06 ISLAMABAD
WEATHER UPDATES THURSDAY
Thursday, 3 September, 2015
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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Metro bus service – a boon for working woMen ISLAMABAD
F
ASMA KUNDI
EMALE commuters travelling between the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi find Metro bus service a welcome relief from the continuous eve teasing they otherwise have to face on public transport. For most of them, travelling by public transportation used to be nothing less than a nightmare. While problems like overcrowding on the buses remain, women generally feel safer travelling on the metro. Female commuters on other routes find it an injustice to not have the same facility and want the service to be extended to them as well. Eve teasing or sexual harassment in public transport is an old dilemma for working women and female students. When you get on the road travelling on local transport, you’re more than likely to come across a foul mouthed driver or a fellow passenger making vulgar remarks
and brazen stares while everyone else, including men try their best to ignore them and show as slight a discomfort as possible. During a field survey, a large number of women showed satisfaction with the service. They said that while problems due to over-crowdedness remained, they, by far, preferred to travel through the metro service. Nabila Bukhari, a 30 year old resident of Shams Abad who travels to Islamabad daily where she works as a sales girl in a shopping mall, said, “I faced harassment in vans many times but couldn’t accumulate enough courage to raise my voice as I had to travel on same route on a regular basis and I didn’t want to get myself noticed.” She said that she now travels through the metro bus and feels safer as it has a separate travelling area for women. “Due to limited space women still face problems,” she added, “government should take some steps in this regard such as having some buses that are exclusively for female commuters.” The service, however, is being offered to working women trav-
elling only on this route while many others still have to travel through the vans and face the same problems. When we talked to some of them during our field survey, they criticized the federal government for not providing the same facility to the people living in other areas. Shabana Arif is a young girl working in a call center in Islamabad. She travels between Bhara Kahu which is a suburban area of the city, and her office in Islamabad. She said that most of the drivers harass female passengers. “Unwanted touching while shifting the gears happens too often and is very uncomfortable,” she said. “I have no other option since I have to sit on the front seat, next to the driver, because these are the only seats reserved for women in the van,” she explained. Shabana continued, “Instead of spending huge funds on the construction of metro track, government should have used the money to provide the same buses on all routes between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.” She called it unfair that she, along with many other women, was still facing the same prob-
lems while government “turned a blind eye to their situation.” We have until recently done very little to prevent workplace harassment of women. This is one of the reasons why Pakistani women’s participation in the workplace is among
the lowest in the world. But while laws are now being put in place to prevent harassment in educational institutions and in the workplace, we also need to focus on making them feel safe while travelling to their workplaces, schools and colleges.
AC SUMMONS FORMER NAB DEPUTY CHIEF IN ZARDARI ACQUITTAL CASE ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Wednesday summoned National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s former deputy chairman Hassan Waseem Afzal in the next hearing in Asif Ali Zardari acquittal case on Sept 9. Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir issued the order while hearing the acquittal plea of the former president Asif Zardari in which his lawyer Farooq H Naik argued that the original record of both references did not exist. The court remarked that the attested photocopies of the records were present. But Farooq H Naik contended that his client had not been issued formal notices and there was no concrete evidence against him, therefore the court should acquit his client. INP
NO CELL PHONE SERVICE IN FEDERAL CAPITAL ON DEFENCE DAY ISLAMABAD: Banners hanging on a pole in connection with the 50th Defence Day celebrations. ONlINE
Knowledge based economy the way forward: Dr Rehman ISLAMABAD RAMZAN QADIR
Renowned scientist and former HEC chairman Dr Attaur Rehman on Wednesday said that ýpeace and development were interlinked with the empowerment of youth and unless the nation tapped the creative talent of its youth, the dream for socio economic development of the country would not be materialised. Addressing the audience at the HEC headquarters during a seminar entitled ‘Building a Knowledge-based Economy in Pakistan for Socio –economic Development of the Society”, Dr Atta said that ýin today’s world, nations are not built just by investing in brick and mortar, in roads and bridges, in dams and powerhouses, but in education. ýDr Attaur Rehman said that in order to develop a knowledge economy, a clear road map had to be developed through what is a well understood and documented procedure — a Delphi-type “foresight exercise”. Thorough and careful analysis of each sector must be carried out on a regular basis to highlight and identify the key programmes for fu-
ture national development, Dr Attaur Rehman said. He said that more than half of the country’s population directly or indirectly relies on agriculture but through knowledge and innovation the country can transform itself into a knowledge economy. The former HEC head said that for the promotion of knowledge based economy the three major players that needed to come together were universities, industry and government. He said that it was the universities in developed world which adequately prepared human talent needed in each sector. In the developed world universities also set up technology parks and business incubators to provide opportunities to young entrepreneurs to establish new start-up companies. He said that for the better future of the country and to promote a knowledge based economy the government needed to make investments to improve universities’ standards of teaching and research, set up centers of excellence in selected fields, provide financial assistance for the establishment of technology parks, provide venture capital towards new high technology industries, offer tax incentives to new
ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry on Wednesday decided to shut the cellular services in Islamabad on September 6, the Defence Day, from 11AM to 2PM due to security reasons. Mobile phone operators said that mobile service will also remain suspended in sensitive areas of the twin cities as part of security measures on the Pakistan Defense Day. Cellular services will be restored after the fly past. STAFF REPORT
CDA’S FILTRATION PLANTS PROVIDING UNSAFE WATER: REPORT ISLAMABAD: A laboratory testing report has revealed that Capital Development Authority (CDA)’s 26 filtration plants are providing unsafe and harmful water. The water testing laboratory has issued a list of the 26 filtration plants located in different sectors of the federal capital. Theses filtration plants are located in I-8/2, I-9 Tuesday Bazaar, I-10/1, G-6 Bazaar, G-8/1,G-10 Markaz, Abpara Market, G-6/2, G-7/4, G7/2 Sitara Market, G-7/3, G-7/2 Ali Masjid,I-8/3, G-11/2,3, F-9 Park,G-9/2,F6/1,Parliament Lodges, Margalla Town, Bari Imam Complex and G-10/2. ONlINE
MAN AXED TO DEATH technology-based industries and make self reliance the cornerstone of national policies and development plans. Dr Attaur Rehman said that Higher Education Commission made spectacular progress in promoting knowledge, innovation and technology in the country in the short period of six years, 2002 to 2008. However, that progress was at a standstill during the PPP government when they repeatedly at-
tacked the HEC, and shredded its powers and budget ruthlessly. A notification was issued to hand over the pieces of the HEC to the provinces in order to “teach it a lesson” for not endorsing the forged degrees of hundreds of parliamentarians, he said. The conference was attended by a large number of the academia, educationists and faculty members from various universities of the country.
RAWALPINDI: A man, identified as Tariq Mehmood, was axed to death in the Jahanabd area of Hassanabdal. Mehmood, 40, was going home from work when unidentified criminals attacked him with axe near a local bridge known as Choro Wali Pul. The police shifted the body to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Hassanabdal for medico-legal formalities. The Jari Khas police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the incident. STAFF REPORT