E paper pdf (04 08 2016) lhr

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thursday, 4 August, 2016 i 30 Shawwal, 1437 i Rs 20.00 i vol vii no 37 i 20 Pages i lahore Edition

Pakistan joins quadrilateral group to counter terrorism According to the military’s media wing, the InterServices Public Relations (ISPR), the group includes armed forces of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan, which have agreed to establish the QCCM in order to coordinate and provide mutual support against terrorism.

STORY ON PAGE 03

Nawaz says Kashmir is not India’s internal matter, as Rajnath arrives for moot Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says Kashmir cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy

Centre extends Rangers’ policing powers in Karachi for 90 days STORY ON PAGE 02 ECP tells Opp parties to prove why PM should be disqualified The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday sought solid evidence from all four political parties that have submitted references seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

STORY ON PAGE 02

Dubai airport shuts down after Emirates Airline flight crash STORY ON PAGE 09 lands

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the Kashmir issue is the main pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy and Pakistani envoys abroad must highlight sufferings of the people of the occupied territory.

Speaking at the concluding session of the three-day conference of Pakistani envoys in Islamabad, the prime minister said that the desire of freedom is runs in the blood of Kashmiris. He urged the envoys to convey a message to the world that the Kashmir issue is not the internal matter of India.

Adviser to Prime Minister on foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, meanwhile said that an ‘objective assessment’ of Pakistan’s foreign relations since the Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) government came to power “does not support the view promoted in some sections of the media that Pakistan is being isolated and its foreign policy lacks direction”.

The prime minister, during his address, also emphasised the need for addressing the challenges facing the country before they mutate further. He said there are issues on which Pakistan has concerns and it expects other countries to take care of them.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

SAARC DElibERAtES viSA REfoRmS, humAn tRAffiCKing

KIllINg Of TWO CIvIlIANS TRIggERS PROTESTS IN IHK

SEvERAl RounDS of tAlKS hElD with PAK ovER SiAChEn, SAyS inDiAn DEfEnCE miniStER STORIES ON PAGES 03 & 04

02 news

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Centre extends rAngers’ poliCing powers in KArAChi for 90 dAys RANGERS’ EXTENSION ISSUE ECHOES IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

FTER much deliberation and exchange of conflicting remarks between the federal and Sindh government, the Federal Interior Ministry approved a 90-day extension in the special policing powers of Sindh Rangers in Karachi Division — with effect from July 20, 2016.

A notification in this regard was issued on Wednesday in which the ministry announced approval for the summary sent to the federal government by Sindh government on August 1 regarding the extension in Ranger’s special policing powers.

Earlier in the day, the issue of extension of special powers for Rangers in Sindh echoed in the National Assembly as MQM and PTI lawmakers called for extending the special powers of the paramilitary force to the whole province, while PPP legislators termed it against Article 147 of the Constitution.

BilAwAl TEllS NiSAR TO STOP iNTERfERiNg iN PROviNCiAl MATTERS

i AM NOT AfRAiD Of AiTzAz, hE iSN’T ‘DRACulA’ , SAyS NiSAR

KaRaCHI : In a fresh spat with the federal government over the issue of policing powers to Rangers in Sindh, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari cautioned the centre to desist from interfering in provincial matters. According to a statement issued on Wednesday, while calling the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as “failed league” and criticising Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on his stance about giving special powers to the paramilitary force in the whole province, Bilawal said that the interior minister should pay heed to his own work instead of interfering in provincial matters and the provincial autonomy. ONLINE

Islamabad: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Aitzaz Ahsan is not a ‘dracula’ that he should be afraid of him. Ch Nisar, while talking to the media in an informal setting said, “If anyone has a misunderstanding or is overconfident about their personality then one can only express regret over it.” “In my eyes, there’s no status of the people who are bankrolled by the LPG and real estate mafia,” he added. On Tuesday Aitzaz Ahsan had said that Interior Affairs Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan has nightmares all day and night as he (Aitzaz) is always on his mind. ONLINE

Speaking on a point of order, Parliamentary leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Syed Naveed Qamar said the Sindh government had extended Rangers’ powers under Article 147 of the Constitution.

Qamar alleged that despite the extension in Rangers’ powers for one year, a press release was issued to the media stating that the Interior Ministry had not accepted Sindh government’s summary in this regard.

“Such acts would weaken the federation,” Qamar viewed and asked the federal government to clarify the matter.

MQM lawmaker Asif Hasnain said MQM was the first party which called for

SCP directs govt to hold election on reserved minority seats ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) comprising 17 judges dismissed 35 petitions against 18th and 21st Amendments and directed to fill the seats of reserved minorities by direct election and minority votes.

Christian Leader and World Minorities Alliance Convener J Salik challenged the filling of ten seats reserved for non-Muslims through ‘proportionate representation of the majority parties under Article 51 of the Constitution as amended by 18th Amendment’.

Advocate Zulfiqar Bhutto represented the petitioner Salik.

In the SC’s full court judgment, some judges of the bench in their dissenting notes gave mandatory remarks directing the federal government to manage to fill reserved minorities’ seats by direct election and through minorities’ votes. Article 51 of the Constitution was substantially amended by the 18th amendment in respect of seats reserved for minorities. These amendments were challenged by Julius Salak, a member of the minority Christian community, in Constitution Petition no 43 of 2010. He raised objection to sub-clauses 6(c) and (e) of Article 51 of the Constitution as amended by the 18th amendment. Article 51 states that there shall be 342 seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for women and non-Muslims while subclause 6(c) states that the constituency for all seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be the whole country.

Sub-clause 6(e) says members to the seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties’ lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats won by each political party in the National Assembly.

deployment of Rangers in the province to restore peace. Instead of deploying it in Karachi, Rangers’ powers should be extended to the whole province for achieving long lasting peace, he added.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Dr Arif Alvi said the law and order situation in Karachi had considerably improved following the deployment of Rangers.

“There was sharp decrease in incidents of target killing, extortion, China cutting and kidnapping for ransom,” said Alvi.

Around 5,000 people used to become victims of target killing every year before Rangers were deployed in the city, said

the PTI lawmaker.

Alvi requested that Rangers’ powers be extended to the whole province till complete de-politicising of the Sindh police is achieved.

He, however, supported the viewpoint of Naveed Qamar that the federal government had no authority to deploy Rangers without the consent of the provincial government.

PPP’s Nawab Yousaf Talpur alleged that the federation was trying to replicate the One Unit situation, which was created

by Ayub Khan and Sikandar Mirza.

“The provinces are now empowered under the 18th Constitutional Amend-

ECP tells Opp parties to prove why PM should be disqualified ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday sought solid evidence from all four political parties that have submitted references seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Arguments presented by the lawyers of the four political parties – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Awami Muslim League (AML) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) – were heard during the first hearing of the applications. The lawyers adopted the stance that PM Nawaz concealed his assets and was therefore not worthy of his office according to Articles 62 and 63.

The PAT lawyer brought up the discussion relating to the Model Town incident to which the ECP members remarked that no one can be disqualified until

the trial concludes. The Commission then postponed the hearing of the case till August 17.

Despite the hearing of the ap-

plications that lasted for several hours, it could not be established whether the applications were fit to be heard at the forum of ECP or not.

Woman disrupts PTI press conference, forces Imran to leave ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A woman disrupted Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The lady, who said she was an assistant subdivisional education officer, began crying soon after getting in front of the cameras.

“Imran Khan, listen to me. I have two daughters and police have lodged an FIR against my children,” the woman said while crying. On this, the party chairman left the conference unfinished in haste. Azra Afridi alleged she was forcibly transferred from her post after she started work in the then non-functional schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). “Yasmin Aziz, who now holds the management post of education in

Haripur, has support of PTI officials,” she alleged. “Yasmin is involved in corruption of millions of rupees and they all are involved in this. They are all thieves, they are all together in all this,” she yelled while speaking to the media.

Earlier, the PTI chairman announced he will start Tehreek-e-Ehtesab (movement for accountability) from August 7 from Peshawar. “We are preparing our people to raise voice against corruption.

We are in essence strengthening democracy here,” he said. Imran said he was considering moving the Supreme Court against corruption and indifference of government over Panama leaks. The PTI chairman also criticised National Accountability Bureau, saying corruption had instead increased after the establishment of NAB in 15 years.

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ment to take such decisions. Confusion, if any, should be sorted out through talks,” he added.

The issue of special powers given to Ringers has for long remained a bone of contention between the federation and Sindh government, for the latter sees it as a threat to its rule in the province.

Mehmood Khan Achakzai of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party said the people had the right to rule their provinces and there should be no interference in their matters for the supremacy of parliament and constitution.

He said that only the Supreme Court could interpret the constitution.

Rafique’s constituency under threat as NADRA submits report in SC ISLAMABAD: The constituency of Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique appears to be under threat after a report was presented in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday about verification of votes. The NA-125 constituency which includes most of the most affluent areas of Lahore was won by Rafique in the 2013 general elections. According to a report submitted by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), 149,138 votes in the constituency could not be verified and 7,892 votes were not verified due to various reasons. However, NADRA has mentioned that the votes which are not verified cannot be considered bogus. The report stated that 214,134 votes were cast during the general elections in the constituency, out of which 398 were declared void for double votes, and the National Identity Card (NIC) numbers on 3,998 votes were incorrect. Also, there were 184 votes which belonged to voters of other constituencies, while the NIC numbers of 1,917 voters was not even present. The report concluded that only 57,098 votes could be successfully verified. STAFF REPORT

PPP submits calling attention notice in NA over future of Pak-Turk schools ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Wednesday submitted a calling attention notice in the National Assembly over the issue of Pak-Turk schools. According to a press release, the PPP lawmakers Belum Husnain, Dr Azra Fazal, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Muhammad Ayaz Soomro and Aftab Shahban Meerani submitted the calling attention notice. The lawmakers stated that, “We hereby give notice of our intention to move a Calling Attention Notice under Rule 88 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly 2007.” The PPP MNAs said that they would like to invite the attention of Minister of Foreign Affairs towards the uncertainty about the future of Pak-Turk schools in the country causing grave concern among the public. “News about the closure of these schools is disturbing especially for the children studying in those institutes and for their parents,” read the statement, adding that, “This is a serious matter and needs immediate discussion on the floor of the House”. ONLINE

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

pAKistAn joins quAdrilAterAl group to Counter terrorism RAWALPINDI

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN, along with three other regional member states, joined on Wednesday the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism (QCCM) to counter terrorism.

According to the media military wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the group includes armed forces of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan, which have agreed to establish the QCCM in order to coordinate and provide mutual support against terrorism.

These countries’ armed forces will help one another in countering terrorism, clue verification, intelligence sharing, capacity building and joint training

exercises.

Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, Afghan army chief Qadam Shah, head of Tajikistan Army Major General E A Cobidrzoda and Chief of Joint Staff Department of Central Military Commis-

sion General Fang Fenghui were present on the occasion.

The participants unanimously agreed that terrorism and extremism were serious threats to regional stability, reiterating to cooperate for tackling

them for peace and stability of all member countries.

Earlier during the day, the COAS held meetings with Chief of General Staff Gen Fang of People Liberation Army. He discussed military to military relations, bilateral security cooperation, as well as all dimensions of long-term CPEC security.

General Raheel also held separate meetings with Xinkiang province Party Secretary Zhang Chun Xian.

He also witnessed counter-terrorism exercise in Ku’erla (Korla), a training base of People Liberation Army.

“Exercise encompassed an effective neutralisation of a terrorists’ base in a remote mountainous region employing all the modern aerial and ground equipment and gadgets,” the military’s media wing said.

sAARC moot deliberates visa reforms, human trafficking ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) interior ministers’ moot met Wednesday with regional affairs, terrorism, prevention of drugs and human trafficking on the agenda, set in the backdrop of fresh developments and simmering tensions in the region.

According to Interior Ministry sources, Tuesday’s session discussed visas and immigration, including plans to reform the visa regime in the bloc.

Wednesday’s closed-door session with home ministers discussed counter-terrorism as well as strategies to counter human and drug trafficking. Visa reforms on the agenda included a more streamlined and centralised system to process visas between SAARC countries as well as the potential introduction of SAARC Visa Exemptions (SVEs) for three categories: officials, artists and businessmen. Offi-

cials from the armed forces were also in attendance after the Directors General of Immigration and other technical groups met on Tuesday, setting the agenda for Wednesday’s session.

Bangladesh’s home minister was notably absent at the conference as relations have still not normalised after Dhaka and Islamabad reciprocally expelled envoys last year. Bangladesh was represented by the foreign secretary instead.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SAARC meeting, confirming earlier rumours that a visit to Islamabad would not be called off despite strained relations over Kashmir.

The BJP government made it clear in the days leading up to the conference there would be no one-on-one bilateral talks with Pakistan. Singh’s visit comes at a time when relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours are strained due to India’s suppression of protests which erupted over the extrajudicial killing of Hizbul Mujahideen

AgENcIES

Fresh clashes erupted between security forces and mourners on Wednesday in India-held Kashmir after two more civilians were killed in the restive region, a police officer said.

Paramilitary forces fired tear gas and pellet guns at angry mourners gathered near Pampore town for the funeral of a resident shot dead the day before, the officer said. “Thousands of people gathered in the area and many from other areas crossed the river avoiding restrictions. Now we have clashes after

the young man was buried,” the local officer, who was not authorised to speak to media, told AFP. The resident was killed on Tuesday night when the bodyguard of a top district administrator fired his service weapon at protesters who had stopped the pair's car, witnesses said. The demonstrators had blocked the main highway, angry over alleged police raids on mosques in the area, the witnesses said. “One protester died in the shooting and another was critically wounded,” deputy inspector general of police for the area, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, told AFP. With the latest shooting the death toll

03

APhC holds rally against Rajnath Singh’s islamabad visit ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Wednesday organised a rally in Islamabad to protest against Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s arrival in Islamabad to attend SAARC summit. The rally started from Faizabad area in Rawalpindi.

The Indian minister is travelling to Pakistan at a time when a surge of violence in disputed Kashmir has escalated rivalry between the two countries.

More than 60 people have been killed and up to 6,000 wounded since protests erupted in Indian-occupied Kashmir after security forces killed prominent freedom fighter Burhan Wani last month.

Wani, 22, was a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. He has been declared a martyr by officials in Islamabad while India has branded him a “terrorist”.

Interior Minister Rajnath Singh is not expected to have a separate meeting with the Pakistani host of the meeting of interior ministers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Earlier on Tuesday in occupied Kashmir, Indian troops martyred three Kashmiri protestors and injured several others Kupwara district and Srinagar.

The troops fired on a group of peaceful protesters who were protesting against the Indian forces.

JuD activists blocked in bid to deliver aid to ihK Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh being welcomed by Indian embassy officials upon his arrival in Pakistan for the SAARC Interior Ministers Conference being held in Islamabad. TV ScREEN gRAB

commander Burhan Wani.

Last week, reports said Singh would

not meet one-on-one with his Pakistani counterpart or any other officials.

Killing of two civilians triggers protests in IHK SRINAGAR

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reached 52 in ongoing anti-India protests in the disputed territory and clashes with government forces that have also left nearly 4,000 injured. In a separate incident, a security guard of a bank ATM also died on Tuesday night when he was driving his scooter to work in Srinagar. Doctors at the main hospital in Srinagar, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had been shot with a pellet gun from close range. Mourners for the ATM guard shouted anti-India slogans and clashed in Srinagar with security forces, an AFP photographer on the scene said. “We are receiving a number of people injured with pellets,” the same doctor at the SMHS

hospital said of those clashes. The killing of a young and popular rebel leader, Burhan Wani, on July 8 in a firefight with government forces sent the region spiraling into daily protests against Indian rule and clashes with government forces.

The region has remained locked down since, as separatists opposed to Indian rule called for strikes and protests and authorities responded by suspending most mobile networks and internet and clamped rolling curfews in large parts of the territory including Srinagar. Rights groups say 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting since 1989 when the armed rebellion against Indian rule began.

MUZAFFARABAD AgENcIES

Hundreds of supporters of Jammatud Dawa tried to cross into the Indian-held Kashmir region on Wednesday to deliver aid after weeks of violent protests there.

But the activists did not have permission to cross the contested border and were stopped in a village on the Pakistani side where they staged a protest. “We will continue the sit-in until these essential food supplies are sent across the divide into the curfew-ridden Kashmir valley,” Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a senior official of the charity, told Reuters. The United States designated the charity a “foreign terrorist organisation” in 2010. Forty-six people have been killed and more 5,000 wounded, including Indian security forces, since protests erupted there after the killing of a militant commander on July 8. Most of the violence has been in the Kashmir Valley, the most populous part of Indian Kashmir, which includes the main city of Srinagar.

The JuD activists, chanting “annihilation of India”, tried to approach the LoC but were kept well back by steel barricades erected by Pakistani security forces in the village of Chakothi. The protest came hours before Indian Interior Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for regional talks.

Kashmir cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, says PM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01 He said other countries might also have legitimate concerns and “we will have to understand them”. The prime minister said peaceful solution to outstanding disputes is imperative for durable peace and prosperity in the region. He said that Pakistan desires peace but that should not be misconstrued as weakness. He said that Pakistan believes in the policy of non-interference and respect of sovereignty.

The prime minister said that Pakistan is better placed today to attract foreign investment and in this regard our envoys should project the country’s positive image abroad to attract more investment.

Regarding relations with China, the

prime minister said these have strengthened with the passage of time. He said the CPEC will prove to be a game changer and guarantee regional peace and prosperity.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan has attained monumental achievements in foreign policy in the past three years.

He said an ‘objective assessment’ of Pakistan’s foreign relations since the PML-N government came to power does not support the view presented in sections of the media that Pakistan is being isolated internationally and its foreign policy lacks direction.

According to Aziz, Pakistan’s foreign policy achievements include CPEC, Pak-

China ties, CASA-1000 power project, TAPI gas pipeline and other projects.

Pakistan’s second greatest foreign policy achievement since the PML-N came to power is enhanced cooperation with Central Asian Republics in the form of CASA-1000 power project and the TAPI gas pipeline ─ construction on which began in May 2016 and December 2015 respectively ─ and restoration of air links with Central Asian States, Aziz said.

Membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which reflects “new geo-political alignments” will show Pakistan is “on the right side of history”, Aziz said. The bloc was originally formed to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neigh-

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bouring Afghanistan. Other members include China, Russia, India and the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The foreign affairs advisor went on to list strategic dialogue with the United States, broadening the agenda from security to geo-economics “while protecting national interests”, deeper trade ties with the European Union and Russia, and “strengthening economic ties” with Middle Eastern countries through exporting labour as part of Pakistan’s foreign policy achievements.

The envoys’ conference was to take up issues including ties with India (especially within the context of the Kashmir uprising), US, Afghanistan, China, Rus-

sia, and the EU; the SAARC summit; Nuclear Suppliers Group membership and disarmament affairs as well as terrorism and UN-related matters.

The envoys attending the conference were Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani (Washington), Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi (United Nations — New York), High Commissioner Abdul Basit (New Delhi), Ambassador Masood Khalid (Beijing), Ambassador Qazi Khalilullah (Moscow), Ambassador Tehmina Janjua (United Nations — Geneva and Conference on Disarmament), Ambassador Nagmana Hashmi (Brussels and EU), Ambassador Ayesha Riyaz (Vienna and IAEA) and Ambassador Abrar Hussain (Kabul).

04 NEWS

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Several roundS of talkS held with Pak over Siachen: indian defence miniSter NEW DELHI

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INP

HIRTEEN rounds of talks to resolve the Siachen issue have already taken place between India and Pakistan, led by the respective defence secretaries, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

“Indian government has made it clear to Pakistan that the solution to Siachen Glacier is a part of the larger issue to include Pakistan’s support to

terrorism in India,” he said.

Parrikar added that on December 9, 2015, the external affairs minister met the Pakistani leadership on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia process for regional cooperation on Afghanistan.

“These discussions directed the foreign secretaries of both countries to work out the modalities and schedule of the meetings under the comprehensive bilateral dialogue on various issues including Siachen,” he said.

Meanwhile, Parrikar said Indian soldiers deployed in extremely harsh

Five suspected militants killed in Chitral’s Kalash valley PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

At least five foreign militants were killed in Chitral’s Kalash valley on Wednesday in an intelligence-based operation by security forces. “Security forces spotted movement of militants from Afghanistan in the border area of Bumburate village of Kalsh valley,” said security officials. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a targeted operation in the area to hunt the militants, added the security officials. “Five militants were killed in an exchange of fire, we also recovered heavy weapons from the militants after a search operation in the area,” confirmed the officials. After the operation, security was increased in the area. Earlier, militants from across the Afghan border continued their looting spree in the Kalash valley and herded away about 2,500 goats from a pasture in Birir. In another attack on the Kalash community’s shepherds, shepherds in the Bumburate valley had resisted the robbers and exchanged gunfire but the attackers captured two of them and killed them on the border.

British-Pakistani woman was suffocated to death: forensic report LAHORE AGENCIES

A British woman of Pakistani origin, suspected to have been the victim of an “honour killing” inside her family home in Jhelum last month, had been suffocated according to a forensic report, police said on Wednesday.

Mukhtar Kazam, in a complaint to police, has said his wife Samia Shahid was murdered during a visit to her family on July 20. However, the victim’s father has denied the charge and claimed his daughter died of natural causes. At an emotional press conference last week Kazam had presented a copy of a postmortem report which said the 28-year-old had marks on her neck, suggesting she had been strangled. Police said the latest forensic report had confirmed Samia died an unnatural death.

“The forensic report has been received by a three-member special investigation committee set up by chief minister Punjab and according to it Samia Shahid’s death occurred due to asphyxia,” Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh, the chief investigator, said. The victim’s husband has described his wife’s death as an “honour killing”, a near daily occurrence in the country in which a relative is murdered by another for bringing what is deemed dishonour to the family. Kazam and Samia, who was a dual British-Pakistani citizen, had been married for two years and were living in Dubai, police have said, adding that it was Samia’s second marriage.

terrain and weather conditions are suitably equipped and properly trained to undertake the operational challenges and carry out their mandated tasks. The soldiers deployed at Siachen Glacier are provided with quality winter clothing including ‘Extreme Cold Climate’ clothing.

Besides, they are provided with prefabricated insulated shelters and wherever it is not possible to construct such shelters due to technical difficulties, insulated tents are provided which can withstand low temperatures up to 500 Celsius, he said.

Pakistani tourists request govt to clear maximum Indian visas NEW DELHI AGENCIES

The Units are self-sufficient for a period of 240 days of supplies. During winters/cut offseason, daily maintenance of troops is carried out by rotary/fixed wing assets, he said.

BrahMos Chief Sudhir Mishra said the plan was to begin testing the missile from Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets this year. The air-launched version of BrahMos, which at 2.5 tonnes is lighter than the 3-tonne land and sea variants, has already undergone ‘carriage trials’ on a Sukhoi in June. The ‘missile separation trials’ are likely to take place later this month.

Stranded Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia reject govt’s aid NEWS DESK Several Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia have refused to accept the aid sent by the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh, deeming it as a joke.

The government has sent a packet of onion, two packets of tomatoes, three packets of tea and a can of oil for 204 stranded workers.

Earlier, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the government is making all out efforts to help Pakistani employees of two companies in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistani workers from two companies, namely M/s Saad Trading and Contracting Company, AlKhobar (520 workers) and Saudi Oger Limited (8000 workers) are currently facing problems in getting their salaries and End of Service benefits. In addition, the resident permits of many of the employees have not been renewed by the company. The companies do not refuse the claims of their employees but they have not been able to pay their dues for several months.

In the given circumstances, most of the workers want to leave these companies but only after settling their dues.

Around 20% are living on their own while majority of them are living in various camps set up by the company in Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Taif and Makkah regions,” the Foreign Office stated.

Indian minister visits Saudi to repatriate 10,000 stranded workers

APML expanding in country, will participate in 2018 elections: Musharraf

JEDDAH: A junior Indian foreign minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on a mission to bring home 10,000 laid off Indian workers stranded in the kingdom without enough money for food or plane tickets. Vijay Kumar Singh tweeted that he had arrived in the Western city of Jeddah and begun meeting with the Indian consulate there, adding the hashtag “#NoIndianLeftBehind”.

A sharp drop in oil prices has led to a spending slowdown in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter, and some construction firms that employ South Asian workers have fired their staff.

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday that the employers had not paid the workers’ wages and that they now faced a food crisis. The Jeddah consulate is distributing emergency food rations to the employees pending efforts to repatriate them.

Saudi Arabia says it investigates any complaints of companies not paying wages and if necessary obliges these firms to do so or risk fines and other penalties. AGENCIES

The FO further said: “Ambassador is vigorously perusing this matter with Deputy Foreign Minister, Minister of Justice and Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Governor of Eastern Province as well as the management of the companies concerned. Embassy teams have visited all the camps in Dammam and provided food to the workers.

The camps in Riyadh and Jeddah regions have been visited by the Community Welfare Attaches. Mission’s representatives have visited the labour court in Dammam several times and

Pakistani tourists visiting India’s Kashmir via a friendly bus service urged the government on Tuesday to give speedy clearances to visa applications by Indians so that the flow of tourists between the two countries increases. The Poonch-Rawalakot bus service was launched in 2005 to facilitate visits

by Indian and Pakistani citizens who have relatives in both sides of Kashmir. A tourist, Sikander Altaf, said that while many tourists from Pakistan visit India, it was not the case for Indians as Islamabad was slow in providing clearances. “We get clearances from India. However, I request the government of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan to clear the documents of our Indian brethren so that even they can come and visit our city and see our Pakistan,” said Altaf in Poonch district. Another tourist, Nazia Sikander, said that an increased flow of tourists could improve the relations between the two countries. “I am very happy about coming here.

Now I would request the Pakistani government to give clearance to our Indian brothers and sisters and allow them to come to our country to meet us,” said Sikander. The other bus service connecting Indian and Pakistani Kashmir is the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, which was launched in 2005.

DUBAI INP

have facilitated Pakistani work force in compiling claims for their dues and salaries. Saudi Oger Ltd. Management in Al-Khobar has confirmed that the company food and other facilities in all its camps are being provided.”

The Saudi King has also issued a decree for urgent payment of dues to workers by Saudi Oger Company and resolve the situation.

“The Company will also facilitate those workers who wish to leave. The Company would provide air tickets and renew their resident permits.

Chairman All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) and former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf has claimed that his party is expanding across the country with deep roots in general public and will fully participate in the general elections of 2018.

Addressing the concluding session of APML Global Conference, Pervez Musharraf said that current setup has not only disillusioned the common man but it has alienated poor people from the system.

He said, “I will surely come to Pakistan and the false propaganda against will die its own death. APML will participate in the 2018 general election under my captaincy.”

Musharraf said that if PTI Chairman Imran Khan will keep thinking about himself only, he would isolate him.

Stressing over need for an effective foreign policy, he said that there were wide spread global changes occurring all parts of the world. Pakistan needs to evolve an effect foreign policy that may be comprehensive and all encompassing to avoid alienation in the world, he added.

PTI WANTS JAPANESE CARTOON SERIES ‘DORAEMON’ BANNED LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Wednesday submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly calling for a ban on popular Japanese manga and anime series Doraemon.

The resolution urges Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to ban cartoon channels in general, and Doraemon in particular. Submitted

by PTI lawmaker Malik Taimoor, the resolution also suggests limiting the hours of cartoon channels.

It is not clear from the resolution what PTI’s issue with Doraemon is, but it said channels exclusive to cartoons were having a “harmful impact on children”.

“Cartoon channels on 24 hours are having a negative impact on the educational and physical well-being of children,” read the resolution, which is likely to be

discussed in the next assembly session.

Without giving any details, the resolution said: “The language that is used in the cartoons is destroying our societal norms.”

However, a PTI spokesman said Taimur Malik was not towing the party line and the resolution was Malik’s individual initiative.

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“It is not party policy, Taimur Malik from PTI Rawalpindi initiated it,” said PTI office bearer Mian Mahmood.

Mahmood added that Malik is under the impression the cartoons air throughout the day, and have been “dubbed in the Indian language”.

“There should be specific timings. Foreign culture and Indian language are having a great impact on young children who are impressionable,” said Mahmood.

“We do not want a ban, just controlled timings,” clarified Mahmood.

Soon after the passing of the resolution, #PTIvsDoraemon became the top trend on Twitter in Pakistan.

Doraemon’s plot revolves around a robotic cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a pre-teen boy named Nobita.

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

NEWS

05

KP Assembly PAsses ehtesAb Commission bill PESHAWAR

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empting investigation into ongoing schemes by the Ehtesab Commission, the Chief Minister who was also attending the proceedings of the house clarified that ongoing schemes are not exempted from the ambit of the commission and in case of any complaint action will be taken. However, he said work on going scheme will not be stopped. Taking the floor, Provincial Minister for Public Health Engineering (PHE), Shah Farman said that the amendments passed by the house will further strengthened the Ehtesab Commission and now it can arrest anyone as it is more powerful than the provincial government.

He said that now no one will accuse the provincial government for victimization. He congratulated the provincial government on the passage of the amendment bill. He said that the amendment proposed by Zarin Gul of JUI-F has been included in the bill while the proposed amendment of Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha will be also considered.

Earlier, the House rejected the disapproval resolution of Ms Aamna Sardar of PML-N on the Galiyat Development Authority Ordinance, 2016 with majority vote. Later, the Speaker Asad Qaiser announced the adjournment of the house proceedings till 3pm of Friday.

STAFF REPORT

HYBER Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Wednesday passed KP Ehtesab Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to further strengthened accountability process in the province. The amendment bill was presented in the assembly in May this year and along with amendments of the two legislators also proposed amendment for consideration of a Select Committee headed by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

Other members of the committee were included provincial ministers, Inayatullah Khan, Sikandar Hayat Khan, Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, Shah Farman, Deputy Speaker, Dr. Meher Taj Roghani and Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Leader of Opposition, Mualana Lutf-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha and Syed Jaffar Shah represented opposition in the committee. Under the amendment the KP Ehtesab Commission will investigate into cases involving financial loss to the provincial exchequer not less than an amount of Rs.50 million and in case the amount is less than Rs.50 million then the matter would be inquired and investigated by the Anti-Cor-

Bid foiled to blast checkpost, 1.5kg bomb defused in Charsadda CHARSADDA STAFF REPORT

ruption Establishment.

The inquiry shall be completed within a period of sixty (60) days followed by investigation which shall be completed within ninety (90) days, fixed for the inquiry, sufficient evidence has been collected, the inquiry shall be converted into investigation with the approval of the Director General.

KP govt agrees to circular railway project deal with Chinese company PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

The police foiled a bid to blast its checkpost by recovering a bomb weighing one and a half kilogram which was later defused by bomb disposal squad (BDS) on Wednesday.

Police said that unidentified miscreants had planted a bomb weighing 1.5kg inside a police checkpost situated at Bypass Road in Charsadda. The BDS was called in which defused the bomb preventing causalities and property losses.

Bilawal dissolves AJK’s PPP set up ISLAMABAD ONLINE

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has dissolved the organisational set up of the party’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) chapter. The move comes in the wake of the crushing defeat to the party in the recently held AJK Legislative Assembly polls. AJK PPP President Chaudhry Abdul Majid, Secretary General Latif Akbar and other office bearers have been removed, sources in the PPP said.

The sources further said that Bilawal will form the new AJK PPP organisational committee this week. Meanwhile, the PPP has nominated Chaudhry Yasin as opposition leader in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

Info minister pays tribute to Meraj Muhammad Khan KARACHI APP

Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid Wednesday paid tribute to veteran politician late Meraj Muhammad Khan.

Addressing a condolence reference at the Karachi Press Club organized by `Ahbab-i-Meraj Muhammad Khan,’ he said Meraj had always supported the cause of democracy and civilian rule.

He said that Meraj had struggled against the dictatorship and wanted to foster awareness and eradication of ignorance and illiteracy from the country.

Pervaiz Rashid said that Meraj Muhammad was no more but his thought and vision was very much there and the people could benefit from it. Meraj raised voice against atrocities and anti-democratic approach, he added. The minister said that Meraj was put behind bars on a number of occasions for struggling against dictatorship. Meraj Muhammad wanted to remove ignorance and foster awareness and knowledge in society, he added. Appreciating his struggle, he said that Meraj Muhammad Khan was a great asset for the nation.

Pervaiz Rashid also praised his far-sightedness and pointed out that Meraj had mentioned in 1970s the challenges that were being faced by the country nowadays.

Furthermore, where the inquiry or investigation is not completed within the required period, the Director General, on the request of the Inquiry Officer may extend the period of Inquiry or Investigation for a further period of sixty (60) and ninety (90) days respectively, after giving reasons in writing.

Regarding the criticism of the opposition over ex-

The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the China Communication and Construction Company Ltd agreed to a 1.6 billion dollars circular railway project interlinking Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan Charsadda with future expansion to Swabi and a speedy service from Peshawar to Islamabad. China Communication and Construction Company is a Chinese public sector major construction company with expertise in rail communication and infrastructure development that has undertaken and completed major projects in China and other countries.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the government of KP and China Communication and Construction Company regarding Inter Districts Circular Railway Project in KP. Special Assistant to CM for Transport Malik Shah Muhammad Wazir and of China Communications and Con-

structions Corporation Country Head Waing Xiaoping formally signed the MoU in a ceremony held at CM Secretariat Peshawar. Special Assistant to CM for Law Arif Yousaf, KP Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) Chairman Ghulam Dastagir Akhtar, Mohsin Syed and other concerned officers were also present.

According to the memorandum, China Communication and Construction Company shall conduct a feasibility study, inclusive concept design, cost estimation and will prepare a technical and financial proposal to the provincial government in respect of the development of the project. It would also provide the technical specification to the government for the soil investigation and survey.

The government of KP shall be responsible for obtaining all approvals permits, land rights or other necessary permissions to enable the company to complete the feasibility work. The government will facilitate the company to fulfill its obligations and re-

sponsibilities by providing available relevant local technical information and other necessary documents available in respect of the project.

Under the MoU, each party shall be responsible for its own parts and expenses for the performance of its responsibilities and obligations.

The financial model for the project has to be agreed between the parties prior to the commencement of the project through an agreement to be signed after fulfilling all legal and codal formalities.

The speed of the train under the project will be 220 Km/h. It is a part of contributing to the overall transportation system and planned urbanisation. It is the major step of the provincial government towards mass transit, integrating the major cities of the province. The project would have the space to be further expanded to areas and commercial hubs and industrial zones throughout the province. It is the project that will resolve the transportation problems, generate jobs leading to the overall economic revival of the province.

ATC rejects bail pleas of Qaimkhani and Siddiqui KARACHI STAFF REPORT

An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday rejected bail applications of Pak Sarzameen party (PSP) leader Anis Qaimkhani and MQM’s Rauf Siddiqui in Dr Asim Hussain’s terror facilitation case following which the two have decided to approach the Sindh High Court. The two senior and prominent political members of Muttahida Qaumi Movement and PSP were presented before the

ATC amid strict security arrangements. The final judgment on their bail pleas was already reserved by the ATC during its hearing on July 27. Ilyas Khan, Qaimkhani’s lawyer, in his argument denied all the charges leveled against his client and told the court that Qaimkhani never pushed anyone to give medical assistance to terror elements.

Qaimkhani and Siddiqui along with Karachi’s mayor nominee, MQM’s Wasim Akhtar and a member of Pakistan People’s Party Qadir

Patel, have been behind the bars in Karachi Central Jail since July 19 for their alleged involvements in Dr Asim’s terror facilitation case.

They face charges of asking the former petroleum minister to provide medical treatment and safe haven to terrorists at Ziauddin and other hospitals of Dr Asim – the main accused in the case.

Meanwhile, in another case earlier, the ATC had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for more than 20 MQM leaders in a case pertaining to provocative speeches.

Sindh CM approves appointment of 25 prosecutors for new ATCs KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the law department to appoint 25 special prosecutors on urgent basis so that newly-established anti-terrorism courts can start functioning. “This cannot be delayed any more. Efficient prosecution in ATC cases is urgently needed as backlog of the cases is on the rise which is against the spirit of National Action Plan,” he said.

The chief minister said this while presiding over a special meeting to review implement of the decisions taken in last apex committee meeting at the CM House on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Advisor to CM on Law & Anti-Corruption Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Principal Secretary Alamuddin Bullo, Secretary Home Riaz Soomro and secretary law. The chief minister said that in the last apex committee meeting the issues of establishment of new anti-terrorism courts and appointment of 200 more prosecutors were discussed. The chief secretary told him that there are 19 ATCs - 10 in Karachi and nine in other districts - which presently working in the province. The apex committee decided to establish 11 more courts and seven of them seven would start functioning from next month (September 2016). Advisor to Chief Minister Murtaza Wahab said that requisition for the appointment of 200 special public prosecutors for prosecution and investigation has been sent to Sindh Public Service Commission but it will take some time.

The chief minister said that around 4,500 cases are under trial/pending in ATC courts. “Therefore, we cannot wait for SPSC,” he said and directed the chief secretary to appoint 25 prosecutors on a six months contract on emergency basis and then refer them to the SPSC.

IG Sindh’s peculiar advice to public: Use licensed weapons for self-defence, not showoff KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Sindh police chief on Wednesday urged citizens of Karachi to use licensed weapons for self-defence against criminals and praised efforts of citizens who had recently shot robbers in Nazimabad.

Addressing a press conference, Inspector-General Sindh Allah Dino Khawaja encouraged citizens to use their licensed weapons for self-defence against criminals and robbers, instead of keeping them for mere decoration and showoff.

“If a citizen owns a licensed weapon then that means they have the legal right to use it for self-defence,” the police chief said.

Khawaja awarded Rs 50,000 prize to citizen Yasir Jamil for his “valiant” efforts against alleged robbers.

Two suspected robbers were shot dead by Yasir when they tried to loot him in Nazimabad No.1 late on Sunday evening, the Rizvia Society police said.

The suspects, riding a motorbike, reportedly intercepted Yasir’s family travelling in a car in Urdu Bazaar area with the intention of robbery. “Yasir, who had a licenced pistol, opened fire on them,” said SSP Investigation Central Arab Mahar.

“One suspect died on the spot while the other succumbed to his wounds during treatment at the Abbasi

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Shaheed Hospital. Their identity could not be ascertained immediately,” he said.

The senior police officer added that the citizen also had left the scene by the time police arrived there.

However, quoting witnesses, the SSP investigation central said that the men killed in the incident were “robbers”. The officer further said that they were investigating the case.

Addressing the press conference, Khawaja praised the efforts of the police in cracking down on criminals and terrorists, saying that it is the duty of the police to help the citizens and that it is to everyone’s advantage if people use guns to fight crime in the city. Talking about the recent attack on army personnel in Karachi, the IG Sindh said that had the citizens cooperated that day, the gunmen could have been caught and brought to justice. Two Pakistan Army personnel were martyred last month when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the congested, downtown Saddar area of Karachi.

06 LAHORE

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

WEATHER UPDATES

THURSDAY

360C 270C

FRIDAY

360C

270C

SATURDAY

340C 260C

SUNDAY

310C 260C

Punjab govt to induct 5,000 personnel for security of Chinese LAHORE Online

The Punjab government has decided to induct 5,000 security personnel for the security of foreigners and Chinese working on different mega projects including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). According to a Punjab government spokesperson, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued directives to immediately induct 5,000 security personnel under the Special Protection Unit (SPU). “They will be deployed on security duty of foreigners and Chinese nationals working on the CPEC and other mega projects in the province”, he said. The spokesperson further said that a Punjab government’s cabinet committee will undertake visits of Chinese projects every month and will review security arrangements and present report to the chief minister.

Notorious criminal arrested in joint operation LAHOE APP

Lahore and Islamabad police claimed to have arrested a notorious criminal from Karim Block, Allama Iqbal Town, in a joint operation for his alleged involvement in 32 cases of abduction of children, women harassment, and illicit video-making among other crimes. The accused was shifted to Islamabad. According to details, the accused abducted a 12-year-old boy Sahil Latif from G-11, Islamabad. Later, he was traced by the police and was arrested from Allama Iqbal Town Lahore. The accused belongs to Jhang and had been involved in dozens of fraud cases there. Later on, he shifted to Karachi and continued his illegal activities there. The accused reportedly gave electric shocks to the owner of the house he was living in, and snatched gold ornaments and cash worth millions of rupees from him.

Then he shifted to Rawalpindi in British Home Scheme, and started looting people there. The accused married a woman, Kiran, and with her help started a prostitution den.

He had made various fake ID cards, and during his stay in different cities, looted millions of rupees from innocent people.

Woman set on fire by in-laws expires HAFIZABAD STAFF RePORT

A woman set on fire by in-laws succumbed to her wounds during treatment in hospital on Wednesday. Two women were arrested by police. Station House Officer (SHO) Ali Akbar said that three days ago, in-laws of Sobia, a resident of Rehmatabad locality of Hafizabad, allegedly set on her fire after sprinkling petrol. She was rushed to Mayo Hospital Lahore in critical condition where she remained under treatment in burn unit of the hospital and breathed her last on Wednesday. The police arrested mother inlaw and sister in-law (sister of husband) of Sobia who were being interrogated after registering a case against them.

LAHORE: A drumbeater smokes a hubble-bubble as he waits for customers at the Liberty Chowk on Wednesday. Online

LHC disposes of pLeas against amendments for mayors’ eLeCtion LAHORE

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APP

HE Lahore High Court on Wednesday disposed of petitions challenging the amendments in the Punjab Local Government (LG) Act for the election of mayor, deputy mayor, chairman and vice chairman through show of hands, and ordered to hold the elections in accordance with the LG law existed prior to the announcement of election schedule on August 26, 2015.

LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah heard the petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Awami Tehreek.

Earlier, the Punjab government’s counsel submitted that the old provi-

sions for elections of mayor, deputy mayor, chairman and vice chairman had been re-enacted through a new law and now the elections would be held under secret ballot for the seats.

He submitted that grievances of the petitioners had been redressed through the new law and the petitions had become infractuous.

However, petitioners’ counsel Mubeen ud Din Qazi submitted that the new law would increase problems and it would delay the elections further as the candidates, who had submitted nomination papers under the law existed prior to announcement of election schedule of August 2015, would approach the courts and get stay orders.

He submitted that the amendments for elections of mayor, deputy mayors, chairman and vice chairman through show of hands were intro-

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duced after the announcement of the elections schedule of August 26, 2015.

He pointed out that the apex court had already ordered to hold local government elections in Sindh for the seats of mayor, deputy mayor, chairman and vice chairman under the law existed prior to announcement of election schedule of August 26, 2015. He said that the Apex Court had held that the amendments after the announcement of the election schedule were illegal.

At this, the court disposed of the petitions and ordered to hold elections for the slots under the local government law existed prior to announcement of election schedule of August 26, 2015.

The court further held that the Supreme Court judgement could be consulted for guidelines in this regard.

Human trafficker arrested in Toba Tek Singh TOBA TEK SINGH: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a human traffickers involved in receiving huge sum of money from people during a crackdown on Wednesday. According to reports, a team of FIA Lahore over repeated public complaints launched operation in Toba Tek Singh during which a human trafficker identified as Bashir was arrested with fake documents, stamps and other items.The detainee had received Rs8,20,000 from a man named Imtiaz Rasool for sending him to Muscat but neither sent him abroad nor returned the money. The culprits were also involved in looting millions of rupees from other innocent and simple citizens for sending them abroad for better source of income and earning there but deceived them after receiving money. The detainee was being interrogated by FIA and more arrests were expected as investigation proceeds. STAFF RePORT

Teenager allegedly abducted LAHOrE: A teen aged boy has allegedly been abducted within the Samanabad police jurisdiction. A family has lodged a complaint with the Samanabad police that their 13-year-old son Amman Qamar has been kidnapped from a local market. According to the family, his cell phone number was switched off. Child kidnapping in Lahore has risen to alarming proportion in recent months and according to some reports, over 400 children have been kidnapped in the city in the last one year. The police have registered a case and started investigation. Online

LAHORE 07

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

CM reviews progress on sahiwal Coal power plant LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

unjaB Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif presided over a high level meeting on Wednesday which reviewed progress on Coal Power Plant Sahiwal and the steps taken for the supply of coal for the project.

Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad asif, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bazango, Federal Secretary Water and Power, Secretary to Prime Minister Chairman Port Qasim authority, Chairman Planning and Development, Chief Executive Officer Pakistan Railways, MD nTDC, MD Huang Group of China Wu Chun Sheng, Vice President Huang Sheng Dong Power Generation Company, Chief Executive Officer Huang Shen Dong Ruyai and concerned federal and provincial officials were present on the occasion. addressing the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif said that Sahiwal Coal Power Plant Project is being completed speedily and that it will be completed

far before the stipulated period of December 2017. He said that there is no example of working with such speed on this project of such productive capacity in the history.

The speed and quality of the project is unprecedented, he added. He said that the work of supply of coal from Karachi will also be completed in fixed period and necessary infrastructure for this purpose will be timely completed. He said that this project will become great masterpiece of Pak-China friendship.

The chief minister said that all the affairs are being completed timely due to best coordination of concerned federal and provincial institutions. He said that speed of work on Sahiwal Coal Power Plant is unprecedented.

Officials of Chinese companies assured completion of the project as early as possible.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif presided over another high level meeting which reviewed progress on supply of gas for 3600 megawatt gas power projects being set up in Punjab and matters of construction of terminal.

Roof collapse injures five labourers LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Five labourers were injured when a roof of a shop collapsed on Wednesday. The workers were asleep when the roof of a shop, located at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat, collapsed on them. Rescue workers arrived at the scene and recovered the wounded labourers from the debris and shifted them to General Hospital.

Hospital sources said that the condition of the injured labourers is out of danger.

Road accident claims two lives in Bahawalnagar BAHAWALNAGAR STAFF REPORT

Two people died after collision between two speeding trucks on Wednesday morning.

Rescue sources said that the accident took place in Chak 48 Fateh of Bahawalnagar where two trucks collided head-on due to speeding.

Two people died on the spot in the accident and the bodies were shifted to hospital for postmortem.

The police confiscated both vehicles and after registering a case started an investigation.

PTI demands Rangers’ deployment to check child abductions LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Former Punjab Governor and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar has said that Rangers must be called in to stop child abduction cases in Punjab. Police officials involved in the abduction of children must be sacked from their posts, he said.

Supreme Court must make the example out of people involved in heinous crime of child abduction and kidnapping.

Talking to a delegation of Insaf Tiger Force Wednesday, Chaudhry Sarwar said war on corruption is mandatory for the whole nation, adding that all opposition parties must come on roads against corruption otherwise, history will never forgive anyone.

He added that police have totally failed to stop the child abduction in the province and arrest the culprits because kidnapping cases are mounting, instead of decreasing.

Victims are protesting on the roads for justice.

Cruelty and Injustice have increased to a dangerous extent in the country but unfeeling rulers are playing the role of silent spectators who didn’t do anything except providing fake assurances to poor people, he said.

He added that provincial rulers lack vision and are busy in the individual promotion .Supreme Court must make an example out of people involved in the child abduction in the province.

PTI is coming out to end corruption in country and nation will collaborate with us because they want change.

08 LAHORE Ten LHC officials suspended LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Wednesday suspended its ten officials including an assistant registrar and initiated inquiries against 85 others, on the charges of misconduct, corruption and other anomalies. according to an LHC notification, the officials who were suspended including assistant Registrar Malik Tanvir Rehmat, assistant arif Hussain, senior clerks Hamid Majeed and Muhammad Rizwan ashraf, Data Entry Operator Zakia Feroz Malik, junior clerks Zia ur Rehman and asif naeem, Qasid allah Ditta and naib Qasid Muhammad Shoaib Bailda.

Inquiries had been initiated against Deputy Registrar Liaqat ali, assistant Registrars Shaban Shaukat, abid ali Chaudhry , and ali Zaidi, assistants Muhammad akram Baloch, Farhan Mehmood, Muhammad Riaz, Muhammad Ibrahim, Syed niaz ahmad Bokhari, arshad Lodhi, Khalid ahmad, ashfaq ahmad, Iqbal Hussain Shah, Sana ullah, Muhammad ajmal ameer, senior clerks Tariq Rafique, Sajjad Hussain Shah, Muhammad amin, akmal abbas, Zaheer abbas, Muhammad Ilyas anjum, Ghulam Haider.

Others who were suspended included Rana Muhammad Saleem, Ghulam Mustafa, Muhammad asghar Shaheen, javed ahmad, Muhammad aamir Raza, Kamran ahsan, Mahboob Karam , Tasawar Hussain, Muhammad Waqas, Omer Farooq, Irfan ahmad Dar, Rana Sajjad ali, Muhammad Shafique, Muhammad jameel, Shazia Saleem, Muhammad amjad, Ghawas ahmad, Hafiz Rana Fahad Maqbool, Raja Fazal Daad, Muhammad Tahir, Hafiz ameer Hamza, Waqar ahmad, Maqsood Masih, Bashir, Ghulam jilani, Mohsin ali, Syed Yasir ali Gulzar, abdul Wahad Minhas, Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Qaisar Bajwa, Muhammad Waqas Shabbir, Yousaf Man, Ghulam jilani, Khurram ayub, umar Daraz, asif Hussain, Iftikhar Rafi, jaffar Hussain Shah, Imtiaz ali, Muhammad nawaz, ali Sharafat, asim Shahzad, Muhammad Sunil, allah Ditta, Muhammad Hashim, Muhammad Ramzan, Pervaiz Masih, Hafiz Mureed Hussain, Muhammad Kazim, Gul Muhammad, Muhammad asghar, Iqbal Hussain, Muhammad Shahid, Khalid Inayat, Tariq Inayat, Yousuf jogi, asif Ghulam, arif Karamat, Ishtiaq Masih, Pervaiz Masih, aamir Masih, Sikandar Masih and Shahroz. APP

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

auqaf DepartMent to CoMe harD on lanD grabbers LAHORE

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SAMIULLAH RANDHAWA

unjaB auqaf and Religious Department is taking steps to free its lands from the grabbers around the province which had been occupied in different ways in past, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably. a source in department revealed that newly appointed auqaf Secretary nawazish ali has ordered the estate wing to submit the record of all the lands owned by the department and ordered to maintain record of the land grabbed by mafias.

“according to record which was maintained earlier, the department has more than 76,000 acre land in the province from which around 7,000 acre land is illegally occupied by people” sources said, adding that only 4,000 acre land is occupied out of the total grabbed land in Shorkot Tehsil of jhang District.

He said that the department has completed a survey of 15 districts in this regard and a report will be presented to the secretary after completion of survey. The survey is expected to be completed within current month.

The issue of grabbing state prop-

erty or other land is not a new thing in Pakistan. It has been observed that people across the province are involved in occupying land of different departments for many decades. It is also observed that most of the time the land grabbers are backed by influential and political persons.

The source claimed that the department has been issuing notices to those grabbers but instead of releasing the land, they move to court against the department.

“The grabbers have started claiming the ownership of land under Land Reform act while the land of auqaf Department can never be transferred or

sold to anyone,” he added. an official seeking anonymity told Pakistan Today that the department had conducted several surveys in the past but the record of total land with department and the land occupied by the grabbers could not be maintained. He admitted that land mafias and grabbers belong to influential persons, mostly from bureaucracy and politics.

However, he claimed that this new move will be proved fruitful as the department is working more vigorously.

He said that this illegal grabbing is causing a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer annually.

Rawalakot civil judge seeks SC’s help for recovery of abducted son LAHORE INP

Senior civil judge from Rawalakot has complained to the Supreme Court Registry during hearing of suo moto case against child kidnappings in Punjab Wednesday that police were backing his son’s abductors.

Civil judge Yousuf Haroon maintained during the hearing that his son was abducted two years ago and is yet to be recovered. While talking to media after the hearing, Haroon alleged that mobile phones and other data that was to be seized by police was ignored and

not made part of court proceedings.

Supreme Court had taken suo moto action last month against growing incidents of abductions in Punjab, mainly Lahore. additional Inspector General among other police officials was also present in the Supreme Court registry for hearing.

Police presented a report to the court to which justice Saqib nisar of the two-member bench said that the worst observation in the case is that children were not being recovered. Police are the first body responsible for safe recovery of the children that are kidnapped, justice

nisar said, adding that groups behind such organised crimes are not put together within days.

Concluding the hearing, the court formed a committee headed by Punjab advocate General which was tasked to present a report within three weeks The hearing was adjourned until august 25.

Civil Society counsel asma jahangir hailed suo moto action by the Supreme Court as the right use of the powers. Suo moto powers should be used for those who are vulnerable, she said. Children kidnappings have surged in the past month in the

province mainly in Lahore.

Inspector General of Police stated last week that most the children that go missing leave their house due to violence or unpleasant relations and do not return. around 6,793 children were abducted in the last six years according to the police out of which over 6,200 have been recovered. Ministry of Human Rights took notice of the growing crime incidents and summoned a meeting this Friday in Lahore. Different organisations working for the welfare of children other related jobs have been asked to attend the session.

Ushering the country towards progress

By MARiA RAsHid MALik The evolutionary process of sustainable development, promising progress and continuous growth of any country depends on integrated efforts of State institutions, of Government machinery and of people. Since decades Pakistan has been faced with extraordinary challenges in all spheres of governance and security. The deteriorating security situation in afghanistan at the Western border, the vulnerable Eastern border and general threat of terrorism are among the top security concerns of Pakistan. These security concerns encouraging terrorism and challenges of governance necessitates a comprehensive plan of action on the part of all stakeholders.

Operation Zarb-e-azb, national action Plan (naP) and CPEC speak volumes about the efforts of civil and military leadership towards curbing this menace of terrorism from our beloved soil, overhauling its civic system and simultaneously paving way towards gigantic economic revolution incurring from CPEC. These three contemporary hallmarks also indicate the roadmap towards which our leadership is taking our country.

The heinous evil of terrorism and extremism targeting our soil has been a perennial challenge for Pakistan. In 2014, operation Zarb-e-azb was among the top daring actions of this incumbent government. Prime Minister nawaz Sharif gave full-fledged support to military action launched against terrorists residing in their obvious hideouts in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Pakistan army had already chalked out the operational strategy to fight out and permanently eliminate obvious footholds of terrorists in our tribal areas. In 2016, after two successful years of operation Zarb-e- azb, Pakistan army has defeated the terrorists in their strongholds and all of the tribal areas have been purged of all such elements.

In the wake of tragic terrorist attack on Peshawar army Public School in December 2014, our civil and military lead-

ership joined all stakeholders and formulated 20 points national action Plan (naP)to uproot strategic nexus of terrorists. national action Plan has been comprehensively made while encompassing all key factors responsible for overhauling law and order situation in the country. The first military operational part of national action Plan (naP)has already been successfully conducted by Pak army and security forces in the name of operation Zarb-e-azb. now elements of terrorism and extremism are receding as duly noted by Prime Minister nawaz Sharif in the recently held meeting on national security. Premier nawaz Sharif acknowledged that this success is “due to countless sacrifices rendered by the country’s valiant law enforcement agencies and unflinching resolve of the entire nation”. national action Plan is progressing towards its second phase of building supportive civic and governance system which will permanently prevent foothold of terrorism. Prime Minister has reiterated this resolve by saying that so far achieved goals of national action Plan (naP) and Operation Zarb-e-azb will be “consolidated through well coordinated and concerted efforts at the Federal and Provincial levels”. no doubt consolidation of fruits ofnational action Plan(naP) and Zarb-e-azb needsa proactive coordination between Federal and Provincial Governments, security and law and order forces and intelligence agencies. Surely there is a lot to be done in completing targets of national action Plan (naP wholesomely but as rightly said by Prime Minister nawaz Sharif “the country has embarked upon the right track and every citizen would reap the benefits of a secure and prosperous Pakistan”.

For sustainable prosperity of the country, our civil and military leadership is well articulated and unequivocally resolute for socio-economic development. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is undoubtedly a

revolutionary “game changer” for economic plight of not only Pakistan and China but also for the region. Prime Minister nawaz Sharif and army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif have time and again reiterated their resolve that Government and army will ensure the political, logistic, strategic and security facilitation required by China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Premier nawaz Sharif termed CPEC as a promising project that is meant to redefine the economic parameters of the country. The developmental projects that span throughout all provinces along with the route of CPEC will provide physical infrastructure for industrial investment and consequential economic growth.

In line with government’s resolve military leadership is also vigorously strategizing to ensure security of this landmark project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). COaS Gen. Raheel Sharif said that security of CPEC is ‘national undertaking’ and Pak army will leave no stone unturned to ensure its timely completion and uninterrupted success. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not only a mega economic project but is also a manifestation of our time tested brotherly relations with China. The economic gains and strategic affinity that comes to life with conception and completion of CPEC reflects upon the common vision and shared destiny of these “Iron Brethren” China and Pakistan. Their convergence of interest and commonality of purpose is destined to enhance importance of China and Pakistan as strategic players in the regional and international politics.

It is hoped that this road map which starts from operation Zarb-e- azb progressing through national action Plan and ultimately leading towards China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECP) will prove to be a promising direction towards prosperous and affluent Pakistan. all out support of all citizens is available for our civil and military leadership to achieve these inspiring goals.

FOREIGN NEWS 09

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

RepUblican RifT widens as TRUmp declines To endoRse Ryan, mccain WASHINGTON

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AGENCIES

S Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ratcheted up tensions in his party on Tuesday by denying two leading figures, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain, support in their re-election bids.

Trump told The Washington Post in an interview that he could endorse neither Ryan, the top US elected Republican, nor McCain, a US senator from Arizona and a former Republican presidential nominee, as they face challenges in their states’ primary contests ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.

Both Ryan and McCain had criticised Trump’s feud with the family of Army Captain Humayun Khan, who died in the line of duty in Iraq in 2004 and was awarded the Bronze Star

Medal for bravery after his death.

The discord comes just two weeks after the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that formally nominated Trump for president. It is the latest rift in a party already frayed by internal dissent over its standard bearer, seen in stark relief at the convention where McCain was among high-level

Latest North Korea missile launch lands near Japan waters, alarms Tokyo SEOUL: North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The main body of the missile landed in Japan’s economic exclusion zone, a Japanese defence official said, escalating regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches this year and the decision by the United States to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the launch as a “grave threat” to Japan and said Tokyo “strongly protested”.

Japan also said its self-defence force would remain on alert in case of further launches. A US State Department spokesman condemned the launch and said it would “only increase the international community’s resolve to counter” North Korea’s actions. The US Strategic Command said it had detected two missiles, one of which it said exploded immediately after launch. The missile that landed in the Sea of Japan was launched at about 7:50 a.m. Seoul time (2250 GMT Tuesday) from a region in South Hwanghae province to the south-west of the capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The launch showed North Korea’s ambition to “directly and broadly attack neighbouring countries and target several places in the Republic of Korea such as ports and airfields”, the statement said, referring to South Korea by its official title.

The missile appeared to be a Rodong-type medium-range missile that flew about 1,000 km (620 miles), it said. AGENCIES

party members who essentially snubbed Trump by choosing not to attend. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, and former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush also did not attend the convention. Trump has had a running dispute with Khizr and Ghazala Khan since they took the stage at last week’s Democratic convention to cite their son’s sacrifice and criticise Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States.

The uproar has led many Republicans to distance themselves from Trump and voice support for the Khan family.

Trump, mirroring the language Ryan used about supporting the nominee before his eventual endorsement, told the newspaper he was “not quite there yet” on endorsing Ryan in next Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary, and that he had “never been there” with McCain, who will be on the ballot in pri-

mary elections in Arizona later this month.

McCain had a “very friendly” meeting with Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, on Tuesday in Arizona, where Pence was visiting, a McCain spokeswoman said.

Trump said Ryan had sought his endorsement, but that as of now he is only “giving it very serious consideration.”

Ryan’s campaign office quickly responded that “neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump’s endorsement.”

“And we are confident in a victory next week regardless,” campaign spokesman Zack Roday said in a statement.

Ryan is favoured to win against primary challenger Paul Nehlen, who Trump praised as running “a very good campaign.” In a mid-July survey by Harper Polling, Ryan was ahead of Nehlen by nearly 50 points.

Panama seeks to punish countries that blacklist it as ‘tax haven’ PANAMA CITY AGENCIES

The government of Panama on Tuesday announced a bill that would take a range of steps against countries that put it on their blacklists of ‘tax havens’ in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations. The legislation would impose tax, trade and migration measures on companies or individuals from those countries that “engage in practices that discriminate or imply damage to economic interests” of Panama, a statement said. The move could be directed at France, which put Panama back on its national blacklist of tax havens in April following the Panama Papers reports, which showed how some of the world’s wealthy stashed assets in offshore firms created by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Colombia could also be targeted for keeping tariffs on Panama textile imports despite a World Trade Organisation ruling calling for them to be scrapped. Panama has vowed to improve its fight against money laundering and tax evasion but has fallen short of regulations the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development wants to see adopted internationally. The bill will be put to Panama’s Congress for debate and a vote.

Iran president says US wasted nuclear deal opportunity TEHRAN

Dubai airport shuts down after Emirates Airline flight crash lands

DUBAI AGENCIES

An Emirates plane with 300 people on board crash-landed and caught fire in Dubai on Wednesday, shutting down the busy airport, but the authorities said all the passengers were evacuated safely.

Footage on social media showed smoke billowing from the aircraft.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.

“An Emirates plane coming from India has been involved in an accident on landing at Dubai International,” the government’s Dubai Media Office said on its Twitter account. “All passengers were evacuated safely and no injuries have been

Turkish police raid science council, many detained, in post-coup purge ANKARA: Turkish police raided the offices of the national science research council on Wednesday, broadcaster NTV said, widening the investigation into followers of the US-based cleric suspected of masterminding last month’s coup attempt. Many people were detained in the raid of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tubitak), NTV said.

Turkey’s government says the July 15 coup attempt was orchestrated by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999. Gulen denies the charge and has condemned the coup.

Earlier, Turkey issued arrest warrants for 100 staff, including doctors, at the main military hospital in Ankara as part of the investigation into last month’s failed coup, local media reported. AGENCIES

reported so far,” it said. All departures from Dubai International Airport have been halted “until further notice,” it added. Emirates confirmed the incident, saying that the plane was a Boeing 777.

“We can confirm flight EK521 from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai has been involved in an accident at Dubai International,” the carrier said on its Twitter account.

Emirates said it had “no further information on what may have caused the accident”. “Our priority remains with the passengers and crew involved,” it said.

Emirates said that there were 282 passengers and 18 crew members on board, including 226 Indians, 24 Britons and 11 Emirati

nationals. The airline had initially said that there were 275 passengers and crew on board.

The Aviation Herald reported the aircraft touched down during a goaround without its gear deployed.

Footage on social media showed thick black smoke coming out of the centre of the plane while the fuselage appeared to be lying on the runway with escape slides opened.

The Dubai Media Office said the fire “has been contained,” adding that emergency teams at the airport and Emirates are “well trained to deal with such incidents”. The Twitter account of live air traffic monitor Flightradar24 confirmed takeoffs and landings at Dubai had been suspended because of the incident.

AGENCIES

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday the United States had wasted the opportunity presented by the nuclear accord and prevented the two countries from working more closely on regional issues. “As the supreme guide said, the nuclear agreement was a test,” Rouhani said in a televised address. “If the United States had implemented the nuclear agreement with good faith and precision, and had reduced the obstacles and delays that we see today, we could have had more trust and engaged in negotiations on other subjects, which could have been in the interests of the region, the United States and us,” added the president, a moderate who pushed hard for the deal sealed in July 2015. The agreement, which came into force in January, saw Iran accept curbs to its nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of sanctions by world powers. While observers say Iran has met its commitments, Tehran accuses Washington of continuing to block the Islamic republic from the international banking system, limiting its ability to benefit from the end of sanctions.

“Sadly, (the United States) did not successfully pass the test and has not precisely respected its commitments,” said Rouhani.

Rouhani said the agreement had already led to a significant rise in oil exports, but “in other sectors, things have moved slowly” due to the ongoing concerns of international banks, who fear they are still liable for prosecution by the US Treasury if they do business with Iran.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Monday that negotiations with the West were like a “lethal poison”. “Six months on (from the nuclear deal), do we see any effect on people’s lives?” he asked. The Americans “ask to negotiate on regional questions, but the experience of the nuclear negotiations proves that this would be a lethal poison and that we can’t trust them on any subject”, he said.

ISRAEL APPROVES JAILING ‘TERRORISTS’ FROM AGE 12 JERUSALEM AGENCIES

Israeli lawmakers approved jailing children as young as 12 convicted of “terrorist offences” in the wake of repeated attacks by young Palestinians, the parliament said on Wednesday.

“The ‘Youth Bill,’ which will allow the authorities to imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14, passed its second and third readings Tuesday

CMYK

night,” an English-language statement said.

It added that the seriousness of attacks in recent months “demands a more aggressive approach, including toward minors.”

The statement quoted Anat Berko, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and the bill’s sponsor, as saying “to those who are murdered with a knife in the heart it does not matter if the child is 12 or 15.”

Violence in the Palestinian territories and Israel since October has killed at least

218 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Many of the assailants were young people, including teenagers. Other youths have been shot dead during protests and clashes with security forces.

Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked gave the “Youth Bill” full backing when it came before a ministerial committee last year.

10 COMMENT

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Evaluating the performance of the govt

The ambassadors’ moot

Looking back at 3 years of PML-N

Appreciating facts

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He three-day long envoys' conference discussed matters which have great importance for the country. These included relationship with India US, Afghanistan, China, Russia and european Union. Also, Pakistan's membership in the NSG and upcoming SAARC Summit. The idea behind these conferences, which are a regular feature, is to get feedback from the concerned ambassadors. Major security agencies also present their assessments at the meetings. This helps foreign policy makers formulate responses to challenges making use of the opportunities available.

In his concluding remarks Sartaj Aziz refuted the view that Pakistan is being isolated and its foreign policy lacks direction. He has enumerated what he calls his government’s ‘monumental achievements’ beginning with strategic ties with China, leading to the initiation of the CPeC. The relations with China are of great value for Pakistan and need to be further strengthened. There is a need however for good relations with the US and Pakistan's next door neighbours like India, Afghanistan and Iran. exporting labour to the Middle east was mentioned as another ‘monumental achievement’ of the PML-N tenure. Instead of living in a dream world Pakistan has to prepare for a reverse movement of labour from the Gulf on account of the impact of low oil prices on Gulf economies.

In his address at the ambassadors’ meeting the prime minister said it is easier now to present Pakistan’s case before the world. This may be true only partially.

Neither the US nor eU is willing to accept Pakistan’s view that its fight against terrorist networks is indiscriminatory. The world has yet to differentiate between the freedom struggle in Kashmir and terrorism despite Pakistan’s efforts. Many would readily agree with the PM that resolving disputes through talks is the need of the time. There are however circles in Pakistan which are yet to be convinced of it. Nawaz Sharif has again stressed upon the ambassadors to strive harder to bring investments to Pakistan. What needs to be probed is why earlier exhortations failed to achieve the aim and remove the lingering disincentives.

Stranded workers Pakistani response

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HILe it is unfortunate that Saudi authorities have not moved fast enough to offset the Pakistani/Indian worker crisis in some cities there, the response of the Pakistani government so far is unforgivable. The Indians have adopted a far better approach; immediately shuttling the state minister for foreign affairs to the kingdom, talking to the authorities and reassuring the workers. The Pakistani embassy in Riyadh, on the other hand, sent ‘a packet of onions, two packets of tomatoes, three packets of tea and a can of oil for 204 affectees’ in one of its few responses, according to the press. It’s little surprise that the workers refused the gesture, despite their compromised position.

This, considering the Gulf economic situation, was more or less inevitable yet nobody seemed prepared for it. Apparently the company involved belongs to Lebanon’s Hariri family, which is very close to Saudi royalty, so it is surprising that the situation has not been handled so far. This shows how hard some of the leading concerns have been hit by the prolonged drop in Brent crude. With the prospect of more and more companies going belly up in not too distant the future, the government is obviously concerned about setting a precedent of total bailout, which would imply taking over company liabilities immediately.

Not so strangely, this issue is also indicative of a subsequent breakdown in the Pakistani balance of payments. Remittances contribute close to $20 billion annually to the national kitty ($19.9b in the last fiscal).

With oil only showing faint signs of recovery before being knocked down again, we must not only prepare for a pinch in transfers, but also for hordes of laid off workers that will add to the employment burden back home. And it does not inspire much confidence that the foreign office seems not just unprepared for, but also unaware of, the impending crisis.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963, 042-36375965

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Malik MuHaMMad asHraf

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He PML - N government has completed three years of its rule, which are long enough a period to evaluate its performance. The best touchstone for judging how it has fared in changing the profile of the country is to look at the outcome of its efforts in dealing with the challenges that it inherited and the difficult situations that might have arisen along the way. That would surely warrant enumerating the perils and challenges that confronted the country when as a result of the 2013 general election, the PML (N) government won the franchise of the people to rule the roost to fix those problems.

When the PML (N) government assumed power—hardly anyone would tend to disagree--the country was engulfed in an ambience of gloom and despondency. The snowballing terrorism and religious extremism posed existentialist threat to the country; the economy was in complete shambles marred by a debilitating energy crisis; Karachi, the industrial capital of Pakistan and a jugular vein of the economy was ruled by terrorists, target killers and the land mafia and Balochistan was seething with insurgency and sectarian killings. Ostensibly they were egregious and intractable challenges that needed political will and vision to take them on to turn the gloom and despondency engulfing the country into a vibrant hope.

Honestly speaking, the government notwithstanding the constraints and the presence of debilitating factors, showed remarkable commitment and courage to take on those challenges. It accorded top priority to dealing with the phenomenon of terrorism and religious extremism and with the consent and approval of all the political forces, initiated

a process of dialogue with the TTP to resolve the conundrum. But when it became evident in the wake of the continued acts of terrorism by the TTP and its affiliates like the attack on Karachi airport, it did not hesitate to launch Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan in consultation with the military establishment and subsequently also put in place the National Action Plan to deal with the situation in the backdrop of an attack on APS, Peshawar. While our valiant armed forces executed the operation, the federal government and the political parties extended national ownership to it and the support that it required. The state institutions like parliament and judiciary also paved the way for the establishment of military courts through 21st amendment and its endorsement respectively that formed the most crucial element of NAP among other variables.

Within two years from its commencement, Operation Zarb-e-Azb has achieved its objective of clearing North Waziristan of the terrorists and their infrastructure. That could not have been possible without the unflinching commitment and the sacrifices rendered by our valiant soldiers and their role in reconstructing the destroyed infrastructure and rehabilitating the TDPs. During the operation 3,500 terrorists were killed and 992 of their hideouts were destroyed. In achieving this, 490 troops lost their lives while 2108 were injured. The nation owes unqualified gratitude and appreciation to our armed forces for what they have done to winch the country out of an extremely diabolical situation.

The rehabilitation of the TDPs is in progress and to help them to restart their lives, mosques, schools and roads are being built with the full support and active participation of the troops. The Army has constructed 700Kms of road in North Waziristan.

To make sure that the terrorist do not stage a comeback to the area, new wings of FC and para-military forces are being raised to man the check posts along the Pak-Afghan border to regulate the movement of people through a process of verification of their antecedents.

Alongside operation in North Waziristan the army also undertook 19347 intelligence based operation in other part of the country to pre-empt the backlash and to eliminate the sleeping cells and supporters of the terrorists in which 213 terrorists were killed. These operations have helped a great deal in curtailing the incidents of terrorism and contributed immensely to the improvement of law and order in the country.

Situation in Karachi has vastly improved. As a result of the targeted operation 1203 terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, TTP and Tehrik-e-Swat have been arrested, including 636 target killers belonging to proscribed organ-

isation and political parties, though the remnants of the terrorists are still carrying out sporadic terrorist attacks and target killings, as a retaliatory action. The insurgency in Balochistan has been checked in its tracks.

The economy is on the upward curve signifying the commencement of an era of sustained economic growth. The macro-economic and structural reforms have produced encouraging results. The veracity and authenticity of these claims has been endorsed by the international institutions like MF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the global ranking agencies like Moody’s as well as the international media. Transparency International in its three successive reports has indicated a nosedive in corruption in Pakistan.

The latest endorsement of a turnaround in the economy came from MSCI, which has upgraded Pakistan’s status from frontier to emerging market. MSCI is a leading provider of international investment decision support tools. According to eFG Hermes, an egypt-based investment bank, this reclassification would attract $475 million foreign investment by the middle of 2017. Pakistan was part of MSCI eM index between 1994 and 2008. However the temporary closure of Pakistan Stock exchange in 2008 led MSCI to remove it from the index and classify it as a ‘stand alone country index’ and made Pakistan a part of the frontier Markets index in 2009 and it has remained as such since then.

In regards to energy crisis, the situation has improved gradually. Nearly 3000 MW electricity has been added to the system. A number of power projects have been initiated including under CPeC with a cumulative production capacity of 10,640 MW which are likely to come on stream by the end of 2018. The import of LNG from Qatar has already started creating a positive impact on the energy situation in the country.

The foregoing verifiable facts prove it beyond an iota of doubt that the PML (N) government, has been successful to a great extent in tackling the formidable challenges that it inherited. What was remarkable about the achievements so far is that they were accomplished in spite of diversion of enormous resources towards implementation of Zarb-e-Azb, devastating impact of floods on the economy, heavy payment of debts inherited by the government and economic losses incurred during the PTI and PAT sit-ins at Islamabad. Gloom and despondency have surely been transformed into an abiding hope.

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

How about counting our blessings for a change?

Things we should all be thankful for

Hasan aftab saeed

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friend recently pointed out that the average Pakistani is so used to complaining about his lot that he is incapable of noticing, let alone appreciating, the things he ought to be thankful for. After giving the matter some thought, I can’t help agreeing. A little introspection tells me that at times I too have been guilty of this, although my friend was too tactful to say so. Here are some of the more important aspects of our lives that I am now convinced we Pakistanis should be grateful for.

We are lucky enough to be firmly under a constitution. The dark periods in which the sacred document was suspended or abrogated altogether, or some parts thereof were put in abeyance are history. The constitution, in all its glory, is in full force, with everybody bowing to its authority.

God’s in His heaven; and all’s right with the world.

We also have the privilege of being a democratic country. Our decision-makers are elected by us, and are dependent on our goodwill for continuing in office. Throw in their sundry sacrifices and monumental struggles for democracy, and it will be petty on our part to begrudge them their lifestyle and assets, inside the country or abroad.

If constitution and democracy weren’t enough, we also are an Islamic nation – the name of our country says it all. The preamble to the constitution leaves no doubt about the Islamic nature of the document, and articles 62 and 63 ensure that each of our representatives is saga-

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208

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cious, knowledgeable, pious, and of sound character; something ascertained conclusively by his ability to repeat a formula in Arabic. A reasonable man could hardly ask for more.

As a citizen, I enjoy complete freedom and civil rights. I can contest elections if I want. I can always use my good name and clean reputation if I can’t come up with the millions needed for the campaign. I can even found a political party.

The courts of law are continuously dispensing justice, should any of my rights be infringed upon. The twenty or so years required to get a decision are less than the equivalent of an eye-blink in terms of history of nations. There are food courts too. Their performance is even better. One can get one's order delivered within minutes.

With the populace determined to breed like rabbits, one can hardly blame the state for not being able to provide schools for all children.

(Prudently giving up on this impossible task, the state has now set its sights on the more realistic goal of teaching the enemy's children.) Thankfully, the private sector has admirably taken up the responsibility. You can buy books, stationery, tracksuits, uniforms, and other stuff from the school itself. For study purposes, the school considerately recommends hiring good private tutors. This education may be far from free (as promised by article 25A of the constitution), but hey, what could be a better investment than an investment in our future generation? And indeed, what could be more pious?

When it comes to providing utilities, the state is again confronted with the unmanageable population explosion. However, it graciously allows me to buy my own generator, solar panels, UPS, or a biogas plant (the solution of choice if one owns a few buffaloes); drill my own waterwell; and employ my own security guard. I doubt if any other state gives its citizens so many opportunities to be self reliant. Rush Limbaugh must surely envy this spectacular realisation of small government.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

The Pakistani citizen enjoys extensive freedom of speech. Moreover, if he happens to be a journalist or an Imam of a mosque, he can say absolutely whatever he likes. If his ambitions are grander than that, he can always open up a holy-war recruitment center. In that case, he may even be asked to deliver speeches at prestigious university campuses.

We are a secure country, with an invincible defense. Armed to the teeth with nuclear and conventional weaponry, our professional military is capable of foiling all external threats. When it comes to internal security too (should such a need arise), it can never be expected to suffer the ignominy that made Turkey the laughing stock of the world.

Pakistanis are internationally recognised and honored due to Pakistan’s immense geostrategic importance. This is evident at all airports of the world. Also, when no Pakistani was able to qualify for the Rio Olympics, the IOC especially invited seven Pakistani athletes, for to start a major event without Pakistan would have been inconceivable.

Amid all the disinformation and chaos spouted by the so-called free media, PTV – with its free, fair and balanced coverage – is a welcome voice of sanity. Also, with Pakistan’s dearth of resources, any other country, would have given up on the dream to become a welfare state. Not so Pakistan! The government has set the minimum wage to be Rs. 14,000. If these are not things worthy of celebration, I don’t know what is.

I could go on and on, had I not run out of space. One last thing though: The above worldly benefits, though important in their own right, pale in comparison with the following consideration concerning the Hereafter. Hazrat Ali (AS) famously said that he recognised God by the defeat of his intentions. When it comes to recognising God then, there's no country like Pakistan.

Hasan Aftab Saeed is a connoisseur of music, literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be reached at hasanas@live.jp.

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Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

COMMENT 11

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Editor’s mail Characterisation of recombinant thermostable phytase and its biological evaluation in broiler chicks

Send your letters to: Letters to editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Intolerance in our society

MuHaMMad WaseeM sHaukat

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HeRe are quite a few “ailments” in our society which are either not treated amicably or mishandled including depression, blood pressure, diabetes, hepatitis and cardiac related issues. We are all well aware of the “vigilance and efficiency” of the Ministry of Health as we see new scandals showing the mishandling by this department, popping up every other day as well. But the “disease” I am going to write on today is extremely fatal for our society as a whole. And the dilemma is that we are not even aware of the dire consequences that this social evil is bringing in our society and country as a whole. We top the countries that are suffering from this ailment and this has shaken the whole structure of our society and not many are ready to pay any serious attention to it.

The irony is that even if we know about this we are not ready to do something about it as a society. To some extent I think we may not have a remedy, looking at the current picture of our society. You may be thinking what evil am I talking about that has shattered the very existence of this society so quickly. Well, it is intolerance. That’s true, this disease is eating us all up like anything and shaken the very basis of our society. Simply, it is a state of restlessness which is on the high with every passing day, in our society. every society in the World does have this social disorder but has it at manageable or negligible levels. But it is increasing in our society day by day. Let’s have a look at his causes and its types.

1.

Individual or collective intolerance: We witness this attitude every day on our roads where no one is ready to give anyone their right of the way or in particular when one is involved in an accident we see people fighting like mad. We see in the news where a mother is forced to kill her own children or people beating up their servant for extremely small mistakes.

Likewise the lawyers are seen throwing shoes on the judiciary for not having got the “desired” decision. This clearly depicts the demoralizing society well on the way to further decent. Take the case of the people who are called saviour of humanity, the doctors. They go on strikes for weeks leaving behind the suffering people in the hospitals just because they were transferred to some remote areas, against their will. We can well imagine the state of the misery the patients in the ICUs go through and end up losing their lives.

Teachers beating up the pupils badly for having cheated in the exams or not having done well in the routine test. We see teachers literally breaking the bones of the pupils for not having memorised the lessons by heart. People putting vehicles and buildings on fire protesting against the load shedding of electricity.

2.

Social & Economic Intolerance:

It is the unequal distribution of the resources/wealth and materialistic approaches by the majority of people that make up the face of this society are other reasons of the intolerance in the society as a whole. everyone is in the race to accumulate wealth using few fair and mostly unfair means. We knew that people are mixing wood powder in the tea but now they have gone one step further and are colouring the used tea with the animal blood to sell it as new. Social intolerance sometimes result in taking lives on a small squabble taking place amongst children and ending up with the fatalities. Children fighting over a game of cricket sometimes get elders involved also and ending up taking lives. What is this and why are we succumbing to this insane behaviour? It was only a few days ago when we saw one person killed involved in a row to park the car in Samanabad-Lahore.

3.

Religious & Moral Intolerance: We are the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who forgave the old lady who was used to throw litter on him every time the Prophet (peach be upon him) passed by her house. He taught us the lesson of ONe UMMA and today we are separated/divided into various cliques including Shia, Sunni, dao-bandies etc. We build our mosques based upon our sects and beliefs. We are not ready to offer Salah in each other’s mosques but are always ready to pass on fatwas of Kufar every now and then. And we call ourselves Muslims who believe in one Allah and our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). How ironic!

We have stooped to such a level as a society that we prefer to rush away from an accident scene instead of helping the injured. Not long ago people lending a helping hand to others on the occasions of marriages or financial transactions were admired immensely but such a person in today’s day and age is considered as “insane and redundant”.

Our values have changed dramatically with the time due to this social evil to some extent.

Our religion teaches us to inculcate tolerance in ourselves especially show this attitude during Ramadan and look at us what we do during this holy month? We become more intolerant to each other. And yet, we call ourselves Muslims and the very best of the human beings.

We see that not only individuals but the pillars of the state are affected by this social evil and we see them confronting each other frequently now. The state is confronting against judiciary and also lawyers and police humiliating the sacred institute like judiciary as well. Similarly the treasury benches are not ready to tolerate anything from the opposition benches and confronting with each other furiously. Same is the case with all the political parties of this country who are not ready to tolerate each other views and manifestoes. This attitude is quite evident in the television talk shows every day where instead of having a debate, the participants humiliate and belittle the leaders by mud-slinging. We will have to cast a glance (a bird’s eye view) on the state of affairs of this country to know the reasons for this behaviour. I didn’t want to include the politics of this country in today’s column but it looks improbable as you never know what happens the next day as far as news in this country go. The electricity rates strikes you like lightening when you hear significant increase in the tariff and so on and so forth. In my view issues like load-shedding, inflation, joblessness, law and order, delayed justice, illiteracy, decrease in the resources as compared to increase in the population, increasing sense of deprivation and “rewarding” the elite only in our society, are the

And our responsibility

core reasons for this social evil which has put this country on the descent.

My only aim to highlight this social evil is to look into the ways as how we can eradicate it sooner than later. To me we all collectively are responsible to bring about the change. Parents, writers, intellectuals, teachers, religious leadership and all the state pillars which are responsible to interact with the masses need to play their roles honestly and to the fullest. People actually showing tolerance in our society are pretty unique and rare to find but there are these people out there and we should all take a lead from them to bring about this change in ourselves first and in the society as a whole. We will have to honour these people and make them the torch bearer. And people who believe in criticism only, they will need to come out of their shells and be an example for the others to follow. We will have to take drastic steps to bring about this change and turn it around for us and our future generations. This evil has been in our society for ages and just as we overcame “dengue” we will need to overcome this social evil too. We will have to find a solution from the existing system brining about necessary changes in this very system if required. The nations which are not ready to change themselves end up been changed by the “3rd force” from inside or outside the country. Or they meet their logical end if left to the “Devine Intervention” and that is often extremely horrific.

We will have to defeat this menace that is driving us more intolerant day by day. People like teachers, ulaamas and rulers are the role models for the masses in the developed world. But unfortunately we see totally opposite of this. Today we see ulaamas openly display their disgust and anguish against the rulers and vice versa. The ruling and opposition political parties are doing the same as well. We see the disgusting language used and derogatory comments passed on to each other by the so-called honourable members of parliament on both sides of the floor are extremely sad. They are not setting a good example for the fellow countrymen who elected them and sent them in the parliament to work hard for the betterment of the poor and ordinary people of this country. We don’t see any faction of the society presenting an exemplary behaviour and attitude that we can take lead from. We are facing huge challenges from across the border which is unprecedented. Pakistan today is threatened and targeted by its enemies inside and outside the border at the same time. " Pakistan - China Corridor" Project is going to be the game changer in the region and both leaders and all the opposition parties need to rise above the petty political gains for the sake of this country and the future of our children attached to it. Therefore, our leaders need to show maturity and sanity towards dealing with these issues threatening our solidarity and very existence for that matter. And as I said, it is Allah’s promise that if we, ourselves are not ready to change us for the better, we will surely end up taken over by the 3rd force from inside or outside of the country. I fear that “someone” will teach us the “lesson” again if we have not yet learnt it from history already. We adopted this same attitude of intolerance towards the people in east Pakistan and it resulted in half of the country separated from us. We see the same unrest in KPK, Balochistan and Karachi today. If we can’tchange this attitude of intolerance towards each other and as a nation, we must consider - can we afford another Dhakka fall?

Muhammad Waseem Shaukat is a Lahore based journalist. He can be contacted at wasimsmalik@yahoo.com

POULTRY sector is one of the most vibrant segments of the agriculture industry of Pakistan. It is the country's secondlargest industry next to textiles and is committed to provide high quality meat at economic rate. Poultry meat contributes approximately 25.8% of the total meat production in the country and still there is need for more white meat due to rising population levels in the country.

The feed formulation is the key factor for high rate of poultry. Commonly, the plant based feeds are available in the market and are being used for the growth of poultry birds. Plant based feed has a compound “Phytate” that might be named as anti-nutritional factor which chelates the essential metal ions and minerals from the animal body.

Phytate is the principle storage form of phosphorus in cereals, legumes and seeds. Mono-gastric animals like poultry bird doesn’t have ability to utilise phytate as phosphorus source due to unavailability of phytases responsible for the release of free phosphorus by the hydrolysis of phytate. To overcome phosphorus deficiency, the feed is being supplemented with inorganic phosphorus for sustained growth of mono-gastric animals. This increases the production cost due to high prices of inorganic phosphorus in the market. The undigested phytate is being excreted in the form of faeces and cause environmental problems in the livestock intensive areas.

Many european countries have passed legislation to reduce the amount of inorganic phosphorus in animal feed.

Inclusion of phytase in animal feed effectively improves the animal phytate utilisation and results in improvement of weight gain and feed consumption. Phytases are unique enzymes which hydrolyze non-digestible phytate to useable inorganic phosphorus. Phytases have been characterised from plants, bacteria and fungi but still this enzyme is not being produced at domestic level. Pakistan is paying huge foreign exchange for the import of tons of this enzyme per annum basis. That’s why there is an ongoing surge to characterise phytase which can meet the ever increasing demand of industry.

Recently, scientists at the University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore have produced and characterised a recombinant thermostable phytase and its efficacy has been examined in the poultry birds. The supplementation of feed with locally produced phytase revealed significant effect on the growth & weight gain of birds and in the improvement of feed conversion ratio. This study was an initial step for the fulfilment of industrial demand of enzymes at domestic level and to save foreign exchange for the import of this enzyme however further upscale processing will be required for the availability of the enzyme at commercial level.

Mr. FurqAn SAbir And dr. MuHAMMAd TAyyAb Lahore

An unapologetic open letter THIS is a sad day for me, because I'm full of expression, grief, anger and guilt, yet no words escape me. It feels as if I am trapped in an abyss, created by my own voice and words. Most importantly, however, I am fearful. Fearful of the mysterious force that dominates our nation today; the force that silences all those with voices. So, this goes out to all those who speak; who spoke and remained silenced; and all those mustering the courage to speak, too.

We lost Amjad Sabri on 22th June this year. His family grieves as they try to adjust to the irreversible void. The nation mourned with them, the loss of a Qawwal, a true humanfriend, a gentle soul, and most significantly an irreplaceable human being. The motive of his murder is unfathomable to the whole nation- except the marksmen, of course.

If you ask me, I’d say that he – as well as - the hundreds of others who were killed mercilessly, are better off this way. You know why? Because they are safe wherever they are. Unlike us, of course. We have feared sending our kids to school since 16/12. We are reluctant to go out on festivals since 27/03. It is so heartbreaking that the endless list of our fears has a tragic history.

The impending question here, however, is that what makes Amjad Sabri different/superior to all those hundreds of innocent people killed in Karachi? He was an icon, sure, but aren’t all lives equally important? The answer lies in this simple statement- nothing ostentatious, just like the man himself- he wasn't just an icon; he wasn’t just a Qawwal. He was a gem- one that we lost in our battles of proving who the stronger one is. Unfortunately, he was just a causality of this proxy war; the war that has been fueled by the blood of harmless, innocent Pakistanis for many years. A war that is doomed to continue until we make it stop; until we stop electing autocrats in the name of democrats; until we bring forward the ones that hide behind veils and commit such heinous crimes that one would shudder even speaking of.

Or else, the same ruling class is going to rule us, from behind different masks but same underneath. And what will we get in return for our cowardice? We will be shoved, with the dead bodies of our loved ones, in our faces!

So, I keep asking the same question, over and over again: how many more brothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, mothers and Pakistanis are we willing to sacrifice in the name of fighting terrorism? How many more Amjad Sabri's can we afford to lose?

When are we going to stand together as a nation for reasons; other than cricket and funerals? When are we going to start making wise decisions for our upcoming generations? Surely, none would want their children to live in a state of chaos, terror and mistrust.

SibgHA HAider

12 WORLD VIEW

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Captain Khan’s Commander in iraq: ‘the Khan family is our family’ THE FALLEN CAPTAIN’S TROOPS SAY THEY DID NOT KNOW HUMAYUN KHAN WAS MUSLIM, ONLY THAT HE WAS A PATRIOT AND A PROTECTOR. AND HIS COMMANDER HAS A MESSAGE FOR TRUMP Daily Beast

W

MICHael Daly

HEN she took her three sons to her fallen captain’s grave, former Army Pfc. Vanessa Brenes-Ramirez did not even think to speak to them about his religion.

She did tell her boys how Capt. Humayun Khan had been the very soul of kindness and decency. How he had made her feel safe. How he had always said leaders lead from the front. How he understood that you have to know what it means to be at the bottom before you can rightly be at the top.

Her first encounter with that philosophy in action had been during a field training exercise in September of 2003, several months before her unit, the 201st Forward Support Battalion, deployed to Iraq. A sergeant had ordered her to dig a foxhole after she had been on guard duty all night. She was already exhausted, but she had set to digging when Khan happened past.

“What are you doing?” Khan asked by her recollection “You just did guard duty. Go sit down.”

“Sir?” a stunned Brenes-Ramirez asked.

“Go sit down,” Khan said. “That’s an order.”

The 19-year-old private found herself sitting and watching an officer work the shovel. The sergeant returned.

“What are you doing, sir?” the sergeant asked Khan.

“I’m helping,” Khan replied.

And helping was what Khan continued to do as he settled with the unit at a base in Iraq that was dubbed Warhorse. He was the 27-year-old force protection officer, in charge of base security, and he had

a way of making everybody feel more secure. He had a keen strategic and tactical sense, seeming to know exactly what to do when. He was always attentive when his soldiers were on guard duty, making sure Brenes-Ramirez and the others had coffee when they wanted coffee and water when they needed water.

“I felt like he was my protector,” BrenesRamirez would say.

He was all in.

“There was no inbetween for him,” BrenesRamirez would recall.

She did not consider Khan’s religion.

“I didn’t even know he was a Muslim,” she would recall. “He was American. That’s what he was.

All the colors we saw were green.”

Then came the morning of June 8, 2004. Khan had worked the overnight detail but wanted to see some security improvements a sergeant had been making to the front gate.

By one estimate, eight other Americans were in the vicinity of the gate when an orange vehicle approached. Khan’s first concern was that none of his soldiers get hurt, and he called for everybody to get down.

But Khan was also likely concerned about the two Iraqis who were in the front seat. He was no doubt mindful of earlier incidents in which an approaching vehicle had failed to stop when ordered and the guards had opened fire with unfortunate results.

He approached the taxi and held up his hand for it to stop. The Iraqis responded by detonating a 200pound bomb.

One of those who came running was Sgt. Laci Walker, then 21. She had never heard Khan speak ill of anybody and knew him always to look for the best in people.

The slow decay of the Taj Mahal HOW POLLUTION AND BUREAUCRATIC INCOMPETENCE THREATEN TO DESTROY INDIA’S GREATEST MONUMENT Diplomat Heenay Patel

Every year eight million visitors flock to the Taj Mahal, drawn to its marble face, towering spires, and green gardens. But this monument to love, famously described as “a teardrop on the cheek of time” by India’s first Nobel laureate, is now at risk of being lost forever. Dense smog created by human activity is starting to discolor the marble, turning that oncepristine teardrop a sickly shade of yellow.

Besides inflicting devastating losses on India’s cultural history and economy, these airborne impurities also threaten the people of Agra, the city in which the Taj Mahal resides.

So who’s to blame? There are several factors: heavy traffic, wood-burning crematoriums, smoke from neighboring factories, and Agra’s growing population, the last of which demands more and more water.

As the Yamuna River dries up, it risks sliding the Taj Mahal off its picturesque banks into a sea of mud.

But perhaps the biggest concern to the Taj Mahal’s future is bureaucratic incompetence, a point vividly illustrated by the threat of municipal solid waste (MSW), everyday items like plastic bottles, newspapers, clothes, and food. Instead of being properly deposited at landfills, much of this trash is burnt out in the open. What results is a thick blanket of

toxic smog, some of which gets into the lungs of Agra’s residents, and some of which eventually finds its way to the Taj Mahal.

Dr. Ajay Nagpure from the University of Minnesota published a paper on India’s MSW problem in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

“We studied the open burning of municipal solid waste in Delhi and Agra,” Nagpure said in an interview. “According to our results, Delhi burns about 190 to 246 tons of MSW everyday, which is 2−3 percent of the total MSW generated…For Agra, this number is alarming: 223 tons/day, which is 24 percent of the total.”

The findings are worrisome. New Delhi, the capital of India, burns only 3 percent of its municipal solid waste, whereas Agra burns about a quarter. The resulting smoke directly impact Agra’s great monument.

“We found that black carbon gives a greyish colour to the [Taj Mahal's] surface while… brown carbon and dust results in yellowish-brown hues,” says Dr. S.N. Tripathi of the Indian Institute of Technology.

But surface discolouration isn’t the only problem.

Parts of the mausoleum are full of holes, and in some places the facade has actually crumbled. Insects and acid rain have eaten away at portions of the exterior.

Faced with the irreparable loss of India’s most popular monument, the government has taken measures to preserve it. Last year, the Supreme Court or-

“All the soldiers loved him,” she would later say.

“He was just so good, and everybody looked up to him.”

Walker could have stayed back in Germany when the unit deployed, but she insisted that Khan take her with him.

“I liked to be on guard duty when he was in charge,” Walker would recall. “I knew it would be safer. I knew he would be the one looking out for me.”

Walker would add, “I didn’t even know he was a Muslim.”

She was off duty when she heard the explosion, and she got on a handheld radio. She learned that a vehicle-borne device had exploded at the gate. She was initially told there had been no American casualties, but when she arrived a fellow sergeant told her there had been one.

“He asked, ‘How are you with body parts?’”

Walker would recall. “I said, ‘No problem. Who is it?’ And he told me and I puked my brains out.”

Brenes-Ramirez was not by the gate at the time of the explosion. She would say that of the aftermath she remembered only the tears.

“All I can tell you is I’ve never seen so many people cry,” she would say. “Grown people. I mean hitting the floor crying.”

A sergeant who had been present at the blast told her that Khan had been a protector to the end. “[Khan] told everybody, ‘Get down!’” she would say. “He sacrificed himself.”

She would also say, “He was our hero.”

And she would say, “We all would have done that. All of us. That’s how the Army is. You don’t look at what religion somebody is. Or where they are from.”

And she would say, “If Capt. Khan could pay the ultimate price, I could too.”

More tears came nearly a dozen years later, when she took her three boys to Arlington Cemetery this past January. She initially went to visit her brother’s grave. He had also been in the Army and had died in a car accident the October after Khan’s death.

Khan was buried nearby, and she took the boys to his grave as well. She told them of a leader like none other, a captain who had been her guardian angel. Her eyes began to well as if time had only magnified the loss.

Her 9-year-old, Nicholas, sought to comfort her.

“Mommy, he lives in your memories,” the boy said by her account.

Her husband is a soldier — he had deployed with her unit — and they had spoken to their boys about the importance of honor. The moment now came when all three boys, Nicholas and 7-year-old Dominick and 5-year-old Michael, stood before Khan’s headstone and saluted.

“It was quick little moment,” Brenes-Ramirez later said.

The month before, in December, Hillary Clinton had cited Khan and his heroism when she delivered a campaign speech in Detroit. Video from that appearance was played at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week. Khan’s father then stood at the podium with Khan’s mother and delivered a heartfelt rebuke to Donald Trump for his bigotry and his denigration of the principles for which their son gave his life.

dered all wood-burning crematoriums near the Taj Mahal to be removed and replaced with cleaner electric ones, while Agra’s state of Uttar Pradesh banned the burning of cow dung, which serves as a cheap source of fuel but generates significant levels of brown carbon, the same kind that’s turning the Taj Mahal yellowish-brown.

In addition to preservation, restoration work has also been undertaken. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) periodically applies Fuller’s earth, a limerich plaster which soaks up dirt and grime from the marble pores in an attempt to revive its original luster.

Like most beauty treatments, however, this one is superficial. Professor R. Nath, a noted historian and one of the most prominent voices calling for better conservation of the Taj Mahal, warned that applying Fuller’s earth “would only deface the monument.” And it has, causing portions of the marble to become patchy and “leukodermic.”

The effects of Agra’s airborne pollution aren’t confined to the Taj Mahal. “The situation of Agra with respect to air pollution is bad,” says Nagpure.

“We have PM10 data from 2006 to 2012 [including] six air-quality monitoring stations data for Agra… .None of the monitoring stations meet the World Health Organization guidelines or Central Pollution Control Board of India standards.”

PM or particulate matter is released by the burning of municipal solid waste. Not only does it discolor the Taj Mahal’s marble, but its impact on humans is potentially lethal. “MSW… often includes plastics, rubber, and metal-containing refuse, the burning of which releases toxic emissions,” says Nagpure in his study. “[Exposure] to these pollutants is associated with a number of health impacts, including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, adverse birth outcomes, and cancer.”

Among those who watched the remarkable seven minutes on television was retired Gen. Dana Pittard, who had been the brigade commander at Warhorse when Khan was killed. Pittard had been aware that Khan was Muslim, as was another captain in the unit and as were several other soldiers. Khan had proven helpful in relations with the Iraqis. But he had made his loyalties clear.

“He said, ‘I’m an American. I’m an American patriot.” Pittard would recall.

Pittard had been stunned by the sudden void when that car bomb robbed the world of the captain it had been so lucky to have.

“There was so much promise for the future,” Pittard said. “He was such a good person. It was so wasteful that he died.”

The Army had determined that the suicide bombers were from a cell of the Ansar al-Islam group in northern Iraq.

“We went after the cell,” Pittard would tell The Daily Beast. “We were pretty aggressive.”

Last week, Pittard was stunned to see Khan’s face appear on the TV screen as he watched the Democratic convention with his family. Pittard then saw Khan’s father and mother at the podium. Pittard remembered that after he had sent them a letter of condolence, he had received a letter from them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Khan wrote me back thanking me,” Pittard told The Daily Beast.

Pittard’s family has voted Republican since Herbert Hoover, and he has never been the kind of general to comment on political matters, but he felt he had to say something about Trump’s subsequent attack on Khan’s parents. He figures that at the very least Trump does not understand how deeply the military feels about its Gold Star families and how much all military families have given over these past 15 years of war.

“The Khan family is our family,” Pittard said.

A video of the parents at the convention reached Walker via Facebook.

“I did not know he was of Muslim heritage until I heard Hillary Clinton say it,” Walker told The Daily Beast. “He would not want to be remembered as ‘that Muslim solider.’ He would want to be known as the soldier who died for his country.”

Word also reached Brenes-Ramirez. She understood that Khan’s parents were compelled by more than politics.

“They were just standing up for him like he stood up for us,” Brenes-Ramirez reasoned.

Brenes-Ramirez said she had taken a photo of Khan’s grave when she and her boys visited Arlington and that she had afterward made a painting based on it. That quick moment when her boys saluted the tombstone had been too spontaneous for her to have taken a picture. But the image stays with her and should stay with all the rest of us whenever anybody speaks of this most American of soldiers who died for his country and leaves us with an example of a true leader.

“It was beautiful,” she told The Daily Beast.

And young Nicholas is right. Khan does live in the memories of mommy and so many others.

When it comes to meaningful solutions, Nagpure believes the government has fallen short. “I don’t think this is a good initiative,” he says about the recent ban on burning cow dung. “It is very hard to implement the ban at ground level. Since most of the people who use cow dung for cooking are from a low socio-economic status… it is very hard for them to opt for other expensive fuels.”

He does, however, offer some suggestions: “Authorities need to concentrate on all sectors which are responsible for the air pollution… transport, household, MSW, commercial industry, etc.” Nagpure also advocates a strict clean fuel policy for all public and private vehicles, along with an environmental tax for traffic coming from other cities to Agra. “For example, all external vehicles must follow some criteria like age limits or pay extra tax if they violate this rule,” Nagpure suggests. “It would certainly reduce the amount of pollution.”

So far the lack of government oversight has only made things worse. In fact, India’s Supreme Court recently berated the Uttar Pradesh government for the shoddiness of its repair work. “[Your] engineers should be ashamed of themselves,” said the court about a new road leading up to the Taj Mahal. “People from all over the world come to see the monument and any construction done near Taj should be as good as Taj. You messed it up. It is unacceptable.”

Whether it’s due to political ineptitude or a lack of environmental regulation, with every passing minute this teardrop on the cheek of time wastes away. If the Taj Mahal is to survive or return to its former glory, then bold new solutions are needed, and needed fast.

Heenay Patel is a freelance writer, editor, and researcher from Ontario, Canada.

LEISURE 13

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Keep moving forward even if things look dire -- though they probably don't. Your goals and ambitions are highlighted on a day like today, and you ought to be able to get moving without a hitch.

You may be having a hard time keeping yourself from scolding all the folks who think that being outrageous is the same as being innovative. Your wisdom may have to wait for another day.

You get all worked up over something new and weird -- maybe it's a crazy idea or maybe it's a person who makes you feel uncomfortable in a really exciting way. Gravitate toward it!

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Group projects are harder than usual to manage today -- so make sure that you're focused on what's most important. You definitely have to choose battles wisely, as one team member is sure to be trouble.

A small dust-up between you and a friend or colleague could turn into something much darker and uglier. Try not to push things too hard, and definitely don't read too much into the fight.

Shake up your routines a little -- it could be as small as a different route to work or as major as a career change.

You may feel nervous at first, but it ends up being quite positive for you!

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

Check in with your romantic partner -or your latest crush, if you're single. It's a good time to advance your love life in some way, and you should have exactly the energy you need to do just that.

Your personal flow seems impeded at home -so head out of the house for fun or stay put and figure out what needs to change. You should be able to work it out, but the process isn't much fun.

A stranger asks you a question -- or might need your help. In any case, your open social energy is extremely helpful, and you may actually make a new friend out of it. Be open to anything!.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

It's time to rethink your retirement plan -- or something else that has been bothering you financially. Your head for figures is better than ever, and a creative solution may be just what you need.

Change is coming -and you're the one responsible! It feels good to see so much in motion, and your terrific personal energy should ensure that you're able to deal with it all at once.

A dream brings a message your way -- one you can't ignore. It may pester your subconscious or break through into waking awareness, but something that happens today should trigger a positive reaction.

cRosswoRd

ACROSS 1 free from risk (4) 3 Short rest (8) 8 Steal (informal) (4) 9 disgrace (8) 11 Slow down (10) 14 Peninsula between the Mersey and the dee (6) 15 deadly (6) 17 Indulge in idle conversation (4,3,3) 20 Articulate (8) 21 Appear (4) 22 In point of fact (2,3,3) 23 Manipulated (4)

woRd sEaRcH

DOwn 1 Rusticate (4,4) 2 king, queen or jack (4,4) 4 Respect (6) 5 Punctuation mark (10) 6 frozen rain (4) 7 fish with wing-shaped fins and long tails (4) 10 Novel by dickens (5,5) 12 Tenses up (8) 13 Inopportune (3-5) 16 African country, capital kigali (6) 18 Part of speech (4) 19 Moue (4)

HaGaR tHE HoRRIblE

dIlbERt

GaRFIEld

baldo

cHEss BARGE BUdGE CARGO CENTER COURSE dRAfT EffECT ENORMOUS fIELd fUdGE GENERATE GLASS hORSE MEET MIRROR OffENSE PELT

PLANE POCkET REGULATION SCORES SEAS SERIES SIRE SLENdER SOME SUPPLy SwEEP SySTEM TEACh TIGER TOwER TRUST VOyAGE

black TO PlaY aND MaTE IN ThrEE MOVEs 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

Today’s soluTions

bRIdGE pUnIsHablE oFFEnsE?

sUdokU crossword solution sudoku solution

1...Ng3! 2.kxg3 Bxe1+ 3.Qxe1 Rxb1 * chess solution

How to play fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and each of the squares contains all the digits. The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once.

14

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

ARTS

SmaShing glaSS ceilingS – PakiStani women making their way into buSineSS LAHORE

i

SANEELA JAWAD

N our deep-rooted patriarchal society, women entrepreneurs have begun to make their own mark as successful, distinguished businesswomen, in spite of the discrimination women all over the country are too often met with.

Pakistan Today came across two emerging entrepreneurs, Sana Butt and Nadia Jamil, who highlighted their journey, the challenges they faced, the stereotypes they broke and the trends they are setting.

“I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Initially, I wanted to open up a restaurant because I love cooking,” said Sana Butt, who now runs her very own eponymous beauty salon.

“But my passion for fashion and beauty trumped cooking and I ended up opening a salon. The fashion degree is just an added bonus.”

Nadia Jamil, on the other hand, is a rising actress who runs a leading theatre ‘The Empty Space’ (TES) Lahore, a small holistic Imaginarium set up to encourage the learning, development, evolution, and growth of the field.

“Since I have always been attached to children, TES was fundamentally created to teach them acting, drama and public speaking,” said Nadia Jamil while talking to Pakistan Today.

“TES is not only for children but for everyone regardless of their age. It is a place where one can avoid technology, let your inner creativity out and find peace of mind,” she added.

Breaking stereotypes: In a country where women are considered as the bread makers rather than breadwinners of the household, the new generation of women are making their way through by becoming more vocal, and having the edge to break the norm so they aren’t left behind in any field.

Fresh graduates are passionate to work and create their own business empires. These women are motivated, are self-sufficient and can give brilliant results under pressure.It is the necessity of the high-tech era that women should

stand up and take strong initiatives in the prosperity of a nation politically, economically and socially.

Not only do they provide jobs and services to others, they also partake in the growth of the emerging market economies. Hence, women create innovative ways for business opportunities and take part in their communities.

A dilemma that the women face is the wage discrimination, where men usually get a higher wage as compared to women in the corporate sector. This is the reason why these women combat a multitude of hardships and challenges in the developing world where female entrepreneurs make an undistinguished contribution for the prosperity of the country.

“If you are determined to break these stereotypes and your family is supportive, nothing should stop you from achieving your dream, there won’t be any challenge,” Sana added while talking to Pakistan Today.

A strong, determined and confident personality is one of the most important characteristic women need to possess in today’s world.

“Having a supportive family was a bonus for me as I got married at the age of 18, but I completed my bachelors and masters because my family had accepted me for how I was,” Sana added.

Living in a society where women

have specific roles assigned to her by the society which is why anything that moves away from the norm is considered wrong, and dishonourable.

“Women should stop questioning their abilities and skills, in fact, women in Pakistan should take charge of their roles, and prove to the society that a woman is not to be taken for granted,” said Nadia.

“A working woman like myself should not prove to the society that they are playing up to the stereotypical gender roles.”

“Despite the pressure from the society, TES is full of amazing people who want to learn and share. Its aim is to polish the unpolished talent in children.”

“There is a lot of brilliance out there that is not channelled and ignored because the system is one-track minded.

And I want to give space to the brilliance to grow,” said Nadia.

Challenges: If you are a woman working in Pakistan, one thing is for sure is that things don’t get easier. Women tend to face hardships if they lack the required business education. Furthermore, the religious, cultural and societal limitations or attitudes also pose a hindrance to these women. All one need is an inspiration to keep going.

“It has been challenging, as I have two kids and also have to manage a household as well as the business - it can

be tiring sometimes,” said Sana.

“Not only that, it is difficult to get something done in Pakistan, as the resources are limited and nobody takes their work seriously here. They are just lazy,” she added.

In order to make sure that the clients get the best services, teachers as their maestros and to sustain the business has been difficult for Nadia.

“I have never been money-minded, so in order to sustain the place and make sure the teachers are the best in the field is challenging.”

“To maintain priorities can be difficult. Even though, my family and marriage are very important, maintaining a centre that nurtures and heals can be exceptionally difficult, but I am lucky to have a supportive family and husband,” added Nadia. trends and workforCe: Both the entrepreneurs have hired a majority of female employees, giving them a chance to grow into something. Furthermore, these job opportunities can further create more jobs. The idea behind this is to empower women.

“We have around 20-40 female employees in the salon itself to welcome and cater to clients, especially to women who don’t feel comfortable with men catering to them in the salon,” said Sana.

The trend that is likely to follow in

the field is the emergence of more female entrepreneurs as the Internet and social media has been influencing young girls in developing an interest in similar fields. Furthermore, spaces like TES provide life coaching, life skills, that teach children, how to be healthy.

There is a huge potential in the market for people who want to make it into a profitable business an opportunity for women to raise their children and help other’s children too.

While, Nadia while talking to Pakistan Today said, “The ratio of men to women working at The Empty Space is 1:2, but both the genders are extremely talented and supportive in the work field.”

“It’s more women, women are creative nurturers, they like to nurture creativity. They take care of the environment,” added Jamil. future plans/adviCe for newBies: As a woman in the work field, things can get complicated, but they are never impossible to deal with. Thus, thinking about the future is never a bad idea.

While conversing with Sana Butt, she wants to make Sana Butt Beauty Bar and Spa one of the best salons in town, with branches scattered all over the city. Not only that she wants to open a spa for men because it’s all about hygiene and grooming.

“They think it’s embarrassing to go for a manicure/pedicure. But it’s not, it’s just about cleaning up and trimming your nails,” she said.

Whereas Nadia wants to keep her inner child alive by learning, “keep exciting myself from what I learn and what the children teach me”.

“The plan is to grow, heal, nurture.

Learn, teach and polish all the talent that comes my way and learn more myself,” said Jamil.

For anyone making their way into the field, these entrepreneurs have a special message for them: “Get connected to the right people as they’re the only ones who will guide you right. You’ll end up finding them, but with experience,” advised Sana Butt.

“Keep learning, Keep it passionate and believe in yourself,” concluded Nadia Jamil.

Dutch man waits 10 days for online girlfriend at Chinese airport CHANGSHA WEb DESk

A Dutch man waited in an airport for 10 days after flying to China to meet up with a woman he met on an online dating app.

According to CCTV, Alexander Pieter Cirk, 41, flew to Changsha to meet a 26-year-old Chinese woman, who was only identified as Zhang, and refused to leave the airport until she arrived.

Photos show Cirk sprawled out on a row of seats in the airport as he

waited 10 days for Zhang’s arrival before being taken to the hospital for physical exhaustion, according to the BBC. Cirk said he and Zhang met on a social networking app two months ago and decided to fly to China to meet her in person.

Zhang told a local television station that Cirk had informed her of his plans to visit her, but she thought it was a joke.

“We had advanced our romantic relationship but later he seemed a little cal-

lous towards me,” she said.

“One day he sent me a photo of air tickets abruptly and I thought it was a joke. He didn’t contact me later.”

Zhang said that she had been undergoing plastic surgery in another city when Cirk arrived and had her phone turned off.

She added that she remains willing to meet up with Cirk, who was scheduled to return to the Netherlands on Monday, when her recovery is complete and hopes to continue to pursue their relationship.

2015 WARMEST ON RECORD FOR LAND AND SEA LOS ANGELES AGENCIES

Last year was the warmest year on record for land and sea, partly because seasonal El Nino climate patterns prevailed year-round, and melting ice pushed sea levels to the highest ever, a study based on the work of more than 450 scientists worldwide confirmed on Tuesday.

The State of the Climate report, published by the American Meteorological Society, followed a report by two US government agencies which found 2015’s global

average temperature was the hottest ever by the widest margin on record.

The annual study, led by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, would likely add fuel to the ongoing debate over global warming policies such as the international agreement forged in Paris in December.

The record heat in 2015 was driven by a combination of long-term global warming and one of the strongest El Nino climate patterns in at least half a century, it said. El Nino brings unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean

after late December and can cause catastrophic weather conditions. Last year was the first time that Earth was 1.0 degree Centigrade (33.8 de-

grees Fahrenheit) warmer than preindustrial times, the report said.

“This ‘annual physical’ of Earth’s climate system

showed us that 2015’s climate was shaped both by long-term change and an El Niño event,” Thomas Karl, director of the NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, said in a statement.

Last year’s El Niño was a clear reminder of how shortterm events can amplify the relative influence and impacts stemming from longerterm global warming trends.”

El Nino is likely to have an even greater impact on global surface temperatures in 2016, setting the stage for another record-breaking warming year, the report said.

Swimsuit mural of Hillary Clinton creates a stir in Australia MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA AGENCIES

An Australian mural of US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a revealing stars and stripes swimsuit may be taken down, after it has reportedly been deemed offensive. The creator of the painting, the street artist who goes by the name Lushsux and who has also painted murals of the likes of Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian, branded calls to remove it “pathetic”. The provocative mural is on the wall of a small business in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, and reports say the business has been asked by the local Maribyrnong Council to remove it. “We believe it is offensive because of the depiction of a nearnaked woman, not on the basis of disrespect to Hillary Clinton, in accordance with the Graffiti Prevention Act 2007,” the council’s chief executive Stephen Wall told Fairfax Media on Friday. Wall said local police had been asked to urgently provide their opinion on the mural, adding that the council intended to issue a notice to the building’s owner to remove it within 10 days. Lushsux accused the council of being out of control, telling Fairfax the mural was “on par offence-wise” with a deodorant ad.

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

ARTS

Sonam Kapoor wants to do Russian, chinese, French films with ‘good scripts’

Mahira Khan aspires to be a director ENTERTAINMENT DESK

MUMBAI AGENCIES

While Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are ruling the international scene with Hollywood biggies ‘Baywatch’ and ‘xXx’, Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has expressed desire to work in Russian, Chinese or French films if the script and her character is good. Speaking at a special screening of the Punjabi film Chauthi Koot, Sonam, asked if she would do a Punjabi film, said, “I don’t know the language; I do understand it. I understand Sindhi and Hindi more, but why not? I don’t think, as an actor, a language should curb your enthusiasm. If I like the story and if it is Punjabi, Chinese, Hindi, Marathi, Russian, French or any language, I will do it if I like the character.”

The only one in recent times that can be considered is Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur working with superstar Jackie Chan in the English-Hindi-Mandarin film Kung Fu Yoga.

About Chauthi Koot, Sonam said, “It is a very beautiful film and I cried profusely watching the film and after 40 minutes of the film, my tears didn’t stop.

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i

N the wake of her big wins at the LSA 2016 (Best Actress Film and Best Actress TV), Mahira Khan went live on Facebook the other day in order to talk to her fans and answer their burning questions.

She commenced the video expressing gratitude to her coworkers, saying “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” In the question & answer session, Mahira revealed many things about herself, includ-

ing that her favourite foods are “Anda paratha,daal

chawal, biryani,” that she is a fan of Zayn Malik and

Justin Bieber, and that she wishes to work with

Amitabh Bachchan.

Mahira also talked at length about her son, Azlan. “He wants to be an actor. And everyone’s going to blame me for it.

But he’s a natural. He wants to be a director and he writes his own scripts and he has the wisest things to say,” she said.

When asked about her future plans, Mahira revealed that she eventually wishes to go into direction. However, that is a far-off plan and she will currently focus only on her acting career.

Salman supports Akshay’s Rustom, asks fans to watch the film Alia Bhatt says Taylor Swift would be shamed for her relationships if she were Indian ENTERTAINMENT DESK

RAnting pAKiStAni I love science bt it’s just the process of learning that I hate. Just like I want 2 b dead but it’s the process that I dont wanna go through

chRiStopheR hAyeS Piers Morgan becoming a zealous Donald Trump apologist is such a perfect touch from this campaign season’s writers. It’s the little things.

SAibeR bullie PTI wants Doraemon banned? I thought Imran Ismail is one of their own...

MUMBAI AGENCIES

Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are two most bankable stars in our film industry. Now, in a sweet gesture, the Dabangg star has urged fans to go to theatres and watch Akshay’s upcoming movie Rustom.

Calling Akshay, the “Rustom-e-Hind’ of the film industry, Salman took to social media to share the 12 seconds video. “The movie of the ‘Rustom-e-Hind’ of our film industry is set to hit theatres soon. The name of the film is ‘Rustom’ and it will release on August 12. Go and watch Akshay Kumar’s film

‘Rustom’,” Salman said in the video, which was captioned #10DaysToRustom @akshaykumar.

The thriller has been directed by Tinu Suresh Desai.

Based on the real-life incident of Naval Officer KM Nanavati, Rustom stars Ileana D’Cruz and Esha Gupta in lead roles.

Film Sikander to be released shortly i.

Doremon ko ban kernay se pehly force all entertainment channels to produce atleast an hour of local children’s content.

SupRAteeK chAtteRjee [Job interview at Uber] “Hi” “Welcome. Please go down the hallway to the third room on the right” “The second room on the left?” “Hired”

LAHORE APP

Film Sikandar produced by film star Moammar Rana is in its final stage and will be released at cinema houses shortly.

Moammar Rana told APP on the other day that he was negotiating with cinema owners to exhibit his film. He appealed to the cinema owners to choose the exhibition of Pakistani films over Indian films to help restore the Pakistan film industry.

He said that the film Sikandar was not a formula film, but has been produced on a

purely new subject. He hoped that his film would be liked by the viewers.

FARAh KhAn’S low-budget, giRl-centRic Film won’t hAve StARS MUMBAI AGENCIES

Choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan, who is known to make films with established actors said on Tuesday that her next film is a girl-centric film and she won’t cast any stars in it. Farah Khan said, “I have written a script and this time it’s a small script, and it’s not star-driven. It’s a two girls project so still waiting for it to happen because I have not put a big star in it.”

“It was easier for me to

get a 100-crore project greenlit but a 20-crore project is taking time because it doesn’t have a star,” she added.

Farah is known for her big budget star-driven films including Main Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om, Tees Maar Khan

and Happy New Year.

When asked will it be with newcomers, she said, “No it’s not with newcomers then I will not even get 20 crores. It’s a girl-centric film and we do have a working title but we don’t want to give it out right now.” Farah says working with stars is easier because one tend to work a little less on the content because you have a big star in the film.

She said, “The thing is stars make it easier for the project to be green-lit. Otherwise, everyone will question

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your script 100 times if you have a star saying yes to it give that newspaper cutting and nobody will ask any question that’s the good side and a bad side to it. You tend to work a little less on the content because you have a big star driving on it sometimes.”

“That opening is for sure.

With other movies, you don’t know it can die in a week. If it’s a great movie by word of mouth it grows but that’s 1 in 100. I think that’s why not only here even in Hollywood when an actor becomes a star and has a certain amount of equity, name everyone wants to cash on it,” she added.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, The Udta Punjab actress Alia Bhatt opened up on why she is so secretive about her love life. She was asked why Bollywood actors are so conservative when talking about love. Alia responded by saying that the society she lives in is very judgmental. “In India, you are a part of a society that’s very judgmental. Here, girls having multiple boyfriends is still a huge-ass deal and something that is frowned upon,” Alia told Huffington Post. “I mean, look at Taylor Swift.

She’s dated, like, everybody. But if she was here, she’d be totally shamed for making those choices. Her image and appeal would be very different. The reason actresses don’t talk about their private lives is because in our society there is a lot of slut-shaming. Eventually, I have a responsibility and I have to protect myself,” continued Alia. There has been a lot of speculation regarding a relationship between Alia Bhatt and actor Sidharth Malhotra, but Alia Bhatt refuses to confirm this. She stated that “speculations about celebrities are commonplace but as long as it’s not coming from the horse’s mouth, you’re quite safe, so to speak.” She added that even in the hypothetical situation that she was dating Sidharth Malhotra, she would not want to be judged if they broke up one day.

“Okay, suppose I say that but is it necessary that it stays that way? What if tomorrow I am not in love with him and feel differently about it? Then what? It’s not written in stone, is it? And I don’t want to be in a position where they come after me because I broke up with a dude,” said Alia.

“Oh, aapka break-up ho gaya, ab agla kaun?

Who’s next?” This shallow and stupid thinking is just the reality of our society which doesn’t allow women to be the way they’d like to be — free and independent,” she added.

SRK’s reaction to ADHM made Karan Johar cry MUMBAI AGENCIES

When actor Shah Rukh Khan praised the music of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Karan Johar was almost on the verge of crying, the filmmaker has said.

“It is very kind of Shah Rukh Khan to say that. I am excited about it (film and music). Shah Rukh’s opinion matters to me the most. I was moved to tears when he said that,” Karan said.

There were reports that SRK saw the trailer of Karan’s film and was unhappy with it (trailer) and has asked him (Karan) to make some

16 BUSINESS

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

PM SAyS huGe oPPoRtuNitieS exiSt to fuRtheR exPAND SCoPe of PAk-tuRkMeNiStAN RelAtioNShiP ISLAMABAD

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of this gas pipeline project will advance our shared goals of energy security and regional prosperity.

“Apart from helping Pakistan in the fulfillment of its gas requirements, the project will integrate the region economically and politically,” said the prime minister.

“We wish to see close collaboration between our parliamentarians, parliamentary committees and parliamentary friendship groups,” the prime minister said, and added, “I convey my warmest congratulations to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and the brotherly people of Turkmenistan on the occasion of 25th anniversary of your country’s inde-

Welcoming the delegation, the prime minister said that frequent exchanges of parliamentary delegations will prove to be enormously beneficial for strengthening democracy in the two brotherly countries. The prime minister further said that Pakistan and Turkmenistan enjoy friendly relations, but there are huge opportunities to further expand the scope of the bilateral relationship; especially enhancing the economic ties.

The prime minister said that Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is a flagship project of great significance for the two countries as well as the region. The early realisation

TAPI A flAgshIP ProjecT of greAT sIgnIfIcAnce for boTh counTrIes STAFF REPORT

EJLIS of Turkmenistan Chairperson Akja Nurberdiyeva along with a delegation called on Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif at the PM House Wednesday.

SBP issues revised Prudential Regulations for consumer financing KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has revised the Prudential Regulations for Consumer Financing with an aim to promote consumer financing in a sustainable and fair manner while ensuring financial stability of the banks/DFIs. The revised regulations provide more discretion in decision making to banks/DFIs in line with their dynamic business environment.

It may be mentioned here that the SBP periodically reviews its regulatory framework in order to align it with the changing business environment and international best practices. Under these regulations, and others, banks/DFIs are advised to develop a common glossary of important terms and all the banks will use these important terms in their loan documentation. The development of common nomenclature of important terms will not only complement the disclosure requirements of terms and conditions but will also facilitate the general public to better understand the terms of the loans and perform a meaningful comparison of the financing products offered by different banks. Banks/DFIs have also been advised to initiate assessments for introduction of differentiated loan pricing in all consumer financing products, which, among other things, should be sensitive to loan product characteristics, borrowers’ risk assessment, regular timely repayments and exemplary behavior. Banks/DFIs maintain general provision against performing consumer financing portfolio to protect them from the risks associated with the cyclical nature of this business. STAFF REPORT

pendence. Also convey my utmost regards to the president for his good wishes,” said the prime minister.

Akja Nurberdiyeva thanked the prime minister for extending warm welcome to the visiting delegation in Pakistan.

“Let me convey the most sincere wishes and congratulations of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow on your successful surgery,” said the chairperson.

She further said the president is personally supervising each project to ensure quality and timely completion.

Turkmenistan Deputy Minister of Energy Tachmuhammet Gulamuhmmededov informed the participants of the meeting

Oil edges higher in Asia but US crude stays below $40 SINGAPORE AGENCIES

Oil edged higher in Asia Wednesday after industry data showed a decline in US crude inventories, but prices stayed below $40 a barrel amid ongoing concerns over a supply glut.

US crude dropped below the $40 dollar mark for the first time since April on Tuesday, a day after the commodity sank into a bear market, with oversupply, weak demand and expectations of rising output sending prices tumbling over 20 per cent since June. But prices got a reprieve Wednesday after industry group American Petroleum Institute reported that US crude inventories and

gasoline stockpiles have fallen, signs that the excess stock could be easing.

The US Department of Energy will release the latest official stockpile data later Wednesday.

Official figures released last week showed that at the height of the summer driving season, US gasoline stockpiles were at their highest seasonal level in at least two decades.

At around 0350 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September was up 25 cents, or 0.63 per cent, to $39.76 and Brent crude for October added 19 cents, or 0.45 per cent, at $41.99 a barrel.

“The (price) decline is not totally unexpected, but the speed and severity of the fall has been a surprise,” Daniel

china’s shandong chamber wants enhanced collaboration with Karachi chamber KARACHI: Shandong Chamber of Commerce China Executive Vice President and Secretary General Wangxuemin has said that the Shandong Chamber wants to enhance collaboration with the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in order to promote business and pave way for improved trade ties between the business communities of the two countries.

Wangxuemin, who led a highlevel 13-member Chinese delegation during its visit to the Karachi Chamber for a business-to-business meeting with the KCCI counterparts, added that they would like to have more of such B2B meetings on regular basis so that trade ties between the two countries could further be improved.

Businessmen Group Vice Chairman and former KCCI president

Hynes, senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney told Bloomberg News. “Disruptions tightened the market during the second quarter and the sustainability of those was always going to be relatively short lived.

There are still relatively high inventories but the market is approaching a balance.” A weaker greenback also prompted buying in the dollar-priced black gold which becomes cheaper to holders of other currencies.

The dollar fell to a six-week low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday due to expectations the Fed would delay raising interest rates after recent soft US economic data, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said.

Tahir Khaliq, KCCI President Younus Muhammad Bashir, KCCI Senior Vice President Zia Ahmed Khan, KCCI Vice President Muhammad Naeem Sharif, former KCCI president Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, KCCI Managing Committee members and other businessmen from different sectors attended the meeting.

The Chinese delegation consisted of businessmen from numerous sectors including footwear, jewellery, luggage, auto parts, chemicals, furniture, electrical appliances, raw materials, household goods, infrastructure construction and railway track tools etc. STAFF REPORT

CENTRAL LONDON HOUSE PRICES SHOW BIGGEST FALL IN SEVEN YEARS AFTER BREXIT LONDON AGENCIES

House prices in London’s most expensive areas recorded their biggest fall in nearly seven years in July after the Brexit vote reinforced a downward trend caused by a rise in property taxes, a consultancy said on Wednesday.

Knight Frank’s prime central London index fell 1.5 percent last month from a year earlier, due to the uncertainty created by the June 23 referendum and a rise in property taxes which pushed up prices and brought sales forward to the start of 2016.

“Since the vote, a number of buyers have requested discounts due to the climate of political and economic uncertainty,” Head of London Residential Research Tom Bill said.

“The decision to leave the European Union has provided a backdrop of short-term uncertainty that is affecting

behaviour in the prime central London property market,” he said.

Prime central London stretches from Notting Hill and Knightsbridge, home to department store Harrods, in

the west to the City of London and Islington towards the north and east.

In Knightsbridge, prices fell 7.3 percent last month, the biggest drop of any of the 15 areas examined whilst the

CMYK

biggest rise was 5.3 percent in the City of London.

Property prices in the capital’s most desirable areas began recording annual declines in the run-up to the vote, according to Knight Frank, but July’s fall is the biggest since October 2009, when Britain began recovering from the 2007-8 financial crisis.

But Knight Frank said that the primary reason for the decline remained changes to stamp duty, a property tax, which raised the amount paid on the most expensive properties and on second homes and buy-to-let investments, key to the central London market.

Commercial property took the biggest hit in the wake of the EU referendum with investors pulling out money from funds, forcing some to be suspended. But there have been warnings in recent weeks from housebuilders and estate agents that residential property prices and demand could suffer.

that the TAPI gas pipeline project will be completed and become operational by December 2019. He further added that 15km of pipeline has already been laid while geological and technical work is currently underway for another 80km pipeline.

The visiting delegation also included Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan Maksat Babayev, Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Atadjan N. Movlamov, and other parliamentarians.

The meeting was also attended by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Muhammad Ayaz Sadiq, Special Advisor to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, MNA Shakila Luqman and other senior officials.

Pakistan awarded 3 star rating by Global Competition Review ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has been awarded a 3-star rating in the annual ranking of the world’s top anti-trust competition authorities, by the Global Competition Review (GCR). The rating enforcement is the annual ranking of the world’s leading competition authorities that provides an extensive evaluation of their performance and how they compare with each other. Based on its overall performance during the past year, CCP’s ranking has been elevated to 3 stars out of 5. CPP’s three-star rating brings it at par with the competition authorities of Turkey, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Poland, New Zealand, Mexico and Austria, which, too, were awarded a 3-star rating.

Pakistan and India are the only two countries from South Asia having been included in the Rating Enforcement 2016, with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) being downgraded to a 2-star rating.

The factors contributing to the elevation of CCP’s rating by GCR include a balanced approach towards both enforcement and advocacy, a focus on the staff’s capacity building, and improvement in internal processes. The biggest challenge the CCP faces is in the judicial review process where its cases have been tied up in courts. About the challenges faced by CCP, the GCR has noted: “There seems to be a consensus that the Commission remains a relatively open and transparent body. Ultimately the CCP has improved in some areas, but it remains constrained by systemic pressures.” The maximum rating is 5 stars, which has been given to some of the agencies of the developed countries such as France’s Competition Authority, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, US Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the US Federal Trade Commission. STAFF REPORT

NA passes Banks (Nationalisation), Deposit Protection Corporation bills ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed two bills including the Banks (Nationalisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Deposit Protection Corporation Bill, 2016. Both bills were presented by Parliamentary Secretary on Finance and Revenue Rana Muhammad Afzal in the House. The statement of objectives and reasons of the Banks (Nationalization) (Amendment) Bill, 2016 says, “The amendments will empower the federal government to avail the services of competent bankers in the public interest and to safeguard its direct and indirect shareholding.” Moreover, this bill will also facilitate the private shareholders to elect their representatives on the boards of directors of banks that have private as well as public sector shareholding. APP

BUSINESS 17

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

World stocks dip on cocktail of worries LONDON AGENCIES

Stock markets across the world fell Wednesday as a cocktail of low oil prices, disappointing Japanese stimulus, banking worries and recession fears dampened sentiment. Asian markets kicked off the fresh selling round as investors digested mixed survey data in the region and doubted that Tokyo’s latest attempt at stimulating the economy will be good enough. Jaded European dealers took the Asian lead, causing London to dip on figures showing a post-Brexit contraction in the economy’s dominant services sector in July, stoking recession worries in the wake of the recent EU exit vote. In Britain, the services purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled by financial data firm Markit, showed a reading of 47.4, the lowest since March 2009. That was down from 52.3 in June — the biggest monthly fall in activity on record. Any reading below the boom-bust 50 points line indicates no growth. The gloomy data helped cement hopes that the Bank of England will cut interest rates to a record-low 0.25 percent when it meets on Thursday, dealers said. There was mixed news in the eurozone, where Markit’s Composite PMI for July came in at 53.2 points, up from 53.1 points in June. The index measures companies’ readiness to spend on their business and so gives a good idea of how the underlying economy is performing.

Current growth was supported by a strong showing in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy — but France continued to stagnate. The eurozone services PMI meanwhile stood at 52.9, up from 52.8. The figures sent both Frankfurt and Paris lower. Wall Street joined the fray with a small dip in listless opening trade.

‘MISeRLy’ StoCK MARKetS: “Wednesday’s services slump seems a far more British, rather than European, phenomenon,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. “Despite this news effectively guaranteeing some kind of action from the Bank of England tomorrow, the FTSE floundered. “The eurozone was just as miserly as the FTSE ... despite the fact that its own services PMIs were relatively solid.” Most Asian indices tumbled for a second day, with Tokyo taking a hit from a strong yen after Japan’s economyboosting stimulus programme fell flat with investors. Stocks rallied last month on promises of support from central banks. But disappointment about stimulus, weak US data, plunging oil prices and worries about European banks have sent dealers scurrying for cover. Japan’s government on Tuesday unveiled details of a 28 trillion yen package that it hopes will kickstart growth in the world’s number three economy. But the plan fell short of market expectations as only a quarter of it is new spending. The yen, seen as a safe haven asset in times of uncertainty, surged as a result. The disappointing package — unveiled days after another sub-par stimulus from the Bank of Japan — saw the dollar tumble to a three-week low.

PAkiStAN’S tRADe ShARe iN GloBAl MARket WitNeSSeS 5.48 PeR CeNt GRoWth iN five yeARS, NA tolD ISLAMABAD

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APP

INISTER for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s trade share in the global market had increased by 5.48 per cent during the last five years.

Speaking in the National Assembly during Question Hour, the minister said Pakistan’s export share in the global market in 2015 has increased by 3.50 per cent as compared to 2014.

He expressed hope that the country’s trade share in the global market would increase further as economic activity picks up as a result of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) project, regional trade arrangements and Strategic Trade Police Framework(STPF). He said the government was well aware of the real issues affecting the country’s exports such as terrorism, energy crisis, low investment inflows and high cost of doing business.

He said several steps were taken relating to high cost of doing business, market access and competitiveness. He said a total of Rs 20 billion will be spent on the development of export sector during the next three years.

Other measures include support for the import of plants and machinery to strengthen the supply chain and encourage value-addition, establishment of Export Promotion Council for Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics, and Rice Export Promotion Council, Performance Based Incentive (PBI) to offset the

commerce minister urges Indonesia to reconsider import quota ISLAMABAD

CORPORATE CORNER Mahvash and Jahangir Siddiqui foundation sponsors young professionals from Pakistan to attend european Academy of Diplomacy Program

APP

Minister for Commerce Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan has urged his Indonesian counterpart to reconsider the import quota policy for Pakistan for items included in the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).

Talking to Indonesian Minister for Trade Enggartiasto Lukitaon on the sidelines of meetings of the 12th World Islamic Economic Forum held in Jakarta, he expressed hope that a quota-free market access will help Pakistani exports to grow. He said that barriers to trade which hinder the free flow of products are being phased out in the modern trading system. The minister appreciated the fact that the PTA between the two countries has helped the bilateral trade to grow.

PtA bans xiaomi smartphone sales in Pakistan KARACHI: Mahvash and Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation (MJSF) sponsored young professionals for a week long summer program at the European Academy of Diplomacy in Warsaw, Poland. The participants were selected from all over Pakistan after extensive interview sessions for the School of Advanced Diplomatic Skills program. This is the second consecutive year Mahvash and Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation is collaborating with the European Academy of Diplomacy for aspiring diplomats & young professionals as part of its belief in investing in progressive learning programs for the betterment of Pakistan. MJSF has also been involved in similar summer programs taking place at National University of Singapore and Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar.

The programs prepare the participants for the challenges and rigors of diplomacy, public speaking, bilateral negotiations, fundamentals of leadership, diplomatic protocol, international business and working in multinational organizations. The program involves participants engaging in 30 hours of simulations, workshops and lectures using modern techniques, held at the School of Advanced Diplomatic skills. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: Construction work is underway at a mosque in Bahria Town Karachi which will have the capacity of holding 0.8 million faithful. PR

He said the opportunity of zero-rated market access in the European Union market under the GSP Plus scheme has provided a fillip to our exports to our largest market.

Moreover, the government is in the process of negotiating trade agreements with Thailand and Turkey.

Replying to another question, he added that Pakistan had not so far acceded to Information Technology Agreement due to two main reasons including the fact that FBR had shown reluctance as removal of duties may result in loss of revenue and the Ministry of Industries and Production was of the opinion that without adequate tariff protection, there would be no incentive to set-up IT-related industries in Pakistan.

However, he added the Ministry of Industries has since modulated its stance on the agreement.

burden of higher utility costs and local levies and taxes on the export sectors, i.e. per unit price based refund of 10 per cent over last year’s exports.

He said that under the short-term export enhancement measures four product categories were being focused on including Basmati rice, horticulture, meat and meat products; and jewellery, with the parallel focus on the following markets – Iran, Afghanistan, China, and European Union.

He said the government iss trying to get better market access for local businesses in the international markets by concluding Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with different countries. He added that bilateral free trade agreements with China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Iran, Mauritius and Indonesia are already in place.

ISLAMABAD: The sale of Xiaomi smartphones has been barred in Pakistan, according to a statement posted on the organisation’s website. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Spokesman Khurram Mehran on Wednesday confirmed the body had banned the sale of Xiaomi handsets in Pakistan saying, “They are not following the country’s rules and laws.”

“All phone sets have to be type-approved by the PTA and Xiaomi has not received type-approval yet.” Mehran could not confirm whether the smartphone maker had applied for type-approval, or if it had been denied. Typeapproval is a procedure that requires smartphone makers to submit their phone sets to the PTA, Mehran said.

“There is a form and there is a nominal fee. You need to submit these, then we see if the device can be approved or not,” he said, adding that the PTA looked at technical specifications of phone sets, among other aspects.

Xiaomi in its statement had said the PTA had barred the sale and marketing of all Mi devices in the country, hinting at foul play. “The PTA has demanded that XiaomiPK.com has to stop the sale/marketing of all Mi mobile devices... We want our customers and people around the country to understand the monopoly of some brands in the market,” the statement said, without clarifying which monopoly it was referring to. “We believe that the Pakistani market deserves to have fair competition but these events make us ponder that some competitors believe in grabbing the market through influence instead of competing on the basis of quality and service.” The statement goes on to highlight how “surprising” it is that Pakistan’s customers have been denied the right to buy Mi devices “without any reason”.

“If they (PTA) have any legitimate concern, we are ready to address it, but so far we haven’t received any rational reason.” STAFF REPORT

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Import of Palm Oil from Indonesia has exponentially increased the volume of imports from Indonesia and in future Pakistan might start importing coal from Indonesia in large quantities for electricity generation, he added. He urged the Indonesian minister for trade to ensure implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries for purchase of rice from Pakistan.

The first review meeting of the PTA is scheduled to be held on August 15-16 in Jakarta, where both sides would share their evaluation of the performance of PTA since its inception. The review meeting will also propose the future course of action to further strengthen trade ties and enhance bilateral trade. The Indonesian minister expressed the desire to find possibilities of converting this Preferential Trade Agreement into a Free Trade Agreement.

Major Gainers COMPANY Atlas battery sanofi-Aventis national refin Murree brewery IcI Pakistan

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CLOSE 643.87 589.05 572.02 760.00 490.73

CHANGE 29.16 28.05 27.23 25.02 21.70

TURNOVER 36,600 2,250 1,664,500 2,250 289,000

7500.00 7600.00 740.00 1193.00 970.00

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300 80 764,100 16,700 86,250

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18 SPORTS

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Bangladesh set for historic india test from feBruary 8

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ANGLADESH will tour India for a oneoff Test, their first in the country, from February 8 to 12 next year. The match will be played in Hyderabad.

India is the last of the Full Members to host Bangladesh for a Test. Bangladesh have only featured in two limited-overs tournaments in the country the 2006 Champions Trophy qualifiers and the 2016 World T20 since getting Test status in 2000.

“As a leading Test playing nation it is BCCI’s responsibility to give opportunity to every Test playing nation. It is my pleasure to announce the historic one-off Test match against our neighbours Bangladesh early next year,”

Anurag Thakur, the BCCI president, said. “This will be a great addition to our home season 2016-17.”

In all, India’s 2016-17 home season will include 13 Tests, eight ODIs and three T20Is; 13 Tests equals the world record for the highest number of Tests in a home season. Apart from Bangladesh, New Zealand, England and Australia will also visit during the season.

The one-off Test against Bangladesh will be played a week after the limited-overs series against England concludes in Bangalore on February 1.

Nazmul Hassan, the BCB chief, said the match is a cause for celebration. “For the cricketers who will be representing Bangladesh and India this will be

a much-anticipated game and, given the competitive nature of their limited-overs matches in the recent past, I believe the clash between these two cricket crazy nations will catch the imagination.” he said. “The long wait for us to play a Test match on Indian soil is finally over and this is a time for celebration.

“This [Bangladesh’s first-ever Test in India] is certainly a big relief. It is just one Test match, it is nothing big. It won’t be doing much for the development of Bangladesh cricket. But this will be the first Test in India. It was a huge challenge for the board. It was supposed to happen earlier but we are happy that the date has been announced. At least we are starting to play there.” Agencies

BCCI against two-tier Test system: Thakur SportS DeSk

Neymar tasked to bring Brazil’s elusive gold SportS DeSk Brazil has barely got over its World Cup disaster and now it is counting on Barcelona star Neymar to finally deliver a treasured first football Olympic gold medal.

Olympic gold is the only international title to elude Brazil in an illustrious history that has seen A Selecao win five World Cups.

And Brazilian football is in desperate need of a pick-me-up after the humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany at their own World Cup two years ago and a group stage exit at the Copa America Centenario in June. Golden boy Neymar has been untarnished by the failures. Two broken vertebrae in his back suffered near the end of a quarter-final win over Colombia left Brazil without their talisman against the Germans two years ago. And as part of an agreement between Barcelona and the Brazilian federation, Neymar skipped the Copa America which sealed Dunga’s fate as Brazil coach for the second time to ensure he is fresh for the Olympics. Rogerio Micale will take charge after leading Brazil to the under-20 World Cup final last year.

Like the fans he also expects Neymar to deliver. He said: “I want to be dependent on Neymar. What coach in the world would not want a Neymar in their team? “Neymar has exceeded my expectations. He is appreciated, he’s a good guy with a huge heart especially around the younger players.

“He has shown that he is more than just a great player he’s a great man admired by everybody.” Neymar was part of the Brazil side shocked by Mexico in the final of the 2012 Olympics, whilst even the likes of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho have come up short when charged with delivering gold.

However, Brazil are strong favourites to end their wait as on top of home advantage, they also possess by far the strongest squad on paper.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said his board will oppose the proposed two-tier Test system to “protect the interests” of smaller member nations. As the head of the powerful BCCI, Thakur’s statement lends heft to the criticism of the proposal by Sri Lanka Cricket and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, even as the boards of Australian and New Zealand have welcomed the move.

“The BCCI is against the twotier Test system because the smaller countries will lose out and the BCCI wants to take care of them,” said Thakur. “It is necessary to protect their interests.” The proposal to split Test cricket into two tiers - with seven nations in tier one, and five, including two new Test nations, in the second tier - was mooted at the ICC’s annual conference, in Edinburgh, where ICC chief executive David Richardson advocated a “proper competition structure”, with promotion and relegation, for Test cricket to have greater context. “Unless we can give some meaning to these series beyond the rankings and a trophy, then interest in Test cricket will continue to waver,”

Brazilian teenage Garbriel Jesus signs for Man City SportS DeSk Richardson said. “The same applies if we allow uncompetitive Test cricket to take place too often.”

While SLC voiced skepticism about the financial model of the twotier system, the BCB felt Bangladesh’s growth would be affected should they be divorced from the top teams. “We believe that more we play against competitive sides, the better we will get,” BCB vicepresident Mahbubul Anam said. “If we didn’t play against better-standard sides in ODIs, we wouldn’t have come this far. We were given a reality check when we were promoted to the highest level. I feel that

if we go backwards, our cricket will regress.” Thakur’s comments seemed to address both concerns as he spelt out the drawbacks of the two-tier system. “In the two-tier system, they will lose out on a lot, including revenue and the opportunity to play against top teams,” he said.

“We don’t want that to happen. We want to work in the best interests of world cricket and that is why our team plays against all the countries”.

In Galle, meanwhile, Cricket Australia chairman David Peever urged nations to embrace change and balance notions of tradition with progress.

Manchester City have signed 19-year-old Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras on a five-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Wednesday. Jesus, who is reported to have cost City an initial fee of £27 million ($36 million, 32.2 million euros), will remain on loan at Palmeiras until December before moving to Manchester in January. He is currently on duty with hosts Brazil at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “Manchester City is one of the best clubs in the world so I’m really pleased to sign,” Jesus said in comments published on the City website.

“We have many great talents in the team and a fantastic manager in Pep Guardiola that I can learn so much from.

BOWLING INJURIES LEAVE SRI LANKA VULNERABLE SportS DeSk With yet another seam bowler sustaining a hamstring injury, the elation following Sri Lanka’s victory in Pallekele has become mild trepidation ahead of the second Test in Galle. For Nuwan Pradeep to play the second Test, he will require an extraordinary recovery. Having won a match after collapsing for 117 already this series, Sri Lanka are not expecting a second miracle in the space of a week.

If Pradeep is out, the bowlers in triage can now be said to match the quality of the attack Sri Lanka will be forced to field for the second Test.

Each of Sri Lanka’s three best quicks - including Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera - will be unavailable, as well as Suranga Lakmal and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay. Captain Angelo Mathews said the increased burden on Pradeep through the England tour, had probably led to the latest injury.

“Workload plays a huge role in their injuries,” he said.

“If you talk to physio and trainer, they will say with the amount of cricket we play, workload management is important. We had to go with the same lot of fast bowlers for every game in England, and that’s why, probably, they got injured.

“Now, we’re in the same situation as in the last match.

We’re waiting till tomorrow to get an opinion from the physio and trainer on Pradeep.

If he doesn’t play, we have Vishwa Fernando.”

Australia have also had to make an injury-forced change, flying in left-arm spinner Jon Holland, who is now a certainty to feature in Galle. Sri Lanka’s batsmen have, in the past, attempted to take advantage of such situations by attacking the new man in the opposition XI, but Mathews has advocated a more cautious approach.

“He looks a tall left-arm spinner who lands it on the

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spot, and to play Test cricket for Australia, he’s got to be good,” Mathews said. “We don’t have much video, but saw a bit and we know what to expect of him.

“In Test cricket, you can’t go after a bowler the whole day. You’ve got to play him on merit, take a look at him initially, and see what he has to offer. On these wickets, you’ve got to see what he

bowls and what pace he bowls and how he turns the ball.

Those things will give you a fair idea how to play him.”

Mathews admitted that Sri Lanka had thought about replacing one of their two misfiring openers from the Pallekele Test, with Dimuth Karunaratne’s place under particular scrutiny. Sri Lankan surfaces have been tough on openers from every team over

the past few years, however, with first-wicket stands averaging only 25.82 since January 2012. That figure is easily the lowest in all nations, save for Zimbabwe, which has seen substantially less cricket in that time.

“We had a chat with the selectors about the openers, and we just want to try and give the boys another opportunity,” Mathews said.

Thursday, 4 August, 2016

home series in uae damaging Pakistan’s skills, says yousuf f

ORMER Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf has warned the PCB to stop hosting its “home” series in the UAE or it will damage Pakistan cricket.

“Playing on the flat and low-bounce pitches of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai has already affected our cricket and our players, and if we don’t stop organising our series there it will eventually damage our cricket,” said Yousuf.

He said that playing in the UAE for the last six or seven years had an adverse effect on the skills and technique of Pakistan batsmen. “If it is all about creating records, fine.

But it is not helping our

cricket in anyway and we will stop producing players capable of playing on any surface

in a few years’ time if we continue playing our home series in UAE.”

Yousuf said that it was a point of concern that against Australia in two Tests in the

UAE in 2014-15, Pakistan batsmen had scored nine centuries while in the first two Tests in England there was only one century.

“And let us be straight, so far we have not encountered any typical English pitch in the ongoing series,” he said.

He backed any move by the PCB to try to organise its home series at some other neutral venue. “Sri Lanka or Bangladesh are far better options as conditions there are more suited for cricket,” he said.

The PCB has been forced to organise its home series at neutral venues since the attack by gunmen on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Agencies

BCB press conferences by invitations only WICB president wary of poor Test attendances SportS DeSk WICB president has said it is necessary for his board to better peoples’ experience at the ground during Test cricket, to draw bigger crowds. Small turnouts for Tests have been an issue in the Caribbean in recent years as it is in several countries around the cricketing world and the poor attendances continued over the first two matches of the ongoing West Indies-India series. “As the West Indies Cricket Board, we need to do a lot more in terms of entertaining people at the ground,” Cameron said.

“Right now, a lot needs to be done. We need to have Wi-Fi in the grounds, we need to be able to cater for children in a better way. “Cricket, especially Test matches, is an entire-day experience.

Parents want to be able to take their kids to the cricket, to be able to enjoy the cricket, and not be too mindful that their kids are going to drop off a chair. So I think there’s a lot that we can do, in terms of ‘sportainment’, to ensure that the fans come out to the game and not just sit at home and watch the game.” “A lot of people, fans out there, are interested in what is going on. So it’s not that the game is dead, it’s how do you get eyes coming into the ground and watching it versus those who are watching on social media or on television.” West Indies’ poor longformat showings added to the flagging numbers, Cameron said, but insisted he was confident of things turning around.

“Part of why we don’t have as much crowds today is the team is not the best team, and when I say the best team, meaning we’re not winning at this point in time. But, that said, I can assure you, based on our Professional Cricket League [the regional first-class competition] and where we’re at right now in terms of development, in another year or so we’ll see people coming back to watch Test cricket.”

SportS DeSk BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that future BCB press conferences will be invitation-only events after four journalists were initially refused entry at a briefing at his office on Wednesday.

The BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus had on Tuesday informed some reporters of the board president’s press conference.

On Wednesday morning, reporters present in Mirpur were told that the press conference will be held at the president’s office, located 9 kms to the south of the stadium, at 2.30pm.

But while entering the office, journalists from leading newspapers were barred from entering the press conference. The reporters were later asked to come in 14 minutes after the briefing started.

“The issue is not with anyone in particular,” Hassan said. “The time is sensitive in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh cricket is within Bangladesh. One false interpretation, a negative news will damage our cricket. We don’t want to be part of it.

“Anybody can write anything.

We are open. We don’t want a different explanation to a comment we make which will hurt our cricket. I don’t want anyone to blame me for it. For now, we can be a little selective.”

The BCB had, on June 25, said in a press release that “only invited individuals/organisations will be eligible to attend BCB media con-

ferences”. Since then, however, the BCB had not issued any invitation to the media for the daily press briefings at its Mirpur headquarters where journalists had general venue access.

Prothom Alo sports editor Utpal Shuvro said that barring of journalists from entering a BCB press briefing was unprecedented and was worried by the development.

SPORTS 19 Stokes ruled out of Oval Test

SportS DeSk Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the final Test against Pakistan due to a calf injury sustained during the second Test at Old Trafford, although England still hope he could be involved in the limited-overs series that follows. Stokes, who missed most of the series against Sri Lanka after suffering a knee injury that required surgery, was making his comeback in Manchester. But he was forced off the pitch midway through a spell of bowling on the fourth day and scans subsequently showed he had torn his right calf. As a result he missed the third Test at Edgbaston and will not play at The Oval. While an ECB spokesman said Stokes would “work towards being available for selection for the Royal London ODI series starting later this month”, England will be taking no risks with his recovery. Alastair Cook, England’s Test captain, suggested on Tuesday that Stokes’ latest injury “was in some way related to his previous one” perhaps indicating that he might have required more time to retain peak physical condition before returning to international cricket and stated that England should “treat him with care and let’s get him back 100 percent before we start talking of him playing again”.

Following the Tests, England’s fivematch ODI series against Pakistan starts on August 24 before a one-off T20 on September 7 completes the international season. Pending security assessments they then leave for the tour of Bangladesh at the end of September a trip that includes three ODIs and two Tests - before a five-match Test series in India. Stokes will be vital to the balance of the side on the subcontinent where England will likely want to field two spinners. The performances of Chris Woakes since his comeback against Sri Lanka mean that they are not without another all-round option, but their combined skills mean England could at some stage field a six-man bowling attack with Stokes considered a good enough batsman to play in the top five.

England also confirmed that Adil Rashid had been released to play in Yorkshire’s Championship match against Warwickshire, starting at Headingley on Thursday. Rashid and Jake Ball were the unused players in England’s squad of 13 for Edgbaston.

JACK TAYLOR HAS BOWLING SUSPENSION LIFTED SportS DeSk Jack Taylor, the Gloucestershire allrounder, has been passed to resume bowling his offspin by the ECB. Taylor was suspended in June after being found to have an illegal action for the second time in his career.

Taylor underwent remedial work after his bowling action was found to exceed 15 degrees. He was re-tested on July 28 and the ban has now been lifted with immediate effect.

Even without his bowling, Taylor has continued to feature

in Gloucestershire’s middle order. The 24-year-old has scored 602 runs at 43.00 in the Championship this season - behind only Chris Dent - and made his highest T20 score of 44 not out last week to help Gloucestershire top the NatWest Blast South Group table.

He was previously called in 2013, missing the rest of the season to remodel his action with the help of Gloucestershire and the ECB’s national academy in Loughborough, before being cleared to resume bowling in February 2014.

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SPORTS Thursday, 4 August, 2016

Sohail’S comeback five keepS england to 297 scoreboArd england 1st innings An cook lbw b rahat Ali Ad Hales c sarfraz Ahmed b sohail Khan Je root c Mohammad Hafeez b sohail Khan JM Vince c Younis Khan b sohail Khan gs balance c sarfraz Ahmed b Yasir shah JM bairstow c sarfraz Ahmed b sohail Khan MM Ali c sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Amir cr Woakes c sarfraz Ahmed b rahat Ali scJ broad c Azhar Ali b Mohammad Amir sT Finn not out JM Anderson lbw b sohail Khan extras Total

r 45 17 3 39 70 12 63 9 13 15 5 6 297

bowling: Mohammad Amir 16 3 53 2 sohail Khan 23 3 96 5 rahat Ali 20 4 83 2 Yasir shah 27 3 64 1

S

OHAIL Khan made a significant impact on his return to Test cricket after a gap of nearly five years as England were forced to dig deep for something close to parity on the opening day at Edgbaston. Sohail, recalled in place of Wahab Riaz, took 5 for 96 while half-centuries for Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali provided much-needed stability for England who ended with 297.

Sohail’s presence in the attack meant it was the first time Pakistan had fielded a right-arm seamer in the series. He had two previous Tests, the last of them against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2011, with his sole Test wicket prior to this match being Tatenda Taibu and an average that stood at 245. By tea, he had four of England’s top order including the inform Joe Root, having twice claimed a brace in hardworking eight-over spells during the first two sessions, and clinched a deserved five-for when he pinned James Anderson lbw with what became the last ball of the day and he still had the energy for nine celebratory push-ups.

For a day, at least, Pakistan’s response to their Old Trafford drubbing was encouraging as they did enough to just about vindicate Misbah-ulHaq’s somewhat surprising decision to bowl first. Not surprising so much in terms of recent evidence at the ground - no side has won batting first since the Ashes Test of 2005 but because it meant his trump card, Yasir Shah,

would not have the chance to bowl in the fourth innings.

England’s batting never took a stranglehold on the day as they had in Manchester, slipping to 73 for 3 in the morning session, 158 for 5 before tea and 244 for 7 in the evening before the second new ball cleaned up the innings.

However, Ballance showed the value of substance over style with his first halfcentury since his return and Moeen, playing on the ground where his county career began, and back at No. 7 due to Ben Stokes’ injury, produced his second important innings of the season after a century against Sri Lanka.

Rahat Ali chipped in with the wicket of Alastair Cook for 45 after the England captain had played fluently and Yasir, while not offering a major threat on a first-day pitch, removed Ballance with one that turned and took a thin edge down the leg side during a 25-over stint from the Birmingham End which offered the element of control missing at Old Trafford.

After Misbah’s decision to insert England on an overcast morning and following heavy rain in the lead-up to the match, the early overs were not entirely promising as Cook and Hales skipped out of the blocks, but after the opening half an hour Pakistan’s bowlers tightened their lines and the rewards came. Sohail found Hales’ outside edge having beaten him the ball before, continuing Hales’ lean series which now reads 73 runs in five innings.

If Pakistan were pleased by that

success, they were positively ecstatic a short while later when Root, who made 325 runs over two innings at Old Trafford, edged to first slip as he tried to force Sohail off the back foot. He was safely held by Mohammad Hafeez who is playing his 50th Test which is not something that can always be said.

Cook looked in good order, except for when he almost inside-edged into his stumps against Rahat, timing the ball sweetly off front and back foot as he moved along at close to a run-aball. However, Rahat then got one to nip back and strike Cook in front of off stump; the captain’s use of DRS was more in hope that expectation.

Given that Ballance and James Vince are playing to secure their places, they counter-punched impressively either side of lunch as Pakistan’s bowlers offered up a liberal supply of loose deliveries between the threatening ones.

Vince appeared to be making a conscious effort to leave outside off, although still could not resist one flowing square drive and almost edged another in what has become familiar style this season. The wicket ball, which followed a spell of three maidens in four overs, was fairly innocuous and came somewhat against the run of play with Sohail appearing to have a few issues with his run up. A back-ofa-length delivery brought a halfhearted prod from Vince and although the batsman initially stood his ground

- with Younis Khan also stating he was not sure over the catch - this was a rare occasion of TV pictures going in favour of the fielding side.

As ever, Jonny Bairstow bristled with intent as he began his innings depositing Yasir down the ground with a meaty club - but his golden touch deserted him when his eyes lit up at a short, wide delivery and he top-edged to Sarfraz Ahmed.

Ballance, who has looked reasonably solid since his recall at the start of the series, but has not converted into a substantial score, played some punchy drives and, having gone to tea on 49 during a period where Pakistan dried up the scoring, brought up his fifty off 113 deliveries. As at Lord’s, his dismissal came in part from getting too far across at Yasir when the ball gripped from outside off stump.

Moeen, averaging a touch under a 80 at No. 7 thanks to his unbeaten 155 against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street, was becalmed for the early stages of his innings. His first boundary, though, was an expansive cover drive which was followed by an even better back-foot stroke against Sohail. On 44, he saved himself with the DRS after being given caught at short leg sweeping at Yasir before reaching fifty with a flamboyant, one-legged pull through midwicket.

The new-ball prevented the lower order from doing much damage, however, as Stuart Broad flashed an edge to third slip the first delivery Mohammad Amir had it in his hands then Moeen nicked an expansive drive to give Sarfraz his fifth catch of the innings. This has the makings of an absorbing contest. Agencies

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

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Play without fear of losing, Imran advises team ahead of test match ISLAMABAD Agencies

Pakistan cricket team’s former Captain Imran Khan Wednesday (today) took to social media and advised green shirts to without fear against England in the third test match. Imran Khan’s tweet read, the team should confidently step onto the pitch without getting afraid of defeat. He further wished the team ahead of third Test which is due to be started in Birmingham from today.

England and Pakistan both have won 1, 1 match each in the series of four Tests.

Unsung heroes: From Olympic championship to rickshaw driver

SportS DeSk Former Olympian Muhammad Ashiq looks daily at the trophies he won in a successful cycling career for Pakistan, decades ago. “Perhaps most people think that I have died,” he laments. “I just recall that I have shaken hands with former Pakistani prime ministers, presidents, chief executives,” the 81-year-old tells media. “Why and how they all forgot me, I cannot believe.”

Ashiq, who competed for Pakistan at the 1960 and the 1964 Olympics, now works as a rickshaw driver in Lahore. He began his sporting career as a boxer, switching to cycling in the 1950s when his wife complained about his injuries. He competed in Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964.Although he won no medals, he was hailed as a national hero for Pakistan.