sleep,” said the elegant lady, “I spend the whole afternoon getting ready for the evening..”

“Doing what?” I asked. “Facials, manicure, pedicure, massage, hair dye, oh the things we women have to do in the army to see we are pretty enough for the men!” The general’s batman entered and tapped the ladies arm, “Madam the sariwallah has just come to the mess!”

“Tell him madam will be with him in a moment,” said the general.

“Should I buy a Kancheevaram sari or a sarong?” asked the lady off her husband. “You have to meet the Burmese general tomorrow,” said the general, “so a sarong will be most appropriate, the general will be very pleased!” “Oh the things I have to do for the army!” sighed the

general’s wife as her husband signaled the waiter. “How many have you had?” she asked her husband. “Just one my dear,” said the general sheepishly.

“You think I’m blind? You think I can’t count? This is your fourth drink! Now don’t have another one while I go and pick a sarong!” I watched as the lady went off with the batman. The general looked at me.

“Do you see how much a woman is needed in the army?” I nodded as the general looked round furtively to see whether his wife was back and quickly ordered himself another drink, “There is no doubt women are needed in the army..!” he said as he leaned towards me.

—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Voice of the People ECP’s first test case COL RIAZ JAFRI (R)

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he Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has suspended the membership of 154 parliamentarians and members of provincial assemblies, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik and a few more powerful law makers, for failing to submit details of their assets by the due date. These parliamentarians have been debarred from attending any sessions of the assemblies or doing any legislation work. Since their membership of the Senate and the National and Provincial Assemblies stands suspended, naturally their holding of any cabinet positions would also be automatically affected. However, though more than three days have passed to this order yet, some of the ministers are working as usual and passing orders totally oblivious of the ban upon them and ignoring it altogether. Is it a case of flouting the authority of the ECP as there have been the cases with some of the orders of the judiciary in the country?The CEC would have to assert himself more effectively if the authority of the ECP is to be recognized and respected by the politicians, especially the ruling elite. This was probably the first order and the first test case from him and he must nip the evil in the bud. He has a long way to go and the nation expects him to deliver in the coming general elections his oft repeated and promised One Point agenda – Free and Fair Elections.

—Rawalpindi

Honorary doctor titles ALI ASHRAF KHAN Iftikhar Mirza writes that the journalist Majeed Nizami was given a honorary doctorate by the VC of Punjab University for his journalistic efforts and -at least that is what Mr. Mirza writes- for a man, who never changed his stance with reference to Pakistan Movement and the moral & social values that should prevail in this country.

Obviously, this act of honoring Majeed Nizami has created some critique among those who know the man personally or his track record which not always has been so immaculate. We should not forget that he was supporting dictators like Zia & Musharraf when a gang of four living around Mason Road, Lahore was actively supporting Zia regime and getting benefits in return. He has not allowed audit of public funds allocated by different sources to Awain-e-Iqbal amounting to 820 million and Baab-e-Pakistan. How a public park on Mall Road named as Ch. Zahoor Illahi Park was amalgamated into Awain-e-Karkonan-ePakistan, where he intends to build a plaza? Well I heard about Mr. Majeed Nizami since my student days in Lahore when he was publishing Daily Nada-e-Millat from rented premises at Old Anarkali. Mr. Hameed Nizami founder of Nawae-Waqt the then only voice of opposition was a former leader of Muslim Students Federation, the student wing of All India Muslim League before partition never aspired for any such recognition or degree but in weighing the merits of Mr. Majeed Nizami for award of such an honour favourtism appears to have marred against the demerits the VC Punjab University should have been more careful.

On the other hand, there are other examples for honorary doctor hood like our Rehman Malik and in this comparison may be Mr. Majeed Nizami is faring not so badly. One wonders, what the reason is for V Cs and universities to give academic titles to non-academic people.

—Karachi

Will Pakistan learn?

IQBAL HADI ZAIDI Kuwait is hosting 3 days international event called 1st Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) commencing from today and ending on Wed 17th instant. 32 different countries of the continent are participating as I could count national flags of 32 countries fluttering on the routes to be adopted by the foreign delegates.

The summit will be graced by either Head of State or Head of Government like my PM Raja Pervaiz is heading the official delegation of Pakistan. Today all local newspapers have flashed the news issued by traffic police about closure of few roads during 3 days of summit when certain roads will be closed for public during 1000 to 1400 and 1630 to 2100. The foreign dignitaries are to be driven from airport to Bayan Palace and vice versa. The visitors will be staying at Bayan Palace and the summit will also be held there.

While driving today I was wondering how traffic is allowed at this expressway and that too so near to Bayan Palace though the traffic had been closed as per the news flashed in newspapers. Anyway, I kept on driving and intentionally slowed down and turned my neck towards left at the place where the approach to Bayan Palace lies and there only I found an armored vehicle specially brought in because of the summit but there was nothing else unusual except that the national flags of the countries participating in the summit were fluttering.

It should not be forgotten even for a fraction of a second that the summit has neither been postponed nor cancelled as one may think of because the traffic flow is as normal as everyday in the sensitive area which is called red zone in my capital Islamabad. Head of states and head of governments of as many as

32 countries including Pakistan are definitely going to attend the 3 days summit starting today but it does not mean that the public at large be taxed and waxed for nothing.

Had I today not been driving myself I had simply not believed that the public could drive even when the notices are issued that the traffic will be closed during 1000 to 1400 and 1630 to 2100 and people are advised to use the alternative routes already designated for the purpose. Will there be any lesson to be learnt by the rulers of Pakistan?

—Kuwait

Water shortage in Karachi FATIMA MOTALA Karachi‘s 18 million people are supplied with water primarily through Gujjo and Hub canals. However, a deficit of water supply exists and is estimated to be about 100 million gallons a day (MGD). According to the KWSB, Karachi‘s water supply currently stands at 647 MGD in contrast to a demand of 750 MGD. The deficit begs the question: how do citizens manage to fulfil the supply deficit of water for their common needs? The answer lies in water tankers which many perceive as the only solution to the problem. As the government is unable to keep the water infrastructure in adequate condition, water tankers in Karachi are high in demand, catering to thousands of people. In Karachi, water tankers make over 20,000 rounds every day.

In addition, there are hundreds of tank-mounted vans and donkey carts supplying millions of gallons of water across the city. The water supply through tankers, many believe, will never end. Although KWSB officials claim that only three per cent of the city‘s areas use the tanker service, the reality is different. According to officials, in a mega city like Karachi up to five per cent of total water is supplied through tankers in areas where pipelines don‘t exist or where there is temporary need for water.

However, it is learnt that 60 per cent of the areas that receive water through tankers already have water pipelines. There are currently 22 ‘official‘ water hydrants being managed by town administrations. Besides, there are hundreds of illegal hydrants functioning in the city. There are other impediments in the supply of water.

Several natural rainwater drains have bisected the Hub canal that supplies Karachi with water from the Hub Dam. What the KWSB needs right now is effective administrative and financial management, an end to political interference into its affairs, tight monetary control, and the elimination of certain highly corrupt elements.

—Karachi

Futile use of force KHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ Recent events in Pakistan clearly show that attack on Sawati girl Malala is a part of big conspiracy and who is benefitted from recent tragic events in Pakistan. UNO Chief Ban ki Moon pop star Madonna, US puppet Kerzai and several other top personalities who are sitting silent and never raise any voice after killing of thousands of philistines children by Israeli bombardment, long siege of Gaza and killing of thousand of Pakistani and Afghani children by US and NATO bombardment are now shedding crocodile tears for Malala.

Last ten years, record number of civilians lost their lives in Pakistan and Afghanistan but western media is sitting silent and never publish any pictures of these affected people. From start of Barak Obama tenure 456 Drone strikes hit Pakistani soil killed 2500 people Just two days ago Drone attacks on cemetery in Durra Adam Khel killed 16 people most of them were young children but media is sitting silent. Everything is happening in a part of country where revenge culture is common. After Drone attack at cemetery revenge suicide attack at peace committee office killed further 22 people. Government accepted that hundred of foreign agencies are working in tribal area to get

benefit from recent unrest. Malala incident took place at a time when US is insisting Pakistan for North Waziristan operation and Pakistan army clearly refus to laun any offensive. According to media news after Sawat incident government has agreed to launch army operation in North Waziristan. True reality is that last twelve years of consecutive war in Pakistan and Afghanistan prove that nobody can’t bring peace through Drone strikes, Cruise Missiles and Dizzy Cutter Bombs.

In case of any operation in North Waziristan new wave of suicide attacks would further destroy country economy and thousand of more innocent people will face consequences. At a time when Colombia government is negotiating with Farc rebels after 60 years of bloodshed and Philippines government is negotiating with MILF to end 40 years bloodshed how we can bring peace with use of force against own people.

—Jeddah, KSA

Open threats M RAFIQUE ZAKARIA It was quite disturbing to watch JUI(F) Senator Hafiz Hamdullah from Balochistan openly threatening Secretary General of PTI Arif Alvi in a live television talk show of chopping off his tongue if he or his party head Imran Khan said anything insulting about Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman.

Giving open threats in live television talk show needs to be taken note of by none other than Supreme Court Of Pakistan. Why are we looking for Talibans in our cities. They are available in ample numbers in our own Parliament and Senate.

—Karachi

Pak vs BD JAWED AHMED KHURSHEED Pakistan is one of those countries where ratio of girls’ students to boys is not pleasing. To persuade the parents of girl’ students, the people associated with the task should follow the example set by those who have done best in this regard. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed is among many who excelled in persuading the girls’ students of Bangladesh to get an education no matter their background.

IB [International Baccalaureate] World is one of the important magazines for a student who wants to get in touch with the issues pertaining to intercultural understanding. IBWorld in its September 2012 issue dubs Sir Fazle Hasan Abed “the world’s greatest t teacher”. In editor’s letter, Robert Jeffery, IB World editor, says that Bangladesh is the only country in the world where more girls are educated than boys and this achievement can be almost exclusively traced back to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.

Responding to a question, Mr. Abed says that he has worked on providing primary, secondary and tertiary education to millions of Bangladeshi children who wouldn’t otherwise have access to education.

Their schools particularly aim at poor children and they are one-teacherschools. They look for children who are eight and above who have never been to school or have dropped out of school. Many NGOs and big names in the field of education can follow the footsteps of Mr. Abed how he put 9.5 million students through school since he left his job from Shells’ Pakistan in 1972 to help disaster relief efforts in his war-ravaged homeland. This successful model of education can also work for the poor students of Pakistan where thousands of children are employed in factories and shops as their parents don’t have enough financial resources to feed their children let alone providing them with education.

—Karachi

READERS are requested to type their letters legibly with double spacing and only on one side of the paper.

—Editor Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

‘Asian continent is not the playground of other forces’ JANAKA ALAHAPPERUMA

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SIA should strive to regain and safe guard its independence that is chal lenged on many fronts and across many borders. The countries of Asia can succeed in rebuilding our continent by greater reliance on our cultural affinity, rich history, and the strength of our human resources, the President added. The ambition for progress and development in our Continent of Asia is limitless. Our tasks will not end till our cooperation makes us fully realize the economic, political, social, technological and human capabilities and potential of our Continent. The strides we have made have helped enlarge our ambitions with greater tasks to achieve with determination and persistence. This is the call from our great history and the hopes and promises of the future We are also confronted with pressing challenges such as the menace of terrorism, piracy, climate change, natural disasters, environmental pollution and anti-social activities. These challenges are a call for greater cooperation as we now see in the ACD. One other challenge many developing countries, such as mine, are facing is the burden placed on the developing world by rapidly fluctuating oil prices. This has imposed a heavy strain on our resources thereby hampering our long term plans on development said the President.

Earlier Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah called for setting up a $2billion fund to support development projects in Asian countries. The proposed fund could be managed by a development institution in Asia such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which could handle the financial assets and oversee their use in implementing projects in the least developed Asian countries, Shaikh Sabah said at the opening ceremony of the ACD. “It gives me pleasure to announce that Kuwait will contribute $300

million to the fund and we hope that the proposed amount will be reached through contributions from ACD member countries,” Shaikh Sabah further added.

Monday evening President Rajapaksa was accorded a warm welcome as he arrived on a three-day visit to attend the first ACD summit. The Amir of Kuwait, accompanied by the crown prince Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmad al Sabah, reached the airport to personally greet the vis-

ment of the State of Kuwait for the excellent arrangements made for this Summit and the reception accorded to me and my delegation.

I also thank the Islamic Republic of Iran for the leadership given and contributions made to the ACD during their term of office. I recall Sri Lanka proposing to the eighth ACD Ministerial Meeting held in Colombo in 2009 to take the ACD to the highest level of political participation by convening a Summit of

Asian Continent cannot be the playground of other forces, who seek our wealth, our assets of nature and human resources. Our progress must draw from the best of our own cultures and while learning from the best of others who come with genuine friendship, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. He further said; “we are seeing the dawn of the Age of Asia. We must together see it bring new light to a troubled world dominated by the grave errors of other Continents”. President Rajapaksa made these remarks at the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit in Kuwait City on Tuesday. iting President in a special gesture of brotherly relations between the two countries. The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Petroleum Resources Minister Susil Premajayantha, parliamentarians Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, A.H.M.Azwer and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga also attended the summit.

Leaders from the 32 ACD member countries attended the opening of the summit amid reports that energy and food security issues topped the agenda for the event. President’s speech text: His Highness Amir Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah, Heads of State and Heads of Government and Leaders of Delegations! It gives me great pleasure to be with you today at this landmark First Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit in this Kuwait city. I express my appreciation to the Govern-

the Heads of State or Government of Member Countries. I congratulate His Highness Amir of the State of Kuwait for making it a reality.

Though ACD is a unique regional organization, its activities are carried out through voluntary contributions and voluntary participation of the Member Countries. Although it has no binding Charter we are bound together by being Asian with strong bonds of understanding and friendship. We are rightly proud of Asia’s rich, multi-faceted heritage.

Many civilizations have flourished in Asia.

The four major religions that prevail today have their origins in Asia. Asia has also been a major source for food, energy, education, manpower and industrial products to the world.

Today, Asia is the world’s largest and most populous Continent. Together with great di-

A war chest for Syria’s rebels DAVID IGNATIUS

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UT what’s the right alterna tive? How can the United States help the Syrian oppo sition while avoiding another costly military intervention in the Muslim world? I’ve been puzzling over this dilemma since traveling into Syria two weeks ago with the Free Syrian Army. “Be careful” still seems like the right watchword for U.S. policy in an unstable, revolutionary situation where order could collapse like a Levantine version of “pick-up sticks.”

But caution doesn’t mean inaction, and some modest changes in U.S. policy could make a big difference in outcome.

The bedrock of U.S. interests in Syria is preventing any use or spread of its chemical weapons. President Bashar al-Assad is said to have relocated some of the weapons, and it won’t be easy monitoring them — or keeping them out of the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists, who would love to grab some free weapons of mass destruction if Assad should fall. To deal with this problem, the United States needs better intelligence on the ground.

And that’s where the hard calculus of U.S. interests meshes with the quixotic challenge of helping the Syrian rebels. Right now, the United States reportedly has a limited program to supply nonlethal assistance. This program should be tweaked so the rebels get more help building a stronger chain of command.

If the United States helped coordinate funding, the Free Syrian Army would have several advantages: A better-organized opposition might defeat the regime, it would be better able to govern a post-Assad Syria and it could help the United States control Syria’s chemical weapons. That’s a trifecta — three good things in one.

The Obama administration took a small step in this direction last summer by authorizing the Syrian Support Group to help the rebels. Leaders of the group fanned out inside Syria, looking for army defectors who could establish new military councils to coordinate the flow of weapons and

money. When I was inside the country, I met the councils’ commanders for Aleppo, Hama and Idlib, who seemed like solid military leaders.

They just didn’t have enough guns

The United States should consider adding money for nonlethal assistance, including training, communications and intelligence.

Syrian jihadist battalions con-

The Free Syrian Army has a long shopping list. It claims “minimum” needs of 1,000 rocket-propelled grenades to attack tanks, 500 SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles to destroy Syrian helicopters and jets, 750 machine guns, 50,000 gas masks, 250 vehicles .?.?. . or money to distribute.

Closer links with the rebels have helped fill the intelligence gap. For example, a Free Syrian Army representative sent a report to the State Department in late September that

warned: “What we were worried about a few months ago is in the process of happening right now; extremists are more visible. .?.?. This is due to lack of support to moderate groups.” The funding situation has improved slightly this month. About

tinue to raise their own money directly from wealthy Saudis, Kuwaitis and Qataris.

The report to the State Department explains how this works. “The battalion rep or commander travels to Turkey, where he meets Gulf individuals or Syrians who live in the Gulf. The battalion presents ‘projects’ that need sponsorship, for example: targeting a checkpoint costs $20-30K, while targeting an airport cost $200300K. .?.?. A video taping .?.?. is required to provide evidence of the operation.” How can the United States break this downward cycle? The right next step is to gather into one pot all the official contributions, lethal and nonlethal, from the United States and its Arab and European allies. Then let the Free Syrian Army commanders distribute the money and weapons to fighters, in ways that will build discipline.

Commanders claimed they are forming special units that would op-

Left on its current course, America’s sensibly cautious policy toward Syria is unfortunately going to come to an unhappy end: The jihadist wing of the opposition will just get stronger and gain more power to shape Syria’s future. two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are said to have created a small “Gulf Fund,” to be disbursed by the military councils. The commanders will be paid $150 for each named fighter (including the serial number of his weapon). Col. Abdul-Jabbar Akidi in Aleppo is receiving about $2.5 million under this program; Col. Afif Suleiman in Idlib is getting about $4.5 million.

erate the anti-aircraft missiles, perhaps under supervision by contractors from the Gulf countries. You don’t have to sign off on this whole war chest to agree that it’s time for the United States to experiment with strategies that could produce something other than the bad outcome that’s now ahead.— Courtesy Washington Post.

versity Asia also has great unity among its people the feeling of Asianness. While modern transport links us today we were linked in the past, with the legendary Silk Routes of

challenges of food and energy security. Yet, our people are faced with threats to traditional exports as the world economy shrinks due to the crises in other regions.

land and sea. We now look for new links to make our bonds stronger. With more than half of the world’s population Asia has an abundance of much needed human resources. It is moving ahead in exploring and the use of natural resources in manufacturing and new technology. Asia is now producing the giants of the emerging world and once powerful economies are competing for opportunities here. We stand out among the biggest producers of energy in the world and look forward to moving further ahead with new technology.

With some of the world’s largest and fast growing economies Asia also has the smallest and the least developed. Similarly, within our countries we have the rich and the poor living side by side resulting in poverty alleviation an area of high priority for all of us.

With rapidly growing economies and income levels, Asia is one of the most promising markets in the world. The abundance of our natural resources has the potential to address the

We are also confronted with pressing challenges such as the menace of terrorism, piracy, climate change, natural disasters, environmental pollution and anti-social activities. These challenges are a call for greater cooperation as we now see in the ACD. The ACD seeks to combine all the sub-regions of Asia into a continent of greater strength.

One other challenge many developing countries, such as mine, are facing is the burden placed on the developing world by rapidly fluctuating oil prices. This has imposed a heavy strain on our resources thereby hampering our long term plans on development.

I am certain that I echo the views of many of my colleagues when I suggest that this matter calls for serious attention of this august assembly. It is useful to recall the three aims of the ACD process proposed by former Thai Prime Minister, Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra at the inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the ACD in 2002. —Courtesy - LankaWeb.

Drone strikes: a scandal or just a sideshow?

JENNY HOLLAND

in Europe – all of the plotters involved its drone programme,” Swift, an adjunct were killed in drone strikes. And the professor of national security studies at Georgetown University, says. Away EACE activists and human threat is even greater to the Pakistani from the battleground, in cities and in rights groups have been vo public. Those who beat their chest in educated circles, people were militantly cal in their condemnation of fury over the small amount of collateral opposed to drones and saw them the US policy of drone as a neocolonial instrument. The strikes against militant targets Human rights groups say drones are closer you are to the problem, in Pakistan and Yemen. The says Swift, the more you undernarrative often repeated by loathed in both Pakistan and Yemen, but stand the value of force as a these groups is that drones are many locals in tribal areas welcome them policy instrument. That proximloathed in both countries, and ity to danger can make for some surare driving the population into the arms damage rarely speak out against the prising – if wary – allies. Swift recounts of militants. But the reality on the slaughter of thousands by the Taliban. meeting a Yemeni member of the Musground is much more complex. Accord- The claim that drones are turning lolim Brotherhood: “his general feeling ing to Brian Glyn Williams, professor cals into militants is also far from of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and author of the upcoming book Predators: The CIA’s Drone War on Al Qaeda, many local people in tribal areas support surgical strikes by drones over largescale ground offensives by the Pakistani army. While public opinion in the rest of the country may be strongly antidrone, he found, for those Pakistanis living under Taliban rule, it is not so clear-cut: “The local tribes turned on the Taliban for killing hundreds of their maliks (tribal leaders), enforcing strict sharia law, executing ‘spies’, closing schools for girls, carrying out suicide bombings, and generally terrorizing the population.” What has gone largely unrewas very sceptical of US intervention ported is the fact that not only have proven. In the tribal regions, Williams in Yemen and the Middle East as a drones been successful in disrupting says, “there are very few undecideds – whole, inclined to see this as part of the terrorist plots and militant networks, but you are going to tolerate the drones clash of civilisations paradigm,” says that the number of civilian casualties is because they go after your enemies, or Swift. “But also as someone who was actually low. According to the New you are going to be with the Taliban. dealing with al-Qaida and knew how America Foundation, which tracks data Drones aren’t going to drive people into bad they are.” He supported the US from major news sources in both the the arms of the Taliban”. A strikingly drone strikes, “with conditions”, such west and Pakistan, drone strike accu- similar point is made by Christopher as no civilian casualties and minimal racy has been steadily increasing – Swift, a lawyer and political scientist force. When it comes to drones, Swift going from a 9% to 10% civilian death who conducted 40 interviews with says, we are asking ourselves the rate in 2008 to a 0% civilian death rate Yemeni tribal leaders and Islamist poliwrong questions. Drones have become in 2012. Two other studies, also work- ticians across the country in June. In a free-floating signifier in the US, Euing from both Pakistani and western Yemen, “drones aren’t the primary rope and the Middle East for all the other data, came to similar conclusions. Com- driver of al-Qaida recruiting,” Swift debates we are having about security paring the threat posed by militants and says. “Economic desperation, corrupand politics, he argues.Ultimately, the terrorists – both to Pakistani society tion, breakdown of traditional culture, debate over the drone campaign is a and to the west – to the threat posed they are driving recruitment.”

Swift’s research echoes Williams’ distraction from other, more important by drones, Williams is emphatic: “The issues in Yemen: maternal and child drones are saving civilians, not killing fieldwork among Pakistani tribal leadhealth, access to water, adherence to them.” He cites the failed 2010 plot by ers. “The closer I got to people who are the rule of law. Drones are a side British jihadis to carry out a “com- actively fighting al-Qaida in Yemen, the show.—Courtesy - The Guardian. mando-style” attack on civilian targets more they wanted the US to maintain

P

A Fresh Look

European Economic Woes Spur Separatists in Pockets of Prosperity HARVEY MORRIS

T

HE enduring economic crisis in Eu rope is providing a spur to separatist movements in some of the most pros perous regions, with voters being encouraged to break away from their overnments and go it alone. The municipal elections on Sunday in Belgium, where the separatist New Flemish Alliance triumphed in Dutch-speaking Flanders, were the latest indication of a pro-independence trend that could redraw the map of Europe.

Separatism is also on the rise in Spain, in Britain and in Italy, where protestors turned out in Venice this month to demand a referendum on establishing an independent Venetian Republic. In the Italian province of South Tyrol, which has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, thousands of people marched in April to demand independence.

In Spain, where Catalans have marched to support a break with the country, Artur Mas, the Catalonian regional president,

plans to hold a referendum on independence.

In the Basque region of Spain, separatists are looking forward to an expected victory in elections next weekend. The separatist trend has been strongest in prosperous regions of Europe, where there is growing resentment at hav-

tions between the French-speaking and Dutchspeaking parts of Belgium, between Barcelona and Madrid, and between the north and south of Italy. “Europe is facing an economic crisis,” John Bruton, a former Irish prime minister, wrote in The Irish Times. “This crisis is causing stress in the vicinity of long-buried fault lines. The

tionalist leader in the Belgian election on Sunday, said before the vote: “The Flemish have had enough of being treated like cows only good for their milk.” In Edinburgh on Monday, David Cameron, the British prime minister, and Alex Salmond, the Scottish nationalist first minister, signed a deal to hold a referendum on Scotland’s

Can states of the “Old Continent” survive the economic crisis?

Separatist movements across Europe have gained popularity during the last few months. The separatist New Flemish Alliance dominated Belgium’s Dutch-speaking Flanders in the last elections; protests are held for the independence of Venice and South Tyrol in Italy; separatists remain strong in the Basque region of Spain; and respective referendums will decide the future of Catalonia and Scotland. Regions demanding autonomy are not the most affected by the crisis. On the contrary, in times of economic instability, “the separatist trend has been strongest in prosperous regions of Europe, where there is growing resentment at having to pay for the less well-off.” ing to pay for the less well-off.

That has exacerbated long-standing fric-

blame game is in full swing.”

Bart De Wever, the victorious Flemish na-

independence by the end of 2014.

Scotland is one of Britain’s poorer regions.

However, nationalists say that would change if the profit from North Sea oil went to Edinburgh rather than to London. Like separatists elsewhere on the Continent, Mr. Salmond has no plans to take an independent Scotland out of the European Union. He has, however, pledged to keep the British pound in preference to adopting the ailing euro if his referendum campaign is successful. Independent Scots or Venetians or Catalans would face a barrier to European Union membership if they broke away.

Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, reminded separatists on Sunday that they could be shut out of the E.U. where the admission of new states requires the unanimous agreement of existing members. “If you are outside Spain and outside the European Union you are nowhere, you are condemned to nothingness,” he said.

The separatist tide might ebb with the recovery of Europe’s national economies. Even now, support for breaking away is uneven. It quoted the left-leaning Berliner Zeitung as saying: “In a precarious situation in the heart of the euro crisis, these new regionalist movements represent the danger of renewed political instability.” Meanwhile, John Bruton in Ireland advised.— Courtesy - NYT.

Karzai asks Pak to unite From Page 1 the shooting, came to prominence with a blog for the BBC highlighting atrocities under the Mullah Fazlullah’s Swat Taliban, who overran the Swat valley from 2007 until a Pakistan army offensive in 2009.

Nato has more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan backing Karzai’s government against the Taliban, but they will withdraw by the end of 2014 and hand responsibility over to local forces.—AP

SHC disposes of sheep culling case From Page 1 to reconsider it. The lawyer, Advocate Adnan Memon, in the written application, had also pleaded for protection of life and property of petitioner’s family.

In his remarks, Justice Maqbool Baqir said the petition shows that the petitioner is under pressure.

Lawyer, Adnan Memon said his client had not apprised him about any reason and he just asked for withdrawal of the case.—Online

Rabbani presents From Page 1 of the Chief Minister.

He said the federal government should take steps to resolve the issue of missing persons that is acceptable to the people.

Mian Raza Rabbani said that the transparent, free and fair next general elections should be ensured with the independent participation of all the political parties.

Two reports were presented in the House on Thursday. Chairman Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, Mushahid Hussain Sayed presented before the House “Report 2” of the Committee for the period from August to September, 2012. The House offered Fateha for the martyrs of Karsaz incident.—SANA

Parliament symbolizes From Back Page pressed the resolve that we will overcome the difficulties with the help and cooperation of the people. He said we have to fight collectively against the mindset which attacked the education campaigner Malala Yousufzai.

The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of Supreme Court Bar Association for holding meetings and conferences on Balochistan issue.

He said we have to resolve this issue together. He said there is need to strengthen the institutions.—NNI

President‚ PM From Page 1 country and other national issues during the meeting.

Both the President and the Prime Minister said that political leadership would be taken on board before any operation. According to sources, Prime Minister apprised the President about his talks with the Kuwait’s leadership and other international leaders.

The two leaders also discussed the situation in Balochistan, by-polls, and consultation between the government and the opposition regarding legislation on certain bills, sources added.

President Zardari expressed the opinion during the meeting that PPP-led government respects the national institutions and does not want confrontation with any.—NNI

Malala’s attacker From Page 1 30s, Attaullah is on the run and may have fled to neighbouring Afghanistan, they said. He organized the attack on the orders of one of the Taliban’s most feared commanders, Maulana Fazlullah, officials said. The two officials said Attaullah was detained by security forces in 2009, military campaign pushed the Taliban out of the Swat Valley.

“He spent three months in the custody of security forces but was freed after no evidence (of wrongdoing) was found,” one official said. The second source, a senior security official, said authorities had gathered enough evidence to arrest Attaullah after raiding his house in Swat. If Attaullah is in Afghanistan, finding him could be difficult. Some of the world’s most dangerous militants have operated in the unruly, border area for years, a forbidding area hard for security forces to reach. The officials said Pakistani security forces were trying other ways to bring him to justice. “His mother and two brothers were taken into custody to force him to surrender,” said the second senior official. “Also two other close relatives of Attaullah have been taken into custody because we heard he spent the night in their house after his escape from Swat.”—Reuters

directs Malik Nawaz lauds unflinching SCto submit list in China support for Pakistan three weeks From Page 1

highlighting areas such as energy and power, in which China could make a critical contribution to Pakistan’s economy and thereby to its growth and development.

Muhammad Nawaz Sharif described China as a timetested friend and an ally that had proven, on more than one occasion, its abiding friendship for the people of Pakistan.

This, he said, had created indissoluble bonds of trust and confidence between the two countries, forging a relationship that had not only served the mutual interests of both countries, but also become a bulwark of peace and stability in the region.

Recalling his many visits to China, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said that he was proud of having made a modest contribution to the advancement and consolidation of PakChina relations, during his two terms in office.

He said he had also been a witness to the remarkable transformations that had made China a world power that was also an engine house for the

global economy. He referred, in particular, to his visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese leadership in January 2010, that had provided him the opportunity of meeting some of the young Chinese leaders, including Vice President Li Jinping, who are expected to assume positions of greater responsibility in the near future.

Conveying his regards and good wishes to the Vice President, Mr. Nawaz Sharif remarked that he was confident that under the new Chinese leadership that was expected to be elected early next year, Pakistan-China relations would continue to be enhanced and strengthened.

The two leaders also reviewed the situation in the region, with both emphasizing the importance of strengthening their cooperation, particularly in view of the many challenges confronting this region.

While expressing his deep appreciation to the PML(N) President for hosting the luncheon meeting, the visiting

leader emphasized that China viewed Mr. Nawaz Sharif as a strong and sincere friend, who had made a historic contribution to the enhancement of ties between the two countries.

MMA sans JI revived From Page 1 Ahl-e-Hadis, Islami Tehreek, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan participated in the meeting.

Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Samiul Haq), who played a vital role in the alliance in past, did not participate in the meeting Fazlur Rehman said MMA was restored in view of the prevailing situation in the country.

He said no discussion took place about the inclusion of Jamaat-e-Islami in the meeting.

He, however, added that the JI inclusion would come under discussion in the next meeting.

To a question, he said that he was neither part of the government nor he had any link with the Taliban.

Armed Forces bound to abide by constitution: CJP From Page 1

said if statement is filed by him separately then it will become difficult to understand other things. Court should not keep the entire matter secret if it deems so, he added. Court said paragraphs No 1 to 8 would not be made public at present.

Defence ministry presented details of ISI accounts in the court at the inception of hearing.

Attorney General (AG) said these details of the accounts were secret and could not be made public.

CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked what he is considering secret is already on the record.

Justice Jawad S Khawaja said during the hearing that Asad Durrani told all the money was From Back Page not distributed and the rest of the amount remained in the acCouncil meeting, ICC Presi- counts. dent Sang-Hyun Song highBrig (Retd) Hamid Saeed lighted the intertwined nature former MI officer appeared in of the two institutions: the Council with its focus on peace and the ICC with its goal to seek justice.

“While the ICC’s contribution is through justice, not peacemaking, its mandate is highly from the PPP, a jiala to be more relevant to peace as well,” he told precise.

On the other hand, the the 15-member body, stressing the Council’s role to ensure that Chaudhrys too are vying for the full cooperation from Member leadership of the province.

There were reports earlier that States.—APP Zardari has given Punjab to the Chaudhrys. As such the knowledgeable circles foresee a clash of interests emerging in the Punjab between the leadership of PPP and PML (N) which would not be a good omen for future of the alliance.

Some insiders say that at present issues between the two sides are settled quite nicely on the local level. But with these organizational changes it is likely that things would end up with president Zardari more frequently.

UN, ICC

From Page 1

the court and filed his written reply. He presented his 21 years old diary in the court. All the record regarding distribution of money is available in the diary.

CJP while addressing Hamid Saeed said he wanted to keep some matters secret. The contents of Paragraphs from 1 to 8 should be kept secret.

If these things were not brought on the record then this would prove only an exercise in futility, Hamid Saeed said.

CJP remarked “we are making it part of the record on your insistence.

Only paragraphs from 9 to 12 will be discussed in the court as these paragraphs relate to this case”.

Hamid Saeed said one paragraph of his submissions could cause defamation to the army and maligning armed forces is an offence liable to be punished under law of the land and constitution. Court should decide

on its own if it was to be kept secret or otherwise, he added.

“I can be executed under official secret act if army is maligned”, he contended.

Akram Sheikh advocate said Aslam Beg had controlled the situation in the country on August, 17, 1988 and PPP government had awarded him “Tamgha-e-Jamhooriat.

CJP remarked “when you are citizen of this country then you should abide by the constitution. Bestowing medal on any one can make no difference.

Armed forces are also bound to abide by the constitution like judges and elected government”.

Reply of Brig Muhammad Aamir, military secretary to the president was also presented in the court wherein it was stated record was traced out in the presidency but file of Election1990 was not found. The hearing of the case was adjourned till Friday. —Online

PPP, PML-Q alliance on test From Page 1 “It is expected that President Zardari will be doing a lot of trouble shooting in coming days to keep the alliance in tact and balancing out various stakeholders” commented a senior PML (Q) leader.

Political analysts say that it is very important for the PPP to maintain its alliance with PML (Q) if the latter wishes to keep the PML (N)’s supremacy in the Punjab in check in future and stage a comeback in the provincial politics.

Meanwhile, the PPP’s rank and file did not resonate positively to the appointment of Mr. Wattoo, dubbing him as an outsider who has ditched party before. But saner elements in the party at the top believe that Wattoo was the best possible

against members of parliament and provincial assemblies holding dual nationality.

The court had ordered the interior minister to submit by Thursday a list of legislators who still held dual nationality following its short order in the case on Sept 20.

Appearing before the bench today, Malik said he was doing so because he respected the court. He said if the court wanted him to name dual national members of parliament and Senate, it should wait until all lawmakers submitted fresh declarations. The Election Commission of Pakistan had issued its orders to lawmakers to submit their declarations to the commission within 30 days, making it clear that they would be assumed to be possessing dual nationality if they failed to comply with the order within the stipulated period.

Referring to the Oct 9 directions by the ECP, Malik said that by the time lawmakers submit their declarations, it would be clear which of them possessed dual nationalities. Malik added that a bad precedent would be set, in his position as a minister, if he took somebody’s name. Earlier this week, the court had released its detailed order, stating: “…We may also add that Interior Minister Mr. A. Rehman Malik was reported to have made a statement that even after our short Order dated 20.9.2012, there still remain in the houses of Parliament, persons who are dual nationals.

MQM-PPP bodies From Page 1 comprising its leaders that would look into the possibility of the making electoral alliance. The fate of the proposed electoral alliance depends on the discussion and recommendations of both the committees, he said.

He said that the MQM had not yet formed a committee to look into the idea of forming an electoral alliance with the PPP in the coming elections. He pointed out that in the past the MQM had not formed any electoral alliance and contested elections from its own platform.

Last week Pakistan Observer had published a story titled “PPP demands 11 seats sacrifice from MQM in Karachi in coming elections”. Quoting sources the newspaper said that during his recent meeting in London with MQM chief, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, demanded of the MQM to support PPP candidates on 4 seats of NA and 7 seats of Sindh Assembly in coming elections in Karachi. Nasir Jamal said the MQM chief had not conveyed any such demand of the PPP to the MQM leaders in Karachi. He said that the MQM chief talked about the possibility of the electoral alliance with PPP, but it will be examined by the committee, to be formed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

option before the President Zardari. It will be quite interesting to see how Wattoo engages with the Chaudhrys over the issues arising from the seat adjustment between the two allies for the next election. Wattoo will play an important role in awarding tickets to the party leaders from the Punjab in the coming elections which often entails a lot of controversy.

But it also will provide him the leverage to strengthen his position in the party, if not raising his own group in the party. But his first task would be delivering in the approachFrom Page 1 ing by-elections with the help of the PML (Q) leadership as President Hamid Karzai has said being planned before his arrival that the evils of extremism and in the Punjab. terrorism were big threats for the present and future well-being of Pakistan and Afghanistan hence a co-ordinated and collaborative action would have to be taken by the two countries.

President Karzai condemned the inhuman and heinous attempt on the life of Malala Yousuf zai and her fellow students and prayed for their health and speedy and at the end of the day it is the recovery. “We must ask why we prerogative of the leadership to have been unable to counter the select whosoever they find suit- terrorism that is attacking our able for the position. “Since, it religion, our people and the is an administrative matter, I am promise of a better future for our not in a position to discuss or children.” President Karzai said say anything about it. Let me that the dastardly attack on also tell you that as a normal Malala and similar attacks on practice until and unless the host Afghan and Pakistani children government conveys its agree- and schools were strategy “purment we do not make any ap- sued by the extremists and terpointment public,” Moazzam rorists to doom our future genKhan said. erations to darkness and ignoWhen asked about the dis- rance. We must fight this.” cussion in various political quarHe said that he was “reachters and social circles that ing out to our brothers and sisMalala’s issue is being exploited ters across the political and reliby US authorities and other gious landscape of Pakistan to quarters as a justification for work with us to guarantee that operation in North Waziristan, our children — girls and boys Spokesman said attack on — realize their duty to follow Malala Yousafzai is extremely the example of the Holy Prophet condemnable, reprehensible and Muhammad (PBUH) in acquirthere is no justification whatso- ing knowledge and learning.” ever. “People will keep coming up with all sorts of stories and conspiracy theories, but I think we only need to focus or be conFrom Back Page cerned about the fact that she the occasion.

To a question rewas attacked and it was a reprehensible act,” he said. “I am garding consistency and indenot aware of that,” was the an- pendence in foreign policy, she swer when questioned whether said that we need peace in the the Foreign office has received country and stable relationship any letter from the Government with our neighbouring countries meant for the Swiss authorities. to keep our policy consistent.

Karzai for positive response

Grossman to discuss Afghan situation with Pak From Page 1 Khan in his weekly briefing on Thursday said Pakistan is expecting Grossman’s visit but exact time can be given at this stage. “The visit is part of the ongoing engagements between the two countries and when he comes, the two sides will discuss all issues of mutual interest as well as concern. But I am not in a position to tell you what exactly will be discussed,” he said.

When questioned on visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov to Islamabad early this month, he said the two sides discussed Afghanistan situation and that there was a convergence of views on it. Both sides attach great importance to peace and stability in Afghanistan. “It is difficult to go into the details of various aspects of the discussions but I can tell you that the two sides did discuss Afghanistan and various related issues,” he said.

When asked on reported appointment of a junior person as ambassador to China, he said this is an administrative matter and there is a process involved for the selection of Ambassadors. Proposals are prepared and submitted to the leadership,

Hina to raise

Son-in-law of Shahbaz on 14-day judicial remand From Page 1 109 of Pakistan Penal Code and produced him before the judicial magistrate in a local court.

During the hearing, the police requested the court to send him on judicial remand. The court approved the request and sent Imran on 14-day judicial remand. Soon after the remand, Imran’s counsel filed bail plea in the court which will be heard today (Friday). The court has

also issued notice to SHO concerned of police station for bail application.

Ali Imran is accused of assaulting a young bakery worker for not serving his wife and Shahbaz Sharif ’s daughter Rabia Imran.

Earlier, Chief Minister instructed the authorities to incriminate Ali Imran in the assault case.—INP

Tributes paid to victims of Karsaz tragedy KARACHI—The 5th anniver- lenged our way of life and value to protect Benazir Bhutto

Shaheed as its duty towards the sary of the Martyrs of Karsaz system.

He said on this day in 2007, heroes of democracy. tragedy was observed on Chairman Pakistan Peoples Thursday. Tributes were paid nearly two hundred fans of deto those who sacrificed their mocracy embraced martyrdom Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari when the convoy welcoming has expressed the determinalives in the twin blasts.

Five years ago on this day the return of the icon of democ- tion to defeat the mindset of Karsaz Tragedy occurred that racy Benazir Bhutto Shaheed militants and extremists.

In a message on the occakilled at least 180 people among to Pakistan after years of exile millions others who came to was attacked by extremists, mili- sion of fifth anniversary of the greet Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto tants and enemies of democ- Karsaz incident he said the on her homecoming on this day racy. President Zardari said fol- mindset which martyred his lowing her footsteps, the PPP mother Shaheed Benazir in 2007.

Quran Khawani and Fateha reiterates to bring change, em- Bhutto is responsible for the Khawani were held at Bilawal power the down-trodden and attack on Malala Yousufzai. He prayed for the martyrs of Karsaz House and Chief Minister rebuild the institutions.

He also paid tributes to the tragedy.

House in Karachi where FedIn Larkana PPP workers and eral and Provincial Ministers armed forces, the civil law enPPP, ANP stage and PPP leaders participated. forcing agencies and the people leaders in large numbers visited walk-out PPP Co-Chairman, Presi- who have made untold sacri- the graves of those workers at ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, chairing a meeting for the revival of dent Asif Ali Zardari in his mes- fices in the fight against mili- Garhi Khuda Bux on Thursday who laid down their lives while sage on the occasion of 5th tants.

People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.

The PPP Co-Chairman said protecting Mohtarma Benazir anniversary of the Martyrs of Awami National Party staged Karsaz tragedy reiterated to the Party has taken measures Bhutto Shaheed during proceswalk out against the Karachi continue fight against the mili- to rehabilitate the families of sion on her return this day in Electric Supply Company for tant mindset, that has chal- those who laid down their lives 2007.—Online sacking 4500 of its employees in the Senate on Thursday.

Senior PPP leader Senator W EST B ENGAL —Pakistani Raza Rabbani said that the intelligence agency InterKESC administration told lie Services Intelligence was acto the parliament that the U N I T E D N AT I O N S —The Rome Statute which set up leverage each other’s work, cused of having close liaison employees got retirement UN Security Council has a the ICC can ask its prosecu- from prevention to enforce- with some pro-Naxals QUETTA—The doctors in the under VSS. He said the KESC vital role to play in assist- tor to carry out an investiga- ment.” More than 50 UN through banned Students lary (FC) men.

The assailants K ARACHI —At least five govt hospitals across tion, a non-State Party can Member States were schedworkers were sacked from ing the International CrimiIslamic Movement of India in their jobs and cases were nal Court (ICC) to ensure accept its jurisdiction for uled to speak at the Coun- West Bengal and helping persons including a police- attacked the FC check-post Balochistan including Quetta registered against them on that war crimes and crimes crimes committed in its terri- cil meeting, formally called them to instigate people man and two Frontier Con- situated at Kati Pahari area went on strike in protest called charges of terrorism. The PPP against humanity around tory or by its nationals, and an open debate on “Peace against the government, a stabulary (FC) men were of the town, killing one FC by Pakistan Medical Associastalwart also criticized his the world do not go unpun- the Council may also refer and Justice with a Special top police officer of the state killed while several others man at the spot and injuring tion had announced protest were injured in separate inci- another. The rescue teams demonstration and three day Focus on the Role of the said on Thursday. party and said.—NNI ished, Secretary-General cases to it. dents of violence on Thurs- rushed to spot but the in- close down of the OPDs and Its mandate is to try in- International Criminal Ban Ki-moon said WednesAddressing a meeting of day. jured official succumbed to operation theatres against the dividuals, rather than Court.” day. chief secretaries and police his injuries while shifting to abduction of the doctor.

According to SSP States.

“The Council, where In its first verdict, the ICC Mr. Ban was speaking at Malala: School chiefs of nine Maoist-hit states, The doctors took out ralthe start of a day-long Coun- it has referred a situation to in March found Congolese West Bengal DGP Naparajit Gulberg Aamir Farooqi, un- hospital.

Two persons were burnt lies from the govt hospitals. clerk released known armed men shot at cil debate on the role of the the Prosecutor, can greatly warlord Thomas Mukherjee said he had inforLubanga Dyilo guilty of mation that several pro-Maoist and injured two police cops to death when a vehicle The protesters chanted sloS WAT —Security forces on Hague-based ICC, an inde- assist the Court by acting Thursday released Malala pendent international body to secure the necessary conscripting child soldiers over ground outfits have joined in Federal B area of the city caught fire after collision be- gans against the government Yousufzai’s school that is not part of the UN and level of cooperation from under the age of 15 into his hands with some elements of and fled the scene. The in- tween a motorcycle and car and they demanded immediate accountant eight days tries those accused of geno- Member States,” the UN militia in the Democratic banned SIMI, which have jured cops were being shifted at Shariah-e-Faisal in Karsaz recovery of the kidnapped docto hospital but Muharram Ali area of Karachi. tor. The RBTL employs also Republic of the Congo close links with ISI. after the children rights cide, crimes against human- chief said.

Police said that after col- held protest demonstration succumbed to his wounds “Both should explore (DRC) and jailed him for 14 activist was shot by ity and war crimes.

These elements have held on the way while according lision the fuel tanker of car against the kidnappings and Taliban gunman in Swat Any of the currently 121 the many ways in which years.In his remarks to the several meetings jointly in to hospital sources condition burst resulting in breakout of close down hospital. They devalley. Officials said States Parties to the 1998 they can complement and Continued on Page 7 three districts of West Ben- of injured cop Haji Irshad was fire which resulted in death manded immediate recovery of accountant Rahim Ullah, gal, including Murshidabad, also serious. of two motorcyclists who the doctor saying that patients who was arrested in staged protests against alIn Orangi Town area were stranded under the car coming from across Relaxation in visa connection with investigaleged violation of human armed assailants gunned while two others sustained Balochistan are facing severe tions about the murderous rights and have been instigat- down two Frontier Constabu- burn wounds.—INP difficulties.—INP attack on Malala, was ing people against the govreleased after grilling. Two ernment, Mukherjee is learnt watchmen of Malala’s to have told the meeting. The ISLAMABAD, —Prime Minis- try. He said lawyers are the senior police officer said ISI school, Irfan and Sajjad, onion builders‚ therefore‚ ter Raja Pervez Ashraf has have also been released. was having direct links with STAFF REPORTER said that parliament is the they should continue to play these elements.—INP Now only driver of her mother of all institutions and their role for strengthening school van is in security LAHORE—Foreign Minister a symbol of collective wis- democracy. forces’ custody, officials He said that all the instiHina Rabani Khar has said that dom, therefore all the demosaid. —NNI she would raise the issue of re- cratic forces must unite to tutions are respectable and laxation in US visa with the US eliminate the terrorism from are playing their role in the democratic environment. He ambassador and try to con- the country..

Killed in firing vince him to relax visa proceAddressing a function of said today the country is fac- I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a n DERA ISMAIL KHAN— ing the menace of terrorism Some unidentified gunmen dures for Pakistan business- Supreme Court Bar Associamen, especially for the members tion in Islamabad on Thurs- and Malala Yousufzai also Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) has opened fire on a hospital of Entrepreneurs Organization. day‚ he said that democracy became the victim of this announced a schedule for its van in Dera Ismail Khan, intra-party elections across She was speaking at a is achieved in the country threat. killing its driver and injuring the country, starting the camHe said all the democratic lunch hosted by the Entreafter great sacrifices. a lady doctor, police said. paign with the polls in He said that the lawyers forces must unite to eliminate Islamabad.

The van was going to Mufti preneurs Organization in her the terrorism from the counhonour.

The EO President played a vital role for Mahmood Hospital when it According to PTI official Shahzad Waheed, members strengthening democracy try. The Prime Minister ex came under attack by website, the complete voters Continued on Page 7 list has been published and motorcyclists. Lady doctor, Najeeb Vohra, Umair Virk, In- and institutions in the countegration Chair Kashif Aftab Sadia, was injured while the any complaint shall be revan driver, Asif Tanvir, died and Membership Chair ceived in Islamabad office Khuram Gulzar also spoke on of his wounds at a local until 19th October 2012.

Continued on Page 7 hospital while the doctor Nominations will be open was reportedly in critical from 22nd to 24th October Dr. Arsalan case condition. The police, and finalized nominations Chief Justice said that will be announced on 25th ISLAMABAD—Supreme taking notice of the shooting, launched a Court Thursday sought de- CNG price per Kg should be October. The elections will be LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s son-in-law, Ali Imran, came to Defence B police station to record his statement where he was arrested under Section 109 probe.—NNI tails of agreements with gas 17 rupees according to Jus- held on 2nd November.

PPC. tice Bhagwandas report, suppliers, formula to adjust According to senior vice gas prices and motives for while the price of CNG per Kg president of PTI Hamid Eid holidays STAFF REPORTER connecting prices of CNG has been raised to 100 ru- Khan, almost 58,000 members ISLAMABAD—The federal with petrol and weekly ad- pees. would cast their votes from Secretary Petroleum Dr Islamabad in the first phase government has decided to I SLAMABAD —Malik Riaz justment of petroleum prodannounce Eid-ul-Azha Hussain says he, does not ucts from Secretary Petro- Waqar Masood told SC that of election. holidays from October 26 to “Voters can also cast expect fair play and due pro- leum and Chairman Oil and they have not received any 29. Eid-ul-Azha would be cess of law at the hands of Gas Regulatory Authority directions regarding imple- their ballots through SMS,” KABUL—NATO will stick to The Secretary General, mentation of Bhagwandas Hamid Khan said. celebrated on Saturday, October Suddle Commission and has (OGRA). the North Atlantic Council its goal, strategy and timeline A three-member bench report. He said that 46 billion 27, as crescent was sighted on no confidence in the ComHe further said that after to hand over full security re- and representatives from headed by Chief Justice rupees subsidy has been Islamabad, the election pro- sponsibility to Afghan forces partner nations are currently P ESHAWAR—At least eight Wednesday. Moreover, the mission.

Mohammad given to the domestic con- cess would also be con- by the end of 2014, Secretary visiting Afghanistan. As well militants were killed and sevgovt has decided to run two He requested the Com- Iftikhar eral others sustained severe special trains from Karachi to mission not to proceed fur- Chaudhry resumed the hear- sumers. The Chief Justice ducted in Khyber General Anders Fogh as holding talks with the injuries in Khyber agency here said that how the line losses Peshawar and Rawalpindi to ther till clear-cut extension of ing against the appointment Pakhtunkhua and Punjab, Rasmussen said Thursday president, they are due to on Thursday. According to ofKarachi to facilitate the time by Supreme Court and of former chairman Oil and of gas are covered and why adding that the party election during a visit to Afghanistan. meet other members of the ficials, security forces backed people to celebrate Eid with decision of the review peti- Gas Regulatory Authority common consumers suffer would be completed by De- “Our visit today is a clear Afghan government and Par- by fighter planes bombed the as that much.—Online (Ogra) Tauqir Sadiq. relatives in different pats of cember 2012.—INP tion filed by him. demonstration of our com- liament, representatives of suspected militant positions in the country.—INP mitment. All fifty nations that the international community, different parts of Bara subare part of our coalition re- and units of the Afghan Na- tehsil in Kurram Agency. main committed to Afghani- tional Security Forces.

Indian journalists’ As a result of the bombstan, now and for the long Afghanistan’s forces have ing, eight militants were killed delegation arrives term. And this is a great op- already begun taking respon- and seven others were reLAHORE—An 8-member portunity to see with our sibility for their country’s wounded. Four W ASHINGTON —Wearing a Osama bin Laden, speaking in captivity has hardened his a prosecution request that own eyes the progress we are security, and the Secretary portedly delegation of Indian journalhideouts were destroyed in camouflage hunting vest, at a pretrial motions hearing. vitriol against the United the public be prevented making”, the Secretary Gen- General paid tribute to them. the attacks. On the other side ists reached Lahore, through “He can legislate the killings States, Washington Post in from hearing information the alleged mastermind of “They have already in the suburb area of Wagha border on Thursday. eral said at a joint press conthe attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, under the name of national a report said on Thursday. that might be discussed ference with President Hamid achieved much. They are in Budabair in Peshawar the The delegation comprising “The government is us- during the trial concerning Karzai in Kabul. issued a blistering critique security for American citithe lead for the security of security forces were high members of New Delhi Press ing the name of national se- the CIA’s rendition and inof U.S. defense policy dur- zens.”

Club and Chandigarh Press He stressed: “Let me re- three quarters of the popula- alerted in the area after rocket The remarks, which al- curity as it chooses,” terrogation tactics.

Club came on a four-day visit ing a court hearing at peat in Kabul what I said in tion. And where they are in luded to the drone-strike kill- Mohammed argued at the “The government label Brussels, so that there can be charge, violence has gone attack.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on was warmly received by office According to sources, due Wednesday, saying Wash- ings of Anwar al-Awlaki and end of the third day of mo- of classified information no mistake: Our strategy is down. Your forces are in the to the sudden attack on Mashu bearers and members of ington has used national Samir Khan, both U.S. citi- tions. He warned: “Don’t get does not turn third-party working and the timeline re- lead for 80 percent of all op- gagger checkpost and Bara Lahore Press Club, notables and general public. Talking to security as a pretext to mur- zens who were members of affected by crocodile tears, knowledge, experience and mains unchanged”. Mr. Fogh erations, and for 85 percent sheikhan the security is on red al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, because your blood is not memories into something Rasmussen said: “We are all of the training. That is der and torture. media Indian journalists indicated that Mohammed is made of gold and ours is the government can sup- committed to seeing our mis- progress that we can all be alert in the suburb area of Matni “The president can take highly praising Mala said being kept abreast of current made of water. We are all hu- press,” argued Hina Shamsi sion through to its success- proud of”, he noted. The goal and Budbghair . Police with someone and throw him in she is an ambassador of of the American Civil Liber- ful conclusion with a full tran- shared by NATO and the heavy cache of weapons are man beings.” the sea under the name of events. peace and literacy and The tone of his intervenThe terrorism suspect’s ties Union, which filed a sition of security responsi- Afghan government is to see patrolling in the area while the national security,” Khalid attack on her is conspiracy remarks followed a lengthy motion seeking unfettered bilities to the Afghan secu- the Afghan forces fully re- gunship vehicles were also tion suggested that he inSheik Mohammed said in an against proliferation of provided to them. The security apparent reference to the tends to use this trial as a debate before Judge James L. public access to the pro- rity forces by the end of sponsible for security by the forces were deployed near peace message across the Pohl, an Army colonel, over ceedings.—INP forum to convey that his time killing of al-Qaeda chief end of 2014.—Online globe.—INP 2014”.

American consulate.—Online

UN, ICC have joint roles in ending impunity: Ban

Hina to raise issue with US envoy

ISI accused of links with Naxals

Two FC men, policeman among 5 dead in Karachi

Doctors on strike in Quetta

Afghan forces assume full security by 2014

Eight militants killed, four hideouts destroyed in Tirah Valley

Parliament symbolizes collective wisdom: Raja

PTI intra-party polls on Nov 2

SC seeks details of formula for adjusting prices of CNG, POL

Riaz accuses Suddle of unholy haste

‘US uses national security for murder torture’

Controlling brains with a flick of a light switch

S

TOPPED at a red light on his drive home from work, Karl Deisseroth con templates one of his patients, a woman with depression so entrenched that she had been unresponsive to drugs and electroshock therapy for years. The red turns to green and Deisseroth accelerates, navigating roads and intersections with one part of his mind while another part considers a very different set of pathways that also can be regulated by a system of lights. In his lab at Stanford University’s Clark Center, Deisseroth is developing a remarkable way to switch brain cells off and on by exposing them to targeted green, yellow, or blue flashes. With that ability, he is learning how to regulate the flow of information in the brain.

Deisseroth’s technique, known broadly as optogenetics, could bring new hope to his most desperate patients. In a series of provocative experiments, he has already cured the symptoms of psychiatric disease in mice.

Optogenetics also shows promise for defeating drug addiction. When Deisseroth exposed a set of test mice to cocaine and then flipped a switch, pulsing bright yellow light into their brains, the expected rush of euphoria—the prelude to addiction—was instantly blocked. Almost miraculously, they were immune to the cocaine high; the mice left the drug den as uninterested as if they had never been ex-

posed.

Today, those breakthroughs have been demonstrated in only a small number of test animals. But as Deisseroth pulls into his driveway he is optimistic about what tomorrow’s work could bring: Human applications, and the relief they could deliver, may not be far off.

For all its complexity, the brain in some ways is a surprisingly simple device.

Neurons switch off and on, causing signals to stop or go. Using optogenetics, Deisseroth can do that switching himself. He inserts light-sensitive proteins into brain cells. Those proteins let him turn a set of cells on or off just by shining the right kind of laser beam at the cells. ?That in turn makes it possible to highlight the exact neural pathways involved in the various forms of psychiatric disease. A disruption of one particular pathway, for instance, might cause anxiety. To test the possibility, Deisseroth engineers an animal with light-sensitive proteins in the brain cells lying along the suspected pathway. Then he illuminates those cells with a laser. If the animal begins cowering in a corner, he knows he is in the right place.

And as Deisseroth and his colleagues illuminate more neural pathways, other researchers will be able to design increasingly targeted drugs and minimally invasive brain implants to treat psychiatric disease.

ISLAMABAD: Workers of a Welfare Trust distributing free food in I-10.

Eidul Azha shopping gets momentum I SLAMABAD —As Eid-ul-

ISLAMABAD: An artist briefs about displayed stuff to USAID Acting Mission Director Rodger Garner during photo camp sponsored by USAID.

US enhances skills of aspiring photo journalists I SLAMABAD —The United in partnership with the Wash- FATA, but perhaps you all will States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), sponsored a six-day “photo camp” for 15 young aspiring journalists from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Rodger Garner, USAID Acting Mission Director, formally inaugurated a photo exhibition Thursday at a local hotel that showcases photos by the participants of that training.

The camp was conducted

ington, DC-based National Geographic Society, whose magazine is internationally renowned for its extraordinary photography. The event was designed to enhance the journalists’ professional photography skills so that they can better tell their stories through visual images.

“It is not often that we see positive stories – stories of courage, stories of promise, stories of hope – coming from

be the ones to tell them. I certainly have every confidence that you can,” said USAID Acting Mission Director Rodger Garner at the exhibition.

The photo camp has offered the participants the chance to explore through the camera’s lens visually striking sites like the vibrant Raja Bazaar in Rawalpindi, the ancient Buddhist ruins at Taxila, and the pristine valleys of Nathia Gali.—INP

Azha is approaching fast, shopping is getting momentum slowly in various markets of the twin-cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The shopkeepers have displayed a variety of things, particularly new designs of clothes and shoes.

This time there is an obvious decrease in the number of customers and majority of the people prefer to buy cheap garments, said the owner of a garments shop in commercial market.

Muhammad Zulfiqar, a shopper at Aabpara market said that shopkeeper demanding high prices due to that people are waiting for the last few days.

A shopkeeper Nasir Ahmed at commercial market said that very few people visiting markets this time, however, “we expect that it get momentum in the last few days”.

He said that most of the buyers nowadays just entered his shop, ask about prices and then returned empty handed.

The customers who are demanding quality products have to pay more for it, he said.

These days, people are taking interest in buying sacrificial animals only, he added.

Shopkeepers have started overcharging the consumers on variety of garments, jewellery, cosmetics, handbags, shoes and colorful dresses.—APP

Experts call for harmonizing Pak-Afghan relations I SLAMABAD —Removal of pleased to be supportive to Hashmi while Kawa Baha bottlenecks has been identified as the key to harmonizing the Afghanistan-Pakistan relations and to end the blame-game hampering the potential of a viable, positively consistent and productive bilateral relationship, in order to install lasting peace in the region, particularly in the backdrop of the developing 2014 scenario.

This was emphasized Thursday here at the seminar on “Shaping the Future of Afghanistan and Pakistan – Policy Recommendations” by a broad spectrum of experts from Germany, Afghanistan and Pakistan including Parliamentarians, diplomats, scholars, politicians, journalists, analysts and others.

“People are looking forward to shape the future,” commented German Ambassador to Pakistan Dr. Cyrill Nunn while appreciating the role being played by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) – organizer of the conference. “We are very

KAS which is geared to bring Afghanistan and Pakistan high-level relationship” the ambassador added.

“Time is to make realistic relationship with Afghanistan,” Humayun Saifullah Khan, member of the Pak-Afghan Parliamentary Friendship Group while emphasizing the need of stability on both sides of the border.

Saifullah assured that the Pakistani Parliament would consider the policy recommendations made during the conference by eminent experts.

Deans of the Trilateral Summer School: Former Afghan Ambassador and Senator Pir Sayed Hamid Gailani and former Pakistani Ambassador Dr. Ross Masood Husain, made the introductory note to the Project “Shaping the Future of Afghanistan and Pakistan – Policy Recommendations”.

The Policy Recommendations for Afghanistan were presented by Syed Moazzam

IIUI holds Poster, Essay writing competitions ISLAMABAD—Human Rights Forum (HRF) of the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) arranged “Poster Competition” and “Essay Competition” at female and male Campuses respectively.

The competitions were arranged in collaboration of Iqbal International Institute

for Research and Dialogue (IRD).

Dr. M. Abdul Wahab, Professor, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh inaugurated the events. 87 female students from various departments participated in the poster competition.

Poster competition was on the theme of “Let The Green

Gilgit-Baltistan cultural day organised at NUML I S L A M A B A D — G i l g i t - and pink dresses with tradi- some very soulful cultural Cultural Day in the Univer- movements and swirling cials of the university, a Baltistan Cultural Day was arranged by students hailing from Gilgit-Baltistan of different departments of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) here on Thursday.

The rhythm and current of the music that was created by playing tradition instruments like Dadang, Damal, Surnai, and Gabri was delight of the day for the audience.

Students treated audience with cultural and traditional hilarity in the auditorium of National University of Modern Languages.

Male, wearing white neat clothes with traditional hand made white stuffed traditional caps adorned with colourful plumes and female, wearing scarlet red

tional colourful embroidered and traditional performances sity. caps, students rendered to celebrate Gilgit-Baltistan Moreover,

from Kabul highlighted the policy recommendations for Pakistan.

Afghan parliamentarian Sherwali Wardak stressed, “Everything to deal with terrorism requires improvement in bilateral relations,” Wardak said.

“Since 2007, it is our pleasure and honor to assist improving the bilateral relationship between Kabul and Islamabad” said Dr. Babak Khalatbari Resident Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung – the German foundation in Pakistan.

Realizing the importance of improved bilateral relations for regional stability and the needed development and prosperity of Afghanistan and Pakistan, panelists and policy experts also recommended enhancing border security, and rationalizing the objectivity among the intelligence networks as the key to end the going blame-game between the two brotherly neighboring countries.—INP

bodies of the performers in calculated traditional dances of Gilgit, Nagar and Chalas were presented by the students that refreshed the memories of spectacular picturesque landscape, carved wooden houses, sensational sports, natural waterfalls, and snowcovered mountain ranges of Gilgit-Baltistan. The students paid tribute to the country by singing national songs, sang their traditional songs of the area and presented the humourous poetry that convulsed the audience with laughter.

Mr Muhammad Ali Akhtar, Provincial Finance Minister of Giglit-Balti, was the Chief Guest at the function while Rector Maj Gen (R) Masood Hasan, Director General (DG) Brig Azam Jamal, ISLAMABAD: Students performing the traditional dance of Gilgit-Baltistan at GB Director Student Affairs Muhammad Taj, other offiCultural Day at NUML.

great number of faculty members and students also attended the event.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Muhammad Ali Akhtar said that “it is indeed very pleasant to see that University provides platform and opportunity to their students to exhibit their diverse culture and traditions and such activities not only promote cultural harmony but also provide a chance to other students to learn about different beautiful parts of their homeland”.

Rector NUML Maj Gen (R) Masood Hasan said that “it is University’s priority to provide its students with a conducive environment where they can pursue their curricular and co-curricular activities with equal ease”.—INP

Grow”.

Dr. Zaitoon Begum, Director Female Campus, Dr. Munazza Yaqoob, Student Advisor (Female) and Faculty Advisor of HRF were also present on the occasion.

Essay Competition at male side was on the theme of “ Flaws in our Existing Education System”.—APP

PNCA holds speech competition I SLAMABAD —Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) organized a speech competition here on Thursday to highlight role of youth in the national progress of the country.

The title of the competition was, “How our Youth can Play his Role in the Up Lift of the Country” participated by a large number of students from different schools of twin cities.

The first position was awarded to Rahat-us-Saba from Overseas Pakistanis Foundation Girls College F-8 while the second position was bagged by Atiya Maqsood, of Islamabad College of Girls F-6/2. Speaking on the occasion Director General PNCA, Tauqeer Nasir said, future of any nation rests with the youth. He said hard work, dedication, clear vision and identical target take the younger generation to the destination.—APP

Children celebrate Global Dignity Day SANA JAMAL I SLAMABAD —More

than 40,000 children in different cities of Pakistan participated in Global Dignity Day programs, intended to acknowledge and respect human dignity. The Dignity Day is celebrated in all parts of the world to establish and recognize the right of every human being to lead a dignified life. The day was commemorated in different schools of Islamabad. Teachers and leaders facilitated sessions on dignity in classrooms and encouraged children to share inspiring stories.

The students shared dignity principles, performed roleplays and tableaus manifesting the need of human dignity, and also express their thoughts through drawings and songs, and wrote postcards in which they resolved to work for protecting their personal dignity

and that of others.

Johann Olav Koss, founder of Right to Play, in his video message on dignity for children particularly addressed the Junior Leaders of the organization in Pakistan: “Any leader in the world today cannot call him a leader without having dignity for others. Through your great leadership skills, you can help make this world a better place, you can do it through sport and play and you can show it through dignity.’’

In a world divided by races, cultures and beliefs, the very idea that every human being has the universal right to lead a dignified life can do wonders. And the purpose of celebrating Global Dignity Day is precisely to educate and inspire children and youth in particular, about the importance of human dignity regardless of race, culture or social background.

PIPS - a milestone in Parliamentary history Zohr

05:40 01:30 04:45 07:30

October 19 KAMDANI is back with its most awaited Eid exhibition at 11 am – 7 pm, House 235, St 76, F-11/1, Islamabad. So save the date, mark your calendars.

We have dresses for your teens also please spread the word.

October 20 KAMDANI is back with its most awaited Eid exhibition at 11 am - 7pm, House # 268/8, Kamal Road Sadr, Rawalpindi. So save the date, mark your calendars. We have dresses for your teens also please spread the word.

November 8 ALUMNI Association National Institute of Psychology (AA-NIP) will hold Annual Alumni Dinner, 2012 on 8th November, 4:30 P.M to 10:00 P.M at Geo Physics Auditorium, QAU. For Registration please contact Irum Naqvi. 0519 0 6 4 4 0 4 7 , Irumnaqvi2006@gmail.com.

Radio Pakistan‚ China Radio to consolidate partnership I SLAMABAD —Radio Pakistan and China Radio International have agreed to further consolidate their partnership for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.The agreement came during a meeting between a ten member Chinese delegation headed by Director General China Radio International Wang Gengnian and Director General Radio Pakistan Murtaza Solangi here on Thursday.

Director General CRI Wang Gengnian said there are great opportunities of cooperation between the two organizations particularly in content production and training programmes.He said launch of Dosti channel is an excellent example of cooperation between CRI and PBC. He said currently the contents of the channel are being produced in Beijing and in future we want to shift the production base in Pakistan to meet the information and entertainment requirements of the Pakistani people.Mr. Wang said since FM station is a city particular and we want to set up studios in Radio Pakistan to provide suitable contents to the Pakistani people.— NNI

Further tightening of Adiala Jail security ordered R AWA L P I N D I — I n s p e c t o r

STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Chairman Senate Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said on Thursday that Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) undoubtedly a milestone in the parliamentary history of the country.

Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari while presiding over meeting of the Board of Governors of PIPS said, “I look forward to working together in a team to consolidate PIPS into an institution committed to strengthening the parliamentary practices into more informed and efficient National Parliament as well as provincial assemblies.”

He said that we have to strive together to make sure that the Institute develops into a premier seat of learning with regard to its mandated functions of legislation, research, capacity building and public outreach as per its Act. It pertinent to mentioned here that Chairman Senate is also President of the PIPS Board of Governors.

Bokhari appreciated the missionary leadership of Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza and all

founding Members of the Board who displayed unmitigated resolve to make the PIPS dream a reality.

He also acknowledged the efforts of the Board in acquiring a precious piece of land to enable construction of this modern campus; drawing a comprehensive set of Employees Rules and Financial Manual as well as steering quality construction of this building.

He also praised Senator Ch Muhammad Anwer Bhinder who presented the bill to establish this Institute and lauded the contribution of the Legislative Development Steering Committee, consisting of Senators and MNAs. He said that establishment of PIPS through unanimous support of Parliament in December 2008 reflects the will and vision of not only the Senate and National Assembly, but also the provincial assemblies of, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, who are all represented by their Honourable Speakers on the PIPS Board of Governors.

He hoped that the Board would continue with renewed zeal for the professional pros-

perity and effectiveness of the Institute and would contribute appreciably in consolidating development of the parliamentary tradition in the country on most modern and effective lines manifesting the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

He urged the management of the institute to leave no stone unturned to convert this institution into a national asset, which will serve the parliamentarians with quality-oriented services for all times to come.

During the meeting, the Board of Governors of PIPS discussed in detailed the activities in plans besides other administrative matters of the institute.

Executive Director PIPS gave a detailed over view of the work plan for the years 2012-13. Members of the Board of Governors felicitated the Chairman Senate on assuming the Charge of President Board of Governors of PIPS and assured their all out cooperation to transform the institute into a center of excellence. Secretaries of the Senate and National Assembly also promised cooperation on behalf of their respective Secretariats.

ISLAMABAD: Visitors selecting dresses designed by Zehra V at an Eid exhibition.

AIOU starts mailing of books to students

I SLAMABAD —Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has started the process of its mailing of books for the Semester Autumn, 2012. The books and study materials are being sent to the enrolled students by post on their addresses. AIOU has to begin its scrutinizing process by those admission forms which are submitted in the commencement of semester.

Consequently after examining, the admission department prepares two or three lists of each the programm which were provided step by step to mailing section for mailing of books.

According to the primary lists received to mailing section from the admission department, books and study materials have been sent to 30-thousand matric students, 40-thousand FA, 50-thousand BA, 46,500 PTC and 25-thousand postgraduate level students across the country.Books would be sent to the remaining students gradually on receiving the list ISLAMABAD: Students performing in a tableau during a function to mark the Literacy from the admissions department Day at IMCG F-7/2. and it is hoped that the entire process of mailing of books for the Semester Autumn, 2012 would be completed by the end of November.—INP

Teachers protest for release of salaries, new recruitments

Shortage of medicines in hospitals decried

R AWALPINDI —The patients policy of centralization, the of three allied hospitals of sources said.

14 traffic wardens sacked

The Punjab Health De- RAWALPINDI—Chief Traffic I SLAMABAD —A huge pro- Rawalpindi, Benazir Bhutto partment policy says that Officer (CTO) Rawalpindi, Hospital, District Headtest demonstration was organised under the banner of Central Academic Staff Association in front the National Press Club Islamabad in favour of their demands.

The protest demo was staged against the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and Capital Administration Development Division (CADD) for not releasing their salaries and recruiting new lecturers in the colleges.

Lecturers and teachers from various Islamabad model colleges were holding placards and banners with the slogans in favour of their demands and against the exploitation that associations faced in the past.

Speaking on the occasion, President, Central Academic Staff Association, Professor Raja Riaz Anjum said that teachers from various model colleges were facing exploitation. He said that academic staffers have been deprived of the salaries of last two years.—INP

quarters Hospital and Holy Family Hospital, are facing an acute shortage of medicines, as provision of free medicines to them is negligible.

According to sources, the hospitals are working under the Health Department and Allied Hospitals and Rawalpindi Medical College Authority.

Patients in Emergency and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of the hospitals were provided the medicine to relatively a greater extent, but the persons admitted in the hospitals and visiting the OPDs could not get medicines, the sources said.

Moreover, the procedure of the demand and supply of the medicines to the hospitals has also been changed. earlier the MSs of each hospital used to send the supply order but now the principals of the Allied Hospitals and Rawalpindi Medical College send the supply order under the

medicines would be provided to all the patients coming to the hospitals, but that is not happening in practical.

The hospital administrations say that scarcity of the funds was the reason behind non-provision of sufficient medicines to the patients.

The source revealed that the medicines prescribed by the doctors were not provided by the dispensaries of the hospitals and if one found some, those were the alternative of the prescribed medicines.

The patients and their attendants at the three allied hospitals expressed serious concerns on the prevailing situation in the hospitals and demanded of the Punjab Health Department officials and Principal Allied Hospitals and Rawalpindi Medical College to take practical steps to resolve the problem.— INP

General Jails, Punjab, Mian Farooq Nazeer has directed the authorities concerned to further tighten the security of the Central Adiala Jail as incidents of sneaking mobile phones and other objects into the jails were increasing.

The IG also directed the Adiala Jail authorities to completely investigate and check the visitors before letting them see the prisoners and said if some police official was found involved in providing narcotics or other things to the prisoners, strict departmental action would be taken against him.

He said this while talking to the officials of the Adiala Jail in his recent visit to the jail. He inspected the security arrangements of the jail. Additional Superintendent Jail, Chaudhry Shabraiz Hussain, Deputy Superintendent Jail Judicial, Arshad Ali Warraich, Deputy Superintendent Jail Executive, Chaudhry Ilyas Ahmed and others were also ISLAMABAD: Members of Central Academic Staff Association holding a protest dempresent of the occasion.—INP onstration outside press club demanding release of their salaries.

Law school hosts awareness workshop on child rights CITY REPORTER I SLAMABAD —School of International Law hosted a workshop in collaboration with SAHIL on child abuse and child rights for its students. The workshop was attended by students of the LLB Hons and LLM of the University of London and Northumbria University distance learning programmes with an insightful understanding of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The workshop was conducted by Ms. Manizeh Bano, Executive Director of Sahil, a non government organization that works exclusively against the isue of child sexual abuse and exploitation. She shared the history of child rights and the international laws with the students.

The students particulaly

enjoyed the group activity and looked forward to the remaining sessions to study in-depth case studies on child abuse as well as study the current national and international legal frameworks designed to combat this social evil.

Ms. Bano admired the enthusiasm of the students in wanting to go beyond their regular syllabi to learn about pervasive problems in the society and will be conducting additional follow up workshops in coming months.

Sahil has consistently supported the youth in learning about and promoting child rights. The Sahil Head Office and its all 5 Regional Offices provide free legal aid and free counseling to the victims of CSA. Sahil extended its geographic out reach and provided sensitization trainings to primary

school teachers on child protection issues at Muzaffarabad.

Sahil is well recognized in developing innovative tools.

Sahil has developed 15 episode CD game “Aflatoun” on social and financial saving program for children. Sahil has also developed training tool on sexual behaviors of street children.

Sahil in collaboration of Action Aid Pakistan, established a youth club “SYBAN” in Lahore on HIV & AIDS information and counseling services.

Sahil’s program for juveniles in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, provides services of counseling, legal aid, vaccination and sports. Aflatoun - Social and Financial Education Program to teach child rights, responsibilities, and savings, again is included due to its very positive impacts on juvenile behaviors.

Int’l Disaster Rrisk Reduction Day observed STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —iMMAP celebrated International Disaster Risk Reduction day with Beacon House School Children at IMMAP Office Thursday. The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is a day to celebrate how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of DRR. 13th October was internationally Disaster Risk Reduc-

tion (DRR) Day. The theme for International Disaster Risk Reduction day this year 2012 was “Women and Girls: The Visible Force of Resilience”.

The objective of this theme was to highlight the contribution of women and girls towards DRR (before, during and after a disaster).

Several activities were conducted with the school children to mark the importance of this day. Specifically the role and contribution of

humanitarian agencies was highlighted by emphasising their work and how they are putting their efforts to mitigate and reduce the possibility of any impacts due to disasters.

School children were briefed on the basics of disaster risk reduction and how to react in situation like floods and earth quakes.

Some basics on the techniques of map reading and use of compass were also included in the activities.

Ishtiaq Husain Shah has sacked 14 traffic wardens for continuously remaining absent from their duties.

One warden, namely Sarfaraz, has been terminated on the charges of helping people in getting their driving licences after taking bribes, besides remaining absent from his duty.

According to sources, wardens, including Aamir Shahzad, Muhammad Ejaz, Afzal Husain, Shafaqat Husain, Rizwan Nawaz, Muhammad Suhail, Anjum Shahzad, Tayyab Faraz, Basit Ahmed, Hassan Yousaf, Muhammad Ajmal and Murtaza Wali, have been terminated.

Talking in this connection, the CTO said that absence from the duties and negligence in fulfilling duties would not be tolerated and if any police official was found involved in corruption or taking bribes, he would have to face strict depart- ISLAMABAD: Aged men selling sweets outside the shrine of Barri Imam at Nurpur mental action.—INP Shahan.

President confers Hilal-i-Imtiaz (M) upon Commander Royal Brunei Navy I S L A M A B A D —President Asif Ali Zardari conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz (M) upon Commander Royal Brunei Navy‚ during a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz (M) upon Commander Royal Brunei Navy‚ First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Abdul Halim bin Haji Mohd Hanifah‚ during a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad.

The award has been conferred on him for prominent role he played in expanding mutual cooperation and further strengthening the bonds of friendship between the two nations.

The investiture ceremony was followed by a meeting of the two sides.

Spokesperson to the President said that PakBrunei bilateral relations‚ mutual trade and bilateral cooperation between the two countries was discussed during the meeting.

The President said that there exists great potential

to further broaden mutual cooperation of the two countries in the area of trade.

He highlighted conducive business and investment environment of Pakistan which offered great investment opportunities in energy‚ construction‚ textiles‚ telecom‚ finance and agriculture.

He also noted the positive contributions being made by the Pakistani community in Brunei and said they served as strong bridge between the two countries.

He said that any additional

requirement for manpower could also be considered by Pakistan.

Appreciating existing cooperation in the area of defence‚ the President expressed the hope that this would be further strengthened with the passage of time.

Commander Royal Brunei Navy First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Abdul Halim bin Haji Mohd Hanifah hoped that the friendly relations between the two countries would further gain strength with each passing day.—NNI

2 women among 4 killed, 34 injured in IHK mishaps

Amnesty terms PSA lawless law, demands repeal

Geelani warns against settling of non-locals in IHK

S RINAGAR — Four people were killed and 34 others injured in separate road mishaps in occupied Kashmir. Driver of a trawler died on the spot and two others were injured when the vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge at Chambalwas in Ramban district while a boy and a girl were killed and another girl was injured when their motorcycle was hit by a vehicle on JammuPathankote highway at Chichi Mata Temple in Samba district.

Twenty-five passengers were injured when a bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into a gorge at Assar in Doda district, police said.

Two youth were also injured when their motorcycle skidded off the road and fell down the hillock in Bagh-eBahu area of Jammu city, police added. Meanwhile, one lady succumbed to her injuries at Soura hospital in Srinagar, and four other persons were injured in different road accidents across the valley.—INP

SRINAGAR—The human rights watchdog, Amnesty International has reiterated that the draconian law, Public Safety Act effective in occupied Kashmir is a lawless law that must be revoked. A three-member team of the Amnesty headed by its Director Programme for India, Shashi Kumar Velath, talking to newsmen in Srinagar expressed serious concern over the lack of determination by the authorities to repeal the law. The team observed that detaining a person on mere suspicion was a human rights violation and anyone detained must be produced before a court of law. The other two members of the Amnesty included Ms Sunita and Rahilla Narchoor.

The members of team met the APHC Chairman Mirwaiz

Inqilabi condemns attack on Mushtaq-ul-Islam

SRINAGAR—The High Court Ahmad

S RINAGAR — All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) leader and Chief Patron of Jammu Kashmir Mahaz-eAzadi (MeA), Muhammad Azam Inqilabi has strongly condemned the brutal torture on senior liberation leader, Mushtaq-ul-Islam at Udhampur Jail in Jammu.

Muhammad Azam Inqilabi in a statement issued in Srinagar was reacting to a report of Kashmir Bar Association about plight of inmates in various jails of the territory.

“Denying inmates to offer congregational prayers and forcing them to recite polytheistic songs is interference in religion and unacceptable,” he added. According to reports Mushtaq-ul-Islam received head injuries after he was beaten up for refusing to be part of a drill, which he termed against his faith.

“We demand that the CRPF personnel who attacked Mushtaq be given exemplary punishment and all prisoners be shifted to the valley,” Inqilabi said.—INP

Fake encounter victim’s family awaits justice S RINAGAR — In occupied Kashmir, the family of a mechanic, Kala Khan of Lisana village, who was killed in a fake encounter by Indian troops in 2002, is still waiting for justice.

The deceased Kala Khan, was the lone bread-earner of his wife, six daughters and three sons. His family members have been knocking at all the doors including the Human Rights Commission of the territory for last 10 years to get justice but did not succeed.

Although, the Human Rights Commission had issued directives to the Director General of Police (DGP) of the territory to probe the case but the directive was not entertained.

Tariq Mehmood Khan, son of the deceased Kala Khan, in a media interview said that he knocked at all the doors for seeking justice but badly failed.

He added that during the last 10 years he could not get justice but rather physically and mentally tortured by police and other personnel of Indian agencies.

He appealed to the international human rights organisations especially the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Asia Watch to help the victim family of occupied Kashmir in getting justice.—KMS

Umar Farooq, JKLF Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik and other leaders in Srinagar, today.

The rights situation in the territory was discussed at length.

The veteran Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Geelani addressing a press conference in Srinagar, today, warned India and its puppet regime that people would come out on streets if they did not refrain from settling nonlocals in Kashmir. He denounced the India’s conspiracies to change the demography of the territory.

Senior APHC leader, Agha Syed Hassan Al Moosvi speaking at a function in Chadoora said that anti-people policies of India in the occupied territory were aimed at victimising the Kashmiris for their pro-freedom sentiments. Jamaat-e-Islami of SRINAGAR: Syed Ali Shah Geelani addressing a Press conference.

Bar reiterates pledge to continue peaceful struggle Bar Association of occupied Kashmir has reiterated the pledge to continue its peaceful struggle for securing right to self-determination of Kashmiris. The Bar President, Zafar Ameen Qureshi, while addressing the Bar members at the High Court premises in Srinagar, paid tributes to Abdul Qadir Sailani Advocate on his martydom anniversary.

Speaking on the occasion, Mian Abdul Qayoom, Syed Manzoor, Mohammad Amin Ahanger, Arshid Andrabi, G.N. Shaheen, Nazir Ahmad Ronga, Mohammad Shafi Reshi, Nazir

Tabassum and Mohammad Ashraf Butt General Secretary Bar Association highlighted his contribution for the Kashmir cause. The speakers said that 1,000,000 Indian troops and other invisible agencies had occupied their land and made them slaves, adding that the Bar should help the leaders in fighting for achieving right to self-determination.

Daughter of the deceased, Rafia Sailani who was also present on the occasion, said that her father fought for the cause of common people and always felt their pain. Meanwhile, a team of High Court Bar

Association, which recently visited Central Jail, Udhampur, and other jails in Jammu region, said that jail authorities had illtreated the senior liberation leader, Mushtaq-ul-Islam in the jail. The team, comprising Aijaz Bedar, Vice President, Muhammad Ashraf Butt, General Secretary, Shabbir Ahmad Butt, Joint Secretary, Arshid Andrabi, member, and Rafiq Ahmad Joo, on the court permission met the intimates including Masarat Alam Butt and Mushtaq-ul-Islam in presence of the jail Superintendent Dr Vinod Kumar,” the Bar spokesman said in a statement.—INP

Agha Hassan demands lifting ban on Ashura procession

SRINAGAR—A large number of people staged protest demonstration at main chowk of Uri town against the construction of Indian army bunkers in Churunda village.Hundreds of residents from the affected villages staged protests on Wednesday against construction of fresh posts by the Indian army. They said that the construction of forward posts in Churunda village along the Line of Control (LoC) was the main cause of mounting tension in the area. The residents including women and children demanded that the troops should immediately stop the construction of bunkers.

Mohammad Mutwali Deedar, numberdar of village Churanda, said the 9 Maratha of Indian army was building some new bunkers near the Line of Control (LoC) to which Pakistani Army had already objected. “However, the Indian Army went on with the work,” Deedar said. Ghulam Rasool, another resident of the village, said that Pakistan Army had been warning their counterparts on this side for many days “but Indian army who are deployed in the village, continued the work in civilian clothes.”

“Pakistani troops even used loud speakers to convey their message but Indian army didn’t

pay any heed,” he added. Another aggrieved resident of Churunda village said that the ceasefire agreement of 2003 between the two countries had brought cheers on the faces of locals of the area.

However, situation now seems so dangerous for the people of Churunda village that they are thinking of migration. The residents said that they would be forced to go for mass migration if the construction of bunkers was not stopped. Meanwhile, scores of people staged protest against anti-people policies of puppet regime in Maulana Azad, Maisuma, Budshah Chowk, Lal Chowk, Jehangir Chowk and Residency Road in Srinagar.—INP

Govt directs to gear uplift work MIRPUR (AJK)—Azad Jammu Kashmir Chief Secretary Muhammad Shahzad Arbab while expressing dissatisfaction over the on-going slow-paced development schemes in various parts of the state, directed the concerned authorities to gear up the construction work to ensure the timely completion. He issued these direc-

tives to departments while chairing the first quater review meeting of 2012-13 held here in Muzaffarabad late Wednesday.

“The second quater is close to conclusion and during the third quater heavy rains and land sliding are usually experienced due to which the pace of work is adversely affected so new projects

must be launched immediately besides accelerating the construction work on the already launched projects”, he said. The Chief Secretary directed the concerned departments to provide details of growth strategy projects within two days and it must be stated clearly when these projects were going to be started.—APP

SRINAGAR—The chairman of Jammu Kashmir Salvation Front Zaffar Akbar Bhat has claimed that New Delhi’s policy on JK exhibited its outdated and rigid stand.

“New Delhi’s policy visà-vis Kashmir is outdated and rigid,” said Zaffar while addressing the different gathering at Hufroo,Buzgoo and Lolipora in Chadoora, adding that “Kashmir is the core issue and New Delhi rulers are bent upon distorting the historical facts.

“The elections in Jammu and Kashmir were never fair and transparent and only a microscopic percentage of people participated in these elections, that too under military rule and pressure,” he said.—NNI

JKLL proposes federal democratic AJK system

A parliamentary committee government to formally enter AH RAO SRINAGAR—Demanding the MIRPUR (AJK)—In response to comprising the law makers, into a ‘Stand-still Agreement’ both from treasury and opposi- with the government of Pakistan

ban on major Muharram processions in Srinagar to be lifted, the Anjuman-e-Sharaie Shiayan of Agha Syed Hassan has warned to trample barricades if the government persisted with its curbs.

“In view of the improvement in the situation, the government should announce to lift the ban on the processions of the 8th and 10th of Muharram,” the Anjuman said.

“Now that the state is witnessing a peaceful atmosphere, as acknowledged by the central government too, and every sect pursues its activities without hindrance, why should only these two historic religious processions be banned?” it said.

“When Muharram processions are held without any problem across the state and even in the areas adjoining Lal Chowk, what apprehensions does the government have over these two processions in the city centre?” it said, terming the ban as illegal and unjustified.

“The government should clarify its stand with respect to the two processions,” it said. In a meeting to discuss arrangements for observing Muharram, the Anjuman said that it would convene districtlevel bodies soon to finalise details of the programme for the month.

“We are committed to hold ISLAMABAD: AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan and Prime Minister Ch. Abdul Majeed called on Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Mian Musharram functions and processions in a peaceful and digManzooor Ahmad Wattoo. nified manner,” it said.—NNI

Protests against construction of Army bunkers in Uri

occupied Kashmir and Chief Patron of Jammu Kashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi, Muhammad Azam Inqilabi in their separate statements strongly condemned the brutal torture on liberation leader, Mushtaq-ul-Islam at Udhampur Jail in Jammu.

The President of High Court Bar Association of occupied Kashmir, Zafar Qureshi, addressing a programme to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Abdul Qadir Sailani Advocate in Srinagar reaffirmed the commitment to continue peaceful struggle for securing the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris. On the other hand, a large number of people staged a protest demonstration at main chowk of Uri town against the construction of Indian army bunkers in Churunda village.—KMS

New Delhi’s Kashmir policy outdated: Zaffar

APHC condoles death of Sheikh Abdur Rasheed

the recent invitation by the AJK government for amendments in the interim constitution of AJK – Act-1974, Jammu & Kashmir Liberation League has proposed federal democratic system based on two houses of the AJK Parliament representing the whole state, JKLL declared.

The JKLL has observed since the Act-1974 does not fulfill the objectives of freedom movement and political and geographical entity of the Jammu & Kashmir State, it is proposed that sitting AJK Legislative Assembly may be dissolved and constitutent assembly may be elected on the basis of adult franchise and the principle of the proportionate representation.

tion benches, in the AJK Legislative Assembly has already been formed to formulate the proposals for introducing necessary amendments in Act – 1974, the interim constitution of AJK by inviting all the reputed political parties of AJK, both in and outside the AJK Legislative Assembly and the AJK Council, lower and upper houses of the AJK parliament respectively.

Unveiling the proposed amendments at a news conference here, President Jammu & Kashmir Liberation League and ex-Chief Justice of AJK High Court Justice (Retd) Abdul Majeed Mallick is party has strongly proposed to the AJK

till the time of plebiscite or final settlement of Jammu & Kashmir dispute under which the Government of Pakistan may control the responsibilities of defense, foreign affairs, communication, currency and coinage of Jammu Kashmir State.

“It has also been emphasized that the promulgation of the constitution was essential to naturalize political and legal effect of the constitution already enforced in the Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir State, which empowers President and Parliament of India to legislate in respect of special subject with the previous consent of the State Assembly”, Justice (Retd) Mallick said.

Kashmiris want accession to Pakistan: Fazl ISLAMABAD—Chairman Special Committee of the Parliament on Kashmir Maulana Fazlur Rahman has said that Indian occupation in the state of Jammu & Kashmir was due to presence of 800,000 triggerhappy security personnel as well as draconian laws enforced there. In a statement issued here Kashmir Committee chief said that if India withdraws its army and abolishes black laws today it will come to know what the Kashmiris want.

The Chairman Kashmir Committee observed that Kashmiris want accession to Pakistan, for which they have rendered unprecedented sacrifices during the last six decades.

However, India is maintaining its occupation of Kashmir due to its army there he said that 800,000 occupied Kashmir means one well equipped soldier for seven Kashmiris.

India has turned the occu-

pied territory into a jail. It has enforced black laws which provide an umbrella to the Indian army which feels itself save because of these laws and is against their revocation.

He said not only the international human rights organizations, rather Indians too against these laws and are demanding their withdrawal. A few days back the amnesty international has one again called for an early withdrawn of the “laws less law” like public safety act. Under the Public Safety Act as well as on Special Forces Act the Indian army is free from the jurisdiction of the judiciary under the Safety Act any Kashmiri detain with any judiciary process. Therefore, he has begun arrested again and again.

Whereas, under the Special Powers Act, an ordinary soldier can kill any person or destroy any property.

Maulana Fazlur Rahman

has said that some international powers are not only giving ammunition and equipments to the Indian army but their army personnel are also assisting the Indian army.

He said due to heavy deployment of armed forces as well as black laws there is a lot of strictness in the Occupied Kashmir giving an impression of a piece of a jail.

However, despite all this the moral of Kashmiris is high and they are keeping their freedom movement alive. He said that history is witness to the fact that the dark period of slavery is not limitless or unending. The slavery of Kashmiris will also end soon and day of Kashmiris freedom is not far off. What is required for freedom is will to fight which is present in Kashmiris. Therefore, they want capitulate to Indian rules and with one day snatch their freedom.—APP

I SLAMABAD —All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) in Indian occupied Kashmir while condoling the sad demise of liberation activist, Sheikh Abdur Rasheed alias Ibrahim of Hyderpoora, paid rich tributes to him for his contribution towards the struggle for Kashmir liberation.

An APHC delegation comprised Hakeem Abdur Rasheed, Abdur Rasheed Untoo, Abdul Majeed Wani and Muhammad Maqbool Sofi visited the residence of the deceased and expressed sympathy with the members of the bereaved family, Kashmir Media Service reported.

Hakeem Abdur Rasheed, speaking on the occasion, recalled that like Sheikh Abdur Rasheed thousands of Kashmiris had rendered unprecedented sacrifices for securing right of self-determination for the people of Kashmir and their struggle would not be allowed to go waste.

He reiterated the Kashmiris’ resolve to continue liberation struggle till its logical concluMUZAFFARABAD: Workers of PWD protesting for acceptance of their demands. sion.—APP

Trendy Pakistan apparels abuzz in Held Kashmir SRINAGAR—Trendy Pakistani apparels with different hand embroideries and styles on rich fabrics attract hordes of customers in Jammu and Kashmir amid Eid festivities. Cross-border trade has enabled the movement of goods and services and opened the doors for expansion of business in the province. In the changing environment of the fashion world, there is surge in the demand for Pakistani fabrics and dress materials in Srinagar city, due to the stylish designs, which compliments the culture and dressing sense of Kashmiris. A customer, Tabasum Ahmad, said that the designs and patterns of Pakistani apparels are unique. “Basically, there has been a craze for Pakistani suites as the designs and patterns are unique. Usually, the stuff available in Kashmir comes from Saharanpur and other states. Pa-

kistani suites with heavy veils are suitable and wide enough for Muslims because they have to cover their head and contours of the body. The quality of the cotton is very good. Pakistani dress materials are available in abundance in the market,” said Ahmad.

Pakistani dress materials including embroidered, printed, silk and cotton suits are available in the local markets. A dealer, Showket Ahmad, said that with the cross-border trade, the Pakistani dress materials are easily available in the market.

“Since the cross border trade has begun the demand for Pakistani suites has increased. The customer’s first preference is to but Pakistani suit.

Earlier, these suits were not easily available but now with the cross border trade these dress materials are easily available in the markets,” said

Ahmad. The cross border trade started in 2008 after the Kashmiris demanded for an alternative trade route for business purpose. Another aim of the cross border trade was to initiate contact between people living in both the regions and promote peace. In wake of the decline in violence in India’s Kashmir, one gets to see various development activities taking place in every sector. One such example is the opening of ATM in the border village and recently radio cabs were also introduced.

Recently India’s junior telecom minister Sachin Pilot launched the video conferencing facility with the help of a landline phone in the state.

It was launched under the aegis of the state run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited. Meanwhile according to reports the effects of unprecedented energy crisis have started appearing on the export

horizons of Pakistan. The readymade garments export industry that was growing at a rapid pace, is reported to be continuously nosediving since 2008-2009. The importance of the garment sector in the overall economic perspective is two fold.

On the one hand the sector has the potential to be the engine of Pakistan textile export growth, while on the other the sector is the largest source of creating low cost employment in the country at all levels. Due to the obvious reasons, the garments sector has lost export orders worth $800 million so far in the current fiscal year and if the situation continued unabated it is feared that the exports would further decline in months to come. The last quarter of the year has always been a busy period for Pakistani manufacturers and exporters due to more than usual Christmas and New Year orders

coming from EU and America. But this year the garments industry registered a decline of 15-20 per cent in terms of export orders due to uncertainty of shipments, which are delayed due to electricity and gas load shedding. Apart from the domestic problems of Pakistan, there is yet another misfortune waiting for Pakistani exports in EU and American markets: the global crisis.

It is significant to note that the key global markets are coping with the economic turmoil.It is due to the compounded reasons that Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) is anticipating a sharp decline in apparel exports nearly to $3 billion this fiscal year by about 30 per cent for the big economic downturn both EU and US undergo at present. — NNI

Liquid Foreign reserves ISLAMABAD—The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $ 14,319.3 million on October 12, 2012, a statement of SBP issued on Thursday said.

Giving the break-up of the foreign reserves position, the statement said that Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan stood at US $ 9,814.2 million while the net foreign reserves held by banks (other than SBP) were US $ 4,505.1 million as on October 12,2012. The total liquid foreign reserves stood at $ 14,319.3 million.—APP

Stocks edge higher Staff Reporter KARACHI —Pakistani stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday but investors remained cautious while waiting for upcoming earnings announcements, traders said. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.16 per cent, or 24.57 points, higher at 15,679.19, on total volume of 134.62 million shares. In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee ended at 95.37/95.44 to the dollar, compared to Wednesday’s close of 95.37/95.43.

5.28m cotton bales MULTAN—Over 5.28 million bales of cotton have reached ginneries across Pakistan as of October 15,2012, showing an increase by 12.03 per cent, says a fortnightly report issued by Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) here on Thursday. According to the PCGA report, cotton arrival was recorded at 5,283,197 bales and of them 4,628,846 or 4.6 million bales were ginned. Arrivals from Punjab were recorded at 3.05 million or 3,052,297 bales showing a shortfall by 8.89 per cent. In Sindh, it stood at 2.23 million or 2,230,900 bales till October 15, 2012, showing an increase by 63.38 per cent.

The report said that exporters have bought 99,648 bales of cotton including 6,988 bales from Punjab and 92,660 from Sindh.—APP

ADB declares BISP’s performance impressive STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —Asian Development Bank has expressed satisfaction over the achievements of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in the field of social protection during the course of last four years. In a meeting between Federal Minister and Chairperson BISP, Farzana Raja and ADB’s Board of Directors the performance of BISP was lauded. The Bank delegation was lead by its Executive Director Mr. Maurin Sitorus whereas Alternate Executive Director Mr. Siraj Shamsuddin, and Country Director ADB Pakistan Mr.

were of the view that the BISP’s transparent and technology based working mechanisms could prove fundamentals to the success of such social protection programmes in the future.

Farzana Raja thanked ADB for its continuous support to the Programme, she reiterated her resolve to carry on with the zeal to revolutionize the lives of the millions affected by chronic poverty and socioeconomic injustice. She said that ADB’s support worth $200 Million is ideally helping the Programme to achieve its set objectives by launching various pro-

Pakistan to assist Afghanistan to promote gems, marble industry STAFF REPORTER I S L A M A B A D —Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, said that Pakistan is ready to extend technical assistance to Afghanistan for promoting and strengthening its gem stone and marble industry.

He also proposed the holding of Pak-Afghan Joint Industrial Exhibitions in the prominent cities of the world. He expressed these views while addressing at the inaugural ceremony of an industrial exhibition

“Made in Pakistan”, jointly organized by Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Afghanistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, at Kabul today, says a press release received here today from Afghanistan.

Underscoring the significance for promoting the trade and economic relations between the two neighboring countries, he said that it was the need of the hour to intensify the economic relations by holding frequent exhibitions in both the countries, undertaking trade exchange programs and joint venture and

further expanding the trade volume from the existing 2 billion dollars for the economic advantages of the two sides.

The Ambassador said that the trade between the two countries had shown a remarkable progress during the last one decade as it jumped from US $ 26 million in 2001 to 2 billion dollars in 2012. He said that both countries were required to focus on promoting economic relations which would bring industrial, agricultural and economic development to both sides.

PTCL holds 17th annual general meeting STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) held its 17th Annual General meeting here today. Chaired by Chairman, PTCL Board of Directors, Amir Tariq Zaman Khan and attended by a large number of PTCL shareholders. The meeting apprised the shareholders of the company’s ongoing efforts and achievements attainted during the past financial year.

“Despite the economic Rates for conversions K ARACHI —The following challenges facing the counrates will be applicable for try, PTCL has remained conversion into rupees of strong in emerging segments Foreign Currency Depos- of broadband both in wireline as well as wireless and its, Dollar Bearer Certifiother corporate services”, cates, Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates, Special said Mr. Amir Tariq in his opening remarks. “For the U.S. Dollar Bonds and profits thereon by all banks and for providing Forward Cover on Foreign Currency Deposits (excluding F.E.25 deposits) by the State Bank on October 19, 2012. The rates are U.S. Dollar Rs 95.4300, Japanese Yen Rs 1.2042, Pound Sterling Rs 154.2053 and Euro Rs 125.2710.—APP

People quit bosses, not organizations for the most part.

Werner E. Liepach along with the Bank’s Executive Directors from all over the world were also part of it.

ADB’s Executive Director Mr. Maurin Sitorus said that households could prove to be the engine of economic growth for any country and BISP by providing socio-economic strength to women has taken a step in the right direction. He said that ADB is providing support to BISP for its various social sector endeavors and looking at the progress and performance of the Programme, this cooperation will be further enhanced in the future.

ADB’s Executive Directors

year under review, PTCL Group’s profit after tax was Rs. 11.5 billion, 36% higher compared to the profit achieved last year, where Group’s revenue was Rs.110.8 billion for the year 2011-12 which is 8% higher as compared to the previous year.”

Chairman PTCL BoD Amir Tariq Zaman Khan assured the shareholders that all strategies planned and implemented by the board are aimed towards utilizing PTCL’s full potential and to achieve the corporate objectives with competence and determination.

“Our shareholders’ sustained confidence and trust in PTCL is a result of our continued commitment to ensuring transparent and seamless flow of informa-

tion”, said President and CEO PTCL Walid Irshaid “Our strategies revolve around building a unique customer experience by bringing products which meet the needs of the future.”

PTCL was declared the leading operator in Pakistan

by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s 2011 Quality of Service survey for providing the highest quality Broadband Internet service to consumers. PTCL also celebrated the historic milestone of becoming the first Broadband service provider to achieve ‘One Million Broadband Customers’ mark this year.

The year under review saw a wide range of new services and products introduced under the banner of 3G ‘EVO’.

poor initiatives.

BISP by virtue of its nationwide poverty survey has compiled a digitized data of 27 million households. This data is an asset for Pakistan which could prove phenomenal in the success of poverty alleviation and various social sector projects.

Chairperson BISP told the visiting delegation that Federal Minister and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme Farzana Raja various impact evaluations, meeting with Asian Development Bank’s Board of Director in Islamabad. baseline studies, spot check analyses, assessments and audits have been carried out by third party international firms who have shown complete satisfaction over BISP’s operations, accuracy, effectiveness and transparency.

Self-Employment Scheme

Austria keen to invest in hydel power projects

Shahbaz distributes interest-free loans

STAFF REPORTER L A H O R E —Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that interest-free loan worth Rs.2 billion are being distributed among deserving persons annually under Chief Minister’s Self-Employment Scheme and 150,000 families are benefiting from this scheme. He said that Chief Minister’s Self-Employment Scheme is aimed at eliminating beggary and promoting business for putting Pakistan on the road to progress and prosperity so that every Pakistani could to live with honour and dignity. He said that Punjab government gave up such aid of

‘Aghyaar’ one and a half years ago as was immersed in the blood of innocent people and compromised national honour. He said that inspite of this decision, development projects are being implemented in Punjab successfully. He said that billions of rupees of poor nation have been misappropriated during the last 65 years due to which Pakistan is facing extreme poverty.

He said that looters and plunderers have brought the country to the verge of disaster and the elements who have looted the hard-earned money of the poor are enjoying power. However, he said, the time will soon come when the looted money will

be recovered and spent on the betterment of the masses.

He was addressing a function regarding distribution of interest-free loans under Chief Minister ’s Self-Employment Scheme at Al-hamra Cultural Complex, Gaddafi Stadium, here today. Provincial Minister Ahmad Ali Aulakh, Advisor Mansha Ullah Butt, Assembly Members, senior officials of Punjab government and a large number of people were present. Executive Director Akhuwat Dr. Amjad Saqib highlighted the aims and objectives of Chief Minister ’s Self-Employment Scheme.

I SLAMABAD—Austrian government has desired to participate in the bidding process for mega Water and Power projects and to enhance invest in small hydel projects.

This was discussed during a meeting between Ambassador of Austria to Pakistan H.E Mr.Axel Wech along with two member delegations and the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar here on Thursday. During the meeting both sides discussed various matters of mutual interest and cooperation in the energy sector.

The Minister said that the government will well come the Austrian investment and facilitate the investors. The Minister said that Pakistan is energy deficient country and has great potential in hydel, wind and coal generation.

The Minister offered them to invest in the small, medium hydel and run of river projects. The govt has planned to change the energy mix to generate cheaper power.

The Ambassador said that various companies are Austrian Ambassador to Pakistan Axel Wech talking to Federal Minister for Water and already working in Pakistan Power Ch Ahmed Mukhtar. in energy sector. He said that Austrian are interested to invest in Tarbela-V extension project and other mega hydel projects.—Online

Car sales increase by 11pc STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —The Automo-

bile sector offered 431 cars with an average every day in fiscal year 2012, showing an increase of 11 percent over the previous year, but business is expected to slowdown during the current fiscal year.

Overall sales stood at a four-year high of 157,325 units during the year under review as compared to the production of 127,944 units during the fiscal year Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited Board of Directors preside over the 2011, official sources revealed.

17th Annual General meeting with shareholders of the company.

Olive to be cultivated over 1,500 hectare

STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —As many as 1500 hectares of land would be brought under olive cultivation within next three years with an aim to exploit the potential in this particular sector and make the country self-sufficient in olive production.

A three-year project has been launched under the debt swap agreement between Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and Italian Government for Promotion of Olive Farming in Pakistan, a official in the Council said.

PARC has already identi-

fied olive cultivation areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Potohar Region (Punjab) and Balochistan and has started work on planting olive trees since March this year.

Dr. Mohammad Munir Goraya, Senior Director (Crops) & National Project Director (Olive Production) said that the PARC has taken all the four provinces onboard for launching the project.

The land being brought under the cultivation under the project would be in addition to that already utilized for the cultivation of olive.

The official was of the

view that olive cultivation needs fewer resources and marginal lands are needed for its cultivation so it is a lucrative engagement for farmers who can take full advantage of this.

Once established, the olive gardens would start bearing fruit after three years (in 2015), so the Council would set up four olive oil extraction machinery (plants) to facilitate farmers, he said and elaborated that one each big plant would be established in Balochistan and Potohar region while two units would be installed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA region.

Air connectivity with India, reopening of Khokrapar border on cards AMANULLAH KHAN KARACHI—Air connectivity between India and Pakistan and reopening of Khokhrapar-Monabao border will b e taken up by the joint working group of the countries soon.

New dedicated trade gate is being established near ceremonial gate at Wagah border to enhance trading hours upto 12 hours. Previously trading hours were upto 5 hours from Wagah ceremonial gate which is also used visitors. First time, besides liberalizing business visas,

tourism Visa is introduced in new visa regime which will be implemented after ratification by the Government of Pakistan. Both countries have to walk last mile to start moving towards preferential trade by the end of this year; two countries can create enabling environment while the business communities have to explore new horizons for commercial cooperation.

This was stated by Mr Sharat Sabharwal the High Commissioner of India while elaborating that two governments have liberalized visa regime and prioritized opening of banks branches in re-

spective countries while India also allowed Pakistan investors to invest in India during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry today.

On issues relating to Non-Tariff Barriers he said that recently three agreements were signed between two governments viz. Customs Cooperation, Agreement on Mutual Recognition & Redressal of grievances which will be implemented after completion of all legal formalities to streamline bilateral trade.

He stated that the negative list will be dismantled by De-

cember 2012 thereafter likely there would be normalized WTO trade regime. India has reduced its SAFTA sensitive list by 30 percent from 878 tariff lines to 614 tariff lines. Out of 264 tariff lines being removed 155 tariff lines are pertaining to agriculture and 106 relate to textile items. Upon full transition to MFN status for India by December 2012, India would thereafter bring its SAFTA sensitive list to 100 tariff lines by April 2013 and thereafter Pakistan after seeking Cabinet’s approval will also simultaneously bring down its sensitive list to a maximum of 100 tariff lines in next 5

years. He said that Indian Trade Regulators met Pakistan businesspersons and had deliberations on bilateral trade issues. He was of the view that excessive sea trade should be converted to land route via road and railways.

President Muhammad Haroon Agar, President KCCI in his welcome address to High Commissioner of India H.E. Sharat Sabharwal expressed that fostering the process of regional trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and India will bring peace and prosperity in the region. He applauded steps taken by Indo Pak Gov-

ernments to enhance bilateral economic and commercial cooperation and to promote peace and prosperity in the region. He also recognized and commended efforts of Indian High Commissioner in this regard. He hoped that “negative list” will be dismantled before the end of year 2012 and Pakistan will accord MFN status to India as well.

He voiced that KCCI, firmly believes that both countries will have to demonstrate same greater political will to foster relations as shown in negotiations during last two years.

It is the need of the hour that both Governments, besides

opening new land routes, particularly of KhokraparMonabao, should positively consider to resume operations of Air India and other private airlines for Pakistan.

He appreciated also initiatives of Indo-Pak governments for liberalizing visa regime and allowing business visas with multiple entries for different cities. He conversed that the business community had welcomed the moves to establish banks branches to streamline business activities in respective countries and Indian Government to allow Pakistani investors for investment in India. Implementation of

agreements on Customs Cooperation, Redressal of grievances and agreement of mutual recognition will bring the private sectors of two countries more closer to each other and strengthen business ties, he opined. He stated that KCCI provided its meaningful proposals on enhancement of Indo-Pak Trade, compilation of “Negative List” and drafting of 03 agreements between India and Pakistan. KCCI also organized frequent business delegations to India and two exhibitions are planned in Karachi with collaboration of Indian counterparts viz.

KESC asks consumers to minimize use of A/Cs STAFF REPORTER KARACHI—Karachi Electric Supply Company has asked its consumers to conserve electricity in view of the reduced and erratic gas supply to its power generation plants, adversely affecting the power production.

KESC requested the general public, to consume as less power as possible especially during the peak hours of 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM when the power demand exceeds 2400 megawatts. In its statement, KESC said that rationalizing the usage of air-conditioning and the judicious utilization of other appliances would enable it to optimize load distribution for the maximum possible consumers.

KESC appreciated the support and continuous patronage from its power consumers and said that gas supply to KESC had significantly gone down making it extremely challenging for the power utility to meet the prevalent high, power demand.

COO Habib Metropolitan meets Sardar Tanvir Ilyas OBSERVER REPORT I SLAMABAD —In a meeting with Sardar Tanvir Ilyas , President PGCL, Syed Talib Rizvi of Habib Metropolitan Bank informed him about the operations of the bank within and outside Pakistan.

He said that the Bank is providing state of the art facilities to its customers in renowned cities of the world and also that the Bank is interested in providing facilites for the different projects of the Sardar Group. Sardar Tanvir Ilyas Khan while appreciating the service of the Bank thanked and welcomed them for the interest shown in The Centaurus.

EU scheme an opportunity for Pakistan STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —Trade Development Authority Pakistan, Islamabad organized an awareness seminar on the implements of EU autonomous Trade Preference Scheme for Pakistan in collaboration with Ministry of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce & Industry here Thursday The purpose of this seminar was to acquaint the exporters, trade bodies and relevant organizations about the special market access being granted by EU for 75 products exported by Pakistan which is to take effect from November 1st , 2012. It stood imperative to create awareness among

the Pakistani exporters on the details of the Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme (ATPs), so that they could take full advantage of the export quotas/ ceilings for the duration of the special faculty, which is expiring on Dec 31, 2013.

Mr. Asaf Ghafoor, the Federal Secretary, Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Integration was the chief guest for the event who deliberated on the EU ATP’s Scheme in his opening remarks as a landmark in the economic history of Pakistan.

He reflected on the immense opportunity emanating out of these concessions and emphasized to make the best use out of it.

Lawari tunnel being completed in accordance with int’l standards STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Communications Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan Khalil while congratulating the whole nation including the people of Chatral, has said that work on Lawari Tunnel has begun with full force and the politicians who launched a vicious propaganda against it should bear in mind that this great project of our country will be completed in three years.

This project costing Rs. 18 billion will be completed in accordance with international standards, the Minister added. He expressed these views while talking to media persons after inspecting construction work at the project. Earlier, when the

Federal Minister arrived at Chatral Airport, he was warmly welcomed by the PPP workers.

Later on, the Federal Minister assured the PPP office bearers from Chatral former member provincial assembly Zainul Abideen, Senior Vice President PPP Syed Burhan Shah, General Secretary Muhammad Hakeem Advocate, President PPP Sub-division Chatral Shareef Hussain, General Secretary Khoosh Muhammad, that the present democratic government of PPP is paying attention to the development not only of the whole country including Chatral, but it also wants alleviation of deprivations of the people of Chatral.

Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan also said that Prime Minister

OBSERVER REPORT K ARACHI —Qatar Airways

AMISP rates of commodities L AHORE—Agriculture Marketing Information Service Punjab (AMISP) issued rates of agriculture products in local market on Thursday.

As per details, following are the per 100 kg rates of different agriculture products in Lahore market: Maize minimum Rs 2000 and maximum 2300, Rice Super Karnal Basmati (New) minimum Rs 10000 and maximum Rs 11000, Rice Basmati (old) minimum Rs 11000 and maximum Rs 12000, white sugar minimum Rs 5250 and maximum Rs 5250, white gram (local) minimum Rs 10000 and maximum Rs 10000, Red Chili Whole (Dry) minimum Rs 16000 maximum Rs 16000, Cauliflower minimum Rs 1600 and maximum Rs 2200, Onion minimum Rs 2600 and maximum Rs 2800, Tomato minimum Rs 4000 and maximum Rs 4200, Ginger (china) minimum Rs 10000 and maximum Rs 10500, Garlic (China) minimum Rs 10000 and maximum Rs 10500, Peas minimum Rs 8000 and maximum Rs 9000, Lady Finger minimum Rs 3000 and maximum Rs 3500, Brinjal minimum Rs 700 and maximum Rs 800, Potato Fresh minimum Rs 2400 and maximum Rs 2600, Apple (Golden) minimum Rs 4400 and maximum Rs 5000.— APP

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will soon visit Chatral because it is a PPP stronghold. The Minister said that we want the PPP in Chatral to flourish because its people are dedicated PPP supporters and true followers of Quaide-Awam Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.

In his conversation with the media during inspection of the construction work at Lawari Tunnel, Arbab Alamgir Khan said that it is a development project of international repute and its completion will not only facilitate trade, tourism, industry and agriculture in the region and provide safely and easy travel facility to the people of Chatral but it will also strengthen the country’s economy, he added.

Microsoft CEO sees company becoming more like Apple

Qatar airways introduces new payment options for bookings has announced the introduction of an enhanced booking feature where customers can pay for reservations made on www.qatarairways.com/pk at any Qatar Airways local office.

The new solution offers greater flexibility to passengers who can now create bookings online and pay for these bookings in cash at a local Qatar Airways reservations and ticketing office.

Payment must be completed within 24 hours of creating the booking on w w w. q a t a r a i r w a y s . c o m .

Qatar Airways does not charge any additional booking fees when bookings are made through its website and payment is made at their local office.

He also touched upon the background of these trade concessions by EU and under covered the efforts.

The Government of Pakistan has focused to achieve this objective of the grant of this concession scheme by European Union.

Mr. Fazal Abbas Maken, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce extended welcome remarks at the occasion and referred to it as a significant achievement. He informed the audience that these ISLAMABAD: Federal Secretary Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Integration Asaf Ghafoor addressing concessions were an initia- the awareness seminar on implementation of EU Autonomous Trade Preference Scheme for Pakistan. tive of EU to help Pakistan is economy recover from losses it sustained due to the flood devastation of 2010.

COO Habib Metropolitan, Syed Talib Rizvi meeting with president of Pak Gulf Sardar Tanvir Ilyas Khan.

SECP opens management training scheme for students STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —The SECP is achieving greater levels of transparency at all ranks and departments, including the recruitment schemes, Muhammad Ali, the chairman, Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), said on Thursday.

He said this in a message to the participants of orientation session of management training programme.

Students from over 30 universities participated in the orientation session.

The SECP management training programme aims to further structure the induction of the junior executive induction scheme of the SECP by introducing the entry level position of the Management Trainee. The SECP will induct 30 Management Trainees through several orientation programmes.

The chairman gave an overview of the organization and informed the students about the regulatory framework of the SECP. He said that the organization has set several procedures and moudles to provide a competitive and secure environment for investors.

The orintation was an interactive session. Students made several quaries regarding the working of the SECP, corporate and capital market of pakistan. The SECP executives replied to students quaries. This was the first orientation session for potential Junior executives and similar sessions will be organized in various universities across Pakistan. Following the orientation, the SECP will invite students through press advertisements to appear in an entrance test, that will be organized through the National Testing Service.

S EATTLE —Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has signaled a new direction for the world’s largest software company, pointing to hardware and online services as its future, taking a page from long-time rival Apple Inc. Ballmer’s comments in his annual letter to shareholders published suggested that Microsoft may eventually make its own phones to build on its forthcoming own-brand Surface tablet PC and marketleading Xbox gaming console.

“There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes, as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface,” wrote Ballmer. The new approach mimics Apple Inc, whose massively successful iPhone and iPad demonstrated tight integration of high-quality software and hardware and made Windows devices feel clunky in comparison.

Ballmer, who took over as CEO from co-founder Bill Gates in 2000, said the company would continue to work with its traditional hardware partners, such as Dell Inc, Samsung and HTC, but he made it clear that Microsoft’s role in the so-called ‘ecosystem’ was changing.

“It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses,” he wrote.—Newswire

Uniform drug pricing policy under consideration STAFF REPORTER LAHORE—The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Arshad Farooq Fahim has said that all contract manufacturers in pharmaceutical industry has been given legal cover besides extending their validity till the announcement of new policy due on December 31, 2012.

Arshad Farooq Fahim was addressing pharmaceutical manufacturers here at a Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar, Vice President Mian Abuzar Shad, Chairman PPMA Pakistan Javaid Akhai, Chairman PPMA North Zone Saleem Iqbal, Vice Chairman PPMA

Nasir Qureshi and Former Chairman PPMA Amjad Ali Jawa also spoke on the occasion. He said that the government is considering to introduce a uniform drug pricing policy in country to bring at par the prices of same products being manufactured by different companies.

Arshad Farooq Fahim said that as many as 14000 application for registration are pending with the Authority and the process has be expedited to resolve the issues of registration of products and renewal of licenses of pharmaceutical manufacturers. The CEO said that new fee structure revision for fresh registration (for local manufacturing), import license and contract manufacturing on contract manufac-

turing for export purpose has been put off till mutual understanding between stakeholders and DRAP. He assured the pharmaceutical manufacturers of his full cooperation on all issues being faced by Pharmaceutical industry.

Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar invited the attention of the CEO of Drug Regulatory Authority towards the shortage of medicines and stressed the need for accelerating the process of registration of new medicines. The LCCI President also urged the DRAP CEO to take practical measures for removing the reservations of the pharmaceutical sector before granting MFN status to India.

Japan to import mangoes from Pakistan

NBP has growing overseas alliances base for remittances

AMANULLAH KHAN

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Japan is keen in importing quality mangoes from after installation of VHT plant which is likely to be operation soon to ensure healthy and disease free king of fruits.

A 23- Member delegation comprising of business Executive and top management of Japanese companies from different sectors had visited 7th Expo Pakistan.

It may be noted that Mr.Naoaki Kamoshida Economic Counselor and Taichi Arioke, Economic Advisor, Embassy of Japan, visited TDAP Head office met with Mr. Kabir Kazi, Secretary TDAP. The delegation congratulated TDAP on the successful conduct of Expo 2012 while Secretary TDAP appreciated the participation of JETRO in the event in a big way. Both sides exchange views on the issues pertaining to bilateral trade. The Japanese team appreciated the Business Promotion Policy of Pakistan and mentioned that it was quite encouraging for investment in Pakistan.

KARACHI—NBP has the fastest growing overseas correspondent base for home remittances. In just around two years time NBP has made alliances with almost all leading Financial Institutions/ Money service Business providing remittance services, for facilitation of overseas Pakistanis across the globe.

“NBP’s focus has always been the facilitation of overseas Pakistanis and encouraging them to use legal channels for sending their hard earned money to their loved ones at home. The team at

Kashf Bank signs agreement with MyBankersOnline OBSERVER REPORT L

A H O R E — K a s h f Microfinance Bank has partnered with MyBankersOnline for online promotion of microfinance services, brand promotion and lead generation of its term deposit facilities.

MyBankersOnline.com is Pakistan’s pioneer website on consumer banking products and personal finance.

The contract was signed by the executives from both organizations at the Kashf Head Office located in Lahore on 15th October.

MyBankersOnline will be managing Kashf Bank’s social media marketing and will be assisting with deposit mobilization for the bank through online referrals.

As per recent Government of Pakistan estimates the number of skilled, semi skilled and unskilled workforce going abroad every year will touch around 700,000 in 2012. The increase in overseas correspondent base especially in key remittance markets for Pakistan will enable these expats to remit money home through fast, convenient, reliable and absolutely free channels.

NBP is truly the nation’s bank and the growth in global coverage for remittance business is line with its core objectives to serve the national cause by facilitating overseas Pakistanis.

Shaikh makes Pakistan power 100 list STAFF REPORTER K ARACHI —JWT Pakistan CEO Mansoor Karim Shaikh has been named one of Pakistan’s most powerful and influential people in the inaugural Pakistan Power 100 list, alongside cricketerturned-politician Imran Khan, Ehsan Malik, Chairman Unilever Pakistan, and Lord Nazir Ahmed, a member of the House of Lords and the UK’s first Muslim life peer.

The Pakistan Power 100 was created by UK-based consulting company Carter Anderson Group, which publishes the Global Power 100.

Over 33,000 nominations were received for the Pakistan Power 100, which was judged

by a panel led by Pakistan-born investor and BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” star, James Caan.

The Pakistan Power 100 winner ’s book, which was launched at a black-tie event in London on September 29, includes messages from British Prime Minister David Cameron and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who describes the Power 100 as “role models” whose “remarkable achievements are a source of inspiration for other Pakistanis.”

“I am incredibly honoured and humbled to be included on this list,” said Mansoor.

As Group CEO for JWT, Contract advertising and TMedia, which is media buying house, Mansoor leads a

Jooma new president of OICCI STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI —Asif Jooma has been elected as the president of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI).

The managing committee of the OICCI in its meeting on October 12 also elected Kimihide Ando as vice president, it said.

Jooma has been engaged in the corporate sector since 1983 having worked for ICI Pakistan Limited prior to joining Abbott in 2007. He has been the STAFF REPORTER former president of the I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a n American Business Council Post has extended Electronic Money Order (EMO) service to various cities including Muzaffarabad General Post Office (GPO), Chakwal GPO, Jhelum GPO, STAFF REPORTER Attock GPO, Mirpurkhas GPO, Sukkur GPO and I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a n Nawabshah (Benazirabad) Vanaspati Manufacturers GPO. Association (PVMA) on Initially EMO service has Thursday said violent strike started between eleven ma- by Edible Oil Tankers Assojor cities including ciation in Karachi is crippling Islamabad, Rawalpindi, industrial activities and pushLahore, Faisalabad, Multan, ing country towards food inSialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, security.

Karachi and Hyderabad Tankers association has through 17 General Post Of- started a strike since fifteen fices (GPOs). days to press for increased An official of Pakistan upcountry freight which is Post said that the service unjustified, Acting Chairman would be extended to all 83 PVMA Atif Ikram Sheikh General Post Offices (GPOs) said. across the country. The serTalking to business comvice would facilitate the citi- munity at FPCCI Capital Ofzens for transferring up to Rs fice, he said that prices of 100,000 within 30 seconds, he edible oil are receding in the added. international market while He said that Pakistan situation is opposite in PakiPost is emphasizing in the use stan owing to disrupted supof new communication and ply chain. information technologies to He said that ninety-nine move beyond what is tradi- oil refining units have been tionally regarded as a its core closed due to non-availabilpostal business. ity of raw material which has

Pakistan Post extends EMO service

NBP has made it possible by launching new, innovative and state of the art remittance products which are compatible with the technology available globally resulting in easy integration with overseas counterparts while staying complaint with domestic and overseas regulations.

The services offered by NBP are satisfying to the customer needs which is the basic reason for NBP’s phenomenal success in the home remittance business” said Khalid Bin Shaheen SEVP/ Group Chief-NBP and Chairman NBP Exchange Co. Ltd. in a recently held ceremony.

and is a director on the board of various companies, including Board of Investment, government of Pakistan.

Ando joined Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan in 1982 and has worked in various countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia and twice in Pakistan, according to the statement.

His first tenure in Pakistan was 1998-2003, and his present tenure started from April 2010. He is also on the boards of Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited and Tri-Pack Films Limited.

Country inching towards food crisis: PVMA left some 50 thousand directly employed people jobless while government is losing revenue of Rs 600 million per day.

Atif Ikram Sheikh who is also Chairman Coordination, FPCCI said that the protests by oil tanker owners have turned violent on a number of occasions resulting in riots, shooting and burning of cargo-carrying tankers.

So far, protesters have burnt six oil tankers with oil worth Rs 60 million to discourage other transporters, he said.

Protest is a basic right but criminal activities should not be tolerated under any circumstances, he said adding that ghee industry is in grip of extortionists who are hellbent to earn unjustified profits. Sheikh said, “We are victim of blackmail, discrimination, pilferage of cargo, and unfair increase in freight rate.”

team of 200 people in Karachi and Lahore.

Mansoor was nominated as Vice Chairman the Advertising Association of Pakistan (AAP) in 2011. He is also an active member of the American Business Council of Karachi, and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a global network of CEOs, where he currently serves as the Education Chair of YPO’s Pakistan chapter. Mansoor is also an avid snooker player who has represented Pakistan at a regional level.

He rates his optimism as the biggest catalyst of change in his personal and professional life. “I believe that for Pakistan, the best is yet to come,” said Mansoor.

British Deputy HC hosts dinner for KCCI K ARACHI —The British Deputy High Commissioner (HC) and Director for Trade and Investment in Pakistan, Francis Campbell hosted a dinner in honour of former President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) - Mr Mian Abrar Ahmed. The dinner was attended by the managing committee of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Francis Campbell also welcomed the newly elected President, Mr. Muhammad Haroon Agar.

Mr. Abrar Ahmed has been with the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 2004 and has held the position of President since 2011. He held the position of Senior Vice President from 2004 to 2005. He is also on the board of members of the Pakistan German Business Council and brings with him more than 30 years experience in manufacturing and trading industry.

Formed in 1959, The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry is one of the largest that enjoys its own legal entity to represent the various productive and services activities of the private sector in Karachi. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry enjoys singular distinction of being the premier Chamber of the country, representing the mainstream of economic activities by virtue of its location in industrial and commercial hub of the country.

UK Trade and Investment Pakistan have been working closely with Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, by facilitating regular trade delegations between UK and Pakistan to increase the bi-lateral trade relationship.

‘No crisis over tax-heavy budget’ LISBON—The junior party that guarantees the Portuguese government’s majority in parliament promised on Thursday not to create a political crisis when it votes on next year’s tax-grabbing budget on October 31. Portugal’s Foreign Minister Paulo Portas (L) walks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (R) after posing for a photo with other European and North African leaders during a summit of Mediterranean neighbours in Valletta. Political dissent over the scale of austerity in the budget has grown and prompted speculation that the centre-right coalition could fracture under the pressure of meeting the terms of Portugal’s international bailout. Popular protests are also growing. Thousands have taken to the streets and on Thursday, workers at oil company Galp refineries and state-controlled news agency Lusa went on strike. A general strike is scheduled for November 14. But the CDS party, the right-wing junior partner in the coalition government, said in a statement emailed to Reuters that it “will vote on the budget considering that Portugal cannot afford to have a political crisis which would make its economic and social situation more severe.” The statement was signed by CDS leader Paulo Portas, who is also Portugal’s foreign minister. Next year’s draft budget, announced on Monday, includes the steepest tax rise in Portugal’s democratic history as the country strives to meet the goals set under its 78-billion-euro ($102 billion) bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. —Reuters

Turkish pianist on trial for insulting Islam I STANBUL —A top Turkish pianist and composer appeared in court on Thursday to defend himself against charges of offending Muslims and insulting Islam in comments he made on Twitter. Fazil Say, who has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and others, is on trial for sending tweets that included one in April that joked about a call to prayer that lasted only 22 seconds.

Say tweeted: “Why such haste? Have you got a mistress waiting or a raki on the table?” Raki is a traditional alcoholic drink made with aniseed. Islam forbids alcohol and many Islamists consider the remarks unacceptable.

Prosecutors in June charged Say with inciting hatred and public enmity, and

with insulting “religious values.” He faces a maximum 18 months prison term, although any sentence is likely to be suspended.

Say, who has served as a cultural ambassador for the European Union, rejected the charges and demanded his acquittal, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

The trial was adjourned until Feb. 18 and the musician was granted the right not to appear at subsequent court hearings due to his concert schedules.

The prosecution has caused anger among intellectuals in Turkey and escalated concerns over freedom of expression in the country. Hundreds of his fans, supporters and human rights activists went to the courthouse in Istanbul in a show of solidarity, holding up signs that read:

“Fazil Say is not alone” and “Free Art, Free World.”

Say, 42, is a strong critic of the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a devout Muslim who has preached conservative values, alarming some secular Turks who fear the government plans to make religion part of their lifestyle.

Some have drawn parallels between Say’s case and that of the Russian band Pussy Riot who staged an impromptu punk performance at Moscow’s main cathedral in February in protest against President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy.

The three women were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, but they insist that their protest was political in nature

and not an attack on religion.

Turkey has a history of prosecuting its artists and writers, and the European Union has long encouraged the nation to improve freedom of speech if it wants to become a member of the bloc one day.

In a report on Turkey’s progress toward membership issued last week, the EU criticized Turkey for “recurring infringements of the right to liberty and security and to a fair trial, as well as of the freedom of expression.” It said restrictions on media freedoms and an increasing number of court cases against writers and journalists remained “serious issues.”

Turkey’s Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has been prosecuted for his comments about the mass killings of Armenians under a law that made it a crime to insult the

NEW D ELHI—Australian Prime Min-

‘Salafis must not be demonized’ PARIS—Demonizing ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists is a mistake that will only lead to them eventually winning power, said the leader of Tunisia’s ruling Islamist Ennahda party, Rachid Ghannouchi.

Secular opposition politicians in Tunisia said last week that a leaked video of a secret meeting between Ghannouchi and puritanical Salafis showed the government was not the moderate Islamist force it claimed to be. Dismissing those claims, Ghannouchi told French daily Le Monde that Tunisia should learn from past mistakes, when cracking down on opposition forces radicalized them and emboldened some to try to overthrow the government. Some elements within Salafi movements should be allowed to participate in Tunisia’s transition toward democracy as long as they act within the law. “One must distinguish between the fundamentalists that turn to violence and the others,” Ghannouchi said in remarks published on Thursday. “If we demonize the Salafis, then in 10 or 15 years they will be in power.” Tunisia, where an uprising against secular strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali provided the first spark in last year’s “Arab Spring” revolts, is now ruled by an Islamist-led government that has promised not to impose strict Muslim rules and to respect women’s rights.

Liberals say policies touted by Salafis threaten human rights in a country once seen as a beacon of Arab secularism, but which is now under siege from religious hardliners who have attacked cinemas and artistic performances, arguing that they violate Islam.—Reuters

Sharad Pawar involved in massive graft MUMBAI—Former IPS officer-turned-activist Y.P. Singh Thursday accused union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of being at the centre of a massive irrigation scam in Maharashtra. Y.P. Singh also slammed India Against Corruption (IAC) leader Arvind Kejriwal for his selective exposures against politicians and alleged that he did not reveal all the information pertaining to the scam that they had both worked to expose. “IAC had all information pertaining to the irrigation scam in Maharashtra but Kejriwal did not reveal all the facts. He has been selective in his revelations,” he told media persons here. The former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer also accused Kejriwal of taking his favour in the name of anti-corruption movement and using the documents for “personal political advancement”.

“In the name of IAC/NGO Kejriwal got legal documentation done by me for central ministers. But he used them for his political career,” he said. Y.P. Singh’s claims came a day after Kejriwal targeted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari, accusing him of receiving personal favours by getting around 100 acres of agriculture land in Maharashtra after the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government there allegedly bent rules to favour him. Targeting Pawar over the Lavasa Corporation case, he claimed that the agriculture minister was at the centre of the real scam.—Reuters

Coastal secessionists M OMBASA—A Kenyan lawmaker and prominent Muslim preacher appeared in court on Thursday accused of inciting violence, days after he said he would be willing to fund a group campaigning for independence for the country’s coastal region. Sheikh Mohammed Dor was charged with “incitement to violence” and uttering words that “indicated or implied that it was or might be desirable to disobey the lawful authority of the government of Kenya”. Police arrested the leader of the Mombasa Republican Council Omar Mwamnuadzi on Monday, as part of a drive to eliminate the separatist group from the tourist hotspot and trade hub. “He was merely exercising his constitutional freedom of speech, but we will argue that in court when that time comes,” Adam told Reuters. A senior Muslim cleric who attended the court accused the police of violating Dor’s rights at the time of arrest. “They did not give him the opportunity to even call his lawyer or family,” said Sheikh Khalifa Mohammed.—Reuters

tioned whether heaven was a tavern or a brothel, because of the promises that wine will flow and each believer will be greeted by virgins.

Say has since closed his Twitter account and has said he plans to leave Turkey for Japan. His lawyer said Say has received some death threats.

The musician, known for his eccentricities on stage, has pressed ahead with concerts and recitals in Turkey despite his legal woes.

Last month, he played to a packed auditorium in Ankara where people without tickets were allowed to sit on the steps of the aisles, and received a standing ovation for the recital that included his own compositions influenced by a traditional Turkish string instrument as well as a jazzed-up rendition of Mozart.—AP

Moon made from earth: Scientists

Australia ready to sell uranium to India ister Julia Gillard said yesterday she looked forward to starting negotiations on the sale of uranium to energystarved India as she prepared to meet her counterpart in New Delhi. Indian Premier Manmohan Singh will welcome Gillard to a former palace in the capital later in the day to begin talks on buying the valuable ore, which New Delhi needs to power its ambitious civilian nuclear program. “Australia has opened the door for uranium sales to India,” she told business leaders. “I look forward to discussing the next steps for our peaceful nuclear co-operation when I meet with Prime Minister Singh.” Australia had previously ruled out exporting the ore as India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but Gillard reversed the policy last year in an effort to improve ties with one of Asia’s biggest economies. The decision had removed a “point of tension” in relations between the nations, she said. “Australia has changed, in determining to export uranium to India. India is changing, through important economic reforms in areas like energy, aviation and retail,” she added. The two leaders will kick off preliminary discussions on a civil nuclear co-operation agreement, but have warned that negotiations are likely to last one or two years. Gillard earlier said that the agreement would guarantee that the uranium would be used only for peaceful purposes.—Arab News

Turkish identity before the government eased that law in an amendment in 2008. In 2007, ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who received death threats because of his comments about the killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915, was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul.

On Thursday, Egemen Bagis, the minister in charge of relations with the EU, suggested the case against Say should be dismissed saying the court should regard Say’s tweets as being within “his right to babble.”

However, he criticized the pianist for “insulting people’s faith and values.” The charges against Say also cite other tweets he sent, including one — based on a verse attributed to famous medieval poet and wine-lover Omar Khayyam — which ques-

H ARVARD , A MERICA —A new theory put forward by Harvard scientists suggests the Moon was once part of the Earth that spun off after a giant collision with another body. In a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science, Sarah Stewart and Matijauk said their theory would explain why the Earth and Moon have similar composition and chemistry.

The Earth was spinning much faster at the time the Moon was formed, and a day lasted only two to three hours, they said. With the Earth spinning so quickly, a giant impact could have launched enough of the Earth’s material to form a moon, the scientists said in an explanation published on A petrol bomb, thrown by protesters, exploded near riot police during a violent protest in Athens’ Syntagma square.

Myanmar find can flood vintage Spitfire market Y ANGON, M YANMAR —As many as 140 World War II Spitfire fighter planes — three to four times the number of airworthy models known to exist — are believed to be buried in nearpristine condition in Myanmar.

A BritishMyanmar partnership says it will begin digging them up by the end of the month. The go-ahead for excavation came earlier this week when the Myanmar government signed an agreement with British aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall and his local partner. Cundall, a farmer and businessman, earlier this year announced he had located 20 of the planes, best known for helping the Royal Air Force win mastery of the skies during the Battle of Britain. On Thursday, however, a retired Myanmar geology professor who has assisted in the recovery operation since 1999 said there are about 140 Spitfires buried in various places around the Southeast Asian country, which until 1948 was a British colony called Burma.

He did not explain the discrepancy in estimates.

Soe Thein said the British brought crates of Spit-

fires to Myanmar in the closing stages of the war, but never used them when the Japanese gave up the fight in 1945. The single-seat version of the fighter plane was 9.14 meters (30 feet) long with an 11.3 meter (37 foot) wingspan. The U.S. Army was in charge of burying the planes after British forces decided to dispose of them that way, he said, adding Cundall interviewed at least 1,000 war veterans, mostly American, to gather information about the aircraft’s fate.

He said a ground search was started in 1999 using magnetometers and ground radar, but faced difficulties.

Only in recent years did technology become advanced enough to be more certain of the finds, he said. Each plane was kept in a crate about 12.2 meters (40 feet) long, 3.4 meters (11 feet) high and 2.7 meters (9 feet) wide, said Soe Thein.

The plans under a twoyear contract are to recover 60 planes in the first phase: 36 planes in Mingaladon, near Yangon’s current air base and international airport; 18 in Myitkyina in Kachin state in the north; and six in Meikthila in cen-

tral Myanmar. Others are to be recovered in a second phase. The Myanmar government will get one plane for display at a museum, as well as half of the remaining total. DJC, a private company headed by Cundall, will get 30 percent of the total and the Myanmar partner company, Shwe Taung Paw, 20 percent.

British Prime Minister David Cameron eased the way to an agreement when he visited Myanmar President Thein Sein in April.

Cundall has said his quest to find the planes involved 12 trips to Myanmar and cost more than 130,000 pounds ($210,000), not including the planned excavation expenses.

Spitfires in working shape are rare and popular with collectors. In 2009, a restored but airworthy Spitfire was sold by British auction house Bonhams for >1,739,500 ($2,544,130) The excavation agreement was signed Tuesday by Civil Aviation Director-General Tin Naing Tun, Cundall on behalf of DJC, and Htoo Htoo Zaw, managing director of Shwe Taung Paw. ‘‘It took 16 years for Mr.

Emirates to end Iran oil imports on US sanctions D UBAI —The United States der executive order and we are market analysts, with ENOC and Dubai are negotiating an end to the desert emirate’s Iranian oil imports to head off the threat of U.S. President Obama sanctioning a trade that has riled Gulf Arab oil producers, industry sources and diplomats said. Washington in the summer tightened controls on financial transactions for importing Iranian condensate, a light hydrocarbon, as part of U.S. efforts to starve Tehran of revenues for its disputed nuclear program.

But Dubai is still buying the oil while U.S. officials encourage the Dubai-government-owned Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) to find another source of supply.

“The Americans did ask ENOC to stop importing but this is still going on,” a UAE oil industry source said of the continued imports by fuel-poor Dubai.

“We have discretion un-

working with UAE to ensure imports wind down,” a U.S. official said. Iran’s condensate sales are its biggest source of income after crude and refined products, with Dubai its biggest buyer ahead of Asian buyers including China.

ENOC refines the condensate at Dubai’s Jebel Ali refinery to provide the city’s 2 million mainly expatriate, often wealthy, residents with cheap subsidized fuel at 1.72 dirhams, 47 cents, a litre. U.S. and European sanctions have succeeded in cutting Iran’s crude exports by half this year, slashing oil revenues and piling pressure on Tehran to drop a nuclear program that Washington and Brussels fear is designed to develop weapons.

But Dubai’s condensate imports from Iran are up nearly 20 percent from last year, according to estimates by some

continuing to bring in Iranian supply in barter deals, Gulf industry sources familiar with the matter said. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and a significant condensate seller, has complained that ENOC’s trade undermines sanctions against its OPEC rival Iran, a western diplomat said.

“The Saudis aren’t happy that another GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member is effectively supporting Iran and undermining sanctions and they’ve made their feelings known,” said the diplomat. An executive order issued by Obama this summer gives the U.S. president the option to sanction those who buy Iranian condensate. Gulf oil industry sources said that ENOC is still in talks with U.S. officials over how the Dubai fuel retailer can stop buying Iranian fuel completely.—AP

Syria Peace Envoy to work out Eid ceasefire A MMAN —The international mediator on Syria will go to Damascus in the next few days to try to broker a brief ceasefire in the war between President Bashar al-Assad’s government and rebels during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, told reporters on Thursday after meeting Jordan’s foreign minister that a respite in hostilities could build confidence and help bring about a longer truce in the 19month-old conflict. “Yes I am going to Syria. This appeal we made to our Syrian brothers, whether in the government or against the government, to stop fighting in the three or four days of the Eid next week,” Brahimi said.

A previous ceasefire in April collapsed after just a few days, with each side blaming the other. Mediator Kofi Annan resigned his post in frustration a few months later. Since then the war pitting Assad’s troops against a loosely-organised rebel force trying to end his 12-year-old rule has intensified. The daily death toll usually tops 100 combatants and civilians and fighting rages in cities including Aleppo, the country’s commercial centre, and even the capital Damascus.—Reuters

Five cops killed in Maoist blast PATNA, INDIA—A land mine attack by Maoist rebels in eastern India killed five policemen on Thursday in a strike that targeted a convoy heading out on patrol before dawn. The blast in a forest area of Bihar state came following a lull in attacks on policemen since six officers were shot in May in an ambush in Chhattisgarh state.

The Maoists have been fighting a deadly low-intensity war against authorities for decades for what they say are the rights of tribal people and landless farmers.

“Five CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) were killed when their vehicle was blasted by an IED (improvised explosive device) set

by Maoists in a forested part of Gaya district,” senior officer M.K. Sinha told AFP by telephone.—Reuters

a Harvard website.

According to the new theory, the Earth later reached its current rate of spinning through gravitational interaction between its orbit around the Sun and the Moon’s orbit around Earth. The scientists noted that their proposition differed from the current leading theory, which holds that the Moon was created from material from a giant body that struck the Earth.

Stewart is a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, and Matijauk, an astronomer and an investigator at the SETI Institute, which supports research into the search for extraterrestrial life. The latter was conducting post-doctoral research at Harvard.—Reuters

Japan ministers war dead shrine’s visit angers China TOKYO—China condemned Hata told reporters his visit a visit by two Japanese ministers to a controversial shrine for war dead on Thursday, further straining already tense relations between Asia’s two largest economies. Sino-Japanese relations have soured sharply in the past month when a row over disputed islands led to violent anti-Japanese protests across China and badly hurt trade.

The ministers’ pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in the region as a symbol of Japan’s war-time militarism, came a day after a visit to the site by Japan’s main opposition party leader and possible next prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Land minister Yuichiro Hata and postal service privatization minister Mikio Shimoji were among a group of non-partisan lawmakers visiting the shrine during the autumn festival.

Fourteen Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are honored at the shrine along with other war dead.

was private. “I visited as a secretary general of the People’s New Party. It won’t be a big diplomatic problem,” said Shimoji, whose party is a small coalition partner of the ruling Democratic Party.

China’s Foreign Ministry disagreed. “The Yasukuni Shrine is a spiritual pillar used

by Japanese militarism for its overseas aggression. It still enshrines Class A war criminals who owe victimized people heavy bloody debts,” spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

“We urge the Japanese side to face squarely and reflect upon history and strictly abide by its solemn statements and pledges regarding historical issues, and face the international community in a responsible manner.” Ties have been shadowed for years by what Beijing says has been Tokyo’s refusal to admit to wartime atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in the country between 1931 and 1945.— Reuters

Saudi kidnapee diplomat in Yemen seeks King’s help DUBAI— Saudi diplomat held hostage in Yemen since March appealed to King Abdullah to meet al Qaeda’s demands to free detained women to ensure his release, according to a video recording posted online late on Wednesday. It was at least the third video statement by Abdullah al-Khalidi since militants seized the Saudi vice consul in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.

The United States and its Gulf Arab allies have been worried by the reach of al Qaeda and its allies in Yemen.

Khalidi, who appeared composed and wore a white robe and head dress, said Saudi authorities need to do all they could to ensure his freedom.

“I am a Saudi citizen who has served the Saudi government in more than one location.

Don’t I deserve to be released in exchange for setting some women free, just as Israel did when it freed more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for its prisoner held

by Hamas,” he said.

Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in October and December last year in a deal with Islamist group Hamas to free soldier Gilad Shalit after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Khalidi said Saudi authorities

had met some of al Qaeda’s demands and freed some of the detained women.

“I wish that the rest of the women in Saudi prisons be freed and that the remaining al Qaeda demands be met,” Khalidi said. “I appeal to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal to help free me from captivity from al Qaeda and to meet the demands presented by the organization to the government of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

There was nothing in the footage to indicate when it was recorded and its authenticity could not be verified.

Saudi officials were not immediately available to comment. The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is seen by U.S. officials as the most dangerous offshoot of the global militant network.

A militant who claimed responsibility for Khalidi’s abduction had threatened to kill the diplomat unless a ransom was paid and al Qaeda prisoners were freed from Saudi jails. Last month, five al Qaeda-linked women detainees were freed by Saudi authorities.—Reuters

International XI arrives in Pakistan

Pakistan safe for visiting sides: Jayasuriya K ARACHI —Two batting great and former Captains Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka and Alvin Kallicharan of West Indies Thursday supported return of international cricket to Pakistan.

“Its good to be in Pakistan again and play cricket here,” 43-year-old former Sri Lankan captain Jayasuriya, who will be leading an International World XI against All Stars Pakistan team in two Twenty20 matches here at National Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.

He said successful holding of the matches will send a good message across the world that Pakistan is safe for playing cricket.

Dashing left handed batsman Jayasuriya, who scored 6993 runs and in 110 Test matches and 13,430 runs in 323 One-Day Internationals, said he always got good support from Pakistan peoples and appreciated their hospitality.

He said he had no fear whatsoever and was looking to provide some entertainment to cricket starved supporters of Pakistan.

West Indies star cricketer of yesteryears Alvin Kallicharan praised the contribution of Pakistan in international cricket.

“Pakistan is a force to be reckon with and they deserved to have international cricket in their country,” Manager of International World XI 63-year-old Kallicharan, who had played 66 Test and 31 ODIs, commented.

Kallicharan last toured Pakistan on 1981 under Clive Lloyd was the part of the Caribbean when they won

KARACHI: Sanath Jayasuriya is welcomed on his arrival at Karachi Airport on Thursday. the first two edition of World Cup in 1975 and 1979.

Earlier, members of the reception committee headed

by Sindh Sports Minister Dr. Muhammad Ali Shah received Sanath Jayasuriya and Alvin Kallicharan on their arrival at the airport.

South Africa and West Indies cricketers were awarded warm reception at on their arrival at Quaid-eAzam International Airport.

Protease cricketers, who arrived here included Loots Bosman, Andre Nel, Justin Kemp, Mthandeki Tschabalala, Andre Johann Seymore and Nantie Hayward.

West Indies players are: Ricardo Powell, Steven Tay-

lor, Jermaine Charles Lawson and Adam Sanford.

Afghanistan players Muhammad Shahzad and Shapoor Zadran will be arriving here on Friday via Peshawar.

International World XI will undergo training and net session at Karachi Gymkhana Ground on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Sindh Police, Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari has ordered strict and fool proof security arrangements for the two Twenty20 matches between All Stars Pakistan XI and an International World XI staged at National Stadium here on Saturday and Sunday.

In a directives issued to

Additional IGP Karachi, he asked for implementation of security plan in and around team hotel, on the routes to stadium and inside and around the stadium.

He said police should be deputed at prominent entry points and through a strong intelligence network ensure solid security arrangements.

He directed all SHOs of the police stations ensure strict security monitoring with random snap checking, patrolling and picketing.

In the meantime, a number of meetings were held between top police officials and member of the organizing committee for the implementation of security plan in and around the stadium.—APP

Champions League T20

Sixers through to semi-final after convincing win CAPE TOWN—Lions scored 56 runs off their last 57 deliveries, losing seven wickets, to completely undo a quick start provided by Gulam Bodi, who scored 61 off 44.

Although Jean Symes provided quick 23 in the end, Lions ended with an under whelming 137, which Sydney Sixers chased with ease despite a middle-overs stumble of three wickets for 14 runs.

With their third win out of three, Sixers were now through to the semi-finals.

Bodi and Symes continued in the same form that had helped Lions win their previous match, against Chennai Super Kings, but Sixers wove a comeback around the two. They scored 84 in 10 overs between them, the rest managed just 53. Not only were the others guilty of going slow, they also got out after eating up those deliveries.

It was not the two leading Sixers pace bowlers that slowed down Lions, but the medium-pace of Shane Watson and Josh Hazlewood that took the wickets to keep pegging Lions back. Bodi, on the other hand, kept hitting the ball over midwicket and extra cover. Pat Cummins’ first over went for 14, and

Lions innings: GH Bodi lbw b Starc ..... 61 Q de Kock c Haddin b Watson .......................... 4 ND McKenzie c Haddin b Hazlewood .................. 17 Z de Bruyn c Haddin b Henriques ..................... 4 J Symes b Starc ............. 23 CH Morris not out ........ 14 Sohail Tanvir c Starc b Watson .......................... 0 TL Tsolekile run out ....... 0 AM Phangiso c Thornely b Starc .............................. 0 DP Nannes not out ......... 1 Extras: (b 4,lb 1,w 2,nb 1) 8 Total: (9 wickets) ......... 137 Fall of wickets 1-25, 2-57, 381, 4-, 5-120, 6-123, 7-124, 8135, 9-136 Bowling: ........... O-M-R-W PESHAWAR—Frontier College The advertisement on the In March, Pakistan hired PJ Cummins .......... 4-0-38-0 on for Women clinched the trophy L AHORE —Pakistan after securing victory against Thursday launched a search Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) former Australian batsman MA Starc .............. 4-0-19-3 Governor Girls Degree College for its first ever full-time bat- website invites applications Dav Whatmore as their JR Hazlewood ...... 4-1-18-2 head coach before adding Hayatabad in the final of the ting coach in a bid to boost Englishman Julien Fountain Inter-College Girls Volleyball an area of the side’s game that as fielding coach and their Championship, played under has let it down in major own former paceman the aegis of Higher Education events.

Mohammad Akram as bowlDepartment (HED) here at FronPakistan unsuccessfully ing coach. tier College for Women court chased a target of 140 in their Former batting legend on Thursday. Principal of the semi-final defeat against Javed Miandad, who is also FCW Durr-e-Shawar was the hosts Sri Lanka in the World PCB director general, helped P E S H AWA R —Pakistan Air chief guest on this occasion. Twenty20 semi-final earlier the country’s batsmen in the Force upset Habib Bank Director Sports HED this month, again highlightrun-up to the World Ltd (HBL) by a tennis goal Rasheed, Organizing Secre- ing their weakness when Twenty20 last month but has margin 5-0 in the ongoing tary and Director Sports FCW batting second in a limited not been willing to do the job Pakistan Premier League Raham Bibi, Coordinator overs match. on a regular basis.

Najma Qazi, referees Haseeba Football Tournament being The side also fell behind Pakistan will tour India in played here at PAF Sports and Salma Faiz and large num- in their run-chase against from candidates with a Level bers of college spectators arch-rivals India in the World III coaching qualification and December-January before Complex on Thursday. were also present and enjoyed Cup (50 overs) semi-final in five years experience, to be touring South Africa in FebThe match was started the thrilling final.—APP on fast tempo and PAF Mohali in March last year. submitted by November 4. ruary next year.—AFP opened the account in the 15th minute when Mansoor Khan netted a fine goal.

It was right winger Irfan move who travelled past three defenders before sending a goal-fetching cross in front of the goalmouth which was nicely headed in by Mansoor Khan.

After taking lead, PAF put in more pressure and a minute later made another attack, this time right winger Irfan slammed in a beautiful goal to make the tally 2-0.

HBL after conceding two goals, managed their position according to the situation and made some moves but they were failed due to tight marking by the PAF defencers.

It was in the 27th minute when inner striker Mujahid found the net with his forceful kick from the 25-yard distance and thus made 3-0 at the half-time.

In the second session, PAF dominated the ball position and did not allow HBL to maneuver freely.

PAF scored two more goals when link-man Muhammad Asif in the 51st minute and Muhammad Arif, the inner CALIFORNIA: San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates scores a touchdown as Denver Broncos strong safety striker, in the 66th minute scored one goal each Mike Adams tries to stop him during their NFL football game in San Diego.

FCW clinches Inter-College Girls Volleyball trophy

PCB launches hunt for batting coach

Mitchell Starc went for a huge six in his first.

Hazlewood, though, got Alviro Petersen in his first, and Watson did that to Quinton de Kock in his second. De Kock, who scored a fifty against Mumbai Indians, managed just four off 14.

Neil Mckenzie started calmly again, but couldn’t kick on, and went back for 17 off 16 when Hazlewood when he opened the face to Hazlewood in the 11th over, managing only an edge.

Zander de Bruyn made it worse with four off 10, and Lions were now just 91 for 4 in the 14th over.

Symes and Bodi pushed Lions back on track a 29-run partnership in 3.4 overs, but Starc came back with both their wickets in the 18th over.

Lions were pulled back again, and Sixers were left with a middling total to chase.

The start Sixers got off to wasn’t the flashiest, but Watson and Michael Lumb stayed together for 8.3 overs.

While Lumb went only at a run a ball, Watson opened up to take 19 runs off the sixth over, bowled by the quick but erratic Chris Morris. Aaaron Phangiso once again provided Lions with a comeback in the middle overs, getting rid CAPE TOWN: SR Watson of Sydney Sixers playing a shot against Lions during Champions League T20 match. of Lumb and Dominic Thornely in successive delivSR Watson ........... 4-0-25-2 eries. When Phangiso got DJ Thornely ......... 1-0-14-0 Watson on the slog sweep in MC Henriques ..... 3-0-18-1 the11th over, SIxers had gone Sydney Sixers innings: from 60 for no loss to 74 for 3.

MJ Lumb b Phangiso ... 22 The next two overs went SR Watson c Tsolekile for just eight, taking the askb Phangiso ..................... 47 DJ Thornely st Tsolekile b Phangiso ....................... 0 BJ Haddin c de Kock b Nannes ........................ 32 SPD Smith not out ........ 25 MC Henriques b Morris . 9 NJ Maddinson not out ... 0 N E W D ELHI —CashExtras: (lb 1, w 5) ............. 6 strapped Indian Premier Total: (5 wickets) ......... 141 League side Deccan ChargFall of wickets 1-60, 2-61, 3- ers on Thursday lost another 74, 4-116, 5-129 attempt to remain in the luBowling: ........... O-M-R-W crative competition after a Sohail Tanvir ........ 4-0-29-0 court backed their expulsion.

DP Nannes ........... 4-0-16-1 The Bombay High Court CH Morris ............ 3-0-35-1 quashed an arbitrator’s order AM Phangiso ...... 4-0-14-3 that had stopped the Board Z de Bruyn ........... 1-0-10-0 of Control for Cricket in InJ Symes ................. 3-0-36-0 dia (BCCI) from going ahead with its decision to throw the Chargers out of the Twenty20 league.

“The arbitrator had no jurisdiction,” judge R.D. Dhanuka was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency. “No case through field attempt to is made out... for granting make a convincing tally 5- stay on termination.”

The BCCI, which owns 0.

Muhammad Anwar su- the IPL, has already invited pervised the match while bids to set up a new team in Syed Imtiaz Ali Shah acted place of the Chargers, who as match commissioner and were removed for financial Zahid and Allauddin acted violations including its failas deputy referees.—APP ure to pay salaries to play-

ing rate up to 7.71 for the last seven overs. Brad Haddin then went on a sweeping spree, sending Symes for three consecutive sixes. Two more wickets fell later, but under six an over was not going to trouble Sixers.—AP

Deccan Chargers lose battle to stay in IPL

Pakistan Premier League Soccer

PAF upset HBL

ers. Deccan Chronicle Holdings, a media company that bought the Hyderabadbased team for $107 million

before the inaugural IPL in 2008, had failed to submit $19 million as guarantee money — to prove it could pay its debts and players — last week as ordered by the Bombay High Court.

The company’s assertion that it had agreed to sell the Chargers franchise to a Mumbai-based real estate firm and needed more time to pay the guarantee money was rejected by the court.—AFP

Sachin Tendulkar was not lying, says VR Manohar BIPIN DANI OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT M UMBAI —Australian media may have been less complimentary of Sachin Tendulkar deserving Order of Australia award as announced by their Prime Minister Julia Gillard, noting his involvement in the racial abuse of Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds by Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh during the Sydney Test in 2008, but according to Venkatesh Ramachandra Manohar (the father of former BCCI president Shashank Manohar), Sachin Tendulkar was not a liar.

V.R. Manohar is a legal luminary and had represented the Indian cricket board at the ICC’ s appeal hearing. “Sachin Tendulkar was not lying”, he exclusively said over telephone

from Nagpur.

“I repeatedly asked Sachin (Tendulkar) whether Harbhajan Singh had really said “moneky” to Andrew Symonds and I was satisfied with his answer that Bhajji didn’t utter the racism remark”, he added.

The ICC’s appeal commissioner Judge John Hansen (New Zealand) was favourable on the conduct and testimony of Tendulkar, who Procter had implied was lying and could not have been within earshot of the altercation. According to Hansen, video replays from various camera angles showed that Tendulkar was the closest player to the conversation and was likely to have heard it.

“I was told (by Sachin) that the words “teri maa ki” were spoken by the Indian bowler (Harbhajan).

Symonds was unable to confirm whether he had heard Harbhajan use a term in his

native tongue “teri maa ki” which appears to be pronounced with an “n” and accepted that it was a poss i b i l i t y.

“It was a mere mis-communication by the players.

Owing to the different accent in Western and Indian people this controversy was created. Harbhajan was punished for abusive words and not for the racist remarks”, the advocate concluded.

Interestingly, the award for Sachin has been announced by the present PM, Julia Gillard, who is not known for her love for the game of cricket. The former cricket fanatic Prime Minister John Howard didn’t honour Sachin in his 11 year tenure as country head. “Mr Howard has declined to comment at all (on this)”, Ms. Ruth Gibson, the official at the Office of the Hon John Howard OM AC, said from Sydney.

Controlling brains with a flick of a light switch

S

TOPPED at a red light on his drive home from work, Karl Deisseroth con templates one of his patients, a woman with depression so entrenched that she had been unresponsive to drugs and electroshock therapy for years.

The red turns to green and Deisseroth accelerates, navigating roads and intersections with one part of his mind while another part considers a very different set of pathways that also can be regulated by a system of lights. In his lab at Stanford University’s Clark Center, Deisseroth is developing a remarkable way to switch brain cells off and on by exposing them to targeted green, yellow, or blue flashes. With that ability, he is learning how to regulate the flow of information in the brain.

Deisseroth’s technique, known broadly as optogenetics, could bring new hope to his most desperate patients. In a series of provocative experiments, he has already cured the symptoms of psychiatric disease in mice.

Optogenetics also shows promise for defeating drug addiction.

When Deisseroth exposed a set of test mice to cocaine and then flipped a switch, pulsing bright yellow light into their brains, the expected rush of euphoria—the prelude to addiction—was instantly blocked. Almost miraculously, they were immune to the cocaine high; the mice left the drug den as uninterested as if they had never been exposed.

Today, those breakthroughs have been demonstrated in only a small number of test animals. But as Deisseroth pulls into his driveway he is optimistic about what tomorrow’s work could bring: Human applications, and the relief they could deliver, may not be far off.

For all its complexity, the brain in some ways is a surprisingly simple device.

Neurons switch off and on, causing signals to stop or go.

Using optogenetics, Deisseroth can do that switching himself. He inserts light-sensitive proteins into brain cells. Those proteins let him turn a set of cells on or off just by shining the right kind of laser beam at the cells. ?That in turn makes it possible to highlight the exact neural pathways involved in the various forms of psychiatric disease.

A disruption of one particular pathway, for instance, might cause anxiety. To test the possibility, Deisseroth engineers an animal with light-sensitive proteins in the brain cells lying along the suspected pathway. Then he illuminates those cells with a laser. If the animal begins cowering in a corner, he knows he is in the right place.

And as Deisseroth and his colleagues illuminate more neural pathways, other researchers will be able to design increasingly targeted drugs and minimally invasive brain implants to treat psychiatric disease.

KARACHI: Women activists of PPP placing flowers at photo gallery of the victims of Karsaz tragedy on their fifth death anniversary.

Sattar opposes withdrawal of voting right of overseas Pakistanis

KARACHI—Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Parliamentary leader in National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar has said that withdrawal of voting right from the overseas Pakistanis is in violation of basic spirit of the constitution.

He stated this while addressing an award-distribution ceremony held at a local hotel here on Thursday. Dr Farooq Sattar noted that the overseas Pakistanis have vital role in the national economy as they send billions of dollars foreign exchange back to country.

He was of the view that depriving Pakistani nationals staying across the globe of basic right of casting votes in general elections inside Pakistan would be against the basic spirit of the Constitution.

The Deputy Convener of the Muttahida’s Rabita Committee said that extremism poses the biggest challenge to the national security. The federal minister gave away the awards to various people on outstanding perforKARACHI: Singers performing during musical evening dedicated to American Consul Gen- mance in concerned fields.—INP eral in Karachi, Michael J. Dodman, organized by Pakistan American Cultural Centre.

US to endure partnership: CG KARACHI—The United States the educational and cultural ex- students in a variety of fields is committed to enduring partnership with the people of Pakistan and strengthen the relationship between United States and Pakistan on a solid footing. This was stated by the Consul General (CG) of United States in Karachi, Michael Dodman.

He was speaking during a visit to the Pakistan American Cultural Centre here on Thursday evening. The Consul General highlighted role of the PACC towards fostering understanding and promoting educational and cultural activities. He said that the US government fully believes in importance of

change programmes. “ These programmes really are the bridges between our countries”, Michael Dodman remarked adding that we are committed to an enduring partnership with the people of Pakistan. He further stated that the USA currently has more cultural and educational exchange programmes in Pakistan than anywhere else in the world.

This, the Consul General said, speaks of the importance that we place on our bilateral relationship. He pointed out that the State Department runs nearly 30 exchange programmes for the

including journalism, medicine, education, women’s studies and engineering etc, and that the students from Pakistan also participate in some of the programmes.

Michael Dodman said that the flagship programmes include Fulbright exchange programme.

He further pointed out that Pakistan has the largest Fulbright programme in the world. The Fulbright fellows receive funding to participate in the graduate or Ph.D. level programmes. Around 100 Pakistanis are chosen as Fulbright fellows every year..—APP

APML attaches KP situation with delaying election

KARACHI—All Pakistan Mus-

lim League has attached Khyber Pakhtun Khuwah’s recently developed situation with delaying of general election saying that this government would delay the election and would also not hold free and free election as well.

Aasia Ishaque Central Secretary Information APML said in her statement that government has planned to hold general election through fake voter lists so it is hundred percent sure to say that election would not be held free and fair.

Aasia Ishaque said that nation is more aware in comparison of past so that it would not let the government to do interfere in election issues. The nation would also Muhammad Ali Jinnah had in- caste their votes to the real augurated “Sindh Madressah representatives and the APML College” not S.M. Science is fit for this.—Online College on 21st June 1943.

And this was an arts college, which was housed in Sindh Madressah’s another hostelTalpur House.

STAFF REPORTER Unfortunately, this college was closed down in KARACHI—The Karachi po1960s due to unknown rea- lice in their on-going drive sons. He further said the sci- against criminals, arrested 31 ence classes for college stu- accused during the past 24 dents were added in Sindh hours. A police statement on Madressah in 1950s after the Thursday said that those arrested death of the Father of the Na- included two absconders. tionQuaid-i-Azam It said that there were two Mohammad Ali Jinnah. encounters of the police with the Later on, these historic alleged criminals and one gang buildings of Sindh Madressah, of alleged criminals busted durwhich are located in its pre- ing the period. mises were snatched from its In all, 28 pistols and nine mother institute - Sindh mobile phones recovered from Madressah in 1974, when the possession of the accused, the Sindh Madressah was given police statement further pointed under the control of the federal out. The police have registered government as declaring it a cases against the accused and national heritage. —APP started investigation.

Administration block of SMIU set up K ARACHI — Dr Mohammad ings, approached the Sindh Ali Shaikh, Vice Chancellor of Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU), has said that the administration block of SMIU has been set up in its main building while its academic block would be established in its three old buildings - Hassanally House, Khairpur House, and Sardar House, which were in the use of S.M. Science College.

Speaking at a meeting of the SMIU here on Thursday, he said these buildings were built as boarding houses of the SMI in 1909, 1912 and 1919 respectively.

Now, he added, the university classes will be run in these buildings from January 2013 for which the admissions are continuing. Dr. Mohammad Ali Shaikh said that after getting status of a university the SMIU being a rightful owner of the build-

government to hand it over its three buildings, in which the provincial government runs its S.M. Science college.

“The Sindh government was given two options that if the employees and students of S.M.Science College want, they may merge in the Sindh Madressah University, and if not, then they may remain with the Sindh government.

In the case of their refusal to become a part of the SMIU, the Sindh government must vacate SMI’s buildings as SMIU shall run its university classes in these buildings”, Dr. Shaikh maintained and added further that after refusal to become a part of SMIU by the employees and students of S.M. Science College, the Sindh government decided to shift them in its another building. Dr. Mohammad Ali Shaikh said Quaid-e-Azam

31 arrested

Qaim pays tributes to Shuhada-e-Karsaz STAFF REPORTER K ARACHI — Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah along with others visited the monument “Shuhada-e-Karsaz” built in memories of the victims of twin blasts which hit the welcoming rally of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto on her arrival to Karachi on October 18, 2007. The Sindh Ministers, office bearers of PPP Karachi Division and party workers were also present. They also offered fateha for Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and all those party leaders and workers who sacrificed their lives for the cause of democracy. Provincial ministers and PPP leaders including Agha Siraj Durrani, Muhammad Ayaz Soomro, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Haji Muzaffar Shujra, Abul Qadir Patel, Gul Muhammad Jakhrani, Senator Saeed Ghani, Rashid

Hussain Rabbani and others were also present on the occasion. Talking to media, the Sindh CM said that the party men had created a history on October 18 2007, of those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of democracy. He said about 177 people embraced martyrdom while over 500 sustained injures in the twin blasts of Karsaz.

Some of the injured of the Karsaz incident are still under treatment. The Sindh CM said we salute to the martyrs of Karsaz incident and help has been given to the families of the victims and more assistance will also be provided to them.

He said the sacrifices of the martyrs who given lives for the cause of democracy will never be forgotten and the party and whole nation will always remember them.Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who is also the President

of the PPP Sindh said that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had presented matchless sacrifices, which have not be given by the leader of any other party. He told a questioner that the Karsaz blasts tragedy was a big conspiracy. Earlier, an investigation team led by Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza had been constituted to probe the Karsaz incident. Consequently another team was constituted in this regard, he added.

He informed the media personnel that a team led by DIG Police ghulam Shabbir Sheikh has been constituted to probe the Karsaz tragedy which is investigation the incident. The investigation has been directed to present its report with in two weeks, he said.The Sindh CM said the twin blasts incident of Karsaz is a high profile case and the nation will be apprised in this regard.

IGP for steps to tackle lawlessness, killings STAFF REPORTER K ARACHI — The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh, Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari, has expressed concern over the incidents of lawlessness and killings in the metropolis and stressed to take steps to tackle the situation.

He was presiding over a meeting at the Central Police Office (CPO) here on Thursday.

A police statement said that the IGP asked the Divisional SPs to take steps for tackling the situation.The IGP said that if

some one does not produce the desired results then he has no right to hold the post of Divisional SP. He also asked the Divisional SPs to apprise the problems of their respective areas and come up with recommendations for the resolution of the problems.

Leghari also issued strict directives to the Divisional SPs to take steps for checking the incidents of bank robberies in their respective jurisdictions.

He further directed them to go through the SOP/bank security

manual by the State Bank of Pakistan and ensure their strict implementation.

It was stated that the Home Department would be approached for empowering the Divisional SPs for inspection of the private security companies.

The private security companies ascertain the particulars from NADRA and obtaining finger prints from Forensic Division before hiring the security guards.Those having expertise in investigation would be given preference for posting as SHOs.

Edu Dept trains 21770 teachers KARACHI—Sindh Education School Teachers, 120 Princi- were male and 934 Female JunDepartment has provided training to the teachers. This was stated by the Sindh Minister for Education and literacy, Pir Mazhar ul Haq. He informed that under a project the Sindh Education Department has provided training to 1,025 Junior School Teachers, 20,745 Primary

pals, 138 master trainers, 90 head masters and 180 faculty member. The Minister was speaking at a meeting with college Principals and representatives of All Teachers Training Institute here at his office Sindh Secretariat here on Thursday.

He said that of these 287

ior School Teachers, 12,608 male and 8,137 female Primary School Teachers, 72 male and 48 female Principals, 828 male and 552 female master trainers, 54 male and 36 female headmaster and headmistress respectively while 108 male and 72 female faculty members were also provided training..—APP

Qadri reviews arrangements for Hindu festival K ARACHI — Member of the Sindh Assembly, Nishat Muhammad Zia Qadri along with others reviewed the necessary arrangements to facilitate the Hindu community on their holy festival Nauratri, in Shah Faisal Town (SFT). The MPA along with the Chief Officer SFT Kamal Mustafa and other officials concerned paid detailed visit to the temples and settlements of the Hindu community in the SFT and inspected the arrangements in connection with the Navaratri, said a statement.

They also met with the leaders of Hindu community in the New Iqbalabad at Drig Road and greeted them on Navaratri on behalf of MQM chief Altaf Hussain. The MPA was also apprised by the people of Hindu community about their problems. Nishat Zia assured them that their problems will be resolved on priority basis. —APP

‘Media awards to kindle industry’ STAFF REPORTER KARACHI—CEO and Founder

of Pakistan Media Awards Arshad Siddiqui and Patron Governor of Sindh Dr.Ishrat-ulIbad Khan had a meeting regarding 3rd Pakistan Media Awards at Governor House . Governor of Sindh Dr.Ishrat-ul-Ibad shared his vision about 3rd Pakistan Media Awards.

He mentioned that these awards will kindle Pakistan’s media industry by bringing another array of success in our media industry. He also mentioned that Pakistan Media Awards will also play a great role in improving the current socio-economic status of our country as it represents Pakistan as a dynamic nation globally and it will also help in promoting peace in the country as well as giving an opportunity to envision the new talent in all forms of media as well as embracing the current industry professionals to praise their efforts and hard work.

While connecting himself to the people of Pakistan he said that we should join hands together to embrace and foster the media in Pakistan and also praised the KARACHI: Hindu women seen during stick dance as they celebrate their Navaratri dedication and hard work of Pafestival. kistan Media Awards Team.

Healthy brain connections keep us smart in old age

M

AINTAINING healthy nerve con nections among distant brain ar eas may help keep us smart in old age, according to new research published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry this week.

This brain “wiring” or white matter comprises billions of nerve fibers that carry signals around the various parts of the brain, and its condition affects our intelligence, for instance by influencing processing speed, conclude University of Edinburgh researchers in a study funded by the charity Age UK. The study found that older people with “robust brain wiring”, or whose white matter is in good condition, can process information quickly, which, the researchers suggest, boosts intelligence. “Here, we provide evidence that lower brain-wide white matter tract integrity exerts a substantial negative effect on general intelligence through reduced information-processing speed,” they write.

According to the findings, linking distant regions of the brain with healthy wiring improves mental performance, supporting the idea that intelligence is not found in one part of the brain. The study forms part of a large research project led by Professor Ian Deary called Disconnected Mind, which aims to discover mechanisms of cognitive ageing. Deary also heads the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology at Edinburgh.

This study is thought to be the first to show that deterioration of white matter as we get older is a significant cause of age-related cognitive decline. For their investigation, first author Dr Lars Penke and colleagues acquired structural brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 420 older adults in their early 70s. The participants were part of the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936, a group of nearly 1,100 people whose intelligence and general health have been followed since the age of 11.

From the scans the researchers were able to measure three properties: “fractional anisotropy” and two white matter integrity biomarkers that have not been used before to study intelligence: “longitudinal relaxation time” and “magnetisation transfer ratio”.

Together, these properties measure the amount of water in brain tissue, indicate structural loss in the brain, and how well the nerve fibres are insulated. As well as these scan measurements, as measures of intelligence, the researchers also had data from thinking and reaction time tests that the participants had completed. The results showed that each of the three white matter properties they measured “was independently associated with general intelligence, together explaining 10% of the variance, and their effect was completely mediated by information-processing speed”.

Chinese team meets Khosa LAHORE—A 20-member delegation led by Li Chung Chun called on Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa at Lahore Airport on Thursday.

Strategic, economical, regional issues came under discussion during the meeting.

Sardar Latif Khan Khosa told the delegation that people of Pakistan had love in their hearts for China and its masses and they wished more cemented ties.

He said that China had always supported Pakistan on all issues, particularly supported Pakistan during devasting floods.

Extending his gratitude to the delegates for assisting in power sector, he said that Pakistan needed more cooperation in this sector.

Khosa said that progress of China and friendship between both the countries are an example for the globe.

“People will welcome investment of Chinese businessmen in power sector”, he added.

He said that many steps were being taken for promoting Chinese language in all the institutions of the country particularly in Punjab.

Li Chung Chun said that Chinese people also loved Pakistani people and he thanked Pakistan for its support over Taiwan issue. He said that Lahore was an historical city and Punjab showed culture of Pakistan which was famous in all over the world. He assured the Governor for full support to Pakistan in all sectors especially in power. He also invited Punjab Governor to visit China.—APP

Medical teaching starts at UHS STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE: Students taking part in Ceramics Art Workshop at the Government College University, Lahore.

Eid holidays

Health authorities to ensure presence of doctors, medical staff STAFF REPORTER L AHORE —In a bid to provide efficient medical cover including standby arrangements for medical, surgical and special care round the clock during Eid-ul-Azha holidays, provincial Health Department, has issued instructions to health authorities for ensuring presence of doctors and medical staff besides finalizing foolproof arrangements of medical care in all public sector hospitals, autonomous and specialized medical institutions throughout the province.

In a circular, Secretary

Health Punjab has directed pro vice-chancellor King Edward Medical University, Chairman Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex Lahore, Principals of all autonomous medical institutions, DG Health, Medical Superintendents of all teaching, DHQ and THQ hospitals as well as EDOs Health to ensure presence of senior doctors, medical staff of medical institutions during Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

He further directed to reserve, beds ensuring availability of sufficient stock of lifesaving drugs and keep medical instruments, patients’ lifts in perfect work-

ing order and standby generators as alternate source of electricity as well as fully functional operation theaters.

Moreover, fully equipped ambulances with trained staff should also be made available while keeping stock of blood and blood donors list of all groups in the blood bank of every hospital to meet any untoward situation.

In the circular, all heads of the institutions have been directed to make ensure that these instructions are complied with in letter and spirit.

Any lapse in this regard will be dealt strictly.

Makhdoom Anwar joins PML-N STAFF REPORTER L AHORE —Former Federal Minister and leader of Muslim League-Q Makhdoom Ahmad Alam Anwar met Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif at Model Town on Thursday and expressing complete confidence in the leadership of President Pakistan Muslim League-N Muhammad Nawaz Sharif announced his decision to join PML-N. Leader of PML-N Barrister Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha and Abdul Ghafoor Advocate were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Muhammad Shahbaz

Sharif said that PML-N will further strengthen with the joining of Makhdoom Ahmad Alam Anwar. Welcoming senior politician Makhdoom Ahmad Alam Anwar in PMLN, the Chief Minister said that PML-N policies for the stability of democracy, strengthening of institutions and progress and prosperity of the masses are being widely appreciated and the joining of Makhdoom Ahmad Alam Anwar is a proof of the growing popularity of PMLN. He said that service to the people is the mission of PML-N and its candidates will win with a thumping majority in the forthcoming gen-

eral elections.

Makhdoom Ahmad Alam Anwar said that he has full confidence in the leadership of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab government of PML-N is a unique example of public service. He said that Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif is making every effort for the progress and prospeiryt of the people of the province.

He said that Punjab government has added a new chapter to national history by laying a network of development projects throughout the province during the last four years.

LAHORE—The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has launched a certificate programme in medical teaching in a bid to provide young professionals working in medical and dental colleges, basic knowledge, skill and competence for successful teaching career.

The classes were formally inaugurated by UHS Vice Chancellor Prof. I.A. Naveed on Thursday.

Initially, a total of 24 teachers from various medical colleges have been admitted to the certificate course which would be taught in collaboration with University of Liverpool, UK. UHS Centre of Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) director Prof. Arif Rashid Khawaja, who is the coordinator the programme, told that the course would be taught on campus in two blocks of four days duration each. Between the teaching session, the students would carry out a series of activities at their work place and gather evidence of their teaching practice, he said adding that there would be an internal of approximately three months between the two sessions.

Prof. Khawaja further said that currently the programme is being taught by veteran medical educationists Dr. Ian Willis and Dr. Janet Strivens from University of Liverpool, UK

LAHORE: Li Changchun Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau China being received by Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, Provincial Education Minister.

Seminar on ‘Implications of Malala Incident’

Concern voiced over military operation in North Waziristan SALIM AHMED L AHORE —Speakers at the seminar on ‘Implications of Malala Incident’ condemned the cowardly act on Malala Yousafzai and other girl students and prayed for their speedy recovery. They demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators of this unIslamic and unpardonable crime and suggested that best tribute to the fearless and determined girl could be paid by promoting proper education directed towards the full development of the human personality and strengthening respect for fundamental freedoms.

They resolved to boldly stand against all forms of religious, political and ethnic extremism through the force of dialogue and ideological

conviction. It was revealed that Pakistani Taliban were the khawarij of 21st century who first appeared during the Caliphate of Hazrat Ali (RA) and assassinated him on the decree of kufr.

The speakers voiced concerns over military operation in North Waziristan as the nation seemed divided on this critical issue. They urged the government not to delay the holding of free and fair elections in any circumstances.

The seminar was organized by Pakistan Institute of National Affairs (PINA) in collaboration with Tech Club .Former Senator Mr. S.M. Zafar presided over the event and intellectuals, writers, political analysts, and media and national security experts made rich contribu-

tion.

Introducing the seminar theme, Mr. Altaf Hasan Qureshee, Secretary General PINA said that nation was united in condemning the attack on Malala Yousafzai but many conflicting questions have created controversies and conspiracy theories . He pleaded that the intelligentsia should rationally address the problems of terrorism, sectarianism, ethnic disorder and social intolerance.

Mr. S.M. Zafar, in his presidential address, remarked that the essence of the seminar was to make sustained and earnest efforts to promote female education and undertake characterbuilding measures and adopt a positive approach. He appreciated the resolution adopted in the National As-

Ring road affectees meet Elahi STAFF REPORTER L AHORE —A delegation of effectees of the Ring Road under the leadership of former MNA Mian Munir Ahmad called on Pakistan Muslim League senior central leader and Deputy Prime Minister Ch Parvez Elahi at his residence here on Thursday..

Ch Parvez Elahi after listening to the delegation members about their problems and grievances assured them that we are with them and they would get their rights, Ring Road affectees should not consider themselves alone and in every difficult hour, Pakistan Muslim League would be standing shoulder to shoulder with them.

Apprising Ch Parvez Elahi about their problems, member s of the delegation said that the ‘KKhadam-e-A’ala’ had promised to them that those whose land will fall into the road would be paid according to the market rate and shops and houses

constructed 40 to 50 feet away from the road would not be demolished and instead they would be provided relief. They said that contrary to his promise, Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif had got one thousand shops and 150 houses demolished as a result of which about 500 families have been rendered unemployed. They asked as what sort of ‘Khadam-e-A’ala’ he was who is not bothered about the difficulties and grievances of the people.

Traders representative Saeed Qadir Shaikh told Ch Parvez Elahi that they had met the Commissioner, DCO and the Chief Secretary but none of them had extended any cooperation to them. He said that they are protesting continuously for the last one month but nobody has been moved adding that if couple of people die in bomb explosion or firing, the entire media and all politicians reach there but here

500 families are agitating and protesting but nobody has bothered to visit them and listen to their problems and assure some cooperation or relief to them.

The delegation demanded of the Deputy Prime Minister that justice should be got to the Anjuman-e-Tajran Multan Road, Yateem Khana, Samanabad, Bhallah Stop, Chhappar Stop, Chauburji Quarters and the Scheme More residents. Delegation included Imran Mahmud, Ch Suhail, Goga Gujjar, Ch Ghulam Hussain, Qaiser Malik, Shaikh Farman Qureshi, Muhammad Azam Hussain, Nadeem Ahmad, Mian Arshad Mahmud, Ch Ehsan, Asaf Khan Mian Electronic besides Saeed Qadir Shaikh.

sembly for enhancing efforts for the advancement of knowledge and education.

He suggested that parliamentarians should have donated a portion of their salaries to open more schools in Swat and in other backward areas.

He underscored the need to spread the universal principles and teachings of Islam in true perspective.

Ms. Salma Awan, a writer and educationist emphasized the need for tolerance in our society and carry forward Malala’s mission of hope and enlightenment.

Political analyst, Mr. Qayyum Nizami stated that the Malala incident has unified the nation and suggested that Government should enforce educational emergency in the country.

20 linemen get training under USAID project STAFF REPORTER L AHORE —AS many as 20

linemen from Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) completed a Quick Impact Lineman Training program under USAID’s Power Distribution Project.

This training equipped the linemen with skills and new procedures including CPR, first aid, pole top rescue, and modern grounding.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Provincial Director for Punjab, Mr. Jeffrey N. Bakken, and Director of the Energy Office, Ms. Melissa Knight, awarded training completion certificates to the linemen, who will now be able to save lives in the workplace. Ms. Knight remarked, “The U.S. L AHORE —Patients Welfare Government has a history of Society, Lahore General Hos- supporting the Pakistani pital has announced to in- power sector. stall a new tubewell in the hospital at a cost of Rs 50 lac.

This was stated in a meeting of LGH administration attended by office bearers of the Patients Welfare Society and administrative doctors.

The amount would be provided by the philanthropists.

Principal PGMI and LGH Prof. Dr. Anjam Habib Vohra while presiding over the meeting said that there was no virtue greater than serving the ailing humanity.

The office bearers of PWS were helping the patients selflessly which would pay them back not only in LAHORE: Vendors displaying the sacrificial animals to attract the customers at this world but also in hereafter, he added. animal market.

PWS to donate new tubewell for LGH