E paper pdf (28 01 2016) lhr by Pakistan Today

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Wednesday, 27 January, 2016 I 16 Rabi-us-Sani, 1437 I Rs 20.00 I Vol VI No 208 I 20 Pages I Lahore Edition

SC wants to know if people really voted for Saad Apex court orders NADRA to verify within 30 days voter thumb impressions and counterfoils in NA125 constituency from where Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique had won the election

The state television has appointed Farooq Athar Buttar, a Canadian national, as the Controller In-charge News Division, which is a very sensitive position and out of bounds for a dual nationality holder under the law. The appointment was made after Muzammil Ahmed Khan, Director News of PTV, was sidelined for ‘running an old clip’ showing Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Salman Shehbaz with the prime minister during his recent high-profile ‘reconciliation’ trip to Saudi Arabia and Iran, Mian Abrar reports from Islamabad.

Election tribunal in Lahore dismisses plea filed by PTI’s Aleem Khan alleging irregularities and pre-poll rigging in NA-122 by-poll ISLAMABAD/LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

HE Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered verification of voter thumb impressions and counterfoils in Lahore’s NA-125 constituency, where Federal Railways Minister Saad Rafique of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-

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Insaf ’s (PTI) Hamid Khan in the 2013 general elections. Meanwhile in Lahore, an election tribunal dismissed an election petition filed by PTI candidate Abdul Aleem Khan alleging irregularities and pre-poll rigging in the NA-122 (Lahore) by-election, for being nonmaintainable. Hearing a petition filed by Saad Rafique against the decision of an election tribunal that had deseated

him from the National Assembly (NA) and ordered re-polling in the constituency, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to submit a report on vote verification in 90 days. The apex court also ordered PTI leader Hamid Khan to bear expenses of the vote verification process.

In May last year, an election tribunal had ordered re-election in NA125 after Hamid Khan filed a petition alleging rigging in the 2013 polls. In response, Rafique approached the apex court which suspended the May 4 decision of the election tribunal to de-seat Rafique “pending a decision” by the court.

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Afghan cop kills 10 colleagues, helps Taliban plunder

Indo-Pak talks needed but not under shower of bullets: Mukherjee

Afghan Charge d’Affaires Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi was summoned by the Foreign Office and was told that investigations revealed the perpetrators of the deadly attack on the varsity were operating from Afghan territory and used the Afghan telecommunication network.

A turncoat Afghan police officer is believed to have killed 10 of his colleagues at their post in south-central Afghanistan, paving the way for Taliban militants to raid the facility and steal weapons and ammunition, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

“Terrorists seek to undermine order by rejecting the very basis of strategic stability, which are recognised borders. If outlaws are able to unravel borders, then we are heading towards an age of chaos,” the Indian president said in an address to the nation on eve of India’s Republic Day.

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Foreign Office summons Afghan diplomat over BKU attack

ISLAMABAD: A man reads a notice pasted on the main door of the PIA office in Blue Area announcing closure of the office in protest against the proposed privatization of the national flag carrier. INP

PIA unions vow to continue protests against privatisation

Boosting Middle East economy is way to beat extremism: Iranian president

The Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees’ Union (JACPIAE) on Tuesday announced it would continue its protest throughout the country on

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is on a four-day trip to Italy and France, looking to rebuild Iranian relations with the West some two weeks after financial sanctions on Tehran were rolled back following the implementation of its nuclear deal with world powers. STORY ON PAGE 09

Wednesday despite negotiations with the PIA chairman.

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PTV appoints Canadian national to sensitive post after Salman Shehbaz clip gaffe

02 NEWS BDS defuses IED allegedly meant to target school in Peshawar PESHAWAR: An improvised explosive device (IED) meant to target a school was defused by Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) personnel in Bashirabad area of Peshawar on Tuesday. Officials say unidentified suspects handed over the improvised bomb, fitted in a pressure cooker, to a child, asking him to take it to his school. But the little boy instead of taking it to school brought the IED home. A Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP) slogan was written on the pressure cooker, officials said. On seeing the explosive, family members of the child alerted police and BDS personnel were called in. According to BDS officials, around five kilogrammes of explosive material was used in the device. On Thursday, a similar terrorism bid was foiled when the city police defused a bomb planted near a bus terminal on GT Road in Peshawar and arrested a suspect. Earlier this month, rumours of a possible terrorist attacks on schools circulated in the provincial capital’s rural and urban areas and thus, forced most headmasters to close the educational institutions much early. The panicked parents had rushed to the schools to pick their children recalling the December 2014 Army Public School militant attack, which killed 144 students and staff members. STAFF REPORT

Rangers, BSF exchange sweets on India’s Republic Day at Wagah LAHORE: Pakistan Rangers on Tuesday presented sweets to Indian Border Security Force (BSF) at Wagah border on 67th Republic Day of India as a goodwill gesture. PR Wing Commander Bilal Ahmed presented sweets to BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Amritsar sector, Sumer Singh on the occasion of India’s 67th Republic Day. Both the officials shook hands as they posed for photos and exchanged several platters of sweets. STAFF REPORT

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

FoREIgn oFFIcE SummonS AFghAn DIPlomAt ovER BKu AttAcK ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

HE Foreign Office on Monday summoned the Afghan Charge d’Affaires, Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi to convey Pakistan’s concern regarding the use of Afghan soil by terrorist elements in the Bacha Khan University attack, said a statement. The statement said the diplomat was summoned on Monday and was told that investigations revealed the perpetrators of the deadly attack on the varsity were operating from Afghan territory and used the Afghan telecommunication network. The statement further said relevant evidence had also been shared with the Afghan diplomat. It was conveyed to the Afghan government that they must take action against the perpetrators of the terrorist attack and extend cooperation to Pakistani authorities in order to bring them to justice, it added. At least 21 people were killed when unidentified gunmen entered the university in Charsadda town last week and opened fire on students and faculty members. The mastermind of the APS Peshawar attack, Umar Mansoor, of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Geedar group claimed the attack through a post on his Facebook page, adding that four attackers were sent to the university. Authorities say the Bacha Khan University attack was planned and orchestrated by Pakistani Taliban militants based in neighbouring

NA OPP LEADER SAYS NISAR RESPONSIBLE FOR POOR NAP IMPLEMENTATION ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader Khursheed Shah on Tuesday again lashed out at the federal interior minister, and accused him of telling the parliament that implementation on National Action Plan (NAP) was not his responsibility. While talking to newsmen, Khursheed Shah alleged that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had not carried out NAP properly. He said that everyone, including Indian PM Modi, condemned the Bacha Khan University attack but the interior minister did not even bother to visit the institution. Shah said he was afraid after seeing hatred in the eyes of the grieving families. The PPP senior leader urged the authorities to form a judicial commission over the massacres that took place at Army Public School (APS) and Bacha Khan University. He lashed out at the government for its mismanagement of military courts, as only 60 cases have been sent to them so far while those affected are still waiting for justice. Talking about the anti-terrorism operations against outlawed organisations, he said that NAP is only being implemented in Sindh but no action is being taken in other provinces. Shah further lauded Army Chief Raheel Sharif’s decision to not get an extension in his service, and said that the COAS’s statement has made the whole nation proud. Responding to a question related to tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said that no headway has been made by the Pakistani government in this regard. ONLINE

Afghanistan, and called on the Afghan government to co-operate in its investigation. Five suspects have

so far been arrested for acting as “facilitators” to the attack, Pakistan Army’s media wing said Saturday.

Ex-cJP’s bullet proof car: law ministry asks AgP to approach Sc ISLAMABAD: The Federal Law Ministry on Tuesday asked the attorney general’s office to approach the Supreme Court in order to retrieve a bullet proof car from former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The Supreme Court on Saturday sought response from the ministry over a petition challenging the perks allowed by Islamabad High Court to the former CJP last year. “Now when Justice [Iftikhar Chaudhry] (retd) has declared himself as a politician, the use of official car and petrol by a politician under the coverage of Islamabad High Court order has become a serious point of criticism by the government, public and politicians.” “It is therefore requested that matter may immediately be placed before the attorney general of Pakistan to explore the possibility of seeking relief from the Supreme Court in this matter.” Earlier on Tuesday, the apex court asked Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mahmood to assist whether or not they could hear the case. It also asked the Law Ministry to apprise about the status of the government’s intra court appeal, relating to the matter, pending in Islamabad High Court for the last two years. The hearing of the case was later adjourned till Wednesday. Meanwhile, a senior official said that the federal government will recommend to the apex court to hear the case by itself. The matter also reportedly echoed in the Senate on Saturday as the opposition demanded an explanation from the government over the former CJP’s possession of the car. On January 4, 2014, the IHC had directed the authorities to arrange a bulletproof vehicle for Iftikhar Chaudhry, besides putting in place adequate security at his residence. STAFF REPORT

Imran should apologise for misleading nation over ‘foreign funding’: Pervaiz

RASHID ASKS KHAN TO RETURN FOREIGN FUNDS WHICH HE SECURED ON ‘FALSE PRETENSES’ EXPRESSES CONCERN THAT ECP’S LAWYER IS SIDING WITH PTI ISLAMABAD APP

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Tuesday asked PTI Chairman Imran Khan to apologise for misleading the nation and return the funds raised from foreign countries on the pretext of overthrowing the then government. Addressing a press conference flanked by PML-N MNAs Talal Chaudhary and Daniyal Aziz, the minister said Pakistan of today is far better than in 2011 as terrorists are now on the run, economy is growing and

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power situation is improving. The minister also presented the video clip of a television talk show in which Imran Khan admitted that he had received funding from abroad through Hundi, which was also a crime. Rashid said that in light of Khan’ confession, it was the responsibility of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to give its verdict on the PTI’s financial corruption case as soon as possible. He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had reservations about ECP’s lawyer, who on Tuesday supported the arguments of PTI’s counsel in the Islamabad High Court. The minister said that PML-N had always respected the ECP as it was a constitutional institution. The party respected several decisions of the ECP, which were not even given in its favour, he added. He said that Imran Khan had collected funds for the party from abroad. The way the funds were generated and used was questionable. A founder member of the PTI had approached the ECP on the matter, but the PTI lawyer had been using delaying tactics in order to avoid the ECP’s verdict, he added.

Now, he said, the PTI had knocked on the door of the high court claiming that the ECP had no jurisdiction to hear the cases of financial corruption. But strangely, Rashid said, PTI’s legal team had never raised this point in two years that the ECP was hearing this case. “Now Imran Khan is hiding behind the high court as he has failed to give any concrete evidence in his defence at the ECP,” he said. He expressed reservations over the attitude of ECP’s lawyers in the court and the way they were endorsing the point of view of Imran Khan there. The matter was now before the democratic and peace loving forces, he added. The minister said that Imran Khan had collected funds in 2011 from abroad claiming that it was imperative to overthrow the then government to save Pakistan. But he failed to dislodge the government, so he should return the money to those who had donated, he added. He said that Imran Khan had tried to mislead the people by saying that Pakistan’s future was at stake and that the government had to be toppled for saving the country.

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

NEWS

Ptv APPoIntS cAnADIAn nAtIonAl to SEnSItIvE PoSt AFtER SAlmAn ShEhBAz clIP gAFFE ISLAMABAD

has appointed Farooq Athar Buttar, a Canadian national, as the Controller Incharge News Division, which is a very sensitive position. A dual national cannot hold public office. When contacted, Information & Broadcasting Secretary Saba Mohsin Raza said that she had no knowledge about the appointment. “I will get back to you after enquiring the matter,” she added. Majid Bashir, a senior lawyer, told Pakistan Today that the Supreme Court decided the matter once and for all when it gave its verdict in the Rehman Malik case. The SC bench, headed by former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, declared that a Pakistani national could not be equated with one who holds dual nationality. Bashir added that the Establishment Division has issued notices to various departments in this regard. Moreover, the senior law expert added that by virtue of Section 20 of the Citizenship Act 1951, citizenship is conditionally required, not a domicile. “Even without a domicile, one is not

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clip featuring Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Salman Shehbaz during a segment on Pakistan Television (PTV) highlighting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) created quite the buzz before eventually resulting in the federal government handing down a punishment to a senior official of the state television. Documents available with Pakistan Today suggest that Muzammil Ahmed Khan, Director News of the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), has been sidelined for ‘running an old clip’ showing Salman Shehbaz with the prime minister during his recent high-profile ‘reconciliation’ trip to Saudi Arabia and Iran. Moreover, the government has also tasked Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Chairman Absar Alam to hold an enquiry into the matter and fix responsibility for the ‘blooper’. In utter haste, the PTV management

Eu warns Pakistan over migrant cooperation AGENCIES

The European Union complained on Tuesday about difficulties in deporting migrants to Pakistan, warning it could take steps against Islamabad if it fails to comply with a deal on repatriations. Struggling with its biggest flow of refugees since World War II, the EU persuaded Pakistan in November to restore a suspended agreement to facilitate the return of Pakistani illegal immigrants without documentation. Pakistan was one of the top five countries of origin among the one million migrants who arrived in Europe last year, although most are considered economic migrants rather than refugees from conflict. “While discussions have been good and positive, we note that there are still difficulties with this readmission deal,” European Commission spokesperson Natasha Bertaud told a news briefing. “The Commission is currently examining possible incentives — positive and negative — so that this accord is applied properly.” In December Pakistan sent back at least 30 undocumented migrants that Greece was trying to repatriate after saying Greece had failed to provide adequate proof that they were Pakistani, a claim later disputed by the EU. Last year Islamabad temporarily suspended the repatriation agreement, citing its “blatant misuse” and saying member countries were not adequately checking the nationality of the deportees. The deal was restored in November following a meeting between Pakistani officials and EU migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos.

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envy as to risk your credibility if u had any? Stop lying Mr. Khan!” she wrote through Twitter. “Suleman Shehbaz is in Lhr. Mr. Khan must apologise. Your lies have cost you your credibility causing your doom before time. What a loss!” she tweeted.

Another blow for Pml-n: mPA masroor Jatoi deseated by Sc

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD

The Sindh Text Book Board (STBB) Jamshoro has decided to add a special book to its syllabus for minority students in the province. “Students belonging to minority communities in government schools will study the curriculum according to their own religion,” STBB chairman Syed Zakir Ali Shah announced on Tuesday. The new book which has been named Ikhlaqiat (ethics) will be included in the curriculum of all public schools across Sindh from April 1 of the current year, the chairman said. “This book will be added to the curriculum of grade 7 students and above in the first phase of induction.” Talking about the contents of the book, the chairman pointed out that the book includes the teachings of different religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and mystic poetry. Last year, the Sindh government had announced to include Quaid-eAzam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s August 11, 1947 speech in the school curriculum from classes 8 to 10 in a bid to teach religious tolerance. “Quaid-e-Azam’s speech is being included in the curriculum on the di-

STAFF REPORT

SC WANTS TO KNOW Rafique, whose NA membership had been suspended after the tribunal verdict, was re-instated as member of the legislature by the election commission following the SC order. NA-125 was among the four controversial constituencies — the other three being NA-110 (Sialkot), NA-122 (Lahore) and NA-154 (Lodhran) — where PTI had demanded for voters’ thumbprint verification after the 2013 general election to clear the air on the legitimacy of polls. After the government did not give in to PTI’s demand, the party staged a months-long protest in the capital starting Aug 2014. ALEEM KHAN’S PETITION DISMISSED: In Lahore, an election tribunal comprising Judge Muhammad Rasheed Qamar announced the verdict in Aleem Khan’s petition that it had reserved at the last hearing.

King Salman. The footage included a clip from the archives which was not of the current meeting. Salman’s sighting prompted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to launch a scathing attack on the prime minister, who he thought had allowed relatives to accompany him on the official trip. Imran Khan raised question over Salman Shehbaz’s presence on the occasion and tweeted: “What was Salman Sharif doing in official meetings with KSA ruler? Has Pak become a monarchy under House of Sharifs?” In another tweet, Khan wrote: “One major reason for CPEC becoming controversial is Salman Sharif & family sitting in on all mtgs in China. Is it all about business deals?” This prompted the prime minister’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, to respond to Khan’s tweets. She sought an apology from Imran Khan for accusing Salman Shehbaz of accompanying the prime minister, and argued that Salman was in Lahore and Imran Khan must apologise. “Doesn’t behave a leader to lie through his teeth or are you so blinded by

Minority students to study ‘ethics’ instead of Islamic studies in Sindh

BRUSSELS

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eligible for holding any post in public sector, let alone a senior position at state media outlet,” he added. Meanwhile, under the law, the government cannot ask the PEMRA chief to hold an inquiry as PEMRA is an autonomous body. PEMRA has no authority to intervene into the internal affairs of the PTV, which is beyond its regulatory ambit. The regulator is supposed to be neutral. Through its letter number Ref. No. HP/124/414 dated January 19, 2016, Pakistan Television Director Admin & Personnel Wasim Pervez issued an office order against PTV Director News Muzamil Ahmed Khan, and asked that he be posted as director training academy, Islamabad. Through the same order, Athar Farooq Buttar, who was the Controller In-charge Training Academy Islamabad, was transferred and posted as Controller In-charge News Division, PTV News Islamabad. Despite repeated calls and messages, Buttar was unavailable for comment. THE ORIGINAL FEUD: The situation came about after PTV ran footage of the prime minister’s meeting with Saudi

Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s counsel Khawaja Haris questioning maintainability of the plea submitted that electoral lists could not be challenged before election tribunal as the issue did not fall under its jurisdiction. He said that the oath commissioner’s stamp and date was missing in the election petition and as per the Supreme Court’s judgment, such a petition was not maintainable. He further said that the allegations levelled in the petition were baseless and pleaded the court to dismiss the petition being nonmaintainable. However, Aleem Khan’s counsel Anees Hashmi opposed the request and submitted that all legal requirements were fulfilled and election tribunal was empowered to hear the matter as per Representation of Peoples Act. The petitioner through his petition alleged that at least 30,000 votes had been cancelled and shifted from the NA-122 constituency before the by-

rectives of Pakistan People’s Party cochairman Asif Ali Zardari,” Provincial Minister for Education Nisar Khuhro had said. “We will include this speech from classes 8 to 10.” The founder of the nation’s August 11 speech is famous for the Quaid explicitly talking about giving equal rights and freedom to all religious minorities. However, some have pointed out how teaching ‘ethics’ instead of a subject that relates to minority faiths is inherently ‘discriminatory’. “Discrimination begins from the point when children are offered [to study] ethics [rather than compulsory Islamic studies] instead of a subject that relates to their faiths,” Peter Jacob, the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) executive director said in 2012.

poll. He contended that this act of the commission amounted to pre-poll rigging and therefore sought setting aside the result of the by-election on the grounds of alleged rigging. PP-152 CASE: Also, an election tribunal dismissed a petition challenging the election of PTI MPA Murad Ross from PP-152 in 2013 general election. The tribunal comprising Muhammad Raseed Qamar heard the petition filed by Punjab CM’s Adviser on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique who lost the 2013 general election from PP-152 to MPA Murad Ross. Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that the respondent MPA committed rigging to secure his victory in the general election. He said that the respondent misled the public by introducing himself as a doctorate degree holder whereas his degree was honorary. He pleaded the court to set aside the election of respondent and order re-polling. However, the respondent MPA’s counsel denied the allegations and submitted that the respondent did not commit any rigging whereas he had

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Jacob says ethics is not a suitable alternative for religious studies. He says considering that the contents are derived from Islamic traditions, the stated purpose of giving students this option is lost. “If Muslim students have a right to study Islamic studies, non Muslim students, too, should be entitled to study subject that relates to their religion,” says Mariam Arif, head of the Street Law Clinic at the Quaid-iAzam Law College. Referring to sub-section 1 of the Article 22 of the Constitution, she says the government is legally obligated to ensure that non Muslim students receive religious instructions in accordance with their faiths. “Ethics is not a religious study. It certainly does not subscribe to the faith of a religious minority,” she said.

honourary degree and did not mislead the public. The court after hearing the arguments of both parties dismissed the election petition. PP-147 BY-POLL CASE: Another election tribunal in Lahore dismissed a petition challenging the election of PTI MPA Shoaib Siddiqui in PP-147 by-poll for being non-maintainable. The tribunal comprising Rasheed Qamar heard the petition filed by PMLN candidate Mian Mohsin Latif who lost the October 11, 2015 by-poll to Shoaib Siddiqui. Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel had submitted that the respondent MPA committed illegal and corrupt practices to secure his victory in PP-147 by-poll. He pleaded the court to set aside the election of the MPA and order repolling in the constituency. However, Shoaib Siddiqui’s counsel submitted that the petition was not maintainable as it was not verified in accordance with law. He pleaded the court to dismiss the plea. The tribunal after hearing arguments of the parties dismissed the petition for being nonmaintainable.

In another setback to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday de-seated Sindh Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Masroor Ahmad Jatoi and ordered re-election in PS-23 Naushahro Feroze. The three-member SC bench comprising Justice Saqib Nisar, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Tariq Pervez set aside the order of Election Tribunal, Sukkur, which had declared the election of PML-N’s Masroor Khan Jatoi as legal. The runnerup candidate in May 2013 general election had challenged the tribunal’s verdict. Masroor Jatoi had won the May 22, 2013 general election with a difference of 1,611 votes by obtaining 30,674 votes against the 29,063 won by Feroze Ahmed Jamali. The petitioner adopted the stance that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) had declared most of the votes cast in the constituency ‘fake’. He challenged the election results primarily because the respondent had cast a large number of bogus votes, who manipulated the result in connivance with the election staff. He claimed that the returning officers and the election staff violated the provisions of Sections 33, 38 and 39 of the Act. It may be mentioned that during the course of the proceedings before the Election Tribunal, Sukkur, the appellant had moved an application for the examination and verification of the counterfoils of 19 polling stations with the object to prove that certain votes cast were not as per the mandate of Section 33 and, therefore, said that such votes be excluded from the count. Pursuant to the above, the tribunal sought the verification of the counterfoils of the said polling stations from NADRA and as per its report 2,417 used counterfoils were declared as invalid, which either contained CNIC (Computerised National Identity Card) numbers, which were not issued by NADRA or which did not bear any CNIC number whatsoever. Further, 61 used counterfoils were held to be without fingerprints or thumb impressions. In order to controvert the arguments of the learned counsel for the appellant, counsel for the respondent submitted that the NADRA report was only to the extent of verification of thumb impressions of 19 polling stations, and there were no ‘out of constituency’ votes which suggests that there was no bogus voting. The apex court ordered: “The ECP is required to hold fresh elections in the said constituency in accordance with law.”

04 NEWS

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

Pakistan only saaRC CountRy that imPRoved CPi sCoRe: ti ISLAMABAD

lhC orders FiR against kamran michael for ‘embezzling’ Rs 60m ISLAMABAD: The Rawalpindi Lahore High Court (LHC) Bench on Tuesday issued police officials concerned to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Kamran Michael. According to details, after the LHC Rawalpindi Bench issued the directions, the complainant approached the local police in Murree and registered the FIR against the minister for a fraud worth Rs 60 million. The minister had allegedly embezzled the money on the pretext of selling the Holy Trinity Church in Murree. However, the matter was deferred at the behest of the influential accused. Justice of Peace/Additional Sessions Judge Murree directed the SHO Police Station Murree to register the FIR against all accused persons, including Kamran Michael. Kamran Michael in connivance with a few others, including Shafiq Masih, allegedly looted Rs 60 million from Waqar Ahmed Khan, a property dealer. Syed Khawar Ameer Bukhari, the council for the complainant/petitioner pleaded that the accused persons, including Michael, induced and defrauded a huge amount from his client, Waqar, on the pretext of sale/lease of The Holy Trinity Church on Mall Road, Murree in the beginning of 2013. Michael was holding the office of minister for minorities at the time he allegedly embezzled the amount. ONLINE

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HE Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday maintained that Pakistan was the only country among the five SAARC countries that improved its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score. The rest of the countries scored the same or scored less as compared to their scores in 2014, the TI said in its report on CPI 2015 which is scheduled to be

formally launched on Wednesday. TI Pakistan Chairman Sohail Muzaffar, in a statement, said the CPI score for Pakistan this year had again increased by one point to 30, and rank improved by three. He hoped that the government would take serious steps to implement the recommendations of TI Pakistan which might result in marked reduction of corruption and much better CPI in future years. The index covered perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 countries. The CPI 2015 showed that people

working together can succeed in the battle against corruption. Although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in the 2015 edition of Transparency International’s CPI than declined. Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the 2015 index scored below 50, on a scale from zero (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). Yet in places like Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Ghana, citizen activists in groups and on their own worked hard to drive out the corrupt, sending a

Former foreign minister Sahibzada Yaqub Khan dies at 95 ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan’s former foreign minister Lieutenant General (r) Sahibzada Yaqub Khan passed away late Monday night at the age of 95. Funeral prayers of the deceased were offered at Army graveyard in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. The funeral prayers were attended by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, a large number of high-ranking civil and military officials and people from all walks of life. President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other political leaders offered condolences over the sad demise of Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, a high-profile figure and high-ranking general who held

the most senior and prestigious military and government assignments and represented Pakistan for three decades at international forums. Khan was born in Rampur area of India’s UP state in December 1920. He studied at Col Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun and the Prince of Wales Indian Military College, Dehradun. He served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the US under the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government, and as foreign minister under the military government of General Ziaul Haq and later under the civilian governments of both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from 1982 to 1991. He then served as the caretaker foreign minister from 1996 to 1997. Prior to that, he had an illus-

trious career in the military: first in the Indian Army (before 1947) and then in the Pakistan Army, retiring as a lieutenant-general. Khan received his commission in the army after attending the Rashtriya Indian Military College and served in World War II. During the 1965 war with India he commanded an armoured division as major-general. Later, he was promoted to the post of Chief of General Staff of the Eastern Military High Command. In 1971 he was made commander of the Eastern Command. Later he was posted back to West Pakistan and all combatant corps against India in the 1971 war were placed under his command. Khan was also the founding chairman of the Aga Khan University board of trustees.

Pakistan to block over 400,000 porn websites NEWS DESK Pakistan is preparing to launch a major crackdown on internet pornography after its telecom regulator ordered internet service providers on Monday to block access to more than 400,000 adult websites, media reports said on Tuesday. According to the reports, access to sites featuring smut and pornographic material will be restricted at the domain level. The move apparently follows a recent order by the Supreme Court wherein the telecom sector’s regulatory body had been asked to “take remedial steps to quantify the nefarious phenomenon of obscenity and pornography that has an imminent role to corrupt and vitiate the youth of Pakistan”. PTA said it has decided to take pre-emptive measures to block such websites at the domain level to control dissemination of pornographic

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content through the internet as it provided ISPs with a list of 429,343 domains to be blocked on their respective networks. The SC order, dated January 12, 2016 had stated that information in every field of the world has become so widespread that any person can acquaint himself with the latest developments taking place in the world. Such means of information, the order reads, should be encouraged and even amplified so that people who don’t have means and resources to go abroad and acquire information can have it at their doorsteps. “But this information has to be qualified. It can’t be extended to include every nasty and nefarious phenomenon, which has the potential to corrupt and vitiate the youth. This aspect of the subject has to be thought over holistically so that the negative part of the information may not spoil our young generation.”

strong message that should encourage others to take decisive action in 2016. Brazil was the bigger decliner in the index, falling five points and dropping seven positions to a rank of 76. Denmark took the top spot for the second year running, with North Korea and Somalia the worst performers, scoring just eight points each. The big decliners in the past four years include Libya, Australia, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. The big improvers include Greece, Senegal and the United Kingdom.

Army-run schools shut over security fears KARACHI: All army-run schools in Karachi will remain closed from January 27 (today) till Jan 31 (Sunday) in wake of serious security threats. An announcement to this effect was made late Tuesday evening. According to the announcement, all army-run schools in Karachi will remain closed for five days and reopen on Monday. Sources said the announcement about closure of schools was meant to boost security following last week’s Taliban attack on Bacha Khan University, Charsadda. Earlier, both government and private schools across Punjab were closed for from January 26 till Jan 31 for the same reason. STAFF REPORT

indo-Pak talks needed but not under shower of bullets: mukherjee President Pranab Mukherjee has advocated the need for dialogues between India and Pakistan but cautioned that peace cannot be discussed under a shower of bullets. “Terrorists seek to undermine order by rejecting the very basis of strategic stability, which are recognised borders. If outlaws are able to unravel borders, then we are heading towards an age of chaos,” he said in address to the nation on eve of India’s Republic Day falling on Tuesday, Hindustan Times reported. “There will be disputes among nations; and, as is well-known, the closer we are to a neighbour the higher the propensity for disputes. There is a civilised way to bridge disagreement; dialogue, ideally, should be a continual engagement. But we cannot discuss peace under a shower of bullets.” President Mukherjee’s remarks on the India-Pakistan dialogue were significant as New Delhi and Islamabad were trying to salvage the peace process in wake of the Pathankot attack. The foreign secretaries of the two countries were scheduled to meet in Islamabad on January 15 but the meeting had to be rescheduled because of the attack. The two countries were yet to confirm the next date for the meeting. President Mukherjee said that India should guard itself against forces of violence, intolerance and unreason. In remarks that came against the backdrop of a growing debate on intolerance in the country, he said reverence for the past was one of the essential ingredients of nationalism. “Our finest inheritance, the institutions of democracy, ensure to all citizens justice, equality, and gender and economic equity. When grim instances of violence hit at these established values which are at the core of our nationhood, it is time to take note. We must guard ourselves against the forces of violence, intolerance and unreason,” he said. Ahead of the Budget session in Parliament, the president said that it is the “bounden duty” of lawmakers that legislations be enacted after due discussions and debate. “A spirit of accommodation, cooperation and consensus-building should be the preferred mode of decision-making,” he said. NEWS DESK

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Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY KARACHI BILL 2015 SAILS THROUGH PA HOUSE TOLD 108,569 ACRES OF FOREST LAND ENCROACHED UPON BY THE INFLUENTIALS KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

AwMAKeRS from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) boycotted Sindh Assembly’s Tuesday session when its members were not allowed to present a motion for introducing a private bill. MQM legislators Khalid Ahmed, Jamal Ahmed and Anwer Raza Naqvi wanted to move a motion to introduce a private bill, the Karachi water and Sewerage Board (Amendment) Bill, 2015, but when lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) opposed it, the House did not allow them to present the motion. Upon this, the MQM lawmakers staged a protest and boycotted the House

DisAlloweD To PresenT moTion mQm boyCoTTs PA ProCeeDings while raising slogans of “go-corruptiongo”. The remaining business of the MQM members on the agenda of the day could not be taken up due to their boycott. Meanwhile, the Sindh Assembly was told by the government that as many as 108,569 acres of forest land had been encroached upon in the province. Sindh Forest Minister Gayan Chand, to a query of Nusrat Bano Seher Abbasi from the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, told the House that as many as as 108,569 acres of forest land had been encroached upon in different districts of the province by influential people, including politicians, dacoits and feudal lords. However, he said that his department was trying its best to retrieve the encroached land. He further said that the government was also considering inking an accord with these encroachers as per which they would plant trees on those pieces of land but their ownership would be vested with the government.

when the speaker questioned that why the government would ink a partnership with dacoits, the minister said if the dacoits were ready to plant trees over the encroached lands, the govern-

ment could hold a pact with them. The speaker told the minister that he himself had lived for one and a half months under the detention of dacoits when he was kidnapped in the past. The

minister remarked that besides criminaldacoits, there were also ‘white-collar dacoits” in the province who were equally indulged in loot and plunder. The forest minister however did not provide any further details on or about identification of these ‘white collar dacoits”. The provincial assembly meanwhile passed the Metropolitan University Karachi Bill, 2015, unanimously even though MQM members were not present in the House due to their boycott. The bill had been tabled by PPP lawmaker Faseeh Ahmed. Moreover, the House sent three private bills – the Sindh Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, 2015, tabled by Mahtab Akbar Rashdi of the PMLF; and the Sindh Minorities Rights Commission Bill, 2015, and the Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015 moved by PML-F lawmaker Nand Kumar – to the respective standing committees.

MQM holds ‘peaceful’ demos against media ban on Altaf KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Tuesday held what they termed “peaceful demonstrations” against the media blackout on party chief Altaf Hussain’s statements and images following a Lahore High Court order. while traffic jams were expected, the situation on Karachi’s roads remained under control with no reports of major traffic congestions due to the protest. MQM legislators staged a walkout from the Sindh Assembly session on Monday over the speaker’s refusal to allow them to table a resolution demanding the federal government lift the ban on the telecast of Altaf Hussain’s statements and speeches. Muhammad Hussain Khan of the MQM, who sought permission to move

a motion for the resolution in the assembly, warned during the session that millions of Altaf followers in Karachi had started staging demonstrations and

ATC re-issues arrest warrants of Altaf, others in hate speech case KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday reissued non-bailable arrest warrants of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and 23 other party leaders and workers in the hate speech case. The investigation officer presented a report to the court which said that the MQM chief was in London while other nominated members were in Pakistan but none had been arrested. The officer requested the court to grant more time for arrest of the accused. The court granted time to the authorities. A case had been registered against MQM chief Altaf Hussain for inciting violence in his provocative speeches against national institutions. Other MQM leaders the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for included Dr Farooq Sattar, Khalid Maqbool Siddique and Haider Abbas Rizvi. STAFF REPORT

Cases registered against 200 educational institutions owners, heads in KP PESHAWAR: Police registered cases against the owners and heads of 200 educational institutions in the city for failing to adopt adequate security arrangements. A police representative said that security arrangements were being inspected on a daily basis in Peshawar and its outskirts. Cases were registered against the owners of 200 educational institutions after they failed to adopt proper security measures. The representative said that under the Act, an owner could be jailed for six months and a fine of up to Rs 40,000 could be imposed for inadequate security arrangements. However, keeping in view the sanctity of education only a fine would be imposed. ONLINE

the protest would spread to other cities as well, followed by rallies and strikes if the ban was not lifted. Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj

Durrani however, said, “The issue is sub judice. If taken up it will create problems.” The Lahore High Court on Sept 7, 2015, ordered the Pakistan electronic Media Regulatory Authority and the Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) to ensure a complete blackout of all activities of MQM chief Altaf Hussain in both electronic and print media after petitions filed with the court sought a ban on the MQM supremo’s speeches for his alleged remarks against state institutions, including the army and Rangers. The petitioners were of the view that Altaf’s remarks were in violation of Article 5 which asks for showing loyalty to the state and obedience to the constitution, and that a case of treason should be registered against him. The court observed that there was sufficient material on record to order a complete blackout on the activities of Altaf Hussain.

Court asks Customs to produce evidence of money laundering against Ayyan RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

The Customs Court Rawalpindi on Tuesday asked the Customs prosecutor to produce evidence for filing of a money laundering case against model Ayyan Ali and adjourned the hearing till February 18. Judge Rana Aftab, who resumed the foreign currency smuggling case against Ayyan Ali, asked how the court could order registration of the money laundering case against Ayyan when it was yet to be proved that the money laundering had occurred. The court also rejected the request of prosecutor Amin Feroz for recording statements of witnesses, who were all present in the court. How could wit-

nesses’ statements be recorded when the record was with Lahore High Court, the judge remarked. Counsel for Ayyan Ali Lateef Khosa argued that the foreign currency possessed by her client when she was detained at Benazir International Airport, had been earned by her through legal means and not through stealing or corruption. Khosa said that the Customs authorities played an ‘April Fools’ joke with the state on April 1, 2015, when the case against her was added to the anti-money laundering list. The Customs counsel argued that it was not the first visit of Ayyan Ali to Dubai. She had, in fact, visited the United Arab emirates for at least 41 times. She used to stay at Burj Khalifa and

was caught at the BBIA with hundreds of thousands of dollars. A case under Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act should be registered against the model, he added. Judge Rana Aftab remarked that the court was not interested in hearing stories. He instructed the prosecutor to present the case on legal grounds and with evidence. He said that currency smuggling had not yet been proved and the Customs officials wanted registration of money laundering case. The judge ordered the Customs lawyers not to appear before the court unprepared. Ayyan Ali was also present during the proceedings. She was arrested by Airport Security Force at the BBIA with $506,800 in March 2015.

AJK elections: Imran Khan forms committee to award tickets ISLAMABAD HAMID KHAN WAZIR

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman PTI Imran Khan has constituted a powerful four-member committee tasked with awarding tickets to potential candidates for the upcoming general elections in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan Today has learnt reliably. Sources said that the four-member committee in-

cluded Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Siafullah Niazi, Ghulam Sarwar and Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry. The Azad Kashmir chapter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is an emerging political force especially with the joining of the party by former AJK prime minister Barrister Sultan Mehmood. In the 48-member incumbent AJK Assembly, PTI only has one seat which is held by Barrister Sultan

Mehmood. AJKPP has 29 seats, PML-N has 11, the Muslim Conference has five seats, MQM has two, Jamiate-Ulema Pakistan one, while the rest are held by independents. PTI hopes to present a tough challenge to the rival political parties, but PML-N is also not taking the elections lightly as several of its sitting ministers have visited the area and held public gatherings in recent days.

Qaim stopped halfway through speech by enraged lawyer KARACHI: Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah stopped halfway through his speech to the Sindh High Court Bar Association on Tuesday when a senior lawyer protested for the release of his son from a jail and accused all politicians of making hollow promises. Qaim had to stop his speech due to the protest for some time. “All of you come and make fake promises. No one is sincere with us. I need my son’s issue to be resolved,” said senior lawyer Abdul Sattar, registering his protest with the chief minister. According to details, Qaim was addressing the lawyers on the occasion of an event at SHC Bar when he was interrupted by advocate Abdul Sattar. Qaim could not resume his speech again until other lawyers calmed and silenced the enraged advocate. The chief minister however assured the senior lawyer that he would try his best to resolve the issue of release of his son. STAFF REPORT

People uprooted from sindh Assembly’s servant quarters continue to suffer KARACHI: The families evicted from Sindh Assembly’s servant quarters which were razed to make way for construction of a parking lot for the lawmakers spent another night in the open on Tuesday. Reportedly, the affected people have pitched tents in front of the razed quarters while women are cooking meals by making fire from wood in the open. No other accommodation or compensation has been provided to them by the Sindh government whereas no prior notice was issued regarding eviction. The affected people, including women and children, said that the Sindh Assembly has snatched everything from them, leaving them homeless for the purpose of making a parking lot. They urged the federation to hear their pleas. Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan, while showing solidarity with the affectees, said that no one would be left helpless in the metropolis. STAFF REPORT

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Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

WEATHER UPDATES WEDNESDAY

180C 070C

THURSDAY

210C

110C

FRIDAY

170C

110C

SATURDAY

220C 090C

Govt strivinG to ensure food security for women, children: cm LAHORE

STAFF RePORT

high-level delegation Tuesday led by World Food Programme Country Director in Pakistan Lola Castro met Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The World Food Programme and the Punjab government agreed to cooperate in food security, meeting of nutritional needs, elimination of hunger, training to cope with natural calamities and provision of technical assistance in the construction of modern silos for the protection of wheat reserves. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the Punjab government and World Food Programme are working on different projects. However, he said cooperation of World Food Programme with Punjab government in future programmes will be fully welcomed. He said healthy diet is of vital importance for the good health of women and children and Punjab government is running a pilot project in South Punjab under school feeding system. Sharif said World Food Programme can provide cooperation in extending the scope of this project. He said that children can also be saved from diseases with the provision of better diet. He said that cooperation of World Food Programme in the effective implementation of training programmes in schools to cope with natural calamities will be welcomed. The chief minister said that under School Safety Programme, the scope of this programme can be expanded and training provided to teachers and students to deal with natural calamities. He said World Food Programme has evolved comprehensive recommendations with regard to food security, elimination of hunger, better nutrition and construction of silos. He issued instructions

World Food PrograMMe Country direCtor Meets shariF

for setting up a committee headed by the chief secretary with regard to implementation of the recommendations of World Food Programme. Sharif said the Punjab government is striving for increasing per acre yield which will not only help in ensuring better return to the cultivators but attaining of food security as well. He said the Punjab government will work with World

Food Programme in future for the construction of modern silos for the protection of wheat reserves. The chief minister said the Punjab government wants to increase collaboration with World Food Programme and it can provide technical assistance to the provincial government in the storage of food, capacity-building of institutions, resource management, provision of hybrid seeds and other nutri-

tional matters. He said that construction of modern silos will help in protection of wheat reserves as well as minimising the losses. He directed that the departments concerned should maintain a close contact with World Food Programme. Sharif said that there is a need of taking effective measures for achieving food security and conservation of wheat reserves. He said that setting up of grain

stock exchange in future should also be considered. Representatives of World Food Programme assured that technical assistance will be provided for food security, construction of silos, nutrition and other issues. Provincial Ministers Bilal Yasin, Dr. Farrukh Javed, Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal and officials concerned were present on the occasion.

Jashn-i-Baharan to be celebrated in ďŹ rst week of March LAHORE STAFF RePORT

Provincial Minister for Forests and Wildlife Malik Muhammad Asif Bha Awan and Member National Assembly Muhammad Afzal Khokhar have said that Jashn-i-Baharan will be celebrated at Lahore Safari Zoo Park in the first week of March. They said that land has been identified for setting up of wildlife park at Sahiwal and transferred to Wildlife Department. They said that work will be started on the master plan immediately after approval is given by the chief minister. This was decided in a special meeting held at Forest Complex on Tuesday. Member Provincial Assembly Saira Iftikhar, Vice Chancellor University of Animal Sciences Prof. Talat Naseer Pasha, Director General Wildlife and Parks Khalid Ayaz Khan, Managing Director Tourism

Development Corporation Punjab Ahmer Malik, Chief Game Warden Punjab Shahrukh Butt, Director Lahore Zoo Shafqat Ali, Deputy Director Safari Zoo Park Lahore Syed Zafar ul-Hassan and Deputy Director Wildlife Jallo Park as well as officers concerned were present. The meeting was informed that wildlife park will be set up over 222 acres land in Yousafwala area of Sahiwal. The meeting was informed that various functions will be held at Safari Zoo Park in connection with Jashn-ie-Baharan and these celebrations will be continued for one week. These functions include folk music, shaam-eghazal, traditional luddi dance, photography, paintings, essay writing, speech competitions and pet shows. Director General Wildlife and Parks Khalid Ayaz Khan said that instructions have been issued to district administration throughout the province to

PRA EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE IN SHORT ORDER OF LHC LAHORE: The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has expressed its confidence in the judicial process saying that the short order of the Lahore High Court (LHC) while seeking to rectify procedural matters relating to the establishment and constitution of the Punjab Revenue Authority has declared its existence invalid, which in the absence of a

CMYK

detailed judgment is not entirely clear. In response to the short order of the LHC, it stated that it is also important to mention that the Punjab Revenue Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 promulgated in October 2015 had sought to remedy similar issues. The court in its order has nevertheless directed that there should be a

identify state land for setting up of wildlife parks and they will submit their report till February 1. He said that the estimated cost for the purchase of new animals for zoo has been sent to Planning and Development and Finance Departments. He said that work is speedily in rogress for the construction of play land, cafeteria, food court besides preparation of cages of animals in Safari Park. He said that 50 special effects theatre will also be set up at play land whereas monorail, bullet train, jet ride and kids driving school will be included in the play land. The meeting also reviewed in detail the affairs of Lahore Zoo, Safari Zoo Park, Drive in Zoo Jallo Park and issued instructions for enhancing facilities. A presentation was also given about by the heads of constructing modern play-land, cafeteria and food court at Safari Zoo Park.

transparent process prescribed for appointment of the Authorityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s members and Punjab Revenue Authority is in consultation with the Punjab government for addressing the issue. It is further added that court did not go into the merits of any of the cases and the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act, 2012 and the Punjab Revenue Authority Act, 2012 remain in field as their operation has not been touched upon by the court order. Online

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Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

LHC orders foolproof security for educational institutions LAHORE: The Lahore high Court (LhC) on Tuesday ordered Inspector General of Police (IGP) to provide foolproof security to all educational institutions in the province. Justice Ali Akbar Qurashi was hearing the case regarding steps taken for security of educational institutions in the province. The petitioner regretted that unfortunately government has failed to provide security to the educational institutions. he prayed the court to direct the departments concerned to provide foolproof security to these educational institutions. The court ordered IGP Punjab to provide foolproof security to these institutions and disposed of the petition. stAff rePorter

PRE-QUALIFICATION NOTICE Applications for pre-qualification are invited from approved Government Firms / Contractors enlisted for the year 2015-16 in Communication & Works Department, Govt. of the Punjab & Pakistan Engineering Council in respective category for participation in tenders for the following works.

S. Name of Work No. Amount 1

LAHORE: Policemen standing alert outside a school in the provincial capital. oNLINe

Punjab govt accelerates imPlementation on naP, claims sPokesman LAHORE APP

he Punjab government has effectively accelerated the implementation on National Action Plan (NAP) with an objective to eliminate terrorists, their facilitators, besides ensuring remarkable decrease in crime rate. According to statistics issued by the IGP office, a significant decrease was observed in crime rate during 2015 as compared to the previous year 2014 while murder cases decreased to 27 percent during this period. Punjab government Spokesman Zaeem Qadri Tuesday said the political leadership of country was convinced on a single point that until and unless the scourge of terrorism was eliminated, the country could not make commendable progress. he said, “The NAP envisaged to purge Pakistan from fissiparous forces engaged in weakening roots of the state has yielded desired positive results.” he said the PML-N government under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, through a well-designed NAP, had tightened the noose around terrorists and their facilitators and the situation was under control now. The spokesman said the prime minister held day and night meetings with the stakeholders and made peace in the country possible. “People have taken sigh of relief and life has returned to normalcy in strife-torn Karachi following strict im-

plementation of National Action Plan,” Zaeem added. he said that Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has put in place all effective measures for mobilising all resources to make National Action Plan a complete success. “Owing to stern implementation of the plan, rate of terrorist activities in Punjab is the lowest,” he added. Quoting figures, the spokesman said, Punjab police and other law enforcement agencies during search operations and crackdowns conducted in various parts of the province had rounded up as many as 33,000 persons with dubious activities and huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered. The Punjab police, under the National Action Plan (NAP) conducted 33,772 search operations during 10 months in which 994,118 people were investigated whereas cases had been registered against 980 people on violation of Foreign Act. however, the police had also arrested more than 40 terrorists and kept 69 outlaws under custody during this period. As many as 6,162 general hold-ups were organised in which 24,436 suspects had been arrested whereas 122,800 vehicles were impounded over tinted glasses and inappropriate number plates. On the violation of NAP Act regarding renting houses, 7,328 cases had been registered, and 11,036 people had also been arrested while 1,754 were convicted by the courts. Similarly, 2,851 cases on display of weapons and 2,611 cases of having illicit weapons had been registered. On

publication of hatred material, 547 cases were registered and 580 people were arrested while 35 of them were sentenced by the courts. As a result of implementation of NAP, murder cases have been minimized to 3,844 from 5,282, crime against person cases diminished to 43,437 as compared to year 2014 in which 48,759 cases were reported. Abduction for ransom cases reduced to 71 from 91, dacoity incidents minimised to 1,286 from 1,950 in 2014 and the other crimes have also been considerably decreased due to the effective implementation of NAP in Punjab. Under the National Action Plan, more than 425,000 arms of different categories have been computerized in Punjab and the drive is still in progress in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to get all the arms registered. According to the official sources, after the expiry of deadline, the government will launch a crackdown against illegal weapons across Punjab and violators will have to face punishments and fine according to the relevant laws. This initiative by the government will not only bring the weapons on record of the government agencies concerned but also discourage the crimes through illegal arms. Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that law enforcement agencies had completed search operations in hostels and universities, following a “zero-tolerance policy” against terrorism.

Approximate

Construction of Counter Terrorism Department Regional Rs. 125.923(M) Office at Sargodha. (ADP 3238 for the year 2015-16) Group No. 1 Barrack + Residence Grade 16-17 02 Nos. + Grade-18 01 No. M T workshop + Construction of RCC Para meter wall 18’ height i/c watch tower 08 Nos. + Gate and Gate pillar 03 Nos, + External development and Earth filling Group No. 2 Admin Block + Detention Centre + Police station & OHR Rs. 180.183(M)

The Contractor himself will make all arrangements for construction material and equipment for execution of work. The firms / contractors who wish to have their names Prequalified for the above noted works are required to submit their applications with following documents as detailed below (in duplicate) in the office of the undersigned upto 17.02.2016 during office hours. 1.

Interested firms should obtain Pre-qualification Proformas / a set of pre-qualification documents and self marking sheet from the office of the undersigned upto 15.02.2016 for submission of Rs. 2000/- (for each project) as documentation charges / processing fee, in shape of Pay order / Bank Draft (Non-Refundable) in the name of Executive Engineer, Provincial Buildings Division, Sargodha and submit duly filled and signed / stamped alongwith the application and requisite documents upto 15.02.2016.

The applicant will present the employed graduate Engineer before the Pre-qualification committee, if and where required.

Name of firms / contractors with year of establishment, partnership deed full address and telephone numbers of persons duly authorized by the firm / contractors with whom future correspondence can be made.

Particulars of construction equipments, tools & plants and complete bio-data of technical staff engaged by the firm / contractor with verified ownership documents.

To substantiate the financial soundness of the firm, a certificate from chartered firm and copy of up to-date balance sheet may be furnished. i.

Detail of similar nature works (equal or greater amount) executed indicating project cost, scope of work with verification from concerned XEN / DO (Building).

ii.

Detail of works handled during last three year indicating project cost, scope of work and date of commencement / completion.

Detail of any Arbitration / litigation or similar proceedings against any Government, Semi Govt. Department showing extent and results.

Attested photo-stat copies of enlistment & updated renewal in C & W Department (if already on the approved list of Government Contractors in the C&W Department) within the limit of above noted works.

Undertaking on Judicial paper that the firm was never black listed by any of the Govt. or Semi Govt. organization.

Partnership deed / articles of association in case of company / Limited firm with power of attorney.

10. Attested photocopy of Registration Engineering Council, renewed upto date.

PUASA hails CM’s decision to appoint Dr Mujahid as acting PU VC

LAHORE Press reLeAse

Punjab University Academic Staff Association (ASA) addressed a press conference in support of Dr Mujahid Kamran’s appointment as acting vice chancellor by the Punjab chief minister and the governor recognizing his services for the promotion of research and merit besides making the varsity apolitical. The press confer-

ence held at the University Club on Monday was addressed by ASA President hassan Mobin Alam, Vice President Dr Abid hussain Ch, Secretary Dr Mahboob hussain along with other elected representatives of the teachers. The ASA leaders said due to the leadership and research friendly policies of Dr Mujahid Kamran the international ranking of PU improved and many well reputed organizations of the world admitted

that the research and academic standard of PU was fast improving. They also ranked PU number one among public sector universities of the country. ASA leaders said that PU teachers’ elected representatives have welcomed the decision of CM and Governor to appoint Dr Mujahid Kamran as acting VC while terming this decision ‘very good’ for the continuation of the policies. The ASA leaders said that a few

teachers belonging to a particular group staged a protest against Dr Mujahid only because they have their personal agendas and some of them were facing inquiries. These elements have already given applications in court and NAB but they don’t respect the decision of these honorable institutions of the country. These elements have been rejected by the PU teachers’ community because they lost election due to their unpopular political activities and conspiracies. Such elements included Mr Auranzeb Aalamghir, Mansoor Sarwar, Shumaila Gul, Javed Sami, Makshoof Athar, Shahbaz Cheema and Shaukat Ali. ASA leaders, the elected representatives, have demanded the chief minister to not take any kind of pressure of such rejected elements who always remain involved in negative politics instead of performing their assigned duties. They said that thousands of PU teachers have welcomed CM’s decision they are very happy.

with

Pakistan

11. Further particulars, if desired may be obtained from the office of the Superintending Engineer, Provincial Buildings Circle, Sargodha and Executive Engineer, Provincial Buildings Division, Sargodha. Ph: # 048-9230371 & Ph: # 048-9230372. Only Pre-qualified firms / contractors will receive the contract documents on invitation of tenders for the above works. RULES & REGULATIONS: i.

Any of the total bids can only be rejected on the basis of evaluation criteria, though. a)

The procuring agency may reject all bids or proposals at any time prior to the acceptance of a bid or proposal.

The procuring agency shall upon request communicate to any bidder the grounds for its rejection of all bids of proposals but shall not be required to justify those grounds.

ii.

In case of any concealment or incomplete information, Prequalification application will not be considered.

iii.

No court proceedings against the Pre-qualification Committee will be allowed and the decision of the Committee will be final.

iv.

Applicant Firm / Contractors are required to give guarantee / under taking that they have carefully studied the prequalification notice and they will abide by the rules and regulation.

Information to firm regarding pre-qualification will be given after approval from the committee constituted by the Chief Engineer, (South Zone) Lahore the competent authority.

(KHALID MOHY-UD-DIN) Executive Engineer Provincial Buildings Division Sargodha

IPL-912

(IRFAN AHMED QAZI) Superintending Engineer Provincial Buildings Circle Sargodha

08 LAHORE

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

lHc dismisses Petition against arrest oF Hammad arsHad LAHORE

APP

Lahore high Court division bench Tuesday dismissed a petition against arrest of hammad Arshad, involved in 16 billion DhA City (Lahore) scam. The

bench headed by Justice Muhammad Tariq Abbasi heard the petition. During the hearing, hammad Arshad’s counsel assailing his client’s arrest and physical remand submitted that the LhC had restrained NAB from taking any coercive measures against the accused. But, despite the clear orders of the court, the NAB arrested the accused

and also got physical remand, he added. he contended that the arrest and subsequent physical remand was a violation of the court orders. however, NAB’s additional prosecutor general told the bench that the arrest was made in accordance with law. he pleaded the bench to dismiss the petition. The bench after hearing arguments of

both parties dismissed the petition. Meanwhile, an accountability court on Tuesday extended the physical remand of hammad Arshad for another 12 days. The NAB officials produced the accused before Accountability Court Judge Khaqan Babar and requested the court to extend the physical remand for further in-

vestigations. The NAB had arrested hammad Arshad on charges of corruption and cheating people. The accused collected money from the general public to the tune of Rs 15.47 billion. Later, he transferred the money to his personal accounts and used it for his personal gains and invested in other business ventures.

2 killed by robbers in toba tek singh bank heist TOBA TEK SINGH: At least two persons including security guard and an employee were killed while another injured in firing of robbers during bank robbery here on Tuesday. DSP Khalid Rasheed said that three armed robbers barged into a branch of a private bank situated in tehsil Kamalia of Toba Tek Singh and took the staff hostage at gun point. Upon resistance the robbers opened straight fire killing two including security guard and an employees, injuring another and fled after looting millions of rupees. The bodies and injured were shifted to hospital and the police after registering a case into the incident have started an investigation. stAff rePort

two afghan suspects held near us consulate LAHORE: Two suspected Afghan nationals were arrested near US Consulate on Tuesday evening. Security personnel deployed at the US Consulate held two Afghan suspects from Shimla Pahari. The nabbed suspects identified as Saboor Khan and Noorullah were handed over to police for investigation. stAff rePort

PFa seals eight food outlets LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) during its ongoing crackdown against substandard foods sealed eight restaurants and canteens of some hospitals besides arresting seven persons during last two days. According to PFA officials, these food outlets and shops located in different areas of the city were selling substandard, unhygienic food items, juices etc. Meanwhile, special teams imposed heavy fines on 11 shops and directed to improve conditions. The raids were conducted by officials of Punjab Food Authority with special teams of different town administrations. Also, a special task force of PFA raided two flour grinding factories, sealed both and registered FIR against the owner. APP

man arrested in okara for waving indian flag OKARA: A man was arrested by police for waving an Indian flag from the roof of his house. In an unusual event, police arrested a man for waving an Indian flag from atop the roof of his house. It was later also discovered that the man was an ardent fan of Indian middle-order batsman Virat Kohli. Kohli’s pictures were found from the man’s house. The man was caught waving the flag within the precincts of Saddar police station. stAff rePort

SIALKOT: A sugarcane vendor makes good use of a closed CNG station. oNLINe

Promotion of religious harmony collective responsibility: minister LAHORE stAff rePort

Punjab Minister for Minorities Affairs and human Rights Khalil Tahir Sandhu has said that promotion of religious harmony is a collective responsibility and civil society and

media can supplement the efforts of the government in this regard. he was addressing a seminar on religious harmony arranged by Minorities Affairs and human Rights Department at Aiwan-e-Iqbal on Tuesday. Provincial Secretary Bushra Aman, Tariq Naseem Gill,

Kanji Ram, Shehzad Munshi, former Secretary Arshad bin Ahmad, Director Federal Ministry for Law and Justice Lubna Zaheer, Justice(r) Nasira Javed Iqbal, Chairperson Women Commission Fauzia Vaqar, Absar Abdul Ali and others spoke on the occasion and threw light on the need

and importance of religious harmony. Sandhu said that Pakistan is a beautiful country of people having different religions and faiths. he said that all religions teach peace, brotherhood and religious harmony. he said the world is facing terrorism and extremism due to some self-motivated elements and there is a need to foil their designs in the interest of humanity. he said that meaningful education is the key to peace and solidarity of the country. he further said that collective efforts are needed to promote peace, harmony, tolerance and brotherhood in the society. The minister said that Religious harmony Committees of human Rights Department set up at district level are playing an important role in promoting peace and harmony in the society.

No leniency for kiln owners over child labour: Zaeem LAHORE oNLINe

Punjab government Spokesman Zaeem Qadri has said that elimination of child labour and provision of free education to the children of brick kiln workers is mission of the present government. Addressing a press conference , he said the Punjab government will ensure implementation on Prohibition of Child Labour at Brick Kilns Ordinance 2016 and the education to the children of brick kiln labourers will be ensured in government schools during next three months. he advised brick kiln owners that being a patriotic Pakistanis, they should help Punjab government in uplifting the living standard of brick kiln workers through education and eliminating child labour instead of going to strike.

Qadri said that there is no justification of strike as the Punjab government had already taken the Brick Kilns Owners Association into confidence in formulating this Ordinance. he said that around 500 cases of child labour were reported during checking of 2,517 brick kilns since issuance of this Ordinance and FIRs have been registered against 498 brick kiln owners, while 472 brick kiln owners were arrested and 201 brick kilns have been sealed so far. Secretary Labour and human Resource Department Ali Sarfraz was present on the occasion. Zaeem Qadri said that Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed to carry out indiscriminate action for eliminating the menace of child labour at all brick kilns throughout the province and no leniency should be shown to anyone. Teams comprising DCOs, DPOs, Assistants Commissioners and other

members of the institutions are checking brick kilns daily and on violation, strict legal action is being taken against the owners of brick kilns. Qadri said that under the ordinance, sealing of brick kiln, fine and six months imprisonment can be awarded. he told that Labour and human Resource Department has set up help line 0800-55444 for registering complaints of child labour at brick kiln and strict action is being taken. he said that any citizen can register complaint about child labour against brick kilns. Qadri said that Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced special package for children of kiln labours for enrollment in schools under which free education, books, notebooks, uniform and stipend of Rs 1,000 rupees per month per child will be given while Rs 2,000 will be given to the parents from next academic session.

FOREIGN NEWS 09

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

BooSTinG MiDDle eAST econoMy iS wAy To BeAT exTreMiSM: irAniAn PreSiDenT ROME

AGENCIES

ENERATING economic growth in the Middle East is crucial to defeating extremism, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, putting forward his country as a regional trade hub and pillar of stability. Rouhani is on a four-day trip to Italy and France, looking to rebuild Iranian relations with the West some two weeks after financial sanctions on Tehran were rolled back following the implementation of its nuclear deal with world powers. Italy announced some 17 billion euros ($18.4 billion) of business deals with Iran on Monday. Mega contracts are also in the offing in France, reflecting EU countries’ keenness to cash in on the diplomatic thaw with the Islamic Republic.

POPE URGES ROUHANI TO PROMOTE WORLD PEACE VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Vatican on Tuesday and urged Tehran to work with other Middle East states to promote peace and stop the spread of terrorism and arms trafficking in the region. Despite being an Islamic republic, Iran has good relations with the Holy See and the Vatican has been seeking to use its influence with Teheran to help bring peace to the Middle East. A Vatican statement spoke of the “important role Iran is called on to play, along with other countries in the region, to promote adequate political solutions to the problems that afflict the Middle East, combating the spread of terrorism and arms trafficking”. “I thank you for your visit and I hope for peace,” Francis told the Iranian leader at the end of a 40-minute meeting in the pope’s private study in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Rouhani, who wore a white turban and black robe, asked the pope to “pray for me”. He then held separate talks with top Vatican diplomats. AGENCIES

Underscoring the growing warmth, Rouhani said he expected Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to visit Iran in the coming months to help boost bilateral economic alliances. “We are ready to welcome invest-

German family-run businesses say ready to hire refugees: survey FRANKFURT: More than half of small and medium-sized companies in Germany believe the mass migrant influx can help alleviate the country’s shortage of qualified labour and most are willing to hire refugees, a survey revealed on Tuesday. According to the survey conducted by EY (Ernst & Young), so-called SMEs, or small and medium-sized enterprises, – which are mostly family-owned and -run and make up the backbone of the German economy – regard the shortage of qualified employees as their most pressing problem. Two out of every three firms say they are finding it difficult to recruit qualified workers and 49 percent of the SMEs surveyed estimated that the shortage was hitting revenues. Nationwide, the companies calculated they had a shortage of 326,000 workers, leading to a shortfall in annual revenues of 45.9 billion euros ($50 billion). More than half, or 55 percent, of the companies polled predicted that the arriving refugees would help alleviate the shortage and 85 percent of them said they were prepared to hire a refugee. Nearly 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany in 2015. AGENCIES

ment, welcome technology and create a new export market,” Rouhani told a business forum on the second day of his visit to Rome, saying Iran had ambitions to develop its own economy after years of curbs and hardship.

“Under the new conditions, we want to export 30 percent of what we produce in Iran,” he said, calling for rapid investment in “the most secure and stable country in the region”. Later, during a 40-minute private meeting in Pope Francis’s private study, the pontiff asked Rouhani to work with other Middle East states to promote peace and stop the spread of terrorism and arms trafficking in the region. Italy rolled out the red carpet to Rouhani and his 120-member delegation of business leaders and cabinet ministers, seeing Shi’ite Muslim Iran as a possible partner in the international coalition against Sunni Muslim Islamic State insurgents. “If we want to combat extremism in the world, if we want to fight terror, one of the roads before us is providing growth and jobs. Lack of growth creates forces for terrorism. Unemployment creates soldiers for terrorists,” Rouhani said.

Islamic State bombing kills two dozen in Syria’s Homs BEIRUT AGENCIES

A bomb attack claimed by Islamic State in the Syrian government-controlled city of Homs killed at least 24 people on Tuesday. The governor of Homs said the first of two explosions was caused by a car bomb which targeted a security checkpoint. A suicide bomber then set off an explosive belt, state media reported. “We know we are targets for terrorists, especially now the (Syrian) army is advancing and local reconciliation agreements are being implemented,” the governor told Reuters by phone. Seventeen people are still in hospital, one of whom is in a critical condition, the governor said. Syrian state TV earlier reported 22 people had died and more than 100 people had been injured. The Syrian Observatory for

Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll at 29. It said those killed in the explosions, which took place in a mostly Alawite district, included 15 members of government forces and pro-government militiamen. Syria’s nearly five-year-old civil war pits President Bashar alAssad, a member of the minority Alawite sect, against mainly Sunni

Muslim rebels and jihadi fighters. Islamic State said in a statement its attack had killed at least 30 people. The Syrian army and allied forces have been battling Islamic State in areas to the east and southeast of Homs city. They recently took back several villages including Maheen 80 km (50 miles) southeast of the city.

Italy covers nude sculptures for Iran president ROME AGENCIES

Italy’s desire to court visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani extended to covering up classical nude sculptures in the museum where he met Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, it emerged on Tuesday. The two men made speeches in Rome’s Capitoline Museum after a Monday signing ceremony which saw Italian companies tie up $18 billion worth of deals with the Islamic Republic. A huge statue of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius on a horse featured prominently in many of the photographs of the event.

But nude statues, including a Venus dating from the second century B.C., had all been covered up in temporary wooden cartons, removing the risk of them creeping into any of the shots — or catching Rouhani’s eye. The museum cover-up was not the only step Italy took to ensure the Iranian visit passed off smoothly. As Rouhani refuses to attend official meals at which any alcohol is available, wine was strictly off the menu at both lunch with President Sergio Mattarella and dinner with Renzi. According to media reports, France has baulked at making a similar placatory gesture, leaving diplomats preparing for Rouhani’s visit to Paris from Wednesday with a major protocol headache.

MASS GRAVE OF ISLAMIC STATE VICTIMS FOUND IN IRAQ’S RAMADI BAGHDAD AGENCIES

Security forces found a mass grave in the Iraqi city of Ramadi containing the remains of at least 18 people killed by the Islamic State group, police said on Tuesday. Ramadi was recaptured at the end of last month from IS, which overran large parts of Iraq in 2014 and has repeatedly carried out mass killings and other atrocities in areas it controls. “So far, we have removed 18 bodies including five members of the police, and work is continuing to remove the remaining victims,” police Major Tareq Ab-

dulkarim told AFP. The mass grave in the Al-Jamiya area of central Ramadi, which was found on Monday, is “expected to contain the bodies of 40 victims,” Abdulkarim said. He added that the victims were from Ramadi and were executed by IS in May 2015, when the jihadists succeeded in overrunning the city. Doctor Shakir Ahmed al-Hajj said that medical staff were working to disinter the victims and that “dozens” of bodies had been removed from the grave so far, while the work was still ongoing. And Sabah Karhout, the head of the Anbar provincial council, confirmed that

the grave was discovered and said the victims had either been shot or beheaded. Militants had held shifting parts of Anbar capital Ramadi since early 2014, but IS only succeeded in overrunning the entirety of the city last May. Iraqi forces recaptured Ramadi after months of fighting during which surrounding areas were retaken from the extremists, setting up the final push into the city centre. IS has suffered major losses since the height of its territorial control in 2014, but still controls significant areas of Anbar and Nineveh province to its north, as well as in neighbouring Syria.

CMYK

Afghan cop kills 10 colleagues, helps Taliban plunder KABUL: A turncoat Afghan police officer is believed to have killed 10 of his colleagues at their post in south-central Afghanistan, paving the way for Taliban militants to raid the facility and steal weapons and ammunition, a government spokesman said Tuesday. Someone poisoned 10 police officers by contaminating their food at the post in the Chinartu district of Uruzgan province and then shot them dead Monday night, provincial government spokesman Dost Mohammad Nayab said. Taliban militants took over the post after the killings. Arriving Tuesday morning, Afghan forces engaged the militants in a firefight, and the insurgents fled with weapons they stole from the post, Nayab said. It wasn’t immediately clear in anyone was killed or injured in the firefight. Investigators believe that an Afghan police officer working at the post killed the 10 others and later fled with the Taliban fighters, Nayab said. AGENCIES

Six Paris schools evacuated over bomb threat PARIS: Six prestigious schools in central Paris were evacuated on Tuesday after anonymous calls claiming that bombs had been hidden in the buildings, police and the school authority said. The schools all received practically identical calls between 10:20 am (0920 GMT) and 11:20 am, police added. Students at Charlemagne, Fenelon, Montaigne, Condorcet, Henri IV and Louis le Grand schools, all in up-market districts of the French capital, were moved to secure areas while police carried out searches. Only one suspect package, which could have simply been an abandoned bag, had so far been found, police said. AGENCIES

Denmark adopts controversial law to seize asylum seekers’ valuables COPENHAGEN: Danish lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of controversial legislation empowering authorities to seize cash and valuables from asylum seekers to help cover their expenses. The law was passed in parliament by 81 votes to 27, with one abstention. The passing of the so-called jewelry bill allows the seizure of valuables worth more than 10,000 Danish kroner (about $1,453). Items of “special sentimental value” such as “wedding rings, engagement rings, family portraits, decorations and medals” are exempted, according to the Danish Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing. But “watches, mobile phones and computers” can be confiscated, it says. The legislation has been criticized across the political spectrum, appalling many in this northern European nation, which has a longstanding global reputation for tolerance and promoting liberal, social democratic values. Rights group Amnesty International slammed the law, saying in a statement that it reflected a “dismal race to the bottom” by European countries in response to the migrant crisis. AGENCIES

10 COMMENT

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

Need for consensus Government’s antics

He government’s secretiveness combined with an informal style of governance continues to cause it embarrassments. attempts being made to change the status of the PIa Corporation to PIa Company Ltd have given birth to acrimony and social unrest without resolving the issue. the government had enough time last year to create a consensus through talks with the opposition and the PIa trade Union. Instead it gave an undertaking to the IMF to sell the national carrier to a strategic investor by June 2016. It then hastily issued a presidential ordinance to implement the decision. the Senate however struck down the ordinance through a resolution signed by 52 Senators from across the aisle. even now instead of sorting out the matter through talks, the government intends to change the status of PIa through a resolution in a Joint Session of Parliament. the PML-N has enough majority to achieve the objective by steamrollering the opposition. But then it will have to grapple with the PIa employees Union. the PIa protests which were continuing since the promulgation of the ordinance have now turned into a strike. the Union closed down the airlines’ booking offices in Karachi, Lahore and other major cities from Monday and has threatened to stop the flights from February 2. the government could foil the strike by recourse to the state’s coercive machine. However, the simmering tensions would send a negative message to the prospective investors. Will the government follow a similarly tortuous and divisive process to privatise the Steel Mills? the best way out is still to hold talks with the opposition and the trade Union. the government claims it cannot afford to inject Rs6 billion every month to PIa. Many think the only way out is privatisation. If the opposition has another practicable suggestion to make the PIa efficient and profitable, it should also be thoroughly probed. Political dialogue and public discussion can lead to better results than secrecy combined with an informal and arbitrary style of governance.

Punjab LG Ordinance (Amendment) 2016 Rightly challenged

unjab is a good case study for analysts that cheered the LG polls – despite their hollow and non-representative nature – simply because it was, apparently, an exercise in grassroot democracy, which must always be welcomed. It is another story altogether, of course, that politicians fought against the poll tooth and nail, and had to be driven to it by the Supreme Court. also, that local bodies are literally powerless – as a result of an exercise meant to bolster grass-root democracy – hardly seems to matter anymore. but the Punjab LG (amendment) Ordinance 2016 certainly takes the cake and has rightly been challenged before the Lahore High Court (LHC) by PTI and PML-Q. as expected, opposition parties have issue with the two amendments to the ordinance – whereby election of chairman and vice chairman of DCs and municipal committee as well as mayor and deputy mayor of metropolitan and municipal corporation were changed from ‘secret ballot’ to ‘open division’ (meaning show of hands), and election of reserved seats was substituted with nomination on basis of proportional representation system of political parties. The amendments raise two important questions, besides betraying the government’s intentions and ambitions. by eliminating the secret ballot, for example, the government only strengthens opposition apprehensions regarding voter intimidation; hence the charge that it wants to reward and punish people voting the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way, etc. also, why issue amendments after the local government election schedule? now that the results have favoured the ruling party, it seems obsessed with micro-managing the local body setup as well, calling the entire exercise into question. but with popular frustration mounting, the government might be forced to re-evaluate some of its decisions. It does itself no favours, at the end of the day, by exercises such as interfering in the local government process. by resisting proper devolution of representative government to the grass-root, it is only damaging its own reputation in the long term.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

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

A new Social Contract Who is responsible for Charsadda attack? Abdul QuAyyum KhAn Kundi

t seems the wave of terrorist attacks is emerging again after it subsided for sometime in 2015 after the launch of operation Zarb-eazb. after each terror attack we engage in a predictable behaviour. as usual there were statements of condemnation issued by everyone who has a social media account including myself. a debate ensued between those calling themselves liberals versus those that claim to be champions of the religion. as usual fingers were pointed at a foreign hand and demands made to stop any dialogue. as usual Prime Minister and Chief Minister were out of the country and VIPs rushed to the scene to become a hindrance rather than facilitate the operation but at least they made political points. Once again provincial government blamed federal government for its failure to protect while federal government hid behind 18th amendment to blame provincial government. No official will resign or lose their jobs for failure of their duties and mediocrity will continue to be the hallmark of governance, both elected and career. talk shows will have a field day in engaging in meaningless debate again confusing the people rather than shed light on facts and help form a consensus on a line of action. the blame squarely lies on military establishment, federal and provincial governments that have failed to protect the citizens. Instead of issuing statements of condemnation, government authorities should inform people what they have done after an attack on NaDRa office recently to prevent further high profile attacks. they should inform us how effective the formation of apex committee has been which met on January 14th to discuss the security situation. these authorities should inform us that after the aPS Peshawar attack, what changes were made in operations of law enforcement and collaboration increased among various state functionaries? they should tell us how many people lost their jobs because of failure to discharge their duties. Military establishment seems to be more concerned and interested in the international situation rather than focusing more on its professional commitments of protecting the borders and improving counter-terrorism intelligence especially those that involve international non-state actors. We need to be informed what improvements are made in the operation, capability and resources

of police. Media outlets instead of engaging in sensationalism should dedicate resources to prepare an investigative report or a documentary about the root cause of the continued terrorism and fundamentalism. But these should be based on facts and expert views rather than sensationalism and based on fiction. Politicians, instead of leading by example, are engaged in a power tussle. almost all of them belong to upper classes of the society and have no real appreciation or understanding of the issues faced by the citizen. they are mostly incapable of dealing with these crises of governance because none of them rose through the ranks over a long period of political struggle. along with short term measures suggested above, we also have to prepare a long term plan to overcome the social issues that give rise to fundamentalism and terrorism. the damage starts from our public schools on which most poor families rely to educate their children. the formative years of ages 5 to 10 are when the damage starts. Most grade 1 to 5 teachers in public schools are neither qualified nor equipped to engage in character building of children. this results in scares and gaps in personality that usually remain for lifetime. When these children reach adulthood, they experience another form of abuse that they encounter in various government offices to get some official documents, for instance birth certificate, driving license, national identity cards etc. this further develops frustration and anger. the treatment of police during routine traffic stops are also demeaning, asking for small bribes. If any of these poor citizens are engaged in a property or any other dispute, the treatment of judiciary is even worse. they keep circling courts for years without getting a verdict which further builds frustration and forces them to resort to fundamentalism. When these angry men go to mosques, for some spiritual relief, the imam instead of guiding and inspiring them builds up their anger against the society and instigates them to take violent action. In other words, I am suggesting that our whole society is so broken that routine life builds frustration and anger among poor citizen who are a majority. On the other hand, those with money and influence can get away with anything. there has been widely reported news of corruption by the son of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and former President asif ali Zardari; former PML-N MNa Hanif abbasi, PM Nawaz Sharif and CM Shehbaz Sharif using their offices to grow business

Mincing moderation The version of Islam most misunderstood is not Islamic, it is not always a negation of executing apostates, blasphemers and other “sinners”, but rather many so called “moderates” in the Muslim world only oppose ISIS because they may perhaps view them as neither having the authority to dispense Islamic justice nor dispensing this according to due process as prescribed in Islamic law. I can still understand this sentiment among many Muslims. Surely, ISIS must be breaking some procedure in Islamic jurisprudence if in fact qualified jurists are claiming that ISIS is not Islamic. But does the vast audience in the west understand this distinction? When we listen to certain groups in the US such as the ahmadiyya community advocate “love for all and hatred for none”, must we not take into account that homosexuality is in fact considered an abomination in the Quran even if some Muslims may not agree in a punishment for it? When the taliban’s swift punishment of a young girl was broadcast on tV in Pakistan, many moderate Pakistanis called it barbaric. the visual of a girl being whipped for fornication was condemned by all moderate voices. But was it not ansar abbasi himself who took offense on live tV when this form of punishment was called barbaric? the outright response was that this was a punishment prescribed in Islam and calling it barbaric was in fact insulting and against the law in Pakistan. Surely, there was something that the taliban were doing that was Islamic, and therefore the watered down condemnation was that the taliban had no authority and there were certain “technicalities”

KhurrAm ChAudhry

ate last year, US President Barack Obama issued a statement declaring that ISIS was not Islamic. this statement was lauded by millions of Muslims in the west and across the globe. Meanwhile, Saudi arabia, an american ally and a nation considered by many Muslims to be very much within the fold of Islam, had broken all records in the number of people beheaded, beating ISIS by far. and for what offences, may we ask? the official figures from Saudi arabia state that more than one in four people – 28 per cent since 1991 – have been executed for drug-related offences. But what gets pushed under the rug is that many death sentences have been given for other crimes not considered the “most serious” – or even illegal at all – under international standards. these include adultery, apostasy, witchcraft and, yes, sorcery. So what do Muslim “moderates” mean when they declare ISIS to be un-Islamic? What are they referring to? I recently posted this very news item on my Facebook timeline — of how ISIS and Saudi arabia have similar interpretations of Islamic law. Of course, many “moderate” Muslims were fuming. But when I mentioned that both Saudi arabia and ISIS award the death penalty to apostates, blasphemers, adulterers and witches, the rebuttal came with references to ISIS not following due process in determining the guilt of the subject being executed. So here we are. that is moderation for some Muslims. So when Muslims say ISIS

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thereby engaging in conflict of interest; Khawaja asif’s involvement in Nandipur Project, aleem Khan’s corruption in eOBI case, Malik Riaz’s corruption in development schemes, Ziaullah afridi’s arrest in mining corruption etc, but none of these were ever convicted. they still enjoy protocol, protection of police and live in luxurious homes. this growing class divide between citizens is another cause for frustration and fundamentalism. the long term solution lies in developing a new social contract. the next general elections should be for the installation of a parliament that should thoroughly review the 1973 Constitution and make extensive amendments to it. these amendments should define the role of religion in running of the state and politics, roles and division of responsibilities of federal and provincial governments, and our system of election which is currently based on First Past the Post System, to explore whether we should move towards proportional representation. We should also consider whether presidential form of government is more suitable or we can shift some responsibilities to the office of President while maintaining Prime Minister as head of government. We should improve monitoring and regulations of political parties to convert them into institutions rather than allow families to control them. It is also important to develop a better balance between legislature, judicial and executive arms of the government. the limits of military interference in politics and running of governments should also be considered. the status of Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and other areas should also be resolved so that there is uniformity of constitutional authority throughout the country. these are all important issues to consider. Many experts suggest operational improvement of education, health or police departments. But these operational aspects can only produce results when there is a credible team installed at the top to run government. these have to be installed through a democratic process but would require a good constitutional framework to deliver. It is for this reason I am suggesting that next general elections should be for a parliament that has the mandate to review the whole constitution and remove anomalies, contradictions and ideological confusion from it. the two-nation theory was valid for securing independence and has delivered on its promise. Now we need a new ideology and when forming it we must keep in mind that a state does not have a religion although it has to respect the religious values of the majority while ensuring protection of rights of the minority. It will take us another 15-20 years to improve our condition if we start walking on the path today. But I am convinced that without reviewing the Constitution of 1973 to remove anomalies, the foundations of any reform efforts will remain shaky and unreliable.

that were not followed. So we could safely say to the west that the taliban in the video did not represent Islam. the viewers in the west need not be told that it was due to a technicality. But is this not intellectual dishonesty? and are we not deceiving ourselves when we promote this narrative under the garb of moderation? and this approach is not just limited to the criticism of the Islamofascist outfits such as al-Qaeda, the taliban or ISIS. Moderate Muslims have, by and large, promoted a moderate narrative of Islam, perhaps not even knowing themselves that it is more reflective of the ethos of our times, this zeitgeist that we think Islam fits so well with, rather than what Islam truly may be. One striking example is the claim by many prominent Islamic leaders and clerics, when they come to speak on forums and on the media that the following verse in the Quran denounces killing and equates the slaying of one human life to that of genocide against the entirety of mankind: “If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” the verse being referred to is in the 5th chapter of the Quran (Surah al-Ma’idah) and the full text according to one translation reads: “Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. and whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. and our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.” Now what is omitted, overlooked or just hidden from the general public when this verse is quoted is that it’s written in the past tense

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and is clearly referring to what was ordained to “the Children of Israel”, the Jews who, according to Islam, received an earlier set of scriptures. and what is also many times not mentioned is that the very next verse actually does address Muslims and is in fact a warning to non-Muslims: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. that is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment.” What we have here is a mincing of moderation. Clearly all narratives of moderation given to the west might not be accurate. Not all of those who are promoting Islam as a moderate and peaceful religion are being honest in their approach. What cannot be accepted is the intellectual dishonesty and deception being practised by many apologists of Islam when Islamic text is misinterpreted and a false impression promoted. If we are to confront Islamic extremism globally and intolerance within many Muslim societies, we need to come clean on how we are to address extremism and the threat of ISIS and the taliban. the reason why these groups continue to grow is that there is a misunderstanding in the west and in moderate circles in the Muslim world about criticism of the taliban, ISIS. this pertains to even certain Salafist Muslim organisations that are promoting their creed in madrassas across the Muslim world and even in europe and North america. Disguised as critics of ISIS and the taliban, many of these groups are in fact supporters of both the text and the overall strategies of these terrorist groups. In fact, what they disagree on is often the legitimacy of ISIS and the taliban to dispense Islamic justice.

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COMMENT 11

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

Editor’s mail

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

Will to fight terrorism KUDOS to the enlightened columnist Yasmeen aftab ali for a very comprehensive evaluation of ground realities. She has identified aliases responsible for the tragic episodes of terrorism. She has identified the key characters, sources of their indoctrination, collaborators and described their role explicitly. Her closing lines sum it so well as under: “We need to understand that we must meet and overcome the challenge we are facing. We don’t have a choice. Do we have the will to fight terrorism?” However I would like to add that we need to work out a comprehensive plan to emancipate mentally as many people as possible from biases, prejudices and fixations of all kinds. this in turn calls for setting up institutions, manned by psychologist, sociologists, enlightened religious scholars and politicians of the locality. M SALEEM CHAUDHRY Lahore

India and Pakistan

Life with commodities The essence of life

ShAhzAd KArim

Hat is a commodity? Karl Marx defines commodity as “an external object that satisfies a human need either directly or indirectly.” Literally this definition of commodity is quite comprehensive. However, whenever I read it or think of it, I feel an implicit element of formidability in it. It is comprehensive in the sense that it reflects the true nature of commodity i.e., to satisfy a human need and mostly the needs have their connection with the outer world, the world of material and flesh. the hidden element of formidability is that the commodities have little concern with the values of life. the connection between commodity and material comforts is so intense and powerful that it can shake a sensitive soul. But remember, the condition here is to have a ‘sensitive’ bearing in both mind and heart which, unfortunately, is sinking down and down with every upcoming day. the world, especially during the last two centuries, has gradually moved from sensitivity to coldness and now it has reached a state that has nothing but only callousness and seems to have reached a state where, apparently, there seems no point of return. the delicacy and softness of both feelings and expressions have stopped functioning and have been replaced with callousness and utilitarian approach of personal benefits. this tendency which moves towards the desire for more and more has made both ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ the slaves. the ‘have-nots’ are the slaves of ‘haves’ and the ‘haves’ are the slaves of their unending desires and pursuits. this is the gift of capitalism. During the whole of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, there have been many small and large scale movements to save human beings from the capitalistic bent of

mind. However, the present era has been so powerfully hit by the capitalistic approach that its resonance has created deafness and blindness all around. Now we are deaf and blind to such an extent as we don’t have even a slightest tinge of saving ourselves from its heinous clutches. and even if someone realises it and tries to keep oneself away from it, one cannot as it is the order of the day and one is bound to be a part of it. even if we try to stand against it, we cannot sustain ourselves against this flood and somehow our whole course of life is destined to flow with its current. the whole scenario seems very much identical to what was said by W B Yeats years ago. Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; today its bulge is so strong that it has even blinded a layman and this is the worst outcome of it. a part or a section of human society, in all ages, has always been the follower of this materialistic bent, but the last two centuries, especially the last half century, have been so strongly hit by it that now even a common man is completely blinded by its lustre and is bound to be a part of this blind marathon. the most unfortunate and miserable phenomenon is that if anyone tries not to be a part of this race, he gets crushed under the treads of other runners and no one cares to stop even for a single moment to lend a helping hand to the fallen one. the present world, up to a huge extent, has made man devoid of feelings and the delicacies of life. even if someone claims to have some feelings and delicacies, it seems as if he himself is fool or making others fool. Nowadays, we are so much under the influence of commodities that it has completely changed our way of thinking, our means of attaining happiness and consolation. Now we feel happier with things, spend

more time with them and man to man interaction has eclipsed. We crave for material things. Our concept of happiness is linked with concrete and fleshy material. We have lost the concept of fluidity of life. How unfortunate the modern man is that he has been very silently and swiftly made deprived of the thought that the reality of life lies in its fluid nature. Unfortunately, the modern man is bound to think of and act for only concrete things. He wants to make himself more secure and thinks that safety and security exist in concreteness. He has put this reality aside that concrete is meant to be perished and fluid remains; rather it is the fluid that created life and it has also got the power to destroy the concrete. the movement of fluid soul out of the fleshy body causes its death. the fluid waves within the core of the earth demolish the huge concrete structures grown on the surface of earth. When the fluid water gets uncontrollable, it cannot be stopped by concrete blockings. Similarly, the fluid air contains the power to take all concrete in its lap and throw it away. When all this is true and this is the only ultimate reality, then why do we wish and act to fill our lives with concrete? Why do we want to be safe and secure? Why can’t we control our desires for more material pursuits? Why don’t we think that concrete is never safe and secure? Why don’t we learn a lesson from history that security and safety rests in fluidity? Why don’t we understand that being fluid, getting adaptable and moulding ourselves in accordance with the circumstances are the best strategies for achieving success and leading a peaceful life? the hardest reality of the present era is that even if we know that fluidity is eternal and the essence of life exists in mortality, variability, mutability and uncertainty, we cannot go away from it because we are the fleshy beings living in the present world where we are not so much under our own control as we are under the control of commodities. this phenomenon is so hard and harsh that it has even reduced the importance and status of man and has made him a commodity. the present world is a world of commodity and we need these commodities for our satisfaction, safety and security. We desire for commodities, we work for commodities, we live for commodities, we love for commodities and even we pray for commodities. When we are so much under the influence of commodities, then how can we think of going away from a life of commodities?

The present world is a world of commodity and we need these commodities for our satisfaction, safety and security. We desire for commodities, we work for commodities, we live for commodities, we love for commodities and even we pray for commodities. When we are so much under the influence of commodities, then how can we think of going away from a life of commodities?

The most unfortunate and miserable phenomenon is that if anyone tries not to be a part of this race, he gets crushed under the treads of other runners and no one cares to stop even for a single moment to lend a helping hand to the fallen one.

Shahzad Karim is an educationist and can be reached at: shahzadaps@hotmail.com

tHe Huffington Post in it January 18 article “the simple step India can take to make Pakistan army change its ways” suggests intriguing projection through media – both print and electronic. the articles attempts to negatively highlight that the Pakistan army uses the India threat to maintain its supremacy in politics and economy; it does not allow normalisation of relations with India; it sees afghanistan as its playground; it is afraid of adverse public opinion; it seems active only because of its effective PR as the phrase of the year 2015 was ‘thank you Raheel Sharif’; that India should work on the Pakistani public opinion, and if it unilaterally opens up visa regime to ordinary Pakistanis and they return singing praises of India, who will it benefit? the Indian ‘cultural invasion’ campaign has already made inroads in the Pakistani society which is silently causing a dent to its values and culture. through entertainment channels, movies, children videos, games and reading material, our language, food and change in thinking is taking place. It is so gradual and acceptable that we as a nation are not aware of what is actually happening. India and the inner enemies are taking full opportunity to view the “two-Nation theory” as necessary for the time in the past and not valid today. the strong bond between the people and army removes all fears of being vulnerable to any propaganda to the extent to harm the country. India is afraid of this cohesiveness, strong and sincere public opinion. therefore, it is making efforts to mould the opinion of some individuals against army to achieve its objectives. For this purpose it may work on more people to people contacts and collaboration. It means India also keeps a track on Pakistan army’s PR activities. the reference is clearly towards ISPR. It means a lot that the efforts of ISPR are positive and are bearing fruit in maintaining a good civil-military relationship. It also suggests that the enemy is aware of the active role of ISPR and now is going to focus on it to malign its image as well in future. the process of Indian propaganda is going to be slow and not very obvious; therefore, it would require continuous check. the government as well as ISPR is advised to monitor such propaganda messages and develop its own strategy to counter it. For this purpose civil society, political parties, intelligentsia, columnists, media and diplomats may be asked to join hands together and come out with effective response in a befitting manner. FAUZIA SALEEM NIAZI Islamabad

An officer and a gentleman GeN Raheel Sharif by his professional conduct and moral high ground has proved that coming from a family of shuhada he is an officer and a gentleman capable of holding the high office of Chief of army Staff. His elder brother Shaheed Shabbir Sharif and his father must be proud of him. He has earned respect by his conduct when others before him have fallen prey to temptation. the honour bestowed by ranks and privileges of the high office of the Chief of Staff are more than what money can buy. those who offered supreme sacrifice fighting to defend country will forever live in the hearts and minds of people. the operation to secure Pakistan from external threats and internal insecurity posed by homegrown terrorists is a battle which must proceed to its natural conclusion, till last criminal and terrorist who has made killing and crime a business is eliminated. army’s image, tarnished by numerous real estate, construction contracts and procurement scams during controversial tenures of Musharraf and Kayani who witnessed the nexus of land mafia dons and many corrupt officers with their insatiable greed, has been restored and must continue with same zeal and commitment. What started as welfare project for the next of kin of shuhada and ghazis suffering disabilities as a consequence of injury while on official duty, fell victim to greed and abuse. those politicians who were trying to create controversies about his retirement should be ashamed. Where were they when Musharraf and Kayani got numerous extensions? It was during these tenures that numerous khakis who headed NaB got LPG quotas and multiple plots, which many politicians and paid civil bureaucrats also acquired. these irregularities and conflicts of interest were regularised by those who were themselves beneficiary of such acts which cannot be justified either morally or legally. the curse of corruption and money laundering that has given rise to criminal economy also serves to fund terrorists who want to destroy our way of life and state sovereignty. MALIK TARIQ Lahore

12 WORLD VIEW

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

The Chinese are beaTing The WesT aT iTs oWn game al Jazeera HAMiD DAbASHi

Jews and Arabs should settle their differences in a Christian manner." That famous line by CharelsDurning, the Governor of Texas, in Colin Higgins' film, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, received a bit of tweak during the recent visit to the Middle East of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Now it appears that Iranians and Arabs might settle their differences in a Chinese manner. Xi's just-concluded visit to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran reveals the most spectacular difference between the Chinese version of international relations and the manner in which the United States and its European allies go about making a mess of things by trying to micro-manage the world. The Chinese president visited Egypt at a time when Egyptians were gearing up to mark the fifth anniversary of their January 2011 revolution, and he visited Saudi Arabia and Iran at a time when the relations between the two countries was at its historic low, endangering any remote possibility of a peaceful resolution to the bloody Syrian mayhem. But he seemed to be entirely oblivious to all such otherwise historic traumas as he single-mindedly pushed his country's economic interests.

Business is Business: Xi visited these leading Arab and Iranian capitals at a time when the plunge in the Chinese economy had forced a shut down of its stock market and caused Beijing to further devalue its currency. "That in itself is sending an ominous message to investors", according to analysts, for "all the government's stimulus efforts simply aren't working". Xi obviously had his own economic reasons and agenda when he visited the US in September 2015 or the UK in October, and his quick visit to the Arab and Muslim world. More to the point, he seemed oblivious to the dominant political problems of the region. How could that be? For the Chinese, "business is business" - an entirely American dictum that the Chinese have warmed up to, apparently savouring more than Americans these days. With the lifting of economic sanctions, unfreezing of billions of Iranian money, and the passing of recent legislation that punishes anyone including businessmen visiting Iran, the US government has effectively shot itself in the foot and given the Iranian market like a bunny rabbit gift basket to the Chinese to enjoy. With contracts worth $600bn the Chinese gratefully accepted the gift. The Chinese pivot into the mess of what the US and the European Union imperialist strategists have termed their

"Middle East" is now a rising indicator of a calamitous region reduced to unrecognisable ruin by the US and its European and regional allies by way of overriding economic developments by political domination. Mapping the world: As the thing that calls itself "the West" tries to conquer the world politically to rule it economically, the Chinese are doing exactly the opposite: Mapping the world in economic detail from which may emerge a bona fide political order. The Chinese leadership do not as much ignore as sidestep the political conundrum of the region. It does not interest them. They have a gargantuan economy to run, and to run it they must cross over their borders deep into Asia, Africa, Latin America, including the US and EU. They did not create the bloody mess in Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan to try to fix it. The US and its allies did - and they can never fix it. According to the BBC: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he and Mr Xi had signed a 'comprehensive 25-year document' on strategic relations. They also discussed terrorism, instability in the Middle East, as well as 'science, modern technology, culture, tourism ... security and defence issues." Rouhani is here trying to sell the Chinese economic interest in terms of Iranian political preferences. But the Chinese could not care less. That 25-year docu-

China’s role in the Middle East Cipher Brief ANDREW SMALL

President Xi Jinxing’s visit to the Middle East last week appeared to be business as usual. Short and relatively low-key, his studious avoidance of controversy was in keeping with China’s longstanding approach to the region: focus on energy and economics, and keep your head down on security and political matters. The extended absence of a senior Chinese visitor to the neighborhood and the cancellation of Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia and Egypt last year had given this three-country tour the flavor of a reluctant necessity, with an agenda rich on trade and investment but otherwise limited. Promote the Belt and Road initiative, deliver a speech to the Arab League, toast the 60th anniversary celebrations in Egypt, and pull off quick stops to Riyadh and Tehran without getting embroiled in their intensifying rivalry. Yet for all Xi’s careful treading around its high politics, this is now the region where many of the most significant shifts in China’s global security role are underway. The last 18 months alone have seen a number of important firsts: an agreement to build the first Chinese overseas naval base in Djibouti, the first non-combatant evacuation by PLA-Navy vessels in Yemen, the first deployment of a battalion of combat troops for peacekeeping in South Sudan, and the first confirmed kills by Chinese drones, with the Iraqi army’s strikes on ISIS targets in Ramadi. Go further back and you also have the first deployment of Chinese warships for military operations outside Asia in the Gulf of Aden, and the first use of PLA naval assets to support a civilian evacuation in Libya. Another even more dramatic first has been under discussion in Beijing recently: whether the PLA should involve itself directly in military actions against ISIS in Syria. For a region that is supposed to embody Chinese strategic caution, this is a striking level of experimentation. While Xi touted dialogue and development as the path to security during his remarks in Cairo, China has shown more willingness to utilize military means in the greater Middle East than in any region beyond Asia—and the trends that have been driving this shift are likely to persist. First has been a change in the terrorist threat that China faces. After years in which the most significant Uighur militant presence was in the borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, recent accounts suggest that Uighurs, now operating in Syria, are larger and more capable. ISIS itself is also one of the few transnational jihadi organizations to have targeted China so explicitly. Where Bin Laden tactically

avoided taking Beijing on as another enemy, Baghdadi has had no such reservations, and the killing of a Chinese hostage, Fan Qinghai, is likely to prove a moment of real symbolic importance. Second is a marked increase in the number of Chinese workers in the region and growing expectations at home about the Chinese government’s responsibility to protect them. This has been true elsewhere, but the turmoil in the Middle East in recent years has made it the most consistent focus of concern. Beijing was caught off guard by the unexpectedly large presence of Chinese nationals in Libya and has evacuated personnel from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen in the last few years. That presence will further spike with the new wave of industrial investments under the One Belt, One Road scheme. Similar considerations apply to assets and trade routes. The PLA Navy was sent to the Gulf of Aden, not simply as a gesture of cooperation, but to ensure the safety of Chinese ships and to help secure the vast Chinese imports and energy supplies that pass through the waterway. Neither was the deployment of Chinese combat troops for peacekeeping duty in South Sudan a purely virtuous act. Behind-the-scenes negotiations were focused on whether they should be defending Chinese oil installations as well as endangered civilians. Third, as Xi noted in his speech to the Arab League, is the sense of a “vacuum” as the United States steps back. While Xi argued that China is not “attempting to fill” the vacuum, the reference reflects Beijing’s anxiety that a more energy-independent United States will be increasingly unwilling to perform its usual security role in the region. Just as the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan prompted serious Chinese diplomatic efforts to forge a political settlement there, perceptions of a diminished U.S. presence in the Middle East are already catalyzing tentative moves on China’s part to adopt a more active stance. Xi’s visit itself was no turning point. China is still determined to maintain its friendships with all the region’s major powers and steer clear of too much exposure to its knottiest politics. In recent years, Beijing has rebuffed solicitations from regimes in the Middle East that fear U.S. abandonment and want to see China step in on a grander scale. Yet for all its reluctance and caution, as Beijing’s economic plans for the region mushroom and its security concerns grow, the traditional limitations on its role can no longer be taken for granted. Andrew Small is a transatlantic fellow with GMF's Asia program, which he established in 2006.

ment, 17 contracts, and $600bn price tag is what interests them most. The Chinese indulging in the neoliberal economic logic of globalisation, to be sure, will in no shape or form correct its destructive forces stacked up against the poorer nations, or against the poorer segments of the richer nations. But at least they sport no political hubris in spreading their economic priorities, nor do they fancy any moral manifesto of trying to fix the calamities afflicting the region. A bit of nonchalant Chinese "business is business" attitude is perhaps what the boiling Arab-Iranian tensions now badly needs. The Chinese want to buy their oil as cheaply as possible, sell their own goods

and services back to them as expensively as possible, and in the process make sure the navigational routes between the East and South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf remain safe, sound, and trouble-free. What mess the US and its EU and regional allies have created inland is their "business". The Chinese are beating "the West" at its own game without any "End of History" fanfare or any "Class of Civilization" hot air. Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

How far will Putin go? Japan Times The world has long known that Russian President Vladimir Putin hankers for a world long gone, one in which Moscow was a superpower and other countries routinely deferred to its preferences. Apparently, however, the Russian leader also prefers a world in which there is no rule of law, where national leaders are unchecked in their powers and free to do anything —including murder of political opponents — with impunity. That is one of the conclusions that can be drawn from the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KBG agent who had crossed Putin. Another, equally troubling, conclusion is that Putin is likely to suffer no consequences from this brutal act. Litvinenko was murdered in London in 2006 after meeting two former colleagues for about half an hour; during that meeting he drank cold green tea laced with polonium-210, an extremely radioactive substance. Despite consuming just three or four mouthfuls, Litvinenko absorbed enough of the poison to make death inevitable; photos from his deathbed show a once vigorous man reduced to a hairless, near cadaverous state in just over three weeks. His body was so radioactive that he was buried in a lead-lined casket and his autopsy was conducted by medical personnel in protective clothing. Litvinenko accused the Russian authorities and Putin directly of ordering his killing, but it took several years before the clamor for an investigation produced results. Sir Robert Owen, a judge, was appointed to head a six-month investigation that concluded last week that the two men — Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB agent, and Dmitry Kovtun, a former Soviet Army officer — “were acting on behalf of others when they poisoned Litvinenko,” most likely “under the direction of the FSB,” the Russian security services. The operation, said Owen, “was probably approved by [FSB chief Nikolai] Patrushev and also by President Putin.” The evidence for official Russian involvement is compelling. Polonium-210 is extremely poisonous and very hard to come by; only governments have access. A high polonium concentration was found in the teapot that served Litvinenko’s deadly drink and at the sushi restaurant where the three men ate dinner; a veritable radioactive trail was left across London in offices, hotels and even on the seat in which Lugovoi sat on his flight from Moscow to London. Motive is also easy to supply. Litvininko was considered a traitor by his former employers. He had left the FSB and after working for Russian oligarchs as a security consultant, he

had reportedly been hired by MI6, the British intelligence service, and was offered British citizenship just before the murder. But the rationale for killing him was more personal. Litvinenko accused Putin and the Russian government of collusion with the mafia and corruption, and of planting bombs in Russian apartment buildings in 1999, incidents that were used to justify an offensive against Chechens. He also charged Putin with pedophilia, creating “a personal dimension to the antagonism between Mr Litvinenko on the one hand and President Putin on the other,” said Owen. The evidence will only be circumstantial, however. Some of the testimony, from British intelligence services, was provided in secret and will not be available to public scrutiny. More important was the refusal of Russian authorities to cooperate. Claiming that they did not want to prejudice a Russian investigation into the killing, Moscow would not let the two men be interviewed, and had no interest in extraditing them to the U.K. for questioning. Lugovoi has since been elected to the Russian Parliament, where he enjoys immunity from any legal charge. The Russian government denied all charges, dismissing the inquiry as an “orchestrated political farce” designed to “smear Russia.” A Foreign Ministry spokesperson concluded that “Agatha Christie ain’t got nothing on this.” British rhetoric was fierce. Interior Minister Theresa May in Parliament called the killing “a blatant and unacceptable breach of the most fundamental tenets of international law and of civilized behavior.” British reaction will be limited. The Russian ambassador has been called in and the assets of Lugovoi and Kovtun will likely be frozen and they will face travel bans. A more telling response came from British Prime Minister David Cameron, who, like other world leaders, will be inclined to see this incident within the larger constellation of relations with Russia. In this framework, world problems such as the bloody civil war in Syria, take precedence over the life of one man — a former KGB agent at that. As he explained, “Do we at some level have to go on having some sort of relationship with them because we need a solution to the Syria crisis? Yes we do.” Putin makes similar calculations. He certainly prefers a 19th-century mindset in which Russia is a great power, a status that gives it license to act as it pleases. In truth, the more appealing element of that world view is the omnipotence enjoyed by the leader: He is above the law, free to act as he chooses, at home or abroad. That mentality leads to murder in fashionable London hotels, invasions of sovereign states and the annexation of coveted territory. More lawlessness will follow.

LEISURE 13

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

HaGar tHE HorrIblE

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

You try to please others today, but even your best intentions are not good enough if your behavior seems abrasive. Your emotions may run so deep now that it's healthier to err on the side of caution than.

Managing relationship dynamics is more complicated than you expect today. Although you might be able to tell there's a lot going on beneath the surface, finding your way through potentially explosive emotional.

Your underlying motives might not be as altruistic as they seem, even if you go out of your way to put others at ease now. However, there's nothing wrong with your desire to be admired by someone you like.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Even if you believe everything is unfolding naturally today, someone close to you may still think you're too controlling. But any manipulative behavior is probably motivated by your fear of someone taking.

You may obsess about what you're going to do today, but overplanning is likely a waste of time. You could misread the dynamics of a situation and make a faulty assumption by relying on wrong data.

There is no need to overreact if someone makes unreasonable demands of you today. Your best strategy is to push back with a firm but gentle touch. Mischievous Mercury is still backpedaling in your 6th.

dIlbErt

GarFIEld

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

It might seem as if your friends are not being very supportive of your goals at first, but your worries could be unfounded. You may have too much on your mind and too many leftover chores weighing on your.

Your energy reserve may be on empty today, making you feel rather frazzled if you can't establish a steady work pace. Something slipped just slightly out of alignment and it could take a conscious attitude.

Saving your pennies isn't your idea of fun, but you wouldn't have to pay attention to your finances today if you took care of your personal business yesterday. You wish you could kick back and fantasize.

baldo

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You can't decide whether to push ahead more forcefully now or if it's smarter to temporarily retreat. Frustration sets in if you wish you took a different course of action. But what you do next might not.

Your dreams contain messages, whether you remember them as soon as you wake up or if they return as fragmented images throughout the day. However, it's wiser to proceed with caution because your fantasies.

Your intuition is operating on warp drive now, making you even more attuned to other dimensions. In fact, you might even feel as if you're living your life within a dream. However, something weird happens.

crossword

sUdoKU

word sEarcH

ACROSS

brIdGE

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.

NAIL NIMBLE OCCUPy OCCURS PARADE PARTICIPATE RECANT RECEIVE RELAxATION SCATTER SILLy SkIM SkULL SNITCH START STONE TAUT THREAT USURP WEAVES

Today’s soluTions

NatIoNal cHampIoNsHIp

cHEss white tO PLAY AND MAte iN fOur MOVes 8

crossword solution

7 6 5 4 3 2

chess solution

1.Na5 a1Q 2.ra6+ Kb8 3.Nc6+ Kc7 4.rxa1 *

sudoku solution

1 Small cafe (6,4) 7 European country — Wombles' great uncle (8) 8 Shout loudly (4) 9 Capital of Ukraine (4) 10 Scurry — sink — coal container (7) 12 Cool under pressure (11) 14 Word or phrase to aid online searches — hag's hat (anag) (7) 16 Short haircut (4) 19 Extinct Japanese volcano — cherry tree (4) 20 Together (2,6) 21 Drawing pad (10) DOwn 1 Hurl (5) 2 Eve's modesty garment? (3,4) 3 Multi-national currency (4) 4 Painting — pea cases (anag) (8) 5 Path of one celestial body around another (5) 6 One under a baker's dozen (6) 11 Devil devotee (8) 12 Planet discovered by William Herschell in 1781 (6) 13 Mexican dish — rub trio (anag) (7) 15 Pull suddenly (5) 17 Put down noisily (5) 18 Succulent — soak (4)

ANNEx ASSUME BADGE BEGIN BEWARE CANT CLASH CONfER CRATE CREAk DISCUSSION DRAIN fATE fORGE GENIUS GLORy GRASS kNACk LEAk LUGE

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

ARTS

TradiTional TaTToos in MyanMar back in vogue YANGON

This URL will crash your iPhone HUFFINGTON POST Do not visit crashsafari.com on an iPhone. It will crash your browser or even the device itself. When you visit the website, it’ll load for a moment and then crash Safari or force a reboot of your iPhone, sending you back to the home screen with everything else intact. Depending on your settings, you might lose some tabs, but it won’t do anything to damage your device otherwise. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post about the website. That said, it’s nothing to worry about: 9to5 Mac explains that the site relies on JavaScript to create a loop with the History API — a pretty complicated way of saying that crashsafari.com is annoying but won’t compromise your personal information. 9to5 Mac also said the glitch works on desktop versions of Safari, though not many people use that. We also tried accessing crashsafari.com using the Chrome browser on the Samsung S6 Android phone. The phone didn’t crash, but the website did freeze the app, making it impossible to go to a different URL. That said, we were able to minimize and close the app as normal. People have reportedly been sharing the link on social media and sending it to friends using link shorteners to trick them into opening it. But you wouldn’t do anything so vile, would you? flects an unstable and critical moment in Thai society.”

AGENCIES

YANMAR’S emergence from decades of cloistered junta rule has seen a cascade of foreign products flood the country in recent years. But it has also allowed for the revival of ancient fashions, like tattoos. With the country’s borders opened up and web censorship laws dismantled, young people in Myanmar are being exposed to foreign trends on a wide scale, and a host of new countercultures are emerging. Yet a buzzing workshop on traditional tattooing in Yangon on Saturday suggests that when it comes to body art, it’s the local designs that are back in vogue. “Our traditional style of tattooing has disappeared so we are bringing back the Myanmar style,” said Tut P,

37, a professional tattoo artist from Mandalay who helped organise the Myanmar Traditional Ink Workshop.

There’s a long history of inking up in Myanmar, where the country’s myriad ethnic minority groups donned tattoos as

Giant Trump poster becomes pilgrimage site

Having a wardrobe is not cool. You know what’s really cool? Grey t-shirts and hoodies. Lots of them! On Monday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a picture of his incredibly monochromatic wardrobe, proving once and for all that the billionaire founder really does just buy grey t-shirts and hoodies in bulk and wears them every day. “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community,” Zuckerberg once explained of the curious sartorial decision. As it turns out, many of the most successful people in the world use the same strategy to cut down on the burdens of making choices.

Man buys photograph of organic potato for €1 million COURTESY TELEGRAPH

Your wardrobe is probably better than Mark Zuckerberg’s COURTESY MASHABLE

spiritual protection, signs of social status and antidotes to ward off disease. But the traditional practice was suppressed under British colonial rule and became taboo under the oppressive military junta that followed for nearly five decades. Now tattoo artists are reviving historic images and patterns using modern tattoo guns, which are considered safer than traditional tools. “Another difference today is that young people are choosing their own designs,” said Maung Thi, 25, a tattoo artist who joined the trade six years ago. “Youths nowadays are choosing meaningful tattoos,” he said. “Their ideas are much better, I would say”. Yadanar Thun Phyo, 20, for instance, drew her own version of a mystical Myanmar bird, which she had inked on her leg at the workshop.

WEST DES MOINES AGENCIES

Visions of grandeur appear to have passed from Donald Trump to his supporters. A man has erected a large poster of the Republican frontrunner alongside a major thoroughfare in Iowa, making it a pilgrimage site for those who marvel at Trump’s no-nonsense presidential run for the White House. The four foot by eight foot (1.2 x 2.4 meter) photograph has become a landmark of sorts in a residential suburb of Iowa’s capital Des Moines. It shows Trump with his mouth open in a rictus and his eyes hard

and focused, as if he might be unleashing one of his (many) tirades, or delivering a takedown of a rival. “I’ve always been a little bit of a Trump fan,” said George Davey, good-natured computer engineer by day and inventor by night, as AFP knocked on his door. Trump supporters – and US media – have flocked to Davey’s poster since November. His family, no longer perturbed by the disruption, continued their meal during a Monday interview. “He says what’s on his mind, he doesn’t worry about being censored or eroding free speech,” Davey said admiringly. That’s the kind of guy we need. Kind of like Putin,” he said, refer-

ring to the Russian president. A neighbor, Yvonne, confirmed that passersby stop and snap photos. Davey put up the poster, along with lights to make it visible at night, and set up a security camera to prevent vandalism. The photo has been tampered with twice, once with chocolate syrup, which was easy to wash off. The second time vandals “spray-painted a sad face” on Trump, Davey said. Like the candidate himself, Davey’s poster does not let attacks bring it down. In case of irreparable damage or vandalism, Davey has several copies of his photograph at the ready.

Is this photograph of a muddy spud worth €1m? According to one unnamed European businessman, it is. The picture was taken in 2010 by Kevin Abosch and it is of an Irish potato. The celebrated artist, 46, confirmed the picture was sold for a million euros (£758597.73). The photograph sits alongside shots of Steven Spielberg, Michael Palin, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Malala Yousafzai in the sought-after photographer’s portfolio. Mr Abosch’s photos are usually commissioned for at least £200,000. His work has been seen in international magazine features and covers, including Vogue. The million-euro print isn’t even one-of-kind - there are three in existence, one belongs in his private collection, another was donated to an art museum in Serbia and the third was sold to the unnamed businessman. He told the Sunday Times, “It’s not the first time that someone has bought the art right off my wall. “We had two glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really like that’. Two more glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really want that.’

ThaiLand ‘angeL doLL’ vendoRs Raided in Tax bUsT BANGKOK AGENCIES

A craze in Thailand for pampering lifelike dolls to bring good fortune doesn’t seem

to have done the trick for some vendors, who on Tuesday were raided by police on charges of tax avoidance. Known in Thai as “luuk thep” (child angels), the pricey dolls, which can cost

up to $600, were first popularised by celebrities who claimed dressing up and feeding the dolls had brought them professional success. Doll-mania has since taken off across deeply superstitious Thailand, with adults bringing the figures to Buddhist ceremonies, restaurants and even on planes, where they have reportedly been issued seats and served mid-flight refreshments. But after Thailand’s police chief warned this week the fad was going too far, officers on Tuesday confiscated more than 100 dolls and arrested three vendors in Bangkok for allegedly failing to pay import taxes. “Mostly they imported [the dolls] from China,” Colonel Kriangsak Kanrayawattanajaroen, deputy commander of the Economic Crime Suppression Division, told AFP. He added that the vendors had avoided paying more than 100,000 baht ($2,750). The bust followed reports this week that Thai Smile airline was offering tick-

CMYK

eted seats and meals to the dolls, accommodating owners who did not want to stow them as carry-on luggage. Thai media published a leaked airline memo that defined the “child angels” as “a doll that is alive”. The memo said the dolls should be placed in window seats so as not to disturb other passengers and that seatbelts should be worn during take-off and landing, according to reports. Thai Smile declined to comment when contacted by AFP. A state-owned bus operator, Transport Co., is charging half-priced tickets for the dolls, who will “receive full service, including food and drink,” a PR representative told AFP. But transportation companies aren’t the only businesses seizing upon the fad to turn a profit. On Monday Thai police found a doll packed with 200 methamphetamine pills in an airport parking lot in the northern city of Chiang Mai. “It’s the first case that traffickers have used a ‘child angel’ to traffic drugs,” said Chiang Mai’s deputy

commander Colonel Mongkol Samphawaphol. “In the past we’ve only seized ordinary dolls,” he added. Thai anthropologist Visisya Pinthongvijayakul told AFP that while the angel doll trend only started last year, the practice has roots in the ancient occult worship of preserved foetuses thought to contain a child’s spirit. More than 90 per cent of Thais identify themselves as Buddhist. But the country’s Buddhism is known for its syncretism, comfortably blending many animist and Hindu traditions into daily worship. Visisya said he has seen many shopkeepers and vendors buy the new angel dolls in hope that the talismans will boost sales during currently bleak times for Thailand’s stuttering economy and ongoing political instability. “From the perspective of Thais this is a very uncertain time,” said Visisya, citing the plunging price of rubber and the ruling military junta’s lid on dissent.

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

ARTS

Lifting the veiL – giving transgenders a chance one cafe at a time LAHore

“

ANNAM LoDHI

I usually dress up like a boy, it is only until I speak that people realise who I am. I have to do this for my family... my sisters need to get married and my brothers have a standing. “They shouldn’t be insulted because of me,” says a trainee transgender at a popular ice cream parlour in a posh part of town. The trainee, who spoke only after being assured that her identity wouldn’t be revealed, is part of a team of 15 transgender that will be starting their new jobs soon. For many of the trainees this is their shot at an average life. For many of us, the idea of living a ‘normal’ life may seem boring, but for transgendered people ‘normal’ is perpetually out of reach. Or at least it was before initiatives such as the one that landed them into an ice cream parlour. Soni*, who will be working at the place, spoke to Pakistan Today about the opportunity. “We are ready to learn if people are ready to teach,” she says. Umer Hussain, the owner of Sweet Tooth, wanted to help transgender mainstream into society. He hopes to help promote tolerance and has taken initiative to train the lot in the field of hospitality. “It is high time that people start treating them as part of society - as normal people and not people that bring ‘dishonour’,” Umer says. The idea to help the community find

their place in society struck Umer during a discussion with his friends. He was introduced to Jannat Ali, a performer by profession who doubled as an MBA gold medallist and a transgender activist working for the Khawaja Sira Society (KSS). “We are always looking for a good working environment for our community members,” Jannat told Pakistan Today. “Shemales are usually bullied. They are thrown away by their parents when they are very young, or given to gurus. The only career choice most have is that of a dancer or a sex worker,” Umer adds. The collaboration aimed at helping transgenders that were disowned and/or ones that could not find a regular job. If someone was educated, they had a higher

chance of being placed. Designations ranged from floor staff to the management positions. Depending on their capabilities and drive they would be further checked. Eight members of the community had already signed joining contracts at the time of writing this article. On the surface, little pockets of news about progress made on the transgender front makes it seem like Pakistan has come a long way. Not too long ago, they were allotted their own National Identity Cards (NICs). However, Jannat feels that it is all superficial. “People are very intolerant, superficially they seem lenient towards us, but we are never given the needed support or acceptance.”

Boys weren’t interested in me till I was 18: Sunny Leone

Harassment at workplace is a common concern for them, with little or no management support they end up getting used to being harassed, Sam, a trans working at the cafe states. Sam is visibly hesitant when talking about her past. “We meet all kinds of people in our life, some worse than others some much better. Getting used to the problems is part of life,” she says wistfully. The ice cream parlour will offer completely support, however. Umer aims to ensure that strict policies are followed so that the people working with him can truly make a transition into normal life. “Let people complain about my products but not about the type of people I hire! If it’s related to their work I would welcome criticism but not because of their gender,” he asserts. Apart from the customer reaction and the problems that may follow as word gets out, the new recruits are happy to

‘3 Idiots’ sequel in oﬃng, indicates Aamir Khan

learn and looking forward to some level of acceptance. Sonu, who used to work at a boutique before coming to the parlour, cannot contain her excitement. “This is a new field, and the best part is that we friends are together, there is a lot of emotional support and the staff here is getting used to us too,” she exclaims. While progress is being made, there is a long way to go. Transgenders are a community that often live in hiding. They often remain stuck below the poverty line, and have to put up with immense discrimination. And even though we have heard news of transgenders being hired at NCA and now here, it is important to note that these events are happening at the same time as the attack on a transgender activist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the end of the day we must ask ourselves, is asking society to just let them live a ‘normal’ life too much to ask?

Zayn Malik announces first solo single‘Pillow talk’

courtesy PtI Superstar Aamir Khan has indicated that a sequel to his blockbuster film “3 Idiots” is likely to be made. The Rajkumar Hirani directed movie of 2009 also starred Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan. “Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) sometime ago mentioned that he has found a story for ‘3 Idiots’ (sequel), so maybe we will reunite soon. Don’t make it as a breaking news,” Aamir told reporters at a press conference to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Rang De Basanti” on January 25.

PAULO COELHO To play the victim may work once or twice, but don't renounce your power - as it's almost impossible to get it back. #BeStrong

CJ WERLEMAN Islamophobia is the jihadist's best friend. Anti-Semitism is the Zionist's best friend. Without each, neither can thrive.

AUNTY PAKISTAN Dr. Danish could have simply sung "Abhi na jao chor kar kay dil abhi bhara nahi" for Raheel. Why express ur love at the expense of democracy

SENATOR REHMAN MALIK USA forces are resent in Afghanistan/deaths to Pak is being supplied from Afghanistan yet President Obama is asking Pakistan to do more.why

FAISAL SUBZWARI A famous Naat KhwaN is praising the killer of #SalmanTaseer, tone,words&body language r aggressive. Its a test case for #Pakistan Ch Nisar?

courtesy PtI Former One Direction star Zayn Malik has revealed that his first solo single “Pillow talk” will be released on January 29. Malik, 23, made the announcement by sharing a shirtless snap on Instagram and said the song is about physical intimacy. “I think I’m pretty black and white about what it’s about. Everybody has sex, and it’s something people want to hear about. It’s part of everybody’s life, a very BIG part of life! And you don’t want to sweep it under the carpet. It has to be talked about,” he said. The singer also revealed he would consider doing a One Direction reunion in the future.

courtesy IANs Actress Sunny Leone says she was a “geek” while growing up and so, boys weren’t really attracted to her until she was 18 years old. “I was a very academic student in college, but until college, I was an average student. But I knew business and I was fond of marketing, and all kind of geeky stuff. I was a nerd in my teenage years and didn’t have a lot of friends.” “I also knew how to edit videos, do photoshop and lots of other things that a lot of 18or 19-year olds don’t do. No boy was interested in me until I was 18,” Sunny said in a statement. The actress, who is currently awaiting the release of her forthcoming sex comedy movie “Mastizaade”, opened about her past in a TV show “Yaar Mera Superstar”. Before Sunny forayed into Bollywood, she was popular as an Indo-Canadian porn star. She was recently in news following an interview with a news channel where an anchor posed questions regarding her life as a porn star.

CMYK

Actress Katrina Kaif, who will next be seen on screen in “Fitoor”, says love story is her favourite genre. “In films, love story is my favourite genre. Love stories and human drama, I think these are the most beautiful genres as they make for engaging films. It can be uplifting, sad or inspiring… but love stories connect with you.” “I connect really well with love stories,” Katrina said in Mumbai. “Fitoor” is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic novel

“Great Expectations” and will have Katrina playing Firdaus, while Aditya Roy Kapur will portray the character of Noor. The actress, whose first language is English, says she works really hard on her Hindi speaking skills each time she signs a film. “Every time, in each film, I have to work harder on my Hindi. In life, we have to accept our weaknesses and accept our strengths,” she said, adding that since English is her first language. courtesy IANs

16 BUSINESS Govt looks for a fix as PIA auditors paint bleak picture of airline’s financials KARACHI: The federal government has shortlisted Hildenbrand Bernd, a German national, who is expected to take over as COO of PIA in the next few days. Bernd has worked at Lufthansa in their Operations Division and was based in Malaysia looking after their cargo operations which were closed. Thereafter he was working in a Malaysian aviation company before being hired by PIA. PIA’s external auditors Enrst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder/KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co said in their Half Yearly Report for the period Jan to June 2015 that PIA’s liabilities exceed its total assets by Rs 169.443 billion. These conditions along with other factors disclosed in the report indicate the “existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the Corporation’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The report, however, clarified that it is a review by auditors and not an audit opinion in accordance with international standards on auditing and that it is based on information provided and qualified by PIA, “Our conclusion is not qualified in respect of this matter.” PIA’s total accumulated loss as of June 30, 2015 was Rs 240.863 billion and by Sept 30, 2015 it had increased to Rs 247.414 billion. PIA’s total loss after taxation for Jan to Sept 2015 is Rs 20.552 billion compared with Rs 22.299 billion for the corresponding period of 2014. However, in this period PIA revenues declined by 8.7% as compared to same period in 2014. As a result of the drop in fuel prices, PIA’s fuel bill decreased by 43 per cent for Jan to Sept 2015. The total fuel cost from Jan to Sept 2015 was Rs 21.678 billion compared with Rs 37.839 billion in fuel expenses during Jan to Sept 2014. MALIK TARIQ ALI

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

PIA unIons vow to contInue PRotests AGAInst PRIvAtIsAtIon Joint action committee shUts offices across coUntry as feb 2 deadline looms

Union leaders meet Pia officials bUt talks remain inconclUsive

Railway to add 500 new engines over 10 years KARACHI: Pakistan Railways has planned to add 500 new engines in its fleet within the next ten years to fulfill the requirements of the department, it was revealed on Tuesday. According to details, many companies are interested in securing the order for the new engines. Pakistan Railways has placed an order for 55 engines with an American company in order to comply with the urgent needs. Pakistan Railways has also inked an agreement with Turk Railways for repair and reinstallation of cargo trains. Pakistan Railway’s deficit decreased from Rs 32 billion rupees to 27 billion rupees during the fiscal year 2014-15. A double railway track from Lodhran to Raiwind was jointly inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique in Lahore. The project was started in 2003 and completed in three phases. Now the main line double railway track has been completed from Karachi to Lahore. Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that transparency and merit is being ensured in Pakistan Railways. He said that there is no interference in the working of Pakistan Railways and that deficit is being lowered by Rs 3 billion annually. Rafique said that railways labour benefit package would be announced soon. Speaking on the occasion, CM Shehbaz said that various sectors including Pakistan Railways have shown considerable improvement during the tenure of the incumbent govt. He said that the govt was focusing on projects related to infrastructure and energy. He said that Punjab govt had paid a total of Rs 55 billion from its share to other provinces under the NFC Award to accelerate development activities there. STAFF REPORT

KARACHI: A PIA reservation office seen closed at Sidco Center during a strike called by the PIA employees union against proposed privatisation of the national airline. ONLINE

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

OINT Action Committee of PIA Employees’ Union (JACPIAE) will continue its protest throughout the country today (Wednesday) despite negotiations between the JAC and the PIA chairman at a local hotel on Tuesday. According to sources, JAC Chairman Capt Sohail Baloch, PIA CBA Union’s Shamim Akmal and another union leader Najeeb Ahmed met PIA Chairman Naseer S Jaffer at Ramadah hotel to discuss the stalemate. The PIA chairman asked the union leaders to end the protest as the strike call will further create financial problems for the airline and make it hard to pay salaries on time. He said the National Assembly had already approved PIA’s privatisation bill and the union should adopt the dialogue route instead of protesting and shutting down offices in the country.

On Tuesday, JAC staged a protest in various cities including Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Quetta against passing the bill for PIA’s privatisation in the National Assembly. Despite the ban on protests inside the premises of the head office by the PIA administration, JAC held a protest in front of the head office. The protest was attended by representatives of all the associations of the employees, pilots and officers. The employees closed all the offices and halted booking, cargo and courier services. The workers stated that the government is illegally privatising PIA which is not acceptable at any cost. They locked all the offices and demanded to take back the privatisation bill. They also threatened to halt flight operations from February 2 if the government does not take back its decision. Sohail Baloch said that they were in contact with Civil Aviation, Railway, Pakistan Steel Mills, oil tankers and other institutes and industries’ labour unions and if needed, they would all

be with the employees of PIA. ADMINISTRATION DOESN’T BUDGE: According to PIA spokesman Daniyal Gillani, thousands of passengers reached the airports for their tickets and other facilities in different cities throughout the country as PIA offices in all these cities were shut down. He said that till now there had been no flight delays as the airline’s operations at all the airports were running smoothly. He said that he did not know how much loss had been accrued by the airline because of the protests of the unions, but warned that if the protests continued, booking of PIA flights would definitely be affected in future. He further said that the JAC had rejected the request of the PIA chairman. The Joint Action Committee has asked all the unions throughout the country to continue their protests against the privatisation of PIA till February 2 and if their demands are not accepted during this week, the unions will stop all operations including the flights after 12PM on February 2.

Global stocks, oil rise on hopes of crude output cut NEW YORK AGENCIES

Global stock markets and oil prices rose on Tuesday in another volatile session on hopes oil producers would pare production to alleviate the supply excess that has punished equity prices and pushed oil values to 12-year lows. Nervous investors put more money into low-risk yen, Swiss franc, gold, US and German government debt as they await more clues whether the Federal Reserve and other central banks would provide support to stabilize markets that have been roiled partly due to worries about weakening economic growth in China. The US Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged after its two-day policy meeting, which begins later Tuesday, and signal it may not raise rates again, perhaps until mid-2016 at the earliest. “It’s going to go back and forth, and it looks like it’s going to all depend on what the price of oil does

today,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief executive of Tuttle Tactical Management in

Greenwich, Connecticut. Top OPEC and Russian oil industry

New YoRK: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

officials stepped up vague talk on Monday of possible joint action to remedy one of the worst supply gluts in decades, though there were others, including Kuwait, who say they doubt it will happen as long as others are increasing their output. Brent crude was last up 36 cents, or 1.18 percent, at $30.86 a barrel, and U.S. crude was last up 21 cents, or 0.69 percent, at $30.55 per barrel. The oil market rebound rekindled some appetite for stocks. In early US trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 235.72 points, or 1.48 percent, to 16,120.94, the S&P 500 was 20.5 points, or 1.09 percent, higher at 1,897.58 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 23.96 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,542.45. Some nervousness ahead of Apple’s quarterly results later Tuesday, which are expected to show a sharp drop in iPhone sales, was mitigated by encouraging U.S. data on home prices and consumer confidence. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300

index was up 0.5 percent at 1,329.86. Tokyo’s Nikkei ended 2.4-percent weaker, part of a broad decline across Asia. Mainland Chinese shares tumbled more than 6 percent to a 14-month low on renewed jitters over Beijing’s ability to calm domestic markets. The yen was initially stronger against the dollar and euro but reversed those gains with the rebound in stock and oil prices. It was last down 0.2 percent against the greenback at 118.47 yen and down 0.1 percent versus the euro at 128.46 yen. The dollar was weaker against a basket of currencies, last down 0.2 percent at 99.199. Nagging worries about falling oil prices and the global economy supported demand for U.S. and German government bonds. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dipped half a basis point to 2.017 percent, and 10-year Bund yield declined 2 basis points to 0.46 percent. Spot gold prices rose for a second day. It was last up $5.74 or 0.52 percent, to $1,113.40 an ounce.

BUSINESS 17

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

Pakistan, Iran agree to increase trade to $5b ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran have agreed to increase the volume of bilateral trade to $5 billion, it was announced on Tuesday. The understanding to this effect came at a meeting between Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri and outgoing Iranian Consul General in Quetta Hassan Yahyavi on Tuesday. The chief minister said the lifting of sanctions against Iran would help enhance trade between Pakistan and Iran, which would directly benefit the people of Balochistan as well as Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan. He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gives great importance to the relations with Iran. The Iranian Consul General said he had worked for improvement of relations between the two countries during his five year tenure. STAFF REPORT

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI: TCS joins hands with KE to deliver sweets and flowers to KE employees on their birthdays and other events. PR SIALKoT: A worker sorts onions at the vegetable market. ONLINE

oPec PLeAds foR RussIAn ALLIAnce to sMAsh oIL sPecuLAtoRs LONDON

AGENCIES

HE OPEC oil cartel has issued its strongest plea to date for a pact with Russia and rival producers to cut crude output and halt the collapse in prices, warning that the deepening investment slump is storing up serious trouble for the future. OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said the cartel is ready to embrace rivals and thrash out a compromise following the 72 per cent crash in prices since mid2014. “Tough times require tough choices. It is crucial that all major producers sit down and come up with a solution,” he told a Chatham House conference in London. Al-Badri said the world needs an investment blitz of $10 trillion to replace depleting oil fields and to meet extra demand of 17m barrels per day (b/d) by 2040, yet projects are being shelved at an alarming rate. A study by IHS found that investment for the years from 2015 to 2020 has been slashed by $1.8 trillion, compared to what was planned in 2014.

Al-Badri warned that the current glut is setting the stage for a future supply shock, with prices lurching from one extreme to another in a deranged market that is in the interests of nobody but speculators. “It is vital that the market addresses the stock overhang,” he said. Russia’s oil group Vice President Lukoil Leonid Fedun said that the OPEC policy had set off a stampede, comparing it to a “herd of animals rushing to escape a fire”. He called on the Kremlin to craft a political deal with the cartel to overcome the glut. “It is better to sell a barrel of oil at $50 than two barrels at $30,” he told Tass. This is a significant shift in thinking. It has long been argued that Russian companies cannot join forces with OPEC since the Siberian weather makes it hard to switch output on and off, and because these listed firms are supposedly answerable to shareholders, not the Kremlin. Fedun said OPEC will be forced to cut output anyway. “This could happen in May or in the summer. After that we will see a rapid recovery,” he said. He accused the cartel of incompetence. “When OPEC launched the price war, they ex-

Major Gainers COMPANY bata (Pak) sapphire fiber national refin mehran sugar Xd engro foods ltd.

OPEN 3400.00 624.90 252.30 124.00 141.60

HIGH 3400.00 624.90 264.91 125.90 147.38

LOW 3350.00 624.90 252.00 124.00 141.01

CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVER 3400.00 50.00 6,700 624.90 24.89 50 263.98 11.68 921,700 125.90 5.91 1,700 146.15 5.19 577,500

1029.99 383.00 895.00 278.00 568.00

1000.89 369.20 892.00 263.87 568.00

1003.02 369.20 893.83 263.87 568.00

-50.54 -19.43 -15.67 -13.88 -12.00

104,850 211,100 300 51,600 50

50.45 27.61 150.25 3.96 34.85

48.31 27.05 144.00 3.64 33.15

49.64 27.46 149.79 3.70 34.32

1.27 0.36 5.11 -0.02 0.61

8,131,500 7,885,500 6,835,400 5,268,000 5,033,500

Major Losers ferozsons (lab) Ghandhara ind. service ind.ltd noon PakistansPot shezan inter.

1011.00 378.00 895.00 267.00 568.00

Volume Leaders fauji fert bin trG Pak ltd d.G.k.cement Japan Power sui south Gas

48.37 27.45 144.00 3.64 33.30

Interbank Rates Usd GbP JPy eUro

Pkr 104.9387 Pkr 148.9289 Pkr 0.8887 Pkr 113.7535

Forex australian dollar canadian dollar china yuan euro Japanese yen saudi riyal U.a.e dirham Uk Pound sterling Us dollar

BUY

SELL

74 75.5 15.8 115.75 0.87 28.4 29.2 152.75 106.6

74.45 76.05 15.95 116.25 0.9 28.55 29.35 153.45 106.85

pected US companies to go under very quickly. They discovered that 50 per cent of the US production was hedged,” he said. Fedun said these contracts acted as a subsidy worth $150 million a day for the industry though the course of 2015. “With this support shale producers were able to avoid collapse,” he said. The hedges are now expiring fast, and will cover just 11 per cent of output this year. Iraq’s premier, Haider al-Abadi, was overheard in Davos asking US oil experts exactly when the contracts would run out, a sign of how large this issue now looms in the mind of OPEC leaders. Fedun said 500 US shale companies face a “meat-grinder” over coming months, leaving two or three dozen “professionals”. Italy’s oil group Eni Head Claudio Descalzi said OPEC has stopped playing the role of “regulator” for crude, leaving markets in the grip of financial forces trading “paper barrels” that outnumber actual barrels of oil by a ratio of 80:1. The paradox of the current slump is that global spare capacity is at wafer-thin levels of 2 per cent as Saudi Arabia pumps at will, leaving

the market acutely vulnerable to any future supply-shock. “In the 1980s it was around 30 per cent; 10 years ago it was 8 per cent,” said Descalzi. Barclays said the capitulation over recent weeks is much like the mood in early 1999, the last time leading analysts said the world was “drowning in oil”. It proved to be exact bottom of the cycle. Prices jumped 50 per cent over the next twenty days, the start of a 12-year bull market. Norrish said excess output peaked in the last quarter of 2015 at 2.1m b/d. The over-supply will narrow to 1.2m b/d in the first quarter as of this year as a string of OPEC and non-OPEC reach “pain points”, despite the return of Iranian crude after the lifting of sanctions. By the end of this year there may be a “small deficit”. By then the world will need all of OPEC’s 32m b/d supply to meet growing demand, although it will take a long time to whittle down record stocks. Norrish said the oil market faces powerful headwinds. US shale has emerged as a swing producer and will crank up output “quite quickly” once prices rebound. Global climate accords have changed the rules of the game and electric vehicles are breaking onto the scene. Yet the underlying market is tighter than in 1999, when there was ample spare capacity, the geopolitical risks are much greater in the Middle East. Barclays said extreme positioning on the derivatives markets has prepared the ground for a short squeeze. “Unhedged short positions held by speculators are huge so there is certainly the potential for a steep move up in prices at some point,” it said.

Gold retreats from 12-week high, but equity jitters underpin LONDON AGENCIES

Gold retreated from a 12-week high hit on Tuesday as equities and oil recovered from an earlier rout, but concerns over market volatility kept the market in positive territory ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting. Chinese shares slumped 6 percent overnight while oil prices slid to under $30 a barrel, sending gold to a peak of $1,117.60 an ounce as spooked investors sought alternative assets. The metal’s glitter later dimmed a bit as stocks steadied and oil swung back into positive territory, but it remained higher, supported by technical signals after

closing on Monday above its 100day moving average, a firm line of resistance earlier this year. Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,111.96 an ounce at 1445 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up 0.6 percent at $1,112.40. Gold has risen 5 percent in January as concerns over China and global growth hurt equities and industrial commodities. It is continuing to take direction from stocks, Saxo Bank’s head of commodity research Ole Hansen said. “Fundamentals continue to turn more favourable with lower bond yields, a slowing pace of U.S. rate hikes and underinvested funds all supporting the move higher,” he said.

ccBPL and wwf Install 3rd water filtration Plant in Lahore

LAHoRe: Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited (CCBPL) and WWF-Pakistan, through their project ‘Increasing the Supply and Access to Safe Drinking Water in Lahore,’ inaugurated the 3rd water filtration plant in Glaxo Town, a densely populated area in the outskirts of Lahore. The project aims to install 15 water filtration plants in the city in order to provide clean and safe drinking water. The plant was inaugurated by Rizwan Ullah Khan, General Manager, The Coca-Cola Company (Pakistan and Afghanistan) and Dr Masood Arshad, Director Climate, Energy and Water, WWF-Pakistan. Residents of Glaxo Town were also present at the occasion and expressed their gratitude to CCBPL and WWF. PRESS RELEASE

six-lane Karachi-Lahore Motorway to link port city with major cities in country ISLAMABAD: After the Karachi-Lahore section of Peshawar-Karachi Motorway is complete, the port city will be linked with Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir directly through a 6-lane, high speed access-controlled road network. An official of National Highway Authority (NHA) told a local news agency that contracts for construction of 230 km Lahore-Abdul Hakeem Section of Karachi-Lahore Motorway now renamed as Peshawar-Karachi Motorway (PKM) had been awarded to M/s China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation i.e. CR20G-ZKB KLM (JV), while the 393 km Multan-Sukkur Section contract had been awarded to M/s China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited. About the Lahore-Multan section of PKM, he said that a contract agreement was being inked. He said that PKM was part of the $46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, aimed at upgrading and expanding Pakistan’s infrastructure. The official said that the project would facilitate transit between Karachi and other cities including Hyderabad, Matiari, Tando Adam, Shahdadpur, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Sukkur, Pano Aqil, Ghotki, Abaro, Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Zahir Pir, Jalalpur Pirwala, Multan, Khanewal, Abdul Hakim, Pir Mahal, Samundri, Jaranwala and Nankana Sahib. He said that the Karachi-Lahore section of the PKM had been divided into four sections including 136-km Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway, 296-km HyderabadSukkur Motorway, 387-km Sukkur-Multan Motorway and 333-km Multan-Lahore Motorway. The NHA official said that work on Hyderabad-Karachi Motorway was ongoing and that it would be completed on time. APP

Huawei witnessed 44% smartphone shipment growth last year LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The leading global technology giant, Huawei, has closed 2015 as a remarkable year indeed. In the last year Huawei has grown in terms of record sales, hiked brand awareness and also achieved marvelous milestones, likewise. Among these milestones one was the robust increase in the smart phones shipment by the Technology leader. The company has witnessed annual 44% smart phones shipment increase in the last year, 2015. This is the record increase by any technology manufacturer in 2015 generally in the smart phones shipment count. Huawei has achieved this successful pat-

tern of growth due to its strict commitment with the customer oriented product manufacturing and keeping consumer demands a priority. Record Huawei smart phones shipped last year were 108 million units, more precisely, 3 smart phone units shipped in each second. Although the enhanced global sales regions remained the China and Western Europe, however, local market of Pakistan also captured with Huawei brand. Most exciting smart phone that ruled the market last year in Pakistan was Huawei Mate S. Mate S has superior quality features of smart devices and was offered at best affordable price as compared to other competitors brand devices. Huawei is all set to invade markets in 2016 as well and with respect to this,

Huawei has full range of some really exciting devices for this year. Among these the most awaited smart phone is the Huawei flagship device Huawei Mate 8. Even recently the prebooking of this marvelous superior quality smart phone has been started while coupled with surprise voucher and free gifts schemes. Other than this, Huawei Honor 5X, Y6 Pro, Go3 and Y5 II etc. These smart phones are prepared to start 2016 as the year of Huawei. It is also to be noted that Huawei Managing Director for Devices has recently expressed that Huawei is looking to hit the target of 1 to 2 billion US $ within next 2 to 3 years. All these facts and figures clearly demonstrate that Huawei has planned for positive growth in future.

18 SPORTS

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

Steyn ruled out of england odIS d

SportS DeSk ALE Steyn has been ruled out of the ODI series against England as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury.

A call will be taken on Steyn’s availability for the T20s at a later stage, with the aim to have him fit for the Australia T20s in March and the World T20 which follows that. Kyle Abbott, who suffered a hamstring niggle in the Centurion Test will also miss the first ODI against England with Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada likely to be rested for some of the matches. “They definitely won’t play all five games,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said. “We will look to bring one or

two new fast bowlers in.” That means South Africa are likely to add to their one-day squad, which currently only has Chris Morris as back-up to the bowlers. Wayne Parnell, and Hardus Viljoen, who are playing for the A side in a warm-up match against England on Saturday, could come into contention. Vernon Philander, however, will not. Philander tore ankle ligaments in the warm-ups for the second Test against India in Bangalore in November and has missed seven Tests as a result. He was expected to recover by mid-January but is still “two to three weeks away from competitive cricket”, according to Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager . Philander is unlikely to make an international appearance this season.

Moosajee is more optimistic about Steyn, even though the exact nature of the shoulder injury, which followed a groin strain, has not been discovered. “All initial scans were clear but when symptoms did not improve, we discovered a reaction in the bone itself,” Moosajee said. ‘This is very rare in fast bowlers as it is usually caused by trauma. We are treating it conservatively because he is a fast bowler and we know we have the World T20 coming up.” Steyn is still receiving treatment in a hyperbaric chamber and is being monitored every two weeks. Moosajee is “confident he will make a full recovery” and that in “six, eight or 10 weeks when he is fit, will be bowling as well as he ever has”. He also emphasised that Steyn’s current niggle is “not career-threatening.”

De Villiers hints at long-term captaincy SportS DeSk

Delhi in danger of losing Sri lanka t20 SportS DeSk Delhi is in danger of losing the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka on February 12 should it not produce requisite clearances from government agencies soon. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur confirmed that an email was sent to the DDCA in this regard. “The BCCI has given them time till tomorrow [to respond to the email],” said Thakur. “We can’t wait for a very long time.” He named Kanpur, Ranchi and Hyderabad as possible alternatives if Delhi failed to obtain the clearances in time. Delhi has also been allotted four matches, including a semifinal, in the World T20 beginning in March. Thakur, however, said the prevailing situation didn’t endanger Delhi’s status as a World T20 host. “This has no connection [to the World T20].” DDCA treasurer Ravinder Manchanda said he was hopeful of securing the clearances in two days. “Since today is a holiday we will reply to the BCCI tomorrow explaining our position.” There was a similar cloud hanging over the fate of the fourth Test between India and South Africa in December, before the Delhi High Court stepped in to provide interim relief by asking the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to provide provisional clearance to the DDCA. There have also been reports of the DDCA being in arrears of payments towards expenses made during the South Africa Test. According to The Indian media, the DDCA owed Embassy Caterers Rs 11.5 lakh, and had also undertaken expenses worth Rs 41 lakh on repair/installation work on seats and printing tickets. Manchanda, though, denied the claims and said payments to vendors had already been made. However, Justice Mukul Mudgal, who was appointed by the Delhi High Court to oversee the conduct of the Delhi Test between India and South Africa, and also the activities of the DDCA in the process of securing permanent clearances for the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, has not signed the bills yet. “I am still scrutinising it,” he said, but refused to go into the specifics. DDCA’s fresh round of troubles come barely a week after Mudgal submitted a scathing report on the association’s lack of transparency and mismanagement to a twojudge bench of the Delhi High Court. The report pointed to the absence of records which hampered transparency, and delay in payments to vendors. “For the previous matches, no records were available to indicate how quotations were invited, how the vendors to whom work was allotted were selected, how the competitiveness of the rates was ascertained,” Mudgal noted. “There were no minutes, or record of the tender committee or committees set up for different tasks. There were no agreements with the selected vendors in the past available for perusal. “Many vendors complained that their bills for earlier matches organised during the last 2-3 years were not cleared. This resulted in a large number of vendors not bidding and others quoting higher rates to cover the risk of huge delays in getting payment.”

AB de Villiers has dropped another hint that he is willing to stay on as South Africa’s long-term Test captain, after his new-look team completed an impressive 280-run victory in the fourth and final Test at Centurion. De Villiers, who himself made a pair in the match and has averaged just 9.00 in his two Tests since taking over from Hashim Amla as captain in the aftermath of the second Test at Cape Town, praised the character shown by his players s they secured their first Test victory in ten matches since January 2015. “The guys were very fired up for this Test match,” de Villiers said during the post-match presentations. “It’s been a while since we won a Test match so we are obviously very excited about that and we will enjoy the celebrations afterwards now.”

South Africa’s side featured five changes from the sevenwicket defeat in Johannesburg, in which they conceded an insurmountable 2-0 series deficit, and de Villiers singled out one of the new faces, debutant opener Stephen Cook, for particular praise, following his maiden century in the first innings. However, the star of the show was unequivocally Kagiso Rabada, whose match figures of 13 for 144 were the second-best in South Africa’s Test history. “We are very excited about some of the guys coming through and taking their opportunities with both hands,” de Villiers said. “Obviously Kagiso had a fantastic Test match, it doesn’t come around every day that you take 13 wickets in a Test so we are very proud of him, and obviously Temba [Bavuma] and Cooky have played their roles in this Test match, and Temba obviously in

the whole series. “It’s a great team performance, coming back from 2-0 against a very solid England team, and we showed a lot of character and hopefully we can build on this now and in the future.” Asked about his own future in Test cricket, amid series-long speculation about his workload, de Villiers implied that he was ready to commit to the leadership, with South Africa’s next Test engagement coming at home against New Zealand in August. “Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m keen to move forward and the team is in a really good space, with a few guys coming through and enjoying their cricket. It’s a good place to be in, and it’s a bright future for us. “We’ve got a long way to go, it’s a bit of a rebuilding phase, we’ve lost quite a few players in the last few years, but the guys who’ve come through have shown a lot of character and shown us that they can take the team forward. I think there’s a bright future and we are looking forward to everything that’s going to come our way, and all the challenges.” Rabada followed up his firstinnings figures of 7 for 112 with 6 for 32 second time around, including a destructive final-morning spell of 4 for 4 in 21 balls to bundle England out before the drinks break, and was deservedly named Man of the Match.

Zia five-for lifts National Bank into final SportS DeSk A five-wicket haul from Zia-ul-Haq led National Bank of Pakistan into the final of the National One-Day Cup with a six-wicket win over United Bank Limited at the Gaddafi Stadium. Having sent them in to bat, National Bank quickly had United Bank in trouble at 10 for 2, with both openers departing in the space of three balls. There wasn’t much of a recovery after that, with only Younis Khan (41, 65b, 5x4) and Hammad Azam (59, 83b, 5x4) getting past 25, their 42-run stand for the fifth wicket the best of the innings. Zia, the leftarm quick, finished with figures of 5 for 33 in 7.5 overs as United Bank were bowled out for 185, with seven balls still remaining. National Bank slipped to 10 for 2 themselves, losing opener Hamza Paracha and No. 3 Nasir Jamshed in successive overs, but Kamran Akmal, walking in at No. 4, steadied their chase. First, he added 37 with Ahsan Ali (23) and then put on 73 with Akbar-ur-Rehman for the fourth wicket. Akmal fell for a 79ball 63 (7x4, 2x6) with 69 runs.

SA cloSe to Appointing bAtting coAch SportS DeSk When you’re next in a book store, look out for They Think We Are Stupid. That is the title of a book Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, is threatening to write, presumably to shed light on some of the decisions made in South African cricket that have been questioned in the aftermath of back-to-back series losses. As expected when defeats are analysed, everything from selection to the make-up of the support staff will come under scrutiny and, with South Africa being shot out for their two lowest totals since readmission over the last two series, the absence of a batting coach has been glaring. But Domingo explained it was not for lack of trying. “Everybody thinks we have not been looking for a batting coach but we’ve been trying for the last year,” he said. “Every team’s got it. England have got one, Australia have got one, India have got one. We’ve offered the position to quite a few people and we offered the position whilst things were going well not whilst we’ve

been bowled out for 80 and 90.” In the near future, South Africa hope one of the people they have offered the job to will take it. “We’ve been looking for somebody and we’ve got somebody in mind. We are waiting for him to commit to us. We’ve had a few people who said they were interested but they wouldn’t commit to it simply because traveling is not

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that fun when you are away from your family for a long time and when there is a lot of pressure and a lot of criticism you are faced with when things don’t go well. It’s probably easier to say it and write about it than to actually get down and do it.” Domingo did not reveal who the “somebody” was and was not asked whether former captain Graeme

Smith could be the man, although that seems unlikely. Smith became the fourth batting consultant in Domingo’s tenure, after Gary Kirsten, Mike Hussey and Lance Klusener, when he was roped in for a net session ahead of the Newlands Test. Hashim Amla, captain at the time, thought Smith had signed on for the full series but his commentary commitments prevented him from doing that. So continued a drawn-out saga which started when Smith suggested there was unhappiness in the team camp in Durban, where the first Test was played, before being pulled into the tent. Once back out, following the Johannesburg Test, Smith said everybody should be questioned, including team management. One South Africa player, Dean Elgar, moved quickly to defend the back room, who he said deserved a lot of praise. AB de Villiers, who was criticised in the media by selector and commentator Ashwell Prince, remembered how when some former players were active, they said they would “never become like that” and take shots at the team.

SPORTS 19

Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

KohlI SetS up

37-run wIn for IndIa

chanderpaul deserved proper send-oﬀ: lara SportS DeSk

SportS DeSk

IRAT Kohli spent the recent ODI series piling up runs all over Australia, hundreds in two games and half-centuries in two more. He hovered at a run a ball for most of the series, finishing with 381 runs from 384 deliveries. But there were times India might have wished he would change gear instead of remaining on cruise control. That lift in tempo came in the first T20, Kohli’s unbeaten 90 from 55 balls setting up an Indian win by 37 runs at Adelaide Oval. There were others who contributed to the result: Suresh Raina provided valuable support with 41 off 34 balls and Rohit Sharma set India’s innings off to a strong start with 31 from 20 after Aaron Finch sent them in. Jasprit Bumrah and India’s spinners then stifled Australia in the chase, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja each collecting two

wickets and keeping the runs tight, giving Australia an unwelcome but important taste of what they might face in the World T20 in India in March. But Kohli was the real architect of this win. Remarkable though it is, Kohli is yet to score a century in his prolific Twenty20 career, and he looked like he might rectify that in his 176th match in the format. Kohli passed his previous highest T20 international score of 78 not out and had moved on to 87 by the start of the final over, but faced only the first and last balls of the 20th. Raina was dismissed off the second ball, and MS Dhoni used the others to smash 11 not out off three. It meant India finished on 3 for 188 and from there they deserved to be firm favourites: no team has ever chased down more than 158 to win a T20 international in Australia. There were some encouraging signs early for Australia as Aaron Finch and David Warner rushed

to 0 for 34 from the first three overs, but Bumrah helped tie them down and claimed the important wicket of Warner, caught pulling for 17 off 9. It was a strange sort of match in terms of personnel, full of debutants and returning veterans whose fortunes fluctuated wildly. In his first T20 international Bumrah was excellent, his 3 for 23 key to restricting Australia. His fellow Indian debutant, Hardik Pandya, was all over the place - literally. His first over in international cricket brought five wides on both sides of the pitch, but he bounced back to pick up the wickets of Chris Lynn and Matthew Wade to finish with 2 for 37 off three. Australia’s debutant, Travis Head, was lbw to Jadeja for 2 from 5 balls, swiping across the line during a slump in which Australia lost three wickets for four runs in two overs. At the other end of the experience scale Shaun Tait, in his first international for nearly five years,

leaked 45 from four overs; Ashish Nehra bowled reasonably for 1 for 30, also playing for his country for the first time since 2011; Shane Watson bowled well for 2 for 24; and Yuvraj Singh had little to do. Little, but not quite nothing. Yuvraj bowled one over for 10 but his major impact came with major impact to his hands, snaring a catch at cover when Lynn drove with fearsome power. Lynn fell for 17 off 16, having struggled against the spinners, and Australia will want to see improvement from him over the next two games if he is to be in World T20 contention. The spinners were both outstanding, Ashwin with 2 for 28 and Jadeja with 2 for 21, each from four overs. Australia were bowled out in the 20th over of their pursuit, reaching just 151 as regular wickets throughout their innings hurt their momentum. They had wanted to chase, they just didn’t want to chase this many.

Serena maintains hex on Sharapova to reach semis SportS DeSk Reigning champion Serena Williams ramped up the power in the second set to vanquish fifth seed Maria Sharapova for the 18th match in a row and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-1 victory on Tuesday. Sharapova broke the world number one in the first game and mounted a stiff challenge in the opening set but wilted in the second to extend a losing record that goes back 12 years. Williams said the Russian brings out the best in her. “When I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game,” Williams said. “I think that makes me play better. When I’m forced to play better, I do well.” The gulf between Williams and Sharapova, a former number one and five-times grand slam champion, speaks volumes about the balance of power in the women’s game. Williams has reached the last four at Melbourne Park on six previous occasions and gone on to win the title every time. On Tuesday’s evidence, it looks

like only illness or injury can prevent the 34-year-old from repeating the feat and adding a 22nd major title to her collection. The American, who came into the tournament after a four-month layoff, twice had treatment for “food poisoning issues” during breaks in the 92-minute rematch of last year’s final.

Sharapova handed back her early break with two double faults in game four but started the match well and offered a genuine test in the 55-minute opening stanza. The Russian showed character to storm back from 0-40 down to hold serve for 4-4 and was all over Williams’s serve in the next game, the American

yelling “C’mon!” on successive points as she finally held. The match turned on the next game when Sharapova fended off three set points despite failing to get her first serve in before Williams converted the fourth after a long rally with a volley at the net. Sharapova had fired 21 aces in her fourth round match but managed just seven against Williams. “I think if you’re serving maybe 180 (kph) against somebody else compared to Serena, that’s an ace,” said the 28year-old. “Against Serena, as we all know, the return is one of her great strengths. She’s very explosive. She stays quite close to the baseline. “She cuts the ball early. She doesn’t give you many angles.” Williams has an 8-0 record against her semi-final opponent Agnieszka Radwanska, who as the fourth seed is the highest ranked challenger remaining in the draw. “Nothing’s guaranteed in sports,” said Williams. “I still have to win two matches against potentially two extremely tough opponents.”

Former West Indies captain Brian Lara has expressed his disappointment at his long time teammate Shivnarine Chanderpaul not getting a ‘proper send-off’ in international cricket. Lara called Chanderpaul, who announced his retirement on Saturday, one of the giants of West Indies cricket. “I was very disappointed that Shiv was not allowed a couple of more Test matches, not necessarily to break the record but to have a proper send-off. Something I think he is very disappointed [about] and unfortunately that did not happen,” Lara said.”That guy with the most Test matches for the West Indies, playing for over 20 years, I don’t think people in the West Indies understand exactly his contribution.” Chanderpaul is West Indies’ secondhighest scorer with 11,867 runs in 164 Tests, 86 behind Lara who scored 11,953 in 131 Tests. At 41, Chanderpaul had not played for West Indies since May 2015; the selectors dropped him after a poor home series against England. “Shiv, who played since 1994, had a tremendous career.

FIFA confirms final five for presidential vote

ZUrICH AGENCIES

FIFA on Tuesday confirmed the final five candidates to take over from the banned Sepp Blatter as head of the world body one month from the vote. FIFA’s electoral committee said that Prince Ali bin al Hussein, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, Gianni Infantino, Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne had all been admitted for the final campaigning. The vote, caused by Blatter’s decision to stand down amid growing scandal, will be held in Zurich on February 26. “The Ad-hoc Electoral Committee has formally admitted and declared the candidates eligible for the election of the office of FIFA president at the extraordinary FIFA Congress,”

‘they ShoweD uS how to plAy t20 toDAy’, SAyS AlySSA heAly SportS DeSk In an age where technology and cricket go hand in hand to reduce the element of surprise, Australia women have admitted that not knowing enough about their Indian counterparts contributed to their recordbreaking defeat in the first T20I in Adelaide. Australia put up a challenging 140 for 5 on the board with wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy slamming 41 off only 15 balls. No team had every chased that many in Women’s T20I cricket, but India had no trouble with Harmanpreet Kaur’s 36-ball 41 leading them to victory with five wickets and 10 balls to spare. It was also Australia’s first loss in any format at home since the 2013-14 Ashes. “It’s a little hard not playing them very often, I had to do some home-

work on one player, taking hours to look through YouTube,” Healy said after the match. “They played with some real freedom and obviously with that fight we know have and they showed us how to play T20 cricket today.” India and Australia have not played each other since September 2012 and Australia coach Matthew Mott had highlighted the danger of facing a potentially unknown team. “Their squad has changed quite a bit since the last time we played them, with a few new names and young faces we’re not familiar with,” he said last month and the team was asked to do research India’s players before the three T20Is and three ODIs began. However, it was a familiar face that controlled India’s chase. Harmanpreet has played four 50-overs and nine 20-overs matches against Aus-

tralia prior to today and had struck three half-centuries along the way. In Adelaide, she held firm amid a brief middle-order wobble as India lost three wickets for 29 runs and the equation became 50 needed off 36 balls. “At one stage the run rate (required by India) was over eight, we’d be pretty comfortable with that but Harmanpreet played an incredible innings and found the boundary with ease,” Healy said. Harmanpreet herself was more thankful that her colleagues had provided a strong start that could be build on. India had progressed steadily to 62 for 2 when she came in during the 10th over. “They gave us a good start. We were going at six per over and we needed eight per over. I just wanted to keep on rotating the strike initially and later on I went into my full flow for boundaries.”

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SPORTS Wednesday, 27 January, 2016

Stage Set for DjokovicfeDerer ShowDown MeLBoUrNe

AGENCIES

OvAK Djokovic has a larger than life presence at the Australian Open. His face smiles at fans from sponsor’s billboards. His voice gives inspirational advice over center-court speakers between matches. There’s even a new addition to Melbourne Park called “Novak’s World,” where fans can slip on virtual reality goggles and feel as if they’re walking in Djokovic’s shoes, as he stretches in the locker room and then walks out onto the court as the crowd roars. A few years ago, the Australian Open and the other majors could have been called “Roger’s World”, when Roger Federer was No. 1, still dominating men’s tennis and the favorite face of sponsors. The top-ranked Djokovic will play No. 3 Federer in a blockbuster semifinal match at the Australian Open. It will be the 45th installment in a riveting rivalry that is so equally split that they are tied with 22 wins each. It’s a rematch of last year’s final at the US Open and Wimbledon, both of which Djokovic won in thrilling nailbiters. It will be their 15th matchup at a Grand Slam tournament, more than any other pair of men in tennis’ Open era, which dates to 1968. Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have played each other 13 times at majors, Federer and Nadal 11

and John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl 10. But more than just numbers, it is a tantalizing rematch that holds great importance to both players as they try to cement their place in history. For Federer, who owns a record 17 Grand Slam titles, it offers a chance to prove that his best is not entirely behind him. He is 34, which means that time really is running out. “It would mean a lot to me, no doubt about it,” Federer said Tuesday when asked about the significance of winning one more major in the era of Djokovic. “It’s part of the reason why I guess I’m still playing. I feel like I’m competitive at the top. I can beat all the guys on tour.” That is true, but the problem for

Federer has been making it happen in the last round of a major. Federer hasn’t won a major since Wimbledon in 2012 despite repeatedly coming close. He was runner-up in 2014 at Wimbledon and in 2015 at Wimbledon and the US Open, beaten all three times by Djokovic. The 28-year-old Djokovic finished 2015 as the No. 1 player for the fourth time in five years. The Serb won three Grand Slams, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, and reached the final at the French Open. Djokovic is considered the best baseliner in the game, contorting his body as he stretches and slides between defense and offense. In Melbourne, Federer has been playing a brilliant brand of attack-

ing tennis, ushering him comfortably through the draw and past No. 6 Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4. Djokovic and other players have commented that he’s playing as well as ever, if not better, deploying well-honed new skills and aggressiveness at net. “Roger is playing really terrific tennis,” Djokovic said after his 6-3, 62, 6-4 quarterfinal win over No. 7 Kei Nishikori. “He’s got great defense, amazing offense. He’s very complete. He puts constant pressure on the opponent. You have to be aware at all times. You got to be tough. You’ve got to be concentrated. “This is going to be a big challenge for both of us,” Djokovic said. “I’m expecting a great fight.” Something else Djokovic can expect is the “SABR.” It stands for “Sneak Attack By Roger” and it’s a maneuver the Swiss star introduced last year but hasn’t yet displayed in Melbourne. It’s a tactic in which he races forward on an opponent’s second serve and half-volleys a return while heading to the net. During his on-court interview Tuesday, Federer, who is adored by Australian tennis fans, was asked why he hadn’t shown off his “sneak attack” at the Australian Open. “You want to see it?” Federer asked, as the crowd voiced its approval. “All right. I’ll definitely play at least one in the next match.”

Bracewell replaces McClenaghan for remaining Pakistan ODIs SportS DeSk Fast bowler Doug Bracewell has been brought into New Zealand’s ODI squad for the remainder of the series against Pakistan, replacing the injured Mitchell McClenaghan. McClenaghan fractured the bone above his left eye during the first ODI on Monday, when the ball burst through his helmet grille while he was batting. He is set to undergo minor cosmetic surgery for the injury on Friday in Auckland. New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said McClenaghan’s health was the priority for the team, so it was decided to replace him for the second and third ODIs, which will be played in Napier and Auckland this week. “Obviously our main focus is making sure Mitch is okay, and we’ll continue to monitor him over the coming days,” Hesson said. “Doug has been in superb form this summer and we’re confident he can come in and do a good job for us. He’s an integral member of our wider bowling group and brings a lot to the side.”

Sania-Dodig end Aisam’s Australian Open campaign

‘Booed Amir reintegrating smoothly’ SportS DeSk Pakistani left-arm pacer Muhammad Amir made a comeback into the ODI squad under the captaincy of Azhar Ali on Monday but fans did not shy away from sledging and booing him on the field with one of them even waving a dollar bill at him. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman (PCB) Shaharyar Khan, meanwhile, defended Amir after he bowled a wide off his first delivery back in ODIs. “The board is fully supportive of Amir and he is now adjusting well into the team. His reintegration in the dressing room is going smoothly,” said Shaharyar. The 23-year-old took three wickets in his comeback ODI but the spectators at the Basin Reserve did not restrain from taunting him. At one stage, the player who was most critical of the fast-bowler’s return into the national side, Mohammad Hafeez, came to Amir’s rescue when he was fielding at third man. “Obviously what happened today is disturbing for Amir and the team but mentally they are prepared for these things and are strong enough to deal with such situations,” said Shaharyar. Moreover, a source in the team said that the man who waved the bill was issued a stern warning. “The spectator was then given a firm warning by the groundstaff and security. Amir has tried to take it on the chin but he is disturbed,” said the source,

MeLBoUrNe AGENCIES

adding that Azhar and Hafeez were now helping Amir to reintegrate into the squad. “Amir has repeatedly apologised to them and the rest of the players and has promised he will become

a role model from now on,” the source added. Amir returned to the Pakistan team for the tour to New Zealand after serving a five-year ban for spot-fixing.

AFRIDI TO TAKE 150 APS STUDENTS TO DUBAI FOR PSL LAUNCH peSHAWAr STAFF REPORT

Pakistan T20 squad skipper Shahid Afridi on Tuesday said he will be taking 150 students from Peshawar’s Army Public School (APS) to Dubai for the inauguration ceremony of Pakistan Super League (PSL). Interacting with a group of reporters during his franchise Peshawar Zalmi’s talent hunt programme at the army-run school, Afridi said that “the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally

Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were full of talented players but they lacked opportunities”. Afridi was of the view that the lack of extracurricular activities at the school and college level was alarming and this problem needed to be solved as soon as possible. PSL, Pakistan’s franchise-based T20 league, starts next month from February 4 and will go on till February 23. The league features five teams: Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators and Pe-

shawar Zalmi. He further said that Peshawar Zalmi coaches were working hard to make sure each player delivered to his level best during the league. To a question about Pakistan T20 team against New Zealand, Afridi said he always tried to boost up the courage of players and cooperated with them in all fields. He however sounded critical of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal’s recent performances and said that every individual should contribute for the team’s success.

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

CMYK

Pakistan tennis ace Aisam-ul-HaqQureshi’s Australian Open campaign came to an end on Tuesday after a second round loss to the Indo-Croatian pair of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles event. Aisam, paired with Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, failed to progress to thequarter-finals after losing 7-5, 6-2 in the match that ended in an hour and eight minutes. The Indo-Croatian pair clinched the first set despite strong resistance from the Pak-Kazakh duo. Aisam and Shvedova were broken twice in the first set, conceding five break point chances, while the SaniaDodig pair was broken once. The Indo-Croatian domination gained steam in the second set, breaking Aisam-Shvedova twice as they claimed the set in only 20 minutes. Sania-Dodig hit fewer winners (23 to 27) but committed lesser unforced errors (16 to 20).