LONDON: Interior Minister Senator Rehman Malik meeting with MQM leader Altaf Hussainon Wednesday.—APP photo

CEC wants army atall polling stations

Gen Kayani assures complete coop: IbrahimISLAMABAD—Chief ElectionCommissioner Fakhruddin GIbrahim on Wednesday recom-mended that the election shouldbe conducted completely underthe supervision of the army inorder to maintain law and order.

Chairing a meeting of seniorofficials of the federal and pro-vincial governments to assess thelaw and order situation ahead ofthe polls, Ibrahim suggested thatarmed soldiers should be de-ployed at all polling stations.

He said the army personnel

should stay at the polling stationstill the announcement of electionresults. He said the army chiefhas assured him of full coopera-tion during the general elections.

He said maintaining law andorder situation on the ElectionDay is imperative to ensure free,fair and transparent elections.

Though the Election Com-mission has held several meet-ings in recent weeks to preparefor the polls expected to be heldin April or May, this was the firstmeeting that focussed on secu-

rity issues. “The election has tobe, of necessity, just and fair. Theone single most important prob-lem is maintenance of law andorder,” Ibrahim told the meeting.

“If law and order is main-tained, there is no reason that theelection should not be free andfair,” he said. Ibrahim noted thatArmy Chief General AshfaqParvez Kayani had assured himof complete cooperation for theelectoral process. He further saidthat lack of transparency during

MQM won’t part wayswith govt, Altaf tells Malik

PPP delegation should meet QadriSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) lead-ership on Wednesday said itwould neither quit the coalitiongovernment nor derail the currentdemocratic set up in the country.

This MQM founding leaderAltaf Hussain told Interior Min-ister Rehman Malik who visitedAltaf in London the previousnight, said a statement issued by

the Movement’s London Secre-tariat Wednesday.

The MQM chief termed talksof his party’s separation from thegovernment or derailment of thecurrent democratic system asmisleading rumours.

During the meeting, Malikrequested the MQM chief to re-consider his decision to partici-pate in the Tehreek-e-MinhajulQuran-led long march scheduledon January 14.

“It would be advisable if ahigh-powered delegation of thePPP meets Dr Tahirul Qadri forobtaining information and know-ing about his reservations,” thestatement quoted Altaf as tellingMalik. The delegation, he said,should directly ask Dr Qadri asto what sort of reforms hewanted. The MQM foundingchief also negated the impressionthat his party, by participating in

Internal threatsgreatest risk:Pak ArmySTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Changingoperational priorities after 11years, the Pakistan Army hastermed internal threats as thegreatest danger to the country’ssecurity, a TV channel reportedWednesday.

The paradigm shift inPakistan military’s operationalpriorities has come to the forein a ‘Green Book’ containingthe ideology of Pak Army.

Continued on Page 7

OGRA scam

SC ordersTauqir Sadiq’sarrest throughInterpolISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt (SC) has ordered to takethe help of Interpol to arrest Oiland Gas Regulatory Authority’s(OGRA) former chairmanTauqir Sadiq.

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

SC rejects Gilani’sreview petition

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Wednesday rejectedformer Prime Minister YusufRaza Gilani’s petition to reviewthe ineligibility, terming it incom-plete. Yusuf Raza Gilani had sentthe petition to review the deci-sion of his ineligibility via mail,which was rejected by the Su-preme Court, calling it incom-plete and not filed within the pre-scribed period. Moreover, thesecurity challan was also not paidalong with the petition.

Gilani was dismissed from hisposition on 26 April, 2012 afterproven guilty with contempt ofcourt. Aitzaz Ahsan was represent-ing Gilani in the contempt of courtcase but Gilani filed the reviewpetition in personal capacity.

Cabinet meetstoday to discuss

Qadri’s long marchISLAMABAD—The federal cabi-net will meet here today (Thurs-day) under the chairmanship ofPrime Minister Raja PervezAshraf to accord approval of abill for the establishment of Lo-gistics Service Providers Regu-latory Authority.

According to Cabinet Divi-sion sources, other items on theagenda include seeking of ap-proval of the cabinet for signingof defence cooperation agree-ments with Italy and Bosnia &Herzegovina. Though not in theformal agenda, but sources saidthat the cabinet will discuss in de-tail the threatened march byTehrik-e-Minhajul Quran’s chiefDr Tahirul Qadri to Islamabad onthe 14th of January and the sup-port extended to it bygovernment’s allies including theMQM and PML-Q. —INP

Nawaz seeksannouncement

of polls scheduleSALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) Presi-dent Mian Nawaz SharifWednesday asked the PPP-ledcoalition government to immedi-ately announce the schedule ofgeneral elections in the country.

While addressing his party’sconsultative meeting at ModelTown, Nawaz said, “The PML-N would foil any conspiracyaimed at postponement of gen-eral elections in the country un-der the garb of slogans of ac-

Continued on Page 7

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf has said thatdemocracy alone is the solutionto the problems of the country.

He was addressing a cer-emony to distribute regulariza-

tion letters to the sacked employ-ees of the National HighwaysAuthority here on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister said ifthere was any lacuna in thepresent system it can only be re-moved through the parliamentand the constitution.

He said every one has theright to seek support of the peoplebut the way to change is throughballot alone.

The Prime Minister said it isfor the first time that a neutral andindependent Election Commis-

Democracy solution to problems: PM

Continued on Page 7

7 security menabducted

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOHAT—At least seven secu-rity personnel were abductedfrom the near Punjab-KhyberPakhtunkhwa border onWednesday.

Sources said that the securityofficials were heading back toBannu to their duty place fromRawalpindi after spending holi-days in their hometowns in a pas-

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The mobile phoneservices will remain suspended indifferent areas of country as part

Cellular services to remain suspended todayof security arrangements in thewake of Chehlum of Hazrat ImamHussain (R.A) on Thursday. Ac-cording to sources, the serviceswould be blocked in the six dis-

tricts of Sindh, six districts ofKhyber Pakhunkhwa, 18 districtsof Punjab, nine districts ofBalochistan and Gilgit Baltistanfrom 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The BenazirIncome Support Programme(BISP) has so far disbursedmore than Rs 120 billionamong destitute families in itsshort term strategy to copewith poverty. BISP, the firstever mega initiative of directcash transfer to the resource-power women and their fami-lies in the country, has bringa major change in the societythrough introducing long termand short term initiative.

Talking to reporters hereon Wednesday, an official ofBISP informed that under

Long Term Strategy, BISP hassimultaneously launched an‘exit strategy’ to help its re-cipients out of abject pov-erty. Under this initiative, heinformed, the provision ofinterest free loans werestarted to help the recipientsset up small business andover 20,000 families have al-ready been eligible for drive.

The BISP official further in-formed that besides cash grant,counseling, monitoring andtraining for starting business isalso provided to womenthrough Pakistan Poverty Al-leviation Fund (PPAF). “Thou-sands of poor youth already

trained and the target is to train150,000 students during cur-rent fiscal year”, he stated. Un-fortunate death of bread earnercould destroy any poor family,the official said adding, BISP isproviding a cover of Rs 100,000to the bread earner of the poorfamily.

Over four million poor fami-lies are already insured whileBISP is also extending this fa-cility to remaining families, henoted. The trap of viciouscycle of poverty, health shocksare one of the major reason forpushing people below the pov-erty line, the official said andinformed that BISP beneficia-

ries are also provided with Rs25,000 health insurance. “Thepilot project has been launchedfrom Faisalabad which wouldbe followed nationwide”, theofficial said.

Under Waseela-e-Taleeminitiative, BISP is finalizing aproject which would facilitatethree million out of schoolchildren of ages 5-12 yearsof the recipient families, theofficial stated. He said BISPhas signed contracts with allthe provinces to help themsending these three millionchildren to school throughcash incentives of Rs 200 perchild. He informed that BISP

95 outlaws including2 POs arrested

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—In a joint mid-night operation against mis-creants, Capital City policePeshawar, Nowshera andCharsadda arrested 95 of-fenders including two hard-ened criminals and recoveredweapons and drugs from theircustody. Following directivesof CCPO Imtiaz Altaf, the capi-tal city police with the sup-port of police personnel fromNowshera and Charsaddacarried out a midnight opera-tion against proclaimed of-fenders and apprehended 95outlaws including two hard-ened criminals.

The law enforcers alsorecovered 6 Kalashnikovs,2guns, 34 pistols, hundreds ofcartridges, 14 kg hashish, 56kg explosive material and 55bottles of wine from the cus-tody of the outlaws.

ISLAMABAD—The intensity offog will increase in plain areasof Punjab, Peshawar, D.I Khan,Sukkur and Larkana divisionsduring next three days, said thePakistan Meteorological De-partment (PMD) on Wednes-day. Severe cold wave willcontinue in northern parts ofBalochistan and in upper partsof the country during next fewdays.

The intense foggyweather conditions will pre-vail in different areas duringthe next few days and thereis no chance of rain, the metoffice said. According to thesynoptic situation, continen-tal air is prevailing over mostparts of the country.

Mainly cold and dryweather is expected in mostparts of Punjab andIslamabad during next 24hours. Similarly in most partsof Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andBalochistan, mainly cold tovery cold and dry weather isexpected, while mainly coldand dry weather is expectedin most parts of Sindh.

In Kashmir and GilgitBaltistan, very cold and dryweather is expected in mostparts during next 24 hours.The lowest minimum tem-peratures recorded duringthe last 24 hours were:Skardu and Astore -14C,Kalam -11C, Kallat -10C,Hunza -9C, Gupis and Quetta- 7C, Gilgit -6C, Dalbandin -5C, Drosh, Dir and

Media roleimperative for

GB developmentISLAMABAD—Chief Minis-ter, Gilgit- Baltistan, SyedMehdi Shah on Wednesdaycalled upon journalists toplay their active role in wel-fare and development of theprovince. He was addressingan oath-taking ceremony ofGilgit-Baltistan JournalistsAssociation here at the GilgitBaltistan House.

Mehdi Shah said media isan important pillar of state,therefore, great responsibilitylies on journalists to use theirpen for welfare of society. Hesaid media criticism should beconstructive, purposeful andfor the guidance of the gov-ernment. Chief Minister askedthe media to highlight impor-tance of new system in Gilgit-Baltistan for which PakistanPeople Party (PPP) hadstruggled over the decades.

He assured the journaliststo resolve their problems onpriority and pledged to try hisbest to provide them facilitiesbeing enjoyed bymediapersons in other partsof the country. Earlier, Presi-dent Gilgit-Baltistan Journal-ist Association, Karim Madadand Chairman Akbar HussainAkbar apprised the gatheringabout the aims and objectiveof forming the association andproblems being faced by thejournalists.—APP

Documentsmandatory to cross

Torkham borderBARA—After torture incidenton Afghan side of the bordr,Pakistani security authoritieson Wednesday banned cross-ing of people to Afghanistanwithout having necessarytravel document. Accordingto security forces, people whotravel to Afghanistan for workvia would not be allowed tocross Torkham border withouthaving essential travel docu-ments.

Security sources saidthat, the workers will nowonwards need to have traveldocuments if they wish tocross border to enter Af-ghanistan or Pakistan forwork purposes. The condi-tion was imposed after theincident- when the Afghanforces tortured Pakistaniworkers - came into limelight.

Without passport, thetravellers will not be allowedto cross the Torkham borderfrom Afghanistan or Pakistan,security forces said. Sourcessaid that the number of peoplecrossing the Torkham borderhas increased.—INP

PPP leaderlashes out LDAfor corruption

LAHORE—The Lahore De-velopment Authority (LDA)has become cluster of cor-ruption and teasing public tomint money from them oneven small works. Sami UllahKhan Durrani, Member Fi-nance Committee PPP Punjabsaid this here on Wednesday.He said the LDA had exposedtall claims of good gover-nance by the provincial gov-ernment. “If a transparentmechanism of accountabilityis evolved through Anti-Cor-ruption Establishment half ofemployees of LDA would goto jails due to their corruptpractices”, he said. The PPPleader said “ one window isnormally set up in any insti-tution to facilitate people andcomplete the public affairswith speed but in LDA.—APP

HYDERABAD: Rangers patrolling in the city during flagmarch at Jail Road.

Rawalakot -4C.The local Met office has

forecast partly cloudyweather with chances of mistin the morning for the city andits suburbs during the next 24hours. On Wednesday, themaximum and minimum tem-peratures were recorded as 21and 6 degrees centigrade, re-spectively, while humidity wasrecorded 87.4 per cent at 5pm.

The Met office has forecast adry weather with cold night isexpected in the city over next24 hours.

According to the Met of-fice report issued here onWednesday, the minimumtemperature is expected toremain in the range of 8 to 10degree centigrade. The Metoffice said mainly cold anddry weather is likely to pre-vail elsewhere in theregion.However very cold/frosty condition may prevailin Kalat and Quetta divisionsof Balochistan.

The local Met office hasforecast cold and dry weatherwith chances of mist in themorning for Multan and itssuburbs during the next 24hours.—APP

HYDERABAD: Traders of Cloth Market holding a demonstration in support of their demands.

TANK: Passengers travelling in dangerous way on overloaded vehicle may cause any mishap and needs the attentionof concerned authorities.

BISP disburses Rs120 billionamong deserving families

Fog to increase duringnext three days: PMD

RAFIULLAH MANDOKHAIL

ZHOB—Deputy Commis-sioner Wali MuhammadBarech inaugurated thetwelve-day anti-measlesdrive by vaccinating a childat HDF hospital here onWednesday. EDO Health Dr.Muzafar Shah, Team LeaderHuman Development Foun-dation (HDF) Ajab KhanKakar, Eradication OfficerWHO Dr. Farooq Kibzai, Co-ordinator Expanded Programon Immunization (EPI)Muhammad Ismail, Dr. Sajid,Focal Person Bostan andjournalists were also presenton the occasion.

Anti-measles vaccinationdrive kicks off

Deputy Commissionersaid that prevention re-quires persuading parents toseek the vaccine for theirchildren, adding that thedrive would help to save thelives of thousands of chil-dren.

He urged the media, civilsociety, Ulema and triballeaders to play their due rolein the anti-measles cam-paign and motivate thepeople to ensure preventivemeasures for their childrenagainst the disease. DC alsowarned the officials con-cerned that no derelictionwould be tolerated duringthe campaign.

Speaking on the occa-sion EDO health Dr.Muzafar Shah, Dr. Farooq,Ajab Khan and MuhammadIsmail said that measles, arespiratory infectioncaused by a virus, that canspread via contact withdroplets from the nose,mouth or throat of an in-fected person.

Sneezing and coughingcan release contaminateddroplets into the air. Chil-dren who suffer frommeasles may experiencecomplications includingpneumonia, blindness, deaf-ness, ear infection, diarrheaand dehydration.

Security arrangementsfor Imam Hussain’s

(RA) Chehlum

HAFIZABAD—The districtpolice have made strict secu-rity arrangements on the eveof Hazrat Imam Hussain’s(RA) Chehlum at PindiBhattian and Hafizabad. Allroads leading to the venueof Majlis (Fawara Chowk)would be totally sealed andwalk-through gates would beset up to prevent entry ofany dubious character.

Meanwhile, the district ad-ministration has prohibited pil-lion riding, gathering of fivepersons at a public place andperching of unconcerned per-sons at roof-tops of buildingson the route of Zuljinnah’sprocession. Ulema of differentschool of thoughts havepledged to maintain sectarianharmony on the occasion at ameeting convened by the lo-cal administration.

AWAM stagespeace rally

FAISALABAD—Association ofWomen for Awareness andMotivation (AWAM) in col-laboration with Peace and Hu-man Development (PHD Foun-dation) organized a peace rallyto mark the 46th World PeaceDay. A large number of peoplefrom different walks of life in-cluding students, lawyers andrepresentatives from tradeunions, political parties andNGOs joined the rally whichstarted from District Council toCircular Road.

The participants wereholding peace symbols, ban-ners and placards inscribedwith slogans in favour ofpeace, tolerance, harmony,justice and human rights.They stressed the need forprotecting the lives and prop-erties of the citizens.—APP

has received additional fi-nancing from the World Bankamounting US $ 150 millionfor the launch of this initia-tive and soon DFID will alsobe providing US $ 100 million.

The government of Paki-stan People’s Party is work-ing for the development anduplift of the country and itsmasses, said Senior VicePresident PPP AstoreMohammad Mussa here onWednesday. Talking tomediamen, he said the gov-ernment is providing relief tothe masses through BenazirIncome Support programme(BISP) and Watan card.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A national levelproject entitled “AdvocacyCampaign for Education sec-tor reforms in Pakistan” hasbeen launched by Human De-velopment Foundation underUSAID’s Citizens’ VoiceProject in four districts of Pa-kistan, one district in eachprovince. These provinces areMardan, (KPK), TandoMuhammad Khan (Sindh),Rahim Yar Khan (Punjab) &Zhob (Baluchistan).

The activities of advocacycampaign are based upon thedata collected through a baseline survey conducted in these

Education reforms project launcheddistricts. The survey resultshave helped in knowing theawareness level of the massesof those areas about the clause25-A of the constitution &other issues relating to educa-tion and designing differentactivities for the achievementof the advocacy project. Thecampaign is being donethrough conveying messagesto the masses through Radioin regional languages at thedistrict level and building ca-pacities of community organi-zations working at grass-rootslevel.

Capacity building work-shops for civil society orga-nizations and roundtable

conferences were held ineach four districts of Paki-stan. The main purpose ofthese events was to impartessential knowledge on thesubject of education, apprisethe stakeholders of the cur-rent situation of educationprevailing in the country andseek cooperation of stake-holders in the efforts beingmade for the launch of move-ment for implementation ofArticle 25-A of the constitu-tion in the respective prov-inces.

HDF is also engaged inlobbying with stakeholdersi.e parliamentarians, politi-cians, policy-makers, writers,

columnists, CSOs and dis-trict administration to urgethe legislators for educationsector reforms. A Citizens’Charter of Demands preparedby HDF is being signed bystakeholders, which will helpin building pressure upon theauthorities for immediatelyimplementing the Article-25of the constitution in the re-spective provinces.

In a statement issuedfrom HDF head office today,Mr. Azhar Saleem, CEO HDFhas said that the passage ofarticle 25-A and declaringfree and compulsory educa-tion as a constitutional rightis not enough.

Equal polls opportunitiesStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Khyber PakthunkhwaMinister for Labour, Sher Azam Wazirsaid on Wednesday the government willprovide level playing fields to all politi-cal parties to contest general election.“The country cannot afford politicalinstability and politics of long marches,confrontation and urged opposition tocontest general election and provedtheir popularity,” he said while address-ing a representative tribal jirga of

Adamkhel tribes of FR Peshawar. He said democracy hadreturned to the country after enormous sacrifices bypeople, politicians and civil society, adding Benazir BhuttoShaheed had also laid down her life for restoration of de-mocracy and socio-economic emancipation of downtrod-den masses. The Minister said revolutions come with evo-lution of democracy and PPP will bring revolution withsupport of masses through power of votes in general elec-tion. He expressed optimism to contest the general elec-tion on NA-47 and if voted to power will give top focus ondevelopment of Frontier Regions. He said special atten-tion would be given on development of communicationinfrastructure, health and education sectors vital forprogress and prosperity of Pakistan. Wazir said peoplehave great belief in the Pakistan People’s Party who isalways serving the masses irrespective of political affilia-tion. He said PPP leadership and workers are committed tocontinue serve the people and we feel proud of the partyleadership for addressing the difficult inherited challengeswith political acumen and wisdom. The Minister said revo-lutionary measures would be made for provision of all ba-sic amenities of life to people including gas, electricity,water, roads and other welfare and technical projects attheir doorsetps. On this occasion, the Minister announcedRs.50,000 cash for students of Khushal Welfare Schooland College. The jirga was also addressed by tribal eldersMalik Rehman Afridi, Malik Farooz Khan Afridi, Haji SahibKhan Afridi and others tribal elders.

RTB financial reviewedStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—A meeting of Road Trans-port Board (RTB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwawith Khyber Minister for Information,Public Relations and Transport andChairman of the Board Mian IftikharHussain in the chair reviewed expendi-tures and financial position of theboard. It also discussed the implemen-tation status of the decisions taken inthe last meeting of the board, mattersrelating to the extension of the lease

period of 10 kanal land of Peshawar Bus Terminal, creationof a post of an administrator on contract basis to run theaffairs of the terminal, increasing the number of securityguards of the terminal and initiating civil work in the termi-nal. The meeting unanimously approved the expendituresof the board with effect from April 2012 to November 2012and decided to regularize the budget of the board andprepare it on the basis of financial year. The meeting alsoapproved the creation of a post of a full time administratorto run the affairs of the bus terminal initially for the periodof six months. It decided to award the contract of the termi-nal through open auction for the remaining period of theyear. It also decided to hire a private consultant to initiatecivil work in the bus terminal. The meeting of the boardapproved to extend the lease period of 10 kanal land of theterminal. Installation of water filtration plant, walk throughgates and electronic boards and appointment of fifteenmore security guards, a tube-well operator, plumber andother necessary staff in the terminal was also approved inthe meeting. Addressing the meeting, the Provincial Min-ister said that provincial government had taken revolu-tionary steps to provide better transport facilities to thepeople adding that in this regard the provincial transportdepartment has achieved a landmark within in a short pe-riod of time. He also directed the concerned authorities totake necessary measures to improve the security and clean-liness of Peshawar Bus terminal.

Palai-Loya Banda road work startsStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Khyber PakhtunkhwaMinister for Finance, MohammadHamayun Khan has said that the black-topping of the two-kilometer Palai toLoya Banda to provide better commu-nication facilities to the residents ofmore than dozen villages will be com-pleted at Rs.10 million. He expressedthese views while addressing inauguralceremony of Palai-Loya Banda Road indistrict Malakand. He said that commu-

nication sector play crucial role in the development of anyarea. The ceremony was also addressed by former memberprovincial assembly, Ghani Mohammad Khan and chair-man Siddiq. The provincial minister said that a degree col-lege and higher secondary school have already been es-tablished in the Union Council Palai while Rs.8 million werereleased for provision of water. The fund, he said had beenutilized on completion of water supply scheme in KhogDarra while work on other projects was in progress. Theprovincial minister said that construction work on 18-kilo-meter Palai-Akrampur Road, Thana-Palai Cherat Road wasin final stages. The scheme will be completed at the cost ofRs.200 million.

‘Autarky in edible oils’Staff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Min-ister for Agriculture, Arbab MohammadAyub Jan has said that the measurestaken by the provincial government fordevelopment of agriculture sector willhelp the province to achieve self-suffi-ciency in the production of edible oil innext 10 to 20 years. Talking to media, hesaid that the provincial government un-der a olive plantation project this yearhad distributed 0.2 million plants while

0.3 million more will be distributed during next financial year.The import of edible oil used in the production of cookingoil and ghee cost the country Rs.2 billion annually. He saidthat a project in this regard has been initiated in Sangbatti.He said that under this 10 years long project hybrid seeds ofolive plants will be distributed in the province. The agricul-ture department has started efforts for the development ofproducing off-season vegetables. Minister said that suchproject was first launched in Kalam, district Swat and nowfour-kanal plot has been acquired where growers are beingprovided training for such projects. He said that the grow-ers of Chattar Plain have produced peas worth Rs.20 milliononly in one season. The provincial minister said that thegovernment has also launched a project for planting or-chards of apple and cherry in the Hazara Division. The agri-culture department has started work on the establishmentof specific nurseries he added. Minister said that the pro-vincial government has activated 28 Farms Services Centrein all districts of the province where the growers have beenprovided agricultural inputs and necessary machinery, in-cluding 155 tractors for harvesting and orchards planta-tions are available on these centres .

Young journalistsdemand

representationMULTAN—Young Journal-ists Association (YJA) hasdemanded their representa-tion in committees consti-tuted to probe alleged ill-distribution of plots at jour-nalists colony Multan.Representatives of YoungJournalists AssociationYasir Majeed, MaimoonaSaeed, Qalb-e-Hassan,Mohammad Atif Ismail andothers talking to APP saidthat Punjab governmenthad decided to include two“senior journalists” for as-sistance the inquiry by thecommittee headed by DCOMultan.—APP

Ch Rasheed’smother Qul held

OUR CORRESPONDENT

FAISALABAD—The Qul of themother of Federal SecretaryInformation ChaudhryRasheed Ahmad was held athis ancestral village ChakNo.76-GB, Sitiana Road nearhere on Wednesday. A largenumber of people belongingto all walks of life, includingjournalists, scholars, lawyers,traders, industrialists, social,political leaders, officers andrepresentatives of variousgovernment and non-govern-ment organisation attendedthe Qul and prayed for the de-parted soul.

Quran Khawani will alsobe held at the residence ofthe federal secretary F-6/3Street No.12.

FAISALABAD—Dr MunirAhmad Sheikh, Dean Facultyof Sciences University of Ag-riculture, Faisalabad said thatmore than 70 percent peopleof the developing world stilldepending on the Comple-mentary and Alternative sys-tems of Medicine (CAM). Hesaid this while addressing the5th one-day national seminaron ‘Capacity Building ofComplementary and Alterna-tive Medical Practitioners’ or-ganized by the Department ofBiochemistry, here.

He said that cultural beliefsand practices often lead to selfcare or home remedies in rural

areas and consultation with tra-ditional healers. Evidence-based CAM therapies haveshown remarkable success inhealing acute as well as chronicdiseases, he added. He saidthat the alternative therapieshave been utilized by people inPakistan who have faith in spiri-tual healers, clergymen,Hakeems and homeopaths.These are the first choice forproblems such as infertility,epilepsy, psychosomatictroubles, depression and manyother ailments. He said that thetraditional medicine sector hasbecome an important source ofhealthcare.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The World Wild-life Fund (WWF), an interna-tional non-governmental or-ganization saving endangeredspecies, is working to attachradio collar to common leop-ard for initiating advance re-search on big cats survival inGalliyat. “The focus of ad-vance research is to find outthreats to common leopard,check out its migration rangeand for adopting latest mea-sure on scientific grounds forconservation of wild cats inthe region”, informed WasimAhmad, Coordinator WWF.

Talking to reporters,Wasim said our target is to

install radio collars to twoleopards at least and for thispurpose traps have been setup. Though the populationof big cats in Galliyat is sat-isfactory, but still the specieis facing numerous dangerslike shrinking habitat, human-leopard conflict and lessspace, Waseem added.

Galliyat, he continued, ishome to the largest popula-tion of common leopards inthe country and reduction ofhabitat for the rare wildspecie is causing danger toits survival in the region.Similarly, human-leopard con-flict in response to attack onlivestock is also posing dan-ger to survival of wild cat.

While, paucity of space inAyubia National Park inGalliyat is also causing prob-lem because the animal isspreading in popular areasfor finding out prey. “Its timeto draw guidelines for leop-ard management in Galliyatso that a self-sustainedbreeding population of leop-ard can co-exist with humanbeings,” he added. “Human-carnivore (meat eating ani-mal) conflict always has nega-tive impact on carnivorepopulation because ofretaliationary killing andwhen the predator did notfind wild prey due to reduc-tion in habitat, it starts itsdependence on livestock .

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Federally Ad-ministrated Tribal Areas(FATA) Secretariat is re-vamping, rehabilitating andconstructing Technical Vo-cational Education Training(TVET) centre to providebetter employment opportu-nities to the youth and fe-male of FATA with briningabout consequential impactof poverty reduction. An of-ficial of Directorate of Tech-nical Education FATA Sec-retariat Wednesday saidthat TVET sector is benefi-cial not only for the individu-als in the perspective of their

employability but the indus-try and service sectors alsoenjoy the availability of thedesired skilled workforce.

He said TVET play a piv-otal role in the country’s eco-nomic marginalized segmentof society. He said currently1,424 students are enrolledwith Government Colleges ofManagement SciencesBajaur, Mohmand, Khyber,Kurram and North WaziristanAgency.

These technical institu-tions are imparting trainingand education in variousshort and long courses in-cluding DAE in Electrical,Telecommunication and Civil,

B.Com, D. Com, BBA, BITand DIT.

He said the Secretariat isrevamping Govt College ofManagement Sciences atWana South WaziristanAgency at a cost of Rs.26.874 million, while anamount of Rs. 56.514 millionto improve, rehabilitate andreconstruct existing facilitiesof FATA. The official saidthat FATA Secretariat hasalso approved a scheme at acost of Rs. 89.750 million tocover all the educational ex-penses of 10 talented FATAstudents at Ghulam IshaqKhan institute of Science andTechnology Topi.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Peshawar Elec-tric Supply Company(PESCO) Wednesday noti-fied power shut down inPeshawar on January 3, 4 and5 from 9 am to 2 pm due tomaintenance work. The com-pany said that power supplywill remain suspended from132 KV Sakhi Chashma Gridstation on January 3 and 5from 9.am to 2.pm, resultantlythe consumers of 11 kvNishat feeder will face incon-venience. Power supply willremain suspended from 132KV Sakhi Chashma Grid sta-tion on January 4 from 9 amto 2 pm, resultantly the con-sumers of 11 KV Scarp, In-dustrial feeders will face in-convenience.

Power supply will remainclosed from 132 KV PeshawarCantt Grid station on Janu-ary 9 from 9 am to 2 pm,

resultantly the consumers of11 kv Warsak Road feederswill face inconvenience.Power supply will remainclosed from 132 KV ShahiBagh Grid station on January3 and 5 from 9 am to 2 pm,resultantly the consumers of11kv Naguman,Daudzai-1,2,KSM,Old Haryana feederswill face inconvenience.

Power supply will remainclosed from 132 KV Prova GridStation on January 3 from 11am to 5 pm, resultantly theconsumers of 11 kv Newaila,Rashid, Miran sugar Mills,Prova, Sikandar feeder willface inconvenience.

Peshawar Electric SupplyCompany (PESCO) Chief Ex-ecutive Tariq Saddozai andDirector General Public Rela-tions Shaukat Afzal Wednes-day congratulated newlyelected President ofPeshawar Press Club NasirHussain.

FATA Secretariat revampingTVET for youth, female

WWF to attach radiocollar to leopards in Galliyat

70 pc people dependon CAM system

PESCO notifiespower shut down

DERA GHAZI KHAN: People trying to arrest the managing director of a travel company, who was allegedly involvedin fraud, as he was trying to flee after cancellation of his bail.

PESHAWAR: Police official standing on the spot after gas cylinder blast at new Aca-demic Block of University.

PESHAWAR: Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami holds banner during protest rally against airattacks and shelling at Bara.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

DERA ISMAIL KHAN—Atleast four suspected terror-ists including a mastermind,involved in blasts in 9th and10th Muharram processionsand 11 other terrorist inci-dents in Dera Ismail Khanwere arrested from the cityin different raids. The mas-termind of the terrorist groupis a police constable who isalso the son of a servingDeputy Superintendent ofPolice in Prosecution wing,officials said.

Deputy Superintendentof Police Dera Range, QaziJamilur Rehman speakingto media persons said thatsuicide jackets, explosives,detonators and huge quan-

tity of arms and ammunitionwere also recovered fromthe houses of the accused.Qazi Jamil said that the mas-termind of this group,Waleed Akbar, was the sonof P-DSP Akbar Ali de-ployed in Dera Ismail Khanwhile the other accusedhave identified themselvesas Ikramullah, Ilyas andAbbas Ali.

“The terrorists hadplanned attacks on the 9thand 10th Muharram proces-sions at the house ofWaleed Akbar and the planwas executed by the otherswith the help of some localoperators who are beingtraced,” he added. To aquery, he replied that thegroup was also involved in

11 other terrorism incidentsin Dera Ismail Khan city, in-cluding a suicide attack onDSP Abdul Ghafoor, an at-tack on the DPO office, 9thand 10th Muharram proces-sions and the killing of anumber of Shia leaders inDera Ismail Khan.

Intelligence sources saidthat the four were membersof banned Tehreek-i-Talibanand the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and were financedby Al Qaeda and other for-eign terrorist groups, thenames of which could not bedisclosed at the moment.The official also said thatWaleed Akbar who used toplan the attack had a clothesshop in Commissionary Ba-zaar.

The police got the leadfrom there after interroga-tions during their investiga-tion of the CommissionaryBazaar blast on 10thMuharram which had lefteight people dead andscores injured. The blast on9th Muharram at Toya Fazlihad also left five peopledead while more than 130people were injured in thetwo blasts.

Qazi Jamil further toldthat the terrorists during in-terrogation had also di-vulged their future plans toconduct more attacks,which include suicide at-tacks on the police lines,City Police Station, the DPOoffice and also the targetkilling of Shia leaders be-

Muharram blasts’ suspects arrestedsides targeting of Shia pro-cessions and the Shia lead-ers.

Meanwhile four men al-leged to have been involvedin the bomb blasts in DeraIsmail Khan on the 9th and10th of Muharram were ar-rested on Wednesday. DIGDera Ismail Khan JamilurRehman said the police hadarrested the four from differ-ent parts of D I Khan.

The police recovered sui-cide jackets, hand grenades,explosives, detonators and avast quantity of arms andammunition from the arrestedmen. One of the arrested sus-pects is said to be a policeconstable. All four men areassociated with banned mili-tant organisations

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Elders ofAhmadzai Kauchi (Nomad)tribe has demanded of the fed-eral and Punjab governmentsto take measures for issuingnational identity cards to themand warned to hold protestdemonstrations in front of Par-liament if they were not givennationality of Pakistan. It isworth mentioning here that theAhmadzai kauchi tribe isknown to move from one coun-try to another and within thecountry as well but now thenomad tribe has adopted per-manent residences in differentprovinces of the country andmostly dealing in businessspecially of fabrics.

Ahmadzai tribe demandsissuance of CNIC

Speaking at a press con-ference here at Press Club onWednesday, Haji Inayatkauchi, a chief of the kauchitribe said that due to unavail-ability Computerized Na-tional Identity Cards (CNIC),they could not transfer theirlands and property to theirown names and compelled topurchase it with names ofother tribe members who hadCNIC and when the memberof that tribe died and hisdeath created hurdles for thenomad and even then couldnot claim for the property.

He said that they werebusinessmen and mostly re-lated to trade but owing to lackof the facility if CNIC theycould neither make an ac-

count in a bank, passport norcould deal in their businessesthrough bank. “We cannot gofor Hajj and Umrah to performour religious duties” he la-mented and added despitebeing Pakistani they still weredeprived of their CNIC whichhe said were their basic rightas every state provided thisfacility to its citizens.

Flanked by Haji Jabbar,Haji Asadullah and othermembers of the tribe, MrInayat informed Ahmadzai,Aakakhel and Sulemankhelwere branches of a singletribe while CNIC were pro-vided to Aakakhel andSulemankhel tribes butAhmadzai were ignored inthis regard.

Army’s timelyclarification

AS Dr Qadri phenomenon surfaced all of a sudden at the heel ofthe general elections, speculations were rife that he had tacit backing of the Establishment and it is perhaps why the Director-Gen-

eral ISPR Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa has come out with a cat-egorical denial of Army’s involvement in the emerging scenario. In aninterview, he said Army stands for democracy and rumours on the con-trary were mere speculations.

We believe that the forthright denial of the ISPR is very timelyand pertinent as despite Dr Qadri’s own declaration on oath that nodomestic or foreign power was behind his surprising move, doubtsand apprehensions persisted as pro-establishment forces were group-ing together to present a challenge to the existing system. Suspicionsgained currency in the backdrop of any contradiction from the Armyand in fact, appeals of the MQM chief Altaf Hussain to intervene intheir favour also raised more questions about motives and the modusoperandi of the strategy unfolded by head of Tehrik Minhajul Quran(TMQ). Earlier, Allama Qadri too had urged the Army not to obeyorders of the Government (if given) to stop the announced long marchon Islamabad. We hope that the statement of the ISPR chief wouldclear misgivings in this regard and the Army, through its actions inthe days to come, would prove its neutral credentials. Otherwise too,the Army, under the leadership of General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani dis-tanced itself from the political arena and is focusing on professionalpursuits. Of course, on the basis of past experience, some quartersbelieve that the Army’s tolerance level for civilian rule is just four tosix years and that it does not allow the democracy to take roots butwe are confident that the Army leadership would be able to wipe outsuch impressions as it did successfully during the last five years whenseveral opportunities arose but were just ignored.

Well-done Shahbaz!THE New Year began with dispiriting developments for people of Pa

kistan as energy crisis deepened and security situation further dete-riorated, the Punjab Government came out with three revolutionary andwelfare-oriented initiatives to ease out things for otherwise hard-pressedmasses. Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif introduced a modern com-puterized pension payment system for retired government employees,launched distribution of two hundred thousand free-of-cost solar lampsamong students and raised Ring Road Police Force.

From the very beginning, the Chief Minister has been instrumentalin bringing about a silent revolution in Punjab through a combinationof good governance, merit based policies and massive developmentalactivities. People of the province, for the first time, in his tenure, wit-nessed recruitment purely on merit; attractive incentives for educationand speedy but quality implementation of developmental projects offar-reaching significance. Distribution of laptops has helped realisedreams of hundreds of thousands of students and their poor parentswho were unable to afford this modern-day necessity to complementstudies. As there is no end to load-shedding, distribution of solar lampsamong students would also go a long way in saving their precious studyhours from darkness. Pensioners have been facing enormous difficul-ties in getting pensions and the new procedure would definitely savethem from vagaries of different sorts. On this occasion, we would drawattention of the Chief Minister to the plight of teachers, the largestwork force in the province, who are being exploited by clerk mafia andtheir patrons. There is need to streamline payment of salaries and duesto teachers especially female ones through adoption of a transparentmechanism, free of exploitation and corrupt practices. Again, Patwarand Thana culture have made lives of the people miserable and there isneed to initiate fundamental reforms in revenue department and policeforce to improve things for the common man.

Whose interestsECC watches?

THE Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet Tuesday approved the sale of 52,000 tons of wheat from PASSCO’s stocks

to World Food Programme (WFP) for distribution among IDPs in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan. The entire quantity will be sold to theWFP at $ 300 per ton as against the international price of $ 362 per ton ofthe commodity.

International wheat prices are on the rise since June, 2012 and ac-cording to experts the demand in 2013 will lead to a product shortageand thus there is possibility that the prices may further surge. Europeanwheat futures have been gradually climbing over the past couple ofmonths with the price hitting $362.66 a ton on Nov. 8. In this scenarioselling Pakistani wheat at $ 300 per ton to WFP is surprising and one isjustified to question as to whose interest the ECC served by this mag-nanimous decision. Already the millers in the country have raised theprices of various flour varieties. They argue that every mill badly needsat least 1,000 bags per day per mill as compared to the current supplyof 300 bags to avert any flour crisis in Karachi alone. The situation isnot different in Punjab and flour prices have constantly been rising.Though the country has a huge surplus of around two million tons ofwheat but that does not mean to sell it at throw away prices costingthe national exchequer huge losses. Pakistan is a poor country andcannot afford to sell the commodity at subsidized rate to the WFP. Wewould therefore impress upon the ECC not to go for hasty decisionsfor the benefit of cartels and keep the interests of the country and itspeople in view while deciding important issues.

Rehman Malik’s visit to India

In my time, thefollies of the towncrept slowly amongus. But now theytravel faster than astagecoach.

When I received theMother Teresa awardthis year for working to-

wards improvement of relationsbetween India and Pakistan, I washappy to believe that there musthave been a tangible evidence ofthat to get the recognition. Indeed,there has been a steady increasein flow of traffic—doctors, law-yers, academicians, businessmenand sportspersons visiting eachother’s country. I recalled how 20years ago there were only 15people when I lighted candles forthe first time on the Wagah bor-der to celebrate the birth of Indiaand Pakistan on the 14-15 Augustnight. This year it was a sea ofhumanity on this side of the bor-der and some 10,000 on the Paki-stan side which began reciprocat-ing three years ago.

People-to-people contact wasimproving and the trade makingrapid strikes. The relationship waslooking up. Then comes oneRahman Malik from Pakistan andnearly breaks everything like a bullin a China shop would do.Islamabad’s Minister of InteriorMalik has done everything possibleto spoil relations through his state-ments and remarks. He stayed inthe capital only for three days butreignited the fires of suspicion, biasand hatred. The extremists in boththe countries would not have askedfor more. First, he compares theBabri masjid demolition with theterrorist attacks on Mumbai to sug-gest that the demolition was the job

Fiscalcliff deal

It’s funny what passes for a success in Washington. In the earlyhours of New Year’s Day, as

American senators finally agreed adeal on tax and spending, both mainparties were almost bubbling overwith self-congratulation. “I feel very,very good,” Barack Obama’s vice-president, Joe Biden, declared. “Ithink we can say we’ve done somegood for the country,” said the keyRepublican on the other side of thetrade, Senator Mitch McConnell.His assessment may sound respect-ably tentative, but it is by no meanstentative or modest enough.

The deal struck by Washingtonpoliticians neither avoids tax hikeson middle-class Americans; norraises them on many rich ones. Itneither halts massive spending cuts,nor puts in place the much-toutedgrand bargain to restore order toWashington’s finances over the longrun. And it does little to boost confi-dence that Mr Obama will set abouthis last term with greater conviction– and, yes, fight – than he hasshowed thus far. It also shows yetagain what kind of Washington thepresident is up against: a legislaturewhere politicians, reflecting thepolarised, vastly unequal economyand society that elected them, nowcannot agree on even basic things.Finally, it prepares the ground fora series of confrontations over bud-get policy.

To sum up: if the agreementinked in the US Senate this weekis supposed to be an answer tosomething, then the question can’thave been much good. And theframing of America’s budget prob-lems has been singularly ill-suitedto generating solutions. Believethe vast majority of the news out-lets and, should Washington poli-ticians fail to agree to avert a waveof drastic tax hikes and spendingcuts by the end of 2012, then theUS economy would immediatelytumble off a “fiscal cliff” into deeprecession. Britons will recognisethis picture: it is basically thecoalition’s austerity programme –which makes it poignant to hear theBritish right describe the fiscal cliffin such lurid terms.

In any case, this picture was al-ways unhelpfully melodramatic:while the Congressional BudgetOffice does project that the tax hikes(actually, the expiry of the tax cutsbrought in by George Bush over adecade ago) and spending cutswould have been a hammer blow foran already-weak US economy, thatwas only if that austerity were al-lowed to continue for months, whichnever looked likely. This week’sSenate bill at least averts the onsetof too much austerity, too soon. Butthere will still be some tax pain. Itwill be felt by individuals earningover $400,000 a year, who will seetheir tax rates rise. Mr Obama wentinto these negotiations promising tomake that threshold $250,000: he hasconceded ground here, even whilewringing out of the party of GroverNorquist the concession that taxeswill need to rise to protect America’swelfare state.

But while the top 1% of Ameri-can earners may hardly notice thechange to their incomes, the middleclass will also lose, as the Demo-crats have now surrendered theirtemporary reduction in payrolltaxes (the American equivalent ofnational insurance). That is worth$1,000 (£610) a year to anyone onan annual salary of $50,000(£30,810) – a noticeable loss. Asfor the spending cuts, they are onlysuspended for two months – just intime for the next row on America’sdebt ceiling, the cap on how muchgovernment can borrow.

America’s government cannotcontinue forever with a system thatspends one in every four dollars,but taxes only one in every five.Yet the middle of a slump is notthe time to begin redressing thatimbalance. Indeed, there is a goodreason for the US to go for anotherround of stimulus aimed at seriousjob-creation. Instead, what wehave this week is a jerry-built com-promise that neither deals with theslump nor faces up to the long-term. After last November, MrObama has the mandate and thebest arguments – but neither themajority of the House nor the will-ingness to throw his weightaround. And the Republican partyhas not really accepted anythingvery much about the 2012 election.Truly, a depressing start to the yearin Washington. — The Guardian

MEDIA WATCH

Oliver Goldsmith—British writer

of Hindus and the 26/11 at-tacks of Muslims, renewingthe memory of the holocaustduring the partition and reit-erating the two-nation theorywhich even Founder of Pa-kistan, Mohammad Ali

Jinnah, dropped after independence.And then Malik brushed aside theagony of captain Saurabh Kalia’s fa-ther who received his son’s body,mutilated and with all the organs cutafter 20 days of the Kargil war. ThePakistani army has denied the inhu-man act but it could have at least heldan inquiry to allay India’s doubts onKalia’s case.

Rehman, when pressed, said thathis ministry would probe but I amnot sure if he can dare do anythingagainst the army’s wishes. In anycase, none has taken Rehman’s visitseriously and his attempt tominimise the role of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Sayed Azhar, even say-ing that the latter was never arrestedfor the Mumbai attacks. This hasonly annoyed New Delhi. The an-ger was so deep that India did notagree to a joint press conference oreven a joint statement.

New Delhi could have taken thecredit of arresting the Hindu extrem-ist who masterminded the SamjhautaExpress blasts and planted bombs ata mosque in Maharashtra’sMalegaon town. Malik’s disastrousvisit eclipsed the welcome gesturethat the Supreme Court of India hadmade. It had freed Khalil Chisti, aPakistani doctor who was mistak-enly involved in a murder in his In-dian part of family with which hewas living at the time of killing. Incontrast, the government was rigidand too legalistic. Some humanrights activists put before the gov-ernment the negligible role, if any,played by Chisti. Initially, the

Rajasthan government saw the pointand that Chisti was not to blame rec-ommended to the governor to par-don Chisti. Shivraj Patil, the Punjabgovernor, was at that time officiat-ing as governor of Rajasthan. Patilwas adamant and rejected the state’sproposal. Mahesh Bhatt, a famousfilm maker and I met Patil atChandigarh, and pleaded Chisti’s

case that he was 80 years old andthat he was a heart patient. But it didnot appeal to the governor who ar-gued that Chisti had been on bail andmust spend some time in jail to servethe purpose of justice.

Rahman has signed at Delhi anagreement not to have visa for chil-dren and make it easier for personsabove 65 to travel across the border.Much will depend on the implemen-tation. Even small concessions willdo good to relations, because the

Despite all the efforts of thepolice and other securityagencies to prevent people

celebrating and welcoming theNew Year hell broke loose at mid-night and countless rounds of gun-fire were heard in the streets ofDHA and other areas. One wonderswhat people are celebrating andwhy they think that today will beany different from yesterday. Itseems to be the unbroken opti-mism or better the habit to closeour eyes on the facts around us thatinvoked celebrations at this pointof time. This time is the end of thetenure of the sitting governmentwhich has run down the countrymercilessly with the economy inshambles and inflation outrunningthe budgets of most people. Risein food items and gas and electric-ity if available at all, a never-end-ing CNG crisis and a corruptionrate that is sky rocketing.

Life in Pakistan has becometerrible because of our first mistaketo become a conduit in Afghanistan,when USSR was invited by the thenlawful ruler to assist them to con-solidate power in Afghanistan USAdecided to provide men and mate-rial to Jihadi elements to dislodgeUSSR from Afghanistan. Morethen 30 million refugees spilledover into Pakistan from Afghani-stan, many of them are still not onlyliving here but are engaged in busi-ness also, while the national fabricof Pakistan is torn into pieces. Sec-ond blunder we committed whenPakistan became frontline ally ofUS in their war against terror and

Too much optimism for change?People in Pakistan are suffer-ing politically and financially.Revolutionary forces have en-tered in the race to forestallforthcoming elections.

The last five years ofdemocratic government of

PPP and its coalition partners knowthat during last nearly five yearspetrol prices jumped from Rs 46 to101, Diesel from 39 to 107, CNGfrom 30 to 93; motor bike from35,000 to 108,000, Air-conditionerfrom 15,000 to 42,000, the Dollarfrom 60 to 98, Aata (flour) from11 to 37, sugar from 21 to 65, milkfrom 25 to 72, cooking oil from 80to 190, GST from 15% to 36%,DAP Urea from Rs 1300 to 4700,load shedding from 30% to 150%,Gold from 20,000 to 62,000, elec-tricity unit from 2.13 to 8.38. Whowill rescue the nation? Will the’revolutionary’ politicians take noticeof this and commit to slash downprices to 2008 position?

The PPP that had come intopower on a sympathy vote due to theuntimely shahadat of Benazir Bhuttoin Liaquatabad Rawalpindi has uti-lized its term to fill their pockets.The president who has ruled singlehandedly with the Prime Ministersas his puppets is probably the mostcontroversial figure in the country.That is why he is now trying tomend the situation by putting hisson into the run to lead the party incoming elections, inexperiencedBilawal. His maiden speech inLarkana was visionless as was tobe expected but that won’t matterbecause his father will make surethat the political dynasty is main-tained. The forthcoming electionsare casting their shadows; a new‘star’ on the political horizon hasbeen inserted into the run to betterpromote the idea of change than thefaltering Imran Khan who had all the

time proven wrong for his politicalcome-back and who by now hastrouble to keep his own party to-gether. Will Dr. Tahir ul Qadri beable to bring change? That is verymuch questionable especially if heis relying on comrades like theMQM as a coalition partner who hastried to leave PPP government sev-eral times always came back forsome considerations; today or to-morrow they may also leave him atany point in the lurch.

But whatsoever this New Yearwill bring for Pakistan will also de-pend on the regional and global situ-ation. Drone attacks are going on un-abated, Pakistan has already releasedin two batches leading Taliban de-tainees in Pakistani custody to cre-ate goodwill on the request of Af-ghanistan logic not understood whenAfghan ruler alleges Pakistan for nottaking military action againstTaliban. On the other hand OurAmbassador in US claims our rela-tions with US are on one page as UShas no grievance against Talibanthey are against Al-Qaeda operativesin Afghanistan & FATA while theythemselves are providing arms andfinancial support to Al-Qaeda opera-tives in Libya & Syria. Benghazitragedy has already exposed thesefacts. Our favourite ally the US is inheavy trouble. Not because of themuch tooted so-called fiscal cliff butfor the problems that are plaguingthis country and are less publicizedsuch as a standing army of 12 mil-lion jobless, a growing number ofshelter less people and rising pov-erty. American infrastructure is col-lapsing, in case of hurricanes or win-ter storms people are sitting forweeks without electricity and heat-ing and many more trouble is in themaking. By now many of the unit-ing states of America have asked toleave the Union and want to try their

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gesture is considered a positivestep and more people from bothsides will meet in five cities insteadof three as was the regulation ear-lier. The caravan of goodwill willmove further when cricket matchesbetween the two countries areplayed in the next few weeks. NewDelhi has agreed to give visa to3,000 Pakistanis.

The number should have beenat least 10,000. The Pakistan me-dia does not take up the case of ex-cesses committed against minori-ties so forcefully as the Indian me-dia does. It was because of mediathat the BJP leaders could not hidetheir face when the Babri masjidwas demolished. Again, the creditgoes to the Indian media that chiefminister Narendra Modi, howeverpolitically strong, awaits judgmenton the cases of his involvement inthe 2002 carnage.

I can see a change in the atti-tude of people in India and Paki-stan towards each other. Theynever harboured hostility despitethe sterile attitude of the two gov-ernments. Now they are bold intheir comment and feel repentanton the massacre of 10 lakh peopleduring partition. What the publicin both the countries must do is toforce their governments to cut themilitary expenditure. Even a re-duction of five percent wouldmake crores of rupees availablefor schools, health centres andpoverty alleviation programmes.India and Pakistan have the larg-est number of poor in the world.Better relations would force a cutin military budgets on both sidespossible. New Delhi should takethe initiative.—The writer is a veteran Indianjournalist, syndicated columnist,human rights activist and author.

luck on their own. They are tiredwith Washington’s insistence on thewars in Afghanistan and elsewhereand heavy burden of military ex-penditure, while their roads are bro-ken, their schools are not only in abad shape but closing down and notenough jobs are forthcoming to givethe people a decent living.

The situation is not better inEurope either. Greece and Spainhave high rates of unemploymentwith law and order under threat ofthe jobless and poor. The social bal-ance is breaking up and Germanyand some better-off economies willnot be able to provide jobs for allwho are in need of it. This will showon the economic situation of EUand the West as such and we arelooking towards a new crisis loom-ing at the horizon. Neverthelesshave Americans and Europeansalso celebrated the New Year-though with fireworks instead ofgunshots- but while closing theireyes on the realities as much as Pa-kistanis have done.

We don’t yet now what this year2013 will bring for Pakistan and therest of the world. But it seems thattoo much optimism is uncalled forand we should better get ready for ahard landing. Change if it is realchange and not only cosmeticschanges or fake land reforms willserve the purpose of empowermentof the people rather will hurt; as thebrunt of it will have to be taken bythe already poor and the middle classbecause the big-wigs will run awayand join their money abroad kept inSwiss & American safe heavens. Sowhosoever asks for change shouldbe ready for a tight 2013. May Al-lah help us to be strong enough totake whatsoever is unfolding for aprosperous and welfare state basedon the principles of Islamic SocialJustice programme.

Kuldip NayarEmail:kuldipnayar09@gmail.com

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti@super.net.pk

I can see a changein the attitude of

people in India andPakistan towardseach other. Theynever harboured

hostility despite thesterile attitude of

the twogovernments. Indiaand Pakistan havethe largest number

of poor in the world.Better relations

would force a cut inmilitary budgets onboth sides possible.New Delhi shouldtake the initiative.

Voice of the People

Syria’s chaos isn’t America’s fault

One of the virtues of the Arab-Spring/Winter is that Arabpeople came to own their poli-

tics — for better or worse. This senseof ownership was often painful towatch — democracy isn’t always lib-eral — but it brought authority andlegitimacy to the political turbulenceroiling that region since late 2010.That made change real and home-grown. The United States and Israelwere not central to the myths, tropesand narratives of these historicchanges, nor should they be.

Some have argued for interven-tion by attempting to draw a paral-lel to Libya: We helped the rebelsbring down Moammar Gaddafi, thisthinking goes. Why not do the samein Syria? Three interconnected re-alities provide the answer. First,there was an international consen-sus for action in Libya, specificallythrough the United Nations andNATO. Second, Libya was low-hanging fruit from a military per-

We are now in the eleventhyear of this war which weinitiated as a consequence

of US policy dictates resulting in overforty thousand deaths besides eco-nomic devastation. As 2014 ap-proaches, the contours of the futureprospects are appearing from the fogof uncertainty. A fragmented Afghani-stan would again possibly be partlyunder the Taliban rule with high risksof a civil war.

How this could be avoided stillremains a mystery but not altogetheran “impossible task”. As US narrowlyavoids the fiscal cliff, the economicsituation there is just not satisfactoryto promise enough aid which wouldrelive the dependent Pakistan of itseconomic worries. Pakistan wouldtherefore, find it extremely hard tocontinue with this futile war at its ownwhich it initiated in the aftermaths ofSeptember 11, 2001 despite that noPakistani was ever involved either in

Pakistan’s moment of truthplanning or execution of this incident.With this corrupt and inefficient gov-ernment in place Pakistan would notonly add to its own miseries butwould also risk an economic collapseas well, if it continues with this war.

Release of Afghan Taliban is justa right step towards moving to theend state once bulk of US troopsleaves the Afghanistan. Olive branchextended by Pakistani Taliban is yetanother development which needsserious consideration. All previousefforts to negotiate with these mili-tant groups by Pakistan ended invain because the US never wantedsuch a settlement and somethingwent wrong while both sides blamedeach other for violating the truce. Itcan be easily established that whoactually played the trick throughdrones and covert operations forthese truces to fail.

After having failed to win overthe resistance movement in the graveyard of empires, the imperialistpower, which had started to experi-ence imperial stretch after 2008, isnow suffering from imperial fatigue.Although, the US policy makers

Blindnessin SindhHASHIM ABRO

The prevalence of visual impairmentand blindness among children hasalarmingly increased in the north-ern and southern Sindh districts, inparticular, Larkana, Qambar/Shahdad Kot, Dadu, Ghotki,Sukkur, Thatto. Noted ophthalmolo-gists from the affected areas opinethat the causes for visual impairmentand blindness are generally treatableor preventable but abject povertyand lack of facilities including eyesurgeons, necessary medicines, andeye equipments, in the governmenthospitals are a few big barriers toaccess to eye care services to elimi-nate avoidable blindness in all agegroups, particularly, children..

It is painful that health problemsthat afflict the poor people in the ru-ral areas of the province have notreceived an iota of attention of thepresent and past successive regimes.The international humanity caringorganizations are reported to pourbillion of dollars into the fightsagainst different deadly diseasessuch as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tu-berculosis but where goes thatmoney? It always remains a diffi-cult question for the rulers to answer.

In order to enable all blind, par-ticularly, farmers in the rural areasto be self dependent, steps shouldalso be taken, health and sanitationfor the rural people should be im-proved, arrangements should bemade to improve and assist eye test-ing for rural school children, a regu-lar mobile eye check up clinicsshould also be established, Mobileeye operation should also be orga-nized in collaboration with nationaland international charity organiza-tions such as Qatar Al- Khariya (Qatar Charity), Kuwait Fund, ICRC,Pakistan Baitul Mal, PRCS, etc. Itis believed that the above mentionedsteps, if taken, will stand in goodstead to prevent, cure, treat and re-habilitate the eye sight of those whohave lost it now and can’t see thecolors of this panoramic and beau-tiful universe.—Islamabad

Security forjournalistsSARA TANVEER

Pakistan is among the world’s mostdangerous places for journalists:threats, assaults, kidnapping andmurder are among the everyday dan-gers reporters face simply for doingtheir jobs. Pakistan has undergonedrastic internal political and secu-rity changes since the start of theUnited States, ‘War on Terror’. Inthese times, when it is difficult butessential for citizens to keep abreastof fast-moving developments, therole of Pakistan’s journalists is moreimportant than ever.

Yet Pakistan is the world’s mostdangerous country for reporters,Infact, among 66 journalists killedworldwide in 2011, 10 were killedin Pakistan. On a day-to-day-basis,journalists face hardships such asphone tapping, physical surveil-lance, computer hacking, threats tofamily and friends, the possibility oflosing their jobs, and being exiled.Unfortunately, such repression isconducted not only by radical ele-ments in society, but in some casesby the government itself.

In year 2012, 70 journalists werekilled all over the world including7 Pakistani journalists. Syria has thehighest killings i.e. 28 then Soma-lia 12. Almost half of the 70 jour-nalists killed worldwide in 2012were targeted and murdered for theirwork. The vast majority coveredpolitics. Many also reported on war,human rights, and crime. In almosthalf of these cases, political groupsare the suspected source of fire.There has been no justice in a singleone of these deaths.

Pakistan is among the deadliestcountries for journalists, accordingto the research done in 2012.Life of

Emergence of Qadri factorK PERVEZ

Dr Qadri dropped on Pakistani soil like a para-shooter apparently well trained by some — aviation, with the slogans of electoral reforms through Care taker set up to be installed with the help

of Army and Judiciary. Today he pointed out a major electoral reform needed in Peoples representa-tive Act 1976 which speaks about 3 to 5 years punishment on corrupt practices but there is no havemechanism to do so as it refer the case to Session judge which take ages. The Para-shooters and hisinstructors wanted to side line two main stream political parties in next elections, even at the cost ofdemocracy. Now PPP and Nawaz league can make amendment immediately in section 82 of represen-tative Act 1976 empowering the office of Chief Election commissioner to punish corrupt practicesthemselves like India to put this controversy to rest and take air out of Qadri,s balloon to make thesystem more just, efficient and transparent. Fukhroo Bhai is capable to enforce this law being re-spected and consensus “Chief” of Election commission. But the objective of Fair and just electionscannot be achieved unless big/large constituencies are reduced to its half size, enabling middle class toparticipate, this can only be done through constitutional amendments not by street politics. Dr Qadriis well read person and good orator but media can expose his conflicting statements easily otherwisehe is set to derail democracy by intriguing with MQM, Q League, Defence Council and PTI with thesupport of hidden hands. History tells us who had been financially supporting political parties inElections in the past. Its hard to believe that a Taxi driver in Europe, as claimed by Dr Qadri can spare£1000/- Pounds in these days of high rescission for Dr Qadris rally. Media must watch closely hismotives and moves in their own interest.—Via email

Views From Abroad

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

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

—Editor

would endeavour reassuring theworld that US is still strong enoughto project its power off-shore and alsocapable of meeting challenges in theAsia Pacific region and Middle East.US Secretary of State HillaryClinton’s essay in Foreign Policy on“America’s Pacific Century” in No-vember 2011 and Secretary of De-fence Leon Panetta’s recent article inGulf News “US can Walk and Chewthe Gum at the same Time” are someof these reassurances which mightcontain some element of truth as well,but can’t overwrite the fact that theUS now is an eroding empire. His-tory tells us that once empires startto erode, they can unravel at a rapidpace if they don’t alter their course.Ottomans, Britain, Portugal, Franceand most recently the USSR are fewexamples to quote in this regard. TheUS, obsessed with the jingoist senti-ments, doesn’t appear to be alteringits course and thus may continue withits downward spiral.

What Pakistan now needs to dois to bring this futile war to an end,as enough blood has been spilled andpeople are fed up of this vicious cycle

journalist here is always at a high risk.Special attention should be given tosecure the lives of journalists work-ing in Pakistan, for this purpose it isnecessary for the journalists to edu-cate themselves that how to protectthemselves and how to best protecttheir people and sources. Moreover,government should provide specialtraining to law enforcement and se-curity forces on protocols for safeinteraction with the press and shouldalso provide guidelines and exercisesto help police, riot, military and othersecurity forces to learn how to safelyinteract with journalists coveringbreaking news from civil unrest toarmed combat. The higher authori-ties should respect press freedom andhuman rights and train governmentsecurity forces to demonstrate a clearcommitment to meet internationalpress freedom and human rights stan-dards.—Via email

No militaryoperation

COL AMJAD FAROOQI (R)

This is with reference to MestaagBaloch’s letter to editor “AnotherMilitary operation” published onDecember 31. In the letter he men-tioned that “Another operation inMashkay, a sub-Tehsil of DistrictAwaran, was launched with gunshiphelicopters and 200 armoured ve-hicles” is totally a disinformation.Even blatant lies should have limits,there is no military operation goingon anywhere in Balochsitan, includ-ing Mashkay.

Not a single gunship- helicopteris deployed in Balochistan, let aloneemployed in any operation. Not asingle armoured vehicle is deployedin Mashkay or anywhere near it.Through this paper, I invite Mr.Mestaag (If that is his real name) tovisit any army unit of his choice, atany time. A targeted FC operationagainst criminals should be seen assuch. Mr Mastaag is invited to leadthis operation as a peace loving Pa-kistani.—Via email

Emerging leaderin green energy

SYED IRFAN ALI

There is no shortage of natural re-sources in Pakistan. In recent years,however, with ecological scarcitiesplaguing the planet, and energy con-sumption continuously on the rise,Pakistan has sought to considerablyreduce its dependency on oil. Instead,it has focused on the sustainable de-velopment approach, which encour-ages the use of renewable resourcesthat can be naturally replenished andcreate pure ‘clean green energy’ thatcan supply electricity.

Indeed, with global energy de-mand set to double or even triple by2050, Pakistan has demonstrated anunyielding commitment to a renew-able green energy future, launchinga host of initiatives which aim to sig-nificantly reduce its carbon footprint.One company that stands out is FaujiFertilizer (FFC) which has trulyemerged as a leader in the green en-ergy sector.

The FFCEL wind power project,announced in 2011, which symbol-izes a true milestone for Pakistan,especially as it intends to meet theenergy demands of Pakistan’s fastgrowing population. The FFCELwind power project also shows howPakistan is taking up the collectiveapproach of nations around the worldto create a sustainable future for theworld. In the past decade, Pakistanhas certainly undergone an ecologi-cal awakening, implementing myriadeco-plans and placing the use of re-newable energy high on the country’spolitical, social and economicagenda. Today, Pakistan seeks aneven greater role to mend the ecologi-cal crisis and continues to take stra-tegic leaps — in the form of policies,events, partnerships or projects —towards a greener environment andeconomy. The cornerstone of ecologi-

Rebellion proves to be BJPs nemesis

BJP’s worst performance inHimachal Pradesh and declinein voting share in Gujarat has

not only exposed the party’s lack ofleadership but its improper electoralstrategies also. While the Congressparty won a consolation prize by tak-ing back Himachal Pradesh the BJPmade it a hat trick in Gujarat. Themandate displays win and loss gamefor BJP which eyes revival of fortunesin 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The exitin HP is more on account of BJP’sinternal troubles than a vote in favourof the Congress. “Had there not beenso many rebellions in the field the BJPcould have won in HP too, the blamelies on President, Nitin Gadkari whofailed to pacify the rebellions, averseveral senior leaders. Similarly, theparty lost one seat in Gujarat due tothe friction between Chief MinisterNarender Modi and erstwhile seniorparty leader Keshubhai Patel.

Interestingly, getting into internalturmoil is not a new thing for BhartiyaJanata Party as its leaders are alwaysin wait to score brownie points overeach other especially before and af-ter the elections. This has been wit-nessed earlier in BJP ruled stateswhere leaders fight among them-selves for satiating their political

ambitions. Due to internalsquabblings, ego problems and per-sonal interests BJP’s fortunes plungedin Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP andHimachal Pradesh and the same islikely to happen in Karnataka. Thereis no denying the fact that incum-bency factor and rebels caused a mar-ginal loss of 5.31 per cent that costpower to BJP in Himachal Pradesh.The Congress gained 13 seats with avote increase of just 3.27 per cent inthe Assembly elections. The Con-gress polled 42.81 per cent votescompared to 39.54 per cent in 2007and won 36 seats against tally of 23seats in 2007 and gained a wafer thinmajority in 68-member house.

In Gujarat Narendra Modi set ahat-trick, winning by a huge marginfrom Maninagar. Credit goes to Modifor steering his party to success de-spite anti-government tirade byKeshubhai Patel who formed GujaratParivartan Party to give tough fightto BJP. Mr. Modi trounced his near-est Congress rival Shweta Bhatt by amargin of 86,373 votes. The BJP reg-istered its fifth consecutive victory inGujarat, third under Mr. Modi, whenit bagged 115 seats, two less than inthe 2007 elections while Congressbagged two more to finish at 61.

Though Modi has retainedGujarat despite fighting odds as wellas a virulent campaign by senior Con-gress leaders including Prime Minis-ter Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress

Chief Sonia Gandhi and AICC Gen-eral Secretary Rahul Gandhi butBJP’s voting share went down by onepercent which didn’t auger well withthe overall performance, as expected.It is good luck for BJP that formerstate leader Keshubhai couldn’t dentits prospects in the state as happenedin Himachal Pradesh where CM PremKumar Dhumal and party PresidentShanta Kumar were working in op-posite directions.

Incidently, Chief MinisterNarendra Modi who is nursing PrimeMinisterial ambitions has opponentsnot in home state only but also inDelhi . There are several leaders inDelhi who see themselves as moredeserving contenders than NarenderModi. Though outwardly they eulo-gies him and his capability but theyare weaving a web internally so thathis chances of projecting him asparty’s Prime Ministerial candidatefor 2014 elections are nipped in thebud. Reacting to Mr Modi’s perfor-mance, the erstwhile leader of the BJPin Karnataka Mr Yeddyurappa toldone of the national English dailies thathe won the elections on the plank ofdevelopment and not on the basis ofhis party. Mr Yeddyurappa, who quitthe BJP to form the KJP, said MrModi’s win was nothing short of fan-tastic as it was his personal victory,proving his individual leadershipqualities. Responding to queries thatMr Modi, after all, was contesting on

a BJP ticket and by default thevictory’s credit went to the BJP, heasked: “Then why did the BJP notwin in Himachal Pradesh?” Thetacit statement by Yeddyyrappyagainst the party strengthens thefact that all is not well within theBJP. Undoubtedly, factionalism andrivalry is eroding BJP’s chances ofretaining power in states once theparty ruled. In Karnataka, its ChiefMinister D.V. Sadananda Gowda isunder constant attack from prede-cessor and colleague B.S.Yeddyurappa, a friend-turned-foe.Similiarly the situation is no betterin Rajasthan, where former chiefminister Vasundhara Raje Scindiarefuses to bow to detractors. Whilein Uttar Pradesh, once a stronghold,the BJP is in disarray, in Mumbaiinternal rivalaries are surfacing ev-ery now and then hitting the futureelectoral alliance with Shiv Sena.

Cadres moan that the BJP haslost its aura of a disciplined party.They say, it resembles the Congressparty. BJP leaders refuse to admitthat the party is sinking due to itsinternal problems. The latest resultsindicated that waring central lead-ers of BJP need to sink their differ-ences and put efforts to bring backvoters. Moreover, the party shouldget rid of corrupt and criminal lead-ers and consolidate its supporters.—The writer is a Delhi-basedsenior journalist.

of violence. The images of soldiersand civilians being killed, the muti-lated bodies and the bomb blastshave already desensitized the Paki-stani society as a whole. All warsand conflicts are ultimately con-cluded on the negotiation table andthis war is no exception to this rule.All those who advocate this warusually lives in secure premises,aristocratic environments, circlingbetween elite clubs and posh hotelsand running foreign funded NGOs/organizations and usually remainsoblivion of the miseries faced bycommon masses while collectingwood to burn or waiting for hoursin line to fill the gas. Our learningcurve had been slow but now thisoffer of peace from Taliban givesus a unique opportunity to bring thisviolence to an end and make a seri-ous endeavour to re-incorporate themilitant groups back into the foldof mainstream society. The momentof truth has arrived for Pakistan andit would set the state’s course for thefuture trajectory or fall.—The writer is Mphil ResearchScholar at NDU.

Aaron David Miller

Even as the events of the dastardly rape in Delhi settlesdown, we hear of another and

another happening there in the capi-tal, then all over the country.

I decided to go over to the localpolice station to ask what advice theesteemed gentlemen in khaki hadto offer me; the father of two girls:“Go hide your women!” thunderedthe inspector as the two constablesin Hindi movie style nodded in uni-son. “But sir, they need to go toschool and college,” I pleaded. “At

your own risk,” said the same inspec-tor looking at his two constables whoimmediately went into united nods,“Do you want them to get molestedor educated?” “I would like them toget educated without being mo-lested!” I whispered. “Do you knowwhere you live?” he thundered, as Inodded and one of the constablesprodded me with a stick, “Do youknow where you live?” “In India!” Iwhispered.

“Yes,” said the inspector, “andwhen in Rome do what the Romansdo, so hide your women. In fact haveyou read today’s paper? We have hadspecial squads in Mumbai, who havefound girls outside their homes inparks and have immediately rushedthem off to the police stations. Wewill be doing this all over the coun-

try, from restaurants, beaches, zoos,parks or other public places we willrush them to the…”

”Police station!” I completed forhim. “And then you can come andcollect them after paying the fine!”“But sir, don’t you think that arrest-ing them and rushing them in vans tothe station could be traumatic forthem?”

“What is the alternative?” askedthe inspector as the second constablepoked me with his stick, “Rape andassault! You want that to happen toyour child?” I shuddered as the in-spector nodded at his two constableswho nodded back at him in Hindimovie style. “Do you have a goodmason?” he asked as he pulled outhis wallet and took out a visiting card.“What do I need a mason for?” I

Go hide your women..!asked. “To fortify your house. Makeit strong against attack from men. Ihave a mason who will do that foryou. First he will destroy the exist-ing structure then rebuild it, with-out windows!”

“But that would be a prison!” Isaid. “Where your women will bewell hidden,” said the inspectornodding his head and smiling. “Butisn’t that your job to guard thewomen of the country?” I whis-pered. “Are you mad!” shouted theinspector, as both the constablesraised their sticks at me, “Haven’twe got enough work guarding ourown women, now you want us toguard yours as well? We hide ourwomen, now go hide yours, and getout of here, quick..!”—Email: bobsbander@gmail.com

spective: It had a weak regime, noeffective air defences, no weaponsof mass destruction and no allies.

Syria is fundamentally different.It combines the worst aspects of threevolatile elements: civil war, sectar-ian violence and manipulation byexternal powers. The argument thatthe United States created this messmakes sense only if there really weregood options to intercede earlier thatmight have averted this fate. Yet thatwas never the case. Yes, we couldhave done more on the humanitarianside and perhaps taken a more activerole far earlier in helping to organizea political opposition, even covertly.

But since this conflict began inearly 2011, all of the military optionsfor intervention have been heavilyskewed toward risk rather than re-ward. Given the Assad regime’s fire-power, its allies (Russia and Chinablocking actions in the UN SecurityCouncil; Iran supplying money andweapons), Assad’s determination todo whatever it took to survive and hissuccess in keeping much of hisAlawite military, security and intel-ligence forces intact, none of the sug-

gested military options was conse-quential enough to bring down theregime or to give the rebels a victory.

To stop the regime’s assault, letalone to topple it, would have re-quired direct military pressure, mostlikely a massive air and missile cam-paign and probably an interventionforce. Those, quite rightly, were neverunder serious consideration. Half-measures such as arming the rebelsand instituting a “no-fly” zone car-ried risks but no identifiable rewards.It was never clear how a limited mili-tary response would shape events.U.S. planners could not be certain thata military response wouldn’t havepushed Russia and Iran to up the antewith more weapons.

And who, exactly, would wehave been arming? Once the UnitedStates backs a particular rebel group,Washington would be responsiblefor its actions. Neighbours such asthe Saudis and Qataris may have astake in arming Sunni fundamental-ists in Syria, but the United Statesdoes not. As for the Turks, theObama administration did not pre-vent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan from acting militarily.Erdogan faced serious internalconstraints: Neither the generalpublic nor 15 million TurkishAlevis aligned ethnically with Syr-ian Alawites wanted war with Dam-ascus. The tragedy of Syria is thattoo much blood has flowed to imag-ine a negotiated settlement betweenthe regime and the opposition —yet the horrors have not beenenough to force a divided, preoc-cupied and self-interested interna-tional community to intervene.

As recent polling on the pros-pect of intervention in Syria shows,the American people understandthis, even if those who call for moreaggressive US action do not. Weshould not be the world’s top copor caseworker, charged with fixingevery calamity. We don’t controlhistory. And it’s time we attend toour own broken house instead ofrunning around the world trying torepair everyone else’s. The writeris vice president for current initia-tives at the Woodrow Wilson Inter-national Centre for Scholars.Courtesy: The Washington Post

Shams-uz-ZamanEmail:smszmn72@yahoo.com

Sushil VakilEmail: sushilvakil@yahoo.co.in

cal sustainability, renewable sourceswill not solely help meet the powerdemands of the future, but also guar-antee the health and well-being ofgenerations to come.—Lahore

Mysteriousdisease

HASHIM ABRO

Following the outbreaks of choleraand measles which have claimed thelives of more than three hundred chil-dren and sickened several thousandsin the northern Sindh districts, nowthe outbreak of one unknown myste-rious diseases in the same region haskilled more than 360 domestic ani-mals including buffaloes, cows andgoats.

Much to the horror of the animalbearers, the large number of deathshave been reported within a week inGhotki, and Sukkur. According to thevillagers buffaloes and cows feel con-gested in breathing and die in a shorttime span. The sudden death of buf-faloes, cows and goats have forcedthe breeders to watch their means oflivelihood die in front of their eyes.Moreover, some I.5 million domes-tic animals are believed to be suffer-ing from this unknown disease.

Shockingly, the provincial live-stock and animal husbandry depart-ment is in a deep slumber due towhich no solution has been initiatedin this regard. On the contrary, thevillagers have reported the matter tothe media to highlight the issue of thismysterious disease in the repeated di-saster battered districts. However, Iappeal to the President of Pakistan todirect the concerned provincial de-partments to set up campus for thetreatment of the domestic animals inthe affected districts and also directthe veterinary doctors to make regu-lar visits to the villages throughoutthe province so as save the domesticanimals which become a sole sourceof income and livelihood for povertyand sorrows-stricken villagers in therural areas of Sindh province.—Islamabad

Dynastic politicsand issues

MOHAMMAD FAYYAZ

Poverty can be convincingly matchedwith dynastic politics. It has beensource of most of our problems. It istime we all spoke and wrote againstthis type of useless and exploitation-oriented politics. Have we to claphands and stand in respect for the sonsand daughters of politicians as ourforefathers did for their parent-poli-ticians? The Chief Election Commis-sioner of Pakistan’s decision, askingthe political parties to hold internalelections (intra elections) in their re-spective parties, before participationin forthcoming general elections is apositive step to discourage the abomi-nable dynastic politics.

My personal opinion is that amodus operandi should also be dis-cussed, and approved for the intra-elections of these political parties sothat the whole exercise does not re-sult in mockery, but proves fruitful.Dynastic politics has been a hurdlefor the competent, honest, and vision-ary ones to enter the field of politics.Let all the writers, and anchors speakand write vehemently against this eviltype of politics. Instead of wastingtime, and the time of the citizens onissues like who has motivated Dr.Tahirul Qadri, and why, we shoulddeal with the real issues at hand, af-fecting our immediate life.—Charsadda

LOUISE ARBOUR

EVERY year, around theworld, old conflictsworsen, new onesemerge and, occasion-

ally, some situations improve.There is no shortage of stormclouds looming over 2013: Onceagain, hotspots old and new willpresent a challenge to the secu-rity of people across the globe.

There is, of course, an arbi-trariness to most lists — and thislist of crises to watch out for in2013 is no different. Oneperson’s priority might well beanother’s sideshow, oneanalyst’s early warning cry isanother’s fear-mongering. Insome situations — Central Asia,perhaps — preventive action hasgenuine meaning: The collapseinto chaos has yet to happen.More complicated is anticipat-ing when it will happen, whatwill trigger it, and how bad itwill be. In others — Syria, ob-viously — the catastrophe is al-ready upon us, so the very no-tion of prevention can seem ab-surd. It has no meaning save inthe sense of preventing thenightmare from worsening orspreading.

What follows, then, is a “top10” list of crises that does notinclude the ongoing, drug-relatedviolence in Mexico, the simmer-ing tensions in the East ChinaSea, or the possibility of conflicton the Korean peninsula after arocket launch by Pyongyang. Asif this mix wasn’t combustibleenough, there are new leaders inChina, Japan, and on both sidesof Korea’s de-militarized zonewho may well feel pressured toburnish their nationalist creden-tials with aggressive action. Nordo I mention the forthcomingelections in Zimbabwe, the on-going trauma in Somalia, or thetalk of war in response to Iran’snuclear program. Any of thesecould credibly make a top 10 cri-ses list.

Focusing on countries alsomakes it more difficult to high-light some of the undercurrentsand tensions percolating throughthe various crises we are likelyto confront next year. So, beforewe begin our list, here are fourexamples, in brief.

Elections, we know, placeenormous stresses on fragile poli-ties: they’re a long-term good thatcan present short-term chal-lenges. The 2011 presidentialpolls in the Democratic Repub-lic of the Congo failed to meetthis challenge, and the currentviolence in the DRC’s easternprovinces is at least in part drivenby the bankruptcy of governancethat the elections, if anything, ex-acerbated. Much attention in thecoming year will be on howKenya and Zimbabwe managetheir forthcoming votes, and onhow the region and the world re-

spond. A similar tension lies be-tween the long-term benefits ofjustice — promoting accountabil-ity and addressing an accumula-tion of grievances — and the re-ality that it can often pose imme-diate risks. Whether in Yemen,Sudan, Syria, Libya, Kenya, orColombia, the “justice or peace”debate is in need of fresh think-ing.

The role of sanctions in pre-venting conflict also seems toooften to involve a dialogue of thedeaf. Did sanctions encourage thechanges in Myanmar (alsoknown as Burma) — or simplypunish the people, not the rulers,of that country? Have they be-come part of the problem in Zim-babwe rather than a driver ofchange? And most prominently,how will sanctions defuse theIran nuclear crisis, when theyappear to signal to Tehran that thegoal is to change not the regime’sbehavior but the regime itself? Itmight behoove the internationalcommunity to avoid the tempta-tion to impose sanctions as anautomatic default response to agiven situation; sanctions willonly be effective as part of a co-herent, overall strategy, not as asubstitute for one.

And finally, a word on therule of law. Too often, we see thiswell-worn phrase used in thesense of “rule by law”: That is,autocratic rulers co-opt the lan-guage and trappings of democ-racy, using the law to harassrather than protect. Hence the useof law to harass rather than pro-tect; hence the internationalcommunity’s tendency to trainand equip law enforcement unitswho, in the eyes of the civiliansthey are charged with protecting,likely don’t need to become moreefficient in techniques of repres-sion. The international commu-nity needs to be more vigilanttoward this charade and morefocused on the substance of therule of law — perhaps most im-portantly the notion of equalitybefore the law — than its form.

The laws of war may alsoneed to adapt to the evolving na-ture of modern warfare. Asym-metric warfare and the languageof the “war on terror” challengethe critical distinction between“combatants” and “civilians.”Technology, too, presents newdilemmas. Despite claims of sur-gical accuracy, drone strikes pro-duce collateral civilian damagethat is difficult to measure, whileexposing one side to no risk ofcombatant casualties. In someinstances, drones also may beself-defeating: They terrorize andcause deep trauma to those com-munities affected, potentially in-creasing support for radicalgroups.

It’s difficult to convey all thisin a list. But, with that said, hereis the International Crisis Group’s“top 10” list of global threats for

the coming year. It is non-priori-tized, and seeks to include a mixof the obvious risks and those webelieve are bubbling beneath thesurface. And because we’re op-timists at heart, it includes anaddendum of three countrieswhere recent developments sug-gest that the coming year couldbring peace — not torment. Wecertainly wish that for all.Sudan: Unsurprisingly, the“Sudan Problem” did not goaway with the South’s secessionin 2011. Civil war, driven byconcentration of power andresources in the hands of a smallelite, continues to plague the

country, and threatens to lead tofurther disintegration. Divisionswithin the ruling NationalCongress Party (NCP), growingpopular unrest, and a steadynational economic meltdownalso could send this country offthe rails. Sadly, 10 years ago, thesituation was almost identical —only then Khartoum was fight-ing against the Sudan People’sLiberation Movement (SPLM),representing the entire South,whereas now government cof-fers are drained by ongoingfighting against the Sudan Revo-lutionary

Front, an alliance of majorrebel groups from Darfur, SouthKordofan, and Blue Nile states.The victims, as always, are thecivilians caught in the middle.As it did in the South, the gov-ernment has sought to use accessto humanitarian aid as a bargain-ing chip, essentially using massstarvation as part of its militarystrategy.

Turkey: Freezing weather inthe mountains this fall and win-ter has slowed fighting in the de-cades-long insurgency waged byTurkey’s Kurdistan Workers’Party (PKK), but the omens lookworrying for spring 2013. Al-ready, 870 people have beenkilled since the PKK resumed its

attacks, and security forces re-vived their counterterrorism op-erations, in mid-2011. That’s thisconflict’s worst casualty ratesince the 1990s.

The government could stillwin over most of Turkey’s Kurdsby announcing a comprehensiveset of reforms. These would in-clude launching a process to of-fer education in mother lan-guages, amending the electionlaw to reduce electoral and fund-ing barriers, increasing decen-tralization to Turkey’s 81 prov-inces, and ending all discrimina-tion in the country’s constitutionand laws. It should also work to-

ward a ceasefire, urge insurgentsto stop attacks, avoid large-scalemilitary operations, includingaerial bombings, and stand up topressure for ever stronger armedresponses.

Afghanistan: Plagued byfactionalism and corruption, theAfghan government is far fromready to assume responsibility forits own security when U.S. andNATO forces withdraw in 2014.Relations with Washington con-tinued to deteriorate in 2012, par-ticularly when scores were killedin February following reports thatU.S. troops burned dozens ofcopies of the Quran and otherreligious materials, and whenU.S. soldier Robert Bales inMarch shot 17 villagers, includ-ing nine children, in the south-ern province of Kandahar. A spateof insider attacks since then hascontributed to the increased dis-trust between Afghan and U.S.military leaders, while friendlyfire incidents undermined theAfghan National Security Forces’morale.

Pakistan: Drone strikes con-tinued to cause tension betweenthe United States and Pakistan in2012, though NATO supplyroutes did reopen in early Julyfollowing a U.S. apology for adeadly attack on Pakistani sol-

diers in November 2011. Therealso was some political progressbetween Pakistan and Afghani-stan: The two countries joinedforces in December to ask theTaliban and other insurgentgroups to disarm and enter peacetalks.

Pakistan’s humanitarian cri-ses also need urgent domestic andinternational attention. Three suc-cessive years of devastatingfloods have threatened the livesof millions, and hundreds ofthousands more have been dis-placed due to military operationsand militancy. These twin criseshave given Pakistan’s radical Is-

lamist groups opportunities torecruit and have increased the po-tential for conflict. SincePakistan’s democratic transitionbegan in 2008, some progress hasbeen made, but much more isneeded in 2013 to build the fed-eral and provincial governments’disaster and early recovery re-sponse. Sahel: Mali, Nigeria, andbeyond

Democratic Republic ofthe Congo: The April 2012mutiny in the east by M23 rebels,former rebels turned militaryturned rebels again, created adistinct feeling of déja vu. Onceagain, after so many years ofconflict, regional andinternational actors are leftscrambling to contain aninsurgent rebel group, with arange of ostensibly domesticdemands but clearly profitingfrom external backing, andprevent another regional war inthe DRC. The consequences ofthe latest round of violence havebeen tragic for civilians, withreports emerging of wide-scalehuman rights abuses,extrajudicial executions targetingcivil society, and massivedisplacement of localpopulations.

Mediation efforts by the re-gional International Conference

of the Great Lakes Region haveseen the withdrawal of M23 fromthe eastern city of Goma and theinitiation of peace talks, but therisk of repeated rebellion andwidespread violence remain. Pre-vious attempts at post-conflictreconstruction in the DRC havemet with little success. Withoutadequate pressure on both theDRC government and Rwanda-backed rebels to enact crucialgovernance reforms and openpolitical dialogue, the sad historyof civil conflict will likely con-tinue to repeat itself in the DRCin 2013.

Kenya: Despite reforms toaddress the shortcomings andviolence of the 2007 polls inKenya, significant structuraldrivers of conflict remain. Youthunemployment, poverty, and in-equality are high, security sectorreform has stalled, and ongoingland disputes continue to deepenethnic polarization. As theplanned March 2013 electionsapproach, the risk of political vio-lence is high.

Syria and Lebanon: Theconflict in Syria has continued totake numerous ugly turns, andwill probably continue to do so.The regime has proved difficultto topple, and its foes even harderto eradicate. As those in the re-gion and further afield speculateabout the coming fall of the re-gime — the initial post-Assadstages carry enormous risks, notonly for Syria’s people but for theregion at large. Just gettingthrough the winter will be hard,as growing numbers of Syriansare displaced, entire neighbor-hoods are leveled, state institu-tions further erode, and interna-tional aid falls short.

Central Asia: This regionprovides a laundry list of coun-tries on the brink. Tajikistan lum-bers into 2013 with nothing goodto show for 2012. Relations withUzbekistan continue to deterio-rate, and internal domestic dis-putes threaten to foment separat-ist ambitions in Gorno-Badakhshan.

This mountainous and re-mote eastern province had littletime for the central governmentin Dushanbe — even before gov-ernment troops clashed with lo-cal fighters, many of them veter-ans of the Tajik civil war, whomthey described as members of anorganized crime group. Some ofthe fighters, including one of theirleaders, were members ofTajikistan’s border forces. Addi-tionally a number of residents ofKhorog, described at one pointas youth who had been misled byanti-government propaganda,also participated. (The area haslong been deeply suspicious ofthe central government).

Colombia: Finally, a politi-cal solution to Colombia’s longand bloody guerrilla war may bein sight. Following a year of se-

cret contacts, formal peace talksbetween the government and theRevolutionary Armed Forces ofColombia (FARC) guerrillasopened in October 2012.

The broader dynamic of theconflict also encourages a politi-cal settlement. The FARC hasbeen weakened militarily, andthis generation of leaders havepossibly their last opportunity tovindicate decades of struggle bysigning a peace deal that allowsthe guerrillas to participate inbuilding peace. The governmentoperates from a position ofstrength — its military advan-tage, if not decisive, appears ir-reversible.

A decade of intensecounterinsurgency warfare hasgreatly weakened the combatstrength of the guerrillas andpushed them into ever more re-mote rural hideouts, substantiallyreducing their impact on the ma-jor urban centers. But the conflictstill costs lives on a daily basis,holds back socioeconomic devel-opment, and impedes the consoli-dation of a truly inclusive andpluralistic democracy. The roadahead will not be short or smooth,but Colombia cannot afford tomiss this chance for peace.

Philippines: This could bethe year that sees the Philippinestake decisive steps toward estab-lishing lasting peace in thetroubled south, after the govern-ment and the Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front (MILF), thecountry’s largest and best armedinsurgent organization, signed abreakthrough peace agreement inOctober. The deal follows 15years of fitful talks and setbacksand is the best chance yet of end-ing the 40-year insurgency, which

has killed an estimated 120,000people.

The conflict with the MILFis the major — though by nomeans only — source of violenceplaguing the region. Warlords,kidnappers, and violent extrem-ists who harbor terrorists fromelsewhere in the region also havethe capacity to wreak havoc foryears to come. The peace agree-ment aims to solve these prob-lems by creating a new, genuinelyautonomous region in the Mus-lim-majority region of Mindanao.It will have more authority, moreterritory, and more control overresources — and if things go ac-cording to plan, will be in placeby the time President BenignoAquino leaves office in 2016. The

10 conflicts to watch in 2013

From Turkey to Congo, next year’s wars threaten global stability

In a village desecrated by years of war in eastern Congo.

October deal put off severaltough questions that still need tobe resolved, including legislationto set up the region and the fu-ture of MILF fighters. The MILFwill need to sell some tricky pro-visions in the deal to its support-ers. The Aquino administrationwill need to persuade Congressto pass the new law and clearconstitutional hurdles before itcan devolve power to the govern-ment in the new autonomous re-gion. The obstacles are huge, buthopes are high that peace in thesouthern Philippines is finallywithin reach.

Myanmar: Myanmar’sleaders continue to fulfill theirpledges on reform, moving thecountry decisively away from itsauthoritarian past. Political pris-oners have been released, black-lists trimmed, freedom of assem-bly laws implemented, and me-dia censorship abolished. Presi-dent Thein Sein has built a part-nership with the opposition, es-pecially the National League forDemocracy leader Aung San SuuKyi, who was voted into parlia-ment this year.

But the road to democracyis proving hard. Widespread in-tercommunal violence inRakhine state, targeting princi-pally the Rohingya Muslim mi-nority, has cast a dark cloudover the reform process. Suchtensions often arise as morefreedom allows buried conflictsto resurface — even so, the con-tinued risk of communal vio-lence in Rakhine is very alarm-ing and will need a concerted,unambiguous response from thegovernment and Aung San SuuKyi to make clear it has no fu-ture in the new Myanmar. The

inability to sign a ceasefire inKachin State, another festeringethnic conflict, also risks under-mining the president’s newpeace initiative with ethnicarmed groups.

The West has moved quicklyto begin dismantling sanctions onMyanmar and end its diplomaticisolation. President BarackObama’s visit in early Novem-ber showed the strength of U.S.support for the reforms. ButMyanmar isn’t out of the woodsyet: Both the government and theopposition need to show moralleadership to achieve a lastingsolution to lingering ethnic-basedconflicts, which threaten theircountry’s reform process and sta-bility.—Courtesy: FP

Pakistan’s humanitarian crises alsoneed urgent domestic and interna-tional attention. Three successiveyears of devastating floods have

threatened the lives of millions, andhundreds of thousands more have

been displaced due to military opera-tions and militancy.

How they deal with future eco-nomic challenges and the Tibetcrisis will test whether the claimto wise meritocracy is credible.

ISABEL HILTON

THE Chinese Communistparty has just beenthrough its most interesting year since 1976,

when the Deng Xiaoping factionpurged Mao’s widow and herthree key supporters in the weeksafter Mao’s death. In case any-one had missed the point, photo-graphs of Mao’s memorial cer-emony – which in their originalsfeatured the Gang of Four promi-nently – were republished follow-ing their arrest with fuzzy gapsin the places where they hadstood.

Bo Xilai, the disgraced partysecretary of the megalopolis ofChongqing, is also beingairbrushed out of the city that hedominated for five turbulent years,until his spectacular fall lastMarch. His victims now speakopenly of torture, and the Mao-style rallies he promoted are outof favour. Bo himself has yet tobe put on trial on the corruptioncharges now drawn up againsthim. While the trial of the Gangof Four in the early 80s was a pro-tracted affair that drew a publicline under the extremes of theMaoist era, Bo’s trial is likely tobe briefer. Its purpose is to drive astake through the corpse of hispolitical career, rather than to re-hearse the details of crimes thatthe public might judge unremark-able in any Communist partyleader. Bo was corrupt? The pub-lic shrugs. His family was inex-plicably rich? Some of the richestpeople in China are the childrenand grandchildren of party lead-ers. But the party prefers itswould-be leaders to rememberthat none is allowed to be biggerthan the organisation. It is one ofseveral characteristics the Chinese

Communist party shares with themafia. The message that the oncecharismatic – and highly visible –leader’s trial will convey to theChinese public is quite simple: helost.

But his fall comes at an in-flection point in China’s devel-opment, almost as significant asthat of 1976. This year will testChina’s ability to execute a num-ber of key transitions: towards aless wasteful and more innova-tive economy, towards or awayfrom the rule of law, towards afairer society or back to

authoritarianism and the im-mense privileges of the elite.

The new leaders inherit anumber of actual and impendingcrises, of which the most dra-matic is in Tibet, where the num-ber of self-immolations since2009 has reached 92. A new ap-proach there would be a convinc-ing sign of leadership. On cor-ruption, Xi Jinping, the incom-ing president, will have to workhard to convince anyone that his

promises mean more than theempty talk of his predecessors.(Wen Jiabao, the outgoing primeminister, warned that the fami-lies of those in power should notenrich themselves. In Octo-ber2012, the New York Timeswas blocked for revealing thatWen’s family had accumulatedassets worth $2.7bn during hisyears as premier. Bloomberg wasalso blocked for revealing detailsof Xi Jinping’s family fortune, es-timated at several hundred mil-lion dollars.) In 2011, then presi-dent Wen Jiabao told a London

audience: “Without freedom,there is no real democracy. With-out guarantee of economic andpolitical rights, there is no realfreedom”, sentiments his audi-ence might claim to appreciaterather more than the speaker. Butin his 10 years in office, rule oflaw made little progress, and eco-nomic and political rights con-tinue to be honoured more on pa-per than in practice. The outgo-ing president Hu Jintao’s “harmo-

nious society”, proclaimed as arebalancing of an increasinglyunequal social order, is invokedby citizens to satirise everythingfrom internet censorship to thesuppression of political debate.Instead of rebalancing China’sunequal wealth, the governmentstopped publishing the Gini co-efficient, the index of inequality,11 years ago, claiming its data onthe rich was incomplete.

Will Xi fare any better? Thefirst signs are not encouraging forthose who hope for a more lib-eral China – like the 71 intellec-

tuals who signed a petition lastmonth calling for separation ofpowers and an end to state inter-ference in the law. Internet con-trols have been severely tightenedand the official media have led achorus calling for patriotic obe-dience to the rules in everythingfrom internet use to culture.

Xi’s speeches so far havestressed the nationalist dream ofan ever stronger China, and main-taining the one-party system and

its spoils will be a priority. Whenhe speaks of reform, does hemean any more than measuresnecessary to keep the system in-tact? Perhaps the party hopes itwill grow stronger as the firstmodel of a “post democratic or-der”, as Eric Li, a Shanghai-based venture capitalist, writesin the current issue of ForeignAffairs. The party, Li argues ina notably sycophantic essay, willovercome any short-term diffi-culties to demonstrate the supe-riority of China’s wise,meritocratic, and public-spiritedone-party system and expose thefailings of western democracy.

The Chinese system doesnot look outstandingly publicspirited from below, but in a“post-democratic” system, per-haps this does not matter. Thepeople, though, are increasinglyshowing their feelings, despite20 years of rising living stan-dards: in the 180,000 acknowl-edged major public order inci-dents each year; in posts on so-cial media and on the internet;in savage satire of the party’sclaims to virtue.

As China’s first phase of de-velopment and modernisationcomes to a close, the new lead-ership might wonder how its res-tive citizens would react to aneconomic setback – one that col-lapsed the bargain of the last 20years in which political stasiswas accepted in return for eco-nomic advance. They mightsoon find out. China’s over-heated property market is one ofthe few investments available tothe rising middle classes and theestimated 10% of China’s GDPrepresented by illicit “grey”money, and selling real estate isa major source of income forlocal authorities. The knock-oneffects on shaky financial insti-tutions across China and theconsequences for savers and in-vestors could be extremely seri-ous. —Courtesy: Guardian

Now China’s new leaders will have to work hard

China’s new leader signals prospect of reform.

SHEN DINGLI

IT has long been debatedwhether trust, or distrust, between China and the UnitedStates is on the rise. Those

who believe the US is unwillingto accept China’s peaceful rise —and thus makes it difficult tomaintain a healthy environmentfor Sino-American trade — havemany facts to support their view.

But the last round of China-US Joint Commission on Com-merce and Trade, which con-cluded in Washington on Decem-ber 19, has proved the skepticssomewhat wrong by yielding alist of about 50 collaborativeitems, including reducing thethreshold of American dual-usegoods’ exports to meet the de-mand of bilateral trade. This is awelcome step in China-US rela-tions, especially when both coun-tries will soon usher in new gov-ernments.

Since the normalisation of bi-lateral ties in 1979, China and theUS have built a fast-growing andfruitful economic partnership,improving their economies andboosting the prosperity of theAsia-Pacific region. China doesenjoy an export surplus with theUS, but that is the result ofglobalisation which combines allelements of production world-wide to benefit most, if not all,parties engaged in the process.

Thanks to its rapid economicgrowth, China today is in a bet-ter position to increase its importsfrom the US, which will benefitboth countries and help strike abalance in bilateral trade. China’smodernisation needs inputs fromother countries, both developingand developed. And China needsto import some dual-use goodsand technologies to help balanceSino-American trade.

For years, the US has beenpromising to ease control over theexport of certain products toChina, and the Barack Obamaadministration has stated several

times that it would take steps tofacilitate the move. But the UShas been found wanting on thiscount. Needless to say, it needsto take appropriate measures tohonour its commitment.

Beijing has taken notice ofWashington’s concern over suchexports. First, the US is worriedabout protection of intellectualproperty rights (IPR) in China.Second, it is worried about thelinking of foreign investment inChina and the demand for tech-nology transfer. It is also worriedabout the possible diversion ofdual-use products from declaredend-use and end-users to otherfields.

Such worries warrant respectof trade partners, because all gov-

ernments are committed to pro-tecting their technological inno-vations and maintaining theircompetition edge.

But undue concern, ratherthan collaboration, will neitherdefuse tension nor build trust.The fact remains that China andthe US should agree that it is intheir mutual long-term interest toprotect their IPRs, ensure reason-able transfer of technologies andkeep imported goods and tech-nologies from being diverted fornon-specified use.

To this end, Beijing andWashington ought to hold hon-est dialogue and make tangibleefforts to implement the deci-sions of the last round of China-

US Joint Commission on Com-merce and Trade. China has tofulfill its commitment to usinggenuine software in all govern-ment — and commission — leveloffices, and all central govern-ment-run state-owned enter-prises. Moreover, China’s adher-ence to the commitment shouldbe verifiable because transpar-ency is necessary not only to en-sure smooth Sino-Americantrade ties, but also to encourageinnovation in China.

China and the US have morethan enough room for coopera-tion to maintain smooth bilateraltrade and business ties. Given theUS’ concern, it should seekChina’s help to set up joint veri-fication mechanisms such as

long-range electronic monitoringand/or post-sale on-site visit toprevent its dual-use productsfrom being diverted from end-useand end-users to non-specifiedfields. This notion of collabora-tive business and security couldalso apply to China’s investmentin the US. Washington recentlyrejected Chinese heavy machin-ery maker Sany’s application toinvest in wind energy in the USbecause the proposed site was tooclose to a military facility.—The write is a Professor atand Executive Dean of the In-stitute of International Stud-ies, and Director of the Cen-tre for American Studies,Fudan University.

Toward better China-US ties

Thanks to its rapid economic growth,China today is in a better position to

increase its imports from the US,which will benefit both countries andhelp strike a balance in bilateral trade.China’s modernisation needs inputs

from other countries, both developingand developed. And China needs to

import some dual-use goods andtechnologies to help balance Sino-

American trade.

RAWALPINDI: President Pakistan Green Task Force Dr Jamal Nasir along with Fr John William, Pervaiz Aziz Sahoutr,Kamran Bhatti and others cutting New Year cake during a reception in his honour organised by Minority Wing of PML-NRawalpindi Division.

the long march, wanted to derailthe democratic setup in the coun-try or was to quit the ruling coa-lition. The elements spreadingthe rumour that the MQM wouldpart ways with the government,that the MQM wants the elec-tions to be postponed under theumbrella of the long march orthat the MQM wants to derail thedemocratic system are trying tomislead the public,” Altaf told theinterior minister.

Altaf said he himself andDr Qadri had vehemently de-nied such “rumours” on severaloccasions. The MQM leadernoted that there were points ofcommon interests in the mani-festoes of different politicalparties. “These points bringthem closer together,” he saidadding “there should be no ill-will between the parties havingcommon interests”.

According to Altaf, he andDr Qadri had invited all other po-litico-religious parties, includ-ing the PPP, to join their “Jour-ney for Revolution” for the na-tional security and integrity.

According to the statement,the two leaders discussed the cur-rent political situation in thecountry with particular referenceto the scheduled long march inIslamabad that Dr Qadri saidwould turn the federal capital intothe Tehrir Squire of Pakistan onJanuary 14.

Also, Malik is said to havecondemned Tuesday’s deadlyblast after the huge public gath-ering of the MQM here. He ex-pressed his grief and sorrow onthe killing and wounding of theMQM workers and sympathizersand prayed for the speedy recov-ery of the injured.

Malik assured the MQMleader that those responsible forthe blast would be brought tobook and no laxity would beshown in their arrest.

The court also ordered toget permanent arrest warrants ofthe former OGRA chairman fromInterpol. The SC resumed hear-ing the scam case involving itsformer chairman Tauqir Sadiq onWednesday. The court also askedthe NAB to cooperate with FIA.

The court remarked that thelaw enforcement agencies did notappear to be aware of the where-abouts of the accused, adding thathow could the case be heardproperly if the ‘agencies’ were‘acting in complicity’ with TauqirSadiq.

The SC bench headed by Jus-tice Jawwad S Khawaja heard thecase where the acting InspectorGeneral Punjab said he could notfind any record pertaining to thedeparture of the former OGRAchief. The acting IG Punjab in-formed the court that TauqirSadiq had left the country onNovember 28 and had two pass-ports.

The acting IG moreover saidthat Sadiq had flown from Dubaito Dhaka. Giving details, headded that Sadiq had arrived inDubai on Nov 28 and had trav-elled using a private airline.However, no records were avail-

SC orders Tauqir Sadiq’sarrest through Interpol

From Page 1able on Sadiq’s departure fromthe country, the official said.

Responding to which, JusticeKhawaja said it was unusual thatno record was available on theformer Ogra chief.

Khawaja moreover said thatinformation could have been col-lected on Sadiq if the authoritieshad contacted the embassy intime. He remarked that officialstravelled to Khatmandu to traceSadiq, adding that the expensesfor that purpose were paid by thegovernment.

Justice Khawaja remarkedthat law enforcement agenciesdid not appear to be aware ofSadiq’s whereabouts, adding thathow could the case be heardproperly if the ‘agencies’ were‘acting in complicity’ with theaccused. He added that it seemedthat only the Supreme Court wasinterested in the matter.

The court summoned a de-tailed report on how the high-pro-file fugitive managed to get twopassports, and directed the act-ing IG Punjab to submit a reportregarding the arrest of Sadiq inone week. The report should ex-plain who helped Sadiq flee thecountry. Justice Jawwad

Khawaja expressed astonishmentand said that a man has em-bezzled Rs82 billion and has dis-appeared while the police areunable to arrest him. He repri-manded police and said that it istheir duty to apprehend him.

During the hearing, FederalInvestigation Agency (FIA) of-ficials said that the immigrationdepartment can be contacted toextract information that howTauqir Sadiq was issued twopassports and Interpol would becontacted to issue a red warrant.His family has already providedthe ticket details to National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB), ac-cording to which the tickets wereissued through an agent inPeshawar. The family memberswere due to arrive on December31 but they did not come.

Justice Jawwad remarkedthat BlackBerry company and thepeople in Canada know about thewhereabouts of the people but theinvestigation agencies have noknowledge about the accused. Hefurther said that it was revealedfive days ago through theBlackBerry company thatTauqeer Sadiq had sent a mes-sage to someone.—INP

Afghan policeofficer kills hiswife and sonin Uruzgan

KABUL—According to localauthorities in southern Uruzganprovince, an Afghan local policeofficer murdered his wife andhis son in Tarinkowt city.

The officials further addedthe incident took place follow-ing a verbal clash between theAfghan local police officer andhis wife.

Provincial police chiefspokesman Farid Ayel said thelocal police officer shot dead hiswife and 16 year old son.

He said the police officermanaged to flee the area afterkilling his family and Afghansecurity forces have launched asearch operation to detain him.

Incidents of violence againstwomen remain largely under-reported because of cultural re-straints, social norms and reli-gious beliefs, according to thereport.—NNI

Indian court may suspendlawmakers facing crimes

NEW DELHI—Indian lawmak-ers facing sexual assault chargesagainst women could be sus-pended from office if thecountry’s top court rules in fa-vor of a petition submitted fol-lowing a gang-rape and murderthat shocked the country.

Six state lawmakers are fac-ing rape prosecutions and twonational parliamentarians arefacing charges of crimes againstwomen that fall short of rape,said Jagdeep S. Chhokar, an of-ficial with the Association forDemocratic Reforms, whichtracks political candidate’scriminal records.

The petition will be heardThursday and comes as policeprepare to formally charge sixsuspects in the gang-rape andkilling of a student in the capi-tal two weeks ago.

The Dec. 16 rape triggeredoutrage across the country andsparked demands for strongerlaws, tougher police actionagainst those accused of sexualassault and a sustained cam-paign to change society’s viewson women.

As part of that campaign,Chief Justice Altamas Kabiragreed to hear a petition fromretired government administra-tor Promilla Shanker asking theSupreme Court to suspend alllawmakers from the national andstate legislatures who are facingprosecution for crimes againstwomen.

She also asked the court toforce the national government to

fast-track thousands of rapecases that have languished inIndia’s notoriously sluggishcourt system for years.

In the past five years, politi-cal parties across India nomi-nated 260 candidates awaitingtrial on charges of crimes againstwomen, he said. Parties ran sixcandidates for the national par-liamentary elections facing suchcharges, Chokkar said.

“We need to decriminalizepolitics and surely a serious ef-fort has to be made to stoppeople who have serious chargesof sexual assault against themfrom contesting elections,” saidZoya Hasan, a political analyst.

On Wednesday morning,several thousand women held asilent march to Gandhi’s memo-rial in the capital in memory ofthe victim, holding placards de-manding “Respect” and “Jus-tice.” Delhi Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit joined the womenfor a prayer session for the vic-

tim. The Gandhi memorial is acommon protest site.

On Tuesday, the govern-ment set up a task force to moni-tor women’s safety in NewDelhi and to review whetherpolice were properly protectingwomen. The government had setup two earlier bodies to look intothe handling of the rape case andto suggest changes in thenation’s rape laws.

The rape of the 23-year-olduniversity student on a bus hashorrified many in the countryand brought unprecedented at-tention to the daily suffering ofwomen here, who face every-thing from catcalls and gropingto rapes.

Six men arrested in the casewere to be formally chargedThursday with kidnapping, rapeand murder, said Rajan Bhagat,the New Delhi police spokes-man. Police have said theywould push for the death pen-alty in the case.—AP

NY arealawmakers

erupt in angerWASHINGTON—New Yorkarea-lawmakers in both partieserupted in anger late Tuesdaynight after learning the HouseRepublican leadership decidedto allow the current term of Con-gress to end without holding avote on aid for victims ofSuperstorm Sandy.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.,said he was told by the office ofMajority Leader Eric Cantor ofVirginia that Speaker JohnBoehner of Ohio had decided toabandon a vote this session.

Cantor, who sets the Houseschedule, did not immediatelycomment. House DemocraticWhip Steny Hoyer of Marylandtold reporters that just beforeTuesday evening’s vote on “fis-cal cliff” legislation, Cantor toldhim that he was “99.9 percentconfident that this bill would beon the floor, and that’s what hewanted.”

A spokesman for Boehner,Michael Steel said, “The speakeris committed to getting this billpassed this month.”

In remarks on the Housefloor, King called the decision“absolutely inexcusable, abso-lutely indefensible. We cannotjust walk away from our respon-sibilities.”

The Senate approved a$60.4 billion measure Friday tohelp with recovery from theOctober storm that devastatedparts of New York, New Jerseyand nearby states. The HouseAppropriations Committee hasdrafted a smaller, $27 billionmeasure, and a vote had beenexpected before Congress’ termends Thursday at noon.

More than $2 billion in fed-eral funds has been spent so faron relief efforts for 11 states andthe District of Columbia struckby the storm, one of the worstever to hit the Northeast. TheFederal Emergency Manage-ment Agency’s disaster relieffund still has about $4.3 billion,enough to pay for recovery ef-forts into early spring, accord-ing to officials. The unspentFEMA money can only be usedfor emergency services, saidRep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.

New York, New Jersey,Connecticut, District of Colum-bia, West Virginia, Virginia,Maryland, New Hampshire,Delaware, Rhode Island, Penn-sylvania and Massachusetts arereceiving federal aid.

Sandy was blamed for atleast 120 deaths and batteredcoastline areas from North Caro-lina to Maine. New York, NewJersey and Connecticut were thehardest hit states and sufferedhigh winds, flooding and stormsurges. The storm damaged ordestroyed more than 72,000homes and businesses in NewJersey. In New York, 305,000housing units were damaged ordestroyed and more than265,000 businesses were af-fected. “This is an absolute dis-grace and the speaker shouldhang his head in shame,” saidRep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.

“I’m here tonight saying tomyself for the first time that I’mnot proud of the decision myteam has made,” said Rep.Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. “It isthe wrong decision, and I’ mgoing to be respectful and askthat the speaker reconsider hisdecision.—AP

the upcoming general electionswould harm political parties themost, not the EC.

He added that in the pastpeople had reservations regard-ing the transparency of the elec-tions and it was everyone’s con-stitutional responsibility to abideby the law.

The meeting was attended bythe Defence Secretary, InteriorSecretary, the heads of the Fron-tier Corps and Pakistan Rangersand Chief Secretaries of the four

MQM won’tpart ways

From Page 1

provinces. The Election Com-mission will prepare a compre-hensive security plan for the pollsfollowing consultations withstakeholders.

The Election Commissionasked security agencies to givesuggestions for maintaining lawand order during the election.

The poll panel has beenmulling the option of roping inthe army to help maintain law andorder during the polls. The gov-ernment is yet to announce a date

for the next general elections.Later talking to newsmen inIslamabad, Secretary DefenceAsif Yasin Malik said the armywill provide full security duringgeneral elections. He said troopswill be deployed at the sensitivepolling stations.

The government will com-plete its five-year term on March16 and leaders of the ruling Pa-kistan People s Party have saidthe polls will be held before May16.—Online

Gen Kayani assurescomplete coop: Ibrahim

From Page 1

sion has been established to en-sure holding of free, fair andtransparent elections.

He said if a democraticallyelected government completesfive year after next elections thenthe democratic process wouldtake roots and no one would beable to conspire against the sys-tem or impose his agenda. Hesaid once democracy is strength-ened people would get fruit.

The Prime Minister saidthose delivering lecture on de-mocracy should first prove theirdemocratic credentials whetherthey rendered any sacrifice forthe democracy.

Raja Pervez Ashraf said thePPP believes in the politics ofpeople and that is why it has beenpursuing people-friendly policiesever since its inception. He saidpropaganda of the opponents not-

withstanding the economy of thecountry as well as law and ordersituation were much better todaythan in 2008 when the PPP as-sumed power.

The Prime Minister said thePPP Government with the coop-eration of other parties restoredthe disfigured Constitution to itsoriginal form and the present par-liament did record legislationduring its tenure.

He said Pakistan was a fooddeficient country as it used toimport 2.6 million tonnes ofwheat but due to farmer friendlypolicies of the government todaywe have become wheat export-ing country. He said the Govern-ment increased salaries of theGovernment employees by120%; raised pensions; increasedminimum wages and regularizeddaily wage and contract employ-

ees ending the state of uncertaintyabout their career.

The Prime Minister saidhighways and roads serve asyardstick for level of develop-ment of a country and that is whycountries like Germany achievedtremendous progress by develop-ing communication network. Hesaid prosperity of the country islinked with the development ofthe roads and highways andtherefore, the Government at-taches highest priority to the wel-fare of those entrusted with thisresponsibility.

The Prime Minister distrib-uted letters of regularizationamong sacked employees of theNHA and directed that those con-tractual employees who arefulfiling the criteria forreguralization should be givenequal incentives.

Democracy solution to problems: PMFrom Page 1

countability and electoral re-forms.”

The meeting discussed thecountry’s political situation par-ticularly with reference to longmarch announced by Prof Tahirul Qadri to press for electoral re-forms before holding generalpolls, the sources said.

The sources claimed thatNawaz while addressing themeeting said that the workers ofMinhajul Quran should be givenfreehand in the long march, ifthey do not create law and ordersituation.

He said that every party hasa right of long march, adding that

if participants do not defy lawand order, they should be givenfree hand in this regard. Nawaz,however, said, nobody would beallowed to derail the democraticsystem.

He said the country cannotafford any uncertain situation.Those who are bent upon to de-rail democracy are not renderingany service to the country as wellas nation, he added.

He was of the view that at atime when few weeks are left ingeneral elections, march toIslamabad can be helpful for theagenda of undemocratic forcesbut it cannot bring any reforms.

Nawaz said that people ex-pect that all the state institutionswould work as per their consti-tutional role and they would begiven their constitutional role ofbringing change in a democraticmanner.

After the meeting, PML-Nleader Ahsan Iqbal told reportersthat those who are making effortsfor postponement of general elec-tions in the country would neversucceed in their designs. Whattype of agenda, some foreignersare trying to enforce with the sup-port of MQM, he questioned?These forces want postponementof polls, he added.

Nawaz seeks announcementFrom Page 1

senger bus when unknown armedmen abducted them.

The sources said that the se-curity officials were kidnappedafter identification.

The incident took place acouple of days after Talibandumped bodies of 21 soldiers af-ter kidnapping them from acheck-post in FR Peshawar area.

7 security menabducted

From Page 1

COURT NOTICE

In the Court of Mis AqsaHanif Jangjua SahibaPanel Court Chakwal

Civil AppealFakhra Yasmeen etcVSShahid MeMemoShahid Mehmood S/OMuhammad Sharif R/OMohallah EID Gha ChakBaili Khan Tehsil & Distt,Rawalpindi. Whereas serving of summonto the respondent in the caseas titled above is not porrible,the respondent is herely informed through this ad in thisnewspapers that the respon-dent has been announced toappear in this court in personon be represented by a law-yer in this court on 03-01-2013 at 9.00 hours. In case ofnon-compliance, ex-partyproceeding shall take place.Given under my hand andseal of the Court.

Sd/- District JudgeChakwal

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has said that laptopsworth Rs. 8 billion are beingdistributed among talented boyand girl students purely onmerit basis and brilliant stu-dents of Azad Kashmir, KhyberPakhtoonkhawa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Sindh andBalochistan have also been in-cluded in this revolutionaryprogramme. He said that youthare the future of the nation andprovision of resources to themis not expenditure but fruitfulinvestment.

He said that if again givenopportunity, three times morelaptops will be given to the stu-dents so that an informationtechnology revolution could bebrought about in the country.He said that laptops distributionprogramme is such a revolu-tionary and welfare orientedproject of the Punjab govern-ment which future governmentswill also not be able to end.

He said that those raisingthe slogans of change in thecountry should realize that dis-tribution of laptops among bril-liant students, internshipprogramme for postgraduates,provision of scholarships to thetalented students belonging topoor families and presenting ofguard of honour to the talentedand hard-working students isthe real change. He said thattransparency and merit havebeen promoted in the province.

He was addressing laptopdistribution ceremony amongtalented students at Universityof Engineering & Technologyhere Wednesday. Special Assis-tant on Education ZaeemHussain Qadri, Members Na-tional and Provincial Assem-blies, teachers, parents and alarge number of students werepresent on the occasion. Ad-dressing the function the ChiefMinister congratulated the stu-dents who received laptops andsaid that he firmly believes thatthe students through theselaptops will be able to find outthe formula of elimination of

Laptops distribution planrevolutionary: Shahbaz

corruption from the country anddesign several projects likeBRT.

He said that the measurestaken by Punjab governmentfor the development of educa-tion sector and spread of knowl-edge to every nook and cornerof the province have startedyielding positive results. Hesaid that 40 thousand scholar-ships are being given fromPunjab Educational Endow-ment Fund to such shining stu-dents who could not continuetheir studies due to poverty.

He said that merit and pro-motion of education is the keyto development of the countryand keeping in view this factPunjab government is follow-ing a solid strategy for this pur-pose. He said that the glorioussuccess of the candidates ofPakistan Muslim League-N inthe recent bye-elections is aproof of the fact that peopleappreciate the merit policy ofPunjab government and rejectthe loot and plunder of the cor-rupt rulers of Islamabad.

He said that internshipprogramme for postgraduateyouth is continuing success-fully under which 50 thousandyouth are being imparted train-ing in various institutions andbeing given a monthly stipendof 10 thousand rupees.

The Chief Minister furthersaid that Pakistan is facing se-rious crises and problems, cor-ruption is rampant while the en-emies are bent upon getting Pa-kistan declared as a terroriststate. He said that atom bomband begging bowl cannot go to-gether and in order to safeguardnuclear capability and ensure adignified status for Pakistan inthe comity of the nations reli-ance on indigenous resourceswill have to be ensured.

He said that timely conductof the next general elections isessential for the survival of Pa-kistan. He said that some im-ported elements want to shat-ter the hopes of people of thecountry but the masses will foiltheir designs. He said thatpeople should bring forwardsuch a leadership in the next

general elections as could up-hold the interests of the coun-try instead of giving in beforeAaghiyar.

He said that Zar Baba andForty Thieves have destroyedindustrial, agriculture and othersectors of the country and ru-ined its economy and the peoplewill have to get rid of corruptmafia. He said that people hadhigh hopes of democracy butthe corrupt rulers of Islamabadhave disappointed the masses.He said that if democratic sys-tem had been unsuitable,laptop, internship and educa-tional scholarship programmeswould not have been continu-ing in Punjab and the Punjabpolice would not have salutedthe brilliant students.

He said that presidents,prime ministers, chief minis-ters and some thieves andplunderers have been givenguard of honour during the last65 years but it is first time inthe history of the country thatthis honour is given to talentedboy and girl students in Punjabto acknowledge their talentand hard work. He said that inorder to make Pakistan thecountry of Quaid and Iqbalhonesty and merit will have tobe adopted otherwise Pakistanwould not be able to achieveself-sufficiency and prosperity.

Vice Chancellor Engineer-ing University Gen. (Retd)Muhammad Akram in his wel-come address said that 6423students of the university re-ceived laptops in the first phasewhile more than three thousandboy and girl students are beinggiven laptops in the secondphase which is an excellent giftof Punjab government.

He also highlighted themeasures taken by Punjab gov-ernment for the developmentof education sector. He ex-pressed his gratitude to ChiefMinister Muhammad ShahbazSharif who had launchedlaptops programme and en-couraged the students by at-tending the function. TheChief Minister later distributedlaptops among talented boyand girl students.

Cleanlinessdrive in LGH

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Principal PostGraduate Medical Institute &Lahore General Hospital(LGH)Prof Anjam Habib Vohra hassaid that citizens should be con-stantly sensitized about the im-portance of cleanliness and hy-gienic life style in order to savethem from all types of diseasesincluding dengue.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—University ofHealth Sciences’ (UHS) shallmake all out efforts to keep BSc(Hons) courses in allied healthsciences running in its affiliatedinstitutes despite non-availabil-ity of funds.

This was resolved in a meet-ing of the academic committeeof UHS Board of Governorsheld here on Wednesday.

The meeting was chairedby the convener of the commit-

UHS takes notice of courses’closure in medical colleges

tee Prof. Malik HussainMubbashar. The other membersincluded Prof. Amir Aziz, UHSVice Chancellor Prof. I.A.Naveed and Registrar Dr. AsadZaheer.

The committee showed con-cern over the closure of theseBSc (Hons) courses in some ofthe affiliated medical colleges.

UHS VC told the commit-tee that the university took aninitiative in 2007 by launchingBSc (Hons) courses in AlliedHealth Sciences in its affiliated

medical and dental colleges torevitalize this long neglectedfield and to overcome theshortage of qualified man-power for essential functionsof laboratory diagnosis, radio-diagnosis and rehabilitation ofpatients.

He further said that Punjabgovernment fully supported theidea and courses in 16 disci-plines were started in 18 publicand private sector medical insti-tutions of the province from thesession 2007-2008.

FAISALABAD—Minister for In-formation and BroadcastingQamar Zaman Kaira said onWednesday that Tehrik MinhajulQuran chief Dr Tahir-ul-Qadrishould first clarify his positionwhether he would contest electionor not.

Talking to media at the resi-dence of Information SecretaryRashid Ahmed, after offeringFateha for his mother, he said DrQadri had expressed his intentionof not contesting the election sohe was not a stakeholder in thedemocratic system.

He said holding of publicprocessions and debates was theconstitutional right, however, noone would be allowed to breachlaw.

He said the government andthe assemblies would completetheir remaining around two and ahalf months constitutional term.

He said tenure of the govern-ment would be completed onMarch 16, that would follow theformation of the caretaker govern-

Qadri should clarify if hewould contest election: Kaira

ment as per the Constitution. Kaira said the election pro-

cess would be completed within60 days of the caretaker govern-ment and assured that the electionswould be held before May 16.

Elaborating the criteria offorming the caretaker set up, hesaid the Leader of the House andLeader of the Opposition wouldnominate the candidate for theprime ministerial slot and if theyfail to evolve consensus, then theElection Commission would de-cide the same. Kaira said the gov-ernment and opposition were therepresentatives of the people andonly they had the right to decideabout the caretaker set up. How-ever, he thought that the caretakerprime minister should be a politi-cian. Answering a question,he said there is no room for un-constitutional steps as a lot of im-provements had been made in theConstitution. “People wouldnever support any unconstitutionaldemand of any individual as itwould be treacherous,” he said.

Kaira said in the presence ofindependent judiciary, media, po-litical parties and civil society, noone can even think about takingunconstitutional steps.

The minister said that in de-mocracy nothing could be im-posed by using force.

He said staging sit-ins andnotions of Tahrir Square-like up-risings suited only to those coun-tries where the people did not haveany say, but in Pakistan the gov-ernment and the judiciary werethere to listen to their issues.

He said the government hadalways been promoting politicalreconciliation and successfullyrestored the Constitution in itsoriginal form despite lacking ma-jority in the Parliament.

To a question Kaira saidarmy had already clarified its po-sition regarding the long march ofDr Qadri. He said army hasplayed vital role for strengtheningof democracy and “we should ap-preciate the sacrifices made by thePakistan Army.”—APP

ANP adjournmentmotionISLAMABAD—The Awami Na-tional Party (ANP) has submit-ted an adjournment motion inthe Senate to discuss the acuteshortage of petrol, CNG andother petroleum products in thecountry. Moved by SenatorsHaji Muhammad Adeel,Afrasiab Khattak, MuhammadZahid Khan and Shahi Sayyed,the motion said that after CNG,people are now compelled towait in long queues to get petrolwhich has caused great prob-lems to them. —INP

Two militantskilledMIRANSHAH—At least twomilitants were killed and six oth-ers injured in an overnight op-eration Wednesday by the secu-rity forces in North WaziristanAgency here. According to theofficial sources, curfew wasclamped in Miranshah fromJanuary 1st that will remain inplace for indefinite period oftime. The sources said the res-cue teams were facing hardshipsin transporting the injured tohospital. —INP

Ban onmotorcyclesGILGIT—Motorbike riding wasbanned in Gilgit for three daysfrom Wednesday till Fridayahead of Chehlum of HazratImam Hussain (RA). Accordingto Deputy Commissioner ArqamTariq, the ban was imposed dueto security concerns duringChehlum of Hazrat ImamHussain (RA). Gilgit severaltimes faced motorcycle ban inthe past as well due to securitysituation.. —INP

Presidentsummons SenateISLAMABAD—President AsifAli Zardari has summoned theSenate in Islamabad at 4 p.m.Thursday. The House wouldtake up important legislativeitems including the Fair TrialBill as the National Assemblyhas already passed the same inprevious session. The Housewould also forward recom-mendations on the tax amnestybill to make it part of theMoney Bill besides discussinglaw and order situation in thecountry. —NNI

KABUL—Afghan Ministerfor Refugees and RepatriationDr. Jamaher Anwary and Mr.Abdul Jabar Taqwa, Governorof Kabul joined the UN Refu-gee Agency Wednesday at theKabul Women’s Garden, todistribute emergency assis-tance to some 440 vulnerablefamilies threatened by theAfghanistan’s harsh winterweather.

Each year, winter cold en-dangers Afghanistan’s mostvulnerable, including the ur-ban poor, widows, the dis-abled, elderly, children, andthe internally displaced. Ex-tremely cold weather in 2012caused a high number ofdeaths in Kabul, including

dozens of children living inKabul’s informal settlements.

This year, the Governmentof Afghanistan, United Nations,and non-governmental organi-zations have distributed emer-gency assistance to tens ofthousands of families most at-risk during winter. Vigilanceand additional resources areneeded to prevent recurrence oflast year’s tragedy.

“Tens of thousands offamilies have already receivedassistance thanks to a coordi-nated effort by the Governmentof Afghanistan and the interna-tional community. However,close monitoring and additionalresources will be needed,throughout the winter, to fulfill

the urgent needs of the vulner-able and the displaced,” saidMinister Anwary.

Since November, UNHCRhas provided warm clothing,blankets, tarpaulins, charcoal,soap, fuel, and cooking sets tomore than 32,000 ofAfghanistan’s most vulnerablefamilies, across the country.Urgent assistance continues,soon to reach 240,000 Afghans.Informal camps and settlementsthroughout Kabul city are hometo some of the most at-risk, in-cluding thousands of children.The first fatality was reportedThursday, a three-year-oldchild.

UNHCR and partner agen-cies are ensuring each family in

these camps receives essentialassistance, including monthlyheating fuel.

Contributing to the life-threatening situations in thesecamps are inadequate shelter,shortage of clean water andmedical care, and a severe lackof sanitation and hygiene.

“Emergency assistance re-sponds to immediate needs, butas long as tens of thousands ofpeople live in dire conditions,the risk of illness and death re-mains.

A serious commitment tosolving this problem is essen-tial,” explained Ms. ItaSchuette, Acting UNHCRRepresentative in Afghani-stan. —INP

UNHCR assists Afghans facing harsh winter

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is offer-ing to insure foreign businessmento attract overseas investment inthe country, officials said Wednes-day.

A series of wealthy countries,including Australia, Britain andthe United States, advise againstnon-essential travel to Pakistanand this makes insurance unavail-able or very expensive for citizenswho wish to visit.

But the government hopesthat by offering insurance to for-eigners invited to Pakistan onbusiness, it can help revive theflagging economy.

“Any private or public entre-preneur inviting foreign business-men or investors will now be re-sponsible for providing insurancecover to their guests through theNational Insurance Company(NIC),” said commerce ministry

spokesman Abdul Kabir Kazi.“We have launched the

scheme immediately and askedthe foreign office to dish out in-formation about the scheme to allPakistani missions abroad to ben-efit foreign investors and busi-nessmen,” he told AFP.

Nazim Latif, pointman for thescheme, said businessmen can beinsured for $200,000, $300,000 or$500,000, depending on theirlength of stay.

“The premium for the aboveproducts will be $75, $150 and$225 respectively if a buyer staysin Pakistan for a week; and $250,$350 and $500 for a stay beyonda month,” he told AFP.

In the event of death, the NICwill pay out the full compensationand in case of injury, $6,000,$7,000 or $8,500 per week formedical treatment.—AFP

Pak offers to insureforeign businessmen

NEW DELHI—The IndianParliament’s Standing Commit-tee on Home on Wednesdaysummoned senior Delhi Policeofficers, including Police Com-missioner Neeraj Kumar andSpecial Commissioner of Police(Law and Order) DharmendraKumar to appear before it.

The senior police officersare likely to be questioned aboutthe December 16 gang rape caseand also will be asked whatprogress they have made tomake the city of Delhi safer forwomen. The committee isscheduled to meet on January 4,where Kumar is expected to pro-vide a written response to ques-tions which could not be an-swered at a December 27 meet-ing of the panel.

Last week, the Parliamen-tary Standing Committee onHome had grilled Delhi PoliceCommissioner Neeraj Kumar onthe growing atrocities againstwomen.

Kumar reportedly pointedout that unfilled vacancies at thelevel of officers and lack ofenough vehicles to patrol thestreets added to the deficienciesin policing the megapolis.

The panel sought a responsefrom the Union Home Ministryto which the Delhi police forcereports. Home Secretary R KSingh, who was also to appearbefore the panel, could not at-tend the meeting. Kumar nar-

Delhi gang-rape

Parliament body summons senior copsrated the sequence of events onthe night of December 16 andsaid the police control room re-sponded promptly after receiv-ing a phone call about the rapeof the 23-year old paramedicaboard a bus. Congressmember Sandeep Dikshit is

learnt to have pointed out thatthere was a disconnect betweenpolice officers sitting insiderooms and those on the ground.He, along with his mother, hasbeen demanding the removal ofthe police chief for failing to checkcrimes against women.—INP

KARACHI—President Asif AliZardari has directed the govern-ment to take immediate mea-sures for overcoming fuel short-age. He was talking to PrimeMinister Raja Pervez Ashraf dur-ing a meeting in Karachi onWednesday. Finance MinisterAbdul Hafeez Sheikh was alsopresent in the meeting.

The President also asked thePrime Minister to direct the con-cerned authorities for taking ap-propriate measures to resolve en-ergy shortage being faced by thepeople. The Finance Minister

briefed the President regardingsteps being taken by the govern-ment to tackle the situation.

Both the leader also discussedoverall political and economicsituation of the country during themeeting.

During the meeting inKarachi the President and PrimeMinister said that the political ac-tivities were not prohibited butstressed that all activities shouldremain in limits of political pro-cess. Federal Minister of FinanceHafeez Shaikh was also presentduring the meeting.—NNI

President directs tohandle fuel shortage

Peshawar airbaseattack report

submitted to PAFSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—An intelligencereport into a brazen militant at-tack on a Peshawar air forcebase has been submitted to thePakistan Air Force chief AirChief Marshal Tahir RafiqueButt on Wednesday.

The report didn’t foundcomplicity of any insider in theattack. Intelligence sources toldmedia that 5 out of 10 militantshad not been able to detonatetheir suicide jackets while fiveof them took shelter in a popu-lous area and latter explodedtheir explosives striped to theirbodies.

Indian RAW, IBget new chiefs

NEW DELHI—India’s two eliteintelligence agencies , Intelli-gence Bureau (IB) and Re-search & Analysis Wing(RAW) had their new chiefs inoffice on Tuesday with SyedAsif Ibrahim and Alok Joshi,respectively, taking over themantle for a fixed tenure of twoyears. Ibrahim (59) is the firstMuslim to lead the IB, the in-ternal intelligence agency of thecountry.—INP

GUJRANWALA—An intensescuffle was witnessed inGujranwala on Wednesdaywhen young doctors attackedand beat their seniors, includ-ing the Medical Superintendentat the District HeadquartersHospital. According to details,young doctors in Gujranwalawere protesting against block-age of their salaries by the pro-vincial health department andthey stormed into the office ofthe MS, Dr Anwar Amanullah,tortured him and forced him out

Young doctors rough-up MS,seniors in Gujranwala

of office.When resisted, they also

roughed up other senior doctorson the occasion.

Meanwhile, police arrestedpresident of Young Doctors As-sociation Kashif Bilal involvedin the disturbances and raidedthe hostel to arrest other doc-tors.

Angered by the coverageover electronic media thatshowed their high handedness,young doctors also beat up themedia representatives. —INP

Ex-JS, wife killedin road accidentISLAMABAD—Two includingex-joint secretary finance,Habibullah Khan and his wifedied in a road accident here onWednesday. According to de-tails, Habibullah Khan and hiswife were hit by a recklessdriven over speeding bus in Sec-tor G-10 of the federal capitalleaving them critical injured.The bus driver managed to es-cape from the scene leaving thevehicle on the spot. The injuredwere rushed to Pakistan Instituteof Medical Sciences (PIMS)where they succumbed to theirwounds. —INP

‘PPP to winelections’DERA MURAD JAMALI—Balochistan Minister forComunication Haji Mir AliMadad Jattak said on Wednes-day that Pakistan People’s Partywould win the forthcoming gen-eral elections with thumpingmajority. Talking to mediamen,he said the elections would beheld on time in a free, fair andtransparent manner. He said theongoing processions by politi-cal parties will not affect the PPPmandate as it has roots amongthe masses. —APP

NEW DELHI: People raising anti-government slogans dur-ing protest against the rape incident.

LHC admitspetition againstTahirul Qadri’s

long marchSTAFF REPORTER

R A W A L P I N D I — T h eRawalpindi bench of theLahore High Court (LHC) ad-mitted a petition against theTehreek-e-Minhajul Quran(TMQ) chief Tahirul Qadri’s“million-man march” sched-uled for January 14 on Wednes-day.

Petitioner Asad Abbasiprayed the court to give ordersagainst the long march and ini-tiate proceedings against DrQadri as the march was againstthe state and was a conspiracyto abrogate the constitution.

Dr Qadri, with MuttahidaQaumi Movement’s (MQM)support, has called a “millions-men march” in Islamabad todemand reforms in the electoralsystem. Qadri said Islamabadwill become a ‘peaceful’ TahrirSquare during the march.

The MQM chief AltafHussain has expressed full sup-port for Qadri and his cause andhas called for the maximumnumber of people to participatein the march to bring a “revo-lution” in Pakistan.

Measles epidemickills 11 more

infants in SindhSHIKARPUR—Measles epi-demic continued to take livesof children in interior Sindh as11 more children died onWednesday in Shikarpur andother areas of the province.

According to details, pro-vincial health authorities havefailed to control the epidemicand as a result up till now 201children have died due to theepidemic.

On Wednesday, six infantsdied in Shikarpur while hospi-tal sources said that 40 chil-dren are still under treatment.They said 19 children died inthe city alone in the last 33days.The most affected area isKandhkot where two morechildren died while death tollin the area has reached 108.

Casualties were also re-ported from other areas includ-ing Ghotki, Jacobabad,Khairpur, Sukkur andSalehpat. —INP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Wednesday declaredunsatisfactory the response filedby Director General IntelligenceBureau Akhtar HussainGorchani in the case pertainingto the withdrawal of hugeamounts of money from the IB’saccounts by Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) governments forpolitical purposes in 1988-1990and 2008-09.

A three-judge bench of theapex court, headed by Chief Jus-tice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, heard the case.

During the hearing, thebench directed the IB’s directorgeneral to produce the details ofthe bureau’s secret funds.

The bench stated that itwould summon former IB direc-tor general Tariq Lodhi if itfound the details produced bythe current DG as unsatisfactory.

The court moreover directedthe treasury secretary to submita reply on the withdrawal ofRs270 million from the IB’ssecret funds along with con-cerned records.

The bench stated thatLodhi had said that funds hadbeen withdrawn from thebureau’s account, adding thatthe response filed by Gorchanion the matter was not satisfac-tory.

Directing Gorchani to filehis response again, the benchadjourned the hearing to Jan 8.

On Nov 28, 2012, the Su-

preme Court had taken noticeof a report which had appearedin an English daily on March14, alleging that Rs270 millionhad been withdrawn by thePPP government to dislodgethe Punjab government in2008-09.

Asad Kharral, a reporter ofthe newspaper appeared beforethe court and alleged that the plotcould not succeed because of thePakistan Muslim League –Quaid’s insistence to install itschief minister in Punjab.

Kharral had also claimed thatin addition to Rs270m, Rs360mhad been withdrawn by the PPPgovernment in 1988-1990 to re-move the governments in the thenNorth West Frontier Province(NWFP) and other provinces.

IB funds case

SC declares DG Gorchani’sresponse unsatisfactory

‘Save the state, not politics’

Qadri’sphilosophy

illogical: FazlSTAFF REPORTER

QUETTA—Jamiat Ulema-e-Is-lam (JUI-F) chief MaulanaFazlur Rehman said on Wednes-day that Minhajul QuranInternational’s (MQI) leaderTahirul Qadri’s philosophy of“riasat bachao, siasat nahin”(Save the state, not politics) was“illogical”. Speaking to the me-dia in Quetta, Rehman said,“such tactics were only used toderail democracy”.

He said, “The overall situa-tion in the country – of securityand economy – has been orches-trated in a way that now peoplefeel the need for a revolution. Itis being done deliberately in or-der to justify overthrowing thedemocratic setup in the country.

Commandersconference tomorrow

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—A Corps Com-manders conference will held to-morrow (Friday). The confer-ence would be chaired by ArmyChief Gen Ashfaq ParvezKayani. According to the ISPR,professional matters of the PakArmy would come up for dis-cussion in the conference.

According to sources, veri-fication of voter lists and secu-rity during elections would alsobe discussed.The meeting wouldalso discuss the security situa-tion in the region.

KABUL: French Defence Minister Jaen-Vyes Le Drian meeting French soldiers.

BASED on the knowledge that cancer cells grow indefinitely, the general belief is thatsenescence could act as a barrier

against tumor growth and has the poten-tial of being used as a cancer treatment.

According to find-ings published in the 19thJanuary issue of theopen-access journalPLoS Computational Biol-ogy, a collaboration be-tween a cancer biologistfrom the University ofMilano, Italy, and twophysicists, from the Na-tional Research Councilof Italy and from CornellUniversity, has shownthat although cell senes-cence occurs spontane-ously in melanoma cells,it does not stop theirgrowth, which is sus-tained by a small popula-tion of cancer stem cells.

The study examinesthe association between melanoma andsenescence, which is the normal pro-cess in which cells decline and eventu-ally stop duplicating after reaching ma-turity.

The researchers observed the long-term evolution of melanoma cell popula-tions by monitoring the number of se-nescent cells, and discovered a slowingin growth with the majority of the cellsturning senescent after three months.However, growth did not stop and waseventually resumed at its initial rate untilthe senescent cells had nearly disap-peared.

The researchers applied a math-ematical model of the experimental datausing the cancer stem cell hypothesis,in which a sub-group of cancer cellsmultiply indefinitely, and therefore re-

main unaffected by senes-cence. These cancer stemcells produce a larger popu-lation of cancer cells,which are only able to rep-licate a certain number oftimes. The results of themodel achieved an indirectconfirmation that cancerstem cells are present inmelanoma, an issue that re-mains to be controversialin the cancer research com-munity.

The researchers con-clude that even though alarge percentage of can-cer cells are susceptibleto senescence, inducingsenescence is unlikely toprovide a successfultherapeutic strategy be-

cause these cells are not important fortumor growth. The say however, thatthe indirect evidence of cancer stemcells in melanoma could potentially en-able the development of new strate-gies for the treatment of specific typesof cancer.

However, the strong resistance todrug induced senescence that may befound in the cancer stem cells willpresent a major challenge. Based on thisstudy, treatment of tumors would con-centrate on targeting only these cancerstem cells, instead of every single can-cerous cell.

Tumors continue growingeven when cells get old

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Min-ister for National Regula-tions and Services, Dr.Firdous Ashiq Awan visitedthe campus of Pak-TurkSchools and Colleges hereWednesday.

She was invited by themanagement of Pak-TurkSchools and Colleges to pro-vide first hand informationabout the educational ser-vices and facilities providedby the said education sys-tem in Pakistan.

The Minister wasbriefed about the history,vision, operational mecha-nism, campuses and perfor-mance of Pak-Turk educationsystem. Director Planningand Development, Mr.Turgut Pwan on the occasiongave a detailed presentationto the Minister.

Afterwards the Minister

visited all the facilities and in-frastructure of Chak Shehzadcampus, including hostel, aca-

demic block and administra-tion section. She was also in-troduced to the academia at-

tached with the Turkishschool system.

During the visit the Min-

ister remarked that Turkeyis a time tested friend and ithas extended all kinds ofsupport to Pakistan.

The significant supportprovided by Turkish peopleand Government in the fieldsof health, education and dur-ing natural disasters is re-markable.

This all out support is amanifestation of the cordialrelationship between the twobrotherly countries, theMinister added.

Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awanpraised the standard of edu-cation and services providedby Pak-Turk School systemto Pakistani children and as-sured of all kinds of supportto the organization.

“The work of this insti-tution is really commendableand I am looking forward ofmany such campuses in allcit ies of Pakistan”, shestressed.

RAWALPINDI: Visibility level was very low in the city due to foggy conditions on Tuesday night.

Firdous visits campus of Pak-Turkschools and colleges

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Regulation and Services Dr Firdous AshiqAwan receives a souvenir from Director of Pak-Turk School System.

ISLAMABAD: Students of National College of Arts painting on the bridge near F-6 duringan awareness campaign on the challenges faced by working women, organized by NCA incollaboration with CDA.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

ception.

RAWALPINDI: Gypsy children searching valuables from a Nullah to earn livelihood.

ISLAMABAD—Capital Devel-opment Authority (CDA)Board has decided to hold openauction of the contracts fornurseries on yearly basis,changing the old way of ex-tending the licences.

The board also decided tore-establish the computerizedcomplaint system for the resi-dents.

According to sources, thedecisions were taken in a meet-ing presided over by CDAChairman Syed Tahir Shahbaz.The CDA board decided thatfrom this year onward, con-

Contracts of nurseries awardedthrough open auction

tracts to establish nurseries onboth sides of Kashmir High-way through openly auction.

Earlier the Park Road nurs-eries were allotted withoutopen auction and now it wouldbe allotted with open auctionso as the CDA gets maximumrevenue allotment, besidesproviding an opportunity tothe new contractors to get thenurseries every year.

The board also decidedthat recoveries of all the CDAdepartments would be made incentral accounts so as the re-covery system could be made

better and possible embezzle-ments could be stopped.

The case of construction ofa terminal in Sector I-11 wouldbe discussed in the next meet-ing of the board.

The board has also ap-proved Rs1,000 capital allow-ance for CDA officers and em-ployees. The monthly allow-ance was announced by PrimeMinister Raja PervezAshraf.—INP

Fog in twincities breakspast records

ISLAMABAD—Thick fog hasgripped the twin cities ofRawalpindi and Islamabad andits intensity is the highest ascompared with that observed inthe last ten years.

Due to this the airport hasbeen closed for all types of airtraffic.

According to Civil AviationAuthority officials, due to theclosure of the airport, 11 flightswere diverted to Lahore Air-port, while five flights werecancelled.

The airport was reopened inthe day after fog cleared but sev-eral flights were delayed caus-ing inconvenience to the passen-gers.

On the other hand,Spokesperson Motorway Po-lice, Muhammad Shoaib saidIslamabad-Lahore Motorwaywas earlier closed for trafficand has been opened in thewee hours of Wednesday.—Online

ISLAMABAD—The Manage-ment Board of the Capital De-velopment Authority onWednesday approved the pay-ment of Capital Allowance forall of its staffers.

The decision has been takenin the Board meeting held herewith Chairman Syed TahirShahbaz in chair which was alsoattended by the CDA Boardmembers. Under the decision,the Capital Allowance worth Rs1,000 will be paid to all of theCDA employees in pursuanceof the Prime Minister’s direc-tive. The CDA Board has alsodecided to revitalize its mecha-nism to redress citizens’ com-plaints by restoring its call cen-ter set up some few years agocosting millions of rupees.

The Board directed theMember concerned to formulateterms of reference within a weekand table those before theBoard. Addressing the meeting,chairman said the objective is tostrengthen the upgrade CDA’s

CDA establishes CCCCentres, approves allowance

Customer Contact Centre(CCC) to facilitate citizens byensuring resolution of their prob-lems of various kinds.

The CDA had establishedCCC to in collaboration withInformation TechnologyMinistry’s Electronic Govern-ment Directorate to help peoplereport complaints about civicproblems. An Universal AccessNumber (UAN) 111-000-232and official website of the au-thority were also available forregistration of complaints, how-ever, it could not work longowing to lack of interest by theauthorities concerned.

The Board also decided tocentralize the revenue collectionby all directorates as previouslyseveral pay drafts and pay ordersused to dump in the files withoutbeing cashed causing loss of mil-lions to the civic agency. As perdecision, all receipts would go tothe Finance Division that wouldstreamline the process to avoidloss to the CDA.—APP

Exchange ofcultural programmes

with IranISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for National Heritage andIntegration Samina KhalidGhurki has stressed for the ex-change of cultural programmeswith Iran to strengthen the tiesbetween both the countries.

In a meeting here on withIranian Cultural CounselorTaghi Sadeghi, they both dis-cussed the matters of mutualinterests and for promotion andprojection of culture of bothcountries through cultural ex-change programmes amongmasses and youth.

Ghurki said that the pend-ing MoUs regarding culturalprogrammes of both countriesshould be signed as soon as pos-sible and be accomplished in thegiven time span.

Taghi informed Ghurkiabout the expected visit of Ira-nian Cultural Minster in Febru-ary for the signing of theseMoUs and their accomplish-ment.

Taghi invited the Ghurki tovisit the Holy shrines in Iran.—APP

IS L A M A B A D—District ad-ministration Islamabad haschanged security plan of redzone and allocated space in F-9 Park for the participants oflong march announced byTehreek-e- Minhajul Quranchief Dr Tahir ul Qadri.

Following the long marchcall by Dr Tahir ul Qadri, inte-rior minister Rehman Malik is-sued orders during an impor-tant meeting for changing se-curity plan of red zone, saymedia reports.

F-9 Park allocated forlong march participants

Rehman Malik says cer-tain elements head towardsfederal capital to get public-ity; therefore, space has beenreserved for them in F-9 Park.

Over 683 protest demon-strations were held in federalcapital during 2012 and onepoliceman was killed and doz-ens were injured in these ral-lies.

Capital police is highlyundermanned to deal with thelaw and order situation inIslamabad.

Out of total 9500 strengthof police department, half ofthem are deployed in embas-sies and residences of foreignambassadors and diplomats.Over 4000 policemen are per-forming security duty in re-spect of VVIPs

It has been decided to usestudents to control situationon the occasion of long marchand protest rallies. Decisionhas also been taken to call inparamilitary forces if need beduring long march.—Online

OPDCconcludes

at IIUICITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—President In-ternational Islamic University(IIU), Prof. Dr. Ahmad YousifAl-Draiweesh said every pos-sible effort will be made tobring IIUI at par world leveluniversities.

He was addressing at theconcluding ceremony of Offic-ers Professional DevelopmentCourse (OPDC) organized bythe Institute of ProfessionalDevelopment (IPD), IIUI.

Dr. Al-Draiweesh said theworld is a global village andsources of knowledge must beutilized to gain access to thisglobal village.

He said the nation canonly excel in this age of com-petit ion through uti l izingsources of advance educationand training.

He said that the purposeof knowledge is not merely toobtain degrees and certificatesbut its aim is to bring reformssocio economic setup of thesociety and to invite otherstoward right path.

Earlier Dr. Saeed ul HassanChishti, Director IPD intro-duced the IPD whileSaneeha Khalid highlighted thesyllabus of said trainingcourse.

Shagufta Haroon, Direc-tor Academics IIUI alsospoke on the occasion. Dr.Zaitoon Begum and SyedMuzammil Hussain also ex-pressed their view about thetraining course.

At the end Dr. Al-Draiweesh awarded certifi-cates to the participants oftraining course.

RAWALPINDI: Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman, custodian of Eidgah shrine address-ing in connection with the 51st anniversary of Sheikh Al-Muhaddiseen Al-MufsireenAlhaj Al-Hafiz Pir Abdur Rehman Sani.

ISLAMABAD: A view of garbage dump area at I-11 sector.

ISLAMABAD: Car showrooms have illegally occupied the parking area at G-8 Markazwhich causes hardships to the commuters.—PO photo

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Chehlumof Nawasa-e-Rasool HazratImam Hussain (AS) and his72 companions will be ob-served today with devotionand respect. Hazrat ImamHussain (AS) sacrificed hislife for the cause of Islam andto give eternal lease of life tothe high values of humanity.

The mourners of theHoly Imam (AS) havefinalised arrangements tobring out processions fromdifferent parts of the city.

The city administrationhas also prepared a contin-gency plan to maintain lawand order and provide fool-proof security to the pro-cessions. As many as 5,000cops will be deployed forthe purpose. All the streetsand roads leading to the

Chehlum of ImamHussain (AS) today

routes of processions willbe closed with barbedwires.

The main Chehlum pro-cession in Rawalpindi willbe taken out fromImambargah Col MaqboolHussain and ImambargahHifazat Ali Shah BoharBazar. A Zuljinah processionbrought out fromImambargah Ashiq HussainTeli Mohallah will mergeinto the main procession.

Meanwhile, a proces-sion in connection with theChehlum of Imam Hussain(AS) was brought out fromMarkazi Imambargah, G-6/2, Islamabad on Wednes-day. Some 2000 personnelof police, Rangers andother law enforcementagencies performed secu-ri ty duties on this occa-s ion.

Presidentcongratulates

PhotojournalistsAssociation

ISLAMABAD—President AsifAli Zardari has congratu-lated the newly-elected of-fice bearers of Rawalpindi-Islamabad PhotojournalistsAssociation.

In his felicitation mes-sage to the newly electedpresident Sajjad Haider, thePresident congratulated himon being elected for the 9thtime.

The President lauded theservices performed by thephotojournalists and ex-pressed the hope that theelected office bearers wouldwork further for welfare of theassociation and their col-leagues.—APP

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Large heaps ofuncovered garbage in thetwin cities of Islamabad andRawalpindi are vexing peopleand adding to the spread ofvarious diseases among thecitizens.

A survey conducted byAPP found that heaps ofgarbage in and around resi-dential and commercial areasincluding public parksspeak volumes about the in-efficiency of the concernedauthorities and lack of civicsense among residents.

Ahmed Ali, a resident ofG-6 said that dogs and catscan be seen freely movingover garbage heaps even inposh areas in the city. “If situ-ation remained as it wouldbecome a stinking place,” hewarned.

However, another resi-dent Sulman Ali said that resi-dents of the areas are equally

responsible for poor condi-tion of cleanliness in city ashaving no civic sense theythrow garbage in or near thepark areas that causes stink-ing smell all around.

Hamza Ashraf resident off-6/1 told APP, “We cannotstand for a minute in streetas the stench coming out ofthe uncovered heaps of un-covered garbage.

“We have lodged com-plaints many times with theCDA, but any action is yetawaited to stop dumping ofwaste here around our resi-dences,” he added.

According to CDA’spokesman, the CDA was inprocess of allotting a specificpiece of land for establish-ment of permanent landfillsite. He said the CDA has anefficient mechanism for gar-bage collection; however ad-mitted that there were someshortcomings in its disposalmechanism.

Uncovered garbageheaps vex people

ISLAMABAD—Under the pre-text of gas holidays, thetransporters violate theirdesignated routes to mintextra money from passen-gers, forcing them to paydouble the fare for incompletejourney.

The commuters whodaily travel betweenIslamabad and Rawalpindi,are facing problems due tonon-compliance of routenumber 1, 1C, 2, 3, 21, 105,120 and 127 by the publictransporters.

The commuters com-plained that the public trans-porters did not ply their ve-hicle on routes and thosewho operate did not com-

Transporters violateroutes to mint extra money

plete their routes. Taxi drivers are fleecing

commuters due to the ab-sence of fare regulationmechanism. The people haveto pay exorbitant fares dueto thin public transport play-ing on various routes, espe-cially during rush hours andlate night.

Commuters complainedthat the taxi drivers chargedouble fare on pretext of gasshortage.

The commuters said thatthe authorities concernedshould take stern actionagainst the transporters in-volved in route violationsand overcharging.

The female commuters

are also facing problems ofnegotiating fares with the taxidrivers. “We cannot affordstanding on roadsides forlong time and argue with thetaxi drivers,” said female com-muter at Zero Point.

Taxi drivers overchargethe passengers due to theabsence of fare regulationmechanism. “The drivers de-mand whatever they wish.Their main excuse for over-charging is shortage ofCNG”, said female commuterAyesha. Taxi driver MustafaSiddique claimed that due tounavailability of CNG theyhad to use diesel or petrolwhich increased their run-ning expenditure.—APP

Five injured ingas leakage

incidentRAWALPINDI—At least 5persons including 3 childrensustained has burn injurieswhen a fire broke out indouble-story building due togas leakage on Wednesday.

The entire building,which is situated near theChaklala Car Chowk, caughtfire after a blast caused bygas- leakage,Rescue-1122sources told APP.

The victims identified asImran(30) , Sumera(24) ,Manahil (5), MuhammadUsman (15) and MuhammadShafiq (16) were shifted to theHoly Family Hospital wheredoctors declared their condi-tion out of danger. “The vic-tims received 15 to 25 percentburn injured and they are outof danger”, doctors added.

The rescue team reachedthe site of incident withineight minutes after receivingthe call along with fourfirebrigade vehicles and am-bulances.

The team rescued an-other seven people strandedin the building and extin-guished the fire, the sourcesaid.—APP

Pillion ridingbanned in

Pindi: DCOISLAMABAD—District Coor-dination Officer RawalpindiSaqib Zafar on Wednesdayimposed ban on pillion ridingin the city till Thursday nightfor the security purpose onthe occasion of Chehlum ofImam Hussain (R.A).

A private television re-ported that DCO orderedfoolproof security aroundthe vicinity of Chehlum gath-erings and processions. Hedirected police officials topersonally ensure security.

The main processionwould start from ImamBargah Syed Lal Shah.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Dense fog onWednesday covered thetwin cities causing the airportto shut down whileI s l a m a b a d - L a h o r eMotorway was under fog tillearly morning and wasopened after remainingclosed for five hours.

According to Civil Avia-tion Authority (CAA), theBenazir Bhutto InternationalAirport was closed for flightsat 10 pm on Tuesday night

Islamabad Motorwayreopens as fog reduces

due to thick fog in the twincity of Islamabad andRawalpindi.

Eleven internationalflights were shifted to LahoreAirport while domestic flightsarriving from different citieswere cancelled. Other flightsalso faced delays and cancel-lations due to the samereason.The extreme fog hadblanketed the plains ofPunjab as well.

The traffic plying to-

wards Lahore was divertedto GT Road, as Islamabad TollPlaza has to be closed as vis-ibility neared zero in KalarKahar Salt Range owing tothick fog. Meantime, trafficgoing from Peshawar toLahore was shifted to High-way from Burhan Inter-change.

The Meteorological De-partment forecast the hike inseverity of fog during nextthree days of the week.—INP

Naval Chiefdiscusses audit of

naval accountsISLAMABAD—Chief of NavalStaff Admiral MuhammadAsif Sandila met the AuditorGeneral of PakistanMuhammad Akhtar BulandRana in his Office here inIslamabad Wednesday.

During meeting mattersof mutual interest were dis-cussed, particularly mattersrelated to Audit of NavalAccounts and working ofController Naval Accounts(CNA).

It was mutually agreedthat the forum of Departmen-tal Accounts Committeeshould be actively utilized sothat issues are discussed andversion of Auditee formationsmay also be considered be-fore finalization of the reportsand onward submission toPublic Accounts Committee(PAC) for discussion.Duringthis important meeting theAuditor General of Pakistanand Chief of Naval Staffagreed upon strict account-ability and proper utilizationof National Exchequer for bet-terment of the people.—INP

Education systemresponsible for

bad resultsR AWA L P I N D I —Teache r shave put the responsibility ofbad results in Matric exami-nations 2012 in Punjab on theprovincial government’s in-effective and unorganizededucation system, sayingeven today the governmentschools are deprived ofmany basic necessities indefiance of Code of Educa-tion.

Office bearers of teacherunions said that the teach-ers are given five months peryear to teach the studentsbesides allocating extra du-ties to them therefore blam-ing them for the bad resultsis a sheer injustice. They saidthat if the teachers are givenmore teaching time and notallocated extra duties, resultsof the government schoolswould never be lower thatany big private school.

Office bearers of PunjabTeacher Union including DrSagheer Alam, Imtiaz Abbasiand Raja Nasarullah, and ofthat of SES Teachers Asso-ciation, including AslamGujjar, Shafiq Bhalwalia,Chaudhry MuhammadDaood, Farman Ali Abbasi,Ch Muhammad Yaseen,Muhammad Niaz and otherssaid that major part of theyear they give duties for anti-polio campaign, census, elec-tions and others tasks,which diverts their attentionfrom education.

Therefore, they shouldnot be held responsible forthe bad results, rather wrongpolicies of the governmentare actually responsible forthe failure.

It is pertinent to mentionthat Chief Minister of PunjabMian Shahbaz Sharif had is-sued directives to take strictaction against the heads ofthe schools and respectiveteachers if the results ofMatric and Intermediate arebelow 18 percent..—INP

RAWALPINDI—Airport Road(Islamabad Highway) fromFlying Chowk to KoralChowk has been damaged atmany places causing incon-venience for the road usersand resulting in accidentsbut both the administrationsof Islamabad and Rawalpindiare not ready to take respon-sibility of repairing of theroad.

The major artery of the

Airport Road in a shamblestwin cities is neglected byboth Rawalpindi Develop-ment Authority (RDA) andCapital Development Au-thority (CDA) and the bothsay that maintenance andrenovation of the road isother’s responsibility.

According to the RDA’sperspective, the CDA hadconstructed the road, thus itshould renovate the highwaynow. While the CDA officials

say that the revenue bound-ary of the civic authority ofthe federal capital ends atKoral Chowk and revenuelimits of Rawalpindi startfrom there.

The CDA officials furthersay that the authority hadconstructed the road fromKoral Chowk to 52 FlyingClub on the special direc-tives of the then prime min-ister.—INP

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Muslimscan overcome their worldlyproblems and can also makethem eligible for forgivenesson the Day of Judgment onlyby following the teachingsof Quran and Sunnah in theirletter and spirit and by en-lightening their hearts andminds with the affection withthe Holy Prophet (peace beupon him).

Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman, custodian of Eidgahshrine, stated this while de-livering his presidential ad-dress at a large congregationhere on Wednesday in con-nection with the 51st anni-versary of Sheikh Al-Muhaddiseen Al-MufsireenAlhaj Al-Hafiz Pir AbdurRehman Sani (RA). FederalMinister Dr. Firdous AshiqAwan also attended the con-gregation.

“Only Islamic teachings

Pir Naqib advises Muslims tofollow Quran and Sunnah

can help Muslims end theirmiseries. The world is crav-ing for peace and tranquilitytoday and this can be foundonly through remembrance ofAlmighty Allah and HolyProphet Hazrat Muhammad(peace be upon him),” hesaid. “This is the reason thatPir Abdur Rehman Sani (RA)has been stressing upon himhis devotees to make the re-membrance of Almighty Al-lah and the Holy Prophet(peace be upon him) theirhabit,” he added.

The custodian of Eidgahshrine said that the abodesof Sufi saints are hubs ofpeace as well as source ofguidance for the strayedpeople. He said it were theSufi saints who brought thestrayed humans of the Sub-continent into the fold of Is-lam and put them on the rightpath. He said the teachingsand advice of the Sufi saintsis a beacon for all the people.

Pir Muhammad HassanHasib-ur-Rehman hosted theanniversary congregationand also recited a Naat whileTasleem Sabri conducted theproceedings of the gathering.

Various religious scholarsshed light on the life andteachings of the HolyProphet (peace be upon him)as well as the life of Pir AbdurRehman (RA). Prominentamong other speakers wereMufti Muhammad SulemanRizvi, GA Haq Chishti, AllamaGhulam Ali Qamar, MaulanaAyaz Rizvi, Maulana SalimHabib and Khawaja WajahatJameel. Abid Karimi, KhalidMahmood Khalid, AhmedRaza Jamaati and other promi-nent Naat Khawans pre-sented Naats.

In the end, PirMuhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman prayed for the unityof the Muslims and progress,prosperity and solidarity ofPakistan.

PEC announcesschedule of middle

examinationRAWALPINDI—Punjab Exami-nation Commission (PEC) hasannounced schedule of ex-aminations for scholarshipsfor primary students and an-nual exams of eighth grade be-sides announcing rules andregulations for the examina-tions and scholarships.

According to the an-nouncement, annual exami-nation for the scholarshipsfor primary students wouldstart from February 1, whileannual examination of middlestandard would start fromFebruary 7. Both the exami-nations would be completedtill February 13. Use of cal-culators and mobile phoneshas been barred in the exams.

According to the sched-ule, the candidates wouldhave to reach the examina-tion centres half an hour be-fore the commencement ofthe exams.—INP

AIOU announcesresults

ISLAMABAD—Allama IqbalOpen University (AIOU) hasannounced the final resultsof ATTC, CT and PTCprogrammes for the Semes-ter Spring, 2012 and placedthe results on its websitewww.aiou.edu.pk.—INP

Raja condoleswith Rashid

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Raja ShafqatAbbasi, Chairman, PressCouncil of Pakistan, in hismessage to Ch. RashidAhmed, Secretary Informa-tion and Broadcasting, Gov-ernment of Pakistan, has con-veyed the heart-felt condo-lence on the sad demise of hismother and said this is indeeda great loss for the family.

He prayed that may Al-mighty Allah rest his soul ineternal peace and give hisfamily courage to bear thisirreparable loss.

ISLAMABAD: Folk artists from Punjab perform during Pakistan Cultural Week at Lok Virsa.—PO photo bySultan Bashir

06:2001:3003:45

07:00

Zohr

January 3

INSTITUTE of Profes-sional Development (IPD)of the International Is-lamic University, (IIUI)will organize its conclud-ing ceremony of the Of-ficers Professional Devel-opment Course (OPDC)on Wednesday. The cer-emony would be held atCentral Library of the uni-versity and PresidentIIUI, Prof. Dr AhmadYousif Al-Draiweesh willbe the chief guest on theoccasion.

*****MUSIC programme ‘Cu-ban Jazz Group A-3 Fu-sion with Pakistani Musi-cians,’ at Pakistan NationalCouncil of the Arts, Sec-tor F-5/1, Islamabad, 7 pm.

Continuing

GROUP exhibition titled‘Bend in the Scapes,’ atthe Satrang Art Gallery,Serena Hotel,Khayaban-e-Suhrwardy,Islamabad, continuingup to January 8.

‘India, Pakistan need to invest in dialogue, not confrontation’SRINAGAR—Urging Indiaand Pakistan to cut militaryspending and focus their in-vestment on dialogue to re-solve all outstanding issues,CPI (M) State SecretaryMohammad Yousuf Tarigamihas said the confrontation inpast over six decades has notyielded anything except formiseries and sufferings to thepeople in whole of the region.

Addressing 19th death an-niversary meeting of veteranKisan Leader Abdul KabirWani at Kulgam, the CPI (M)leader stated that there is agrowing realization in largersections of population in boththe countries that dialogue is

the only way out to settle allcontentious issues and the lead-ership of the two countries mustdraw on the advantage of thisconsensus across the border.

“As the world is set to wel-come New Year, I urge upon theleadership of the two countriesto draw lessons from the hos-tilities between them andachievements they madethrough unfortunate skirmishesin last over 60 years. India andPakistan must prevail upon thenegative attitudes integral totheir domestic politics as it is inthe interest of the whole regionnot to let hostile narrative todominate their political dis-course,” he stressed.

The CPI (M) State Secretaryobserved in view of the presentworld order, it has become inevi-table for the two countries to re-verse their policy directions andthe alternative lies in a massivehike in investment on dialogueand building bilateral bonds.

“This will surely create sig-nificant new opportunities tosort out differences and contrib-ute to the domestic demand inboth the countries. A meaning-ful, sustainable and more inclu-sive dialogue can be set in mo-tion with such an alternativepolicy direction. This is all themore relevant in the present glo-bal context,” Tarigami opined.

He said, indeed, there are

many challenges to pursue a re-sult oriented dialogue, but a con-scious and gradual approach isneeded to remove the layers ofnegative disposition among thepeople, especially the politicalclass in order to socialize them intoa positive temperament. He added:“Off course it has to be a gradualprocess and it may take time butthe change of attitude is possible.”He said in Jammu and Kashmir,people in general and the youth inparticular have been the worst suf-ferers of decades’ old conflict be-tween the two countries but to se-cure the coming generations, theleadership across the border needto stand up for a paradigm changein their respective positions.

The CPI (M) state secretaryobserved that if the two establish-ments fail to rise to the occasion,the people in both the countriesmay be forced to adopt alterna-tives to create prospectus of a bet-ter and assured future. Mean-while, while referring to thePulwama firing incident whichled to injuries to many civilians,the CPI (M) leader said it is un-fortunate that instead of bringingculprits responsible for the avoid-able incident to justice, the admin-istration is furthering sufferingsof people by imposing restrictionson them. “People in Pulwama aresuffering for want of basic neces-sities and the restrictions imposedhave created more sufferings for

them,” he added.Expressing regrets over

passing away of Delhi gangrape victim, Tarigami saidKashmir too has many rape vic-tims who still crave for justiceand the government of the daymust review the outdated lawsin this regard.

“It should be seen how tomake the existing laws morestringent to tackle such crimes.Besides fast track courts shouldbe introduced to dispose of thealready pending cases of this na-ture. Above all the society needsto stand up against these crimesso that women feel secure andsafe in their homes and out-side.”—NNI

MUZAFFARABAD: Chairman Development Authority Assad Habib and other workers of AJK-PPP offering Dua for early recovery of the health of party Secretary General Ch Latif Abkar.

MUZAFFARABAD: Secretary General Central Press Club Tahir Farooqi briefing DeputyAdministrator Municipal Corporation about-maintenance of Press club building.

MUZAFFARABAD: Employees of Civil Secretariat staging protest outside office of Secretary Finance here in favourof their demands.

SRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir Liberation FrontChairman, Muhammad YasinMalik has said that his party willlaunch Court Arrest Movementfrom Friday. Muhammad YasinMalik in a media interview inSrinagar emphasised that thecampaign would comprise dif-ferent phases and the JKLFleaders and activists wouldcourt arrest on 7th, 9th, 11th and14th January.

The JKLF Chairman saidthat the objective of the 10-dayCourt Arrest Movement was to

JKLF Court ArrestMovement from Friday

Troops’ firing on civilians in IHK widely denouncedseek cancellation of life-sen-tences awarded to the Kashmirisand press for release of all po-litical prisoners detained in dif-ferent jails.

Senior APHC leader,Shabbir Ahmad Shah address-ing a pubic gathering at Hundiin Shopian said that India wouldnot be able to suppress theKashmiris’ just struggle forright to self-determination.

Senior APHC leader, BilalGhani Lone in a statement inSrinagar expressed serious con-cern over the indiscriminate fir-

ing by the men in uniform inPulwama and demanded imme-diate release of the detainedyouth.

Jamaat-e-Islami occupiedKashmir and Hurriyet leadersincluding Zafar Akbar Butt,Yasmeen Raja and FaridaBehenji in their separate state-ments urged the world commu-nity to take notice of the con-tinued Indian brutalities in theoccupied territory.

Speakers at a seminarorganised by members of Kash-mir civil society in Srinagar said

that Indian army under the dra-conian Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act had committed warcrimes like rape, molestationand damage to property in theterritory.

An Indian Special PoliceOfficer has committed sui-cide by shooting himself withhis service rifle at his campin Doda. This has raised thenumber of such deaths amongIndian troops and police per-sonnel in the occupied terri-tory to 255 since January2007.—KMS

ESRM protestsrising crimes

against womenJAMMU—Criticizing the Stateand Center government for itsfailure to curb crimes against thewomen, Ek Sath Rang Mandal(ESRM) has staged a protestdemonstration outside the PressClub Jammu, demanding strin-gent laws to stop the molesta-tion cases in the Jammu region.

The activists of ESRM led byHitanshu Jinsi were raising theslogans against the governmentwho they said has failed to curbthe growing incidents of moles-tations cases in the Jammu region.Speaking on the occasion,Hitanshu Jinsi expressed condo-lence on the death of victim whowas brutally raped by six personsat New Delhi. He demanded thatsix accused should be hanged asearlier as possible to deter othersto make such attempts.

He demanded that the gov-ernment should take concretemeasures to curb the rise in crimeagainst the women folk. Otherswho participated in protest in-cluded Ravi Dhar, AnuroopPathania, Nisha Suri, Qurat-ui-Ain, Nazuk Nisha Jotsh andKrishma Dalotra.—NNI

SRINAGAR—While reiteratingits demand for fair investigationinto the recent Pulwama firingincident through a neutralagency, the Hurriyat Confer-ence (G) has said that the ‘an-nouncement of inquiry by OmerAbdullah administration is onlymeant to pacify the furiouspeople’.

The conglomerate in a state-ment has said that in severalsuch incidents not single per-sonnel involved was registeredor strict legal action taken orinitiated against the perpetra-tors.

Hailing the people for ob-serving complete shutdown,Hurriyat (G) Spokesman AyazAkbar said that people in stateare worst victims of atrocitiesunleashed by ‘Indian forces’ andwe have no option, except to callfor strike to register our protest.

People have lost faith ininquiries: Hurriyat (G)

In a press release, he said,“Since last two decades hun-dreds such events were re-peated, when forces went ber-serk and massacred and firedupon thousands of innocentpeople and after every protest,administration issued orders forthe investigations. But with ev-ery passing day new tragediestake place and consequently theold cases get effaced from thememories. Files are closed andwith the result the people havelost their faith in all these com-missions”

He said that Pulwama liketragedies will occur as long asthe forces are there and addedtill then the lives and dignity ofthe people will remain at stake.“Forces treat the Kashmiris astheir slaves and they take it forgranted to adopt the despoticmeasures against the people”,

he added.Hailing the people for en-

dorsing the protest call, thespokesman said that observationof protests is not a past time jobnor is it a competition to scorepoints. “But we are left with nooption other than to call peopleto mark their protest to conveythe message to world”

“In democratic societiespeople protest on streets but inour state since 2010 restrictionsare imposed. Instead of all theserestrictions when people comeout to mark their protest thenPulwama like situation arises,tragedies take place and peopleface indiscriminate firing. It isthat Hurriyat conference hasopted for peaceful protests andcalls for shut down, otherwisethere are other options andchoices in civilized societies”,Ayaz Akbar added.—NNI

SRINAGAR—At least 119 casesof suicide were reported in theheld Valley of Kashmir in thepast year, with experts attribut-ing the high incidence to ten-sion-ridden life and mentalstress.

vailable date shows a dra-matic spike in the month of Junethis year with 20 reported cases,while January recorded the low-est over the 12-month periodwith a lone suicide.

In most of the recordedcases, the individual opting toput an end to life was a woman.Noted psychiatrist Dr.Hameedullah Shah said thathigh suicide rate in Kashmircould be traced to situationswhich an individual is unable tocope with.

“Life is dear to everyone,and nobody would like to putan end to it,” Dr. Shah told the

119 suicides in 2012: People turninginsular, society in false competition

KNS. “But situations arisewhen an individual feels totallyhelpless before the odds.”

Mental strain and thevalley’s turmoil were anothercause of suicide, according tothe psychiatrist. “A blind racefor advancement, and being cutoff from society, are anotherreason,” he said.

“In the past, if anyone hada personal of a domestic prob-lem, he or she would invariablyopen up to friends, relativesneighbours, and discuss it,” hesaid. And often, such interac-tions would throw up solu-tions,” he said.

“People would feel re-lieved by talking about theirproblems, and tensions woulddissolve,” he said. “But nowthere are growing isolationistand individualistic tendencies.People retreat into a shell, be-

come introverts, are consumedby their problems and take theextreme step out of dejectionand desperation,” he said.

“Women are particularlyvulnerable because of their sen-sitive and emotional nature,” hesaid. ‘They feel they are not upto the challenges posed by theircircumstances.”

Prominent poet and socialcommentator Zareef AhmadZareef adds another dimension,saying that decline in moralstandards, and social competi-tion, too are contributory fac-tors.

“Waywardness and lack ofparental control over childrentoo are factors,” he says. “Ma-terialistic pursuits gainingground in the valley over thepast 30 years is a major causefor people to embrace death,”he says.—NNI

SRINAGAR—The PeoplesDemocratic Party while con-demning the continuous curfewin Pulwama town and its adjoin-ing villages has criticized the NC-led Government for ‘unleashingreign of terror’ on the people ofJ&K. In a joint statement the partychief spokesperson NaeemAkhtar, senior leader Syed AltafBukhari, MLA PulwamaMohammad Khalil Bandh andMLA Rajpora Syed BashirAhmad have demanded immedi-ate release of the innocent youthwho have been arrested in the lastfour days. They have also calledfor an end to “persecution ofyouth of the area on flimsy

PDP criticizes NC-led govt for unleashingreign of terror on Kashmiri peopleSays govt’s repression radicalizing Kashmiri youth

charges and spoiling their careersand lives”.

The leaders said the presentgovernment instead of resolvingissues facing the youth are tar-geted them viciously and thou-sands of them were framed infalse cases. They said that in themodern age of free media youngpeople of the state naturally com-pared their inability to voice theirsentiments with what was hap-pening in other parts of the coun-try. They said Omar Abdullah hadonly recently advised central gov-ernment on how to relate withyouth and ‘learn from him’ butfor the last four days his adminis-tration has virtually laid a siege

in and around Pulwama while thechief minister himself is vacation-ing abroad. “ It is a travesty ofjustice that while more than adozen persons were injured in fir-ing officially attributed to ‘block-ing traffic’ no action is contem-plated against the perpetrators butyouth are arrested for having pro-tested against it”, they added.

The PDP leaders said the nar-row minded repression by thegovernment was unfortunatelyradicalising the youth once more,‘the evidence of which was pro-vided recently in the Sopore en-counter where one of the slainmilitants had been victimised post2010 agitation.—NNI

SRINAGAR—Despite tax ex-emption to Line of Control trad-ers, the absence of banking fa-cilities, infrastructure problemsand barter system of trade con-tinues to trouble the traders.

The cross LoC trade startedbetween Srinagar andMuzaffarabad in 2008 as a ma-jor milestone to benefit the trad-ers of divided parts of the state.But due to absence of banking,communication and other facili-ties, the trade has not achievedthe desired target and has gotrestricted to a symbolic trade.

The traders told KashmirTimes that despite severalpromises by both state and cen-tral government that requiredfacilities would be made avail-able for smooth conduct of thetrade, the important facility likebanking and communication arestill missing on the trade.

“There is no guarantee of

4 years on, cross LoC trade in doldrumsrecovery of money if you do notknow your trading partneracross the LoC, still we are do-ing business for keep alive theconfidence building measure,”the traders said.

They said the barter systemof trade was still in force as theauthorities are concerned thatthe Hawala money would beexchanged from the route. Un-der such conditions, it becomesdifficult for traders from boththe sides to judge the exactvalue of the goods exchanged.

“This is a kind of blind traderan under such a circumstancesmost of the products remain un-der value due to lack of knowl-edge of the markets,” said a crossLoC trader, Mohammad Sultan.

The traders maintained thatthere is nothing left in this trade.“If we stop, both countries willblame us for not co-operating.But when we demand facilities,

they are showing cold re-sponse,” Sultan said.

The cross LoC trade wasseveral times stopped by trad-ers in protest against the attitudeof the both the sides allegingthat both the governments arenot serious enough in providingthe adequate facilities and theyare facing losses with the trade.

“The exemption of Vat wasthe lone demand fulfilled by thestate government. The othergenuine demands like storagefacilities are not still availableat Salamabad and even on roughweather conditions the goodsare lying open in the fields dueto absence of storage facilities,”he said.

The Cross LoC trade hasbeen restricted to only 21items and traders from boththe sides cannot export theproducts prepared or producedin other states.—NNI

Kashmiri martyrs’sacrifices will notgo waste: ShabbirSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, senior leader of the AllParties Hurriyet Conference(APHC), Shabbir Ahmad Shahhas said that the sacrifices ren-dered by the Kashmiri martyrshave internationalised the Kash-mir dispute.

Shabbir Ahmad Shah ad-dressing a public gathering atPetipora in Pulwama, said thatthe mission of Kashmiri martyrswould be taken to its logicalconclusion at all costs. He saidthat the firing on civilian pro-testors in the area had exposedthe hollow claim of New Delhito be the biggest democracy ofthe world, as the authoritieswere using brute force on thepeaceful protest demonstrationsin the territory.

Shabbir Ahmad Shah paidglowing tributes to ShaheedImtiyaz Ahmad and expressedsympathy with the bereavedfamily. “In Delhi, the protest-ors are being confronted withthe water cannons but in thevalley the people protestingthe injustices being meted tothem are showered with bul-lets by the armed forces,” hedeplored.

The senior APHC leadersaid that the freedom strugglewas not an issue of any singleperson but of the nation as awhole. “When we talk of thepeaceful settlement of Kashmirdispute, it is the solution as perthe aspirations of the Kashmiripeople” he added.—KMS

‘HR violationsthe rise’

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kash-mir, the All Parties Hurriyet Con-ference leaders, Zafar Akbar Buttand Yasmeen Raja have stronglycondemned the firing on thepeaceful civilians in Pulwama byIndian troops.Zafar Akbar Buttand Yasmeen Raja in their sepa-rate statements issued in Srinagarsaid that the graph of humanrights violations in the territorywas on the rise. They said thatNew Delhi had given a free handto its troops in occupied Kash-mir under the draconian, ArmedForces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) to kill and harass in-nocent Kashmiris.

The APHC leaders urgedIndia to withdraw its troops andrepeal the black laws from theterritory as it could not preventthe people of Kashmir fromtheir just struggle for securingright to self-determinationthrough use of brute force.

They said that New Delhishould create conducive atmo-sphere for peaceful resolutionof Kashmir dispute. ZafarAkbar Butt and Yasmeen Rajaappealed to the internationalhuman rights organisations toput pressure on India to stopmassive rights violations in theoccupied territory by the Indiantroops.

Meanwhile, the All PartiesHurriyet Conference (APHC)has expressed serious concernover the firing incident in whichseveral innocent Kashmiriswere injured.

The party spokesman in astatement issued in Srinagardescribed it frustration of theoccupation authorities and saidthat the people of Kashmircould not be prevented fromtheir just struggle for right toself-determination.—KMS

Kashmiris tocontinue struggle

till success: BehenjiSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the Chairperson ofJammu and Kashmir MassMovement (JKMM), FaridaBehenji has said that the peopleof Kashmir will continue theirjust struggle of securing right toself-determination till completesuccess.Farida Behenji in astatement issued in Srinagarsaid that the continued struggleof Kashmiris had projected theIndian atrocities at internationallevel and now the world com-munity had realised the Kash-mir dispute and Indian state ter-rorism in the occupied territory.

She said that the people ofKashmir were committed withthe Kashmir cause and the daywas not far away when theywould get rid of Indian bond-age. She urged India to realiseground reality and resolve theKashmir dispute in accordancewith the aspirations of Kashmiripeople.

Farida Behenji made it clearthat peace in the world, in gen-eral, and South Asian region, inparticular, was impossible with-out the peaceful settlement ofKashmir dispute.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The civil societyin occupied Kashmir has de-manded justice for the victimsof rape perpetrated by Indiantroops in the territory.Speakershailing from different walks oflife while addressing a seminarin Srinagar expressed concernover the New Delhi’s discrimi-natory attitude towards the rapevictims of Kashmir includingthose of Kunan Poshpora.

The participants of the semi-nar comprising journalists, law-yers and students from differentuniversities demanded formationof village level committees tokeep a watch on any sort of suchviolence. Speaking at the semi-

Speakers demand justicefor IHK rape victims

nar noted social activist Profes-sor Hameeda Nayeem said thatunder the draconian AFSPA thearmy had committed war crimeslike rapes, molestation and dam-aged property. She said that theinfamous Delhi rape incidentwas perpetrated by some civil-ians but in Kashmir the perpe-trators had been the Indiantroops. “The state used rape as aweapon to suppress our de-mand,” she deplored.

Noted Journalist Zaheer-Ud-Din in his speech said thatthe journalist community wasworking in a situation wherethey were threatened, abductedand even killed.—KMS

The trick is in whatone emphasizes. We

either make ourselvesmiserable, or wemake ourselves

strong. The amount ofwork is the same—Carlos Castaneda

FBR’s softwareto facilitatetaxpayers

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—FBR is captur-ing transactions by regis-tered persons to identifywhere a registered person isdenied benefit admissibleunder the Sales Tax Act. Ac-cordingly, FBR has devel-oped Computerized Risk-based Evaluation of SalesTax (CREST) software thatchecks information inmonthly returns, import / ex-port data and cross matchesfor every registered person.

Exceptions that emergewill be conveyed electroni-cally to registered taxpayerswho in turn can explain theposition to FBR by usingCREST and attaching theirsupporting documents.

PR restoresvarious trains

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Rail-ways has restored variousclosed trains on main andbranches lines after receivingengines from various divi-sions. An official of PakistanRailways while talking toAPP here on Wednesdaysaid that freight system hasbeen put back on the trackdue to availability of en-gines.

He further said that PRhas earned Rs1 billion profitduring 2012 through runningof Shalimar, Business Ex-presses under public privatepartnership. “We are alsoplanning to run more trainswith the help of private sec-tor to bring out organizationform the financial crisis” hesaid.

As the federal govern-ment has released Rs.6 bil-lion, the purchase of spareparts for repair of engineshas also been initiated.

“This would help bringaround 100 engines back ontrack within next fewmonths,” says the report.All out efforts are beingmade to improve perfor-mance and efficiency of Pa-kistan Railways (PR) and tomake it a profit-earning or-ganization.

The out-of-order loco-motives are being locally re-paired and overhauled atCentral Diesel Locomotive(CDL) workshop, the reportsaid.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The Trade andIndustry, already sufferingsfrom hike in cost of inputshas rejected what theycalled the massive increasein gas prices terming it an-other blow to the industryand the economy. S MMuneer, prominent busi-ness leader, ChairmanMohammad Zubair Chhaya,President All Karachi Indus-trial Alliance, Mian ZahidHussain and Vice ChairmenNajmul Arfeen have con-demned the frequent raises

in utility charges particularlygas prices by the present re-gime.

On the decision taken byOil and Gas Regulatory Au-thority (OGRA) to increasegas prices by 6.1 per cent permm BTU for all consumer cat-egories as highly cruel anddetrimental to the local andexport-oriented industry. “Itseems that government willnot leave any opportunity tohit the industry hard and tocreate worst ever joblessnessin the country through itsanti-industry and anti-economy decisions”, Zubair

Chhaya said adding that in-dustry is suffering hardesttime since the inception ofPakistan due to repeatedblows of frequent increasesin utility prices and cost ofdoing business has crossedall proportions besidesworst ever law and ordersituation prevailing in theindustrial hub of the coun-try. The industry leadershave called upon the gov-ernment to show some re-silience and refrain fromover-burdening the indus-try and spoil the nationaleconomy.

Trade, industry rejectincrease in gas prices

TARIQ KHATTAK

ISLAMABAD—The Competi-tion Commission of Pakistan(CCP) has imposed a totalpenalty of Rs. 4.5 Million onfive local courier serviceproviders for violating sec-tion 10 of the CompetitionAct, 2010 that deals withdeceptive marketing prac-tices.

A CCP Bench compris-ing of Chairperson Ms.Rahat Kaunain Hassan andMembers Mr. Mueen Batlay

and Dr. Shehzad Ansar,passed an order in a com-plaint filed by DHL Pakistan(Pvt.) Limited and after hear-ing the parties, imposed thefollowing penalties on fivelocal courier service provid-ers: Rs. 5,00,000/- on Mr.Uzair; Rs. 1,000,000/- on Mr.Asif Iqbal; Rs. 1,000,000/- onMr. Malik M. Pervaiz; Rs.1,000,000/- on Mr. NaumanAnwer Butt; and Rs.1,000,000/- on Raja AsirMunir. Two respondents, Mr.Rehan and ICS Courier, were

forthcoming and discontin-ued using the DHL trademarkduring the proceedings,therefore, the Commissionwhile taking a lenient viewdid not impose penalty onthem.

DHL Pakistan (Pvt.) Lim-ited had lodged a complaintwith CCP that seven courierproviders were using itstrademark without authoriza-tion, which is misleadingand false and in violation ofthe Section 10 of the Com-petition Act, 2010 (Competi-

tion Act). An enquiry con-ducted by CCP establishedthat the trademark of DHLwas fraudulently being usedby the accused courier ser-vice providers and recom-mended further actionagainst them. The CCPBench after hearing the par-ties at length and analyzingthe documents placed onthe record concluded thatthe alleged conduct of theRespondents was aimed atcapitalizing on the goodwillattached to DHL trademark.

The CCP bench ob-served that part of anybusiness’s identity was thegoodwill it had establishedwith consumers, while partof a product’s identity wasthe reputation it had earnedfor quality and value. In alarger sense, trademarkspromoted initiative and en-terprise worldwide by re-warding the owners oftrademarks with recognitionand financial profit. Trade-mark protection also hin-dered the efforts of unfair

competitors, such as coun-terfeiters, to use similar dis-tinctive signs to market in-ferior or different productsor services. This enabledpeople with skill and enter-prise to produce and mar-ket goods and services infair conditions, thereby fa-cilitating international trade.

The CCP bench repri-manded the respondents toensure responsible behav-ior in future with respect tothe marketing of their busi-ness and directed them to

discontinue the use oftrademark of DHL with im-mediate effect. They werefurther directed to file thecommitments with theRegistrar of the Commis-sion reporting compliancewith the Order within 15days, fail ing which theyshall be made further li-able under Section 38 ofthe Competi t ion Act topay an additional penaltyamounting to Rs. 500,000/- per day from the date ofsuch violation.

CCP imposed Rs.4.5m penalty on 5 local courier service providers

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water and Power Ahmad Mukhtar unveiling the plaque to launch commemora-tive stamp on the inauguration of commercial operation of the 1st Wind Farm Power Project in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance Senator Saleem H. Mandviwala chairing ameeting of Electrical Industry Manufacture Association.

KARACHI: Stock brokers are keenly looking at index.

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a n iStock has witnessed an in-crease of 49 percent duringperiod of 2012 against 2011on the back of reforms intro-duced by governmentcoupled with apex regularityauthority Security ExchangeCommission of Pakistan(SECP). Research Analyst,Aba Ali Habib Securities(Pvt) Ltd, Zaheer Ahmed toldAPP that the Karachi StockExchange (KSE) had pro-vided the return of 49 percent to the investors in 2012while registering an increaseof KSE Index with 5458 pointsfrom 11,447 to 16,905.

The major boost to Paki-stan equities was providedby government reforms in-cluding Amnesty schemeand resolution of capital gain

tax related issues, saidAhmed.

Besides, the interest ratesalso witnessed a decline andall this improved the foreignportfolio inflows of $ 125 mil-lion in 2012, he added. Thedecline in rates of interest hascreated big avenues in theequities markets and ulti-mately it improved the in-vestments in the stock mar-kets.

Oil sector has registeredthe growth of 35 to 40 percent in 2012 on the back ofnew discoveries and en-hancement in the produc-tion. In addition, the bankingsector has also witnessed anincrease of 22 per cent dur-ing the period of 2012, headded.

Another Stock Analyst,

Ibrahim said that the flow offunds in the country also hadfuelled the stock boom andthe liquidity had also wit-nessed an improvement withflow of $ 1.8 billion from USin 2012.

The figures of exportshas shown an increaseduring the period of 2012and other economic indica-tors also performed well, hesaid.

The double digits divi-dend growth and low valua-tion of Pakistani stock are thefuel that fired the stock boom.The amnesty introduced bythe government has helpedto boost positive sentimentsin the local stock markets andit brought the huge invest-ment from local and abroadas well.—APP

Stock grows by 49pc in 2012

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Inter-national Airlines (PIA) wouldstart replacing some of its fleetand revamp the present planesas well as evaluate the exist-ing routes and would opennew destinations by expand-ing its network. This wasstated by Lt.Gen. (R) Asif YasinMalik, Chairman, Pakistan In-ternational Airlines (PIA) whileaddressing the business com-munity at Islamabad Chamberof Commerce and Industry(ICCI). Senator Mohsin Gilani,General(R) Ali Abbas,Mr.Faisal Mushtaq and AghaAli Akhtar Pathan were alsopresent on the occasion.

He said that 54% of PIA’srevenue was spent on fuel con-sumption while 12%-14% wasthe establishment cost, how-ever, PIA is operating profitsince October 2012 as well asits share in stock exchangemarket has increased by 26%due to efficient monitoringsystem. He said that 12 planeare been taken on lease be-cause of higher average fleetof existing planes.

Lt. Gen. (Retd) Asif YasinMalik further informed that un-der the PIA Revival Plan eachoperational area and depart-ment is under study and soonmajor decisions would be inplace to obtain greater poten-tial needed for the turnaround

of the airline. Wrong aircraftfor the wrong destination wasthe main reason of incurringlosses but PIA would have anew look by April-2015, Chair-man added.

Speaking on the occasion,Mr.Zafar Bakhtawari, PresidentICCI said Pakistan InternationalAirlines should reduce its fuelcost through fuel efficiencies,capacity/route rationalizationand deployment of suitableaircrafts for the routes and pas-senger load, proper mainte-nance. He said that most of theissues of our economy wouldbe solved if department of PIAwould start working efficientlyas PIA losses had increased toRs.150 billion.

PIA to have new look by2015: Asif Yasin

FPCCI rejects raisein gas tariffMuzaffar AliLAHORE—Federation ofPakistan Chambers ofCommerce and Industry(FPCCI) has rejected therecent 6.14 percent increasein gas tariff by OGRA andsaid that price hike of gasshows the inability of theGovernment. Stoppage ofgas is on peak for bothdomestic and industrialsectors but Government isregularly increasing theprices of gas. This policy isunable to be compre-hended. This was said injoint press statement bySheikh Abdul WaheedSandal, Regional ChairmanFPCCI and Mr. AzharMajeed Shaikh, VicePresident FPCCI here atRegional Office Lahore.They said people arealready suffering withmultifarious problemsespecially price hike, rapidincrease in the tariff of gasand electricity. The nationas well as businesscommunity is alreadyconfronting with multipleproblems due to nonavailability of gas andelectricity.

People asked to adoptsaving habitMULTAN—Bankers urgedpeople to adopt savingmoney as an irrevocablepart of their life tostrengthen the nationaleconomy and process ofinfrastructure uplift in thecountry. These views wereexpressed by RegionalDirector National SavingsMultan Saeed Rana, ChiefManager State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) MultanJaved Iqbal Marth andDirector Wasa NaseemChandio while addressinga ceremony for the 53rddraw of Rs. 15000 prizebonds at SBP auditoriumhere on Wednesday. SaeedRana said the centralDirectorate of NationalSavings (CDNS) hadintroduced many profitableschemes to promotesavings which wereattracting people, however,a volume of savings wasstill far lower than othernations. He added thatsavings collected throughCDNS schemes play animportant role in thenational economy andyields better profit returnsto people on their secureinvestments.—APP

New laws on spuriouspesticides soonLAHORE—New laws onspurious pesticides willsoon be framed to controlmanufacturing and sale ofadulterated pesticides,fertilizers and seeds in theprovince. This was statedby Provincial Minister forAgriculture Malik AhmedAli Aulakh while address-ing a meeting here onWednesday. He said thatconsultation with all stake-holders was in progressand they would be taken onboard to frame effectivelaws in this regard withoutany delay. He said thatrecommendations havebeen sought from stake-holders, to amend Pesti-cides Ordinance, FertilizerControl Order and Seed Actand three committees havebeen formed in this regardwhich would submit theirfinal recommendationswithin seven days. Thecommittees will review theexisting laws and expeditethe legislative process, in asituation where agriculturehas become a provincialsubject after 18th amend-ment, he said. —APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for Water and Power, Ch.Ahmed Mukhtar has said that45 Wind Power Projects ofaround 3200 MW capacityare under process. Amongthem 106 MW are ready forcommercial operation, whileanother 150 MW windprojects are under construc-tion. The next year will see at-least ten more projects withan investment of over 2 Bil-lion US Dollars, he added.

The Minister was ad-dressing as Chief Guest in thelaunching ceremony of com-memorative Postal stamp oninauguration of Pakistan’sfirst 50 MW wind energyproject by FFC Energy heretoday.

He said that commence-ment of commercial operationof FFC Wind Farm is the be-ginning of exploiting the wind

potential of renowned Gharo-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor--an area that alone offerspower generation potential of50,000MW. I feel exalted thatmany more wind powerprojects are in pipeline andwould commence their com-mercial operations one afteranother in the coming months.

Today, we are celebratinglaunch of the First Wind Farmin Pakistan, together with ourpartners in the achievement. Iam glad that the Pakistan Postis also with us in celebratinga land mark in our energy sec-tor. In fact, it is collectiveachievement of all public sec-tor organizations, includingthe Pakistan Post. Release ofa Commemorative Stamp, in-deed shows their commitmentin encouraging all those whoserve Pakistan with courageand dedication. All we knowthat Pakistan is an energy de-ficient country. With contin-

ued population growth andgrowing economy our energydemand remained on in-crease. The present govern-ment added more generationin the National Grid by com-pleting Thermal and small hy-dro plant. There is a gap be-tween demand and supply.We have made a comprehen-sive plan to change our en-ergy mix to generate cheaperelectricity by using indig-enous resources like wind,coal and hydel. I am glad thatwe all acted in right direction,on a right moment, with strongwill to succeed. The peopleof Pakistan were searching foralternatives. We knew busi-ness as usual would not suf-fice. We had to find and de-velop alternative resources.All knew that Pakistan hastremendous resources ofWind, Solar and Hydro, butno one had attempted to har-vest them until then.

Wind projects of 3200 MWunder process: Mukhtar

AMANULLAHKHAN

KARACHI —The volume andvalue of e-banking transactionsdepicted a growth of 15 percentto 74.87 million and by 5 per-cent to Rs. 6.5 trillion respec-tively during the first quarter offinancial year 2012-13 (FY13)compared with the same quar-ter of previous fiscal year(FY12) as the infrastructure ofPayment Systems maintained arising trend in the country.

According to State Bank’sPayment Systems Review re-leased today, 242 more Auto-mated Teller Machines (ATMs)were installed by banks bring-ing the total number of ATMs

in the country to 5,987. ATMtransactions have a major shareof 58.6 percent with an averagevalue of Rs. 9,810 per transac-tion. The overall value and vol-ume of ATM transactions in-creased by 22 percent and 13percent respectively. The shareof ATMs in the total e-bankingtransactions in value was 6.7percent.

According to the Review,121 more bank branches wereadded to the network of Real-Time Online Branches(RTOBs). Now 9,412 branches,out of 10,111 bank’s branches,offer RTOB services across thecountry. The volume and valueof RTOB transactions also in-

creased by 21 percent and 4percent respectively as com-pared to transactions in the firstquarter of the previous fiscalyear. The number of plasticcards in the country also in-creased by 9.55 percent in firstquarter of FY13 compared to thepreceding quarter. About 19.67million plastic cards were issuedby the end of first quarter ofFY13 in the country.

The value and volume oftransactions through Point ofSale (POS) terminals stood atRs. 20.8 billion and 4.3 millionshowing a growth of 15 per-cent and 5 percent respectivelyas compared to the first quarterof the previous fiscal year.

e-banking features onfinancial landscape

KARACHI: Federal Secretary G.M. Rind being briefed by the CEO NIP Mohsin Syed on the approvals of building planfor industries to be established at Korangi.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—IUCN Pakistanorganised a provincial consul-tative Workshop for Sindh on‘Pakistan Water Programme’ inKarachi in collaboration withOxfam-Novib to discuss prior-ity issues that Sindh is facingwith respect to water resourcesand to devise a collaborativeWater Programme to addressthem. The event was attendedby senior officials from variousdepartments, governmentagencies, representatives fromthe academia, civil societyorganisations and experts onwater. The workshop was fa-

cilitated by Dr. Shahid Ahmad,an eminent expert in drainage,soil and water resources.

Ahmad was of the viewthat there are many NGOs work-ing in the water sector, butthere is no specific forum forall the stakeholders to workcollectively. He said that 60%of the diseases in Pakistan arewater borne. He further saidthat until and unless Mastersand PhD courses are intro-duced in our universities, de-mand for data on water can-not be generated. He furtheradded that National waterpolicy is still in the approvalprocess since the last 6 years.

Participants of the work-shop expressed that trustbuilding is the key to resolv-ing issues as lack of trust inPakistan will further complicatewater situation in the comingyears. They also felt that po-litical will is needed to resolvethe water issue. Mr. JavedJabbar, former IUCN globalVice President and RegionalCouncillor of IUCN said thatPakistan is the most urbanisedcountry in South Asia. The rateof urbanisation is greater thanIndia. He said that sacrednessof the nature has been erodedbecause of the industrial revo-lution.

Mutual trust crucial inresolving water woes

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI —MohammmadRashad Daureeawo , HighCommissioner of Mauritius toPakistan has disclosed thattalks are underway betweenAir Mauritius and PIA to es-tablish direct air-link betweentwo countries Speaking atKarachi Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (KCCI) headded that if basic visa re-quirements are completed,Mauritius High Commissionin Islamabad can issue visa inone day, he conversed

Mauritius, being a gate-way to Africa, has hugescope for Pakistani furniture,textiles, tiles and sanitaryware, carpets and mangoesand these marvellous oppor-tunities must be tapped. Heasserted upon the need tosign MoU between KCCI andMauritius Chamber of Com-

merce & Industry for en-hanced mutual cooperationto facilitate business commu-nities of two countries.

Mauritius wants to furtherstrengthen economic ties withPakistan through the expan-sion of already signed Prefer-ential Trade Agreement in vari-ous fields. Pakistan-Mauritiustrade and investment ties arepresently low and simply callfor aggressive measures. Hesaid that Pakistani goods arebest of the best in the worldand has the potential to winrespectable place in Mauritiusmarket. It is very encouragingthat Mauritius-Pakistan JointWorking Groups is now envis-aging negotiations for a FreeTrade Agreement that hope-fully would play very usefulrole.

Pakistan exports toMauritius comprise rice, cot-ton yarn, woven fabric, cot-

ton fabric, bakery items andmedicament mixtures whilePakistan imports fromMauritius sugar, food pro-cessing items, rubber andwood articles etc. He in-formed that Mauritius tops2011 World Bank Report Easeof Doing Business Rankingdue to soft and encouragingtax regime in the countrywhereby any foreign com-pany can get registration injust three days. He enlight-ened that legal framework forspeedy resolution of trade-related disputes arbitrationand mediation is very strongin Mauritius that is also a bigadvantage to the foreignbusinessmen. The HighCommissioner also under-scored the need for exchangeof business delegations tojack-up bilateral trade anddissemination of trade-re-lated information.

Direct airlink betweenPak, Mauritius soon

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan shouldhonour its commitment ingranting the MFN status toIndia, this was stated by S.M. Muneer, President Indo-Pak CCI and former PresidentFPCCI. He said that Pakistanannounced in October 2011that it will grant MFN statusto India from January 1, 2013and the delay in the matterwould jeopardize the processof liberalization of trade be-tween the two countries.

Muneer said that thetrade between Pakistan andIndia is about $2.6 billion in2011 while the informal orthird country trade betweenthe two countries is morethan $3 billion. According toan estimate, the impact oftrade liberalization would be

of about $6 billion of bilat-eral trade. India had grantedMFN status to Pakistan in1996. Granting the MFN sta-tus to India and dismantlingthe negative list are impor-tant for bilateral trade be-cause India in return willbring down its SAFTA sen-sitive list to 100 tariff lines atsix digit level by April 2013,he added. He stated that inthe ministerial and commercesecretary level talks of Indiaand Pakistan this year, it wasagreed that after approval bythe cabinet the negative listwould be removed and Paki-stan would transition fully tothe MFN status for India byend-December 2012. MFNstatus is a WTO obligationand Pakistan has to grant thestatus for enhancing thetrade. Development of Indo-

Pak relations were based onreciprocal basis with consid-eration and implementationfrom both ends.

He lauded the efforts ofFederal Minister MakhdoomAmin Fahim and Mr. MunirQureshi Secretary Commerceand appreciated their key rolein highlighting true perspec-tive of Indo-Pak relationswith its due importance be-fore their Indian counterpartand other leaders across theborder to bring normalcy inties.

Muneer said that i t istime for us to think of Indiaand i ts market potentialand the signif icance ofstepping up people-to-people and company-to-company interact ions forimproved industr ial t iesbetween the two countries.

Muneer calls for grantingMFN status to India

Yen on defensiveon US fiscal worry,

helps NikkeiTOKYO—Uncertainty overwhether U.S. lawmakers willstrike a deal by an end-of-year deadline to avert a se-vere fiscal retrenchment un-dermined the yen and bol-stered Japanese shares inlow volume, with many par-ticipants away on Christmasholiday. The dollar rose to a20-month high of 84.965 yenin Asia, as Japanese marketscaught up with global inves-tors who had reacted over-night to incoming JapanesePrime Minister Shinzo Abe’sweekend comments thatraised the pressure on theBank of Japan.

During a meeting withofficials from Japan’s majorbusiness lobby, Keidanren,Abe reiterated calls on theBOJ to conduct bold mon-etary easing to beat deflationby setting an inflation targetof 2 percent.

The head of Abe’s coali-tion partner said the coalitionparty and Abe had agreed toset a 2 percent inflation tar-get and compile a large stimu-lus budget to help theeconomy return to growthand overcome deflation.

The yen has come underpressure as a result of expec-tations that the BOJ will becompelled to adopt more dras-tic monetary stimulus mea-sures next year.—Newswire

OGDCLclarificationOBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Apropos to anews item published in a sec-tion of press on 31st Decem-ber, 2012 under caption“OGDCL facilitates two firmsin illegal sale of gas” Thenews is not correct andbased on misconception.The factual position is thatOGDCL enters into Sale Pur-chase Agreements (SPA’s)with the highest bidders un-der a very transparentmechanism. The bids are in-vited through press. The im-pression given in the newsitem that any political pres-sure was involved in theaward of the contact is com-pletely baseless.

The tender for the sale ofLow Pressure Gas was ad-vertised on August 7, 2011& auction was held on Au-gust 24, 2011. Total numbersof ten (10) bids were receivedwith M/s Mehar Gas Pvt. Ltd.as the highest, bidder. Ten-ders were opened in the pres-ence of bid opening commit-tee and bidders representa-tives. The contract wasawarded to the highest bid-der. This timely decision notonly avoided flaring of lowpressure gas but also gener-ated significant revenues forOGDCL. Accordingly sale/purchase agreement wassigned on January 10, 2012.

Likewise the tender forRajian Oil Field low pressuregas was press advertised onSeptember, 5, 2010 and bidswere opened on September20, 2010 in the presence ofbidder’s representatives. Thebids were evaluated on thebasis of approved criterion.Total of seven (07) biddersparticipated in the bid open-ing. The highest bid of M/sEGAS Pvt. Ltd was approvedby OGDCL, accordingly sale/purchase agreement wassigned on November 8, 2010.Low pressure gas supply toM/s EGAS was started onFebruary 1, 2011.

It is further clarified thatwhole of the process wasdone as per practice in vogueand in line with existing lowpressure gas policy guide-lines issued by Ministry ofPetroleum & Natural Re-sources.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—National Pro-ductivity Organization(NPO) signed MOU withMishal Pakistan, a countrypartner institute of the Cen-ter for Global Competitive-ness and Performance at theWorld Economic Forum.Mishal is working closelywith key institutions in Paki-stan on identifying the gapsand opportunities on improv-ing competitiveness issuesfor long term economicgrowth Pakistan.

Mishal and NPO will worktogether to develop initia-tives for improving Pakistanranking on the Global Com-petitiveness Index of theWorld Economic Forum. Itwas also agreed that NPO willassist Mishal to conduct theannual Executive Opinion

Survey of the World Eco-nomic Forum to measurePakistan’s ranking on WorldEconomic Forum’s variousindicator on competitive-ness. Both the organizationshave also agreed to jointlyexecute activities to developinitiatives for measuringPakistan’s competitivenessand improving its ranking;whereas, to create a hybridpool of resources for knowl-edge sharing.

While addressing the oc-casion, Khawaja MuhammadYousuf, Chief Executive Of-ficer of NPO, highlighted that“Pakistan rank 124 from a to-tal of 144 countries and thereis a need to synergizecountry’s resources bothtechnically and physically touplift our industry with spe-cial focus towards competi-tiveness and productivity”.

He hoped that NPO andMishal together will play aunique role through variousspecial initiatives includingresearch on productivity toimprove Pakistan’s ranking.He further said that, “NPOwill assist MISHAL Pakistanin developing the annualPakistan’s State of Competi-tiveness Report”.

Speaking on the occa-sion, chief executive officerof Mishal and Young GlobalLeader of the World Eco-nomic Forum, Amir Jahangirshared that Pakistan is fac-ing though competition bothin the region and globally,nations around the worldare improving their produc-tivity and competitivenesssystematical ly, Pakistanneeds to focus i ts ini t ia-t ives to improve i ts owncompetitiveness.

NPO, Mishal to strive for improvingPak global competitiveness ranking

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The recent dis-ruption in the telecommunica-tions services in Chitral is dueto heavy snowfall in the re-gion. This winter season hasseen an unusual severeweather effecting telecom ser-vices in Chitral. Pakistan Tele-communications CompanyLimited (PTCL) clarifies thatits phone service is workingsmoothly in Chitral howeverthe company regrets any in-convenience caused to itsDSL customers facing tempo-rary disruption in broadbandservices due to prevailing in-clement weather in the region.

The concerned area inChitral is covered in snowand extreme weather condi-tions are proving to be a hin-drance, however PTCL teams

are efficiently working to rec-tify the problem.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that in order to provideuninterrupted telecom ser-vices, the company is cur-rently deploying its OpticalFiber Network in Chitral tobring further convenience topeoples lives by enhancedbroadband presence. As theonly integrated telecommuni-cations services provider,PTCL stands firm in its com-mitment to provide qualityand uninterrupted telecomservices to its valued cus-tomers. The company hascontinuously invested intelecom infrastructure acrossthe country and is currentlyproviding seamless Broad-band connectivity in morethan 1200 cities and townsacross Pakistan.

Telecommunications disruptionin Chitral due to heavy snowfall

LAHORE: LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar addressing a meeting of All Punjab Cham-ber of Commerce Associations on energy crises in Punjab.

KARACHI: Masood Hashmi presenting a memento toShahid Javed Burki, Ex-Vice President of the World Bankat 13th MAP convention.

PQ shippingactivity

KARACHI—Brisk shippingactivity has been observedat the Port Qasim during last24 hours where five shipscarrying containers, chemicaland edible oil were allottedberth at Qasim InternationalContainers Terminal, LiquidCargo Terminal and EngroVopak Terminal during last 24hours.

Meanwhile six moreships scheduled to load/offload containers, cement,rice, canola seed and edibleoil also arrived at outer an-chorage of Port Qasim dur-ing last 24 hours.

Berth occupancy was75% at the Port on Wednes-day where total number ofeight ships namely MSCAsir, Sealand Michigan,Nedlloyed Mercator, MSCClementina, Marine King,Harsanadi, M.T Karachi andOriental Rose are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers, cement,chemical, furnace oil and ed-ible oil respectively duringlast 24 hours.

A cargo volume of 138178tonnes comprising 112058tonnes imports and 26120tonnes exports inclusive ofcontainerized cargo carried in3931 containers (Boxes) werehandled at the Port duringlast 24 hours.—APP

NFML increasestemporary fertilizer

storage networkSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—National Fer-tilizer Marketing Limited(NFML) has enhanced itstemporary storage networkand now increased it from 34to 45 stores. Of the total 45,the NFML has six bulk storeswhich are established to en-sure judicious and transpar-ent distribution of fertilizersin the country.

An official source onWednesday said for deliveryof imported urea to farmersat their doorsteps, there wereabout 900 dealers in the coun-try in 2010 whereas, atpresent there are more than2200 dealers working for thepurpose.

He said presently, NFMLhas 0.421 million metric tonsurea in the stock, which isquite sufficient for Rabi 2012-2013 crop cultivation. Theofficial said to address theconcerns of dealers and farm-ers in the distribution of ureain a transparent manner,NFML is also managing “OneWindow Operation” and a“Complaint Cell” throughdedicated phone numbers,post box and electronic mail.

Kinnow faces hurdlesbefore reaching

int’l marketsLAHORE—The governmenthas been appealed to reviewthe decision regarding Gen-eral Rate Increase (GRI) forthe shipping lines as this canaffect the outgoing kinnowexport.

“The government is be-ing appealed to cancel thedecision about GRI as ourkinnow is the only productin Pakistani fruits which cur-rently earns between $90 to100 million per year”,saidbusinessman Ahmad Jawadwhile talking to APP here onWednesday.

He said that kinnow ex-port, from the outset of sea-son, is facing difficulties.“With the addition of GRI thecost would on each shipmentwould increase by aboutPKR 150,000.

Resultantly,kinnow ex-port price will not be competi-tive with other countries or-anges”, he expressed. He re-gretted that unexpectedstrike by goods transportersacross the country a few daysback disturbed plans and ex-port process.As a result theexport target for the citrusfruit fell by 10 percent fromthe set target of 200,000tonnes,he explained.

“Already kinnow pro-cessing factories and or-chards in Sargodha districtare overfilled with citrus fruitthus creating major problemfor the owners keen for pre-serving them”,he said. Ob-jections still exist over selec-tion of private lab in Lahoreby a Russian delegation lastyear, which may add extracost of $500 on each ship-ment in the shape of healthcertificate. Pakistan’s totalkinnow export to Russiastands in the range of $40million to $50 millionannually,it was learnt.—APP

Online registrationopens for ADB’s

46th Annual MeetingISLAMABAD—The Asian De-velopment Bank (ADB) hasopened online media regis-tration for the 46th AnnualMeeting of ADB’s Board ofGovernors which would beheld at the India Expo MartLimited in Greater Noida,about 50 km outside Delhi,India from May 2-5, 2013.According to ADB pressstatement received here,online media registration willremain open till April 20, 2013.

The theme of the 2013Annual Meeting is develop-ment through empowerment.Seminars will discuss ideasfor financing Asia’s cities;innovations in generating“good” jobs; disaster riskreduction; promoting publicservices; emphasizing therole of science, technologyand innovation in Asia’sgrowth; financing infrastruc-ture; and building greatersouth-south cooperation.

About 4,000 participantsincluding finance ministers,central bank governors, se-nior government officials,and representatives from theprivate sector, academia, me-dia, and civil society are ex-pected to attend. Accreditedmedia will have access to allmajor Annual Meetingevents, including seminars.Accreditation is extendedsolely for covering the An-nual Meeting.

ADB’s Annual Meetingsallow Governors from ADBmember countries to provideguidance on ADB administra-tive, financial, and operationaldirections. The meeting alsoprovides opportunities formember governments to inter-act with ADB staff, nongov-ernment organizations, media,and representatives of ob-server countries, internationalorganizations, academe, andthe private sector.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The generalManager Small and MediumEnterprises DevelopmentAuthority (SMEDA) Dr.Nasir Khan Ghauri said onWednesday that with thehelp of governmental com-mitment and donors efforts,SMEDA has accomplishedfruitful efforts in upliftingwomen socio-economic sta-tus.

Talking to reporter Dr.Nasir Khan Ghauri saidSMEDA has achieved itsgoals regarding women eco-nomic development in Paki-stan who had been quite ig-nored over the years.

Ghauri appreciated thatwith the help of FederalGovernment committment,direct support was beingprovided as rehabilitationcomponent to the affected

SMEs in the form of match-ing grants to the eligibleenterprises to be used asworking capital for recon-struction of basic infra-structure and acquiring, re-pairing machinery andequipment.

He further said thatthere was a need for holis-tic program for enterpriseand leadership develop-ment of women in Pakistanthrough such networkingwhich has heen initiatedtoday to enhance their po-tential and facilitate in theirendeavours.

“ On adhoc basis, somecommon faci lity centers andvocational/technical train-ing institutes to enhance fe-male participation rate havebeen established which willprovide traditional skillssuch as micro livestock”Ghauri added.

Govt helps uplift womensocio-economic status

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamberof Commerce and Industry(PAJCCI) Wednesday vowedto raise the bilateral tradebetween the two neighboringcountries to $10 billion, pro-vided a conducive atmo-sphere was created for busi-ness communities to tap theactual trade potential. “Dur-ing the last four years, thetrade between Pakistan andAfghanistan has increasedfrom $1.5 billion to $2.5 bil-lion, while the potential ismore than $10 billion,” said

the top PAJCCI leaders at theEconomic Cooperation Con-ference here.

PAJCCI President andChairman Sindh Board of In-vestment Muhammad ZubairMotiwala said that given achance, the traders have thepotential to bring peace andprosperity in the region.

“Trade and politicsshould be segregated asthese cannot go together,”he said and added that tradecould help lead the two coun-tries towards progress.

He urged the Afghan in-vestors to invest in variouseconomic sectors of Paki-

stan with special focus onenergy sector as the coun-try was facing problems de-spite having tremendouspotential for hydel, windand coal power generation.He said that Afghanistanwas the third largest exportdestination of Pakistaniproducts, but there was aneed to further promotethem.

Motiwala said that Tur-key had also shown interestto engage itself with thePAJCCI as a trilateral ar-rangement while Tajikistanwas also interested in a simi-lar arrangement.

PAJCCI vows to raisePak-Afghan trade to $10b

SamsungsmartphoneOBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Samsung Elec-tronics Ltd. the global leader intelecommunications and digitaltechnology has now launcheda new smartphone packed withpremium music, games andmultimedia features. TheSamsung Galaxy Music Duosis designed to deliver premiumsound quality and musical out-put, along with great connec-tivity in its stylish design whichis available in three vibrant col-ors, Splash Blue, Ceramic Whiteand Yellow.

The phone features pow-erful dual front speakers pro-viding loud & clear sound. Thedevice also boosts sophisti-cated musical features like theSRS and Surround-Sound withSoundAlive2 enhancements.

Foreign agendas fuel Iraq protests: MalikiBAGHDAD—In a televised interview late,Maliki said there were foreign agendas be-hind the protests, which he described as “un-constitutional”. Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has warned he will not tolerate Sunnianti-government rallies indefinitely, but madea concession to their demands by promisingto free some women prisoners. Thousands ofSunnis have been taking to the streets of Iraqfor more than a week in protest against Maliki,whom they accuse of discriminating against

their sect and being under the sway of their non-Arab Shi’iteneighbour Iran. The incident has once more threatened to plunge adelicate power-sharing deal into turmoil, just as President JalalTalabani, a moderating influence, is in Germany for medical careafter suffering a stroke. The cradle of the protests is Anbar prov-ince, a Sunni stronghold in western Iraq, where demonstrators areblocking a key highway to Jordan and Syria. In a televised inter-view late on Monday, Maliki said there were foreign agendas be-hind the protests, which he described as “unconstitutional”. “I sayto those who follow these agendas: Don’t think it’s difficult for thegovernment to take measures against you or to re-open the roadand put an end to this matter,” Maliki said. “We have been verypatient with you, but don’t expect this issue to be open-ended.”The protesters are demanding an end to what they see as themarginalisation of the Sunni minority, who dominated Iraq untilthe U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled Sunni dictator SaddamHussein. They want Maliki to abolish anti-terrorism laws that theysay he has used to pursue political rivals such as the Sunni vicepresident, Tareq al-Hashemi, who fled after being accused of run-ning death squads and was sentenced to death in absentia. Sunnianger was re-ignited when Maliki evoked memories of that inci-dent by detaining the bodyguards of his Sunni finance minister,Rafaie al-Esawi, hours after Talabani was flown out. Leading Sunnicleric Khaled al-Mullah, a participant in negotiations between theprotesters and the government, said Maliki had acceded to oneSunni demand. “In our first meeting with Prime Minister Maliki,he promised us that he will write a special pardon for all womenwho have criminal charges,” Mullah said. He put the number offemale prisoners in Iraqi jails at 920, and said around 700 of themwould be eligible for release.—Reuters

Watched uprisingCAIRO—Ousted President Hosni Mubarakwatched the uprising against him unfoldthrough a live TV feed to his palace, despitehis denial that he knew the extent of the pro-tests and crackdown against them, a memberof a fact-finding mission said Wednesday. Thefinding could lead to the retrial of the 84-oldformer leader, already serving a life sentence.In questioning for his trial for the deaths ofsome 900 protesters during the uprising,Mubarak said he was kept in the dark by top

aides as to the gravity of the situation during the uprising, andfended off charges that he ordered or knew of the deadly forceused against the protesters. Mubarak was still convicted in June offailing to prevent the deaths. But many Egyptians were angeredthat he was not convicted for ordering or having a direct role in thecrackdown. Ahmed Ragheb, a rights lawyer and a member of thecommission, said state TV had designated a coded satellite TVstation that fed live material from cameras installed in Tahrir andsurrounding areas directly to Mubarak’s Palace throughout the 18-days of the uprising. “Mubarak knew of all the crimes that tookplace directly. The images were carried to him live, and he didn’teven need security reports,” Ragheb told The Associated Press.“This entails a legal responsibility” in the violence against the pro-testers, including the infamous Camel Battle, where men on horsesand camel and other Mubarak supporters stormed the square try-ing to drive protesters out. At least 11 people are said to be killed inthat attack, and some 25 members of the ruling were tried in thecase were set free. The finding came in a 700-page report on pro-tester deaths the past two years, submitted Wednesday to PresidentMohammed Morsi. Morsi had formed this commission soon afterhe came to office in June, having promised during his electioncampaign that he will order new retrials for former regime offi-cials if new evidence were revealed.—AP

Negotiator optimistic about reconciliationKABUL—A top Afghan peace negotiator saidhe was cautiously optimistic about prospectsfor reconciliation with the Taliban and thatall sides now realized a military solution tothe war was not possible. MohammadMasoom Stanekzai also told Reuters that theKabul government hoped to transform theAfghan Taliban, who have proved resilientafter more than a decade of war against U.S.-led NATO and Afghan troops, into a politicalmovement. He predicted the highly lethal

Haqqani militant network, the most experienced at guerrilla war-fare, would join the peace process if the Afghan Taliban startedformal talks. Signs are emerging that the Afghan government isgaining momentum in its drive to persuade the Taliban to lay downtheir arms before most NATO combat troops pull out by the end of2014, a timeline that makes many Afghans nervous. Members ofthe Afghan government, the Taliban and some of their old enemiesin the Northern Alliance, which fought the Taliban for years, dis-cussed ways of easing the conflict during a recent meeting in France.“I think one consensus was that everybody acknowledged that no-body will win by military (means),” said Stanekzai, who was badlywounded in a 2011 Taliban suicide bombing attack. “Everybodyacknowledged that we have to enter into a meaningful negotia-tion.” Pakistan is seen as critical to the process after three decadesof upheaval in Afghanistan. Ten years of Soviet occupation werefollowed by devastating civil war and the rise of the Taliban, whoruled from 1996 to 2001. On Monday, Pakistan freed four AfghanTaliban prisoners who Afghan officials said were close to thegroup’s reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and still hadthe clout to persuade commanders to pursue peace.—WB

Transition body formedMANILA—The Moro Islamic LiberationFront (MILF) has already chosen eight mem-bers to comprise the Transition Commissiontasked to write the Basic Law, to proposeamendments to the Constitution, and to co-ordinate, if necessary, development projectsin the area of the Bangsamoro, Sun. Star re-ported. Muhammad Ameen, chairperson ofthe MILF Secretariat, in their website saidthe chosen members’ identities are still un-der wraps following procedure that they

must be transmitted first to Malaysian facilitator, who will thenofficially communicate them to the Philippine Governmentthrough the government peace panel. Ameen said the delibera-tion was held on two separate plenary sessions before the listwas completed. He said the most contentious was the slot allot-ted for Western Mindanao where no consensus had been arrivedat after several attempts. It was only settled after the MILF cen-tral committee decided to settle it by drawing the lucky namefrom two nominees, the last to survive from a larger list. In choos-ing the nominees, the MILF has set three stringent pre-qualifica-tions: sincerity to the Bangsamoro cause, capability to dischargethe task and geographical or sectoral consideration were includedin the nominees were one woman, one member of the indigenouspeoples (IP), one senior military commander of the MILF andone aleem (learned in Islam). On October, the MILF has alreadyshortlisted 15 names which were reduced to eight early this month.“We never allowed recommendations to disrupt our selection pro-cess,” Ameen said, adding that a selection committee was orga-nized to look closely at the qualifications of each nominee. “Rec-ommendation is no-no in our process of selection for the com-mission,” he added. —WB

US Congress OKs cliff deal, signaling future fights

WASHINGTON: Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, passes waiting reporters as he leaves a closed-door GOPmeeting on the fiscal cliff bill passed by the Senate Monday night at the Capitol in on Tuesday.

BEIRUT—At least 60,000people have been killed in Syria’scivil war, with monthly casualtyfigures steadily increasing sincethe conflict began almost twoyears ago, according to a newanalysis released Wednesday bythe United Nations. The death tollis a third more than the figure of45,000 given by activists op-posed to the regime of PresidentBashar Assad — the first timethat the global body’s estimatesare higher.

It comes as activists reportthat a Syrian warplane blasted agas station near Damascus onWednesday, killing and wound-ing dozens of people and ignit-ing a huge fire in what could beone of the bloodiest attacks inweeks during the 22-month con-flict. Independent experts com-pared 147,349 killings reportedby seven different sources — in-cluding the government — forthe study, which was commis-sioned by the U.N. human rightsoffice. By removing duplicatesthey arrived at a list of 59,648individuals killed between thestart of the uprising on March15, 2011, and Nov. 30, 2012. Ineach case, the victim’s first andlast name, the date and the loca-

UN: Analysis suggests60,000-plus killed in Syria

tion of his or her death wereknown. “Given there has been nolet-up in the conflict since the endof November, we can assume thatmore than 60,000 people havebeen killed by the beginning of2013,” U.N. High Commissionerfor Human Rights Navi Pillaysaid in a statement. “The num-ber of casualties is much higherthan we expected, and is trulyshocking.”

The real death toll is likelyto be even greater because reportscontaining incomplete informa-tion were excluded and a signifi-cant number of killings may nothave been documented at all bythe sources available.

“There are many names noton the list for people who werequietly shot in in the woods,”Pillay’s spokesman RupertColville told The AssociatedPress. The data, which didn’t dis-tinguish among soldiers, rebelsand civilians, also show that thekilling in Syria has accelerated.

During the summer of 2011,shortly after the uprising againstAssad began, the monthly deathtoll stood at around 1,000. A yearlater, an average of 5,000 werekilled each month, the U.N. said.Most of the killings occurred in

DAMASCUS—Syrian rebels,fired machineguns and mortars athelicopters grounded at a north-ern military air base near the mainAleppo-Damascus highway onWednesday, a monitoring groupsaid. Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham Brigade and other unitsoperating in Syria’s northwesternprovince of Idlib were attackingthe Afis military airport nearTaftanaz, the pro-opposition Syr-ian Observatory for HumanRights said.

There was no immediate ac-count of the fighting around theair base from Syrian state media.

Insurgents trying to topplePresident Bashar al-Assad seehis air power as their mainthreat. They hold swathes ofeastern and northern provinces,as well as a crescent of suburbsaround the capital, Damascus,but have been unable to protectrebel-held territory from relent-less attack by helicopters andjets. In recent months, rebelunits have besieged several mili-

Syrians rebels attackAleppo air base

tary installations, especiallyalong Syria’s main north-southartery from Aleppo, its mostpopulous city, to Damascus.

The Observatory’s director,Rami Abdelrahman, saidWednesday’s attack was the lat-est of several attempts to capturethe base. A satellite image of theairport shows more than 40 heli-copter landing pads, a runwayand aircraft hangars.

An estimated 45,000 peoplehave been killed in the Syrianconflict, which began in March2011 with peaceful protestsagainst four decades of Assadfamily rule but turned into anarmed revolt after months of gov-ernment repression.

More than 110 people, in-cluding at least 31 of Assad’ssoldiers and militiamen, werekilled in Syria on the first dayof 2013, according to the Obser-vatory, which tracks the conflictfrom Britain using a network ofcontacts inside the country.—Turkish News

Obama beginssecond term

facing pessimisticpublic: Poll

WASHINGTON—As PresidentBarack Obama heads into hissecond term, he faces a pessi-mistic and weary public, accord-ing to a USA Today/Gallup pollreleased late Tuesday.

The percentage of Ameri-cans satisfied with the directionof the country stands at a paltry23 percent in a poll taken Dec.14-17. By a margin of 50 to 47percent, respondents said thecountry’s best years are over.

Fifty percent of respondentssaid it is somewhat or very un-likely that today’s youth willhave a better life than their par-ents.

That pessimism and nega-tivity extends to the president,according to the poll.

When respondents wereasked to choose adjectives todescribe their feelings about thepresident’s re-election, the pollshowed the excitement and pridemany Americans felt about thepresident’s first term has dimin-ished.

Sixty-seven percent of re-spondents in November 2008said they felt optimistic aboutthe president’s election and thesame percentage said it madethem feel proud. Last monththose numbers fell to 52 percentfor optimistic and 48 percent forproud. Forty-three percent ofAmericans surveyed also saidthey feel pessimistic about thepresident’s re-election and 36percent said it made them feelafraid—both increases from2008.

The president’s approval rat-ing, however, hovered at the 50percent threshold in the USAToday/Gallup survey. This is 1percentage point above GeorgeW. Bush as he headed into hissecond term, but below the 58percent rating held by BillClinton and 59 percent held byRonald Reagan.The poll’s mar-gin of error was plus or minus 4percentage points.—AP

CAR rebelsagree to talks

BANGUI—Rebels in CentralAfrican Republic (CAR) saidthey had halted their advance onthe capital on Wednesday andwould start peace talks, avertinga clash with regionally-backedtroops in the mineral-rich nation.

The announcement gaveonly a limited reprieve for Presi-dent Francois Bozize as the in-surgents told Reuters they mightinsist on his removal in the ne-gotiations in Gabon’s capitalLibreville.

Seleka rebels, who accusethe president of reneging on anearlier peace deal, had advancedto within striking distance of thecapital Bangui after a three-weekonslaught. “I have asked ourforces not to move their positionsstarting today because we wantto enter talks in Libreville for apolitical solution,” Selekaspokesman Eric Massi toldReuters by telephone fromParis.—Reuters

LONDON—One ofAfghanistan’s most feared war-lords has launched a witheringattack on Prince Harry, who hasspent Christmas serving in thecountry, labelling the prince a‘jackal’ who was ‘drunk’ whilehunting innocent Afghans.

In a rare and exclusive in-terview with The Daily Tele-graph Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,who has been designated a glo-bal terrorist by the United States,heaped insults on the British

Prince Harry is a ‘jackal’killing innocents: Hekmatyar

Royal and vowed to kill as manytroops as possible before theUK’s withdrawal in 2014.

Speaking from an undis-closed location the warlord ac-cused Britain of dragging “her-self into this unjustified, uselessbut cruel conflict to please theWhite House. The British did notgain anything instead they lostblood and treasure.”

“I do not understand how theBritish public accept their chil-dren being sent to certain death

WASHINGTON—Congress’ ex-cruciating, extraordinary NewYear’s Day approval of a com-promise averting a prolongedtumble off the fiscal cliff handsPresident Barack Obama most ofthe tax boosts on the rich that hecampaigned on. It also preventsHouse Republicans from facingblame for blocking tax cuts formost American households,though most GOP lawmakersparted ways with Speaker JohnBoehner and opposed the mea-sure. Passage also lays thegroundwork for future battlesbetween the two sides over fed-eral spending and debt.

Capping a holiday seasonpolitical spectacle that featuredenough high and low notes for aBroadway musical, the GOP-run House voted final approvalfor the measure by 257-167 lateTuesday.

That came after the Demo-cratic-led Senate used a wee-hours 89-8 roll call to assent tothe bill, belying the partisanbrinkmanship that colored muchof the path to the final deal.

“A central promise of mycampaign for president was tochange the tax code that was tooskewed towards the wealthy atthe expense of working middle-class Americans,” Obama saidat the White House before fly-ing to Hawaii to resume his holi-day break.

“Tonight we’ve done that.”The bill would boost the top 35percent income tax rate to 39.6percent for incomes exceeding$400,000 for individuals and$450,000 for couples, while con-tinuing decade-old income taxcuts for everyone else. In his re-

election campaign last yearObama had vowed to boost rateson earnings at somewhat lower

levels — $200,000 for individu-als and $250,000 for families.Scores of GOP lawmakers votedfor the measure, reversing a quar-ter-century of solid Republicanopposition to boosting any taxrates at all.

The bill would also raisetaxes top earners pay on divi-dends, capital gains and inherited

estates; permanently stop the al-ternative minimum tax from rais-ing levies on millions of middle-

income families; extend expiringjobless benefits; prevent cuts inMedicare reimbursements todoctors; and delay for twomonths billions in budget-widecuts in defense and domestic pro-grams slated for this year.

Both sides lamented theirfailure to reach a significant defi-cit-cutting agreement. But neither

much mentioned another omis-sion: The immediate expirationof a two-year, 2-percentage-point

cut in the Social Security payrolltax. That break, which put an ex-tra $1,000 in the wallets of typi-cal families earning $50,000 ayear, was an Obama priority twoyears ago as a way to boost con-sumer spending and spark theflagging economy, but it fell vic-tim this time to other priorities.

House Democrats voted by

an overwhelming 172-16 for theagreement, which was craftedover the weekend by Senate Mi-

nority Leader Mitch McConnell,R-Ky., and Vice President JoeBiden. But Republicans tiltedagainst it 151-85. It is rare forleaders to bring a bill to the Housefloor that will be opposed bymost lawmakers from their ownparty, and the decision under-scored the pressure GOP leadersfelt to approve the legislation.

Boehner, R-Ohio, took nopublic stance on the measure be-fore the vote. But he guided thecompromise to the House floorafter an unsuccessful attempt bymany conservatives to persuadeleaders to add spending cuts tothe bill.

Had the House inserted thosebudget cuts and the Senate re-fused to consider them, the leg-islation could have died. That leftHouse Republicans worried thatvoters might blame them for ahuge, sweeping tax increase andfor any swoon the nation’s finan-cial markets might take whenthey reopened Wednesday.

“You can be right and youcan be dead right. Which is it?”said Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla.,of the quandary Republicansfaced. “Right now you need totake the tax issue off the table”and move on to a focus on curb-ing spending, he said.

Boehner voted for the bill, anunusual step because speakersseldom vote, and he was joinedby Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., theGOP’s vice presidential candi-date last fall. Voting “no” werethe other two top GOP leaders,Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia andKevin McCarthy of California.

Passage came nearly 24hours after a decade’s worth oftax cuts enjoyed by tens of mil-lions of Americans expired withthe stroke of the new year, tech-nically raising taxes by more than$500 billion in 2013 alone.

Those tax increases — plus$109 billion in defense and do-mestic spending cuts that were tobe automatically triggeredWednesday — became known asthe fiscal cliff. —AP

KHARTOUM/JUBA—The lead-ers of Sudan and South Sudanwill meet on Friday to discusshow to improve border securityand resume vital oil flows, bothsides said on Tuesday as thefeuding African neighbors sig-naled possible concessions.

The countries, which foughtone of Africa’s longest civil warsending with a peace deal in 2005,signaled concessions ahead ofthe summit.

Sudan’s President OmarHassan al-Bashir and SouthSudan’s Salva Kiir accepted aninvitation from Ethiopia to meetin Addis Ababa, spokesmen forboth governments said.

The African Union, backedby Western powers, had urgedholding the meeting in order toend a stalemate over how to setup a demilitarized buffer zone

Two Sudans may reachdeal in Friday summit

along the disputed border afterthe countries came close to warin April.

Bashir and Kiir agreed inSeptember in Ethiopia to resumeoil exports from the landlockedSouth through Sudan.

Juba shut down its oil pro-duction, a vital source of revenuefor both countries, in January af-ter failing to agree with Sudan onan export fee, one of several con-flicts left over from SouthSudan’s secession in 2011.

Neither country has yet with-drawn its respective army 10 km(six miles) from the border to setup a buffer zone, a condition torestart oil flows. Both accuseeach other of supporting rebelson the other’s territory.

In a speech on New Year’sEve, Kiir said the new republiche leads was willing to withdraw

its troops from the 1,800-km(1,200-mile) long border.

“To be able to establish theborder monitoring mission, weare temporarily withdrawing ourforces from the immediate bor-der areas,” Kiir said.

“This will allow for a demili-tarized border zone to be opera-tional,” he said, without giving adate for the pullout. “We hopethat these arrangements willmake sure that peace and stabil-ity is maintained along our com-mon border.”

South Sudan originally hadhoped to resume oil exports byJanuary but has postponed turn-ing on wells until the buffer zoneis in place. The two rivals are alsoat odds over Abyei, an area be-tween Sudan and South Sudanprized for its fertile grazingland.—Reuters

PHUKET—In a stunning devel-opment this morning, PhuketGovernor Maitri Inthusut an-nounced that the 71 Rohingyarescued from an open boat adriftoff Phuket yesterday are en routeto be repatriated to Myanmar.

The move to repatriate therefugees, including women andchildren, came at the request ofthe refugees themselves, GovMaitri said.

Speaking at the monthly“Governor Meets the Press”meeting, Governor Maitri ex-plained that Phuket Immigrationhad arranged to transport the 71Rohingya – which includedwomen and children fleeing vio-lent persecution in their homestate of Arakan in Myanmar – toRanong, about 300km north ofPhuket.

There, they will cross theborder to re-enter Myanmar.However, Governor Maitri also

Phuket Rohingyarepatriated to Myanmar

explained that the Thai govern-ment considers the Rohingyapeople as a people in need.

“They are like patients whoneed treatment. They said theywere on their way to Malaysia,but ran out of fuel. They askedus for food and fuel. We gavethem 200 liters of fuel for thelong journey to Malaysia.

“However, they had alreadyspent almost two weeks at sea –they departed their shores onDecember 19. They were ex-hausted; so instead of riskingheading back out to sea to con-tinue their journey, they decidedto go back home,” Gov Maitrisaid. Phuket Immigration wascontacted and asked to organizefood and transport for therefugees.“They are being all be-ing returned to the Ranong bor-der by car. The cars left Phuketthis morning,” Governor Maitriadded. —AP

CARACAS—Venezuelan Presi-dent Hugo Chavez is aware thathis condition is complicated fol-lowing a fourth cancer operationin Cuba, Vice President NicolasMaduro said on Tuesday, as theOPEC nation watches for cluesto the socialist leader’s health.

Maduro said he was return-ing to Venezuela after spendingseveral days alongside Chavezand members of the president’sfamily. That may help squelchrumors his visit was a sign thatthe former soldier was near death.

“During these days I wasable to see him twice and speakwith him,” Maduro said duringan interview from Havana withregional television networkTelesur. “He is completely con-scious of the complexity of his

Chavez’s conditioncomplicated

post-operative state and he ex-pressly asked us keep the peopleinformed.” Maduro, who Chavezlast month designated as his suc-cessor, said the president hadgrasped his hand “with immensestrength” as they spoke, andasked him about the state of theeconomy and the swearing-in ofnewly elected governors.

“After staying in Havana toaccompany the family members,we are returning to Caracas to-morrow (January 2) to continueour work,” said Maduro, whovisited Chavez with his wife,Attorney General Cilia Flores.On Sunday, Maduro had said the58-year-old Chavez was suffer-ing a third set of complicationsas a result of the respiratory prob-lem.—Reuters

in order to please American gen-erals,” he said.

Turning to Prince Harry hesaid that “the British Princecomes to Afghanistan to kill in-nocent Afghans while he isdrunk. He wants to hunt downMujaheddin with his helicopterrockets without any shame.

“But he does not understandthis simple fact that the huntingof Afghan lions and eagles is notthat easy! Jackals cannot hunt li-ons.” —INP

Homs, followed by rural Dam-ascus, Idlib, Aleppo, Daraa andHama. At least three quarters ofthe victims were male.

“The failure of the interna-tional community, in particularthe Security Council, to take con-crete actions to stop the blood-letting, shames us all,” Pillaysaid. “Collectively, we havefiddled at the edges while Syriaburns.” The U.N. rights chiefwarned that thousands morewould die or suffer terrible inju-ries if the conflict continues, andrepeated her call that those re-sponsible for the killings —which in some cases couldamount to war crimes — shouldbe held accountable.

“We must not compound theexisting disaster by failing to pre-pare for the inevitable — andvery dangerous — instability thatwill occur when the conflictends,” she said.

“Serious planning needs toget under way immediately, notjust to provide humanitarian aidto all those who need it, but toprotect all Syrian citizens fromextra-judicial reprisals and acts ofrevenge” like those seen in Af-ghanistan, Iraq, Somalia andCongo, she said.—AP

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Team India isfavourite to win the crucialODI against Pakistan onThursday, according to EdHawkins, the bettingbetfair’s chief cricket tip-ster.

Speaking exclusivelyover mobile from London, hesays, “I have recommendedIndia to win the match be-cause they are a good price,in particular because Paki-stan have a long tail”.

Hawkins has been a tip-ster for more than 12 years

India favourite to win atEden Gardens today, says

chief cricket tipsterand the author of the book,Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy,first suspected the 2011World Cup semi final matchbetween India and Pakistanat Mohali was fixed.

My recommended bet fortomorrow’s match is : Indiato win at 1.77. 1.77 is what isknown as decimal odds. Thismeans that if you bet 100 ru-pees you win back 77. Indiarate the favourites becausethey are the shortest odd”,he added.

There has been a notice-able shift in odds followingPakistan’s victory lead in thefirst ODI. India’s price hasdrifted from 1.67 to 1.77, while

Pakistan have come in to2.28. That is the sort of pricethat we can consider takingabout the hosts”, he adds.

“Dhoni can be backedunder Any Other at around5.50”, he tweets. Top Paki-stan runscorer for Pakistanwhen they won at the Gar-dens in 2004, was ShoaibMalik with 61 runs. Malikcan also be backed underthe Any Other umbrella ataround 5.00. Also includedunder that banner is KamranAkmal”, he tweeted.

Interestingly, EdHawkins also won theSports Betting Writer of theYear award twice for his tips.

New Zealand 1st innings:Guptill c de Villiersb Philander ....................... 1McCullum b Philander .... 7Williamson lbwb Philander ..................... 13Brownlie c Smithb Philander ....................... 0Flynn c & b Steyn ........... 8Watling c de Villiersb Philander ....................... 0Franklin c Smithb Morkel ........................... 1Bracewell b Steyn ........... 2Patel c Amla b Morkel .... 5Boult b Morkel ................ 1Martin not out ................. 0Extras: (lb 6, nb 1) ............ 7Total: (all out) ................ 45Fall of wickets 1-7, 2-14, 3-

14, 4-27, 5-27, 6-28, 7-31, 8-38, 9-45, 10-45Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WSteyn .................. 7.2-2-18-2Philander ................ 6-3-7-5Morkel .................. 6-2-14-3South Africa 1st innings:Smith lbw b Bracewell .... 1Petersen not out ............ 83Amla lbw b Franklin ...... 66Kallis not out ................. 58Extras: (b 1, nb 1) ............. 2Total: (2 wickets) ......... 210Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-108Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WTA Boult ............... 8-0-37-0Bracewell ............ 12-2-59-1Martin ................. 10-1-37-0Franklin ................. 8-1-17-1Patel .................... 13-1-59-0

CAPE TOWN—A quickfire 66from Hashim Amla liftedSouth Africa to 119 for two attea on the opening day of thefirst Test after the hostsskittled New Zealand for 45 inan extraordinary first session

on Wednesday.Fast bowler Vernon Phi-

lander took five wickets as theProteas dismissed the BlackCaps in just 19.2 overs, theeighth-shortest completed in-nings in Test cricket, but theylost captain Graeme Smith inthe last over before lunch.

Resuming on three forone, Alviro Petersen and Amlaset about steadying the in-nings and consecutive leg-side boundaries by Petersenfrom the first two balls of thesession eased the pressure.

Kallis passes 13,000 test runs

Amla turns screw on NewZealand after Philander burst

The prolific Amla thenbecame the main aggressor ashe struck three boundaries offwicket-taker Doug Bracewellbefore taking his team pastNew Zealand’s score in the12th over with a fine on-drive.

Amla continued his daz-zling strokeplay, racing to hishalf-century from just 55 de-liveries with a drive throughthe covers off Chris Martin.

Petersen was more sedatebut had still contributed 37 bythe time Amla brought up the100-partnership with a singleto the cover boundary.

The stand ended 15 min-utes before tea, though, asAmla was trapped lbw for 66after walking across hisstumps to a James Franklindelivery.

That brought JacquesKallis to the wicket and theveteran all-rounder received arousing reception from thehome crowd needing just 20runs to reach 13,000 runs intest cricket.

He had made six whenumpire Ian Gould removed thebails and called for the tea in-terval with Petersen on 45.

Fast bowler Philanderclaimed five early wickets asSouth Africa made NewZealand skipper BrendonMcCullum pay for choosingto bat first.

Philander produced as-tonishing figures of five forseven as the touring side weredismissed for their third low-est total in Tests.

New Zealand came intothe series in disarray follow-ing the controversial sackingof Ross Taylor from the cap-taincy and Philander struck inthe second over when he hadMartin Guptill caught behindfor one.

That triggered an igno-minious procession for theNew Zealanders with Philan-der removing McCullum,Dean Brownlie and KaneWilliamson in his next threeovers as the visitors lost theirtop order for 27 runs inside 10overs.

Williamson’s 13 was thehighest individual score andnone of his team mates man-aged double figures.

Paceman Morne Morkel(three for 14) soon got into theact, removing Franklin caughtat first slip for one.

Dale Steyn came intothe match needing just onewicket to reach the 300 markin tests and he returned aftera barren first spell to reach themilestone by removing DougBracewell’s off-stump with afine out-swinger.

Morkel claimed the wick-ets of Jeetan Patel and TrentBoult before Steyn picked upthe final wicket when DanielFlynn, who survived 28 de-liveries, skied a catch back tothe fast bowler.

All-rounder JacquesKallis became the first SouthAfrican to score 13,000 testruns on an eventful openingday of the first test againstNew Zealand on Wednesday.

The hosts dismissed NewZealand for 45 in the morningsession, the touring side’sthird lowest total, and Kallisreached his personal mile-stone after tea with a fourthrough third man off seamerDoug Bracewell.

The 37-year-old Kallis,who has also taken 282 testwickets, lies fourth behindIndian Sachin Tendulkar,Australian Ricky Pontingand India’s Rahul Dravid onthe list of all-time run scor-ers.

Tendulkar tops the stand-ings with 15,645 runs.—AFP

CAPE TOWN: Brendon McCullum is bowled during South Africa vs New Zealand, 1st Test on Wednesday.

CAPE TOWN: Jacques Kallis reaches his 13,000 runs dur-ing South Africa vs New Zealand, 1st Test on Wednesday.

KOLKATA—India are againleft needing to come from be-hind, third time in their lastfour series. A superb displayof swing bowling by JunaidKhan crippled India’s bat-ting line-up on an overcastChennai morning before MSDhoni rescued his team witha fighting century. Such aprocession of batsmen to thepavilion appears unlikely inKolkata, where overheadconditions haven’t been asbowler-friendly and the cu-rator Prabir Mukherjee haspromised a “typical one-daywicket with lots of runs”with the side batting firsthaving an early advantage.But the visitors have beenpracticing hard to seal theirteam’s first bilateral ODI se-ries win over India since2005.

Pakistan’s seamersbowled extended spells atthe nets on Tuesday, withUmar Gul, Junaid andMohammad Irfan aiming atone stump. India, on theother hand, missed a ses-sion on Tuesday and havean optional one on the eveof the game. They may beshort of adequate prepara-tion for a game they cannotafford to lose.

Shoaib Malik was ini-tially picked only for theT20s but has been retainedfor the ODIs and played agood supporting hand inChennai.

He’s had a good tour sofar, guiding Pakistan to vic-tory in the first T20 beforegiving Nasir Jamshed com-pany in his team’s success-ful chase on Sunday. Aformer Pakistan captain,Malik has struggled to keephis place in the side for a

India vs Pakistan, 2nd ODI

Kolkata offers morehope for India

while but his experience hascome in handy in this lim-ited-overs series.

After his century in thefirst Test against England in

Ahmedabad, VirenderSehwag has failed to fire. Hewas not picked in March lastyear for the Asia Cup, andcould be under pressure toperform, given he’s had justone half-century in his last10 innings in ODI cricket.Team news:

Rohit Sharma’s poor runof scores in ODIs continuedin Chennai and India couldconsider replacing him withAjinkya Rahane. However,there is uncertainty overVirat Kohli’s availability, ashe limped off the field afterslipping while bowling inChennai.

MRI scans revealed noserious damage, but his con-dition continues to be moni-tored.India (possible): 1 GautamGambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag,3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh,

5 Rohit Sharma/AjinkyaRahane, 6 Suresh Raina, 7MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 8R Ashwin, 9 BhuvneshwarKumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11

Ashok Dinda.It seems unlikely Paki-

stan will make changes,even though MohammadIrfan proved expensive inChennai.Pakistan (possible): 1Mohammad Hafeez, 2 NasirJamshed, 3 Azhar Ali, 4Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik,7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8Junaid Khan, 9 Umar Gul, 10Saeed Ajmal, 11 MohammadIrfan.Stats and Trivia

Rohit Sharma is 22 shortof reaching 2000 runs inODIs. Kamran Akmal is 70short of scoring 3000 inODIs.Quotes

“If he keeps on doingthat then we will find anothergreat left arm fast-bowler ofWasim Akram’s type.”

ISLAMABAD: PTCL Senior Executive Vice President HR & Admin, Syed Mazhar Hussain and PTCL Executive VicePresient Business Zone North, Abdul Sattar Naeem with the winning team of PTCL Inter-Zonal Cricket Tournament.

Pakistan’sODI record atEden Gardens

LAHORE—Feb 18, 1987: In-dia 238-6 in 40 overs(Srikkanth 123, Azharuddin49; Akram 3-49, Imran 2-59).Pakistan 241-8 in 39.3 ovs(Rameez 58, Younis Ahmed58, Salim Malik 72no; Shastri4-38). Pakistan won by 2 wick-e t s

Oct 28, 1989 (Nehru Cupleague match): Pakistan 279-7 in 50 overs (Aamer Malik51, Rameez 77, Imran 47 no;Ayub 2-31). India 202 all outin 42.3 overs (Srikkanth 65,Lamba 57; Mushtaq Ahmed3-51). Pakistan won by 77runs.

Nov 1, 1989 (Nehru Cupfinal): West Indies 273-5 in 50ovs (Haynes 107no,Simmons 40; Imran 3-47). Pa-kistan 277-6 in 49.5 ovs (IjazAhmed 56, Salim Malik 71,Imran 51no; winston Ben-jamin 2-71). Pakistan won by4 wkts

May 27, 1997 (Indepen-dence Cup, 2nd final): SriLanka 309 in 49.4 overs(Jayasuriya 55, Aravinda 57,Ranatunga 59; Saqlain 4-53).Pakistan 224 in 43.1 ovs(Rameez 76, Ijaz 55; Murali 3-40). Sri Lanka won by 85 runs

Nov 13, 2004 (BCCI Plati-num Jubilee match): India292-6 in 50 overs (Sehwag 53,Laxman 43, Ganguly 48,Yuvraj 78). Pakistan 293-4 in49 runs (Salman Butt 108no,Shoaib Malik 61, Inzamam75). Pakistan won by 6wkts.—Online

Younis predictsbright futurefor Junaid

KOLKATA—Former Pakistancaptain Younis Khan hasheaped praise on JunaidKhan, saying the young left-arm pacer has the traits ofbecoming someone like leg-endary seamer Wasim Akram.

The 23-year-old pacerhad left India in tatters re-ducing them to 29 for five toset up Pakistan’s six-wicketwin in Ahmedabad and takea 1-0 lead in the three-ODIseries.

“Good to see him the wayhe’s performing consistently,it’s a good sign for him andthe team. If he keeps on do-ing that then we will find an-other great left arm fast-bowler of Wasim Akramtype,” he said.

“Junaid is keen and notliving in the past. He’s livingin the present and trying toimprove. It’s a good sign forPakistani team,” the veteranof 79 Test and 246 ODIs said.

The ODI series marked asurprise return for Younis andthe 35-year-old said there wasno added pressure on him toperform at the Motera, evenas he had a forgettable calen-dar in 2012 with 167 runs from10 ODIs. “I always try and im-prove my game to a level sothat I can tell youngsters howto play.”—Online

SPORTS REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—In an excitingcontest, Pakistan Telecom-munications Company Lim-ited (PTCL) North Zone wonthe PTCL Inter-Zonal CricketTournament held at F-9Cricket Ground, Islamabad.Played between PTCL’s fourzonal teams comprisingPTCL Headquarters, Busi-ness Zone Central, Business

North Zone win PTCL Inter-ZonalCricket tournamentZone South and BusinessZone North, the tournamentexhibited enthralling and in-tense cricketing competition.

PTCL Senior ExecutiveVice President (SEVP) HR &Admin, Syed MazharHussain commented on theoccasion, “PTCL regularlyholds such sporting eventsto promote healthy activitiesamong its employees andgiving them opportunities to

showcase their athletic abili-ties and team spirit.”

The final match of thetournament was played be-tween PTCL Business ZoneNorth and PTCL Head Quar-ters while PTCL BusinessZone Central stood third andPTCL Business Zone Southgot the fourth position.

PTCL Senior ExecutiveVice President (SEVP) HR &Admin, Syed Mazhar Hussain

was the chief guest on the oc-casion and presented the tro-phy as well as other prizesamongst the winners. AbrarAhmed Babar was named Manof the Series and Best Bats-man, while MuhammadZeeshan was the Man of theMatch for the final and SalmanArshad the Best Bowler. Em-ployees and their families alsoparticipated enthusiastically inthe day-long event.

BASED on the knowledge that cancer cells grow indefinitely, the general belief is thatsenescence could act as a barrier against

tumor growth and has the potential of beingused as a cancer treatment.

According to findingspublished in the 19th Janu-ary issue of the open-accessjournal PLoS Computa-tional Biology, a collabora-tion between a cancer bi-ologist from the Universityof Milano, Italy, and twophysicists, from the Na-tional Research Council ofItaly and from Cornell Uni-versity, has shown that al-though cell senescence oc-curs spontaneously inmelanoma cells, it does notstop their growth, which issustained by a small popu-lation of cancer stem cells.

The study examines theassociation between mela-noma and senescence, which is the normalprocess in which cells decline and eventu-ally stop duplicating after reaching matu-rity.

The researchers observed the long-term evolution of melanoma cell popula-tions by monitoring the number of senes-cent cells, and discovered a slowing ingrowth with the majority of the cells turn-ing senescent after three months.

However, growth did not stop andwas eventually resumed at its initial rateuntil the senescent cells had nearly disap-peared.

The researchers applied a math-ematical model of the experimental datausing the cancer stem cell hypothesis,in which a sub-group of cancer cellsmultiply indefinitely, and therefore re-

main unaffected by senes-cence. These cancer stemcells produce a largerpopulation of cancer cells,which are only able to rep-licate a certain number oftimes. The results of themodel achieved an indirectconfirmation that cancerstem cells are present inmelanoma, an issue thatremains to be controver-sial in the cancer researchcommunity.

The researchers con-clude that even though alarge percentage of cancercells are susceptible to se-nescence, inducing senes-cence is unlikely to pro-

vide a successful therapeutic strategy be-cause these cells are not important fortumor growth. The say however, that theindirect evidence of cancer stem cells inmelanoma could potentially enable thedevelopment of new strategies for thetreatment of specif ic types ofcancer.However, the strong resistance todrug induced senescence that may befound in the cancer stem cells will presenta major challenge.

Based on this study, treatment oftumors would concentrate on targetingonly these cancer stem cells, instead ofevery single cancerous cell.

Tumors continue growingeven when cells get old

KARACHI: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf talking to Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan at Governor House.

KARACHI: Residents of Lines Area hold a demonstration against the suspension of gassupply to domestic users, at Numaish Chowrangi.

KARACHI: Rangers personnel removing hurdles from raod during riots which broke outdue to the kidnapping of a trader from the area of Tariq Road.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Chief Ministerof Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shahon Wednesday chaired a meet-ing to review arrangements be-ing made to control outbreak ofmeasles in the province.

The Sindh CM said the out-break of the disease was due toimproper health cover, negli-gence and irresponsible attitudeof the officials associated withthe health department.

“Prompt action is being takenagainst the concerned officialscoupled with efficient measures tocontrol spread of the disease,” said

Sindh CM reviews measuresto control measles outbreak

the chief minister. He said thegovernment was committed toprovide quality health and edu-cation to the masses.

MNA Dr. Azra Peechuho,on the occasion suggested thatthe role of Peoples PrimaryHealth Initiative must be re-vised as majority of basic healthunits come under its control.

She said measles and its as-sociated complication can becontrolled effectively through aproper strategy and its foolproof implementation.

Dr. Peechuho suggestedthat fresh MoUs must be signedand differences of assignments

must be settled. The meetingwas also attended by Sindh Min-ister for Health, Dr. SaghirAhmed, Sindh Health Secretary,Aftab Ahmed Khatri, PrincipalSecretary to CM, MohammadSiddique Memon, Special Sec-retary- Health, Dr. SureshKumar, Director General -Heath, Dr. Firoz Memom andManager EPI-Sindh, Dr.MazharKhamisani.

It was agreed upon by themeeting participants that themeasles is registered throughoutthe year, however, an usual in-crease in its incidence was reg-istered in December 2012.

KARACHI—The MuttahidaQuami Movement (MQM) ob-served day of mourning Wednes-day to express grief over the kill-ing of its party workers and sym-pathizers in Tuesday’s blast nearAyesha Manzil in Karachi.

It should be mentioned herethat a bomb exploded near a buscarrying MQM workers in acrowded area of the city on Tues-day, killing at least four peopleand wounding 50, police said.

Muttahida observesmourning over killings

The bomb appeared to havebeen rigged to a motorbike.

Earlier, a political rally wasorganized by the Muttahida andTahir-ul-Qadri’s Tehreek-e-Minhaj- Ul-Quran at JinnahGround, Aziazabad in connec-tion with January 14 longmarch.

According to a statement,the MQM chief Altaf Hussainendorsed decision by the party’sCo-ordination Committee

which said all organizationalactivities of the party through-out the country would remainsuspended on Wednesday andfateha would be offered for thedeceased.

The Co-ordination Com-mittee made it clear that busi-ness activities would continueand public transport wouldrun as usual. Shops and busi-ness centres would remainopen.—NNI

SSUETorientation day

on Jan 21KARACHI—Preparations havestarted for start of new classesat Sir Syed University of Engi-neering and Technology. Whileadmission process has com-pleted, the university has de-cided to start the new first se-mester session from January 21while classes for rest of the se-mesters will commence fromJanuary 24.

The university has startedarrangements for the “Orienta-tion Day”, a ceremony whichmarks the beginning of new se-mester, on January 21. On thisday the students are addressedby the Chancellor, Vice-Chan-cellor, Chairmen of various de-partments and the Registrar whoeducate the new entrants abouttheir responsibilities and guidethem about their academic ac-tivities.

The university conductscourses in engineering disci-plines of Computer, Electronics,Civil, Bio-Medical and Telecombesides computer science. Theuniversity at present has over6000 students in these engineer-ing fields on its roll. It has beengranted the highest category byPakistan Engineering Council aswell as by Higher EducationCommission.—NNI

CID policearrest twoterrorists

KARACHI—Crime Investiga-tion Department (CID) of Policehas arrested two members be-longing to a banned terrorists’outfit from Sultanabad area ofthe city on Wednesday.

According to the CID po-lice, the terrorists belong to abanned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangwi and were involved invarious incidents of crime in-cluding target killings. The po-lice also recovered huge amountof weapons from them. The ter-rorists were identified as Kashifalias Shooter and Tariq and theywere also involved in the attackon the rally taken out againstblasphemy.—NNI

Terrorismcannot obstructchange: Sattar

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—The MQM’s parlia-mentary leader Dr Farooq Sattaron Wednesday said the opposi-tion forces have become activewith the start of the “Journey forRevolution”.

He stated this while talkingto reporters at the Lal QilaGround after offering “Fateha”for the victims of Tuesday’sdeadly blast near Ayesha Manzilthat left several MQM workersand sympathizers wounded.

Strongly condemning thebombing, Dr Sattar said the re-solve and determination of theMQM workers could not be di-minished by carrying out terror-ism. “Our determination hasbecome stronger by this act ofblatant terrorism,” he said.

Dr Sattar said: “Terrorismcannot be frighten us and wewill not rest content unless thefeudalism and exploitation areuprooted.

The Journey of Revolutionhas started from Karachi andpeople are eager to become apart of this journey on the callof Altaf Hussain and Dr TahirulQadri.”

“It is the journey for bring-ing a permanent change in thecountry and the path of this fate-ful journey cannot be stopped byterrorism, violence and blood-shed,” said the MQM leader.The members of the Co-ordina-tion Committee were alsopresent on the occasion.

KARACHI—After the apex courttook notice of the Shahzeb Khan’smurder case, Karachi police depart-ment has made some key arrests inhopes of tracking down the fleeingduo of alleged killers identified as,Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur.

According to sources, the po-lice investigation team have ar-rested a manager of Jatoi familyand business affairs, from nearKarachi’s Supreme Court regis-

Shahzeb murder

Suspect’s family manager,security guard arrested

try. The manager is now in be-ing held at an undisclosed loca-tion under the custody of police.He was identified as MustafaJatoi. According to police, thecase is in good progress and de-spite the negative speculationsthey are hopeful that the culpritswill be tracked and arrestedwithin a few days.

Two days earlier, the policeraided a location in Dadu in

hopes of catching the culprits butthey somehow managed to es-cape arrest and fled- It is believedthat they managed to flee the raidbecause of insider informationfrom within the police.

Three days earlier, a secu-rity guard who was believedto be accompanying ShahrukhJatoi at the time of the inci-dent, was also arrested by thepolice.—NNI

KARACHI–KMC Administra-tor Muhammad Hussain Syedsaid that the arrangements foravailability of municipal facili-ties to main processions hasbeen finalized on the occasionof Chehalem of Hazrat ImamHussain (RA).

He said this while address-ing a meeting held about the ar-rangements of Chehlum.

He said emergency centershave been established in theroutes of processions fromMazar-e-Quaid to Boltin Mar-ket. Fire brigade, ambulances,city wardens, medical and res-cue unit vehicles officers andstaff will be present till the pro-cessions end.

Chief Officer Matanat AliKhan and other high officialswere present on the occasion.

The Administrator Karachi

Chehlum arrangements finalizedsaid that water boozers, ambu-lances, rescue unit, city wardensand five fire tenders would bepresent at each emergency center.He added two separate centerswere also established in KakriGround and Polo Ground for thebackup of main emergency cen-ters where heavy machinery in-cluding snorkel would be standby.

He said the arrangementsfor providing all central proces-sions with emergency medicalfacilities had been finalized andthe hospitals with medical staffunder KMC had been made highalert and all necessary medicineswere also provided whereasemergency duty schedule ofdoctors and paramedical staffhad been issued. Town healthofficers would also be presentin their towns.

He said that medical

camps including necessarymedicines had been estab-lished in the routes of centralprocessions which would pro-vide emergency medical firstaid and temporary fire sta-tions with fire tenders werealso established in Old KMCBuilding and in premises ofMazar-e-Quaid which wouldbe in contact with central firestations. Sr. Director Munici-pal Services informed that thearrangements of cleanlinesshad been made in the routesof processions of Chehalemand all necessary measuresincluding fumigation werebeing taken.

Director General TechnicalServices Altaf G. Memon in-formed that carpeting and patchwork of road had been done andstreet lights were repaired.—APP

Abidi givenadditional charge ofDirector Planning

KARACHI—Azfar Ali Abidi, anofficer of KMC Service DeputyDirector (Planning) Finance &Accounts Department KMC isgiven the additional charge of thepost of Director (Planning).

Azfar Ali Abidi will also per-form his own duties with imme-diate effect until further orderswhereas Atique Baig ConsultantKMC is allowed to work asincharge of newly created.—APP

DCET officialsdiscuss admission

processKARACHI—A meeting of thesenior management of DawoodCollege of Engineering andTechnology (DCET) was heldhere on Wednesday with Dr.Mohammad Ali Shaikh, ViceChancellor of SindhMadressatul Islam University(SMIU) and Acting Principal ofDCET in the chair.

The meeting was apprisedthat only 24 students had clearedthe test against the 100 seats re-served for the self financingscheme, while there were morethan 1,200 students on waitinglist on the basis of merit in thevarious categories (non-self fi-nancing categories).

It was decided that those stu-dents who have cleared the testand are on waiting list, shall begiven first priority to be allowedadmission through self financ-ing, if they so desire.—APP

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—Sindh InformationMinister Sharjeel Inam Memonon Wednesday said no one hav-ing double citizenship couldhave the authority to decide thefate of hard-earned democracy inPakistan. Sharjeel dubbed longmarch as “aimless”. The march,however, has so far attracted thebacking of PPP’s major coalitionpartners like the MQM and thePML-Q. “We would not allowanybody to derail democracy inthe disguise of long march,” the

Qadri can’t decidecountry’s fate: Sharjeel

Sindh minister said while meet-ing in his office a delegation ofoffice bearers of the PPP’syouth wing. The minister saidno one would be allowed to de-rail democracy in Pakistan byhatching “disgusting” conspira-cies like the long march. “Ourleader sacrificed her life to savedemocracy in Pakistan,” he de-clared he.

In an indirect refer-ence to the self-exiled leader-ship of the MQM and that of theTMQ, the Sindh minister saidnobody having dual citizenship

was well placed to decide thefate of Pakistan’s fate. “Thecountry could bear adventuresno further,” he warned addingthat “Nobody could have the au-thority to decide our fate whohaving double citizenship.”

Everybody, he said,knew about the “aimless” longmarch and what the conspiratorswanted. The provincial ministerclaimed that Dr Qadri hadchanged his stand after his ad-dress on Dec 23. “He (Qadri) didnot understand himself what hewanted to do,” Sharjeel said.

ONCE again, the penny pinching bureaucrats running Great Britain’sNational Health Service, notable for

a euthanasia program that kills 130,000people a year, may be responsible for creat-ing yet another unhealthy environment forBritish subjects.

In this case, British den-tists have been warnedagainst using a cheap,hand-held x-ray machineon their patients becausethey pose a significanthealth risk.

According to the BBC,the imported machines,known as the Tianjie Den-tal Falcon, expose “usersand patients to 10 times thenormal level of radiation, in-creasing their risks of can-cer and organdamage.”Doctors and den-tists in such chronicallyunderfunded, government-run health care systems arealways looking for ways tocurb costs. In this case, itseems as though one cost-cutting measurehas been hurting the very patients theywere caring for. But other bureaucrats fromthe Medicines and Healthcare RegulatoryAgency are now asking NHS, as well asprivate dentists, to get rid of the devices.

In assessing the damage so far, officialshave had to admit they don’t know howmany patients have been exposed to theadditional risk. So far, 13 of the Chinese-made devices have been seized at a distri-bution center. Most were sold on Internetsites including eBay, the BBC said. At leastone dental surgery office was found to be

Hand-held dental x-raymachines linked to cancer risks

using the dangerous device.Officials discovered the devices were

emitting excessive radiation during emer-gency testing of the product by the HealthProtection Agency, as well as scientistsat King’s College Hospital in London.

There, officials found thatthe devices contained insuf-ficient lead shielding insideof them to protect both den-tists and patients from exces-sive radiation exposure.

In addition, officials foundthat the hand-held x-ray’sbeam is too wide, meaning apatient’s entire skull and brainare needlessly exposed to theadditional radiation, not justtheir teeth. Further, the deviceposes an electrical hazard be-cause it comes with a Euro-pean-style electrical plug andtravel adapter not compatiblefor the United Kingdom’spower system. So, besides be-ing a major fire hazard, the de-vice also could give dentistsand patients a dangerous

shock. “Over time someone operating thismachine, such as a dental assistant, wouldbe exposed to unacceptable levels of accu-mulated radiation and this would have anincreased risk to their health,” said DonaldEmerton, a scientist who tested the device. Icertainly wouldn’t want someone to use thispiece of equipment to take an X-ray of me,”he told the BBC.

The MHRA said it believes the UK’sonly distributor of the machines must beshuttered, but said investigations are on-going to make sure no more of them canbe sold and used there.

LAHORE: PML-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif presiding a high level meeting.Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and others are present.

LAHORE: Devotees lighting clay lamp at the shrine of Hazrat Ali bin Usman Alhajveri popularly known as Data GanjBakhsh in connection with 969th annual Urs celebrations.

LAHORE: People sitting around fire to keep warm during chilled weather in provincialcapital.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Directing fool-proof security arrangements,throughout the province onthe occasion of ChehlumHazrat Imam Hussain, thePunjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifhas said that all possiblesteps should be taken toward of any unpleasant inci-dent.

He also directed that fourtiers security cordon shouldbe established around theprocessions and Majalis,while district administrationand police officers shouldpersonally monitor these pro-cessions and Majalis. He fur-ther ordered strict legal ac-tion against those makingprovocative speeches, be-sides ensuring adherence tothe timings of Chehlum pro-cessions.

Chief Minister was pre-

Shahbaz orders foolproofsecurity arrangements

siding over a high-level meet-ing held in connection withreviewing the security ar-rangements, throughout theprovince, including Lahore,on the occasion of ChehlumHazrat Imam Hussain, atModel Town, Wednesday.

The meeting was at-tended by Senior AdvisorSenator Sardar Zulfiqar AliKhosa, Provincial Law Min-ister Rana Sanaullah Khan,MPA Shuja Khanzada, Ad-vocate General Punjab, Sec-retary Auqaf, CommissionerLahore Division, AdditionalIGs, CCPO Lahore, DGPR andconcerned officials of HomeDepartment. It was decidedin the meeting to impose banon pillion riding on motor-cycles, in Lahore, on the oc-casion of Chehlum HazratImam Hussain, with effectfrom tonight, at 12.00 am.

Addressing the meeting,Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif

said that the country is pass-ing through a critical phase,as it is facing serious chal-lenges of terrorism and ex-tremism. He said there is agreater need of unity andsolidarity in the society to-day, and we would have toensure law and order by fol-lowing the golden principlesof Ittehad Bain-ul-Muslemeen in true sense.

He said Punjab govern-ment has alerted all law-en-forcing institutions on theoccasion of Chehlum HazratImam Hussain, while allpossible steps are beingtaken to ensure foolproofsecurity of processions andMajalis. Chief Minister di-rected the concerned au-thorities to take organizersof processions into confi-dence with regard to secu-rity arrangements, whilemonitoring of processionsand Majalis through CCTV

cameras, should be en-sured.

Chief Minister further di-rected that search lights, atthe routes of processions,should be arranged,alongwith provision of gen-erators. Chief Minister or-dered law-enforcing agen-cies to conduct search opera-tions at hotels, guest houseand inns, whereas high-rank-ing police officials shouldremain in the filed to person-ally review security arrange-ments.Senior Advisor SenatorSardar Zulfiqar Ali KhanKhosa informed the meetingthat control rooms have beenset up in the all districts ofPunjab, including Lahore,while CCTV cameras are be-ing installed at the routes ofprocessions. Chief Ministerwas given detailed briefingon security arrangementsduring the meeting.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Lahore policehave submitted an applica-tion to the Punjab govern-ment for suspending cellularservices in the capital me-tropolis on account of HazratImam Hussain’s (RA)Chehlum and Urs Hazrat AliHajveri here on Wednesday.

The application calls forsuspending services inLahore from 9am to 12am to-day (Thursday) in order toavert any acts of terrorism onthe Chehlum of Hazrat ImamHussain (RA) and the Urs ofData Sahib.

On this occasion, themetropolis police took spe-cial security measures toavoid any untoward incidentand all the roads that lead toData Darbar and Gamey Shah

Police request blockingof mobile services

All govt hospitals to remain open on Chehlum

have been blocked by install-ing heavy containers whilesimilar kind of containers arealso installed on TaxaliChowk, Urdu Bazaar, DistrictCourt, Ghora Hospital andother surrounding areas.

Only pedestrians are be-ing allowed to pass throughthe narrow paths left alongside the roads. Arrangementof foolproof security mea-sures were taken while theroute of the procession wasalso blocked raising barbedwires. As many as 16, 000cops have been deployedalong the procession routewhile policemen in plain uni-form would also keep watchon this occasion.

Shias processions takeplace every year on the 40thday of Imam Hussain’s (RA)death and have previously

been targeted by terrorists.Meanwhile, a spokesman

for the Health Departmenthas announced that all gov-ernment hospitals in Lahoreand the offices of Health De-partment shall remain opentoday (Thursday) on the eveof “Chehlum of Hazrat ImamHussain (RA) and the “Urs”of Hazrat Ali Hajveri (RA).

The spokesman furthersaid that local holiday inLahore on 3rd January 2013will not be observed in gov-ernment hospitals and theoffices of Health Departmentin Lahore.The spokesman added thatnecessary instructions havebeen issued to all Principalsof medical colleges/teachinghospitals and DHQ & THQhospitals of Lahore in thisregard.

CDGL providingbest facility oftransportation:

DCOSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—District Coordi-nation Officer (DCO) LahoreNoor-ul-Amin Mengal hassaid that CDGL is trying toprovide best facility of trans-portation to the citizens andit is the first priority of CDGL.

He expressed these viewswhile chairing a meeting ofthe allotment of licenses ofD-Class Bus Stands undernew zoning policy.

EDO (Works & Services)Ch. Ashraf, Secretary RTAMian Mohsin Rasheed mem-bers of Auction committee &Transporters were also pre-sented in meeting.

About 88 cases werepresent in meeting and DCOLahore gave approval of 29D-Class Bus Stands.

DCO Lahore directed EDO(Works & Services) and Secre-tary RTA Lahore Mian MohsinRasheed to pay visit at sites ofnew approved 29 D-Class BusStands and to present their rec-ommendations, so that NOCcould be issued to owners ofthe new Bus Stands.

PU awardsPhD degrees

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Univer-sity has awarded 05 PhD de-grees to the scholars in whichBushra Tabassum D/oMuhammad Ramzan in thesubject of Molecular Biologyafter approval of her thesisentitled “SIRNA Based GeneSilencing of Potato Virus Y”,Nasir Ahmad S/o RashidAhmad in the subject of Bio-logical Sciences after ap-proval of his thesis entitled“Amylolytic Enzyme(s) FromHyperthermophilic Archaea:Cloning and Characteriza-tion’’, Zia ur Rehman S/oMuhammad Shamoon Samimin the subject of Islamic Stud-ies after approval of his the-sis entitled “Al Tafseer-Ul-Kashif Manhaj WaTafurdat”, Shafaq RasheedD/o Malik Abdul Rasheed inthe subject of Punjabi afterapproval of her thesis en-titled “Si Harfi [MudhQadeem Ton 2007 Tikr]” andMamoona Mushtaq D/oMuhammad Mushtaq in thesubject of Applied Psychol-ogy after approval of her the-sis entitled “PsychologicalRisk Factors and CopingStrategies of Hypertension”.

Meanwhile, PU Examina-tions Department has de-clared the results of MScPsychology Part-I & II, an-nual exam 2012 and MScGender Studies Part-II, an-nual exam 2012. Detailed re-sults are also available at PUwebsite www.pu.edu.pk

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—University ofHealth Sciences’ (UHS) shallmake all out efforts to keepBSc (Hons) courses in alliedhealth sciences running in itsaffiliated institutes despitenon-availability of funds.

This was resolved in ameeting of the academic com-mittee of UHS Board of Gov-ernors held here on Wednes-day. The meeting was chairedby the convener of the com-mittee Prof. Malik HussainMubbashar. The other mem-bers included Prof. Amir Aziz,UHS Vice Chancellor Prof.I.A. Naveed and Registrar Dr.Asad Zaheer.

UHS takes notice of courses’closure in medical colleges

The committee showedconcern over the closure ofthese BSc (Hons) courses insome of the affiliated medi-cal colleges.

UHS VC told the commit-tee that the university tookan initiative in 2007 bylaunching BSc (Hons)courses in Allied Health Sci-ences in its affiliated medicaland dental colleges to revi-talize this long neglectedfield and to overcome theshortage of qualified man-power for essential functionsof laboratory diagnosis, ra-dio-diagnosis and rehabilita-tion of patients.

He further said thatPunjab government fully

supported the idea andcourses in 16 disciplines werestarted in 18 public and pri-vate sector medical institu-tions of the province from thesession 2007-2008.

The courses included 4-year BSc (Hons) in MedicalImaging Technology, Medi-cal Lab Technology, Physio-therapy, Optometry, Emer-gency & Intensive Care,Dental Technology, CardiacPerfusion, Biomedical Engi-neering, Speech & LanguageTherapy, RespiratoryTherapy, OccupationTherapy, Dental Hygiene,Nutrition, Audiology, Opera-tion Theatre Assistant andOphthalmic Medicine.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab GovernorMakhdoom Syed AhmadMahmood has hinted at theconstitution of a high-levelprovincial peace committeeto ensure law and order be-sides forging peace, frater-nity and homogeneity amongall sects across Punjab.

The peace committee willcomprise Ulema and religiousscholars from all schools ofthought, provincial religiousparty heads, city notables,provincial chief secretary andInspector General of Police,he said while talking to a 14-member delegation of JUI (F)at the Governor House here.

Makhdoom for provincialpeace committee

The JUI (F) delegationwas led by Maulana RasheedAhmed Ludhyanvi.Speaking on the occasion,Makhdoom said Ulema couldplay a vital role in ensuringgood governance in the prov-ince, adding that he has greatrespect and regard forUlema.

Islam is complete of codeof life and gives the messageof peace and welfare of hu-manity and the need is to in-culcate these guiding prin-ciples among the masses, headded. He urged the role of theUlema for the solidarity andstability of the country aswell as democracy. He said

that joint and collective ef-forts could help curb the cur-rent wave of sectarianismand terrorism in the country.

Makhdoom stressed theneed to eliminate politics ofhatred and create an atmo-sphere of love peace andpeace besides promotingdemocratic norms.

The Governor also calledon the opposition to play itsconstructive constitutionalrole in the development of thecountry.

Maulana RasheedAhmed Lodhyanvi also con-veyed felicitations to thePunjab Governor from JUI (F)Chief Maulana Fazal urRehman.

Cleanlinessdrive in LGH

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Principal PostGraduate Medical Institute &Lahore GeneralHospital(LGH) Prof. AnjamHabib Vohra has said that citi-zens should be constantlysensitized about the impor-tance of cleanliness and hy-gienic life style in order tosave them from all types ofdiseases including dengue.

He expressed these viewswhile inspecting a seven-daycleanliness drive at LGH onits commencement. MedicalSuperintendent LGH Dr.Muhammad Hassan, Princi-pal Nursing School RaeesaIshtiaq were present on theoccasion.

Prof. Anjam Habib Vohrasaid that in accordance withthe Chief Minister’s direc-tions, the increased convey-ance allowance has beenadded to the salaries of PGMIand LGH staff and now it isthe responsibility of all theemployees to fulfil the expec-tations of the government aswell as patients by perform-ing their duty honestly withhard working.

He said that preventionand cleanliness are betterthan cure. He further said thatthough it was the responsi-bility of the hospital admin-istration to ensure sanitationand hygienic environment inthe hospital, however pa-tients and their attendantscould also play their role forthis noble cause by avoidingspiting and filth spreading.He advised the staff to be-have politely and decentlywith the patients and atten-dants and help them readily.

ERA bodyelected

LAHORE—Members of theEducation Reporters Asso-ciation (ERA) have electednew office bearers for year2013-14.

According to the results,Mazhar Iqbal (ARY TV) hasbeen elected as Chairmanwhile Awais Qureshi(Nawa—i Waqt) Vice Chair-man and Rab Nawaz (Jang)as President. Other officebearers are: Sanaullah Nagra(On Line) General Secretary,Ume Farwa (Geo News) VicePresident, Secretary Informa-tion Kashif Dawoodi (APP),Nigar Khurram (Capital TV)Finance Secretary, Joint Sec-retary Ali Afzal (Nawa-i-Waqt) and Ali Usman (Ex-press Tribune) Secretary Co-ordination.—APP