Signs of someinconvenience to IDPs................................................Qadri to supportZarb-e-Azb and earn respect................................................US fans Iraq’sfragmentation

See Page 04

DASU—Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharifperformed the ground-breaking ceremony of the4320 (MW) Dasu Hydro-Power Project here onWednesday.

Speaking at the cer-emony, the Prime Ministertermed it a historic day notonly for Pakistan but alsofor the people of the area.

He said the ground-breaking of Dasu Projectwas a reflection of thepresent government’s re-solve to achieve energy se-curity for fast-paced devel-opment of the country, aPM’s Office statement said.

Dasu power project togenerate 4320 MW

PM performs ground breaking Plan to end energycrisis, change people’s lives Thanks WB

Continued on Page 7

DASU: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif offer-ing Dua after unveiling the ground-breaking plaque ofDasu Hydro-Power Project on Wednesday.

S U K K U R —Oppos i t i onLeader in the National As-sembly Syed KhursheedShah said on Wednesdaythat the rallies and dem-onstrations can’t bringdown a government.

Talking to media per-sons at the Sukkur Airport,Khursheed Shah said conspiracies were

Demonstrations can’t bringdown govt: Khursheed Shah

made in the past to bring down electedgovernments. The opposition leader saidthe Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief DrTahirul Qadri has arrived in Pakistan withhis own wish and he must also depart onhis own terms. He said only those peoplewho had the courage to sacrifice their livesin politics can bring revolution.

Khursheed Shah said only the PakistanContinued on Page 7

Bosnia endIran’s hopesSALVADOR—Bosnia-Herze-govina ended Iran’s hopesof advancing to theknockout stages andregistered its first WorldCup win in the processwith a 3-1 victory in GroupF on Wednesday.

The Bosnians took acommanding 2-0 lead withgoals from Edin Dzeko inthe 23rd and MiralemPjanic in the 53rd beforeIran hit back. Reza gavesome hope to the Iranianswith a tap-in goal in the81st, but Avdija Vrsaljevicreplied immediately withhis low shot from the edgeof the area to restore thetwo-goal buffer.—AP

BANNU: Pakistan Army soldier distributing relief goods among the internally displaced civilians of North Waziristan.

RAWALPINDI: Isphanyar Bhandara, MNA of Pakistan Muslim League-N at the occa-sion of dispatching relief goods for the IDPs of North Waziristan.

QUETTA—Chairman National Accountability Bureau(NAB) Qamar Zaman Chaudhry referring the Transpar-ency International latest report said that tangible declinehas been witnessed in the cases of corruption in thecountry for last couple of months.

As many as 705 references were filed recovering 260billion of looted money since 1999.

He was addressing a press conference here at localhotel on Wednesday. Director General NAB BalochistanRegion, Syed Khalid Iqbal accompanied with the chair-man.

“In line with the policy of NAB, efforts were afoot tostrengthen the Awareness and Prevention side involv-ing the civil society and media outlets against the curseof corruption,” he said adding Balochistan had goodindications in terms of Awareness and Prevention com-pared to other provinces.

He noted that 941 inquires were under process and624 investigation were underway while 705 referencesagainst accused in various corruption cases were so farfiled.

A total of Rs 260 billion looted money had been re-covered, of them Rs 1544 million were recovered fromBalochistan. Qamar Zaman stressed that in order toescalate action, high powered committee had beenformed to look into the cases of the high profiles pend-ing for years.

“Under the recommendation of the committee, inves-tigation of 200 cases have been completed while refer-ences would be filed in remaining 115 cases which areaunder investigation.Reacting to the wrong perceptionabout the Plea Bargain (PB) and Voluntary Return (VR),Chairman NAB said that in the light of provision in theAccountability Laws, looted money is recovered fromaccused through PB and VR to avoid long legalprocedure.“Under the Plea Bargain, accused is liable topay fine of 15 percent of total embezzled amount besides,in case of government employee, he is disqualified fromcontinuing the services and the politician is barred fromcontesting elections, he maintained.Chairman said thatmeeting of Executive Board of NAB lately held decidedto close the cases of three parliamentarians.—APP

Corruption decliningin Pakistan: NAB

boss

KP govt launches online pricecontrol system during Ramazan

Local Government Department goes Online STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Khyber PakhtunkhwaGovernment has formally launchedonline system in the province to con-trol prices of essential commoditiesduring the month of Ramzan.

This is part of KhyberPakhtunkhwa Government special re-forms initiative. This was revealed at ahigh level meeting chaired by Addl:Chief Secretary Khalid Pervez on thespecial directives of the Chief Secre-tary at Peshawar on Wednesday. Themeeting was attended by all commis-sioners/deputy commissioners of theprovince and other concerned offic-ers.

The meeting was informed thatthrough this system general public canlodge their online complaints on tollfree number 0800-33-800 and 8899 andalso email on complaint@kp.gov.pkand immediate action will be takenagainst their registered complaints, the

system is accessible via http://w w w . f p c . k p . g o v . p k /www.fpc.kp.gov.pk.

As directed by the Chief Secretary,Directorate of Information Technologyhas nominated Focal persons in all dis-tricts and properly trained them on theFood Price Control System. The focalperson will update the prices of differ-ent commodities fixed by the govern-ment in various districts which will alsobe posted on the portal.

All the magistrates have beentasked to ensure control of prices ongovernments prescribed rates; in thisregard the high ups of police have beendirected to ensure the provision ofcops to escort the magistrates duringtheir surprise visit to markets.

The meeting also decided thatfood controllers and other concernedquarters will ensure their presence invegetables markets during biddinghours in the morning so that theprices of food item could be con-

trolled.The Additional Chief Secretary

directed all the DC/Commissioners toimmediately activate the market pricecommittees in their respective areas.Meanwhile, A ceremony was held atthe Local governance School here tomark the formal launch of the LocalGovernment, Elections and Rural De-velopment Department’s website.

The website, acknowledged as animportant tool for the department’sfuture information management, isdynamic and offers functional levelsof interactivity through multimediasupport features, scrolling news up-dates and a citizens feedback format.

Communication as a tool of citi-zen engagement can do wonders asfar as service delivery is concerned.The website has given us the free-dom and also has made us more ac-countable to improve the outreachand delivery of our services by in-teracting more actively with the citi-

zens of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whoare our clients as well as the pay-masters’, said Hifz-ur-Rehman, Sec-retary Local the website hasbeen established in line with the e-government framework, known to beone of the priority areas of the Gov-ernment of KP.

“We are strengthening our inter-nal as well as external communica-tion in a number of ways, with thelaunch of the website, we have nowgone a step ahead to engage withthe citizens of the province throughinformation sharing as well as pub-lic participation’, added the Secre-tary.

In line with the e-governmentframework, to utilize information tech-nology to serve citizens better, thewebsite provides an access point forcitizens and other stakeholders to notonly benefit from the informationposted there but also to participatethrough the citizen’s feedback format.

MULTAN—Chairman Mustaqbil PakistanNadeem Mumtaz Qureshi has urged Dr.Allama Tahir Ul Qadri to wait for next gen-eral election for change through ballot andavoid acts that carry the risk of politicalinstability.

He said Doing politics was every party’sright but politicking that can potentiallycause political instability must be avoided.,

In press statement on Wednesday, hesaid, if Dr. Tahir Ul Qadri wanted to changethe system then he should wait for the nextgeneral election, gain majority and then pro-ceed ahead in a democratic manner. He said

that Maulana Tahir Ul Qadri always talkrevolution but never revealed main featuresof the system he wanted to introduce.

Engineer Nadeem Mumtaz Qureshi saidit was time for all to work together for thedevelopment of the country.

He said that it was right of the govern-ment to have full opportunity in accordancewith the Constitution to work for the wel-fare of the people and development of thecountry. He advised the government tokeep the doors open for dialogue with allthose who have apprehensions and taketheir suggestions into account. —APP

Qadri advised to waitfor next general elections

PESHAWAR—Chief Minister PervezKhattak Wednesday announced compen-sation under Shaheed package for the vic-tims of firing incident on Peshawar-boundPIA flight during landing at the airport latelast night. Under the announcement, themartyred woman’s heirs will be paid Rs. 5lacs while the injured will be given Rs. 2lacs each. The Chief Minister has directedthe concerned authorities for arrangingearly payment of the compensationamounts.

He made clear that such meager moneycan’t be substitute of precious human lifeand blood of innocent injured citizens.However he said that this amount wassymbol of sharing the miseries of the ter-ror affected families.

Meanwhile Pervez Khattak has con-demned the terror act of firing on PIA planeduring landing at Bacha Khan AirportPeshawar. In a message, he said that ter-ror attacks on the innocent poor workerscoming home from overseas was heinouscrime that has no justification and will notbe allowed at any cost.

The Chief Minister soon after hearingabout the incident contacted the con-cerned high authorities and directed forapprehending the culprits and makingfoolproof arrangements to avert such in-cidents in future.

He expressed deep sympathies withmembers of all affected families, prayedfor eternal peace of the killed woman andearly recovery of the injured.—APP

Compensation for victims of PIAplane firing incident announced

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Me-teorological Department(PMD) on Wednesday fore-cast rain-thundershower forscattered places ofIslamabad, Rawalpindi,Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Lahore,Hazara divisions and Kash-mir during next 24 hours.

Mainly hot and dryweather is expected in mostparts of the country duringthe next 24 hours. Accord-ing to the synoptic situation,seasonal low was lying overnorth Baluchistan with itstrough extending southeast-ward.

A shallow westerlytrough was still affectingKashmir and its adjoininghilly areas. Weak Moist cur-rents from Arabian sea werecontinuously penetratinginto north eastern parts ofPunjab and Kashmir.

The highest maximumtemperatures recorded duringthe last 24 hours wereShaheed Benazirabad andSibbi 47 C, Larkana,Moenjodaro and Sukkur 46 C

Rain likely atscattered places

and Jaccobabad 45 C. Themaximum temperatures re-corded during the last 24hours were Islamabad 34 C,Lahore 32 C, Karachi 35 C,Peshawar 40 C, Quetta 37 C,Skardu 33 C, Murree 24 C,Muzaffarabad 37 C, Gilgit 39C, Faisalabad 37 C, Multan 41C and Hyderabad 40 C.

The rainfall recorded was

Gujranwala 10 mm, Sialkot 09,Mandi Bahuddin 08, Kotli,Islamabad, Rawalpindi andMurree 03, Lower dir,Mangala and Gujrat 02 mm.

Meanwhile, Quetta MetOffice has forecast hot anddry weather for the provincialcapital today. The maximumtemperature is likely from 34to 37 Centigrade and the low-est from 17 to 20 Centi-grade.—APP

PESHAWAR—Chief Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak Wednes-day said that the provincial governmenthas decided the utilization of the sur-plus natural gas for generating electric-ity and its provision to industries onsubsidized rate to resolve the problemof unemployment in the province.

Addressing the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Assembly, the chief min-ister said that unemployment is big mis-fortune for both the country and prov-ince. He said that due to law & orderand terrorism has made investment in-feasible in their province and all indus-trial units are closed. However, he saidthat they had search out a solution forit.

Under that solution, he said thesome of the surplus gas would be usedin industrial sector while the remainingwould utilized for generating 300 mega-watt electricity to all industrial estatesof the province. He was hopeful thatan agreement with federal governmentin this regard would be signed in thecurrent month.

First, he said they wanted the con-struction of big industrial estate in gasproducing districts of Hangu, Kohatand Karak and provision of 24-hourelectricity to the industrial estates of

Peshawar, Risalpur and Hattar. He saidthat Malakand is a tax-free zone andprovision of cheap electricity could at-tract big investment.

The chief minister said they hadchanged the style of ruling, cut downthe expenses and adopted simple life.He mentioned the establishment of theRTI Commission, Public ProcurementAuthority and Revenue Authority asbig achievements of the provincialgovernment.

Similarly, he said that the abolitionof political interference has improvedthe performance of police and policestation related complaints had regis-tered decline. He said that he is sincerein bringing change in Thana culture andsought the cooperation of legislatorsin this regard.

The chief minister said that the pro-vincial government had announced apoor-friendly budget and has allocatedan amount of Rs.7 billion for provisionof subsidized flour and ghee to over 4million poor and deserving families.

He said that for industrial develop-ment, the government had continuedlong-term loan and good projects arebeing supported through the Bank ofKhyber. The KPK chief minister saidthat a Mass Transit Project has also

been planned for Peshawar and he wastrying to complete it with minimum bud-get.

Under the one plan they are mak-ing efforts for the use of the railwaytrack and the second is the utilizationof G.T. Road, he added. He said thatnegotiations for signing agreementwith Pakistan Railways in this regardwas ubderway, saying the governmentwanted to start work on at least of theseprojects. In this connection, he said abriefing will also be arranged for theparliamentary leaders of the oppositionparties.

He said that the feasibility of theproject would be completed within aperiod of one month. He said that ahuge amount of Rs.29 billion has beenallocated for Clean and GreenPeshawar Plan, adding that cleanlinessand provision of clean drinking waterwere the main problems. He said thatthe contract of sanitation in Peshawarwill be awarded by September 15, 2014and then people themselves will wit-ness the difference. The chief minis-ter said that funds for the resolutionof the problem of drinking water andsanitation have been released and forthis purpose they will technical ex-perts. —APP

Gas to be utilised forelectricity generation: Khattak

MULTAN—Technical Education & Voca-tional Training Authority (TEVTA) set up atotal of 72 new technical institutes includ-ing six vocational training institutes andfifty-two technical training centres forwomen at district level across Punjab dur-ing last five years.

A spokesperson of TEVTA said onWednesday that these institutes wouldcater to over 100,000 students for technicaleducation.

He added that six colleges have beenestablished at Bhakkar, Taxila, Mianwali,Sanga Hill, Kamalia and Pindi Bhattian whileeight institutes were set up at Bhalwal,Shorkot, Bhera, Jalapur Pirwala, Chakwal,chowk sarwar Shaheed, Joharabad and

TEVTA sets up 72 newtechnical institutes

Faqirwali.Another six technical training institutes

have been built at Mianwali, Chakwal,Sukhkheki, Knagunpur,Chowk SarwarShaheed and Rahwali, he informed.

The spokesperson said that secondshift had also been introduced in the insti-tutes being run under TEVTA for three-yeardiploma courses and added that exactly8150 students would get a chance for ad-mission in these institutes.

A three-month course has beenlaunched as pilot project for inmates ofMultan and Lahore Jails to make themskilled people, he said adding that aftersuccess of the project, it would be extendedto other jails of the province.—APP

QUETTA—On a special invitation ofthe Commandant Southern Command,Lieutenant General Nasser KhanJanjua, a group of 40 students ofGwadar Institute of Technologyreached Quetta.

A three day stay in Quetta Cantstudent would visit Quetta Instituteof Medical Sciences, Baluchistan In-stitute of Technical Education andMerry Fort. As many as 78 studentsof Awaran enrolled in the Armyschools also accompanied the visit-ing GIT students. “The spirit of thestudents of Balochistan was com-mendable as they have the potentialto compete that of the students learn-ing in other provinces,”

Commander Southern CommandLieutenant General Nasser Khan

Janjua said while addressing at theceremony organized in the hounor ofGwadar and Awaran students inQuetta Cant.

He said that Army in collaborationwith the provincial government wasstriving hard to provide the youth ofthe province with best education fa-cilities. “The youth of Baluchistan iscompetent and needed only the rightdirection and guidance. He said thatwith the collective efforts of the gov-ernment and Army, soon peace wouldbe restored in Balochistan. Chief Min-ister Balochsitan Dr. Abdul MalikBaloch, on the occasion said thatArmy was plying commendable rolein the uplift of Balcohistan. “Reformsin Education along with improvementof law and order was the top most pri-

ority of the government,” he added.CM said that efforts were afoot to

engage the youth of the province inhealthy activities and education sec-tor plan has been evolved to bring tan-gible change in the overall situationof Balochistan.

He noted that donors conferencewas being convened in Islamabadaimed at generate help of the interna-tional donors in uplift of the educa-tion sector. “Our major allocation inthe budget for fiscal year 2014-15 wasfor the betterment of the education inBalochsitan,” Dr Abdul Malik said.

Balcohistan health ministerRehmat Saleh Baloch, Major GeneralSamrez Salik, MPAs Rahila Durani,Samina Khan and Director ISPR Briga-dier Tipo Karim.—APP

Commander Southern Commandhosts Gwadar, Awaran students

MULTAN—Child Protection Bureau (CPB)Multan has reunited 4058 children with theirfamilies during last seven years since itsestablishment in 2007.

Overall 4092 children were rescued dur-ing last seven years who included thosewho had fled their homes or missing, in-volved in beggary, collection of trash tomake a living, and those subjected to tor-ture, CPB Multan media coordinator RaoMukhtar told APP on Wednesday.

The CPB Multan has got 22 FIRs regis-tered against those involved in torturingchildren and sixteen of them have beenawarded punishments while cases of the

rest of the accused were being tried bycourts. According to year-wise breakdown,500 children were rescued in 2012-13 and490 of them were returned to their familiesor legal heirs after proper counselling onchildren rights.

In 2013-14, 364 children were rescuedand they along with others taken under CPBshelter before 2013-14 totalling 374 childrenwere handed over to their respective fami-lies. Exactly 28 children were availing facili-ties at CPB Multan these days. CPB pro-vide good food to children in accordancewith weather for their better physicalgrowth.—APP

Multan CPB reunites 4058children with families

221,253 IDPs fromNorth Waziristan

vaccinatedPESHAWAR—Faced with anumber of internal and exter-nal challenges people ofNorth Waziristan agency(NWA) have to defeat manyenemies including polio.

More than 470,000 peoplefrom NWA have been regis-tered at various registrationpoints out of which 221,253have been vaccinated so far.

According to the datashared by district administra-tion of Bannu a total of221,253 people have beenvaccinated so far out of which149494 have been vacci-nated at FR Bannu, 9180 atBannu, 8430 at Tank, 5081Lakki Marwat, 6247D.I.Khan, 17838 Hangu,9847 Kohat, 179 Karak,14957 Peshawar.

The children living inFR Bannu, Bannu and ad-joining districts are in dan-ger of contracting polio dueto influx of large number ofunvaccinated children fromNorth WaziristanAgency.—APP

19 Ramazanbazaars set upin Faisalabad

FAISALABAD—The city dis-trict government has set up19 Ramzan Bazaars across thedistrict to facilitate people inpurchasing commodity itemson economical rates.

The bazaars have beenset up at following points:Riaz Shahid Chowk near IqbalStadium, Millat Road near StarPetroleum, Eid Gah QaimSaien shrine Rajawala, AkbarChowk Gulistan Colony,Faizan Madina Susan Road,Mehdi Mohala near Santsinghwala Mansoorabad,Fowara Chowk BatalaColony, D-Type Chowk,Sasta Model bazaar JhangRoad, Kaleem Shaheed Park,Adda Sadhar main JhangRoad, Chattriwali groundJinnah Colony, Gojran Roadnear Rickshaw standSamandri, Chiniot Road nearJinnah park Tehsil ChakJhumra, Qaid-e-Azam Roadnear bus stand tehsilTandlianwala, Pul Sem Nehrnear rail bazaar MamoonKanjan, Masjid Bazar nearPTCL tehsil Jarranwala, Jhumra Road Khurrianwala, Satiana Adda Jarranwala.—APP

LALAMUSA: DCO Gujrat Liaqat Ali Chattha and Dr Javed Riaz Mumtaz meeting thepatients during their visit to Trauma Centre, Lalamusa.

GUL HAMAAD FAROOQI

CHITRAL—Young ClubReshun (YCR) Talent award2014 ceremony held for posi-tion holder students of

Reshun area in a private col-lege of the area. The cer-emony was presided over byMuhammad Abbas Ex presi-dent UBL while AdditionalAssistant CommissionerMastuj Muhammad Salihwas chief guest on the occa-sion. The ceremony wasstarted with the recitationfrom the Holy Quran whilefemale student presentedHamd Sharif.

Shahzad Ahmad Shahzadpresident of YCR said thatour organization is non po-litical non profitable organi-zation and working only onhumanitarian grounds onlywithout any support by NGOor government organizations.He said that volunteers of

YCR also play vita role in anydisaster and natural calamityby rehabilitation and rescueactivities as well as they con-ducting talent award for po-sition holders students toencourage them.

Speaking on the occa-sion the speakers highlyhailed efforts of YCR for con-ducting this ceremony to en-courage talented students ofthis backward area. They saidthat Govt. girl’s high schoolwas damaged by flood in2010 but students were ad-justed in primary schoolbuilding. They said there isno science laboratory, no li-brary, and play ground andexamination hall in the onlyhigh school.

Talent Award 2014ceremony held at Reshun

OPF MD todistributecheques

MULTAN—Overseas Paki-stanis Foundation (OPF)Managing Director IftikharBabar will distribute chequesamong families of Pakistanisdied or disabled in foreigncountries and would lay thefoundation stone of ascheme for upgradation of anOPF school here on June 28.

The MD will distributecheques worth Rs 2.1 millionamong 14 heirs of Pakistaniswho had either died in for-eign countries or developeddisability there. Each personwould get a cheque worthRs 150,000, 12 of them thosewhose bread winners haddied and two disabled work-ers.

Iftikhar Babar will alsolay foundation stone of ascheme to build new ad-ministration block,teachingand laboratory blocks aspart of upgradation of OPFschool in the city whereover 500 students were get-ting education.—APP

PESHAWAR: KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak witnessing signing of agreement between industries departmentand Aman Tech for technical education of 500 KP youth in Karachi at CM Chamber KP Assembly.

Police officialscomplete trainingMULTAN—As many as 60police officials on Wednes-day completed 30-day train-ing of fieldcraft skills andweapon handling in order todeal with any emergencysituation.

A Passing out parade ofthe batch held at PoliceLines. The training waslaunched after directionfrom IG Punjab in order toequip police officials withlatest techniques of inves-tigation and fieldcraft skills.

City Police Officer (CPO)Sultan Ahmed Chaudhrywhile addressing the cer-emony appreciated the per-formance and enthusiasm ofthe training participants.CPO Sultan AhmedChaudhry stated that use oflatest technology andweapon handling was of vi-tal importance and need ofhour.

He also hailed the com-mitment of the participantsand urged them to utilise allpossible potential to serve thepublic in offering foolproofsecurity to them.—APP

Signs of someinconvenience to IDPs

THE Federal Government and its concerned organizations are apparently doing their best to cope with the humanitarian crisis arising out of the operation Zarb-e-Azb. The Government has so far

released a hefty amount of Rs. 1.5 billion to FATA Disaster ManagementAuthority, a relief fund has been instituted at the Federal level and thePunjab Government too has established a separate fund with initial allo-cations of Rs. 500 million. Pakistan Army has set up 35 centres through-out the country to collect donations in cash and kind for the IDPs.

On the face of it, the humanitarian aspect of the challenge is beingdealt with satisfactorily as camps have been established with provision ofnecessary facilities and even cattle pens have also been set up to take careof cattle heads of the affected families. Establishment of field hospitalsand recreational facilities for children mean that the authorities are fullyalive to the requirements of the displaced persons. However, the dem-onstration held by the affected people on Tuesday, who blocked a roadin Bannu to protest mismanagement in distribution of ration is symp-tomatic of some drawbacks in the overall arrangements. There is nodearth of cash or ration but it seems the authorities concerned have notbeen able to devise a satisfactory mechanism to distribute them. Wehave seen on previous occasions that some greedy people, in collusionwith the relevant staff, get more than their due share while others re-main neglected. No doubt, the magnitude of the crisis is alarming as thenumber of IDPs has surged beyond four hundred thousand and it islikely to reach six hundred thousand. It is quite obvious that it wouldtake some time for the Government to make arrangements to the satis-faction of the affected people. It would have been advisable if theseissues were sorted out before launching of the operation so as to avoidany trouble on this account. Still, it is hoped that apart from Federal andPunjab Governments, other governments, businessmen, philanthropistsand NGOs would come forward and help alleviate sufferings of theIDPs. At the same time, focus should be on registration of the IDPs andissuance of cards to them, which should form basis for distribution ofassistance in cash and kind in a swift and organized manner.

Qadri to support Zarb-e-Azb and earn respectLEAVING aside to what happened a few days back, Pakistan Awami

Tehreek (PAT) head Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri on Tuesday extended his sup-port to the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan for eliminationof terrorists, which is a step in the right direction. Addressing a pressconference, Qadri also appealed to every one to stage peaceful rallies insupport of Zarb-e-Azb from coming Friday and announced that PAT andMinhaj ul Quran International (MQI) would send 25, 000 bags of foodand medicines to IDPs camps.

We wish Dr Qadri realizing the complexities of the prevailing situ-ation in Pakistan should have shown maturity by either delaying hisreturn to Pakistan or focussed attention to garner support for the IDPsof North Waziristan. The IDPs, have left their homes and despite all thenegative propaganda that they would cross over to Afghanistan, decidedto remain within the country. The Federal, KPK and Punjab Govern-ments have already announced relief measures and to address theirconcerns, cash relief is being extended in addition to consumer items.We believe that had the attention of the media not diverted to the ar-rival of Dr Qadri and subsequent developments, the IDPs would havereceived more attention of the government and God fearing and phi-lanthropists would have been able to contribute more than their needs.The problem in Pakistan is that no political party in the oppositionextends a helping hand to the government in difficult times where asin other democratic countries, all the parties gather at a single plat-form to deal with national crises. Pakistan has handled the IDPs issuesof Swat and SWA in the past and managing half a million people fromNWA is not a big issue in a country of over 18 million, though therecould be some teething problems. These IDPs are our fellow country-men and have suffered a lot over the last one decades at the hands of theterrorists. They genuinely deserve all the sympathies. Anyhow, we aresure that if Dr Qadri follows peaceful methods and motivates his fol-lowers to collect relief items, he will earn respect on this count.

US fans Iraq’sfragmentation

AS crisis is deepening in Iraq, US Secretary of State John Kerry metKurd leadership and urged them to stand with Baghdad in the face of

uprising by militants, who have gained control of some important townsand places. Kurdish leadership has, however, told Kerry that chances ofsome settlement are dim as long as Nouri al-Maliki, whose divisive poli-cies have led to this state of affairs, is there to misrule the country.

Though Kurds seized the opportunity of advances by ISIL and gothold of oil-rich Kirkuk, which they consider as capital of independentKurd state, but by and large they have been neutral in the on-going con-flict. The attempt by the US to enlist their support is aimed at giving theconflict a new dimension. This is part of the strategy to divide and rulethat the US adopted during its occupation of Iraq and that is spellinghavoc to the economic and social order of the country now. The US hasalways been dreaming of splitting Iraq into several independent statesand some plans were made known in the past. The US did not go for thatwhile in occupation of Iraq, perhaps, to avoid the blame for its disintegra-tion but the kind of system it created and left in that country was bound toproceed in the same direction. Analysts agree that Iraq is now more di-vided than ever because the political puzzle of Iraqi power, and the rulesof the Iraqi political game, are now set up in such a way that they militateagainst political or social cohesion. Domination of one sect to themarginalization of other is bound to create the situation that we see there.But US is totally biased and cannot play any constructive role in Iraq andtherefore, we would urge the UN to come forward and play its role inpreventing the country from virtual disintegration.

Determined to fight terrorism

The Kurdroulette

MASSOUD Barzani hasthrown a bombshell. Asstakeholders in Iraq and the

West were preoccupied with the on-slaught of extremists on Baghdad,the Kurdish leader believes that it’stime to talk about evolving geopoli-tics in the region. His words are offar-reaching consequences, as theyalmost entail to Balkanisation ofIraq. Choosing his own timing, theIraqi Kurdish president said, ‘we arefacing a new reality and a new Iraq’.Shortly after US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry arrived in Irbil to discushow Kurds can help the central gov-ernment tackle security and politi-cal situation, Barzani had a differentangle to explore.

He told the CNN in anearthshaking interview that Iraqcannot hold together any further,and time has come for an indepen-dent Kurdish state in Iraq. He wascategorical in saying that Iraq isfalling apart, just hours before Kerryreiterated that Washington’s supportto Iraq’s territorial integrity wouldbe intense and sustained. Barzani’sopen-ended call for self-determina-tion to the people of Kurdistan inIraq is tantamount to a new state inthe making. Given to understand thedemocratic credentials of the Kurdsand, especially, Barzani, as heworked together with Baghdad forthe last 10 years since the Gulf War,to protect its solidarity, this changeof heart has a history of its own. Ithas to be taken into considerationthat these remarks — calling for aseparate state — have come closeon the heels of Kurds going overthe board and capturing Kirkuk andits oil-producing installations. Thefact that they are also fighting theintruding ISIL and have retained anindependent identity of their ownon cultural and ethnic groundsspeaks high of changing realities.

Barzani, however, still seemsadvocating a pluralistic Iraq, as hesaid that if a political situation isfound by accommodating both themajor sects then the issue could beaddressed under Baghdad’s leader-ship. But he sees little hope in thatas state institutions are polarised onsectarian and ethnic lines, compel-ling the Kurds to look for a way ontheir own. Yet it is little knownwhether the Iraqi Kurds going solofor a separate state will have anyimpact or invoke crosscurrents forKurds living in Syria, Turkey andelsewhere in the region in closeproximity with the Iraqi territory.The Kurd leader’s submission hasmerely compounded the challengefor Kerry who will have to focushis energies on two fronts: keepingIraq united and at the same timepushing back the ISIL insurgents.As the debate is all about choosingbetween devolution and division,Barzani has made his priorities loudand clear. — Khaleej Times

*****

Qadri’sambitions

THE arrival of Dr TahirulQadri, an Islamic scholar ofPakistani origin based in

Canada, comes at an inopportunetime for the government of PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif as his admin-istration lies focused in a major of-fensive against extremist forces inWaziristan. The moment may beunpropitious for the government but,if the sums are right, then Qadri’stouchdown in Pakistan has been or-chestrated by his alleged backerswho are hell-bent on derailing thegovt’s administrative machinery.

The entire scenario showcasesthe efforts of one individual who iscapitalising on providing nuisancevalue to the authorities under thepretext of urging people to get ridof a corrupt government and lay thefoundations for electoral reforms.But, in his attempts to clean up theso-called ‘mess’, as he calls it, Qadrihas been making several referencesto a more proactive role by thecountry’s military and judiciary —thereby showing his cards on whohis patrons could be. Despite pock-ets of support, Qadri remains afringe player in Pakistan’s politicallandscape, to be used as a merepawn by bigger entities. ThoughQadri manages to cloak his anti-es-tablishment stance with views oninter-faith harmony and an unerr-ing faith in democratic processes,these are mere props for his biggeragenda, which is to hijack the sys-tem and bring it to a halt. To do this,however, he needs to win over themasses and a fair percentage viewhim with scepticism. His ambitions,therefore, will remain controlled.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

THE peace-talks with Talibanare over and the military hasstepped in North Waziristan.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saidthat “Pakistan will no more be al-lowed to become a sanctuary for theterrorists”. The military operationnamed ‘Zarb-e-Azb’, in NorthWaziristan, is a unanimous politico-military initiative launched at terror-ists. COAS, General Raheel Sharifstated “all terrorists along with theirsanctuaries would be eliminated andthe operation is not targeted againstthe valiant tribes of North Waziristanbut against those terrorists who areholed up in the agency and havepicked up arms against the state ofPakistan”. When the announcementwas made that military action wouldbe taken in North Waziristan, thereappeared consensus in the country.Everybody is supporting the militaryoperation and views it essential toweed out terrorism from the coun-try and liberate the society from thismenace.Tribal elders of NorthWaziristan have also assured theirsupport to the military operation.

As per the Inter-Services Pub-lic Relations (ISPR) release “Manytribal elders from around Miranshah,Mir Ali, Datta Khel assure support

Transition in Afghanistan face crisis

IN the aftermath of 9/11 whichparalyzed the American society,when born-again Christian

George W. Bush backed by intellec-tually bankrupt bunch of neo-consannounced his decision to launch acrusade against Afghanistan, therewas a thunderous applause fromAmericans. The Europeans joinedthe chorus of jingoists. Tony Blairacted more loyal than the king andvolubly supported the invasion.Americans, Europeans, Jews andHindus in India were ecstatic overeasy victory in Afghanistan.

Drunk with power, the USopened another front in Iraq inMarch 2003 on false charges with-out consolidating gains in Afghani-stan and without caring for the op-position from home/Europe. Easyentry and occupation of Iraq incitedcowboy Bush to boast that ‘war isover and mission accomplished’.Dispersion diluted the war effort ofthe aggressors enabling the Talibanto re-enter and regroup in south-ern/eastern Afghanistan whichwere their strongholds. Segmentof Al-Qaeda shifted to Iraq fromwhere it gradually morphed intoAl-Qaeda Arabian Peninsula withmain base in Yemen. Resistanceon two fronts made things diffi-cult for the US Central Commandunder Gen David Petraeus andwith passage of time the situationkept worsening in both the theatresof war. Suicide bombers and IEDscaused heavy casualties upon oc-cupying forces.

A sea change has come in thethinking and sentiments of theAmericans after the fiasco in Iraqand 13 years old disastrous war inAfghanistan. The cheering Ameri-cans are now pleading Obama tostop the insane war and bringhome the soldiers. They have noappetite for a military adventurein any part of the world. Very fewin USA or Europe favored mili-tary confrontation with Russia/

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

After shakinghands with a Greek,count your fingers.

Iran backed Syria. Only 7%people in USA expressedsupport for a military actionin Ukraine after Crimea wasforcibly occupied by Rus-sian troops. NATO is shy ofcoming to the rescue of

troops loyal to Kiev fighting pro-Moscow forces in eastern Ukraine.

This change has come about as aresult of debacle in Iraq and now inAfghanistan coupled with global eco-nomic recession. In Iraq, the US-NATO troops lost over 5000 troopsin the 8 years inconclusive war andspent billions of dollars but failed toachieve any of the stated objectives.They had to abandon Iraq in Decem-ber 2011. A new militant force calledISIS is closing on to Baghdad aftercapturing two provinces of Ninevehand Anbar. The US trained Iraqi Na-tional Army is hard pressed to savethe sinking Noor-al Maliki’s Shiiteregime or to stop the sectarian warthe US triggered. US-NATO is in noposition to jump into the fray.

The 150,000 US led ISAF in Af-ghanistan have suffered worst humili-ation. Despite employing excessivemilitary force and resorting to ex-treme torture, few thousand ill-clad/badly equipped Mujahideen led byMullah Omar could not be subdued.Hamid Karzai’s regime installed inDecember 2001 failed on all accountsand the 370,000 strong ANSF trainedby US and British military could notmatch the grit and determination ofresistance forces.

After suffering 2400 fatalities,tens of thousands injuries, the samenumber contracting mental diseasesand a large number committing sui-cides, the US led coalition have fi-nally packed up their baggage andare ready to depart by end Decem-ber 2014 without achieving any oftheir objectives. The initial plan forthe residual force was to stay up to2024, but the plan ran into troubleswhen the peace negotiations withthe Taliban stalled and Karzai re-fused to sign the Bilateral SecurityAgreement (BSA) and left it to thenext president to sign it.

While the Pentagon has pledgedto spare 9800 US troops, the US isexpecting about 2000 to 4000 troopsfrom NATO to form part of residual

force to train/advise and bolster thespirits of Afghan Army till 2016.TheUS is banking upon UK and Austra-lia to provide at least 2000 troopssince France, Germany and otherNATO countries have shown com-plete disinterest. Of the 9800 UStroops confined to the eight militarybases, 1800 will be from SpecialOperations which would conductcounter terrorism operations againstremnants of al-Qaeda.

Stay of residual force is linkedwith signing of BSA, immunity fromAfghan laws and freedom to conductsearch operations. The price the USand its western allies are ready to givefor the residual force is $8.1 billionannually with half of it for the ANSF.With Afghanistan’s economy entirelydependent upon US aid, it has no ca-pacity to finance 370,000 strongANSF. There are plans to reduce itsstrength to 228,000 due to financialconstraint. In case of disruption offoreign aid, the ANSF will disinte-grate as it had disintegrated in 1992.

Not only the US failed in itsmilitary mission, it has so far notbeen able to make any progress onthe political front despite initiatingpeace talks with Taliban in 2010/11. Some light was seen at the endof the dark tunnel in 2012 when theUS and Taliban agreed to exchangefive Taliban prisoners detained inGuantanamo Bay since December2001 in exchange of Sgt BoweBergdahl held in Taliban captivitysince June 2009 and allowing theTaliban to open a political office inDoha. The US administrationmessed up the deal because ofKarzai’s unfounded reservationsand Pentagon laying down undesir-able conditions for the swap over.The deal was almost clinched inJune 2013, but Karzai once againtorpedoed it on flimsy grounds.This act coupled with his refusal tosign BSA placed him in bad booksof Washington.

Well knowing that orderly tran-sition is not possible without takingthe Taliban on board, nor will it bepossible to keep Afghanistan peace-ful after the drawdown of foreigntroops, the US with the help of Qatarsecretly implemented the prisonerswap deal on June 1, 2014 without

—Proverb

to army operation,” “they have as-sured not to let the militants return tothe area”.Political government triedto negotiate with the Taliban leader-ship, but the terrorist attacks in thecountry continued. Since January tillJune, 20 major terrorist attacks havebeen reportedand approximately 195people have been killed. The latestattack was on the Karachi Airport.Tehreek-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) andIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan(IMU) were behind the attack. IMUChief Usman Ghani gave a state-ment “This martyrdom operationwas carried out to avenge the bomb-ings by Pakistan fighter jets inWaziristan”. Air strikes on terror-ists’ hideouts in North WaziristanAgency killed 60 terrorists includ-ing some commanders and foreign-ers. After the attack on the Karachiairport, it was felt that it is high timethat the disgruntled elements, whoin the name of religion have killedthousands of innocents should betaught a lesson and writ of the stateshould be strengthened.

North Waziristan is home to lo-cal as well as foreign miscreants.Clearing the area from the terroristsand establishing writ of the govern-ment might take few weeks ormonths. Pakistan military have con-fronted similar offensives in Swatand South Waziristan, and was suc-cessful in fleeing the terrorists fromthe area. However, the war will not

remain confined in the tribal belt,rather there would be retaliatory at-tacks in the cities, towns and villagesof the country, and to counter thesewould be an arduous task.For thatmatter, Rangers, Police and othersecurity agencies have to be on highalert to thwart any untoward inci-dent. Taliban would also try tomould the public opinion throughprojection of their religious views.To counter their ideological / reli-gious belief, media has to play apivotal role. In this regard religiousscholars through various mediachannels should counter this ex-tremist ideology and tell the publicthat Islam is a religion of peace andthe teachings of Taliban are againstthe essence of Islam and jihad. Itshould also be highlighted that Pa-kistan has stood by the internationalcommunity in the fight against ter-rorism. Nearly, 50,000 Pakistanishave lost their lives in the terroristattacks, but still people are deter-mined to fight terrorism.

Another important angle in thisoperation is, how it is being seen bythe regional and international actors.“The US and NATO military com-mander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen-eral Joseph Dunford, was quoted assaying that they had increased its sur-veillance over the Pak-Afghan bor-der but had not yet seen militants flee-ing North Waziristan”.How the Af-ghan government has reacted? Since

the US led War on Terror (WoT),Afghan leadership has been blam-ing Pakistan for sponsoring radical-ism and terrorism on Afghan terri-tory. After the launch of operationin North Waziristan, Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif called PresidentHamid Karzai and requested theAfghan government to beef up se-curity on its side of the Pak-Afghanborder; the aim was to prevent mili-tants fleeing from Pakistan to enterAfghanistan. In response, the pressrelease issued by the President’s of-fice in Kabul stated “both sideswould have to sincerely take actionagainst the terrorists and militants ontheir side of the border to tackle mili-tancy and terrorism”. In another in-terview with the BBC Karzai said“the war on terror being waged bythe US led NATO forces for morethan a decade in Afghanistan shouldhave been fought outside hiscountry’s borders and not in Afghanvillages and homes”.

Once the North Waziristan hasbeen cleared off militants, the nextstep should be the economic empow-erment of the area. A comprehensiveeconomic package encompassinghealth, education and employmentfor the locals of the area should beannounced and the deprived peopleof the tribal belt should be broughtat par with the rest of the country.—The writer works at IslamabadPolicy Research Institute (IPRI).

taking Karzai into confidence. Thefive detainees who were high offi-cials in Mullah Omar led regimefrom 1996 to 2001 have been al-lowed to stay in Doha for one yearunder travel restrictions.

Both the US and Taliban ex-pressed their gratitude to the Emirof Qatar in facilitating the prisonerswap. Mullah Omar termed theevent as a ‘big victory’. The UStoo judged the occurrence as a bigbreakthrough. Jubilant ISAF Com-mander Gen Joseph Dunford andDefence Secretary Chuck Hegelstated in excitement that it mightlead to recommencement of peacetalks with Taliban stalled since June2013. Republican members of USCongress however cast a shadow ontheir elation by expressing reserva-tions over the deal which in theirview favored the Taliban. Manyamong the military are dubbingSgt Bowe a deserter who had lefthis post on his volition.

The swap angered Karzai themost and his typical crib was that hewas kept in the dark. He termed thesecret deal a setback to peace talksand expressed his fears that moredeals could be brokered behind hisback, not realizing that he is a lameduck and his era is over. Apart fromfailing to convince the Taliban tohold negotiations and arrive at a po-litical settlement, the recently heldpresidential election which was boy-cotted by the Taliban, has run intoserious crisis after the front-runnercandidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullahwho had led by 14% votes againsthis rival Ashraf Ghani in the firstround of election held in April, hasraised allegations of serious fraud inthe vote count after the June 14 run-off election, which has placed Ghaniin number one position. He hasthreatened to withdraw from thepresidential race. The dispute hasthrown the country’s first democratictransfer into jeopardy, but must havepleased the Taliban. Karzai has ap-pealed to the UN to help solve thecrisis. Left with no cards to play, theUS will have to bank upon others toresolve the crisis.—The writer, a retired Brig, isDirector MEASAC ResearchCentre.

Amna Ejaz RafiEmail:amnaejazrafi@gmail.com

Asif Haroon RajaEmail: asifharoon7751@yahoo.com

Voice of the People

What ismy fault?

WAQAS ABDUL QAYYUM

Few years back, we were taughtwhat is load shedding and now weare in process of learning unsched-uled load shedding which is con-tinuously increasing by K-Electric.When there is a call to their callcenter they have a very lame ex-cuse that the area is under mainte-nance by operational side and com-plaint can not be lodged as work-ing is already going on.

On a very clear note it is ac-knowledged by KE that unsched-uled load shedding is become acompulsion and the affected areasare those where recovery is low. Iwould like to ask the officials thatthe low recovery is the fault of KEor the regular Payer? Is it a fault toreside in an area where KE is nur-turing the defaulter? I regularly paythe bill and have been awarded as‘Star Customer’ by KE; hence, Ishould have been facilitated. I re-quest the officials to take actionsagainst defaulters and facilitate StarCustomers.—Karachi

Terrorism and itsmedia coverage

DANISH HASAN

The terrorist seeks to achieve atwo-fold objective through his actsof terror, namely inflict maximumpossible human casualties anddamage to strategic installationsand property and to strike terrorin the hearts of the people.

It is this latter objective thatthe electronic media of our coun-try is unfortunately, helping theterrorist in, through its senselesscoverage of such incidents. Usu-ally a number of reporters andcameramen are at the scene of theincident, narrating the gory detailswith flattering pictures, video clipsof blood and dead bodies andwreckage of vehicles and build-ings and ambulances running backand forth with their sirens blazing.Another group is at the major hos-pitals of the city showing withtheir movie cameras, stretchersbringing the injured and the deadfrom ambulances and reportingtheir progressively rising figuresfrom time to time, as if givingscore is a game of cricket.

To top it all newscasters andothers in the studios, give out thenews of the incident, with the re-ports of the team in the field in atone and with a bad language,trembling with panic and fear asif they had been the direct victimsof the attack themselves. In con-trast, much less is shown of theefforts of the security agencies andof the medical teams attending tocasualties in hospitals, who areusually depicted as showing anegative attitude and being un-helpful.

The overall impact on view-ers is that they feel terrorized anddespondent and lose confidence inthe ability of the administration tocope with the menace. Whether itis intended to be this way or is justcross commercialism, is open toquestion. Either way it is totallyunacceptable and must be stronglycondemned.—Via email

GeneralMusharraf halted

JAVAID BASHIR

The Supreme Court of Pakistan hassuspended the order of the SindhHigh Court and admitted thegovernment’s appeal. The im-pugned order of the SHC had giventhe hope to the poor desperado togo abroad as a free man.

The Federal government wasordered to clear his name from theECL, subject to appeal to the S.C.The plea was taken that his 99 yearold mother was critically ill andhe wanted to visit her. All of his

Sadism vs serviceMOHAMMAD JAVED

The Management of National Savings Centre of late appears to have been seized with a sadisticimpulse as it is creating one hurdle after another to chastise ailing and extreme old age investors in

its various schemes from collecting profit through their authorised persons, identified in writing withtheir CNIC numbers. Surely the organisation is not so devoid of evolving a positive approach to thepredicament of such investors while ensuring safety against fraud collections. Ailing investors, apart,those in extreme old age, say, 75 and beyond, find it an almost unbearable exercise to visit the Centrespersonally or alone. In fact, it is these incapacitated investors who should merit consideration to easetheir burden. They just cannot walk off with their investments because that is the only safe sustenancethey have to fall back upon. Procedures should be evolved and introduced to combine prevention offraud with easy collection of profits. It is a question of approach of official organisations whether theylook upon the performance of their duties as serving the people or adding to their woes. The Minister forFinance is requested to look into the working of these organisations under his charge. The same cultureas it obtains in Savings Centres is in evidence in banks. Extreme old age and ailing pensioners are seendragged to banks by helpers for collection of their often meagre amounts of pension. This culture mustchange. The welfare of the people should be their primary concern. Banks are earning so much that theycan easily afford to deliver pensions at home in rare cases of poor pensioners. The welfare of the peopleshould be the top concern of a democratic government instead of their concentrating on sermons.—Islamabad

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

—Editor

ANF: Fighting war on drugs

PAKISTAN has been fightingthe ‘war on drugs’ for yearsnow. Its unstable socio-eco-

nomic factors make it a highly fertileenvironment for drug addiction. Dueto the problems of unemployment,poverty, financial constraints, uncer-tainty of future and allied issues, drugabuse has been on a rise since de-cades. Every year on June 26, coun-tries commemorate the InternationalAnti-drug Day with a slogan byUnited Nations Office on Drugs andCrime (UNODC).

Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF)plays a pivot role to contradict the drugsituation in Pakistan. Through its re-lentless efforts, the drug abuse issueis not only being addressed but counterremedial measures are also being ini-tiated. Though not running with its fullcapacity, ANF has still proved to be asolid block to hamper the drug mis-use and consumption. Afghanistan isthe world’s largest producer of can-nabis sharing a 70% of the world’srequirement. Out of the product

smuggled out of Afghanistan, approxi-mately 44% passes through Pakistan.Sealing the borders and scanning ev-ery route is not possible for ANF.However with a coordination and co-operation with other national organi-zations, like Pakistan Customs, mari-time security Agency, Pakistan CoastGuards, Airport Security Force, Fed-eral and Provincial Police etc., ANFworks to hamper the supply chain ofdrugs contributing in the number ofseizures in the last few years. Effortsare made to seize the mass numberof drugs entering our land throughvarious routes. The borders coveredby ANF with its neighbouring coun-tries constitutes of 2538 KMs withAfghanistan out of which an area of1315 KMs is with KPK and1223KMs with Balochistan, an areaof 909 KMs with Iran, 1600KmswithIndia and a coastal belt of 1062 Kms.

Pakistan has been acknowledgedas Poppy Free State for year 2011andANF ensures to retain this posi-tion, thus removing the stigma ofPoppy cultivating state from Pakistan.UNODC defines the countries withless than 1000 Hectares of poppy cul-tivation as Poppy Free State and thearea reported under poppy cultivation

in Pakistan as 493 hectors. Not onlyeradication of poppy cultivation, butalso zero heroine labs were reported.

With respect to the reduction ofdemand the socio economic factor andthe demo graphics must bekept inplace. The strengthening economy anda stable environment can be promis-ing. But robust measures must be en-gaged in order to shrink this demand.The male members of the society fall-ing in the brackets of ages 15 to 45are reported to be involved in drugaddiction with an estimated numberof five hundred thousand (500,000)regular heroin users. This figure isan alarming situation by the inter-national standards. Cannabis in itsvarious forms is the most commonlyused drug in Pakistan which is fol-lowed by heroin, alcohol and psy-chotropic substances. Charas andhashish is popular in both urban andrural areas equally while Heroin isnoticeable in the urban regions.

ANF has set up its Model Addic-tion Treatment & Rehabilitation Cen-tre (MATRC) to provide treatment andrehabilitation facilities to the drugabusers. These centres are located inQuetta, Islamabad, Karachi andAdyala Jail where more than eleven

thousand patients so far have beenprovided with treatment since its in-ception. Memorandums of Under-standings (MOUs) have been signedby Pakistan with various countries.The international collaboration is req-uisite to fight this war on drugs andPakistan is maintaining liaisons withorganisations like UNODC, Interna-tional Narcotics Control Board(INCB), Interpol, Drug EnforcementAgency (US), and Serious OrganizedCrime Agency (UK).

Despite being a small organiza-tion with a limited workforce andbudget, ANF has exhibited its resolvefor a drug free Pakistan by utilizingall its resources to optimum capacity.The zest and zeal can be seen withthe acknowledgement of Pakistan asPoppy Free state by UNODC. Themajor seizures in the last few yearshave truly hindered the supply ease.But the efforts by ANF alone are notenough. The active participation ofthe community jointly with ANF tocreate awareness in its sectors and toprovide rehab to the abusers is veryimportant to realize the dream of drugfree Pakistan.—The writer is Quetta-basedfreelance columnist.

Views From Abroad

A terrorist with charisma

A glimpse of the passionateloyalty inspired by Abu Bakral-Baghdadi, the leader of

the insurgent group known as the Is-lamic State of Iraq and Syria, comesin a recent video made by a 20-year-old Muslim recruit from Cardiff,Wales. “We understand no borders,”says the young man, identified asNasser Muthana, a recruit who ap-parently joined ISIS about eightmonths ago. “We have participatedin battles in [Syria], and in a fewdays we will go to Iraq and will fightthem and will even go to Lebanonand Jordan, wherever our sheik[Baghdadi] wants to send us.”

“Send us, we are your sharp ar-rows. Throw us at your enemies,wherever they may be,” pledges theyoung man to Baghdadi on the video.The British recruit is dressed in asimple uniform and a light head scarf,his thin beard a sign that he is barelyout of high school. Before he decidedto join the jihad, Muthana, whosefamily emigrated from Yemen to Brit-ain, had been accepted by four medi-cal schools in Britain, according toan analysis by the Daily Mail.Baghdadi’s ability to inspire such in-

tense support worries US officials. Hisfighters seemingly will go anywhereand do anything for the cause. Theycombine a fanatical passion with anunusual degree of organization, tech-nical skill and tactical planning.“Baghdadi is a ruthless, resilient andambitious terrorist leader who unfor-tunately has shown a knack for tacti-cal operations and, it seems, militarystrategy,” says a US counter-terrorismofficial. He describes Baghdadi as“headstrong” and “opportunistic” inhis ability to break with core al-Qaedaleadership and fashion alliances withIraqi and Syrian tribal leaders.

Baghdadi may be more skilful inthe field than either of his mentors,Osama bin Laden or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda inIraq. He is creating his own “emir-ate,” guarded by tanks and heavyweapons, something bin Laden onlydreamed of. And he has recruitedSunni tribal leaders with more finessethan Zarqawi, whose hyper-violenttactics ultimately turned the Iraqipopulation away from him.

“Baghdadi is the unquestionedleader of [ISIS] and relies on a set oftrusted lieutenants, but he has em-powered local commanders to makedecisions and seems to have em-ployed a somewhat decentralizedcommand structure,” says the US

counter-terrorism official. It’s a mob-like approach, with Baghdadi using“brutal methods to terrorize civilianpopulations” and financing opera-tions with “coercive methods thatwould be familiar to an organizedcrime group,” the official explains.

Baghdadi’s gang-leader charismamay reflect the time he spent as a pris-oner at Camp Bucca, a US-run de-tention facility that US military of-ficers feared was becoming a schoolfor jihadists. The likelihood thesecamps were radicalising inmates was“a very real concern,” Maj. Gen.Douglas Stone, then deputy com-mander for detainee operations, toldNewsweek in 2007.

It’s telling that, as Baghdadi hasbuilt his organization over the pastseveral years, one of his most effec-tive tactics has been to liberate Iraqiprisons that were holding al-Qaedadetainees. ISIS mounted a sophisti-cated attack on Abu Ghraib and Tajiprisons nearly a year ago, which freedup to 1,000 inmates, many of themhardened al-Qaeda fighters. An Iraqigovernment communiqué noted thenhow sophisticated the attack was,combining car bombs, suicide bomb-ers and coordinated mortar fire. WhenISIS swept through Mosul thismonth, the group freed another 2,000to 3,000 veteran fighters from a prison

outside the town.Though the US official describes

Baghdadi as a “homegrown terror-ist” who has never travelled outsideIraq and Syria, his group has clev-erly mobilized international socialmedia to boost its cause. The onlinejournal War on the Rocks this weekanalysed a “Twitter storm” on#AllEyesOnISIS. In a 24-hour pe-riod that began Friday, there were31,500 tweets, with the top 50 tweet-ers accounting for nearly 20 percentof the volume, or an average of 126messages per person. “This showsthat a small number of enthusiasticand deeply invested activists shoul-dered the burden,” the journal noted.

Baghdadi’s semi-official biogra-phy, disseminated on jihadist Websites, stresses his piety and familyvalues. His father is a tribal elder who“loves the religion.” His grandfatherwas known for persistent prayer and“being good to his kin, and keennessto the needs of the modest families.”Though Baghdadi rarely speaks inpublic, he has “an eloquent speechand strong language and has an ob-vious acumen and smartness.” TheISIS leader, in sum, is a clever, dis-ciplined, violent and charismaticman — with an eye for manipulat-ing Muslim public opinion.— Courtesy: The Washington Post

David Ignatius

America and communists..!

I’VE always wondered why thecommunists in India, hateAmerica. Yes I’ve seen them

giving side glances at the USmap, seen them look with envyat the jeans and iPads, but thecommies assert they hate any-thing American, from the BigMac, Kentucky Fried Chicken,Coke and everything. “Why?”

I asked a commie friend ofmine as we met in a teashop wherehe furtively sipped a coke, look-ing out of window to see whether

other comrades where spying on him,“why do you hate the Yanks? Whathave they done to you?”

My commie friend spat his cokeout in anger, then hid bottle underhis table, “Americans!” he growledand the little teashop shook withvenom, “Americans are badpeople!” “Why bad?” I prodded.“Bob,” he whispered and his voicewas suddenly filled with yearning,“have you ever, ever wanted to be-come an American citizen?”

“Nope!” I said, “never!” “Butsuppose, just suppose you wantedto?” “Okay!” I said, “So?” “And theysay okay to you and call you to thenaturalization ceremony, where youare asked to raise your hand and swear

allegiance to the state..” “What areyou getting at?” I asked sharply.

“That’s a day I will never see!”wept my communist friend tearsspringing to his eyes and great dropsrolling down his cheeks, “that’s a dayI will never ever see! The wholeworld can become American exceptme! You know what they ask beforeyou become a citizen? Do you knowwhat they ask Bob? Whether you area criminal or a member of the Com-munist Party!”

“Oh you poor man!” I said get-ting up and holding him as he sobbedon my shoulder.

“That means,” sobbed my friend,“you can enjoy America, her equal-ity, justice and tasty hamburgers!”

“Kentucky fried chicken!” “Pepsi!But not me! Never will I knowAmerica! Never! Do you knowwhat it is to never know what therest of you can know anytime?”

I held him tight as he sobbedloudly on my shoulder. “So thatexplains why you’re trying tokeep the Americans from India!”I said softly.

“No,” said my friend bitterly ashe stood up and shook his fist inthe direction of Delhi, “that is whywe are trying to keep the Indianfrom all things American! If I can’tenjoy Levi’s and Dollar Stores, WalMart and Social Security, tell me,why should you?”—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Education reforms a must

IT was depressing to watch aroadside interview of a taxidriver who expressed his grave

feeling for not providing quality edu-cation to his son and that his son toowould end up being another taxidriver “because the quality educa-tion can’t reach him”. Why ourelected leaders, the so-calledkingmakers, have forgotten that edu-cation is the most important elementto a nation’s progress. Educationbrings prosperity, progression andhumanism. The Holy Quran and theteachings of the Holy Prophet(PBUH) highlight the value of edu-cation. The importance of educa-tion can be judged from the storytold to us that the Angel of Revela-tion Hazrat Jibra’el compressed thechest of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)for three times and said, say“Iqra”(read). There are a number ofsayings attributed to the Prophet thathighlight the importance of learningand knowledge, wisdom and sagac-ity acquired through education. In

fact the only emphasis is on learn-ing, the only distinction between thehuman and animal is knowledge.

But the policymakers have al-ways humiliated those who votedthem to power by denying them theaccess to education or at least qualityeducation. The politicians have dif-ferent set agendas and different pri-orities; at least education has neverbeen their priority. There is a need todeclare education emergency in thecountry followed by formulation ofviable education reforms compatibleto the needs and demands as well ascommensuration with the social andsocietal structures of the country. Allthe stakeholders must be put on oneright direction and asked to work inunison in the best interest of the coun-try as well as the society.

The private tuition centres haveruined not only the standard of edu-cation but also the education itself.Teachers and member of the schooladministration are in fact a partner tothis crime; they exploit and hijack thestudents and parents for poor results.School timings should be from 8amto 5pm including the lunch time andsports period. The number of subjectsshould be four at the most for the pri-

mary classes (including basic maths,Islamiyat namaz nazra etc, Urdu andEnglish), six for the middle classes(Advance Maths, Basic Science, Ad-vance English, Physics, Biology andGeography), and eight for the Ma-triculation (including advance sciencesubjects, maths, history, English, so-cial science and Urdu). Governmentand private schools must issue the syl-labus books free of cost. These booksshould remain in school custody andbe available there to transfer to nextpromoted class students. The schooladministration and students should bebound to take care of the books. Like-wise national dress needs to be givenrespect and must be promoted as aschool uniform. It should be compul-sory for all schools.

As a long-term measure, all theschools should be numbered at com-munity levels. Approximately 3,000houses should have one educationcentre (primary school to inter col-lege). The building should be locatedin the centre of community and stu-dent may be provided free transportunder the auspices of the government.The advantages of community basedschooling is that the education willbe of high quality and standard, the

children’s grooming will be donethrough the qualified persons whomthe parents would be knowing, allnotables or specialized parents willmake it compulsory and volunteerto visit the school and deliver lec-tures of their specialized fields i.e.local police station officer “crimeprevention” lawyers, doctors, engi-neers and so on. Policy should forcethat all children in the communitymust attend the school.

Meanwhile, the quality facultyneeds to be hired for education andall due respect and promotion begiven in accordance with the effortsput in by the faculties. Students canperform different tasks forcommunity’s welfare includingmonitoring of cleanliness, launch-ing of development projects, tak-ing care of security aspects and ex-tending of help to community de-velopment in case of any emer-gency etc. Education is the onlypillar that can provide healthysports and building and magnifi-cent future of a student. We as aparent must do pay attention forpushing the education to its heights.— The writer is freelancecolumnist.

Sadia N QaziEmail:raza.sadia@yahoo.com

Shafqat SultanEmail:abid.latif26@yahoo.com

hopes have been dashed andcrashed by the S.C. ruling againsthim. The Judges questioned hismotives and rejected his plea. Theearlier interim order came in hisway. The SHC order was prone torevision, as many cases are pend-ing against him in various courtsand his appearance in certain courtsis required by court orders.

President General Musharrafhas been halted by the interim orderof the S.C. The Apex Court has actedprudently, judiciously and fairly. Hislawyers failed to impress and con-vince the Court to provide relief totheir client.—Via email

Airbornedemocracy

TAHIR IQBAL JADOON

Pakistan since its inception hasbeen witnessing troubles and fore-most of them is continuation of de-mocracy and the real democracy.Right from the sad and tragic sud-den death of Father of the Nationand later killing of the first PrimeMinister of Pakistan, the countryhas been in turmoil of variouskinds.

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the President of Pakistanand the Chief of Army Staff(COAS) at the time of his death anddied in a mysterious C-130 planecrash on 17 August 1988. Severalconspiracy theories exist regardingthis incident, as other high-profilecivilian and military personnel alsodied in the crash including theChairman Joint Chiefs of StaffCommittee General Akhtar AbdurRehman and the United StatesAmbassador to Pakistan, ArnoldRaphel.

On Oct 12, 1999 then premierSharif removed Gen Musharraffrom the post of Chief of the ArmyStaff when he was on his way backto Pakistan from Colombo, wherehe had gone to attend the SriLankan army’s 50th anniversary cel-ebrations. PIA plane carrying GenMusharraf was denied landing per-mission at the Karachi airport. Theplane remained in the air till thetime military commanders on theground toppled the government andarrested Mr. Sharif, who later faceda trial on charges of hijacking.

On 10th September 2007,Nawaz Sharif caught a suddenflight from London and travelledback to Pakistan without informinghis Saudi guarantors. Probably hehad made that ‘come back plan’ af-ter having discussions with lateBenazir Bhutto. And this time it’sDr. Tahir Ul Qadri, Chairman ofMinhaj-ul-Quran International andLeader of PAT. The world has wit-nessed the scene of airboune de-mocracy. But the fact is this typeof democracy has never been fruit-ful and in the interest of the nation.

Let’s hope and pray that PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif and hisparty will foil the lethal effects ofthe Airborne democracy this timelearning from the 26 years of expe-riences of the past. Democracy inthis part of the world has been as-sociated with the personalities andpolitical parties, whereas, in civi-lized world its otherwise. The truesprit of democracy is to deliver tothe general public and if you fail todeliver let others come and performdemocratically. We need to distin-guish between oligarchy, feudalismand family rule first. For that weneed to educate our masses, and thatwill take some decades.—Islamabad

Victims ofdrugs abuse

TALHA TARIQ CHAUDHRY

This pertains to ‘World Anti-Nar-cotics Day’ which is being observedon Wednesday 26th of June (Today).Pakistan has always been at a perilof becoming a victim of drugs abusedue to mass production of narcot-ics in Afghanistan, which is thelargest narcotics producer in theworld with an estimated global opi-

ate market share of 93 percent. Thehistory of drug supply particularlyheroin in the country dates back to1979 after the Afghan War. Beforethat time, Europe was the biggestinternational drug market, wheredrugs had been smuggled from Af-ghanistan via Iran and Turkey. Thebillions of dollars generated fromillicit drugs, fuel terrorist activitiesand abet other crimes such as hu-man trafficking and the smugglingof arms and people.

Law-enforcement agencies,non-governmental organizations(NGOs) and the education depart-ment need to work together to de-vise special drug preventionprogrammes to prevent the youthfrom falling victims to drug traf-fickers. The need of the hour is thatregular campaign and educationalprogrammes should be organized tocreate awareness among the chil-dren and youth. One of the surveysconducted recently tells us the mainreason is lack of education, whichforce them to indulge in such di-sastrous activities.—Sargodha

Deadly effects of drugs

MANAHIL BASHARAT

This is the World Ani-Drugs Day -June 26, 2014, the Ministry of Nar-cotics Control and ANF havelaunched a campaign involving stu-dents across Pakistan to createawareness about the detrimental ef-fects of illicit drugs through socialmedia; i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc.

A new Planning and Monitor-ing Unit has been established withinthe Ministry in liaison with ANF tostreamline all efforts for launchingprogrammes and creating aware-ness on tackling narcotics withinPakistan while the country contin-ues to focus on eliminating poppyproduction and reducing the de-mand for drugs amidst internationalcooperation. It is imperative that thecitizens of Pakistan are united tofight this menace. One must lookforward to accomplishing the goalof Drug-Free Pakistan through ac-tive support from the People of Pa-kistan.—Bhalwal

World Anti-Narcotics day

ZUL-JAMAL

World Anti-Narcotics Day is beingobserved on Wednesday, the 26th ofJune with a resolve to continue thefight against narcotics and to raisepublic awareness about the negativeeffects of drugs. Drug traffickinghas its tentacles spread in financ-ing terrorist organizations and anumber of criminal activities. De-spite strict international drug laws,the number of drug dependents anddrug traffickers are steadily increas-ing across the country.

Reasonable success can beachieved in the reduction in both thedemand for, and supply of narcoticdrugs, through strong anti-narcoticlaw enforcement. The Anti Narcot-ics Force (ANF) has been perform-ing well, right from its inception.However, it is the need of the hourthat the law enforcement agencies,non-governmental organizations(NGOs) and the education depart-ment should work together to chalkout special drug preventionprogrammes to prevent the youngergeneration from falling victims todrug traffickers.—Sargodha

Five injured in 5 Cairo blasts

Central Asia is China’sBackyard, Not

Russia’sCASEY MICHEL

LATE last month, as Ukraine descended further into chaosand Georgia’s NATO dreams seemed to slip further yet,President Vladimir Putin twirled a pair of geopolitical ma-

neuvers that looked, once more, to both outwit and outpace astumbling West.

Firstly, after a decade of rancorous debate, Putin managed tofinalize a gas deal with China, seemingly mitigating a potentialshut-off in Europe. Secondly, Putin met with Kazakh PresidentNursultan Nazarbayev and Belarussian President AleksanderLukashenko to finalize the formation of the Eurasian EconomicUnion, or EEU. “[Putin] got the most important things he wantedand just about everything he could reasonably expect: a Sino-Russian partnership; a new union to bolster post-Soviet hege-mony; a solidification of Russia’s return to geopolitical preemi-nence,” said Stephen Walt, one of the doyens of the U.S. foreignpolicy establishment. But if you scratch the surface, and movebeyond the flash bulbs and forced smiles, it becomes rapidlyapparent that the Kremlin’s maneuverings have achieved little.Not only has the hegemony Russia desires failed to materialize,but Moscow, by dint of its own mismanagement, has begun ced-ing the regional weight it once maintained. Unfortunately, it ap-pears that Walt, who claimed the deal would seal Gazprom a“tidy profit,” has bought a bit too much into Russian spin.

Take the Chinese gas deal, for instance. While the fact that adeal came through was, indeed, something Putin could claim asachievement, the details that have emerged since paint a pictureweighted heavily in China’s fa vor.

Not only will the gas Gazprom plans to transit to China, at38 billion cubic meters annually, represent only about one-quar-ter of the amount the Kremlin currently transits to Europe, butthe reasoning behind the deal looks like it could enervate an al-ready sagging Russian economy. The deal’s presentation as anequitable partnership between Russia and China is simply false.Even if the infrastructure and supply match the current agree-ment — and new details could very well emerge showing thereality even further in China’s favor — Russia’s flow representsbarely half of what Beijing will be set to receive fromTurkmenistan.

Indeed, China’s investments in Central Asia will only con-tinue to undercut the hopes Russia has at reclaiming the geopo-litical significance it so sorely desires. For while Russian influ-ence continues to merely falter in Eastern Europe and throughthe bulk of the southern Caucasus, it has, quietly but quickly,ceded economic hegemony in Central Asia.

If the EEU is not something of a blinkered, last-gasp effortat retaining the salience and status Russia once enjoyed in Cen-tral Asia, it certainly seems close.

The issues of the Eurasian Union have been pored over mul-tiple times. Kazakhstan expended significant effort stymieingRussian attempts at expanding the EEU’s political capacities,blocking moves at common currency and unified parliament,while Belarus took it only on the conditions of substantial subsi-dies from Moscow. And while the union will likely expand toinclude Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, its weight is effectively nulli-fied by Ukraine’s non-participation.

But it is not simply that the EEU will almost certainly fail tolive up to its potential, or hang as another milquetoast post-So-viet grouping. Rather, it is China’s economic and infrastructuresurge in Central Asia that should pull the region that much fur-ther into Beijing’s orbit. And if, as Carnegie’s Martha Brill Olcottobserved, President Xi Jinping’s 2013 Central Asian swing rep-resented a “victory lap,” China has only accelerated its clip —while pocketing the lopsided Russian gas pact alongside.

—Courtesy: Moscow Times[Casey Michel is a Bishkek-based journalist and a gradu-

ate student at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute. Hecan be followed on Twitter at @cjcmichel].

LIU RUI

THE end of 2016 will see the final withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.With the deadline drawing near, what the

future will this country face after the US leaves?How should other stakeholders in this area re-act to Afghanistan’s new situation? Threescholars and diplomats shared their ideas aboutthese questions at the recently concluded WorldPeace Forum held by Tsinghua University andthe Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Af-fairs.

Ehsan ul Haq, former chairman of the JointChiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan: Theevolving and unpredictable situation in thewake of the US and NATO transition offersboth opportunities and challenges.

Although the US and Afghanistan authori-ties expressed optimism in face of the with-drawal, there is no doubt that the US and NATOhave not succeeded in their objectives in Af-ghanistan.

Afghanistan will face three major barriers

Grim Afghan prospects in vacuum of US troop withdrawalduring the transition: security risks, politicalinclusiveness and economic recovery.

As for security issues, it is still doubtfulwhether Afghan domestic security forces cantake full responsibility to safeguard their na-tion. It is essential for Afghanistan to build aninclusive framework, processing a negotiatedsettlement with the Taliban. But there will bean economic downturn along with the transi-tion, because 90 percent of the Afghaneconomy is generated by the presence of for-eign forces and foreign aid. This will have anadverse impact on security and politics.

It is important that what is happening inIraq should be avoided in Afghanistan. But thepossibility of the recurrence still exists. Thekey lies in whether the new government afterthe withdrawal can be an inclusive one.

So far we have seen an attitude change ofthe US toward the Taliban. Washington triesto talk to the Taliban instead of holding a tit-for-tat approach. Afghanistan should realizethat weapons cannot ensure security, there mustbe a reconciliation rather than a hostility among

different forces within Afghanistan.Jessica Mathews, President of Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace, US: I thinkit’s very hard to be optimistic about Afghani-stan. The current impasse of Afghanistan’s elec-tion is a perfect example that shows the nationis in a serious crisis.

Afghanistan will face a demanding future,and the primary reason is its security issue,because it’s hard to predict whether securityforces and armies that are well-trained andwell-paid by the foreign military forces willchoose to be loyal to the Afghan government.

Besides, recent years have seen the USgovernment becoming less committed tocounterterrorism in Afghanistan. It has verylimited goals of fighting terrorism. That is areason why we see insurgencies quite a lot inAfghanistan.

It is also difficult to predict whether Af-ghanistan will follow the same trail of Iraq.Both nations do not share many similarities ingeopolitics. For example, unlike Iraq, Afghani-stan does not have many routes for international

terrorists to enter.It is true that a political vacuum will be

reshaped after the withdrawal of the US forces.It could take decades for the US governmentto establish a peaceful mechanism within theplace they have acquired. But it is impossibleto happen. Wang Shijie, former Chinese spe-cial envoy to the Middle East:

Washington’s withdrawal of its troops fromAfghanistan will probably trigger a spillovereffect in this region. It seems that the US isdiminishing its presence in the Middle East,but actually its dominance and leadership inthis area will not be changed in the short term.The US should probably make more pivots toother areas, especially the Middle East.

Afghanistan must draw lessons from Iraq. Itshould be cautious that it will probably become anew battlefield between the US and Russia, andthe intervention of religious forces must also beguarded against. The key to avoiding a reoccur-rence of conflict is the Afghan government tak-ing initiatives to realize national reconciliation. —Courtesy: Global Times

Obama faces greatIraq dilemma

TOM PLATE

US President Barack Obama, as senator from Illinois, opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2002 (much before it wasactually invaded), and his dim view of this unnecessary war

hasn’t changed. Instead of criticizing and opposing Obama (as hissliding popularity shows), people should be applauding his consis-tency of vision and decision-making integrity. Obama didn’t get theUnited States into the mess that is the “war on terror”; on the con-trary, he courageously proposed to get Americans out of it. So peoplewho say the US president has no vision or consistency or is deci-sion-adverse are almost psychotically counterfactual.

Obama is now under pressure to re-send US forces into Iraqto help it stop the “triumphant” march of Islamic State of Iraqand the Levant militants from the north to the central part of thecountry. Obama may not be able to resist this pressure, althoughhe could end up sending a small, compact US unit for the task oncondition of pulling it out as soon as feasible. And there is solidreason for Obama to take such a measure.

The Iraq war was a mistake right from the start and commit-ting new mistakes will not right the wrong. The bull-headedGeorge W. Bush administration concocted the mayhem in Iraqagainst the advice of some of its smartest allies, including Ger-many and France - not to mention the sincere but quiet reserva-tions of China and opposition of Russia - and persisted with itsfolly even in the absence of the UN Security Council’s approval,which it had desperately sought.

In September 2002, roughly six months before the US-ledinvasion of Iraq, I wrote in a column that appeared in newspa-pers in the US and Asia: “It (a US invasion) would be a cure farworse than the disease of Saddam (Hussein) if the result were arenewed and seemingly permanent geopolitical plague of terror-ism... The Muslim world is already angry enough to produceterrorists who carry out suicide attacks. If the attack on SaddamHussein is mounted, there will be more willing recruits in theterrorist ranks.” I humbly stress that that is what has happened inIraq and the Muslim world beyond. The decade-long US occu-pation of Iraq has not been able to tame the destructive clashbetween Sunnis and Shiites, instead it has added fuel to the fireby fanning passions on both sides. The US entered Iraq alleg-edly to destroy Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, whichdid not exist. But what did exist back then was the Iraqi state,which now is in danger of disappearing.

The US ignored the UN Security Council and acting as theworld’s policeman, despite a good part of the world not buyingits argument. To quote from my 2002 column again: “Becausethe US’ effort to imbue the anti-Saddam offensive with a pater-nal multinational patina seems insincere, the core policy seemsinherently unilateral and self-centered.”

Iraq had essentially become a lost cause as early as Au-gust 2005, compelling me to write: “The US military is en-meshed in a vicious insurgency and there may be no wayout - except, in fact, to get out, outright. What’s more, theAmerican public increasingly appears to agree. A consen-sus is developing that things have gone sour since the stun-ning US blitzkrieg of March 2003. In fact, a recent USAToday/Gallup poll found 54 percent do not think it was evenworth going into Iraq; a separate Newsweek poll found 61percent disapproving of President Bush’s handling of Iraq.Courtesy: China Daily.[The author is Loyola Marymount University’s DistinguishedScholar of Asian and Pacific Studies. His latest book, In theMiddle of China’s Future, is due to hit the stands in August].

CAIRO—Five makeshift bombs ex-ploded at four Cairo metro stations onWednesday morning, wounding at leastfive people, while another detonatednear a courthouse in the capital, offi-cials said. Militants have stepped up at-tacks in Egypt, mostly against securityforces, since the army ousted Islamistpresident Mohamed Morsi in July 2013and the authorities launched a deadlycrackdown on his supporters.

Four bombs exploded within minutesof each other at three metro stations ascommuters made their way to work dur-ing morning rush hour, while a fifth wentoff hours later at another station, a policeofficial told AFP. One struck at Ghamrastation, in central Cairo, and the others hitHadayek al-Kobba in the north, and Shubraal-Kheima and Ezbet al-Nakhl on the out-skirts of the capital. All of the blasts werecaused by “very primary” devices of “lowintensity” that were placed in trash canson platforms of the stations, the police of-ficial said. Four people were wounded by

Five injured in five metrostations blasts

the first string of blasts, senior health min-istry official Ahmed Al-Ansari told AFP,while a fifth was hurt in Ezbet al-Nakhl,the police official said.

Interior ministry spokesman HaniAbdel Latif said a man who had beencarrying one explosive device in his bagwas among the wounded at Shubra al-Kheima. Latif said the man “appeared tobe a Muslim Brotherhood member” as animage of a four-finger salute used by Morsisupporters was found on his telephone.

The authorities have blamed the Broth-erhood, from which Morsi hails, for theattacks rocking the country and have black-listed the Islamist movement as a terroristorganisation. Another makeshift bombplaced under a car exploded near a court-house north of Cairo, wounding a woman,and a second was defused at the site, saidAbdel Latif. The attacks come after a courtlast week confirmed death sentences on183 Islamists, including Brotherhood chiefMohamed Badie, and nearly a month af-ter Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the ex-army chief

who led Morsi’s ouster, was elected presi-dent.

Since Morsi’s ouster, a crackdown onhis supporters has left more than 1,400people dead and seen at least 15,000 jailed.

Much of the violence is focused inthe north of the Sinai Peninsula, butmilitants have extended their reach toCairo and the Nile Delta, carrying outa series of high-profile assaults in theheart of the capital.

An Al-Qaeda inspired jihadistgroup based in the Sinai, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), hasclaimed some of the deadliest attackson security forces, as well as a failedassassination attempt against the inte-rior minister in September.

A little-known jihadist group, AjnadMisr (Soldiers of Egypt), has alsoclaimed a string of attacks on police inCairo.The government says the militants havekilled about 500 people, most of them se-curity personnel—AFP.

Israeli warplanesstage 12 air strikes

on GazaGAZA CITY—The Israeli airforce carried out 12 raids on theGaza Strip overnight after mili-tants fired more rockets atsouthern Israel, Palestinian se-curity sources said Wednesday.

The attacks struck traininggrounds used by Palestinianmilitants, leaving two peoplelightly injured, they told AFP.

The Israeli military con-firmed a series of overnightstrikes in a statement whichsaid it had struck five rocket-launching sites in northernGaza, as well two other sitesin central and southern areas ofthe strip.

The raids took place aftermilitants fired five rockets atsouthern Israel, one of whichhit an open area. Two were in-tercepted by the Iron Domeanti-missile system while theother two landed inside Gaza,the statement said.

In a related development,a Palestinian child who wasseriously wounded on Tuesdaywhen a rocket fired at Israel fellshort and landed inside Gaza,died of her injuries during thenight, medical sources said.

She was one of four peoplewounded in the incident, theysaid. There has been a notice-able uptick in Palestinianrocket fire at Israel in recentweeks, leading to a series ofalmost nightly air strikes byIsrael—AFP.

New China mapshows S. ChinaSea Beijing’s

territoryBEIJING—China has unveileda new official map of the coun-try giving greater play to itsclaims on the South China Sea,state media said on Wednesday,making the disputed waters andits numerous islets and reefsmore clearly seem like nationalterritory.Related Stories

Previous maps publishedby the government already in-clude China’s claims to most ofthe South China Sea, but in alittle box normally in a bottomcorner to enable the rest of thecountry to fit on the map.

The new, longer map dis-penses with the box, and showscontinental China along withits self-declared sea boundaryin the South China Sea -stretching right down to thecoasts of Malaysia, Vietnamand the Philippines - on onecomplete map.

“The islands of the SouthChina Sea on the traditionalmap of China are shown in acut-away box, and readers can-not fully, directly know the fullmap of China,” the ruling Com-munist Party’s official People’sDaily said on its website.

Old maps make the SouthChina Sea’s islands appearmore like an appendage ratherthan an integral part of thecountry, which the new mapmakes “obvious with a singleglance”, the report added.

“This vertical map ofChina has important meaningfor promoting citizens’ betterunderstanding of ... maintain-ing (our) maritime rights andterritorial integrity,” an un-named official with the map’spublishers told the newspaper.

China’s foreign ministrysaid people should not read toomuch into the issuing of thenew map. “The goal is to servethe Chinese public. As for theintentions, I think there is noneed to make too much of anyassociation here,” ministryspokeswoman Hua Chunyingtold a daily news briefing.

“China’s position on theSouth China Sea issue is con-sistent and extremely clear. Ourstance has not changed.”

Beijing claims about 90percent of the South China Sea,but parts of the potentially en-ergy-rich waters are also sub-ject to claims by the Philip-pines, Vietnam, Malaysia,Brunei and Taiwan. Tensionshave risen sharply in the regionin recent months, especiallybetween China and both Viet-nam and the Philippines.

China’s positioning of anoil rig in waters claimed byboth Beijing and Hanoi lastmonth has lead to rammingsat sea between ships fromboth countries and anti-Chi-nese violence in Vietnam——Reuters.

MANAMA—A senior member ofBahrain’s Shi’ite opposition was clearedof terrorism charges on Wednesday, oneof his defense lawyers said, a move thatcould help troubled talks with the govern-ment to end months of sporadic unrest.

Khalil al-Marzouq, deputy leader ofthe al-Wefaq party, was one of a numberof opposition figures and activists detainedsince majority Shi’ites began protests in2011 to demand political reform and a

Opposition leader cleared of terror chargesgreater role in running the country.

Defense lawyer Galila al-Sayed said acourt had acquitted Marzouq on charges ofinciting terrorism in a number of speechesand had removed a travel ban on him.

Al Wefaq, which says it advocatesnon-violent activism, boycotted reconcili-ation talks with the Sunni-led governmentafter Marzouq’s arrest in September.

Bahrain’s crown prince pulled the talksback from the brink in January by orga-

nizing a meeting with al-Wefaq’s leaderSheikh Ali Salman.

Protests and clashes continue in theisland kingdom that hosts the U.S. Navy’sFifth Fleet and is seen in the West as a keyregional ally.

Bahrain passed strict laws against whatit called acts of terrorism in 2013, settingtougher penalties including longer prisonterms and the stripping of Bahraini nation-ality—Reuters.

‘Sushma visit toBD reflects India’sintegration policy’DHAKA—Media in India feelForeign Minister SushmaSwaraj’s visit to Bangladeshis a continuation of the newgovernment’s policy of inte-grating South Asia.

In her first solo foreignvisit after taking oath, Swarajwill hold talks withBangladeshi leaders on key is-sues including a land bound-ary agreement and a proposedpact on sharing water from theTeesta river, papers say.

Swaraj had accompaniedPrime Minister NarendraModi to Bhutan earlier thismonth. Papers are calling onIndia to strengthen ties withBangladesh to further promoteregional growth.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi’s outreach to theneighbourhood continues…Indiamust offer a roadmap for ties thatkeeps Bangladesh interested andbenefits both countries...,” saysthe Hindustan Times.

The paper advises Swaraj toskip talking about the influx ofBangladeshi immigrants in In-dia—Star.

PHILIPPINE—President Benigno Aquino IIIendorsed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push toamend Japan’s constitution and expand the Japa-nese role on regional security amid China’s ex-pansionism moves. The Filipino leader, aftermeeting with Abe, expressed his support forAbe’s proposal to reinterpret Japan’s pacifistconstitution to allow its military to defend notonly Japan but also its allies that are under at-tack. “We believe that nations of goodwill canbenefit only if the Japanese government is em-powered to assist others and is allowed to cometo the aid of those in need, especially in the areaof collective self-defence,” Aquino said in astatement after his talks with Abe.

“We therefore do not view with alarm anyproposal to revisit the Japanese constitution if theJapanese people so desire, especially if this en-hances Japan’s ability to address its internationalobligations and brings us closer to … our sharedgoals of peace, stability and mutual prosperity.”

Abe has proposed to revisit Article 9 of theJapanese charter, which bans the right to col-lective self-defence. The proposal faces toughopposition from Japanese citizens who do notwant their country to participate in a war, ow-

Aquino endorses Abe’s ambitionsing to their experience in World War II.

Japan is only one of two countries withwhich the Philippines has a “strategic partner-ship,” the other being the United States, whichis also a treaty ally.

Strategic partnership is a concept wherecountries work together to achieve long-termshared interests, from security issues to eco-nomic concerns. Aquino and Abe bothemphasised the importance of strengthening thetwo countries’ partnership.

The Philippines and Japan both deal withthe problem of China’s expansionism and sharea common interest in protecting their respec-tive territories. This has spurred regular dia-logues between the Filipino leader and Abe, whohave had four summit meetings in 12 months.

Aquino’s remarks may pique China but thetwo leaders, in their statements, were carefulnot to mention their assertive neighbour.

3 principles: “In the face of the regional situ-ation becoming increasingly severe, both nationsare closely coordinating,” Abe said in his state-ment. I reaffirmed with President Aquino todaythe significance of the three principles of therule of law, which I outlined at the Shangri-La

dialogue and at the G-7 meeting.”The three principles Abe referred to are:

states shall make and clarify their claims basedon international law; states shall not use forceor coercion in trying to drive their claims; andstates shall seek to settle disputes by peacefulmeans. The President said both sides updatedeach other on the current situation in the Southand East China Seas.

In supporting Abe’s move to allow Japan toexercise its right to collective self-defence,Aquino said this would “redound to [the Phil-ippines’] benefit.”

He gave as an example the time when Syr-ian rebels kidnapped Filipino peacekeepers inthe Golan Heights last year.

“In a sense, to us, it is very real,” Aquinosaid at a press conference. “There was an in-stance already that we conceivably could haveneeded their assistance and they would not havebeen able to [help].”

Asked if the Philippines and Japan wouldforge a security cooperation, the Presidentsaid the two countries were “advancing thedialogue to that.” He said the intention todiscuss a defence agreement was signed in

2012.Strategic partners

“We’re getting one step further from that,”Aquino said. Will the Philippines and Japan havea defence tie-up similar to the Enhanced DefenceCooperation Agreement between the Philippinesand the United States? Aquino stressed the im-portance of cooperation between two defenceforces, especially in times of disasters, similar tothe Philippine-US cooperation in coping with thedestruction caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda(international name: Haiyan) in the Visayan re-gion. “If we have interoperability and we knoweach other’s systems, we know each other’sstrengths and weaknesses,” Aquino said.

“We have those practices with the Ameri-cans. It’s more sporadic with the Japanese. Sincethey are our only two strategic partners, doesn’tit behoove us to have more coordination withthese two strategic partners?” the President said.

Territorial disputes Abe’s ruling LiberalDemocratic Party is in the midst of tough nego-tiations with its coalition partner, the NewKomeito, which has so far balked at Abe’s pro-posal to allow collective self-defence with otherstates—AP, AFP.

“We are spending Rs. 500 billion onthis area which will provide employment tolocals and help significantly in poverty al-leviation,” he added.

Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa SardarMehtab Ahmed Khan, Federal Minister forWater and Power Khawaja MuhammadAsif, Secretary Water and Power NargisSethi, Chairman Wapda Zafar Mehmood,Lt. Gen. (R) Salahuddin Tirmazi, Chief Sec-retary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also attendedthe ceremony.

The Prime Minister said the governmentalways worked for the development of thecountry and initiation of infrastructureprojects like motorways had been the hall-mark of the government.

He said that World Bank’s assistancefor this project was a manifestation ofsound economic policies of the govern-ment.

The Prime Minister said, “River Indusprovides 40,000 MW of power potentialwhile we have only been able to tap only7000 MW so far.”

“We plan to fully utilize this potentialand 4500 MW Diamer-Bhasha Dam is an-other project on river Indus which we willtake up shortly after Dasu hydro powerproject,” he added.

Nawaz Sharif termed the Dasu projecta big initiative in terms of its power genera-tion capacity, adding that the present gov-ernment had taken many steps to providesufficient energy to power starvedeconomy.

He also thanked the World Bank whichwas providing assistance for the project.

The Prime Minister said the governmentwas striving for availability of affordableelectricity to meet the requirements of grow-ing economy and increasing population.

He stressed addition of hydel electric-

Dasu power project to generateFrom Page 1

People’s Party (PPP) wascapable of bringing revo-lution in the country andthe rest of people just talkabout the revolution butdidn’t know how to bringit. The opposition leadersaid it takes too much tobecome a prime minister.He said those who areafraid should leave poli-tics.

He said the PPP wasconcerned for the future ofthe country. He said had hebeen the prime minister, hewould have sent his min-isters to welcome Dr Qadri.He said the situation cre-ated by Dr Qadri and thegovernment doesn’t showsanity.

Khursheed Shah saidhe respects Dr Qadri. How-ever, he said, sometimes DrQadri becomes emotionaland he doesn’t knowabout practical politics. Hesaid according to the deci-sion of the party chairman,all the PPP lawmakers willdonate one-month salaryfor the internally displacedpeople (IDPs).—INP

DemonstrationsFrom Page 1

Egypt rejectsforeign

condemnation ofAl-Jazeera verdictsISLAMABAD—Egypt’s hasexpressed its objection toforeign criticism of Egypt’sjudiciary and its rulings, fol-lowing a verdict on Mondaythat sent three Al-Jazeerajournalists – an Australian,an Egyptian-Canadian andan Egyptian – to prison for“spreading false news,”says a press release issuedby the embassy of Egypt onWednesday.

“Egypt strongly rejectsany comment from a foreignbody which expresses sus-picion of the independenceof the Egyptian judiciary andthe fairness of its rulings,”

“Egypt rejects the use ofexpressions and formula-tions which violate accept-able diplomatic norms,” thestatement said, adding thatforeign intervention in inter-nal Egyptian affairs is totallyrejected by the governmentand the Egyptians.

The statement of thePublic Prosecutor’s Office re-garding the case explains theintricacies of the case and theorders of the PublicProsecutor’s office to refer thedefendants to trial, as well asthe charges leveled againstboth the Egyptian and foreigndefendants.—PR

ity in the system that can bring down powertariff and consequently provide relief to thecommon man.

Earlier, the Prime Minister was briefedthat Dasu Hydropower Project was a run ofriver project at the Indus River located 7 kmupstream of Dasu Town, District Kohistan,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The project’s installed capacity is 4,320mega watts. The project has been proposedto be constructed in two stages.

The first stage includes six (06) unitswith total installed capacity of 2,160 MW,land acquisition, resettlement and environ-mental and social management.

The second stage includes installationof remaining six (06) units. The construc-tion of Stage-II will be taken up after comple-tion of Stage-I.

The total cost of stage one estimated tobe is Rs 486,093.3 million and will be com-pleted in five years, while the first unit willstart production after 4.5 years.

The Chairman Wapda apprised thePrime Minister that detailed EngineeringDesign Studies of Dasu HPP including En-vironment and Social Studies and Pre-quali-fication and bidding documents had beencompleted.

The ECNEC in its meeting held on March28, 2014 had approved the PC-I of DasuHPP for Stage-I with Project Cost Rs.486,093.30 Million.

30 resettlement sites have been identi-fied and finalized consultation with affectedpeople of respective villages.

The master plan and survey of eight (8)resettlement sites have already been com-pleted.

The World Bank Board of Directors hasapproved the financing of Stage-I of DasuHydropower Project with US$ 1048.4 Mil-lion. —APP

I S L A M A B A D — P r i m eMinister ’s Interest FreeLoan Scheme (PMIFLS)under the umbrella ofPrime Minister ’s YouthProgramme will be officiallyrolled out tomorrow (26thJune, 2014) across thecountry.

Prime Minister Mr.Mohammad Nawaz Sharif willlaunch the maiden InterestFree Loan Scheme atIslamabad. This was stated ina meeting presided over bythe Chairperson, PrimeMinister’s Youth Programme,Mohtarma Maryam NawazSharif, here today.

Chairperson furthersaid that out of the totalbudgeted allocation ofRs.3.5 billion for FY 2013-14, the first ever interestfree loans of 3.9 million ru-pees will be distributedamong the 175 deservingbeneficiaries of district

PM’s Interest Free Loan Schemeto be rolled out today

Haripur, KPK. She main-tained that under thescheme, 200,000 interestfree loans upto Rs. 50,000would be provided to spon-sor productive micro-en-terprise activities by thepoor in rural and urban ar-eas of Pakistan and addedthat households with ascore of up to 40 on thePoverty Score Card (PSC)having a viable businessidea or opportunity butlittle or no access to banksand microcredit institu-tions are the target benefi-ciaries of the scheme.

The Chairperson saidthat 50% of the loans willbe disbursed to womenand maintained that thescheme will cover 200,000people in the first year andsubsequently 1,000,000people in 4 years in all dis-tricts across the federationwith low socio-economic

indicators, high food inse-curity, limited or non-exist-ence of micro-finance insti-tutions and concurrent in-vestments or activities inlivelihoods, employmentor enterprise development.Appraising the Chairper-son, officials of the Paki-stan Poverty AlleviationFund informed that initially63 districts have been pri-oritized as per this criteriaand the loans will be dis-bursed as per NFC formula.250 Loan Centers andKarobar Rehnumai Markaz(KRM) or Business Advi-sory Centers to provideenterprise and technicalsupport have been estab-lished all over the countryfor the effective executionof the scheme, it was ap-prised.

“Launching of interestfree loans scheme wouldusher in a new era of socio-

economic development ofthe country, which is thetop priority of the PML-Ngovernment”, remarkedMohtarma Maryam NawazSharif and added that the“Prime Minister accordstop priority to the under-privileged segments of so-ciety as his government ismaking strenuous effortsfor their uplift”.

She maintained thatthe Prime Minister’s Inter-est Free Loan Scheme is aunique opportunity for thepoor people especiallywomen to improve theirsocio-economic conditionand to play their role in theoverall development of thecountry. —INP

Reviewing current economic policiesand resulting into robust growth , he saidthat after a period of 6 years, the country’seconomy would grow by over 4 percentthis year. At the same time, inflation willremain in single digits. Growth in both agri-culture and industry has revived. Fiscalperformance is also improving with deficitbrought down to below 6 percent from 8.8percent when the government took office’.

‘This has been achieved due both toausterity in expenditures and an outstand-ing revenue collection performance whichrecorded an increase of 16.4 percent in thefirst eleven months of the financial year.“On the external side, exports have main-tained positive growth while remittanceshave also reached a record high of US$ 14.33billion in the first eleven months register-ing 12.39% growth. In the month of May2014, remittances exceeded US$ 1.4 billion -once again a record high”, he added

Finance Minister said that the world wastransforming like never before. Global pro-duction was rebalancing in ways not seenfor 150 years. Growth in the cross-bordermovement of goods, services, people andideas had been remarkable. Trade accountsfor nearly 60 percent of the global output.For the first time in 150 years, the combinedoutput of the developing world’s leadingeconomies including Brazil and China is al-most equal to the combined GDP of thelongstanding industrial powers of theNorth—Canada, France, Germany, Italy,United Kingdom and the United States.This represents a dramatic rebalancing ofglobal economic power since 1950, when

Dar: Pakistan economyFrom Back Page

the leading developing economies repre-sented only 10 percent of the worldeconomy, he added.

He stated that OIC member countriesproduce only 10.9 percent of the world to-tal GDP. ‘According to the available eco-nomic forecasts, this share will not improvesignificantly in the short-term. On the otherhand, the share of the OIC countries in thetotal GDP of developing countries grouphas declined steadily and is currently re-corded at 22.2 percent. Moreover, intra-Is-lamic World economic disparities are alsovisible in the fact that only 10 countriesproduce 73.4 percent of the total OIC coun-tries’ output’, he added.

Ishaq Dar has said that the role of theIDB becomes ever more important to moveahead and to help member countries reformtheir governance structures, remove struc-tural disparities through growth and devel-opment in an equitable and sustainablemanner. This also necessitates that the IDBmanagement must reflect on contemporaryglobal economic realities if it has to remainas effective into the future as it has provedin recent times’, he added.

He appreciated IDB’s efforts in gener-ously supporting Pakistan in our efforts toput the economy on a high growth trajec-tory by bringing about necessary structuralchanges for a sustained and inclusivegrowth. He concluded by re-affirminggovernment’s resolve to further strengthen theclose cooperation with IDB and fellow membercountries. He said that government joint effortscould go a long way in bringing about prosper-ity and peace in the Muslim world.

At least five hideouts of the ter-rorists were also destroyed in the freshblitz. Besides, as the forces claim, 12trouble makers also laid down theirarms before the security forces.

“Five terrorists hideouts were de-stroyed by PAF jet aircraft killing 13terrorists. Twelve terrorists surren-dered to the security forces in NorthWaziristan agency”, said acommuniqué of the ISPR released topress on Wednesday.

On the other hand the mass evacu-ation of the families from NorthWaziristan agency in the wake of mili-tary operation continued even onWednesday with thousands of morepeople migrating towards safer places.

According to daily situation reportissued by Chief Secretary ControlRoom established at Provincial Disas-ter Management Authority (PDMA)regarding Displaced Persons of NorthWaziristan Agency, a total of 36831families and 456508 individuals havebeen registered at the RegistrationPoint of PDMA at Saidgai Check Post,a large number of livestock have alsobeen brought by these IDPs till date.

At district Bannu, a relief camp hasalso been established which wouldwork under the PDMA and will sup-

13 more terrorists killed, 12 surrenderFrom Back Page

port the district administration in re-lief activities.

The provincial government hasreleased Rs.349 million to PDMA forestablishment of camps in Bannu city,however, in the wake of the ongoingmilitary operation; a decision wastaken by the Federal Government toestablish camps inside frontier regionswhich fall within the jurisdiction ofFATA administration. The camps havebeen established by FDMA and jointlyadministered by Pak Army and FDMAwherein all facilities like shelter,cooked food, water and other alliedservices are being provided to the dis-placed persons. Looking to the trendof DPs not going to camps rather off-camps, the provincial government haswisely decided to convert this amountinto cash assistance for 15000 dis-placed families @ Rs.3000/- per monthup to six months. Additionally,Rs.5000/- (one time) as Ramadan FoodPackage will be given to each family.This whole amount will be transferredto each DP family via a transparentmechanism by PDMA/FDMA on thebasis of verified data from NADRA.

Although NGOs/INGOs and UNagencies are not involved in relief ac-tivities as per decision of the Federal

and Provincial Governments not to gofor an international humanitarian ap-peal. However, the system of humani-tarian assistance has been streamlinedon the direction of Chief SecretaryKhyber Pukhtunkhwa by channelizingtheir relief packages through the gov-ernment with particular focus in theoffices of Deputy Commissioner/DDMO.

In the meanwhile the KP ChiefMinister Pervez Khattak has set upspecial fund for IDPs of NorthWaziristan (NWA) in wake ofincreasing needs for their proper carearrangements. He has announced fullmonth pay on behalf of himself (CM)and Chief Secretary while one daysalary of the provincial Govtemployees to be deposited in thisfund. Its account under KP ChiefMinister Fund for assistance of IDPs(North Waziristan) is being opened inBank of Khyber (BoK) whereas otherpeople can also deposit theirdonations in it. Pervez Khattakappealed the people of KhyberPukhtunkhwa especiallyphilanthropists to generously donatein this fund to host the incoming IDPsof NWA in better manner at this timeof odds.

AML, PML-Q,From Back Page

and contacts with politicaland religious parties regard-less of whether they agreewith their 10 points or not.

Meanwhile, the Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf hasdecided not to become partof any grand alliance.

According to reports,the decision was taken atthe meeting of PTI’s CoreCommittee chaired by ImranKhan. The meeting decidedthat the PTI will do its ownindependent politics andwould not become part ofany alliance.

health sectors.Parliamentary leader of

the coalition partner to thePakistan People’s Party-ledSindh government, MQMSyed Sardar Ahmed andMuhammad Hussain didnot lay stress on their de-duction motions and tookthem back.

The House had withmajority of votes passed thefinance Bill-2014-15. In theapproved finance Bill, therate of general sales tax onservices was reduced by 1percent from 16 to 15 per-cent. The levy of capitalvalue tax on transfer of prop-erty would be collected by1 percent as per marketvalue of the property alongwith half percent in terms ofregistration fee. However,the rate of tax on certaindocuments pertaining toproperty was also increasedand stamp duty would belevied on allotment ordersand transfers of allotmentorders from any propertydeveloper or cooperativehousing society. In this re-gard, residential plots mea-suring 399 square yards, 400square yards and above 400square yards would beplaced under tax categoryfor payment of Rs 15, Rs 30and Rs 40 per square yardrespectively while Rs 20would be the rate of tax oncommercial plots per squareyard.

The services broughtunder tax net included callcentres, automobile dealers,washing services, fashiondesigners, interior decora-

SA passes Finance BillFrom Back Page

tor, harbour and manpowersupply services, mainte-nance and cleaning ser-vices, medical and dentalpractitioners and consult-ants, programme houses,producers, property dealers,real estate, recruitmentagents, rent A car and auto-mobile rental services, secu-rity share transfer agents,technical, scientific and en-gineering consultants, tech-nical testing and analysis,tour operators and transpor-tation and carriage ofgoods.

However, the CM laterannounced that no GSTwould be collected on me-dia services.

Syed Sardar Ahmed,MQM Deputy Parliamen-tary Leader in SA KhawajaIzhar Ul Hassan and oppo-sition leader ShaheryarMaher appreciated the CMfor entertaining their de-mands for reversal of taxlevy proposals on certainitems.

Khawaja Izhar UlHassan while speaking onthe occasion said that thepassage of the finance Bill-2014-15 with majority ofvotes was a good omen. Hesuggested that the stand-ing committees should bemade more effective.

Shaheryar Maher on theoccasion said that the op-position had while using thedemocratic right opposedcertain sections of the fi-nance Bill and proposednecessary recommenda-tions.

The CM thanked the

kept fully informed aboutthe situation.

The move comes onlydays after the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific an-nounced on Tuesday that itwill be suspending flights toPakistan from this month.The decision came as a re-sult of the attack at Karachiairport which forced insur-ance premiums on aircraft toshoot up.

Peshawar police onWednesday registeredcases against unidentifiedmen for the attack on a pas-senger plane at Peshawarairport.

On Tuesday, gunmenfired on Pakistan Interna-tional Airlines flight PK-756as it was landing at the BachaKhan International Airport,killing a woman and injuringtwo others, including a crewmember. The plane was car-rying 178 passengers andcrew members, and was trav-elling from Riyadh, SaudiArabia.

The deceased was iden-tified as Mrs Maknon (pas-senger) while the injuredwere identified as Ijaz (flightsteward) and Majid (passen-ger).

Flight operation re-sumed at the airport after 11hours. However, three inter-

Emirates, Etihadsuspend Peshawar

From Back Page

national flights were di-verted to Islamabad fromPeshawar. More than 500suspects have been arrestedso far in the ongoing searchoperation by security forcesin the Badh Bher area of thecity as well as nearby areas.

The funeral prayers ofthe deceased woman wasoffered on Wednesday inHayatabad Phase 6 and herbody was taken to Nowsherafor burial.

According to the initialreport on the incident, thePIA plane was hit 10 times,however, the pilot managedto land the aircraft safelythree minutes after the attack.

A compensation pack-age was also announced forthe victims of the attack.Family of the deceasedwoman will receive Rs0.5million while the injured willreceive Rs0.2 million each.

They also said that se-curity measures were en-hanced around the airportwhereas additional securitywas also deployed to avertany untoward incident.

Due to its geographicallocation, security at thePeshawar airport is alwaystricky as the landing routestarts from the tribal areas ofBara and Darra Adamkhelwhich are fragile for security.

House for the passage ofthe finance Bill with major-ity of votes and said thatthe House had used itsdemocratic right diligently.

The session waschaired by the Speaker SAAgha Siraj Khan Durrani inthe new building of the SA.

TAIPEI, Taiwan—China has sent its first ever ministerial-level official to Taiwan for four days of meetings torebuild ties with the self-ruled island that Beijing claimsas its own, after mass protests in Taipei set backrelations earlier this year.

Zhang Zhijun, minister of Beijing’s Taiwan AffairsOffice, reached the island’s main airport just before noonWednesday to speak privately with his governmentcounterpart. He sidestepped scores of anti-Chinaprotesters to enter a nearby hotel for the talks.

China and Taiwan have been separately ruled sincethe Chinese civil war of the 1940s. China sees the islandas part of its territory that eventually must be reunified— by force if necessary — despite a Taiwanese publiclargely wary of the notion of Chinese rule.

In 2008, Beijing set aside its military threats to signagreements binding its economy to that of the investment-hungry island.

Dialogue opened that year as Taiwan President MaYing-jeou agreed to put off political issues to build trust

China sends 1st minister level official to Taiwanand improve the island’s economy through tie-ups withChina’s much larger one. The two sides have signed 21deals, last year lifting two-way trade to $124.4 billion andbringing in about 3 million mainland tourists, who wereonce all but banned.

But in March, hundreds of student-led protesters forc-ibly occupied parliament in Taipei to stop ratification of atwo-way service trade liberalization pact. The 24-day ac-tion dubbed the Sunflower Movement spiraled into thethousands, many of whom demanded an end to Taiwan’sengagement with China, which they still see as an enemy.

“Zhang wants to show to the world, Taiwan and themainland included, that the two sides are moving closer inspite of the Sunflower Movement earlier this year,” saysLeonard Chu, a China studies professor retired from Na-tional Chengchi University in Taipei.

The Chinese official and his Taiwan counterpart WangYu-chi are expected to discuss future rounds of importtariff cuts and establishing consular-style offices helpfulto investors and tourists.—AP

800 Taliban fightAfghan troops in

5-day battleKANDAHAR—More than 800Taliban insurgents havelaunched a major offensivein southern Afghanistan totry to gain territory recentlyvacated by US troops, offi-cials said Wednesday, with40 civilians killed in five daysof fighting.

About 100 Taliban havebeen killed, according to theinterior ministry, in clashesthat erupted as Afghanistanwrestled with a political cri-sis over alleged fraud in theJune 14 election to choose asuccessor to PresidentHamid Karzai.

Local officials inHelmand province said that800 militants were involvedin attacks centred on theSangin district of Helmandprovince, a hotbed of fight-ing during the 13-year insur-gency.

Egypt’sPresident inAlgeriaCAIRO—Egypt’sPresident Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has traveled to Algeriato discuss security issues inNorth Africa and Libya. Inhis first trip outside thecountry since swearing in aspresident earlier this month,el-Sissi told state TV uponlanding Wednesday that hecame to “coordinate effortsregarding terrorism ... and thesituation in Libya.” He didn’telaborate. Awash withweapons and militias, Libyahas been a major source ofsmuggled weapons andjihadis to neighboringcountries since the fall oflongtime dictator MoammarGadhafi in 2011. —AP

Spain’sPrincessfaces trialMADRID —ASpanish courton Wednesday upheldcorruption charges againstCristina de Borbon, sisterof newly-crowned KingFelipe VI, and her husbandin one of the last stepsbefore a trial that couldcloud the monarchy’s bidto rebuild its reputation.The rulings by the Palmade Mallorca court comebarely a week after KingJuan Carlos abdicated infavor of his son, whosought to repair the royalfamily’s scandal-wornimage with a promise ofhonesty and transparencywhen he took the throne.The court said it hadformalized charges of taxfraud and money launder-ing against PrincessCristina, 49, who wascaught up in an investiga-tion of her husband InakiUrdangarin’s businessdealings.—Reuters

Gen.Campbellto headAfghan exitWASHINGTON—President Obama hastapped the vice chief ofthe Army to take over theU.S. command in Afghani-stan later this year asAmerica pulls out itscombat troops and leavesa force of about 10,000 totrain and advise theAfghan military. Ifconfirmed by the Senate,ArmyGen. John Campbellwill take over the Afghani-stan post, returning to thecountry where he led the101st Airborne Division’sdeployment in 2010. Hisjob will be to overseethe final months oftransition this year, andthen lead the next phaseas the U.S. works withthe new Afghan govern-ment to improve itsmilitary and the minis-tries that govern it.—INP

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Stand-ing Committee on Interior ap-proved on Wednesday the Pro-tection of Pakistan Ordinance(PPO) 2014 which permits secu-rity forces to shoot suspects onsight with the permission of agrade-15 official.

This was decided in the com-mittee meeting which met underthe Chairmanship of SenatorTalha Mehmood and was at-tended by committee membersalong with officials from the min-istry of Interior and Law and Jus-tice.

Minister Incharge for Law and

Senate standing committee approves PPOJustice Zahid Hamid told the stand-ing committee that the governmenthas taken on board all the leadersof parliamentary parties in order toget their recommendations regard-ing the bill.

“The PPO is not against any in-dividual or party but it is againstthe enemies of the state. Othercountries have also imposed strictlaws to counter terrorists,” he said.

The minister said that it was dif-ficult for the government and secu-rity forces to penalize state enemieswith the absence of strict laws inthis regard.

Hamid told the committee thatterrorists take advantage of the ab-sence of witnesses in the courts

while the members of the securityforces become victims in courts.

Minister for Information Sena-tor Pervaiz Rashid said that it willbe difficult for the government andsecurity forces to misuse the lawsagainst anyone in the presence of apowerful media and independentjudiciary.

He also told committee membersthat the government has set up ajoint investigation committee to in-quire the Lahore incident, sayingthe culprits will face the law in thisregard.MQM Senator Col (Retd) TahirMashhadi alleged that officials fromthe security agencies are involvedin kidnapping and killings of the

innocent citizens.He said that representatives of

the people in parliament shouldtake steps for the protection of or-dinary citizens.

He said that the Supreme Courtis hearing the cases of such indi-viduals on a daily basis who be-come victims of misuse of laws bythe security forces.

Mashhadi said the governmentshould ensure that the PPO will notbe misused against any individualor party. “It is to time to decidewhether to care about human rightsor fight against terrorists to savethe country,” Special Adviser toPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif,Khawaja Zaheer said.

I S L A M A B A D — B a h r i aTown has announced apackage of Rs. 500 millionfor the internally dis-placed persons (IDPs) ofthe military operationZarb-e-Azb.

They have also re-quested the Pakistan-Army and the provincialgovernment of KP to handover the entire responsi-bility of the IDP campsover to Bahria Town.

Chairman BahriaTown, Malik RiazHussain, while talking tothe media has offered fullsupport for the IDPs andhas intimated that BahriaTown will take full respon-sibility of all the basic fa-cilities such as food,healthcare & education ofthe IDPs. Mr. Hussainalso mentioned that anaccount has been setupby Bahria Town to man-age these funds, with aninitial amount of Rs 500million which will be ex-tended to Rs 5 billion.

Bahria Town announcesRs. 5b for IDPs

Malik Riaz urges KP Govt, Army to handoverresponsibility of relief camps

He spoke of the upcom-ing month of Ramadan andEid and expressed his will-ingness to provide all theadditional support during

the Holy month as well. Mr. Hussain quoted “If

I am given the chance, ev-eryone will see that I havetook care of these IDPs inthe same manner as I takecare of my own children”.He also offered other busi-nessmen to join hands withthese relief efforts.

Bahria Town is synony-

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Emirates Air-lines has decided to take pre-cautionary measures andsuspend its flights to andfrom Peshawar due to secu-rity reasons after unidentifiedgunmen attacked a PIA air-craft in Peshawar on June 24,Emirates website reported.

“Emirates has sus-pended flights to and fromPeshawar effective 25th June2014 until further notice, dueto the security situation atthe destination,” said UAE-based airline, adding thatpassengers booked to travelduring 25th-27th June couldcancel their booking, rebookto travel at a later date, or tofly to another Emirates desti-nation in Pakistan.

The announcementcomes in the aftermath of thePeshawar airport attack,which led to the death of onewoman while two otherswere injured.

Emirates stated that theycannot risk the security oftheir passengers and have tomove forward with the sus-pension, “as this situation isbeyond the control of Emir-ates, liability towards our

Emirates, Etihad suspendPeshawar flight operations

500 suspects held after attack on PIA plane,security tightened

passengers is limited in ac-cordance with Emirates’Conditions of Carriage forPassengers and Baggage.”

Etihad Airways’ flightEY261 from Abu Dhabi toPeshawar, which was sched-uled to depart on June 24 at11pm local time, was alsocancelled, according to astatement released by theairline.

Affected passengers inAbu Dhabi and Peshawarhave been re-booked totravel on alternative Etihad

Airways services to andfrom Pakistan.

The airline’s next flightto Peshawar, scheduled todepart from Abu Dhabi onThursday night, 26th Juneis still under review. Thesafety of Etihad Airwayspassengers and staff is ofparamount importance andthe airline will continue tomonitor the situationclosely.

All affected Etihad Air-ways’ passengers are being

Continued on Page 7

mous with all relief effortsduring disasters in Paki-stan and is always at theforefront whenever thecountry is undergoing anycrisis. Bahria Town is al-ready operating full fledgerelief operations in Sindh(Tharparker District) andBaluchistan (Awaran Dis-trict) and is determined tooffer complete assistancein KP as well.

Bahria Dastarkhwansare operational in variousareas of Thar and Awaraanand are providing 2 freemeals a day to thousandsof people. Apart fromthese efforts, several hun-dred ration bags havebeen distributed and evencash . Several hun-dred water wells and ROplants have also beendug and schools andhospitals have been reha-bilitated.

Hundreds of BahriaTown mobile hospitalsare also functional in theaffected areas.

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General RaheelSharif, getting out of newly overhauled MI 17 helicopterat Qasim Aviation Base, Dhamial. Helicopter has beenoverhauled in Pakistan in collaboration with SaintPeterberg Aviation Repair Company.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh assem-bly Wednesday passedSindh Finance Bill-2014-15(Sindh Budget) with major-ity of votes. Sindh ChiefMinister Syed Qaim AliShah presented the financeBill in the House, which didnot carry the levy of taxeson services in Educational,health sectors and propertytax on houses measuring120 square yards becauseSindh government had en-tertained the demands of itsally in government,Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment, which lawmakers hadsubmitted various deduc-

SA passes Finance Billtion motions in connectionwith the finance Bill-2014-15and had also protested.Also, MQM lawmakers alsotook their deduction mo-tions back.

According to details,Sindh CM presented the fi-nance Bill-2014-15 alongwith the amendments inlight of demands of party inalliance with the govern-ment. The amendmentsmade to the finance Bill-2014-15 included with-drawal of increase in stampduty, proposed levy onhouses measuring 120square yards and tax on ser-vices in educational and

Continued on Page 7

OBSERVER REPORT

JEDDAH—Federal Minister for Finance Sena-tor Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan hasexperienced a triumphant return to democ-racy. The new governments at national andsub-national levels that took office after thegeneral elections in 2013 have generatedhope, expectancy and economic activity inthe country.

He was addressing 39th meeting ofBoard of Governors of Islamic DevelopmentBank here on Wednesday.

He said that government was concen-trating upon economic and social progressto strengthen the economy and enhanceits inclusiveness. ‘

He further said, ‘The new governmenthas adopted strategies to overcome thecountry’s macroeconomic challenges. The

Dar: Pakistan economyto grow by 4 pc this year

incumbent government is now in its sec-ond year and has embarked upon reformsagenda in economic and financial sectorwhich includes: (i) Restructuring of PublicSector Enterprises (ii) Power Sector Re-forms (iii) Debt management strategy (iv)Fiscal austerity to reduce fiscal deficit (v)Tight monetary policy to check inflation (vi)Building foreign exchange reserves to sta-bilize the exchange rate (vii) Promoting ex-ports (viii) Incentivizing home remittances(ix) Strengthening social safety nets to miti-gate impact of stabilization measuresthrough Prime Minister’s Youth Loan (x)Promoting growth and raising domestic rev-enues (xi) Rationalizing subsidy regime toreduce pressure on the budget and (xii) Taxadministration and policy reform to mobi-lize domestic resources’.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief ofArmy Staff, General RaheelSharif visited the newly setup premier helicopter over-hauling facility at AviationBase Workshop onWednesday and witnessedthe first batch of overhauledhelicopters.

Addressing on the oc-casion, Chief of Army staff,congratulated engineersand technicians of AviationBase Workshop for havingdeveloped the first ever in-land helicopter overhaulingcapability in collaborationwith Saint Petersburg Avia-tion Repair Company.

He specially appreciatedthe team for cost effective-ness and time reductionachieved due to our ownoverhauling facility.

The Chief of Army Staffemphasised on enhancedself reliance and continuousskill development to meetthe growing challenges ofmaintaining high opera-tional readiness of ArmyAviation. The ceremonywas attended by a largenumber of serving and re-tired military officers.

Afghan NSAreaching

Islamabad todayLIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—As the Zarb-e-Azb launched by armedforces is successfully pro-ceeding, Afghan NationalSecurity Advisor RanginDadfar Spanta along withimportant defence person-nel are reaching Islamabadtoday to discuss securitysituation on Pak-Afghanborder with special refer-ence to slipping over mili-tants to Afghan territorywhere outlawed TTP chiefFazalullah is taking shelter.

Besides meeting withPrime Minister NawazSharif, the Afghan defenceteam will also discuss withother stakeholders safe ha-vens of TTP militants onAfghan side and sealing ofborder.

Recently, MahmoodKhan Achakzai, a friend ofAfghan President HamidKarzai visited Kabul as spe-cial envoy of Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif to discussPakistan’s concerns overpresence of safe havens ofTTP from where militantshad launched several at-tacks on Pak check postsand also inside tribal belt.He met with Afghan Presi-dent Hamid Karzai and con-veyed PM’s special mes-sage on the issue. As a fol-lowing up of the meeting,Hamid Karzai rang up NawazSharif to exchange views onoperation in North Waziristanand its repercussions.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD—Pakistan MuslimLeague–Q, Awami Muslim League and Pa-kistan Awami Tehreek have announced toform a grand alliance against the govern-ment.

Leaders from the three parties gatheredin Lahore on Wednesday to chalk out astrategy on inviting other political and reli-gious parties to join their alliance.

PML-Q leaders Chaudhry ShujaatHussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi andAML leader Sheikh Rashid met PAT chiefDr Tahirul Qadri at his residence in ModelTown. Government’s attempt to foil theirwelcome reception, the GT road march andQadri’s gathering at The Mall previouslyscheduled for Tuesday night were dis-cussed.

AML, PML-Q, PAT to form alliancePTI not to become part of alliance: Imran

This was the Chaudhry brothers sec-ond meeting with Qadri in the last 24 hours.Sources said that they reviewed their strat-egy and urged Qadri to prepare his workersfor a long struggle after Ramazan.

Shiekh Rashid and the Chaudhry broth-ers intend to invite Pakistan Tehreek-e-InsafChairman Imran Khan to join their allianceagainst the government.

Talking to the media after the meeting,the leaders said that they were reaching outto religious and political parties to form agrand alliance. They reiterated that PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif should resign overthe Model Town debacle.

They said that on Thursday, an impor-tant meeting will be held to further consultations Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Thirteen moreterrorists killed,

12 surrenderTARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The PakistanAir Force jet fighters con-tinued hunting the allegedterrorists on the eleventhday of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North WaziristanAgency where incessantbombings on the militantpositions left yet another 13militants dead on Wednes-day and 12 alleged terroristssurrendered.

As the operation hasbeen advancing quite effec-tively, the PAF war planeshave mowed down around350 insurgents since the mili-tary action started on June15. On the other hand massexodus of the civil popula-tion was also carried out inNorth Waziristan agency inorder to minimize the collat-eral damage.

According to the infor-mation provided by the In-ter Services Public Rela-tions the PAF air machinesstruck hard on the militants’hideouts in the outskirts ofTehsil Mir Ali on Wednes-day resulting in killing ofover a dozen more militants.

Raheel visits copteroverhauling facility

Continued on Page 7

BABIES of obese mothers tend to be bornwith more fat, especially around theirmiddles, than babies with leaner moth-

ers, according to a new study. “There are dif-ferences in body composition, already at birthbetween obese women’s ba-bies and normal weightwomen’s babies,” EmmaCarlsen told Reuters Healthin an email. She led thestudy at Hvidovre Hospitalat the University ofCopenhagen in Denmark.

“It is important to no-tice that our study does notexamine if there are any longterm implications of thesefindings, and, therefore, fol-low-up studies are needed,”Carlsen said. Among adults,having more belly fat islinked to a greater chance ofdeveloping high blood pres-sure, type 2 diabetes andheart disease. “We don’tknow if fat location in in-fants is important, although our finding is in-teresting,” Carlsen said.

She and her colleagues recruited 231 obeseand 80 normal-weight mothers who had par-ticipated in a prior study on obesity in preg-nancy. They measured the women’s newbornsand assessed their body composition using so-called dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, orDXA scanning. The researchers found that in-fants born to obese mothers were on averagemore than 6 ounces heavier at birth with 2.5percent more body fat than infants whose moth-ers were of a healthy weight.

What’s more, babies born to obese moth-ers had about half an ounce more fat around

their bellies, according to findings publishedin Acta Paediatrica. Babies whose mothersgained more weight during pregnancy alsotended to be born with more fat, regardlessof the mother’s pre-pregnancy weight. “This

is a relatively small study, andit can be hard to extrapolatefindings - however it adds to agrowing body of evidence thatshows differences in body com-position in babies born to obesemothers,” Sian Robinson toldReuters Health in an email.

Robinson, who has stud-ied infant and childhood obesityat the University ofSouthampton in the UK, wasn’tinvolved in the current research.“To date there have been rela-tively few studies of body com-position determined using DXAand we don’t yet know what thedifferences described in babiessignify in later life,” she said.Robinson’s own work has sug-gested that children’s body com-

position may change more over the first fewyears of life than later in childhood. Butlonger-term research is needed, she said.

Currently there is a lot of interest inwhether excess weight gain during pregnancycan be prevented, Robinson added. But,Carlsen said, “Our study indicates that it mightbe more effective to lose weight before be-coming pregnant than to restrict gestationalweight gain, if you want to affect offspringbody composition.” According to the Ameri-can College of Obstetricians and Gynecolo-gists, doctors should encourage obese womento lose weight through diet, exercise and be-havioral changes before becoming pregnant.

Obese mothers have babieswith more belly fat, study finds

Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Muhammad Jamshed Khan, Ambassador of CzechRepublic Miroslav Krenek, Defence Attache of Czech Republic Col Stanislav Tesarek andothers cutting the cake during a ceremony to celebrate Armed Forces Day of Czech Repub-lic.—PO photo Sultan Bashir

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Federal Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan enquiring after the health of an injured policeman atDHQ Hospital on Wednesday.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Anti-Terror-ism Court (ATC) on Wednes-day granted bail to the ac-cused al-legedly involved inthe murder of slain FIA seniorprosecutor Chaudhry ZulfiqarAli Ad-vocate.

ATC Judge AtiqurRehman granted post-arrestbail to the accused AbdullahUmar on medical groundsagainst Rs4 million suretybonds. However, the court re-

strained him from leaving thecountry.

Ch Zulfiqar was gunneddown in May 2013 while hewas on his way to ATCRawalpindi in connection withBenazir Bhutto Shaheed mur-der case. Former President re-tired Gen (R) Pervez Musharrafis also an accused in BB mur-der case.

Ch Zulfiqar was hired bythe FIA as senior public pros-ecutor in high profile cases in-cluding the murder case of

former prime minister BenazirBhutto, Mum-bai attacks caseand Haj corruption case.

A few days after ChZulfiqar’s daylight mur-der infront of the Karachi Company(G-9/4) post office at around8 am, the police ar-restedUmar on June 12, 2013 froma hospi-tal near Golra CHowkQuaid-i-Azam Interna-tionalHospital. According to thepolice challan Umar was in-jured in cross firing by ChZulfiqar’s guar and he was one

of his assassins. Umar re-ceived a bullet fired by thegunman of the prosecutor buthis ac-complices managed totake him along and later alleg-edly got him admitted him inthe hospital. Another attackerHarris Khan was, however,killed during the attack, saysthe police challan.

The police also arrestedtwo brother Hammad Adil andAdnan Adil, from Bhara Kahuin September and recoveredsome illegal weapons from

their custody. Tanveer Ahmedalias Ishaq, fourth accused inthe case, however, absconded.

According to the policereport, these ac-cused werealso allegedly involved in themurder of former FederalMinister for Minori-ties,Shahbaz Bhatti, who was as-sassinated near his residencein the sector I-8 in March2011. ATC in December lastyear had in-dicted Umar,Hammad and Adnan in themurder case.

ATC grants bail to alleged killer of senior FIA prosecutor

Pakistan Air Force hands over relief goods for IDPs of North Waziristan to Pak Army at aCollection Point.

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD —On the instruc-tions of Air Chief Marshal TahirRafique But, Chief of the AirStaff, Pakistan Air Force, fooditems are being provided to theInternally Displaced Persons(IDPs) of North Waziristan asan immediate assistance.

1000 food packets contain-

PAF sends relief goods to IDPsing Flour, Juices, Sugar, Tea,Milk Powder, Dates and Oil

have been prepared and theseitems have been handed over

to Army Collection point at F-9 Park, Islamabad.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiquiof the Islamabad High Court (IHC) onWednesday issued notices to the respondentsafter a petitioner challenged the appointmentof Dr Mukhtar as Chairman Higher Educa-tion Commission (HEC).

Petitioner Arsal Ikram while nominatingPrime Minister’s Office, Secretary Establish-ment Division, Ministry of Education Train-ing and Standards in Higher Education,Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Federal Ministerfor Water & Power and Defence and DrMukhtar Ahmad Chairman HEC as respon-dents adopted before the court that appoint-ment of Dr Mukhtar Ahmad as chairman HECwas in violation of the law, rules and eligibil-ity criteria.

The IHC is hearing the matter at a timewhen only a day before on Tuesday thecourt set aside appointment of the MD

PTV in a similar petition. MohammadMalick’s appointment as MD PTV wasalso challenged and termed in violation oflaw and merit.

In HEC chief case, the petitioner con-tended that in the appointment of DrMukhtar merit policy and adherence tocompetitive process were ignore and theappointment was made without conductingany interview. The PM Office in order tofill the vacant position of HEC chairpersonconstituted a search committee for the pur-pose. The committee consisted of AhsanIqbal Federal Minister for Planning, Devel-opment and Reforms, Dr Ishrat HussainDean & Director, IBA, Karachi and ProfDr MD Shami Vice Principal, PakistanAcademy of Science, Karachi who adver-tised the position through Ministry of Edu-cation on February 12, 2014.

The petitioner apprised the court that thesearch committee received 103 applications

and processed the same. However 21 candi-dates were short-listed and 18 out of them werecalled for interviews. The petitioner told thecourt that the head of the search committeeabsented himself during interviews. The com-mittee then proposed three names, includingthe name of Dr Mukhtar. The PM office how-ever rejected all the three names as seriousallegations were leveled regarding transpar-ency of the entire process.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Malick formerManaging Director of the Pakistan TelevisionCorporation has filed intra-court appeal againstthe IHC single bench decision. On Tuesday,Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had removedhim from the post declaring his appointmentin violation of merit and competitive process.In his appeal the petitioner has appealed tothe division bench of the IHC to set aside thesingle bench decision. Malick has hired se-nior advocate of the Supreme Court AkramSheikh to contest his case.

Appointment of HEC chiefchallenged in IHC

Ex-MD PTV files appeal against removal

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—World Health Organization hashailed and pledged its support to the country’s first-ever National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS),recently announced by the Prime Minister of Pa-kistan Mr. Mohammad Nawaz Sharif.

In an official statement issued here onWednesday, classified as ‘Urgent’, addressed tothe Chairperson, Prime Minister’s YouthProgramme and originator of the NHIS,Mohtarma Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the WHO’sCountry Representative to Pakistan, Dr.NimaSaeed Abid offered the commitment and assur-ance for providing technical support to the un-precedented NHIS in Pakistan.

WHO will send a high-level technical mis-sion to Pakistan in the last week of June to studythe country’s health insurance initiative in detailand provide necessary methodological and tech-nical support to the Ministry of National HealthServices, Regulations and Coordination for thesmooth rolling out of the scheme across the coun-try including FATA, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.Under the NHIS, the federal government wouldappend the health insurance premium for the ter-

tiary-level health cover in addition to the second-ary insurance cover provided by the provinces.

Cashless and superior tertiary health insurancecover would be provided by the federal govern-ment to the poorest of the poor across the countrywhich would eventually cover more than 100 mil-lion people for intricate surgeries and the cure oflife threatening diseases at the district level publicand private empanelled hospitals in a phased man-ner.

WHO, while appreciating the approval of theNHIS by the Prime Minister Mr. MuhammadNawaz Sharif, has said that Pakistan has fulfilledits commitment by undertaking concrete actionsto realize Universal Health Care including the in-troduction and expansion of equitable and efficientprepayment arrangements to all population groupsthrough the NHIS. The commitment was madeby Pakistan at the 60th WHO Eastern Mediterra-nean Regional Committee’s meeting in October2013.The WHO further cites that the “The Prime Min-ister while approving the NHIS had declared thata health insurance scheme is the only way for-ward to provide health care protection to the eco-nomically deprived people of the society”.

WHO lauds Prime Minister’sNational Health Insurance Schemes

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Planning De-velopment and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal hereon Wednesday called upon the media toplay its vital role in socio-economic de-velopment of the country.

Addressing an event titled “journalismfor democracy and development in digitaleconomy”, he said that in modern era me-dia has become very important element for

development.The event was organized by Young

Development Fellows of the PlanningCommission of Pakistan in which Dean,Columbia School of Journalism, SteveColl also delivered a lecture and apprisedthe young fellows about journalism andits impacts on economic development.

The minister stressed the need forlearning the psychology, behavior and lan-guage of development adding that with-

out having these elements success was notpossible. He urged the media to crateawareness about child-mother health, childnutrition as about 42 percent children weremale nutrient and about 12-14 percentwere growing with learning disabilities.

Ahsan Iqbal asked for encouragingoptimism, confidence, hope and inno-vations for the sake of economic devel-opment despite creating sensation anddisappointment.

Media asked to play rolein economic development

IIRO dispatches20 truckload of

Ramazan packageISLAMABAD—InternationalIslamic Relief Organization(IIRO) of Saudi Arabia has dis-patched 20 truckloads of IftarPackage for the deserving andneedy in different parts of thecountry.

Federal Minister for Reli-gious Affairs Sardar MuhammadYousaf was the chief guest on theoccasion. Saudi Charge’d AffairsJasim Al Khalidi and DirectorGeneral IIRO Shiekh Abda binMuhammad Ateen were alsopresent. Addressing the cer-emony, Federal Minister thankedthe Saudi government, IIRO andpeople of Suadia for the initia-tive and said this is indicative ofthe Saudi concern for people inPakistan.

He said Saudi Arabia hasalways been in the forefront ofefforts to provide relief topeople affected by earthquake,floods and poverty.

Sardar Yousaf also ap-pealed the philonthropists tocome forward for helping poorpeople across the country andparticularly Internally Dis-placed People (IDPs) of NorthWaziristan.

Charge’d Affairs Jasim AlKhalidi said this was a gift froma brother to brother and said theIftar package would be a regularfeature during every Ramadan.IIRO Regional Director Dr.Abda Bin Muhammad Ateenvowed to continue the service forthe needy and deserving peopleof Pakistan.—APP

04:30 01:3005:30

09:15

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

Gypsy families are seen living in a bus stop outside PIMS Hospital.

June 26

DR Moeed Yusuf, Director,South Asia Programme,United States Institute ofPeace, Washington, DC willdeliver a talk on “Insurgenciesand Terrorism in South Asia:Lessons for Pakistan” at theInstitute of Strategic Studies,Islamabad, F-5/2 on June 26,2014 at 11:30 am.

June 27-28

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

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

A view of the site after roof of a house collapsed in Talhi Mohri Area.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A joint team of officials ofIslamabad Police and lnter-Services Intelli-gence conducted joint operation in Sihalaarea and nabbed a terrorist who is an activistof terrorist organization ‘Ansar ul Ummah’,police said.

On a tip off, senior police officials ofIslamabad police constituted special team in-

cluding SP (Saddar), SP (Industrial Area)and ISI officials. This team raided in ‘Rawat’in jurisdiction of Sihala police and nabbed awanted terrorist Tayyab alias Umer Pagal be-sides recovering pistol and 20 rounds fromhim.

He is around 20 year old who has gottraining regarding terrorism activities inMiran Shah. He came to twin cities ofRawalpindi and Islamabad in October,

2013 along with his accomplice ShahHussain alias Mansoor for terrorism andtarget killing. He committed various ter-rorism activities and also found involvedin smuggling of illegal weapons and othercrimes of heinous nature. He along withhis accomplice assaulted at the office ofMr. Asif, murdered a police officer and at-tempted suicide attack at Imambargah inRawalpindi in which his accomplice was

shot dead before committing suicide at-tack.

Tayyab is also the accomplice of thosenine terrorists who have been arrested fromvarious areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabadsince January 2014. Five hand grenades andtwo pistols have been also recovered fromthese nabbed terrorists who also revealedTayyab as their close aide.

Two cases have been also registered

against him at Sihala police station under¾ Explosive Act and 324/386/427 PPC.Further investigation is underway fromhim.

Senior police officials announcedcomplementary certificates and cash prizesof the police team and expressed determina-tion that action against terrorist would con-tinue in order to ensure protection of life andproperty of the people.

Terrorist arrested from capital

Dean of Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin J Saravia hosted a farewell reception for Ambassador of Norway CecilieLandsverk. Ambassador of Switzerland Christoph Bubb, Ambassador of Tunisia Mourad Bourehla are also seen in thepicture at a reception on Wednesday.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

One killed,four injured inroof collapse

RAWALPINDI—A child waskilled while four other familymembers including three chil-dren received injuries whenroof of their dilapidated housecollapsed in Dheri Hasanabadarea here.

According to Rescue 1122,the unfortunate child namelyKhan Zaman, 13 years oldkilled while four others identi-fied as Bakhat Noor (40),Mutahir (13), Khulana (18) anda new born baby received inju-ries when roof of their housecollapsed due to heavy rain andstorm late Thursday night.

Five vehicles of the emer-gency service (Rescue 1122)with 18 rescuers reached thespot and started relief and res-cue activities.

Three injured were shiftedto District Headquarters Hos-pital while two persons wereshifted to Benazir Bhutto Hos-pital.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Senate of Pakistan has con-tributed Rs. 5 million, out of Senate EmergencyRelief Fund, to the Displaced Persons of NorthWaziristan Agency (NWA) Relief Operation bythe Pakistan Army.

According to a press release issued hereWednesday, the decision in this regard, oneof the first from any institution in the coun-try, was taken by the Chairman Senate SyedNayyer Hussain Bokhari, in consultationwith the Leader of the House Senator RajaMuhammad Zafar-ul-Haq and Leader of theOpposition Senator Aitzaz Ahsan.

A cheque amounting to Rs. 5 million washanded over by the Secretary Senate, Mr. AmjedPervez Malik to the Commander Logistic Area,Maj. General Sherazi at General Headquarters,Rawalpindi.

The Parliamentary Party Leaders andmembers of the Senate, across the party lineshad expressed solidarity with the ArmedForces.

Concerned about the difficulties to be facedby the people of the areas in which Operation isbeing undertaken, the Senators and the electedLeadership of the Senate of Pakistan wanted allpossible efforts and support in mitigating theirsufferings.

Senate donates Rs 5m fordisplaced persons of NWA

Practical examson June 29

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Board ofIntermediate and SecondaryEducation Rawalpindi(BISER) has announced thatthe practical examinations2014 of Science and GeneralGroups for Intermediate post-poned on June 23 will now beheld on June 29.

According to BISERSpokesman, the practical examsof Chemistry, Fine Arts, HomeEconomics and State mathemat-ics postponed owing to law andsituation in Rawalpindi tehsilwill be held on June 29 (Sun-day) in centers/laboratories al-ready allotted to the students.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Water and SanitationAgency (WASA) has completed dredgingwork of Nullah Leh aimed at preventingflood in the nullah.

Managing Director (MD) WASA, RajaShoukat Mahmood talking to reporters saidthat a plan devised for preventing flood inNullah Lai and other nullahs of the towndredging work was started for Monsoonseason which has been completed.

He said, the citizens particularly liv-ing in low-lying areas of the city and nearnullahs should not throw garbage and solidwaste in nullahs and drains as they create

blockage in the way of flood water.He appealed to the citizens to cooper-

ate with sanitation department and refrainfrom littering garbage.

He said the citizens should come for-ward and play their role to make the ef-forts of the sanitation department regard-ing cleanliness of nullahs a success. Filthand solid waste should only be depositedat specific points from where it could eas-ily be removed, he added.

Solid waste, garbage and shoppingbags should not be thrown in Nullahs asthey create blockage in the way of floodwater. Resultantly the flood water playshavoc with the properties and lives of the

people, he added.He said Nullah Lai mainly in low ly-

ing areas was cleared of silt and solidwaste.

Gawalmandi area was especially fo-cused during the cleanliness drive as dueto heavily populated locality, a largeamount of garbage and filth is thrown inthe nullah which creates obstacle in thesmooth flow of flood water, he said add-ing, the section of the nullah was cleared.

City Sadar Road, Dhoke Charg Deen,Pirwadhi, New Katrian and Dhoke Najuare also critical sections of Nullah Laiwhich were cleared of silt and solid waste,he informed.

WASA completes dredgingwork of Nullah Leh

RAWALPINDI—Over 140,000 children, belowfive years age, were administered anti-poliodrops during a three day drive launched in highrisk areas of the city cantonment and TehsilTaxila.

The three-day anti-polio campaign, whichbegan in high risk areas of the city cantonmentand Tehsil Taxila entered into its second day onWednesday. Executive District Officer (EDO-Health) Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal informed APPthat the immunization campaign was in fullswing.

He said the purpose for launching the spe-cial drive is presence of people coming fromKhyber Pukhtunkhwa, especially after sewagesamples collected from these areas indicated thepresence of polio virus.

In the recently concluded regular campaign,he said, 7,11,744 children upto five years agewere administered drops to prevent the youngergeneration from the crippling disease.

Executive District Officer EDO monitoredthe campaign and visited various areas to in-spect the working of polio teams.—APP

140,000 childrenadministered polio drops

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Traffic rules must be observed bythe tourists to avoid traffic jam problem in Murree.

Traffic Police is implementing a special sum-mer traffic plan devised for Murree said Chief Traf-fic Officer (CTO) Rawalpindi, Senior Superinten-dent Police (SSP) Shoaib Khurram Janbaz.

He said, action in accordance with the law isbeing taken against the vehicles parked in no park-ing zone and double parking. He informed that allthe arrangements made to facilitate the tourists are

being checked and supervisized by senior trafficpolice officers.

Special directives have also been issued to thetraffic wardens to avoid traffic jam on the roads ofMurree, he said adding, CTP devised a comprehen-sive plan for Murree for the summer season accord-ing to which entry of heavy vehicles in the city wasbanned. He said a Help Line 1915 was introducedfor facilitating the tourists and the citizens, havingcomplaints, can contact the Traffic Police round theclock. He informed that all possible facilities arebeing provided to the tourists.

Tourists urged to observe trafficrules in Murree: CTO

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD —Roots National Institute ofTeacher Training and Education-RNITTE is thetraining institute that has been providing Pro-fessional Development Courses to the Teach-ers, Academic coordinators, Principals, Head-mistress and the Management Staff. From lastseven years, RNITTE offers a Montessori coursenot only to teachers but also to the external can-didates.

This year, RNITTE has launched its 12 daysMontessori Materials & Methodology Workshop2014 not only in Islamabad but also in Mirpur,Abbottabad and Gujranwala.

Montessori Material workshop is designedfor the professional development of participat-ing delegates. This course integrates Dr. MariaMontessori Theory with Effective MontessoriPractices which are successfully implementedin Roots Millennium Schools. This two weekworkshop includes all the necessary topicswhich are required for a professionalMontessori Directress. This course introducesinnovative teaching techniques and tools whichguide Montessori Directress to play effective

role in child’s early stage development. Thisworkshop will open new horizon for you all inthe world of education and will add to yourprofile and will lead you to the road of trans-formation.

From the beginning, the vision of ourtraining department is to bring teachers intodirect contact with the opportunities whichwill have a great impact on their professionaldevelopment. We provide our teachers greatlearning opportunities to learn from leadingscholars, academia and educational thinkersin a stimulating environment, surrounded bylearning and academic resources. RNITTETeacher Development Conferences andworkshops have offered a mixture of intel-lectual replenishment, ultimately the aim isto support and invigorate classroom teach-ing with the new ideas and energy, new textsand techniques, new content and connec-tions.

Founder RNITTE and Chief ExecutiveRoots Millennium Schools Chaudhry FaisalMushtaq TI conveyed his message and sharedhis views with the audience and quoted ‘Learn-ing is a journey, not a destination.’

Roots Montessori materials,methodology workshop

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Health DepartmentIslamabad has announced the names of35 fair price shops in urban and ruralareas of the federal capital, which willbe operational from first of Ramazan.During the month of Ramazan, the dailyuse commodities will be available at thefair price shops on 10 to 15 percentlower prices as compared to the open

market.The fair price shops situated in ur-

ban and rural areas includedMuhammad Javed Cooperative GeneralStore G-6/1-4, Muhammad ZiafarLiaquat Fair Price Shop CooperativeMarket G-6/1-3, Chaudhry MuhammadHussain Traders Channab Market G-7/1, Mushtaq Ahmed Abbasi GeneralStore Amir Market G-7/2, MuhammadNadeem Sethi General Store Alhabib

Market G-73-3, Tofeequr Rehman KhanGeneral Store Gol Market G-7/4,Arshad Good Luck Store Allah WaliMarket F-8/1, Abdul Rauf Awami Gen-eral Store Kalar Saidan Plaza G-9Markaz, Muhammad Sardar KashifGeneral Store Multani Market G-9/2,Muhammad Jameel Frontier GeneralStore Rajput Market I-10/2 and otherstores almost all the sectors of the fed-eral capital.

35 fair price shops in Islamabad’surban, rural areas

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—To provide clean potablewater to the residents, Rawalpindi Can-tonment Board (RCB) has decided to in-stall 25 new filtration plants in variouslocalities. The filtration plants will be in-stalled at the cost of Rs13.5 million.

The Engineering Department of theboard has completed a survey in this

regard and sent a report to the higherauthorities. As per the survey, the fil-tration plants will be installed in AllamaIqbal Colony, Rabbani Town,Ghaziabad, Street No 8, Street No 24,Kamalabad, Mohallah Zamindaran,Tube-well No 56, Degree College forWomen Peshawar Road, Street No 3,Sajid Bukhari Road, Chishtiabad, BilalColony, Dhok Gujran, Officers Colony

Lane No 1, Aksar Plaza Awan Town,Islamabad Valley, Sultanabad, DhokMustaqeem Road, Highway Colony,Postal Colony and Quaid-e-Azam Hos-pital. RCB Executive Officer, FahimZafar Khan said that huge amount ofmoney has been allocated for the pro-vision of clean water to the residents.He said that the older filtration plantswill be up-graded.

RCB to install 25new water filtration plants

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed addressing duringhis visit to a collection point of relief goods for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan Agencyon Wednesday.

SOPORE: Curfew continues for third day on Wednesday.

DR SYED NAZIR GILANI

Civilisations at all levels of history have ended their disputesthrough the use of the instru-

ment of dialogue. This method of set-tling disputes has not been overrid-den by any other mechanism so far.India and Pakistan could not expectto find an alternative to this in set-tling their list of disputes. The firstand foremost principle in this regardwould be that each stops to invokethe enemy image of the other and ac-cepts the Vajpayee doctrine thatneighbours can’t be changed. Thewindow of opportunity should benever missed.

In this regard the political and mili-tary opinion on the India side has toconclude without doubt that Pakistancan’t win a war against India andthere should be no doubt that Indiacan’t defeat Pakistan either. Thenuclear capability of both countrieshas ruled out any future wars betweenthe two countries. Options may beopen but there are fatal consequences,

Unsettled Kashmir carries multiple woeswhich no sensible leadership is likelyto endure. Incidentally the two armieshave the same British origin of trainingand discipline. Over the years and as anatural consequence the two armieshave different public images.

Pakistan army is engaged in an of-fensive against militants in the tribal re-gion of North Waziristan. During the‘Zarb-e-Azb’ operation all ranks of Paki-stan Army will donate one day pay forIDPs of North Waziristan Agency andwill donate ration for their displaced tribalbrethren of North Waziristan Agency tomeet their immediate needs for next thirtydays. Armies around the world do nothave the killing instinct any more. Theyare engaged in rehabilitating the writ ofthe State necessary to secure peace andsecurity in the country and in theneighbourhood. Peace and security inany part of Pakistan has its influenceand impact in the neighbouring coun-

tries, India in particular.This new mass migration from

Waziristan will be a major burden onthe country’s resources. Pakistan is al-ready struggling to cope with almosttwo million people displaced during themilitary operations against militants inSwat in 2009. Government of Pakistanand in particular the institution of Paki-stan army have continued to wrestlewith previous IDPs from the devastat-ing floods of 2010 that swept acrossone-fifth of the country and affected20 million people. The military man inWaziristan is not only there to flush themilitants but has taken upon a humani-tarian operation to donate one day sal-ary and to provide food for thirty daysto these displaced people. Armies inIndia and Pakistan can’t act differentlyto other armies around the world con-tributing to peace and development.

The two armies remain engaged

along the cease-fire line on the bordersof Jammu and Kashmir. The nature ofengagement remains different today asone would have known from 1947 to1990. The more the two armies disen-gage from a long perpetuated mistrustand start respecting their national andinternational duties and obligations, thebetter it would be for the three peopleincluding the people of Kashmir.

The two political leaderships inIndia and Pakistan have a higher bur-den of responsibility to deliver in theinterests of their people and in par-ticular on the dispute of Jammu andKashmir. The present Indian Govern-ment has Vajpayee doctrine as a roadmap. The Defence Minister ArunJaitley at his press conference on 15June 2014 at SKICC at the end of histwo-day visit to the state is reportedto have said that GOI is willing to workwith anyone who wants to function

under the framework of Indian Consti-tution. He added that governmentwould talk with “anyone who respectsthe constitution and India’s sover-eignty”. On talks with Pakistan theminister said that “”Talks and aggres-sion can’t go together. For the situa-tion to normalise, it is important forthe ceasefire violations to stop.”

Arun Jaitley has addressed theKashmiri leadership and the Govern-ment of Pakistan at the same time. How-ever, the manner of address is unhelpfuland does not address the merits of Kash-mir question and the question of goodneighbourly relations with Pakistan.There could hardly be a person in Kash-mir or in Pakistan, who would not re-spect the constitution and India’s sov-ereignty. People of Kashmir do not havean issue with respect for the constitu-tion and sovereignty of India. When aKashmiri would meet an Indian leader or

member in the Government of India,the latter would be de facto and dejure representing the Constitution andSovereignty of India.

During this dialogue people ofJammu and Kashmir could assumeto be sovereign or semi-sovereignin accordance with the instrumentof accession with India (provi-sional), Stand Still Agreement withPakistan and on the principle of‘equality’ and ‘self-determination’ asprovided in the UN Resolutions onKashmir. It is time to keep wide openthe window of opportunity for theresolutions of the question of self-determination of the people of Kash-mir (inclusive – J&K, AJK, GB) andfor constructing good neighbourlyrelations between India and Paki-stan. We should not have an issuewith the Constitution of India norhave we a reason to challenge theSovereignty of India. Kashmiris shallhave to assume to be sovereign orsemi-sovereign as the situation de-mands in any future dialogue.

—Courtesy: Rising Kashmir

HAMEED SHAHEEN

ISLAMABAD—Sardar Attique AhmedKhan, president Muslim Conferenceand ex-premier of AJK, has warned thatfollowing withdrawal of US/NATOforces from Afghanistan another is-land of war could be created in Kash-mir by the war-veterans of Afghani-stan. In proximity with Afghanistanlies the restive Kashmir whose popu-lation is active in struggle for their self-determination right.

Talking to a well-known Indian intel-lectual Dr Ved Pratab Vaidik who is inIslamabad these days interacting silentlywith political/diplomatic notables of Pa-kistan, Sardar Attique Khan saidKashmiris on both sides of the divide areready to show ‘flexibility’ along the boul-ders-strewn road to Kashmir solution.Referring to his recent participation in theOIC session held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,he said that he has presented a full bunchof proposals to that world organizationto break deadlock on Kashmir.

His proposals include reducing theexisting Line of Control in Jammu andKashmir into a soft Line of Commerce,

Kashmiris ready to showflexibility: Attique to Modi’s aide

free intra-Kashmir travels, trade and tour-ism of Kashmiris of both parts, EU-OICdevelopment fund for Jammu and Kash-mir, opening of all roads and rail links ofthe state, joint travel to Srinagar by theleaderships of Pakistan and Hindustan,allowing Kashmiri leaders of India-heldparts of J&K state to travel abroad, com-mon pool of jobs for youth in the state,allowing official transport of both sidesfor state entry, admissions of studentsof both parts in the state universitieswith exchange of professionals, initiat-ing joint sports events and to create anatmosphere favourable to holding Kash-mir talks. It looks illogical that on theone hand talks may go on but on theother side prominent Kashmiri leadersare put behind bars and no allowingthem to travel abroad. As an example hesaid that this time despite an OIC invita-tion to attend OIC annual session atJeddah, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed AliGeelani and Asia Andrabi were not al-lowed by India to go to Saudi Arabia. Insuch conditions of arrests, detentionshow one can justify the claim of democ-racy keeping bleeding Kashmir (India-held) in the cage of cruelty.

Participating in the friendly talk-ing event Pakistan’s former career dip-lomat Mr Jehangir Ashraf Qazi ob-served that unless the track-II discus-sions on Kashmir are shared with themembers of parliaments and peoplesof each country - Pakistan and India,the system would not show a forwardway. He and Sardar Attique bothstressed re-consideration of Pakistan-India trade regime so that industrial-ists of Pakistan are not deprived oftheir genuine fruit of bilateral trade.

Dr Ved Pratab Vaidik is consideredvery close to India premier NarinderaModi and claims scores of friends inPakistan including Pakistan premierMian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif. Sit-ting in this meeting were KashmirCouncil Member Sardar SaghirChughtai, ex-Minister Raja M YasinKhan, Muslim Conference YouthWing chairman Sardar Usman AliKhan, journalist Mr Saud Sahir besidesthis scribe. Dr. Vaidik remained mostof the time narrating political titbits,his meetings with high-ups of Paki-stan and India. Sardar Attique also helda select dinner to honour Dr Vaidik.

BARAMULLA (IHK)—A day after a youthwas killed by troops in Sopore town inBaramulla, authorities imposed curfew in theapple town to foil anti-government protests.A youth Arshad Ahmad Shah was killed inSopore yesterday when troops fired on agroup of people protesting after the end ofan encounter in which a top Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was killed. The protestorswere demanding body of the slain LeT mili-tant killed in the gunfight.

“Curfew was imposed in Sopore townto prevent any law and order problem. Else-where, no restrictions were imposed,” asenior police official said. Large number ofpolice and paramilitary personnel wearinganti-riot gears and armed with sophisticatedweapons were deployed in Sopore town.The cops had erected barricades at severalplaces to prevent movement of people andfoil any attempts by people to stage anti-government demonstrations.

In view of curfew-like situation, roadsin Sopore town wore a deserted look as

Curfew in Sopore to foil protestspeople preferred to stay indoors. Journal-ists, who were covering situation in Soporetown, said the forces sealed the whole townand they were allowed to take photographsonly after showing curfew passes. “Forceswere deployed at every nook and corner ofthe area,” they said.

Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, FarooqAhmad Lone, said only restrictions were im-posed in Sopore town to avoid any untowardincident. “Officially we imposed restrictionsthere. However, curfew was not imposed,”he said. Lone said administration will assessthe situation tomorrow and decide accord-ingly whether to impose restrictions or not.

Meanwhile, government has orderedprobe in Sopore firing incident in which ayouth was killed and four others injured.“We have ordered a probe in the incident,”Divisional Commissioner Kashmir ShalinderKumar said. He said Deputy CommissionerBaramulla will be heading the probe andhas been asked to submit the report within15 days.—RK

SRINAGAR—A nearly three-week govern-ment probe into molestation charges againstDirector Health Services Kashmir Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman has given clean chit to him. Theprobe report prepared by Commissioner Sec-retary Health and Medical EducationGazanfar Hussain has concluded that DrSaleem was not involved in the molestationof a staff nurse as accused by her.

The report submitted to Minister forHealth and Medical Education Taj Mohi-ud-Din has vindicates many health officials whomaintained that Dr Saleem was innocent.“The evidence available with me clearlyshows that nothing has happened and allthe allegations leveled by the staff nurse arebaseless,” Taj told Rising Kashmir.

“The detailed report which was submit-ted to me contains annexure and CCTVfootage as well which clearly rejects theclaims made in the complaint. Cameradoesn’t lie and footage available with me

Molestation case: Cleanchit to Director Health

doesn’t show Director alone with the com-plainant nurse,” the minister said. “I wassure from day one that Dr Saleem is inno-cent and all these allegations are baselessand false,” he said.

Taj said he would send the report to thegovernment to take a final call before mak-ing it public. He said the report has recom-mended stern action against the complain-ant nurse “for defaming a reputed officerwithout any reason”. “The report has rec-ommended that the accused can file caseagainst the complainant,” Taj said.

A staff nurse had filed a complaint withthe police alleging that Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman and some officials of health de-partment working in south Kashmir tried tooutrage her modesty. As the news spread,Minister for Health, Taj Mohi-ud-Din hadclaimed that it has become a routine for thenurse staff to level baseless allegationsagainst the officials.—RK

JAMMU (IHK)—Amnesty InternationalTuesday welcomed the NDA government’sresolve to bring back the Kashmiri Pandits tothe Kashmir Valley, but urged it to consult allcommunities before resettling about 150,000-200,000 displaced Pandits. “Amnesty Inter-national-India welcomes the recent overturesmade to rehabilitate families of an estimated150,000 to 200,000 Kashmiri Pandits... urgesthe new government to take a comprehen-sive approach in implementing proposed poli-cies, including consultations with all commu-nities living in Jammu and Kashmir, and thoselooking to return there,” an Amnesty Interna-tional India communique said.

The organisation also urged the Jammuand Kashmir state government to ensurereligious minorities in the state are able toexercise their constitutionally guaranteed

Amnesty hails move toresettle Kashmiri Pandits

rights. It also called for impartial and inde-pendent investigations in all cases of un-lawful killings. The National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) government is contemplat-ing to enhance the previous government’srehabilitation package of Rs.7.5 lakh perfamily to Rs.20 lakh for Kashmiri Pandits.

Previously, the financial assistance wasavailable to the Kashmiri Pandits who hadsold their homes between 1989 and 1997, butthe revised plan makes it available to all fami-lies of the community, regardless of whenthey lost or sold their homes in the state.The government plans to facilitate a digni-fied return for the Kashmiri Pandits who wereinternally displaced to camps in the Hindu-majority Jammu region, or relocated to Delhiafter unrest and outbreak of insurgency inthe state in the early 1990s.—KD

A H RAO

MIRPUR (AJK)—The Supreme Court ofAzad Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday ac-cepted a miscellaneous application filed bysix sitting members of the AJK legislativeAssembly, elected on seats reserved forJammu & Kashmir refugees settled in Paki-stan, allowing them to become party as re-spondent in a petition filed by Sardar Gul-e-Khandan vs Chief Election Commissionerand others, an ex minister of AJK and a can-didate to AJK Legislative Assembly Elec-tions from Neelam Valley held in 2011.

The full bench of the apex court com-prising Chief Justice Muhammad Azam Khanand judges Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Ziaand Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan said inthe interim order, “after perusal of record andhearing the counsel for the parties, we are ofthe view that we have already arrayed theAzad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assem-

AJK Supreme Court acceptslawmakers petition in electoral case

bly as party in the line of respondents. Theapplicants are elected members of the AzadJammu Kashmir Legislative Assembly on theseats reserved for Kashmiri refugees settledin Pakistan”.

The full court bench further declared inthe order that since the applicants (all sit-ting ministers AJK government) includingAzher Hussain Gillani, Abdul Salam Butt,Abdul Majid Khan, Muhammad HussainSargala, Muhammad Akbar Ibrahim, TahirKhokhar and Saleem Butt, are the neces-sary party, they are allowed to be joined asparty in line of respondents. The applicantshave been ordered to file concise statementwithin two weeks. “In the writ petition andin the appeal, the provisions of AJK Legis-lative Assembly election ordinance havebeen challenged. The writ petition and ap-peal directly affects their rights, therefore,they are necessary party”, the apex courtsays in its order.

JK can be rolemodel for

SAARC: MuftiRAJAURI—Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) patronMufti Muhammad Sayeedhas called for developingJammu and Kashmir as a rolemodel for the SAARC.“J&K could become a bridgeto normalize relations be-tween India and Pakistan”,Mufti said, addressing apublic meeting at Rajouri. Hesaid the new government atthe Centre shall have to ad-dress the Kashmir issue toimprove relations with Paki-stan. “J&K would be thebiggest beneficiary of thepeace process started in2003,” he said, adding, “Thehealing touch policy of theprevious PDP-led govern-ment in the state was en-dorsed by the then NDAgovernment headed by AtalBihari Vajpayee.”

Calling for expandingcross-LoC trade and travel,Mufti said the beginningmade on this crucial fronthas laid the ground for es-tablishing a cross-LoC FreeEconomic Zone whichwould open up immenseopportunities of employ-ment. Demanding openingof more routes on LoC andInternational Border (IB),Mufti said;—GK

Khawaja Gaffar’sdeath a great

loss: RehmaniISLAMABAD—The Chairmanof Jammu and KashmirPeoples Freedom League(JKPFL), Muhammad FarooqRehmani has expressed pro-found grief and sorrow overthe death of Khawaja AbdulGaffar, a veteran Kashmiripolitical intellectual inRawalpindi, terming his deathas a great loss to Kashmir.

Muhammad FarooqRehmani in a statement is-sued in Islamabad said thatthe deceased was deeplyinspired by the personalityand ideology of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad AliJinnah, and interaction withhim led one into the 1940sof Jammu and Kashmir,when the founder of Paki-stan had visited Srinagar in1944. As a student, KhawajaGaffer met Quaid and re-membered the reflections ofJinnah as the great leader ofAsia.—KMS

GOJWARA (IHK)—Normal life in Kashmirwas affected due to the strike called by threefactions of Hurriyat Conference to protestagainst the killing of a civilian by troops inSopore town of Baramulla district. Shops,business establishments and petrol pumpsremained closed in Srinagar. The educationalinstitutions also remained closed while at-tendance in government offices and bankswas thin. The private vehicles and somepassenger vehicles were plying on the road.

Authorities had deployed police andparamilitary CRPF men in strength in thesensitive areas of the Srinagar to preventpeople from taking to roads and stagingdemonstrations. Youth took to roads atGojwara and Rajouri Kadal areas in down-town and pelted stones on the cops, whoretaliated by lobbing tear smoke shells andresorting to baton charge. The clashes con-

Shutdown against civiliankilling hits normal life

tinued for some time.Complete shutdown was also observed

in Baramulla district, where authorities hadimposed restrictions in Palhallan area. Theprivate transport was plying on Srinagar-Muzzaffarabad highway. Reports of partialshutdown were received from other districtsof the Valley. The clashes between youthand cops were reported from Pulwama,Bandipora and some other places.

Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman calledthe shutdown Syed Ali Geelani, Hurriyat(G) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq andHurriyat (JK) leader Shabir Ahmad Shah toprotest against killing of youth in troopsfiring in Sopore yesterday. Meanwhile, au-thorities placed Geelani, Mirwaiz, ShabirShah and other separatist leaders underhouse arrest to prevent them from leadingprotest rallies and marches.—Agencies

Let intra-Kashmir media

exchangeHAMEED SHAHEEN

ISLAMABAD—Ex-premierof AJK, Muslim Confer-ence president SardarAttique Ahmed Khan dur-ing a dinner talk here lateTuesday night asked vis-iting Indian intellectual MrVed Pratab Vaidik a closeaide of Modi that utmostnecessity was exchange ofmedia within two Kash-mirs. This will help buildfraternity and mutual un-derstanding drawingKashmiris closer together.

“If we have to go extramile along the tough road ofnegotiations over Kashmir,intra-Kashmir media free-dom then becomes an abso-lute necessity”, Attiq as-serted to his guest Dr.Vaidik. Sardar Attique sug-gested that Prime Ministersof Pakistan and of Indiashoul together visitSrinagar, a process that willsymbolise our seriousnesstowards Kashmir disputesolution.

PDP concernedover Iraq, Aghan

spill-over inKashmir

S R I N A G A R —Express ingconcern over the spill-overof situation in Iraq and Af-ghanistan into Jammu andKashmir, OppositionPeoples Democratic Partytoday appealed to the Cen-tre to discuss the issue inParliament to find a solu-tion to it. “The issue ofJammu and Kashmir is be-ing discussed every wherein the world, and Indianparliament should not shyaway from discussing thismatter because you haveto find a resolution to theproblem,” PDP presidentMehbooba Mufti told re-porters here.

“Every body is talkingabout what is going to hap-pen in Kashmir after with-drawal of US troops from Af-ghanistan, and there are alsoreports suggesting that themilitant groups fighting inIraq have India on theiragenda. In such a situation,there has to be a strategy,”Mehbooba, who is a Mem-ber of Parliament from southKashmir, said. She said,“the militancy, which was ondecline in the state, is on therise again. Highly qualifiedyouth are joining militantranks which is a cause ofconcern.”—KD

Some people workhard in this busi-ness and become

really popular,really big stars butthey never receive

an award fromwithin the busi-ness. Somehow,when your col-

leagues andfriends believe inyou to the point of

handing you anaward it means so

much more.

—Sharon Stone

FAISALABAD—Nikolaos Zaimis DeputyHead of GSP UNIT, Brussels said onWednesday that Faisalabad Chamber ofCommerce & Industry (FCCI) had takenlead in adopting GSP Plus Status onpermanent and sustained basis. How-ever, being a major stakeholder of tex-tile, FCCI should interact with govern-ment for the implementation of 27 inter-national conventions already signed bythe Government.

Addressing the members of theFCCI, he congratulated President FCCIEngr. Suhail Bin Rashid for setting upof first ever GSP Plus Cell at FCCI andsaid that he was happy to note that tex-tile exporters were already fully awareof their responsibility regarding labor,human rights and environment relatedobligations. He said that government ofPakistan has already made various com-mittees and consultation was inprogress for the implementation of in-ternational conventions. Same structure

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s exports to Ja-pan stood at US $ 478 million while im-ports from Japan were at US $ 1,432 mil-lion during the year 2013. According toa data released by Japan EmbassyIslamabad, Japan’s major exports to Pa-kistan during the year 2013 were machin-ery and transport equipment includingvehicles and cars parts while Japan’smajor imports from Pakistan were textile,textile articles and chemical products.

Similarly the net inflow of ForeignDirect Investments from Japan was US$34.5 million of which Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) accounted for 87 per-cent. The accumulated figure of the netFDI from Japan between 1994/95 and2012/13 was US $774 million and about70 Japanese- affiliated companies dobusiness in Pakistan. The data furtherrevealed that Pakistan-Japan BusinessForum (PJPF) was established in 2001by Pakistani companies and Japanesecompanies for the purpose of strength-ening the business relationship be-tween Pakistan and Japan.

ISLAMABAD: Dr Miftah Ismail, Special Assistant to Prime Minister, Chairman Boardof Investment in a meeting with Duncan Mitchell, Head of Emerging Markets, M/SCisco Systems Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd.

ISLAMABAD—Karou Shiraishi, Country Di-rector Osamu Hisaki JETRO called on Spe-cial Assistant to Prime Minister / ChairmanBoard of Investment (BoI) Dr Miftah Ismailand discussed matters relating to trade andinvestments in the country. Karou Shiraishi,JETRO’s newly appointed director briefedthe Chairman BoI that his his organizationranked Pakistan second in the world in termsof business growth in a survey done by Ja-pan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

He further said that JETRO was striv-ing hard to promote trade, investment, tech-nical cooperation and other bilateral eco-nomic relations between Japan and Paki-stan by providing technical assistance andguidance in the field of marketing, businessmanagement, enhancing the capacity build-

JETRO to help Pakistan improve bizenvironment for foreign investors

ing of SMEs, providing on the job trainingand advisory services to business people.Dr Miftah Ismail said that to encourage for-eign investment in Pakistan, the govern-ment had announced that income rates forcompanies with more than 50 per cent for-eign equity would be reduced from 35 per-cent to 30 percent for the next five years.

Additionally, he said further tax incen-tives had been announced for companiesinvesting in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistanand Kohat, while a total tax exemption oninputs would be given to companies inFATA. He invited the Japanese investorsto start economic zones in Pakistan anddesired to make the economic zone of Ja-pan as a model zone for the rest of the for-eign investors.—APP

has also been provided in the Punjabprovince which would be followed byother provinces, he hoped.

He said that FCCI was very dynamicand it should exploit its relations withother Chambers and Government for theimplementation of these Conventions.He said that it was his first visit andwould help him to prepare its two year‘Status Review Report’ that would bepresented to the EU Parliament. He saidthat FCCI should take the ownership ofGSP Plus and help for the provision ofvarious facilities in the industrial units.Regarding a question about the train-ing to the GSP Cell Staff of FCCI, hesaid that the EU was already undertak-ing capacity building and trainingprogrammes at government level. How-ever, he would look into the demand tostart similar workshop and trainingcourses at the Chamber level.

Continuing, he said that no new con-ditions have been imposed for the GSP

Plus but in future they may ask informa-tion about the various companies andthe government regarding labor andother issues. He said fulfillment of theconditionalities of international conven-tions would not only help Pakistan tocontinue its export to the EU countriesbut also play a major role in improvingits economy. In his welcome address,President FCCI Engr. Suhail Bin Rashidsaid that EU being a major trading blocand the world’s single largest market isthe largest trading partner of Pakistanwith an annual trade volume of over 8billion euro. The EU accounts for 21percent of Pakistan external trade wheretextile exports with majority share are 35percent.

He said that Pakistani exports to theEU in 2013 were amounting to Euro 4.0billion, mainly textiles, medical equip-ment and leather products and EU ex-ports to Pakistan amounting to Euro 4billion mainl y mechanical and electrical

equipment, chemical and pharmaceuti-cal products. He said that GSP Plus hasstarted showing positive results asPakistan’s textile exports for the periodJuly 2013 to April 2014 have increasedby 6.5% compared to the correspond-ing period of last year. “It shows thatour exporters are capitalizing GSP Plusfacility awarded to Pakistan by Euro-pean Union. With the improved supplyof electricity and gas, we are confidentthat the growth will be to the extent of15% in the following quarter of the year.”

He said that large scale increase inimport of textile machinery (about 60%)during July 2013 to April 2014 as com-pared to the corresponding period ofthe last year shows that business com-munity engaged in textile sector is seri-ous to avail the facility of GSP Plus andtherefore increasing their productioncapacity. The textile package an-nounced in the Federal Budget 2014-15will surely add to the export figures par-

ticularly to the value-added textile fromPakistan, he added.

He said that FCCI was planning adelegation of business giants in firstweek of September from Faisalabad tovisit EU countries including Spain,France, UK, Germany, Belgium, Den-mark, Hungry etc. “We therefore, re-quest that FCCI may be facilitated forthe trade delegation for an extensiveinteraction with the business commu-nity there and mobilizing earliest sign-ing of EU Pakistan Free Trade Agree-ment.” He hoped that such delega-tions would be organized on recipro-cal basis. Vote of Thanks was pre-sented by Ch. Muhammad Asgharwhile Riazul Haq, Senior Vice PresidentFCCI, Rao Sikandar Azam Khan, Sh.Muhammad Ishaq, John Sorensen,Commercial Counselor, Husnain A.Iftikhar, EU Delegation to Pakistanand others also shared their views onthis occasion.—APP

FCCI takes lead in adopting GSP plus status

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Business community wants toplay its due role for early economic revivalof the country provided government en-sures conducive business atmosphere fortrade and industry. Chairman PIAF MalikTahir Javed said that sufficient and cheaperenergy, cut in markup and stable law & or-der situation would not only enable busi-ness doing people to play their vital rolefor economic uplift of the country but wouldalso pave way for much needed foreign in-vestment in the country.

Malik Tahir Javed said that present gov-ernment moving in right direction and busi-ness community appreciates its all endeav-ors for early economic revival. PIAF Chair-man said that government has to completeall power projects in shortest possible timeas sufficient and cheap energy was must toaccelerate trade and economic activities in

Business community wants to play itsdue role for fast economic revival

the country. He said that government hasannounced various appreciable initiativesfor energy sector in the Federal Budget 2014-15 but early completion of the announcedprojects has utmost importance as it couldbring industrial revolution in the country.

Malik Tahir Javed said that export-ori-ented needs unintruppted electricity supplyto keep its wheel moving. Chairman PIAFsaid that though in the recent past, the en-ergy crisis was the main spoiler of economicfabric of the country but high interest rateshave also contributed considerably. He saidthat State Bank of Pakistan should realizethe ground realaties. It is now before all ofus that high discount rate is no more sus-tainable. It has been causing a great harm toeconomy and would continue to do so un-less and until a realist approach is adopted.Chairman PIAF hoped that governmentwould continue making efforts to economicwell being of the country.

SBP declares rentalcoupon rate of 3-year GoP SukukKARACHI—State Bank ofPakistan on Wednesdaydeclared the rentalcoupon rate of 3-yearGovernment of Pakistan(GIS-9) Sukuk. The rate is9.9763 percent and thepayment date is Decem-ber 26, 2014. The 3-yearGoP sukuk was auc-tioned on December 20,2011, said a press releasehere on Wednesday.This rental coupon ratewill be applicable tosuccessful bids in theauction.—APP

Bike production grows3.20 pcISLAMABAD—Theproduciton of motorcyclesduring the first ten monthsof the current fiscal yearincreased by 3.20 percentas compared to thecorrosponding period oflast year. As many as1,434,836 motorcycleswere manufactured duringJuly-April (2013- 14)compared to the produc-tion of 1,390,389 unitsduring July-April (2012-13), according to the dataof Pakistan Bureau ofStatistics (PBS). On year-on-year basis, theproduction of motorcyclesincreased by 2.71 percentto 145,486 units duringApril 2014, compared tothe production of 140,836units in April 2013, thedata revealed.—APP

Rates for conversionKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign CurrencyDeposits, Dollar BearerCertificates, ForeignCurrency Bearer Certifi-cates, Special U.S. DollarBonds and profits thereonby all banks and forproviding Forward Coveron Foreign CurrencyDeposits (excluding F.E-25 deposits) by the StateBank on June 26, 2014.The rates are U.S. DollarRs. 98.7475, Japanese YenRs. 0.9688, Pound SterlingRs. 167.5746 and Euro Rs.134.3362.—APP

Textile industryfetches US$ 10.385bISLAMABAD—The textileindustry has contributedprecious foreign exchangeof US$ 10.385 billion tonational exchequer duringfirst nine months of thisfiscal year. The cotton,having a share of 1.4percent in GDP and 6.7percent in agriculture valueaddition is an importantsource of raw material tothe textile industry whichwas cultivated on an areaof 28,06,000 hectares, 2.5per cent less than lastyear’s area of 28,79,000hectares. According toMinistry of Textile figures,the production stood at12.8 million bales duringthe period against thetarget of 14.1 million bales.The cotton production isdecreased due to fall in thearea sown which is due toless rates of cottonnationally and internation-ally prevailed during lasttwo years that discouragedthe growers to put morearea under crop.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Textile Ministry will leave nostone unturned to facilitate foreign invest-ment as it guarantees development and pros-perity of a country. This was stated by Min-ister for Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridiin a meeting with a Chinese company CGGC(China Gezhouba Group Corporation) heretoday.

The representatives from CGGCshowed keen interest in investment in Pa-kistan Textile city Karachi. Financial assis-tance, joint venture and infrastructure de-velopment at Pakistan Textile City remainedthe main focus of the discussion. Pakistan

CGGC shows keen interest inPakistan Textile City

Textile City is an industrial zone dedicatedto the textile processing and related indus-try.

It will offer textile industry state of theart environment to achieve cost effectiveproductivity. The Currently speedy work isunder process at Pakistan Textile City andit will cater for uninterrupted power supply,clean continuous water supply, gas supplyand efficient transportation system. TheCGGC is a transnational corporation. Itsbusiness scope covers water conservancy,hydropower, thermal power and construc-tion projects.—APP

Punjab governmentapproves 8 new

developmentschemes

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Punjab gov-ernment on Wednesday hasapproved 8 developmentschemes of different develop-ment Sectors with an esti-mated cost of Rs. 15618.196million. These schemes wereapproved in the 46th meet-ing of Provincial Develop-ment Working Party of cur-rent fiscal year 2013-14 pre-sided over by the Punjab Plan-ning and Development BoardChairman, Muhammad IrfanElahi, says P&D Spokesman.

Members of the Planning& Development Board, Pro-vincial Secretaries concernedand other senior representa-tives of the relevant Provin-cial Departments also at-tended the meeting. Accord-ing to Spokesman P&D, theapproved developmentschemes included: PunjabYouth Internship Program(Phase-II) (Revised) at thecost of Rs. 1286.830 million,Registration of GeographicalIndications (3rd Revised) atthe cost of Rs. 99.550 million,Lahore Ring Road ProjectFencing / Barrier Wall / RCCWall at the cost of Rs. 212.107million, Lahore Ring Road(Package-11) Construction ofInterchange at Ghazi Road atthe cost of Rs. 2216.990 mil-lion, Lahore Ring Road (Pack-age-13) Construction of RoadPortion from Mehmood BootiTo Lakhu Dair at the cost ofRs. 1335.484 million, Con-struction of Road and BridgeBetween District Mianwaliand Jand, District Attock atthe cost of Rs. 2164.294 mil-lion, Dualization of KhanewalLodhran Road length=98.00km in District Khanewal /Vehari and Lodhran at the costof Rs. 8061.155 million andConstruction of MetalledRoad from Pull Dat (D.G. KhanCity) to Kot Mubarak Via KotHabait Chabri and Yaroo onWestern Bank of Manka Ca-nal Length=8.25 Km, DistrictD.G. Khan (Revised) at thecost of Rs. 241.786 million.

Pak exports to Japan stoodat $478m in 2013

The number of its members was 177as on May 2014 while the JPBCC (Paki-stan japan Business Cooperation Com-mittee) was also established in 1984 byJapanese companies for the same pur-pose as the PJBF and the number of itsmembers was 19 as of May 2014. TheJapanese Embassy data while high-lighting its development assistance toPakistan further said that Japan was thesecond largest OECD/DAC donor toPakistan after USA. It added that totalamount of assistance since 1954 wasYen 1,273 Billion out of which Yen 976Billion was loan, Yen 249 billion wasgrant while techchnical cooperationYen 48 billion.

The priorities areas in Pakistan forJapan were Economic Infrastructure(Energy, Investment climate etc, hu-man security and social infrastructure(Health ,Education, Disaster Manage-ment, water, and Balanced regional de-velopment, (border regional, security. Highlighting some of the flagshipprojects initiated by Japan in Pakistan

the Embassy data said that 760 KM ofIndus Highway between Peshawarand Karachi has been improved un-der Japanese assistance and in par-ticularly Kohat Tunnel was alsoknown as a symbol of friendship witha total soft loan of Yen 80 billion.

Japan had been supporting Polioeradication in Pakistan since 1996 withgrants amounting to Yen 10 billion andsoft loan of Yen 5 billion. Due to thisassistance the number of polio caseshas been reduced from more than30,000 in 1994 to 92 in 2013. Japan hadbeen also supporting Pakistan Instituteof Medical Sciences (PIMS) sine 1982for Children ‘s hospital, mother andchild health center and college of nurs-ing and paramedical institute with atotal grant of Yen 11 billion. The Em-bassy of Japan data further said that4,868 Pakistani trainees have been sentto Japan by JICA since 1954 while 154trainees were sent to Japan in 2010, 182trainees in 2011 and 137 trainees weresent to the country in 2012.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Director Harvest Tradings,Ahmad Jawad has said that stake holdershave showed concern that despite beingan agrarian economy country reliance onimport of vegetables from India has in-creased significantly. Talking to INP hereon Wednesday, Ahmed Jawad said that inaccordance with the data of the Ministry ofNational Food Security and Research,Pakistan’s vegetable imports from Indiahave increased in recent years to almost$200m. He said that tariff distortion and lowinput costs in India due to heavy subsidiesare the factors responsible for a rise in im-ports of vegetables from India.

Director Harvest Tradings said it is amatter of great concern that we don’t cre-ate viable polices for the transformation ofagriculture sector. In 2014, still we are notfood surplus country as most of the workdone by agricultural research organizationshas not reached the farmers due to weakextension services and absence of any co-ordination between the entities. “It’s timewe should operate our agriculture and live-stock sectors at their optimal levels by in-troducing on-farm best management prac-tices and value-addition techniques” hesaid.

We can earn rich dividends through pri-vate sector investment in human resourcedevelopment in areas like food production,

Harvest trading demands bestmanagement practices in

agriculture sectorprocessing, packaging, supply livestockfarming, fisheries, horticulture and forestry.However India had realized the importanceof their agriculture sector in every commod-ity that’s why they implemented farmerfriendly policies. That’s why today we seethat agriculture inputs are cheaper in IndiaIf we only take a look on Baluchistan, wesee that this province is gifted with unlim-ited resources.

In agriculture sector this province an-nually produces more than a million tons ofvarious varieties of fruits, 90 percent grapes,cherry, and almonds; 60 percent peach,pomegranate, and apricot; 34 percentapples. The province is also the fifth larg-est producer of dates with an estimated pro-duction volume of 583,000 tons but, again,its exports and production suffer becauseof non-availability of infrastructure. Jawadalso said in view of population increase,land degradation and water scarcity in ourcountry, there is a need to substantially in-crease vegetable production in the years tocome and to attain self-sufficiency as wellas to increase the exportable surplus. Thiswould be possible if adequate attention isgiven to agriculture sector by granting sub-sidy for inputs and provision of requiredinfrastructure and enabling environment inevery budget.—INP

ISLAMABAD: Mohammad Zubair, MOS/ Chairman Privatisation Commission chair-ing Board meeting of the Privatisation Commission.

Zong rolls out‘Super 3G’ infederal capital

KARACHI—Zong, aChina mobile companyand Pakistan’s fastestgrowing telecom networkannounced the launch ofits exciting ‘Super 3G’ ser-vice for consumers inIslamabad at a press con-ference. Previously, Zonghad rolled out the ‘Super3G’ service to its custom-ers in Karachi and Lahore.‘Super 3G’ will help con-sumers experience ex-tremely fast internet,through which they willbe able to stream songsand videos within min-utes. It will offer best inclass technology HSPA+(High Speed Packet Ac-cess) providing maximumspeeds of up to 42 Mbps(twice as fast as normal 3Gavailable in Pakistan).

Speaking about thelaunch of the ‘Super 3G’ ser-vice in Islamabad, Dr. ZhaoPeng, CCO, Zong said, “Weare enthusiastic aboutlaunching the service inIslamabad as a part of ourfirst phase of the ‘Super 3G’roll-out. The twin cities areintegral to Zong’s plans asthey have one of the high-est concentrated percent-age of tech-savvy users inthe country, thus our cus-tomers in Rawalpindi will ex-perience this service in thecoming days as well. ‘Super3G’ shall offer speeds of upto 42 Mbps to these usersthrough which they canfully experience and utilizethe internet on theirsmartphones.

Also, based on FreeUser Trials (FUT), advancedtechnology and services willbe deployed to cater to thespecific needs of the con-sumers, for a better and morepersonalized experience. Hefurther added, “The initiallaunch targeted Karachi andLahore, and the excellentfeedback we have gottenfrom our Super 3G users fromthere shows that our serviceis just another example ofour commitment towardsproviding the best data so-lutions to our customers.Also, this is just the begin-ning of our 1st roll out phase,we shall soon announceservice starts in variousother metros and towns ofPakistan followed by themuch awaited service startof the Zong 4G in the com-ing months”.

Sharing her own 3G ex-perience, Ms. Shahrien, adevout Zong user inKarachi said, “Zong Super3G is exceptional, especiallythe fact that I can watch myfavorite TV shows on mymobile without any buffer-ing time. Being a studentliving in a hostel, I havefaced various issues re-garding the internet before,but Zong Super 3G seemslike the perfect solution forall my mobile internet prob-lems. The service is excel-lent and most importantlythe tariff rates are the sameas they were for the 2G and3G service.”

Another ‘Super 3G’user from Lahore, Mr.Kumail added, “It is won-derful how my existingZong SIM was ‘Super 3G’enabled so I didn’t haveto go through an incon-venience to get a newSIM, and the tariff for 2G& 3G are essentially thesame so one can start us-ing ‘Super 3G’ and enjoyfast data speeds at thesame exciting rates as be-fore by just changing thenetwork settings. —PR

Currency Selling Buying

USA 98.40 98.20

UK 167.03 166.69

Euro 133.88 133.61

Canada 91.55 91.36

Switzerland 110.04 109.82

Australia 92.11 91.93

Sweden 14.63 14.60

Japan 0.9656 0.9636

Norway 16.10 16.07

Singapore 78.63 78.47

Denmark 17.96 17.92

Saudi Arabia 26.24 26.18

Hong Kong 12.69 12.67

Kuwait 348.87 348.17

Malaysia 30.48 30.42

Newzealand 85.38 85.20

Qatar 27.03 26.97

UAE 26.79 26.74

Kr. Won 0.0964 0.0962

Thailand 3.029 3.023

Daily opening& closing ratesTotal Volume (Lots): 11,697Traded Value (Rs): 3,625,884,290

Commodity .......................... Price Quotation ................... Open CloseCRUDE OIL ......................... $ Per Barrel ............................ 106.26 106.56SILVER ................................. $ Per Ounce ........................... 21.115 20.858GOLD ................................... $ Per Ounce ........................... 1,325.0 1,313.4GOLD ................................... Rs Per 10 gms ........................ 42,604 50,525MTOLAGOLD .................... Rs Per Tola ............................ 51,068 50,525GOLD ................................... Rs Per Tola ............................ 51,068 50,525RICEIRRI6 ........................... Rs Per 100 kg......................... 3,571 3,570PALMOLEIN ...................... Rs Per Maund ....................... 4,370 4,369SUGAR ................................ Rs Per kg ................................ 46.81 46.80ICOTTON ............................ US Cents per pound ............ 77.83 76.57WHEAT ............................... Rs Per 100 kg......................... 3,295 3,294

On Wednesday at Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) value traded increased by16.79 percent to PKR 3.6 billion from PKR 3.1 billion recorded a day ago. Number oflots traded was reported at 11,697 and PMEX Commodity Index closed at 3,083, up by0.10 percent. Major business was contributed by gold amounting to PKR 1.85 bil-lion, a 45 percent increase when compared to the previous trading day. This wasfollowed by crude oil (PKR 1.6 billion) and silver (PKR 142 million).

KARACHI: Qamar Haris Manzoor, CEO El Paso Technology Pakistan Ltd presentinga memento to Minister for Labour & Manpower & Social Welfare, Sardar SarfarazDomki during his visit to the Habibullah Coastal Power Company Power Plant.

KARACHI: Peridot Products Private Limited,one of the leading FMCG companies alongwith Iqra University Karachi, conducted anadvertising competition, in which more thanforty teams participated.

The Kiwi Showdown was aimed to bringforward the brightest talent among the stu-dents and to offer them a chance to interactand work with KIWI at Peridot ProductsPrivate Limited. The Finale was held at the

KIWI Showdown–for themarketing & advertising enthusiasts

Iqra University Main Campus Karachi,where the winners were awarded with coolprizes and internship opportunities.

The CEO – Peridot Products PrivateLimited , Mr. Gul Nawaz, The Head of Sales– Mr. Qadeer Ahmed, The National SalesManager – Mr. Jafar Sajjad and from theBrand Team, Mr. Babar Younus & Mr.Muhammad Fasieh were present to do thehonors.

DHA Karachireceives

international awardKARACHI—After a yearlong evaluation, the Insti-tute of Sustainable Infra-structure, Washington DC,USA has given an “Interna-tional Award” to DHA CityKarachi (DCK) (1st Sustain-able City of Pakistan. Theaward was received by theProject Director, Brig (Retd)Muhammad Rafique. Theaward has also been con-ferred upon the DCK LeadConsultants Osmani &Company (Pvt.) Ltd, andtheir International Associ-ates Prof. Spiro Pollalis,Doxiadis and RMJM. TheInstitute is an internation-ally recognized organizationthat has developed andmaintains a sustainabilityrating system for civil infra-structure in the world, andwas founded by the Ameri-can Council of EngineeringCompanies (ACEC), theAmerican Public Works As-sociation (APWA) and theAmerican Society of CivilEngineers (ASCE).

On the occasion, Mr.William Berterra, the ChiefExecutive of Institutegreatly appreciated the lead-ership role taken by Pakistanin Sustainable planning ofCities. He reiterated thatadopting a Sustainable In-frastructure on EnvisionRating System at city scalehas been done for the firsttime and greatly appreciatedthe Pakistani Engineers &Planners for achieving thisgigantic task within 12months. He said DCK hasnow become a sustainabilitybenchmark, which will befollowed in new cities devel-opment around the world.

PD DCK on behalf ofDHA Karachi elaboratedthat this is just the start of along partnership betweenDHA and the Institute. Hefurther emphasized thatDHA will continue to workon the sustainable infrastruc-ture and shall InshaAllahpromote sustainability forthe betterment of every Pa-kistani. Engineer Arif Osmani,Team Leader of Consultantsgave a detailed presentationon the sustainable planning& infrastructure of DCK andthe fast track execution of theworks on the ground. Prof.Pollalis gave a presentationon the urgent need for sus-tainable cities in world. En-gineer Inam Osmani elabo-rated that DHA Karachi hastaken the leading role in sus-tainable infrastructure devel-opment in Pakistan throughthe DCK project.—PR

Head VietnamTrade Mission

calls onTDAP Chief

KARACHI—Vu Viet Dzung,Head of Trade Mission,Karachi called on the ChiefExecutive TDAP, Mr. S.M.Muneer at his office. Secre-tary TDAP, Ms. Rabiya JaveriAgha was also present. Mat-ters related to Bilateral Tradeand Economic relations werediscussed. The Chief Execu-tive complimented Vietnamfor their excellent Economicperformance and growth,with sheer hard work of theGovernment and people ofVietnam after decades of dif-ficult time.

The Head of VietnameseTrade Mission expressedhis desire to increase thetrade volume between Paki-stan and Vietnam. There wasa huge potential for Paki-stan Products specially theTextiles, Fisheries, Pharma-ceutical, Leather and surgi-cal Instruments. Chief Ex-ecutive Agreed to sendtrade delegation to Vietnamfor exploring the markets. Heasked the Vietnamese Headof Trade Mission to providethe list of Buyers in Vietnamto connect them to PakistaniBusinessmen.

Secretary TDAP ap-prised Mr. Dzung that aMOU was in pipeline be-tween the TPO of Vietnamand TDAP. TDAP wouldlike to sign the MOU in No-vember 2014 so that bothorganizations can facilitateeach other in trade relatedevents. The Chief Executiveextended the Invitation toVietnam Business Commu-nity to for Expo-2014. Healso agreed to lead a tradedelegation in September toVietnam on the sidelines ofJoint Trade Commissionmeeting between Pakistanand Vietnam scheduled tobe held from 18-20 August2014 at Hanoi, Vietnam.—PR

KARACHI: Head of Vietnam Trade Mission, Vu Viet Dzung calls on Chief ExecutiveTDAP, SM Munir.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—EatOye, the food ordering pow-erhouse has launched mobile app which givesconsumers access to order food and make areservation at 1,000 outlets across 15 differentcities in Pakistan. EatOye’s app, developed byARPATECH’s mobile app development team,

is a free mobile application for foodies, and isimmediately available to the entire communityof users that use iPhones as their smartphoneof choice. The app demonstrates EatOye’scommitment to mobile food ordering solutionsthat help strengthen our partner restaurantsand evolve their businesses.

The growth in smart devices use andadoption is driving changing consumerbuying habits for ordering food. Based onevolving market trends and user dataanalytics, EatOye expects mobile to be themost popular ordering method by 2015. “Weare anticipating a massive increase via mo-bile orders this year and see mobile as anexciting area for growth in 2014 and beyond.We are investing to drive more and moreinnovations in this area, such as our newmobile app, which gives foodies easy, any-where, anytime access to 1,000 outletsacross 15 different cities.

By making this investment to providethe best mobile experience possible to theend customer, we’re enabling our restau-rant partners to compete on a level playing

KARACHI: William Berterra, the Chief Executive of Institute of Sustainable Infra-structure, Washington DC, USA giving an International Award to DHA City Karachi(DCK) (1st Sustainable City of Pakistan). The award was received by the Project Direc-tor, Brig. (R) Muhammad Rafique on 19 June 2014 during an impressive ceremony atHotel Marriot at Metro Centre in Washington DC, USA.

1,000 restaurants in your pocketEatOye Launches Mobile App

field with the big national players, and capi-talize on the explosive growth in mobile.”said Nauman Sikandar, Chief Executive Of-ficer and of EatOye.

“Ordering from a menu on a mobile de-vice can be fiddly but with our ‘inline-or-dering’ user experience there’s no more flipflopping back and forth, you can just add

items right there on the menu,” explainedRai Umair, Chief Technology Officer atEatOye. “With this really quick and intui-tive process we foresee customer satisfac-tion results far beyond our expectations.And we have plans to add more cutting-edge features based on mobile designtrends and user behavior.”

The app is the cutting-edge result of amajor push on innovation in the last 6 months,with significant investment made by EatOyein building its product team. “Innovation is amajor focus area for EatOye and the new mo-bile app is the first of many mobile develop-ments at EatOye, as we look to embrace a‘mobile-first’ approach to our business,”added Rai.

“We are already planning further updatesto our mobile ordering app, as well as lookingat rolling out the EatOye app to other plat-forms. We are confident that we have devel-oped the most convenient and user-friendlyfood ordering app available. The app wasdesigned by EatOye and developed in-houseand in partnership with ARPATECH.

ISLAMABAD—Pizza Hut Management hasissued appointment letters to 13 BISP ben-eficiaries/ nominees for newly establishedPizza Hut branch in Quetta. Already, fourbeneficiaries of BISP have been placed onjob by the food chain in Karachi. On theoccasion, Chairman BISP stated that thePrime Minister of Pakistan Mian MuhammadNawaz Sharif is aspiring to take BISP a stepfurther in providing relief to the impoverishedand vulnerable segments of our society. Headded that through vocational training andjob placements, BISP beneficiaries will begraduating out of the Programme by earn-ing a sustainable livelihood. He said that itis a landmark achievement which has resultedfrom an MoU between BISP and MCR (Pvt)Ltd, which is the franchise of internationalfood chains of Pizza Hut, Burger King andTGIF for Pakistani territory.

BISP is imparting vocational training to

Pizza Hut issues appointmentletters to BISP beneficiaries

its selected beneficiaries in various tradesunder its vocational training programnamely “Waseela-e-Rozgar” (WR) throughpublic and private sector training institutes,so as to inculcate such skills into the ben-eficiaries, or their nominees, which wouldenable them to earn a respectable and de-cent livelihood. BISP has already signedMoU with Korangi Association of Trade &Industries (KATI), Daewoo Pakistan BusService and other trade associations forproviding job opportunities to BISP ben-eficiaries. A recent MoU was inked betweenBISP and SITE Association, which is thelargest industrial zone in the country withover 3500 industrial units and over 500,000workers in various capacities. Accordingto the memorandum, SITE has offeredplacement of successful BISP programmetrainees in industries along with providingon-the-job training in different trades.—PR

ISLAMABAD—The Competition Commis-sion of Pakistan (CCP) ensured participa-tion of maximum bidders in the procurementof bulldozers by the Agriculture and Coop-eratives Department (A&CD), Governmentof Balochistan. The Government ofBalochistan has allocated PKR 3 billion inbudget 2014-15 for the procurement of 200bulldozers for agriculture purposes. A&CD,Balochistan, recently floated a tender toprocure the first lot of 40 Bulldozers. CCPreceived complaints from suppliers of bull-dozers concerning the terms of tender.

It was complained that five brands ofbulldozers were invited in the tender; how-ever, bids were to be entertained only if thebidders provide details of supply duringthe last five years for their brands offeredin Pakistan. CCP learnt that the import dataof Customs shows import of only one brandof bulldozers in Pakistan during the last fiveyears, thereby inevitably creating a mo-nopoly of one supplier. It was also com-plained that the pre-requisite horse-power(HP) range for the procurement of bulldoz-ers was set at 120-125 HP, despite the factthat the majority of the brands mentionedin the tender failed to meet this requirement.

CCP learnt that the former Ministry ofFood, Agriculture & Livestock had estab-lished a horse-power range between 120-

CCP ensures competition in procurementof bulldozers by Balochistan govt

130 HP to ensure better competition andthe practice was followed by the Agricul-ture Department of Sindh in its latest pro-curement. These pre-requisites in the ten-der document appeared to hinder a level-playing field among various suppliers ofbulldozers by ostensibly foreclosing themarket to most of potential bidders. CCPadvised A&CD that the inclusion of theabove pre-requisites would restrict compe-tition in the market at a heavy cost to thenational exchequer. In response, AC&Dacknowledged the competition concernsand resolved the matter by amending thebidding document, which required supplyrecord during the last twenty five (25) yearsinstead of five (5) years.

Further, A&CD, Balochistan agreed totake appropriate action to increase HP re-quirement from 125 to 130 HP to ensure maxi-mum participation of bulldozer suppliers.In developing countries where public pro-curement amounts on an average between15% and 30% of gross domestic product,fair and open competition leads to quality,efficiency and value for money to the pro-curing agencies in the use of public money.CCP is appreciative of prompt response anddiligent efforts by the A&CD, Balochistanto promote competition in the supply ofbulldozers.—INP

LAHORE: MNA and Chairman Sports Board Punjab Steering Committee Hamza Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab Minis-ter for Law and Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan giving away a cheque to kabaddi team captain.

SPORTS REPORTER

LAHORE—Member National Assem-bly and Chairman Sports BoardPunjab (SBP) Steering CommitteeHamza Shahbaz Sharif has said thatthe superb performance of our youthwas not less than a landmark for ourcountry. And we are proud of ouryouth, who scripted a new history bycreating dozens of Guinness WorldRecords in Punjab Youth Festival 2014;he was addressing the SBP’s grandaward ceremony at Chief Minister’sSecretariat, 90 Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azamhere on Wednesday.

Punjab Minister for Law andSports Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan,MPAs Tahia Noon, Uzma Bokhari,Mehwish Sultana, Bushra Butt, MianIrfan Daultana, Arshad Ansari andDirector General SBP Usman Anwarwere also present on the occasion. Themeeting was also attended by Testcricketers Mushtaq Ahmed, IntikhabAlam, Shafiq Papa, Olympian KhJunaid, top fashion designers andlarge number of media persons.

Hamza said that Punjab Youth Fes-tival will be held every year. He wasnot expecting such an amazing re-sponse after the first two editions ofPunjab Youth Festival. “Wegot massive talent after theholding of tehsil and districtlevel events in PYF 2014. Iwas quite emotional whenour talented boys and girlswere forming huge humanflag and all the credit of suchgigantic performance goesto our team not an indi-vidual,” he explained.

Hamza further said thatlove and respect work moreeffectively than fighting.“Our relationship with our

Punjab Youth Festival to beheld every year: Hamza

neighbours especially India will im-prove through bilateral sporting ties.Sports always promote peace andthat’s why I’m asking our youth tofocus more on sports,” he added. “Wehave allocated Rs 10 billion for PunjabEducational Endowment Fund (PEEF)through which over 50,000 young stu-dents are taking benefit”.

Hamza invited youth of the coun-try to come forward and exhibit theirpotential in any field. “Govt will pro-vide the platform and every possiblefacility to anyone who is enriched withany kind of talent.

Earlier, Punjab Minister for Lawand Sports Rana Mashhood AhmedKhan in his address claimed that thePYF 2014, with the participation ofover 48 lakh, has been acknowledgedas the largest youth festival of theworld.

“The patronization of Punjab ChiefMinister Shahbaz Sharif and HamzaShahbaz has played key role in thisgreat achievement. Recently, UnitedNations Secretary General’s Envoy onYouth Ahmad Al Hindawi informedthat United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon has appreciated the ef-forts and youth policy of Punjab gov-ernment,” he added.

He said that PYF was not onlysports persons or athletes activity.People from every walk of life took ac-tive part in this grand activity. Over300 sports events were organized dur-ing PYF 2014. Several traditionalsports such as ox race, donkey cartrace, mud wrestling ets were revivedduring the grand PYF event. Sportsevents were also staged at jails, OldHomes and Fountain House whichshows that PYF was not mere an eventbut a mission for the youth and growthof sports. PYF contests were also heldin engineering, agricuture, IT and filmtheatre fields. Healthy baby contestswere also organized among 2-year-oldkids.

Highlighting the role of SBP,Mashhood said that Pakistan teamsoverwhelmed India in the Pak-IndiaPunjab Games also held under the ban-ner of PYF. Pakistan captured 22 goldmedals while India had to content withonly five medals. “As many as 19countries including England, India,Nepal, Qatar, Afghanistan, America etcparticipated in the Punjab Interna-tional Festival. Such a large participa-tion of foreign teams in PISF provedthat Pakistan is home of peaceful andsports lover people.

Manzoor for Pak Senior-Juniorhockey series in August

PESHAWAR—Mardan and Bannu advancedto the next round after registering victoriesagainst their respective rivals in the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Women Inter-Region CricketChampionship, which got under way hereat Jinnah College for Women University ofPeshawar on Wednesday.

Principal Jinnah College for WomenUniversity of Peshawar Professor Dr NiloFar Zeb was the chief guest on this occa-sion who formally inaugurated the Cham-pionship. Organizing Secretary Rahim Bibi,Gul Nar, two umpires international cricketerSalma Faiz and Samreen, players and largenumber of spectators were also present.

Mardan won the toss and elected to batagainst Hazara Region first by setting up89 runs with Renoon 33 including fourboundaries, Haseena 17 and Nadra 19 runswere the leading runs contributors. ForHazara Sumaira, Maria and Kenza took onewicket each.

Mardan, Bannu advance inWomen Cricket Championship

In reply, Hazara bundled out in last over.Hazara needed 24 runs in the last two oversbut thanks to Nadra who grabbed threewickets and completed her hat-trick in herlast over. Thus Hazara bowled out for 81runs. For Hazara Farukh hit a cracking 35runs including two sixes and four bound-aries, Aysha 17 and Sumaira made not out25 runs including four boundaries and onesix. Thus Mardan won the match by 7 runs.

In the second match Bannu defeatedMalakand by 45 runs. Bannu skipper Nailawon the toss and elected to bat first bysetting up 99 runs target in the 20 overs.Left hand batter Roheena hammered 46 runsincluding seven boundaries and one six,Zaiba smashed not out 43 runs and thusBannu chased the target for loss of nowicket after playing 17.3 overs. Teams fromDera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Mardan,Hazara, Malakand and host Peshawar aretaking part in teh Championship.—APP

Pakistan routs Libya5-0 in World Team

Snooker to faceAustralia

KARACHI—Pakistan duo ofMuhammad Asif andMuhammad Sajjad producedsuper performance to routLibya 5-0 in the IBSF WorldTeam Snooker Championshipin Sharm-ul-Sheikh (Egypt)on Tuesday, according tomessage received here.

Defending Champion Pa-kistan maintained winningsequence Pakistan with a animpressive 76-05, 89-07, 64-11,84-17, 74-34 victory.

Pakistan topped group“J” with four wins in as manymatches. They won 17 framesand lost three. Holder Paki-stan will face Australia-2 inlast 32 rounds on Thursday.Australia-2 finished runners-up in their group.—APP

PCB fail to attract sponsor,Pak-Zimbabweseries cancelledISLAMABAD—The PakistanCricket Board (PCB) alreadyunder financial constraints,could not manage to get asponsorship to host Zimba-bwe in the United Arab Emir-ates, resulting in cancellationof the series scheduled laterin the year.

Cancellation of the serieswas another financial setbackfor the Pakistan Cricket Boardand players, who had notbeen paid salaries for manymonths.

Zimbabwe was supposedto tour Bangladesh and Paki-stan before the year end, butPakistan is not ready to hostthe series.

Zimbabwe had played ahome two-Test match seriesagainst Pakistan last year,which they won by 1-0.

Zimbabwian coach AndyWaller, in a recent statement,said the cancellation of thetour meant that his team wouldnow be touring onlyBangladesh..—APP

LONDON—Top seed Novak Djokovic takeson Czech veteran Radek Stepanek for aplace in the Wimbledon last 32 Wednes-day hoping to avoid the fate suffered byhis coach Boris Becker in 1987.

The German legend, who captured threeWimbledon titles in his career, is the onlytop seed in the history of the tournamentto lose in the second round when he wasbeaten by Peter Doohan 27 years ago.

Djokovic, the champion in 2011, isn’tlikely to fall into the same trap as he takes a10-1 career record over Stepanek into theirCentre Court meeting.

Stepanek beat Wimbledon championAndy Murray a t Queen’s Club twoweeks ago but h is sole win overDjokovic was way back in 2006.

The pair played at Wimbledon in thethird round in 2012 with the Serb winningin four sets.

“Radek is an experienced player. He’ssomebody that I know very well off thecourt, as well. We are good friends,” saidDjokovic of the wily 35-year-old.

“We practice with each other a lot. Hiswin against Andy at Queen’s must havegiven him a lot of confidence coming intoWimbledon. I always thought that his gameis very good for this surface because hehas a touch, he anticipates well, he comesto the net.

“He’s one of the very few serve and

Djokovic hopes to avoidBecker shock repeat

volley players nowadays.”Third seed Murray takes on Slovenia’s

world number 92 Blaz Rola who is playingat his maiden Wimbledon at the age of 23.

“Hopefully I don’t poop my pants anddon’t play well,” said Rola, who will be play-ing just his 10th match as a professional.

Murray, who became Britain’s firstWimbledon men’s champion in 77 yearswhen he defeated Djokovic in last year’sfinal, admitted he knew little of theSlovenian ahead of their Court One en-counter.

“He hasn’t been on tour too long. SoI’ll watch a little bit of video of him and geta better idea of his game,” said the Scot.

Queen’s champion Grigor Dimitrov, the11th seeded Bulgarian, faces Australia’sLuke Saville in a clash of two former juniorchampions.

In the women’s event, second seed LiNa plays Austria’s Yvonne Meusburgerwhile 2011 champion Petra Kvitova linesup against Germany’s Mona Barthel.

Meanwhile, 1997 singles championMartina Hingis appears at the All EnglandClub for the first time since 2007 when sheteams up with Russia’s Vera Zvonareva inthe women’s doubles first round.

Hingis won nine Grand Slam doublestitles in her career but she and Zvonarevahave a tough opener against fourth seedsCara Black and Sania Mirza.—AFP

KARACHI—The chief coach of Pakistanjuniors hockey, Olympian Manzoor-ul-Hasan was looking forward for the seriesbetween Pakistan Seniors and PakistanJuniors in August.

“The series Pakistan Seniors and Jun-iors will benefit both the teams ahead ofAsian Games in Incheon in September,”he told APP in an interview here at theHockey Club of Pakistan Stadium onWednesday where he was supervisingthe training camp to groom 51 boys andtrain the players for the future.

He said he is submitting his proposalto Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF)Secretary Rana Mujahid in the next fewdays.

He said the series between the twoteams will be good for Pakistan Senior’steam for Asian Games where Pakistan isdefending their crown.

“At the same time the series will en-able the Pakistan junior string an expo-sure against experienced seniors,” full-back Manzoor-ul-Hasan, who had repre-sented Pakistan in 1973, 1975 and 1982World Cups, informed.

He said he had accepted the challengeto train and coach Pakistan junior ’sprobables with fellow coaches QamarIbrahim, Kamran Ashraf and Muhammad

Irfan on long-term basis but it was verydifficult to bring results in a short time.

Manzoor said as training camps of thetwo teams will be held in Islamabad it willbe good opportunity for the series.

He said he would be suggesting 4-6series match between two teams. Com-menting on the progress of the trainingcamp, he said around 4-week trainingcamp will conclude on June 27.

He said a big effort is required to pre-pare the boys for 2016 Junior World Cupbeing staged in Canberra.

“A lot of effort and hard work is re-quired to train and groom the juniors tillthe next couple of years,”, a famous part-ner of late full-back Munawar-uz-Zamancommented.

He admitted that Pakistan junior waslacking quality talent and long-term plan-ning is needed to prepare for Junior WorldCup.

Manzoor said training to the camptrainees is being imparted in all areas ofthe game with focus on top fitness andphysical training. Manzoor-ul-Hasan,said out of the training 18 boys will takepart in World Youth Olympiad being heldin Nanjing (China) in August while re-maining players will be invited for train-ing camp in the federal capital.—APP

Zidane namedcoach of RealMadrid feeder

teamMADRID—France legendZinedine Zidane has beenappointed coach for nextseason of Real Madrid’sfeeder team, third-divisionside Castilla, the club saidWednesday.

“Zizou, who was CarloAncelotti’s first squad as-sistant coach this year, willstart a new stage of his ca-reer at Real Madrid,” RealMadrid said in a statement,adding that he was alreadyworking on plans for theclub.

Zidane, 42, played forCannes, Bordeaux andJuventus before joiningReal Madrid in 2001 and re-tiring at the age of 34 afterthe 2006 World Cup.

He became France’splaymaker in the buildup tothe 1998 World Cup onhome soil and earned leg-endary status with twoheaded goals in the 3-0 winover Brazil in the final.

Four years later injuryspoiled his World Cup inSouth Korea and Japan, buthe was instrumental in lead-ing France into the 2006World Cup final in Germanyagainst Italy only to be sen-sationally sent off forheadbutting defenderMarco Materazzi in thechest before the Italianswon on penalties. He hadrecently been linked withthe vacant managerial job athis former club Bordeaux,but elected instead to stayat Real where he is regardedas one of the club’s finestever players.—AFP

Pakistanclimb up toNo.3 spot inTest rankings

DUBAI—England’s defeatin the second Test atHeadingley by Sri Lankaturned into a blessing indisguise for Pakistan asthey moved to No.3 in theICC Test rankings.

England lost 4 pointsafter losing the home se-ries against Sri Lankawhich brought them downto 100 ranking points be-cause of which theymoved from No.3 to No.5in the overall rankings.

As a result Pakistanwith 103 points moved toNo.3 from No.4.

Australia retained itsNo.1 status while SouthAfrica maintained the No.2spot .—AFP

LEEDS—Alastair Cook was adamant hewould “never quit” as England captain af-ter the side suffered a fresh series reverseby a desperately narrow margin against SriLanka at Headingley on Tuesday.

It seemed England might escape withboth a drawn match and series as No 11

James Anderson defied Sri Lanka’s bowlersfor some 20 overs.

But with just two balls left in the match,he couldn’t evade a well-directed ShamindaEranga bouncer and was caught at leg gullywith Moeen Ali, who’d kept Sri Lanka atbay for six-and-half hours on 108 not out at

‘I’ll never quit’ vows Cookthe other end — his maiden Test ton.

Victory gave Sri Lanka the two-matchseries 1-0, after the Islanders themselveshad battled to a draw with just one wicketstanding at Lord’s, and saw a tearful Ander-son, who blocked 54 balls before falling tothe 55th he faced, sink to his knees in dis-belief.

England, set 350 to win, had beenbowled out for 249 and for a ‘new-look’ sidethere was the same old feeling of loss fol-lowing the team’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing inAustralia under Cook’s leadership.

However, a defiant Cook insisted: “I’venever quit on anything I’ve done. I’ve givenit my all, all the time. Every 104 games I’veplayed for England, I’ve left everything outthere.

“It’s the same situation here. Until thatmoment somebody tells me they don’t wantme to be captain, I’ll still be here,” the 29-year-old left-handed opening batsmanadded.

Cook, who has now gone 24 inningssince compiling the last of his Englandrecord 25 Test hundreds, appeared to beclose to the end of his tether even beforethis match when he said “something needsto be done” about the persistent criticismof his captaincy by Australia great ShaneWarne.

But this match only served to increasethe scrutiny of Cook’s tactics, with Englandfailing to attack Angelo Mathews while theSri Lanka skipper played a match-changinginnings of 160 on Monday.

England’s main concern for much ofMathews’s century lay in getting RanganaHerath on strike, only for the left-arm spin-ner to make an invaluable 48 in a key eighth-wicket stand of 149 with his captain.—AFP

KARACHI: Sports organizer Qamar Yar Khan presenting souvenir to Imran AslamAdminsitrator of DMC Korangi.

PESHAWAR: Hasina of Peshawar playing a short during Inter-Regional women’sCricket Championship.

Shoaib Akhtarties the knotwith RubabOBSERVER REPORT

HARIPUR—Former interna-tional cricketer ShoaibAkhtar has reportedly se-cretly married to a 20-year-old girl, Rubab, from thedistrict of Haripur.

According to sources,Shoaib Akhtar’s family metMushtaq Khan, a business-man from Haripur while onHajj last year and askedKhan’s wife for help in find-ing a suitable match for the39-year-old retired cricketer.

Both families reportedlymet several times upon theirreturn to Pakistan beforefinalising a match betweenAkhtar and Rubab, aged 20.

Rubab appeared in inter-mediate exams conductedby the Board of Intermedi-ate and Secondary Educa-tion Abbottabad last month.

The wedding ceremonyof Shoaib Akhtar was heldin Haripur district onWednesday.

The report further saidthat during the nikkah cer-emony the ‘haq mehr’ wasset at Rs500,000.

The low-key affair wasattended by family membersand close friends of thegroom and the bride.

CUIABA: Colombia’s team celebrates Juan Cuadrado’s goal against Japan during their 2014 World Cup Group C soccer match at the Pantanal arena.

FORTALEZA: Georgios Samaras is mobbed by his Greece team-mates after nettingthe crucial penalty against Ivory Coast.

Ecuador aimto continue

SouthAmerican

dominationRIO DE JANEIRO—Ecua-dor coach Reinaldo Ruedabelieves his side can takeinspiration from their SouthAmerican neighbours asthey look to become thesixth CONMEBOL nation toqualify for the last 16 of theWorld Cup on Wednesday.

Rueda’s men—who willbe seeking to emulate theirpredecessors from 2006 inreaching the knockoutstages—currently sit sec-ond in Group E ahead ofSwitzerland on goal differ-ence.

However, they appear toface a tougher task in groupleaders France in their finalgame, whilst the Swiss takeon the pointless Honduras.

Brazil, Argentina, Uru-guay, Chile and Colombiahave already booked theirplace in the last 16 in a tour-nament in which South andCentral American sideshave had the upper hand ontheir European counter-parts.

“It shows the capacityand the power of the SouthAmerican teams,” said 57-year-old Rueda on Tuesday.

“We hope to follow intheir footsteps.”

With France’s impres-sive goal difference mean-ing they are all but assuredto finish top of the group,boss Didier Deschamps isexpected to hand a rest to anumber of his key players,

NATAL—The post-mortem into Italy´s sec-ond consecutive World Cup humiliation waslaunched in scathing fashion by coachCesare Prandelli, who has called for sweep-ing reforms to save the “disliked” Azzurriafter resigning his post on Tuesday.

For the second successive edition, four-time champions Italy will not be playing afourth match at the WorldCup after a 1-0 defeat by Uru-guay sent the South Ameri-cans through with Group Dwinners Costa Rica.Prandelliresigned immediately and, insurreal scenes following thematch in Natal, Italian foot-ball federation (FIGC) presi-dent Giancarlo Abete fol-lowed suit. “I will not go backon my decision,” said thedapper 56-year-old Italiancoach, rebutting Abete´sclaim he would try to changePrandelli´s mind.

The Azzurri are in turmoil,but Prandelli — who wonwide support after steeringthe four-time champions to a runner-up placeat Euro 2012 and third place in last year´sConfederations Cup — hinted the road backto global domination looks rocky.

He said there was work to do from grassroots level all the way to Serie A, where the“lack of collaboration” from those running

Italian coach Prandelli stepsdown after WC debacle

the country´s elite league, as well as a gen-eral lack of support, was a hindrance. “Wehave to rebuild from the bottom up, startingfrom the juniors we have to instill admirationfor what the national team represents,” saidPrandelli. “There´s no hiding it, the nationalteam is disliked. We´re the only national teamthat leaves (for the World Cup) without the

support of its own people,who then rely on us to carrythe hopes of a nation. Wewere jeered, whistled at andinsulted. We were almost em-barrassed to come here.”

Prandelli also took aim atSerie A stakeholders, who heclaimed had given him littletime to prepare the team forthe World Cup. “There´s noreal collaboration. How canwe prepare for a (friendly)game against Spain on aWednesday, while there aretwo Serie A games beingplayed on a Sunday night?Enough.”

Italy were widely ex-pected to join Uruguay in the last 16, knock-out round of the competition. But followinga 2-1 win over England in Manaus, wherestriker Mario Balotelli headed the winner af-ter Daniel Sturridge had levelled ClaudioMarchisio´s opener for the Azzurri, disasterstruck in Recife.

Kagawa blastsJapan’s

‘pathetic’ WorldCup exit

T O K Y O — J a p a nplaymaker Shinji Kagawaslammed the team’s WorldCup el imination as “pa-thetic” after Tuesday’s 4-1 thrashing by Colombiain their f inal groupgame.

“It hurts to go out likethis ,” the ManchesterUnited player told Japa-nese television broadcaston Wednesday. “I don’thave any other words. Ifeel responsible anddeeply sorry. I t’s pa-thetic.”

A three-goal bli tz byColombia in the secondhalf ended Japan’s slenderhopes of reaching theknockout stage in Brazilafter a 2-1 defeat by IvoryCoast and a 0-0 draw withGreece.

Japan’s tal ismanicmidfielder Keisuke Honda,who had declared defi-antly that the Asian cham-pions could win the WorldCup, cut a forlorn figureafter the match.

“It’s embarrassing,”he said, pain etchedacross his face and fight-ing back tears.

“After I’d said Japanwould win the tourna-ment, in the end it finishedwith just empty talk,”added Honda, who dis-missed talk of interna-tional retirement.

“I said from the startthat I intended on goingto the next (tournament).We simply weren’t goodenough at this World Cup.We’ve st i l l got a lot tolearn. I’m extremely sorry.”

Japan, who reachedthe last 16 four years ago,flew to Brazil confident ofprogressing from Group C.They had been set a tar-get of reaching the quar-ter-finals by the country’sFA boss Kuniya Daini.—AFP

CUIABA—Jackson Martinez scored twiceas Colombia beat Japan 4-1 to end WorldCup Group C with three straight wins andsend the Asian champions packing from thetournament with just a single point.

The match made World Cup historywhen Farid Mondragan beat Roger Milla´srecord as the oldest player at any finals tour-nament. The goalkeeper came on as a sub-stitute for the last six minutes at the age of43 years and three days.

Colombia already had the game sealed.Disaster struck for Japan after 15 min-

utes when Yasuyuki Konna chopped downAdrian Ramos in the penalty area. Portu-guese referee Pedro Proenca pointed to thespot and Fiorentina striker Juan Cuadradoconfidently fired the kick past Japanese goal-keeper Eiji Kawashima.Japan had chances.

AC Milan´s Keisuke Honda curled a left-footed free kick over the wall but the ballwent just wide of the Colombian goal.

Colombia boot Japan outof World Cup

German-based striker Shinji Okazakitried an overhead kick after 35 minutes buthis effort went spectacularly high. How-ever, he met with better fortune in time addedon in the first-half with a fine diving header.

After 55 minutes, substitute Rodriguezfound Martinez in space on the edge of thepenalty area and the Porto striker powereda low angled shot into the corner.

Even then, Japan did not give up. Hondafired a powerful long range free kick at Co-lombia goalkeeper David Ospina. DefenderYasuyuki Konno also beat the Colombia de-fence with a shot from the edge of the areathat Ospina covered.

But Martinez added a second andRodriguez tormented the Japanese defencebefore chipping the ball over Kawashimato seal victory.

Meanwhile, a last minute penalty byGeorgios Samaras gave Greece a place inthe second round of the World Cup finals

NATAL (Brazil)—Uruguay star Luis Suarezfaces expulsion from the World Cup for bit-ing another player as FIFA confirmed it hadopened disciplinary proceedings againsthim on Wednesday.

Suarez, banned twice before for bitingopponents, appeared to sink his teeth intodefender Giorgio Chiellini on Tuesday dur-ing Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy.

Uruguayan players and team officialspleaded ignorance but the incident was cap-tured clearly on television footage, makinga ban almost inevitable.

“FIFA can confirm disciplinary proceed-ings have been opened against the playerLuis Suarez,” FIFA said in a statement.

Suarez and the Uruguayan Football As-sociation can submit evidence to investi-gators until 5:00pm (2100 GMT) on Thurs-day, FIFA added.

Suarez, who plays in the English Pre-mier League for Liverpool, is one of theworld’s biggest stars, and could be bannedfor up to 24 games under FIFA rules.

He has already received long bans forbiting during his club career as well as ra-cially abusing Manchester United playerPatrice Evra during a game in 2011.

The latest flashpoint in his occurredtowards the end of Uruguay’s Group Dgame with Italy.

Replays showed Suarez appearing tobite Chiellini’s shoulder as the two playersmade contact in an off-the-ball incident.

Chiellini angrily remonstrated with Mexi-can referee Marco Rodriguez, pulling hisshirt off his shoulder to show red marks onhis neck.

Suarez risks World Cupban after Italy bite

Afterwards a disgusted Chiellini toldItalian television: “He bit me, it’s clear, Istill have the mark.”

“The referee should have blown hiswhistle and given him a red card,” he added.

Suarez sought to play down the inci-dent in comments to Uruguayan television,claiming Chiellini had barged him.

“There are things that happen on thepitch and you should not make such a bigdeal out of them,” Suarez said.- Tabarez ‘didn’t see’ bite -

Uruguay’s veteran manager OscarTabarez pleaded ignorance of the incident.

“I didn’t see it. I’d like to see the imagesfirst,” he told a press conference.

Tabarez also suggested Suarez was be-ing victimised by journalists.

“He is the preferred target for a lot ofmedia,” Tabarez said.

Pressed on the issue, a visibly irritatedTabarez refused to condemn Suarez. “Thisis a football World Cup, it’s not about cheapmorality.”

But senior FIFA officials wasted no timein condemning the striker.

“There is no doubt Luis Suarez is a fan-tastic footballer but once again his actionshave left him open to severe criticism,” FIFAvice-president Jim Boyce told the BBC.“FIFA must investigate this incident veryseriously and take whatever action isdeemed necessary.”

If found guilty, the incident means theend of the tournament for Suarez, lambastedduring the 2010 World Cup for his goal-linehandball which denied Ghana what wouldhave been a quarter-final victory. —AFP

FORTALEZA—A last minute penalty byGeorgios Samaras gave Greece a place inthe second round of the World Cup finalsfor the first time after a 2-1 win over IvoryCoast on Tuesday.

Samaras´s penalty robbed the Africanside of the place in the last 16 as they hadfought back to level at 1-1 through WilfriedBony and were in sight of the point theyrequired to go through.

Greece took the lead in the first-halfthrough Andreas Samaris and Samaras´slate winner ensured they accompaniedgroup winners Colombia, who thrashed Ja-pan 4-1, into the knockout stages.

Greece again showed they play bestwhen the odds are stacked against themas they overcame having to replace twokey players including goalkeeper OrestisKarlezis inside the first 25 minutes.

A sluggish Ivory Coast side were

Samaras last minute penaltysends Greeks through

caught napping on several occasions in-cluding one superb sortie by Greek de-fender Jose Holebas.

He took the ball out from inside hisown penalty area, passed to Giorgios Sa-maras, and then ran onto the veteran formerCeltic forward´s pass to let fly with a fierceeffort which came crashing back off thebar.

The Greeks, though, got the goal theydeserved three minutes from the break asCheick Tiote´s underhit pass was seizedon by the Greeks and it fell to Samaris whofired under the advancing goalkeeperBoubacar Barry.

The 2004 European champions lookedcomfortable through most of the second-half with one of the only two players re-maining from that side Georgios Karagounisrattling the bar from distance on his 138thappearance for his country.—AFP

Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, right, shows his shoulder after colliding with Uruguay’s LuisSuarez’s mouth as Uruguay’s Gaston Ramirez watches during the World Cup soccermatch between Italy and Uruguay.

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

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

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

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

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

Group EFrance .......... 2-2-0-0-8-2-6Ecuador ....... 2-1-0-1-3-3-3Switzerland .. 2-1-0-1-4-6-3Honduras .... 2-0-0-2-1-5-0

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

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

Group HBelgium ........ 2-2-0-0-3-1-6Algeria ......... 2-1-0-1-5-4-3Korea Republic2-0-1-1-3-5-1Russia .......... 2-0-1-1-1-2-1

for the first time after a 2-1win over Ivory Coast onTuesday.

Samaras´s penaltyrobbed the African side ofthe place in the last 16 asthey had fought back tolevel at 1-1 through WilfriedBony and were in sight ofthe point they required togo through.—AFP

BABIES of obese mothers tend to be born withmore fat, especially around their middles, thanbabies with leaner mothers, according to a newstudy. “There are differences in body composi-tion, already at birth between obese women’sbabies and normal weightwomen’s babies,” EmmaCarlsen told Reuters Healthin an email. She led the studyat Hvidovre Hospital at theUniversity of Copenhagen inDenmark.

“It is important to noticethat our study does not ex-amine if there are any longterm implications of thesefindings, and, therefore, fol-low-up studies are needed,”Carlsen said. Among adults,having more belly fat islinked to a greater chance ofdeveloping high blood pres-sure, type 2 diabetes andheart disease. “We don’tknow if fat location in infantsis important, although ourfinding is interesting,” Carlsen said.

She and her colleagues recruited 231 obeseand 80 normal-weight mothers who had partici-pated in a prior study on obesity in pregnancy.They measured the women’s newborns and as-sessed their body composition using so-calleddual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXAscanning. The researchers found that infants bornto obese mothers were on average more than 6ounces heavier at birth with 2.5 percent morebody fat than infants whose mothers were of ahealthy weight.

What’s more, babies born to obese mothershad about half an ounce more fat around theirbellies, according to findings published in Acta

Paediatrica. Babies whose mothers gainedmore weight during pregnancy also tended tobe born with more fat, regardless of themother’s pre-pregnancy weight. “This is arelatively small study, and it can be hard to

extrapolate findings - howeverit adds to a growing body ofevidence that shows differencesin body composition in babiesborn to obese mothers,” SianRobinson told Reuters Health inan email.

Robinson, who has stud-ied infant and childhood obesityat the University ofSouthampton in the UK, wasn’tinvolved in the current research.“To date there have been rela-tively few studies of body com-position determined using DXAand we don’t yet know what thedifferences described in babiessignify in later life,” she said.Robinson’s own work has sug-gested that children’s body com-position may change more over

the first few years of life than later in child-hood. But longer-term research is needed, shesaid.

Currently there is a lot of interest inwhether excess weight gain during pregnancycan be prevented, Robinson added. But,Carlsen said, “Our study indicates that it mightbe more effective to lose weight before be-coming pregnant than to restrict gestationalweight gain, if you want to affect offspringbody composition.” According to the Ameri-can College of Obstetricians and Gynecolo-gists, doctors should encourage obese womento lose weight through diet, exercise and be-havioral changes before becoming pregnant.

Obese mothers have babieswith more belly fat, study finds

Army personnel storing relief goods for the internally displaced persons at a warehouse onWednesday.

Members of Provincial Assembly congratulating Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah after passage of budget 2014-15, on Wednesday.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Every year 25 June is ob-served as the “Day of the Seafarer”, rec-ognizing the invaluable contribution sea-farers make to the world through seatrade and transport of vital cargoes oftenat great personal cost to themselves andtheir families. The Day of the Seafarerprovides an opportunity to pay tribute tothe world’s 1.5 million seafarers and toeducate the public about issues faced bythem such as piracy, difficult workingconditions and unexpected dangers.

National Centre for Maritime PolicyResearch, a constituent unit of BahriaUniversity, organized a Maritime Dis-course on Day of the Seafarer 2014. Thecrew and families of the recently hijackedship MT morning glory shared their in-

side story of hijack and captivity by therebels in Libya. Officials from Ports andShipping Department, PNSC, PICT,PQA, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan MaritimeSecurity Agency, maritime trainers, psy-chologists, experts from maritime sec-tor and representatives from seafarers’community attended event.

Captain Mirza Noman Baig ex-Mas-ter of MT Morning Glory narrating hisship’s experience of being duped to loadoil cargo from Sidrah port in Libya and,then, captured by anti-government rebelshas expressed his gratitude to the civilsociety, media, the government and Pa-kistan Embassy in Libya for their timelyhelp and support to get the captured crewreleased. The United States Navy suc-cessfully rescued the ship from theclutches of hijackers near Cyprus waters.

The ship was brought to Tripoli and thecrew was released by the Libyan gov-ernment after agonizing wait of about 2weeks. He emphasized that throughoutthis entire saga, he was only concernedabout the safety of his crewmembers. Thereleased crewmembers of MT MorningGlory include 6 Pakistanis, 6 Indians, 3Sri Lankans, 2 Syrians, 2 Sudanese and2 Eritreans. Later, some family membersof the crew narrated their version of thestory about their efforts to get their lovedones released from the rebellious tyrants.

Director General NCMPR laudedthe courage shown by the Master, Paki-stani crew and their families. He also saidthat seafarers must be careful as theircareer can become a nightmare if theyengage with unscrupulous agents andship owners.

Day of Seafarer observed

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The influx of internallydisplaced persons from NorthWaziristan Agency into Karachi mightcarry serious threats to efforts made forcurtailing the terrorism and spread ofPolio Virus.

It was an established fact thatKarachi had lost around 72 union coun-cils to the hands of extremist groups andthe recent deadliest attack on Jinnah In-ternational Airport Karachi was the can-did manifest of dominance of the ter-rorist groups that were allowed to settlein city’s slums on ethnic grounds. Thelocal ethnic groups had also welcomedthe terrorists from other parts of thecountry to get them seated with ease andcomfort.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed QaimAli Shah had on Tuesday, Jun 24, 2014

told the Sindh assembly that the influxof the inhabitants from Swat Valley dur-ing operation there had arrived atKarachi in large number and refused togo back while they were grossly in-volved in bids of terrorism. It had costhuge public money to save people ofKarachi from those terrorists.

Sindh government was absolutelyreluctant to allow the IDPs from NorthWaziristan Agency into Karachi andSindh CM and Sindh Minister for in-formation, archives and local govern-ment Sharjeel Innam had stated to thenewsmen that the IDPs from NorthWaziristan Agency would not be al-lowed to enter Karachi.

However, Sindh government couldnot keep on its stances and changes weremade to the previous announcements.The House of the elected representativeswas yet to be taken into confidence on

the issue of influx of the IDPs fromNorth Waziristan Agency.

Apart from threats of terrorism, theinflux of the IDPs from NorthWaziristan Agency might also grosslythwart the struggle for the eradicationof deadly Polio Virus about which Sindhgovernment had not yet announced itsonward planning as how the threats ofspread of Polio Virus would be com-bated.

According to a statement issuedhere from the CPO, the meeting was at-tended by DIGP East Munir Shaikh,SSP West and representatives ofUNICEF, WHO and Ahmed Ali Shaikh;Chief Minister Monitoring Cell forHealth and others. The meeting was in-formed about arrival of 5,552 internallydisplaced persons (IDP) from NorthWaziristan Agency at Karachi and theirvalidation was in process.

Influx from NWA may thwarteradication of polio, terrorism

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Economists, academia and re-searchers, while discussing social protectionpriorities in the budget for the next year haveasked the government to ensure implementa-tion of social justice in its economic policies.

They were speaking at a seminar on ‘So-cial Protection as a Citizenship Right’ organizedby Pakistan Institute of Labour Education andResearch (PILER) at a local hotel Wednesday.The seminar aimed to discuss the economicvision of the state expressed in the recent bud-get by the Government of Pakistan. The speak-ers highlighted the missing links of social pro-tection, equitable distribution of resources, eco-logical considerations, and most importantlyaccess to rights enshrined in the constitution.

Senior Economist and Head, ChiefMinister’s Policy Reform Unit, BalochistanDr Kaisar Bengali said he had many times

dealt with annual budget of the governmentbut had observed that it was meaningless tosay that the government had a priority to re-duce poverty in Pakistan. The reason, he men-tioned was that no government was serious todeal with the poverty and ensures social pro-tection to the poor.

Sharing observations, Dr Bengali said thelow-income people might feel easy if theywould get financial support to meet their needs.The social security was an instrument of thepoverty alleviation but not a tool to eradicateit. Giving examples, he said it could be the re-sponsibility of the state to help the elderlypeople, who neither felt able to work due todeteriorating health nor enjoyed the support ofsuccessors.

Similarly, those families, which sufferedeconomic problems due to a terminal illness ofa family member, needed support from the gov-ernment.

Govt urged to ensure socialjustice in economic policies

Two killed inroad mishaps

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—At least twopeople were killed in two roadaccidents at two different placesof the metropolis on Wednesday.

A 30-year-old man was diedwhile his friend sustained inju-ries when an unknown four-wheeler hit a motorcycle inMajeed Colony, Quaidabad.SHO Quaidabad police stationIrfanullah Marwat said thatMehmood son of HassanMuhammad was on his wayback from workplace when anunknown four-wheeler hit him.

Both pillion riders wererushed to Jinnah PostgraduateMedical Centre (JPMC) whereMehmood succumbed to hiswounds. The condition of an-other injured was declared pre-carious. Marwat claimed thatthe vehicle driver managed toflee from the spot.

Separately, a 40-year-oldman was killed when a fast-moving truck crushed him todeath near Punjab Chowrangi.SHO Gizri police stationUbaidullah said that the accidenttook place outside Dadabhoybuilding near PunjabChowrangi. He said that the vic-tim died on the spot. Later, po-lice shifted the dead body toJPMC for postmortem.

Studentsmovement

against childhooddiseases launched

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—An introductoryseminar on “Students Move-ment against Childhood Dis-eases (SMACD)” was held to-day at Dow University of HealthSciences (DUHS) Karachi aim-ing at reducing illness, disabil-ity and mortality from childhooddiseases by immunization.

The seminar was organizedby DUHS in collaborationUNICEF and Mediators invit-ing volunteer students fromDUHS to participate in the ad-vocacy and awareness raisingprogramme i.e. SMACD. Thismovement started with the ob-jective of increasing awarenessabout preventable childhooddiseases through immunizationthereby reducing disability andmortality. The campaign willcreate awareness about the vac-cinations for diseases includedin the Government’s ExpandedProgram on Immunization(EPI) like Poliomyelitis, Neo-natal Tetanus, Measles, Diph-theria, Pertussis (WhoopingCough), Hepatitis-B, Hib Pneu-monia, Meningitis and Child-hood Tuberculosis.

Dr. Asif Aslam, Health andNutrition Specialist, UNIECFSindh along with Dr. SalahMohamed Tumsah, WHO, Pro-vincial Team Leader attended.

Addressing seminar, ProfMuhammad Umer Farooq, ViceChancellor DHUS said that weare very proud to be associatedwith a programme which aimsat preventing infant mortality bycreating awareness. DUHS orga-nizes awareness programmesregularly as our objective was tonot just produce doctors but doc-tors who will work in eliminat-ing menace which causes disabil-ity and mortality.

BABIES of obese mothers tend to be born withmore fat, especially around their middles, thanbabies with leaner mothers, according to a newstudy. “There are differences in body composi-tion, already at birth between obese women’sbabies and normal weightwomen’s babies,” EmmaCarlsen told Reuters Healthin an email. She led the studyat Hvidovre Hospital at theUniversity of Copenhagen inDenmark.

“It is important to noticethat our study does not ex-amine if there are any longterm implications of thesefindings, and, therefore, fol-low-up studies are needed,”Carlsen said. Among adults,having more belly fat islinked to a greater chance ofdeveloping high blood pres-sure, type 2 diabetes andheart disease. “We don’tknow if fat location in infantsis important, although ourfinding is interesting,” Carlsen said.

She and her colleagues recruited 231 obeseand 80 normal-weight mothers who had partici-pated in a prior study on obesity in pregnancy.They measured the women’s newborns and as-sessed their body composition using so-calleddual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXAscanning. The researchers found that infants bornto obese mothers were on average more than 6ounces heavier at birth with 2.5 percent morebody fat than infants whose mothers were of ahealthy weight.

What’s more, babies born to obese mothershad about half an ounce more fat around theirbellies, according to findings published in Acta

Paediatrica. Babies whose mothers gainedmore weight during pregnancy also tended tobe born with more fat, regardless of themother’s pre-pregnancy weight. “This is arelatively small study, and it can be hard to

extrapolate findings - howeverit adds to a growing body ofevidence that shows differencesin body composition in babiesborn to obese mothers,” SianRobinson told Reuters Health inan email.

Robinson, who has stud-ied infant and childhood obesityat the University ofSouthampton in the UK, wasn’tinvolved in the current research.“To date there have been rela-tively few studies of body com-position determined using DXAand we don’t yet know what thedifferences described in babiessignify in later life,” she said.Robinson’s own work has sug-gested that children’s body com-position may change more over

the first few years of life than later in child-hood. But longer-term research is needed, shesaid.

Currently there is a lot of interest inwhether excess weight gain during pregnancycan be prevented, Robinson added. But,Carlsen said, “Our study indicates that it mightbe more effective to lose weight before be-coming pregnant than to restrict gestationalweight gain, if you want to affect offspringbody composition.” According to the Ameri-can College of Obstetricians and Gynecolo-gists, doctors should encourage obese womento lose weight through diet, exercise and be-havioral changes before becoming pregnant.

Obese mothers have babieswith more belly fat, study finds

Opposition Leader in the Provincial Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rashid talking to newsmen after walkout from Assembly.

DG NAB Punjab Hussain Ahmad distributing cheques among claimants’ affectees of 14cases at NAB Complex.

Advisor to the Chief Minister for Health Kh Salman Rafiq along with Junaid Jamshed administering polio drops to children at Chuburji Quarters.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said thatSaaf Pani project is of vital importanceas it is directly linked with the health ofthe masses. He said that people can besaved from diseases through supply ofpotable water.

He said that provision of safe drink-ing water is the responsibility of the stateand government will discharge its obli-gation at any cost. He said that the targetof provision of potable water to everycitizen of the province till 2018 has beenset and no effort will be spared for itsachievement.

He said that Saaf Pani Project, cost-ing billions of rupees, will be imple-mented speedily and water filtrationplants will be installed throughout theprovince under this project. The ChiefMinister was presiding over a high levelmeeting to review the pace of Saaf Pani

Project, here Wednesday. Shahbaz Sharifsaid that implementation of Saaf PaniProject will also remove disparity be-tween the rich and the poor as currentlythe elite is drinking mineral water whilethe common man is deprived of evenpotable water. Therefore, he said, thisimportant project will be executed as anational responsibility.

He directed that best professionalconsultants be selected for implementa-tion of Saaf Pani Project and a compre-hensive planning be made for implemen-tation of water supply schemes in a co-ordinated manner. He also directed thatspeedy implementation of the project beensured while due attention should alsobe paid to maintaining transparency anda high standard. He further said that theproject should be operated on the patternof corporate for its implementation onpermanent basis. The Chief Minister fur-ther said that community participation inthe project is of vital importance and a

solid strategy should be adopted for thispurpose. He set up a committee headedby Chairman Planning & Developmentfor better coordination between con-cerned departments and institutions. Healso directed that immediate measures betaken for the repair of already installedfiltration plants.The Chief Minister formed a committeeunder the chairmanship of ProvincialMinister for Housing for presenting rec-ommendations regarding already exist-ing filtration plants within three days. Themeeting was attended by Provincial Min-ister for Housing Tanvir Aslam Malik,Member National Assembly HamzaShahbaz Sharif, Members of Nationaland Provincial Assembly, ChairmanPlanning & Development, AdditionalChief Secretary Energy, concerned sec-retaries and senior officers of PunjabSasaf Pani Company. Chairman PunjabSaaf Pani Company Mujteba Jamal gavea detailed briefing regarding the project.

Saaf Pani project will becompleted expeditiously: Shahbaz

Vaccination ofchildren essentialto control polio

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Advisor to ChiefMinister Punjab on Health,Khawaja Salman Rafique hassaid that vaccination of the chil-dren of internally displaced per-sons (IDPs) of Waziristan is es-sential to control polio virus.

He said that due to continu-ous efforts of Health Depart-ment Punjab, no polio case hasbeen reported in the provinceduring current year, however, inthe current situation there is aneed to take necessary steps andremain vigilant.

He said this while talking tomedia after administering poliodrops to the children accompa-nied by renowned religiousscholar Junaid Jamshaid inChauburgi Quarters, here today.He said that a special anti-poliocampaign is being carried out inLahore in the wake of positiveenvironmental sample ofLahore in the month of May.

Kh Salman informed that8000 health workers are takingpart in the campaign to admin-ister polio drops to 1.6 millionchildren in Lahore.

On this occasion, JunaidJamshaid appealed to the par-ents to get their children vacci-nated against polio to save themfrom permanent disability.

KHALID BUTT

LAHORE—Bait Ul Sukoon Cancer Hospital successfully pro-vided treatment to 10700 cancer patients entirely free of costsince its inception while the expenses per patient were aroundRs. 500,000 to 1,000,000.

Bait Ul Sukoon provides tertiary and palliative care to allcancer patients while chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery,symptomatic and supportive management, pain management,investigative procedures, blood transfusion, follow up care,boarding and lodging all are part of the patient welfare pro-vided by the hospital.

In a statement Dr. Jawaid Mallick, Medical Director, BaitUl Sukoon, said the hospital was established in 1999 as ahospice. It has provided treatment to 10700 in-house patientsand 28,800 OPD cases. Around 9730 patients received che-

motherapy, over 2300 radiotherapy and over 1870 underwentlifesaving surgeries. He said that the budget requirement forfiscal year 2014-15 has been increased to meet its runningexpenses. Hospital needs Rs. 135 million during this periodin order to provide healthcare facilities to non-affording pa-tients. He said that Bait-ul-Sukoon is entirely a charitable hos-pital, at Block 3, KCHS near the Hill Park Karachi and hasthe capacity to treat 50 patients at a time at its three fullyequipped floors.

Extensive numbers of in-house and visiting patient arebeing provided different medical facilities including OPD,Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Ultrasound, X-Ray, Pathologi-cal Laboratory, Mammogram and Surgical facilities underspecialist doctors at the new second floor of the building.Besides, the hospital also has Breast and Psychological Clin-ics with modern treatment practices, he added.

Bait-ul-Sukoon provides freetreatment to 10700 cancer patients

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Minister for Labour andHuman Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwer has saidthat only labourers have right on the money ofWorkers’ Welfare Board (WWB) to completethe matters of education and marriage of theirchildren. Punjab government has launchedcomputerization and automated procedure forwelfare grants of factory workers and labor-ers’ under Punjab Workers Welfare Boardthroughout the province.

He said that in a function of distribution ofcheques of marriage grants for the daughtersof industrial workers of Lahore district underLabour Department and Workers WelfareBoard Punjab. Raja Ashfaq Sarwer distributedcheques worth Rs 1 lakh among 690 industrialworkers with the total amount of Rs 48.3 mil-lion (4 crore & 83 lakh).

The function was held at Saeed Aiwan In-dustrial Relations Institute Township, Lahore

where President PML-N Labour Wing Lahore,Shahzad Anwar, General Secretary MuthidaLabour Federation Haneef Ramay, AdditionalSecretary Labour and Human Resource NasirJameel, Secretary PWWB Khalid Mehmood,DG Labour Welfare Hsnaat Javaid, District Of-ficer Labour Lahore Ch Muhammad Naeem,representatives of employers and employeesand a large number of industrial workers werealso present at this occasion.

While addressing on the occasion, the Min-ister said that PWWB has switched over frommanual to computerized system to acceleratethe welfare grants cases to reduce prevailingloner required time, ensure transparency, en-hancement of performance and reduction ofworkload throughout the province with onlinecomputerization and a computer along withprinter and scanner has been handed over toall the 36 district officers labor in Punjab foronline processing of welfare cases linked withPWWB head office.

Only labourers have righton WWB money

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Governor Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa Sardar MehtabAbbasi has thanked Punjab Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif for setting up Chief Minister’s Relief Fundfor the help and assistance of the Pakhtun brethren and sis-ters of North Waziristan who have been displaced in the waragainst terrorism. Governor KP telephoned Chief MinisterPunjab today and discussed relief activities for the displaced

persons of North Waziristan. Sardar Mehtab Abbasi expressedgratitude to Shahbaz Sharif for setting up Chief Minister’sRelief Fund by Punjab government with a sum of Rs 50 croreand sending the first convoy of 50 trucks carrying relief goodsfor the displaced persons.

The Governor KPK appreciated the humanitarian spiritof Punjab government and said that help and assistance tothe affected families at this difficult time will promote na-tional solidarity.

Mehtab thanks Shahbazfor help to IDPs