BN multan 23 07 17

CMYK

Published simultaneously from Lahore & Multan

PML-N is united behind Nawaz Sharif: Khawaja Asif

GE shares fall as profit slumps DETAILED STORY — PAGE 6

DETAILED STORY — PAGE 2 Volume 12, Issue No. 285

Multan Edition

Price-Rs 4

Editor: Asad Mumtaz

Sunday, July 23, 2017. Shawal 28, 1438 A.H.

SBP maintains interest rate at 5.75 percent

ISLAMABAD: Governor State Bank Of Pakistan Tariq Bajwa addressing a press conference at State Bank of Pakistan. -APP

Operation Khyber-4

Mountaintop of strategic value cleared, terrorists eliminated: ISPR PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Army has cleared the "highest and craggiest" mountaintop near the Pak-Afghan border, killing "many" terrorists and forcing others to flee to Afghanistan, a statement issued by the army's media wing said Saturday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a terrorist hideout was dismantled during the operation at Brekh Muhammad Kandao mountaintop, a part of ongoing Operation Khyber-4 in Khyber Agency. A cache of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), arms and ammunition was also recovered, ISPR said, adding that troops had established posts at over 12,000 feet after clearing the mountain top. Army troops including Special Services Group (SSG) commandos

took part in the action during which "many terrorists" were killed while some managed to flee to Afghanistan. "This mountaintop was being used as main observation point and its base as a transit/storage point," ISPR said. The mountaintop was planned to be cleared a little later as per the initial plan "but with high tempo operation [sic] it has been cleared well ahead of planned timing", the ISPR said .

Khyber-4 seeks to target terrorist hideouts in what the ISPR chief had earlier called "the most critical area in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas". The operation also seeks to 'forestall the entry' of the militant Islamic State (IS) group from across the border into Pakistan. -APP

PML-N efforts to appease Ch Nisar fail ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaurdhy Nisar has been absent from several Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) meetings as the party deliberates to chalk out a strategy pertaining to the Panama Papers case. Reports from the federal capital indicate that the minister has decided to part ways with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ending his three decade long association with him.

The interior minister is expected to announce his decision during a news conference on Sunday, sources said, adding that he is also likely to announce his resignation as interior minister. Nisar reportedly said that he remained loyal to Nawaz and never let him down. Citing sources, Geo News quoted the interior minister as saying that the prime minister has been surrounded by immature individuals, who led him to the present situation.

Sources further said that Nisar was kept out of the consultation process for the past month, adding that he will not leave the party, but also not hold any office.

Nisar advised the premier not to address the nation and appear before the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT), further added close sources.

A spokesman from the interior ministry has denied media reports, adding that rumours will be clarified after the interior minister addresses the news conference on Sunday.

Leaders from the PML-N failed to appease a displeased Chaudhry Nisar as the interior minister remained adamant on parting ways with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, sources reported on Saturday.

Sources privy to the latest developments told Geo News Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique and Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer, met the interior minister at Punjab House on Friday amid rumours of his decision to end his long-

standing affiliation with Nawaz Sharif.

The ministers, however, failed to appease Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Nisar is reported to have told the PML-N members he remains bound to party discipline but will not back down from his stance.

In a series of tweets, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique affirmed Chaudhry Nisar's association with the PM and the party.

Chaudhry Nisar has a 32-year-long comradeship with PML-N and Nawaz Sharif and he was and will continue to be with us, said Rafique, adding that the interior minister will not back down in testing times and will be at the frontline.

Hitting out at the opponents, Rafique said their notorious wishes would remain unfulfilled and their false allegations and conspiracies would fail to stop the party.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said there are now two groups in the PML-N. "The first group is the bacha group which wants conflict with institutions. The second group which is represented by Chaudhry Nisar which instead of saving personalities wants to save the system." Awami Muslim League (AML) chief, Sheikh Rashid while speaking to Geo News said Nisar would not be part of the new cabinet but he would also not leave the party. "It takes courage to leave the party," Rashid said.

Opposition leader in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah said he agreed with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar's objections. "[My] differences with Nisar aside, his objections are correct that Nawaz Sharif consulted with the junior members of his party and ignored the senior leadership," Shah remarked, adding that whether Nisar decides to resign or not is the minister's decision to make. -APP

Two groups have emerged in the PML-N, says Qureshi MULTAN: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday that there are now two groups in the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N).

"The first group is the bacha group which wants conflict with institutions. The second group which is represented by Chaudhry Nisar which instead of saving personalities wants to save the system."

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had been allowed a second chance in the Supreme Court but he failed to prove his innocence in the Panama Papers case.

"Nawaz Sharif has failed to prove his innocence. He is no longer 'Saadiq' and 'Ameen' and stands to be disqualified," Qureshi said while addressing media here earlier today.

The PTI leader claimed the PM failed to submit his money trail and false documents were presented on the premier's behalf before the apex court.

"We are anxiously waiting for the verdict," Qureshi said.

The PTI leadership and legal team met on Friday after the Supreme Court announced it had reserved its judgment in the Panama case.

PTI chief Imran Khan, who chaired the meeting, reiterated calls for the PM to resign and said the party won't let Nawaz Sharif create any undemocratic crisis in the country.

The meeting was attended

by PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahanghir Tareen, Naeemul Haq, Arif Alvi, Shafqat Mahmood and Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rasheed.

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court while reserving its judgment in Panama Papers case observed that matters related to the prime minister's disqualification would be evaluated. -APP

ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to maintain the interest rate at 5.75 per cent, according to an announcement made by the Monetary Policy Committee of the SBP on Saturday.

A statement from the SBP said that average headline inflation, though higher than FY17, is expected to be lower than earlier outlook and stay below the target of 6pc, mainly on the back of favourable supply conditions.

Domestic demand is set to gain further traction as evidenced in the current growth in the real sector, thanks to private sector and imports, it said.

According to SBP, the under-performance of both exports and workers' remittances "greatly impinged upon the current account deficit which reached $12.1 billion in FY17".

The overall balance of payments is expected to stay at a "manageable" level in FY18, the statement said, adding that the headline inflation (in year-on-year terms) has softened at 3.9pc in June 2017, while core inflation has stayed at 5.5pc since April 2017. The latter indicates rising demand, according to SBP. The statement claimed that the outcome of agriculture sector is "far superi-

or" to that in FY16, reaching its target of 3.5pc in FY17 because of a better supply of factors of production. The services sector also posted 6pc increase in FY17 compared to 5.5pc increase in FY16.

The SBP said that market liquidity was able to accommodate strong credit demand from the private sector. It said that increased economic activity, considerable increase in bank deposits and low interest rates translated into private sector credit flows in FY17, reaching a decade high of Rs748bn as compared with Rs446bn in FY16.

Fixed investments and working capital loans grew by Rs258.5bn and Rs360.5bn in FY17 compared with an expansion of Rs171.7bn and Rs219.3bn last year, respectively. "Demand for consumer financing, especially for auto and personal loans, also gathered pace during FY17," SBP said, adding that the trends are set to continue in FY18.

"On the external front, the current account deficit reached $12.1bn during FY17. While exports and workers remittances declined, imports growth surged by 17.7pc in FY17," mainly owing to machinery imports both for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and non-CPEC energy and

infrastructure projects. "However, in view of the last four months performance, the decline in exports appears to have bottomed out," SBP stated.

It claimed that the current account deficit has been managed by foreign exchange reserves and a financial account surplus which reached $9.6bn during FY17 from $6.8bn in the same period last year. "Apart from the increase in official inflows, this accumulation incorporates the impact of increase in private sector borrowing for CPEC projects."

According to the SBP, foreign exchange reserves saw a decline to reach $16.1bn at the end of FY17, compared to $18.1bn in FY16.

SBP expects both exports and imports to increase in the upcoming year, according to its assessment of global forecasts and "positive domestic policy measures".

"Following detailed deliberations and taking into consideration the strong likelihood of continued growth momentum, contained inflation and the challenges on the external front, the Monetary Policy Committee has decided to maintain the policy rate at 5.75pc," the statement pointed out. -APP

Imran Khan fails to submit complete financial record in SC ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday failed to provide a comprehensive history of his finances to the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition seeking Khan's disqualification over the non-disclosure of assets, ownership of offshore companies and receiving foreign funding for his party.

Khan, in a written reply to the SC, admitted that he had not been able to procure all documents required to substantiate how he came to own assets held in London. Naeem Bukhari, Khan's counsel, submitted the PTI chief's reply in court.

The reply stated that Khan had played county cricket for the Worcestershire County Cricket Club (from 1971) and Sussex County Cricket Club from 1977 to 1988.

It said the latter club does not keep records for more than twenty years, which is why the record of his employment and the money Khan made during his association with the team was miss-

ing from statements he submitted before the court.

The reply further stated that the flat in London was mortgaged in 1984 and an initial payment was made for 61,000 pounds sterling against the total cost of the flat, which was worth 117,000 pounds. The flat's mortgage was to last

20 years, but was settled in 1989 (within 68 months) after Khan completed all payments due.

The reply further stated that Khan had financed the mortgage from money he received from Sussex and the Kerry Packer cricket series, while money he received for playing for the New South Whales cricket team in Australia (years 1984-1985) was used to finance interest payments on the mortgage.

"The money I made abroad was through legal means and there was no money laundering involved," Khan said in his written reply.

On July 13, the SC directed the PTI chairman to submit financial details for his London flat by July 25.

The SC's registrar office, on July 21, had also sent Imran Khan a notice for not submitting documents that the court had called for. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had earlier commented on the matter, saying: "People who call others thieves should be able to provide their own financial details in court." -APP

Washington DC: Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry speaks during participation in a luncheon reception hosted by the Potomac Exchange, business forum. -Inp

President Mamnoon for raising awareness to prevent people from fatal stroke diseases ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has stressed the need for raising awareness and prevent people from getting complex fatal disease of stroke besides expanding provision of maximum treatment facilities to such people. At a time when every sixth person in the world is getting affected by complex and fatal disease of stroke it is imperative that awareness should be raised among the public to enable them to protect themselves from this disease by adopting preventive measures, he said in his message on the occasion of World Brain Day (July 22). The president said all efforts to raise awareness and prevent people from getting affected from such complex diseases were akin to serv-

ing the humanity. Similarly, he said other related diseases which cause deaths and paralysis were treatable which could be overcome by adopting preventive measures. He said efforts should be made to adopt healthy life style by shunning habits causing this disease like smoking and other such unhealthy activities. The president said not only relevant government departments in cooperation with welfare institutions should undertake all necessary steps to raise awareness among the people but also the scope of efforts to provide maximum facilities for treatment should be expanded.

He commended the efforts of World Federation of Neurology and World Stroke Organization. -APP CMYK

National

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Sunday, July 23, 2017

EOBI disburses Rs 17.922 to 405,460 beneficiaries in 9 months

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Zafar Hijazi arrived the court of Senior Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Shabbir. -Inp

PML-N is united behind Nawaz Sharif: Khawaja Asif ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister Khawaja Asif said the entire Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) is united behind Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. "In the past political parties would crumble in such situations," Asif said while appearing on Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath. When asked if the party had made a decision on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's replacement if he was disqualified, Asif replied: "There is no candidate nor has there been any speculation or debate on this within the party".

Khawaja Asif stressed that all federal ministers would continue to work under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its judgement in the Panama Papers implantation case. The PML-N held a meeting following the development and decided the verdict of the apex court would be accepted even if it was unfavourable. According to sources it was decided during the meeting that Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif would replace Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif if he was disqualified. Khawaja Asif would become the interim prime minister for 45 days until Shehbaz Sharif was elected to a National Assembly seat. -APP

NHA spent Rs 376,794.457 mln on road projects in past four years ISLAMABAD: National Highway Authority (NHA) has spent Rs.376,794.457 Million on the construction of highways and motorways in the country during past four years. An official source told APP Saturday that in the financial year 2013-14 Rs. 57,457.6 million were spent on federal road projects, in 2014-15 Rs. 72,672.1 million were spent, Rs 2015-16 million, Rs. 82,960.7 million,Rs 2016-17 Rs.163,685.9 million were spent.

He said that during past four years Rs 136,992.922 million were spent on road in the Punjab, Rs 68,922.735 million in Sindh, Rs 79041.155 million in Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw, Rs 39747.533 million, Rs 23,588.878 million, and others Rs 28501.234 million.

He said that quality of works on the construction of highways and motorways projects, is up to desired and laid down specifications. He said that consultancy firms are engaged after a competitive procurement process and deployed on the projects to supervise all the construction activities and to ensure quality of works as per standards and contract specifications. He said that laboratories are established on project sites, wherein engineering tests are conducted by the supervision consultants at every stage of the project implementation to ensure quality.The official that the NHA has formulated a Monitoring & Inspection Wing led by the General Manager (Monitoring & Inspection) for rendering project inspections at different stages of project execution. The Inspection Team visits the projects at various stages and performs quality assurance tests independently to ensure quality of works. -APP

NAVTTC plans to economically empower 100,000 mln individuals ISLAMABAD: National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) has planned to make socio-economic empowerment of 100,000 million individuals through provision of market-able hands-on-skills. An apex body, addressing challenges of technical and vocational stream in the country, is committed to achieving the task under Phase-IV of Prime Minister Youth Skill Development Programme (PMYSDP). Detailing the future plans, official sources Saturday said these include formal certification of 50,000 informally skilled individuals under NAVTTC's Recognition of Prior Learning Programme (RPL) and Skill Development Training of 1100 Temporarily Displaced youth from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The training would be provided in best of the best institutes located in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar etc. through Pakistan-Italian Debt Swap Agreement. The sources said other plans include skill development training of 200 individuals belonging to oil and gas producing/experience districts with collaboration of OGDCL, enhancing level of collaboration with development partners like Germany, Norway and European Union and further strengthening coordination with developing agencies. The sources said since inception of the commission, high priority has been paid to technical and vocational sector and maximum initiatives have been taken for timely address of issues being faced by the sector across the country. -APP

ISLAMABAD: Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI), providing monetary benefits to workers through various programmes, has disbursed an amount of Rs17.922 billion to 405,460 beneficiaries during first three quarters of last fiscal year.

The EOBI provides monetary benefits to old age workers under programmes such as Old Age Pension, Invalidity Pension, Survivors Pension and Old Age Grants.

Statistics showed on Saturday that during the period the benefits disbursed to 248,740 beneficiaries under old-age pension head and amount was Rs11.279 billion, the number of survivors' pension beneficiaries was 148,829 and Rs6.327 billion were disbursed to them, the number of invalidity pension beneficiaries was 5,660 and amount disbursed to them was Rs245 million while old- age grant was disbursed to 2,231 beneficiaries and amount was 70.836 million.

An additional amount of Rs6.728 billion was also allocated for Old-Age

Marvi Memon conferred French National Order of Merit ISLAMABAD: State Minister and Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Marvi Memon was conferred the French National Order of Merit in a ceremony held at the French Embassy in Islamabad on Friday.

The order's purpose is to reflect a dynamic society and award younger generations, set an example as a form of evaluation and recognise diversity in the French society.

Memon, who spent her early years in France, received the award from the French Ambassador to Pakistan, Martine Dorance, in the presence of ministers and journalists. Federal Ministers Balighur Rehman and Khurram Dastgir, and Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz were present at the ceremony, among others. -APP Pension, Survivors Pension, Invalidity Pension and Old- Age Grants to disburse it to 24,050 more beneficiaries.

The data further revealed that pensions are paid on monthly basis. The minimum pension is Rs5,250 per month which may raise upto Rs10,920

depending upon period of insurance and wages of the insured person at the rate of Rs13,000.

Old-age grant is paid in lump sum equal to one month's average wages of the insured person for every completed year of insurable employment. -APP

Killing of youth by Indian Army in IoK strongly denounced ISLAMABAD: Hurriyat leaders have strongly denounced the coldblooded murder of an innocent youth, Tanveer Ahmad Wani, by Indian Army in Budgam district in occupied Kashmir. Tanveer Ahmad Wani was killed when a patrolling party of Indian Army opened fire on protesting youth in Beerwah area of the district on Friday, KMS reported.

The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement issued in

Srinagar termed the killing of Tanveer Ahmad as the worst example of state terrorism.

He said that Indian police and troops were carrying out genocide of Kashmiris in a planned manner.

Unless and until these forces' personnel are made accountable for their wrongdoings the killing spree will go unabated, he said.

The Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement in Srinagar denouncing the

murder of Tanveer Ahmad said that the brutal killing of Kashmiri youth

by Indian armed forces was fast becoming the order of the day and was highly disturbing.

"How long the people of Kashmir are going to helplessly witness the brutal murder of our young generation while world community watches as mute spectators? When will they (world community) stand up and take notice? When will those in India that claim upholding of

human rights especially such basic right as to life have the courage to speak up?" he asked.

He also castigated the puppet authorities for sealing the historic Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, and disallowing people from offering Juma prayers for the fifth consecutive week. The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front-R, Farooq Ahmad Dar, in his statement also expressed deep grief over Tanveer's killing. -APP

District administration finalises arrangements to tackle Monsoon LAHORE: District Administration Lahore has taken all pre-flood arrangements outstandingly during the season of Monsoon. District Administration has kept a constant watch on the flow of water in River Ravi, which is running smoothly.

It has also been decided to conduct a fresh survey of inhabitants residing on both sides of River Ravi Bank at Shahdara Point. The team consisted of Rescue 1122, Civil Defence, Irrigation Department has also been directed to submit a complete report of inhabitants to be affected from low and high flood.

These decisions were taken in a

meeting on pre-flood arrangements chaired by Deputy Commissioner Lahore, Sumair Ahmed Syed and DG, LDA Zahid Zaman at DC, Camp Office. The meeting was attended by MD, WASA, ADCR, officers of Rescue 1122, Civil Defence, AC Model Town, Director Admin LDA and others. Irrigation and Rescue 1122 gave detailed briefing about arrangements to DC Lahore and DG LDA. Moreover, the chair was also briefed that in case of flood in River Ravi, the inhabitants shifting to save places like school buildings had also been identified. "The survey team would complete

survey within shortest span of time flood control room at DC office should be full functional", DC, Lahore added.

In another meeting regarding dangerous buildings, DC, Lahore has directed the officials concerned to conduct a fresh survey of dangerous buildings of the city.

He has also instructed the representatives PHATA to issue notices to the inhabitants of PHATA quarters which are in danger. DC Lahore Sumair Ahmed Syed revealed that as many as 99 buildings had been demolished while 141 dangerous buildings had been repaired. -APP

Channel 24, DawnNews journalists manhandled

by FIA officials at Islamabad hospital ISLAMABAD: Two reporters from Channel 24 and DawnNews were manhandled and illegally detained by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officers and family members of SECP Chairman Zafarul Haq Hijazi on Friday.

The incident took place at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), where FIA officials had brought Hijazi for a medical check-up following the dismissal of his pre-arrest bail plea ear-

Rivers Indus, Kabul, Swat still flow in low flood

Man arrested after selling his newborn son for Rs 15,000

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has said rivers Indus at Kalabagh, Kabul in Warsak-Nowshera Reach and tributary River Swat at Chakdara Bridge are flowing in low Flood. According to daily FFC report on Saturday, other major Rivers, including Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej continued to flow in normal state.

The Combined Live Storage of Tarbela, Chashma & Mangla reservoirs as of today is 10.439 MAF (75.33 % of total live storage capacity). Tarbela & Mangla Reservoir elevations are 1522.00 feet & 1219.00 feet respectively meaning thereby that they are 28.00 feet & 23.00 feet below their respective Maximum Conservation Levels of 1550.00 feet and 1242.00 feet.

As per Flood Forecasting Division (FFD), Lahore, Monsoon Low earlier over Western Madhya Pradesh (India) today persists over Northwest Madhya Pradesh (India) besides weak Seasonal Low over Northern Balochistan. Moist currents from Bay of Bengal (India) are penetrating into most parts of the country upto 5000 feet as suggested by the meteorological conditions. For the next 24 hours, FFD, Lahore, has predicted scattered thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls over Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sahiwal & D.G. Khan Divisions of Punjab including Sindh, besides over the upper catchments of Rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi & Sutlej. Isolated thunderstorm/ rain may also occur over Punjab (Faisalabad & Bahawalpur Divisions), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Eastern Balochistan and upper catchment of River Indus during the same period.

Scattered thunderstorm / rain with isolated heavy falls (including one or two very heavy falls) may occur over Southern Punjab, Sindh and Eastern Balochistan during the next two days. Moderate rainfall with isolated heavy falls are also likely over Northern Punjab & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and upper catchments of Rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi & Sutlej during the above time period. This may result into Low to Medium level flows in the Rivers Chenab and Jhelum and associated local Nullahs of Rivers Ravi and Chenab as well." -APP

TANDO ALLAHYAR: A man has been arrested by Tando Allahyar police for selling his one-day-old son for Rs15,000 to a couple, who are also in police custody.

The boy was born to Kazbano Qambran and her husband Abdul Ghafoor in a private hospital on July 17. A day later, the father sold the baby to a maid named Sobia and her husband Allah Dita Baloch through a female servant, Khadija. Khadija has also been arrested.

According to police, Ghafoor sold the boy to cover his wife's medical expenses.

After the mother reported her son's kidnapping at A-section Tando Allahyar police station, the police conducted raids in Sheedi Mohallah and Al Medina colony. -APP

lier in the day.

When Hijazi arrived at the hospital, Channel 24 reporter Saba Bajeer took some photos of the SECP chairman using her cellphone and inquired about his health. At this, FIA Assistant Director Tahir Tanveer approached Bajeer, grabbed her by the arm and asked her to delete the photos captured by her, according to an application filed

by DawnNews reporter Aitzaz Hassan

for legal action against the harassment.

The FIA official then started pushing Hassan, on whose suggestion Bajeer had proceeded to delete the photos.

Hassan's mobile phone and cards were then seized in the presence of 6-7 FIA personnel.

The FIA personnel then forced Bajeer and Hassan into a room at Pims, where they were illegally detained for an hour without their phones. -APP

Police arrests culprits over underage marriage SHIKARPUR: A fiveyear-old girl was on Saturday married off to a 22-year-old man at village Raman Shar in the outskirts of Dakhan Town, some 40 kilometres from Shikarpur, before police intervened to arrest key individuals involved, local police said.

According to an official, a special police party headed

by SHO Khuda Bakhsh Panhwar raided the ceremony and succeeded in arresting the nikkah khwan, Molvi Kifayatullah Bhutto, 40, the 'groom', Habibullah Shar, and the father of the groom, Gul Meer. The police also took the five-year-old bride, the daughter of Zameer Shar, into custody along with her mother. According to police sources, the marriage had been solemnised before police reached the place.

Police shifted the accused and the bride to the Dakhan Police Station and later handed them over to Gaheja Police for prosecution under the Early Child Marriages Restraint Act of 2013. -APP

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, DG Rangers Major General Mohammad Saeed, IG Police AD Khwaja carring codffin of police personal during funeral prayer. -Inp

‘Submitted Bani Gala money trail in court, allayed PML-N concerns’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Saturday that the money trail for Imran Khan's Bani Gala residence was submitted to the court after gathering details from London, adding that the party has now allayed the concerns of rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

The PTI leaders were addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

While making a comparison between Prime Minister's children and the PTI chief, Chaudhry said that Nawaz's son has a Rs6,000 million flat while Imran owned a five million rupees flat.

"Whether it's Nawaz Sharif, Fazl-ur Rehman or Zardari they need to submit a money trail similar to that of Imran," said the PTI leader. In 1980, Imran Khan was the county's most expensive player, said Chaudhry, adding that the cases against the PTI would go to dustbin.

PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood said that the accountability of powerful people is a favourable thing and this will also make democracy strong. PTI's central Secretary Information was addressing a press conference in Lahore.

He said that this time around it seems that the country is going toward better-

ment. Mahmood said that out country did not progress because the rich have made separate laws for themselves.

Earlier today, Imran Khan's counsel submitted to the Supreme Court details of his flat in London and cricket contracts, defending him in the foreign funding case.

In 1984, the documents read, Imran mortgaged a one-bedroom apartment in London through Royal Trust in the name of Niazi Services Limited.

The apartment was purchased for GBP 117,500 on mortgage on 20 years and initial down payment of GBP 61,000

to Royal Trust. As per the statement, Imran made the payment from his savings and earnings he got while playing for Sussex Country Cricket and Kerry Packer series.

According to the documents submitted to the Supreme Court, Imran managed to pay off the mortgage well before its due date as he had a benefit year in 1987 when he earned GBP 190,000 and his savings.

Since Imran made all the money while playing as a professional cricketer, the statement reads, there could be no money laundering at any time.

Shibli Faraz's tax documents stolen from Islamabad residence Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Shibli Faraz claimed Saturday that his house in Islamabad sector F-7 was burgled by unknown persons, who made off with "important documents" including details of his tax returns, property papers and records of the Ahmed Faraz Trust.

Shibli, who is the son of renowned poet Ahmed Faraz, said the house had been empty for the past few years and that he had transferred his documents there

from his office. A view of the room from where Shibli Faraz says his documents were stolen. Shibli insisted that the breakin was an attempt to malign him and his party. The people responsible for the theft wanted to get their hands on documents that could be used to defame and blackmail him and the PTI, he said. He added that "stunts like these" will not deter him or his party. Shibli has demanded that law enforcement officers investigate the matter thoroughly. A complaint has been registered with police and law enforcement officers have conducted a thorough search of the house. -APP

City News

Sunday, July 23, 2017

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36 criminals held with drugs, weapons MULTAN: The police claimed to have arrested 36 criminals and recovered drugs and illegal weapons from them, here on Saturday.

Police said that, police teams conducted raids and arrested six drug peddlers, 14 proclaimed offenders and seven illegal weapon holders besides recovering 51 litre liquor, 48 bottles of wine, 180 grams hashish, six pistols, one gun and rounds from them.

Meanwhile, nine kite sellers also held with 583 kites. Cases have been registered against the accused. –APP

Two suspects held during search operation MULTAN: Multan police have arrested two suspects during house-to-house search operation, launched here at Basti Khudadad, police said on Saturday.

According to police sources, accompanying law-enforcement agencies officials, the police team encircled the area early Saturday morning and blocked traffic on the road passing through the area in Muzaffarabad police precincts. Police combed the area and targeted 90 houses during the search operation and made bio-metric identification of 130 persons. The teams arrested two suspected persons and recovered 110-litre liquor during the search operation. –APP

29 injured in road accidents RAWALPINDI: A total 26 road traffic crashes were reported in District Command and Control Room, Rescue 1122 Rawalpindi during the last 24 hours; in which 20 serious injured were shifted to different hospitals of Rawalpindi However, 09 victims, who sustained minor injuries, were provided first aid on spot by Emergency Medical Teams.

A total 29 victims were affected by road traffic crashes included 17 males and 12 females, According to data Rescue 1122. –APP

86 criminals arrested FAISALABAD: The police claimed on Saturday to have arrested 86 criminals including 84 proclaimed offenders from various parts of the district during the past 24 hours.

The police recovered 6 pistols, a Klashnikov, a gun, 2.857 kg hashish and 59 liters liquor from their possession. Further investigation was under progress. –APP

Man electrocuted MULTAN: A man was electrocuted to death while working at an under-construction building near Bahadur Chowk here on Saturday.

According to Rescue 1122 sources, Muhammad Sajjad, a mason by profession was working at an under-construction building near Bahadur Chowk when he received severe electric shock after his hands touched wire accidently. He died on the spot. The victim belonged to Gailaywal area of district Lodharan. Police was investigating. –APP

House gutted KHANEWAL: Valuables worth thousands of rupees were burnt to ashes when fire erupted in a house here on Saturday.

According to Rescue 1122, the fire broke out at a house owned by Muhammad Tanveer at colony No. 1 Loharawala intersection due to short circuiting which gutted the households worth Rs 100,000. The volunteers of Rescue rushed to the spot and control the ablaze. However, no loss of life was reported in the incident. –APP

LAHORE:People buying Independence Day related stuff from vendor at Ganpat road ahead of Independence Day celebrations. –Online

2018 election to wipe out ‘negative’ politicians: CM LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the politics of those who damaged national economy would be wiped out in general elections 2018. Talking to parliamentarians here, he said opponents were afraid of rapid development and progress in the country, and these negative politicians should stop playing with countrymen’s fate and let Pakistan progress. Shehbaz Sharif said, “Our opponents are afraid of four years successful period of Pakistan Muslim League-N government and they are frightened that elimination of load shedding by Pakistan Muslim League-N government will end their politics.”

He said, political performers who had looted national resources were also supporting the sit-in group and Niazi sahib should look around and he would see those who had got hefty loans written off and land grabbers.

It was unfortunate that Niazi sahib had not learnt any lesson from repeated defeats in the past and the history book would record his name among those who conspired against Pakistan’s development and prosperity, he maintained.

The Chief Minister said

those who held new jugglery daily and were trying to bring bad luck to the people, should mend their ways as efforts had been made in the past to damage development process through sitins, lockdown, civil disobedience and protests, but the common man distanced himself from politics of violence and protest as well as foiled negative designs of such elements from general elections to by-elections and local government elections. He said the person responsible for the criminal delay in Nandipur Power Project due to loot and plunder had taken refuge in accountability party, adding that one party gave shadows of darkness to the country due to its corruption and the second party obstructed power projects through protests. Main objective of those leveling allegations against elected leadership, he said, was to hinder development process in the country. Opponents of progress should realize that every trick of their negative politics had failed, he added.

He said that father of a political child had broken all records of corruption in the country and every day of the former rulers had dawned with a new scandal of corruption for the poor nation.

Those got loans of billions

of rupees written off and now pretend to be aristocrats should also be brought to justice because writing off loans was also a crime and indiscriminate accountability of all those should be carried out who were involved in the loot of national resources, he suggested.

He said that baseless allegations leveled against the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim LeagueN (PML-N) had not even a remotest link with the reality and stories of lies had been fabricated by the liar politicians.

Shehbaz Sharif said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had put Pakistan on road to progress and prosperity but those leveling baseless allegations wanted to upset this process but the people would not be hoodwinked by these juggler politicians.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N government would continue implementing its manifesto of public service, he resolved.

The parliamentarians, who met the Chief Minister, included MNAs Parvaiz Malik, Asadur Rehman, Khalid Javed Warriach and MPA Mehmood Qadir Khan.

CM expresses grief over death of father-inlaw of Mir Javed Reman:

Punjab

Chief

Minister

Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed deep sense of grief and sorrow over the death of Jan Muhammad Bhatti Advocate, father-in-law of Chairman and Chief Executive of Jang Group Mir Javed Rehman.

The Chief Minister prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage and strength to the members of the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss with equanimity.

CM condoles death of Prof Hassan Akbar Kamal:

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed deep sense of grief and sorrow over the demise of prominent Urdu poet and educationist Professor Hassan Akbar Kamal.

In a condolence message, the Chief Minister paid tributes to literary services of Professor Hassan Akbar and said that the late had a prominent place in poetry and his services for Urdu literature will be remembered for a long time.

He prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage and strength to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss with fortitude. –APP

CMD urges celebrating 70th I-Day with zeal

LAHORE: National Cricket team player Hasan Ali putting helmet on a motorcyclist during traffic police awareness campaign on Mall Road. –Online

MULTAN: Commissioner Multan Division (CMD) Bilal Butt issued instruction for commemorating the 70th Independence Day on August 14 with national zeal and zest.

Chairing a meeting here on Saturday, he directed officials of different departments to start preparations.

Different ceremonies in connection with the I-Day would begin from August 7.

However, the main ceremony would be held at historic Qasim Fort on August 14.

He directed the departments to prepare floats to attract more people to participate in the ceremonies.

He directed administration of Metro buses to instal colourful lighting at the route for night time.

Declamation contests, face paint and sports events should also be organised to ensure maximum participation of children. Persons

with disabilities should not be ignored in these contests, he added.

DC reviews development on walled city project: Deputy Commissioner

Nadir Chatha in a meeting here on Saturday reviewed the development on walled city project.

Presiding over a meeting, he reviewed the ongoing development work at Chowk Haram Gate, Sarafa Bazaar and Musafirkhana for restoration of historical status of these places.

He said Haram Gate had been restored in its historical condition with the help of experts from Italy. He said that tourism would be promoted by restoring decades old historical status of the city. Nadir Chatha added that upgradation of Sarafa Bazaar and Musafirkhana would be completed till September next. He pledged

to restore all historical Gates and buildings of the city. He said project would be completed with the coordination of traders and civil society.

Officials directed to seal property over detection of dengue larvae:

Deputy Commissioner Nadir Chatha has directed the officers concerned to register case and seal properties where dengue larvae were found.

In line with special directions of DC Nadir Chatha, anti-dengue campaign was continue in the district to eradicate dengue larvae. Ten departments including health, environment, WASA, Solid Waste Management Company (SWMC) and others were participating in the campaign. The DC has given target of surveillance and spray on priority basis at sensitive union councils. –APP

Ujala programme criticized for cost rise LAHORE: The scope of Khadim-i-Punjab Ujala programme has been widened (4,321 to 20,000 schools) in the last one year but the cost of the project has disproportionately gone up 15 times – from Rs1.3 billion in the last bid to an estimated Rs17 billion now.

The Energy Department justifies the price escalation, saying the complexity of the plan has grown phenomenally, with stringent deadlines. Each increasing component – remote monitoring, specialised wiring, designated gadgets and security of equipment – has added to the cost of the project.

The critics, however, question the ‘complexity’ of the project with

the claim that it is simple provision of solar systems to schools. The technology is now so simple that people have it on their rooftops, they say. The cost has increased either because of some mala fide intention or sheer incompetence which is something intolerable, goes the argument. What makes the matter worse is similar increase in the consultancy cost, that is, from Rs15 million to Rs500 million though the consultant is same in both bids. This increase did catch attention of the Planning and Development (P&D) department, which asked the Energy Department to come up with a justification for increase. The Energy

Department, on its part, says consultancy cost is within the permissible limit of three per cent of the project cost. The Punjab government, encouraged by the Asian Development Bank which had spared some money under the clean energy head, conceived the plan to solar-energise 4,321 off-grid schools last year. It hired a consultant and floated tenders. The winning contractor quoted a price of Rs1.3 billion. The bidding process was later challenged in court for contractual hiccups and it did not materialise.

The Energy Department, meanwhile, increased the numbers and rewrote the entire bidding process with the help of the

same consultant and came up with new targets and cost estimates.

However, things got complicated when the P&D department started the scrutiny and pointed out some glaring mistakes such as missing feasibility report, massive increase in cost of project and consultancy, its commercial value and even basic energy generation potential. It wrote that at least three different peak generation figures (31MW, 45MW and 50MW) were quoted in the pre-feasibility report, indicating that consultant was not clear about the yield of the project.

Similarly, contradictory number of schools and rooms to be put on solar systems were also found in the

reports. The P&D also pointed out that payback period of 10 years also did not correspond to other calculations, which indicate it at 16 years.

“However, if the calculations are based on reality of the project, the payback period is 50 years. This project at this cost is not viable.”

As for the payback time controversy, the Energy Department says it should be taken as a social, not a commercial, project. Thus payback time should not matter.

In its observations, the P&D department also pointed out the cost factor and asked the Energy Department to justify it.

According to it, the price of a school’s solarisation has increased

by 2.5 times – from Rs311,039 in the previous bid to current Rs765,710. Similarly, per room cost has gone up by 210 per cent – from Rs127,526 to Rs265,681.

The consultancy cost, it says, has gone up by 6.1 times – from Rs4,397 to Rs26,909 per school.

“One must keep in mind that cost in the previous bid included all taxes, whereas the new estimates exclude taxes. If these taxes are included, the new price would skyrocket to over Rs20 billion putting even bigger question mark on the feasibility of the project,” explained an official of the P&D Department who spoke on the request of anonymity. –APP

BZU gives record deficit budget MULTAN: The administration of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) presented its budget for fiscal year 2017-18 with the biggest deficit ever of 18.61pc in its Syndicate meeting held on Saturday.

According to the budget documents, the size of total budget is Rs5.92bn. The estimated deficit is Rs1.10bn against the estimated income of Rs4.81bn.

The main agenda of the meeting is the approval of the budget. Getting approval of some decisions taken by the vice chancellor while exercising his special powers under Section 16(3) of the BZU Act 1975, approval of the minutes of academic council meeting and discussions on some court cases are also a part of the agenda.

The university administration has included in the agenda the appointment case of Dr Bahsir Ahmed as chairman of the Pharmacy Department in violation of the Punjab government directions that no official should be given any administrative post against whom corruption charges have been framed. –APP

Lawmakers laud 635b ADP budget LAHORE: Different lawmakers on Saturday said Pakistan Muslim League-N government was spending a huge amount of Rs 635 billion on development projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP), which would usher in a new era of prosperity in the province.

Talking to APP, they said that the Punjab government presented a wonderful budget for financial year 2017-18 and maintained that it would ensure speedy development.

MPA Sardar Qaiser Abbas Khan Magsi said that record funds had been allocated for rural and lessdeveloped areas of the province. –APP

SIT made into SDA SARGODHA: Under the Punjab government directions, Sargodha Improvement Trust (SIT) has been converted into Sargodha Development Authority (SDA) and formal approval for establishment of Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) will also be given in the SDA meeting.

Chairing a meeting of the Board of Directors (BoDs) here, the DC said after establishment of WASA here, the problems of sewerage and cleanliness would be resolved soon.

The DC said that all-out efforts were being made for resolving the allotment issues of Model Town Housing Scheme and its further development work.The meeting was told that under the Allotment Act, an inquiry was conducted to assess the allotment of plots in the housing society and 57 cases had been sent to the Anti-Corruption Establishment while more than 150 allotments had also been cancelled. –APP

Opinion Marginalization of Women

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Sunday, July 23, 2017

Lahore & Multan Email: businessnewspk@gmail.com

Turbulence in economy

Naeema Siddiqui

PAST few weeks have seen quite a lot of uncertainty in financial markets. Stocks have been hit by a strong bout of volatility since at least May when a sustained bull run hit choppy sentiments. In recent days, the declines have been so spectacular after some trade sessions that they have set records and rekindled memories of 2008. All the stories that we were fed since the bull run began last year have been demolished since the declines kicked in after May, laying waste to the elaborate analyses and narratives put out by various brokers. By now, it is abundantly clear that few, if any, know how far these declines will go, and whether or not the peaks that the index hit this winter will ever be scaled again. The uncertainty is proving too much for many small investors who have their valuable savings at risk.

The apex and front-line regulators are right to point out that they have no role to play in such declines, and especially not one that involves attempts to dampen the volatility or preserve investor value. This is a ruthless marketplace, where profits and losses must be swallowed with equal ease. Beyond ensuring that the payments and settlements system is working properly, that brokers are not over-leveraged or engaged in unethical trades, there is precious little for them to do. But it is also important to realize that the investor landscape has changed in significant ways since this regulatory framework was put in place. Mutual funds are playing a growing role these days, and capital-protected funds are particularly popular. These generate their own patterns of buying and selling due to commitments to their clients.

These patterns can today be drivers of volatility. There is nothing unethical about these funds, but perhaps it is worth asking how far the regulatory framework has evolved to keep pace with the changes sweeping through the investor landscape.

Are there reforms that can help small investors better understand the risks involved in the stock market, and is it possible for the regulators to keep a closer watch on the hype through which buying activity can be generated? Most people are being told that the political crisis in Islamabad lies at the heart of the declines, but more savvy investors know that the crisis is at best catalyzing a trend that was going to come around in any case.

All economic factors aside, there is no doubt that political situation of the country is also to be blamed for the volatile and unpredictable behavior of markets lately.

Business community is very sensitive to the law and order situation in the environment and if they are not provided this requirement, then they will simply move the business away from such country.

This does not mean that accountability is bad for the economy and corrupt elements should be tolerated to keep it stable but the economic structure should be made independent of political situations. This is the only way to make the economy favorable for business and investor community.

Water woes

IOLENCE, discrimination and supremacy against women are entrenched in many countries, cultures and societies. When a state adopts a certain kind of legislation that restricts women in pursuing their education or jobs, it exploits them terribly. Such treatment against woman not only demoralizes them, but they lose their self respect, confidence and lack of decision making powers.

They believe their life is to be suppressed by men in such ways and take pride to the cruel treatment towards them, making forward thinking reversed. Ayatollah Khomeini before coming into power, described that the Iranian women would be equal partners with men in the social, economic and political arenas, and would enjoy complete freedom of choice. Believing this, women played an active role in the revolution. Surprisingly, after coming into power the outlook of Ayatollah Khomeini towards the role of women

V

very favourable. The women were asked to get higher education in women's universities which were

Everyone should be free to believe, practice and propagate his own views as long as he is not harming others' liberties. scarce at the time. Although the government upgraded some colleges to the university level, the number of women’s universities was yet not sufficient enough. These discriminatory laws and policies of the government further resulted in the loss of economic, social and legal status of women.

To the contrary, crime rates against women, increased mostly from their male relatives. One could propagate Islamic teachings and values, but cannot force someone to do the same. If one does that, then he/she must be able to clearly communicate his/her manifesto before coming into power and then let people decide, what they want.

The way Islam practiced in Pakistan is divided into different sects and each sect interprets the same source in its own way taking into account not only religious beliefs, but also the cultural and social beliefs around them. The different ways could be right to some extent, but the fact is that they all are projecting the same reality.

The only way to peace and salvation

in this situation is tolerance and freedom of speech. Islam is a universal religion. It is welcoming for all people and nations. One chosen set of people cannot claim to have the right over Islamic teachings and values. The government of Pakistan should permit reasoning in interpreting Quranic laws. It is permitted to use reasoning for reforms appropriating to the circumstances and times in keeping with Islamic doctrines.

When Zia enforced his own understanding of Islam in the form of Hadood Ordinance, it further created a division in society to which the country suffers till this day, some more severely in certain places than others.

In the modern world, the role of women has changed rapidly and continues to day after day. These courageous women have gone above and beyond the notions that they deserve to stay at home. There are numerous examples inside and outside of Pakistan where these women who were exploited badly in the past, not only proved themselves best as professionals but also as mothers and wives.

These women are doing more work as compared to men as they face challenges on every step of their journey.

However, on national level, people of different schools of thought should sit together to find an Islamic discourse which is more exclusive of women and they should be facilitated and appreciated instead of being victimized. This is the only way we could grow as a country where rights of women should be accepted, respected and implemented.

Socio-economic problems country. This results in deviant behavior, drug abuse, smuggling, corruption, poverty, illiteracy and many other social evils. The country beset with social crises and problems fails to attract foreign investment.

Hassan Ahmad

Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world and is on the verge of being classified as water scarce. This is an existential threat to Pakistan as reduced water availability will hobble its modest economic growth.

Specialists have estimated that because of a lack of storage capacity and infrastructure (read dams), 30 MAF water discharges into the sea during the flood season, causing a loss of $14 billion annually to the country.

For a country that uses nearly 90% of its water resources for agriculture and depends on the sector to remain buoyant, this is ridiculous.

What is more ridiculous is that we have known this for decades and have still not been able to build dams to stem the tide.

Pakistan has a water storage capacity just for 30 days. Given the harsh climate of Pakistan, experts recommend that Pakistan should maximise it to 1000 days. 10% of the rural population is living without access to water. With a growing population and declining availability of water per person, the demand-supply gap will widen further in the near future. This will lead to inter-provincial as well as regional conflicts.

The role of regional politics too cannot be denied in aggravating Pakistan’s water woes as the relationship dynamic with India determines the flow in the western rivers since, and as a corollary, this has implications for internal politics vis-à-vis distribution of water within the provinces.

The federal and provincial governments must sit together and draft a comprehensive water management plan. They can either fight over the location of dams and economic allocation now, or fight with each other for mere physical survival in the decades to come. At the least, the state should make it its responsibility to inculcate water sense among citizens to avoid wastage.

changed completely. He declared that women are obliged to focus on their religious duties to take care of their husbands and children.

He believed women lack in intellectual capacity and should be banned from occupying judicial posts. Most of the women were dismissed from the top-level government jobs including all female judges and were forced either to accept lower level jobs. Khomeini also favoured child marriages. He claimed his decisions were under the name of Islam, as do other political leaders who use this unjustified excuse to marginalize woman. Leaders should adopt the same values as do they propagate for achieving power.

In the second case, Zia took the reign of the government of Pakistan in 1977 and shortly after in 1979, the Hadood Ordinance was introduced.

Under this system women were victimized and suffered badly. In the case of Zia regime, there was an Islamic Ideological Council, consisted of fundamentalists. They were asked to interpret Islamic laws and Zia asked them to bring all the laws of Pakistan in conformity with the Holy Quran. Here again the problem was, the way one interprets and analyze the Holy Quran cannot bind others to see the Quran and its laws from the Islamists lens. If God wanted these Islamist to rule on others, then it would have already had favoured Theocracy, which it did not.

The formulated policies of the government discouraged women from working outside the home.

The educational policies were not

EOPLE are the essential pillar of any country. It is the fundamental duty and responsibility of the country to fulfill the basic needs of its people. Basic needs of man comprises of shelter, food and clothing. When these needs are not fulfilled they bring about problems termed as socio-economic problems. Pakistan has also been suffering from these problems. The real issue is not the presence of these problems in the society. But the extent to which they are being paid attention and solved. When these problems are not met timely and the grievances of the people are not redressed they turn out to be a menace for the country. They assert a negative impact on society. The society deprived of basic necessities of life is ignorant of its obligations towards the

P

The synopsis of whole debate is that government should take proper measures to solve all these issues, so Pakistan can move in a right direction.

Pakistan is a developing country and faces all social problems that developing countries face along with political instability that aggravates the problems further. Currently, Pakistan has many challenges to face in the form of social and economic problems.

Poverty has been one of the biggest problems that Pakistan faces today. It is rightly said that poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere. In such condition people are deprived of their basic necessities of life. Proper education and medication are becoming distant from them. They are forced to think of their survival only.

Pakistan is poorly faced with the problem of unemployment. The most horrible part is that it is rising every

year which in long term will demonstrate to be hazardous for the economy of Pakistan. It has negative impact on society. It creates frustration and revengeful attitude. It leads to an increase in the incidences of crimes.

Corruption is another huge social problem. Transparency International (TI) has ranked Pakistan 34th most corrupt nation in the world. The menace of corruption has links to a multitude of vices. Its roots are linked to injustice, mistrust, suspicion, extremism and terrorist activities. It creates a sense of insecurity, exacerbates poverty and adds to the misfortune of the vulnerable segments of the society. It also instills a sense of hopelessness and despondency and threatens the strength of good values which have been established over centuries of civilized struggle. Social problems are interlinked with economic problems. Economic prosperity serves as a backbone for the overall progress of a nation. One thing is common in all developed nations- they are economically sound. When citizens of a country are freed from the worries of earning a livelihood to sustain their lives, they divert their attention to more useful things. They focus on education, improvise healthcare, develop technologies that make life easy and much more. Poor economic condition is the root cause of so many problems that

exist in a society. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s economic conditions are pathetic. As if power crises, lack of foreign investment for the development of industrial zones, backward and out-dated technology were not enough, Pakistan’s indulgence in war on terrorism served as a fatal blow to the already crumbling economic state.

Terrorism has emerged as a monster for the world in general and for Pakistan in particular. Pakistan’s involvement in War on Terror has proved a nightmare. The image of Pakistan as a peace loving country has been tarnished. Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives while millions have lost everything they had and are forced to migrate to relatively safer places. This war has destroyed our economy beyond imagination.

Terrorism is very closely linked to the declining economic conditions and high rate of illiteracy prevailing in our country. The poor and illiterate become easy prey to the masterminds who can train and use them in whatever they want. Inflation provides an important insight on the state of the economy and policies that govern it. He overall Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key indicator of inflation, has swelled by 76% in the last four years, eroding the purchasing power of the people as the overall economy has not performed in line with ever-increasing prices.

A history of dictatorships when General Ayyub Khan seized power through a bloodless coup in October 1958.

By the end of 1968, the public resentment against Ayyub’s regime touched a boiling point and an anti-Ayyub movement was launched .On March 25, 1969, he resigned and handed over the power to the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, General Muhammad Yahya Khan, who immediately imposed martial law.

Shakeel Ahmad AKISTAN today stands at the critical point of its destiny which is in our hands to make or break. Sixty years ago, we started with a beacon of hope and that beacon will be no more if our Generals keep continue to hold the Pakistan hostage through their time and again involvement in the politics. Due to their habitual coups, the democracy could not take roots in its true sense as it is established in the neighboring country. With a billion people, the Republic of India is the world's largest democracy. With a population nearly four times that of the United States, India modelled its government on the lines of British parliamentary system, with a healthy dose of influences from the United States and the rest of Europe.

In its 60 years of history, Pakistan had four military dictators with their rule expanding more than the half of the total years since its independence. The first time military was directly involved in politics of the country was

P

Dictatorships have always caused setbacks for the country and its institutions. The nation will have to stop idealizing a lone savior and invest in the democratic culture for a stronger Pakistan.

Yahya inherited a net of extremely complex problems. The end result of these complex problems and the seeds of Pakistan Army´s defeat and humiliation in December 1971 was the establishment of Bangladesh as an independent republic. Yahya hastily surrendered his powers to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on December 20, 1971.Bhutto gave Pakistan its third constitution, oversaw Pakistan's nuclear programme, held peace talks with neighbor India and was more of an Internationalist with a secular image. General Zia-ul-Haq, the Chief of Army Staff, came to power after he overthrew ruling PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and became the state's

Mail Box Jammers at Jail Road

to look into the matter. The ideal solution would be to shift this prison to the suburbs.

–Imran All Siyal, (Karachi)

THE electronic signal jammers installed by central jail authorities in the vicinity of Jail Chowrangi has made the lives of thousands of people miserable as they cannot use a basic tool of the 21st century, their mobile phones.

Areas like New Town, PIB Colony and partially Bahadurabad fall within the radius of the electronic jammers’ range. The people accept the need for protection and security, but why should the thousands of people living in this heavily populated neighbourhood have to suffer? A cell phone is the need of the hour and people belonging to every walk of life use it frequently. Life is impossible without it. I appeal to Sindh chief minister

Unfinished housing project I find it distasteful that the CDA Chairman, Sheikh Anser Aziz, should tell the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat that the purchasers of apartments in One Constitution Avenue will be paid compensation for the apartments they have purchased. The 240 owners of the apartments find themselves in the situation where due to the complicity of the CDA – the term used by the Hon’ble Judge in the BNP v CDA case – the owners of the apartment have been defraud-

third ruler to impose martial law and he later had Bhutto executed. Zia issued several decrees which amended the constitution and greatly expanded his power. Most significantly, the Revival of Constitution of 1973 Order granted Zia the power to dissolve the National Assembly virtually at will.

On May 29, 1988, President Zia dissolved the National Assembly and removed the Prime Minister Junejo under Article 58(2) b of the amended Constitution. After eleven years, General Zia-ul-Haq once again promised the nation that he would hold elections within the next ninety days. Zia was killed along with several of his top generals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel in a mysterious aircraft crash on August 17, 1988, the circumstances of which remain unclear. His death with the American Ambassador gave rise to many conspiracy theories. Pervez Musharraf took power on October 12, 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, the elected Prime Minister, dismissed the national and provincial legislative assemblies, assumed the title of Chief Executive and became Pakistan's head of government, thereby becoming the fourth Army chief of Pakistan to have assumed executive control. Later in 2001, Musharraf appointed himself to the office of President of Pakistan. After announcing his intention to combat extremists, Western countries have switched from sanctions to active support through military and monetary aid.

By the involvement of military in the politics, we stand in darkness now. There is despondency and hopelessness surrounding us with no

ed; again a term used by the Hon’ble Judge in his judgment.

CDA is very much part of the problem, not the solution. The apartments have been legally purchased by the buyers with the full knowledge of the CDA, a number of us made direct enquiries from the CDA before buying the apartments and were assured it was an approved project and we should go ahead without any concerns.

The apartments have been built with the money paid by the owners, which includes 79 overseas Pakistanis, including me, who brought hard earned and valuable foreign exchange into the country. Part of our money was also used by the developer to pay the CDA for the land. It is very unfortunate that the CDA is so keen to get its hand on our apartments instead of completing the project and handing it over to us, the legitimate owners.

–Ehsan Mani (London, UK)

light visible anywhere around. This slide down has been gradual but has rapidly accelerated in the last many years. From the all above analysis, it has become crystal clear that psyche of all the four Generals of Pakistan remains the same.

They seized power through coups supposing that the country needs them, they are better administrators, they can bring the country out of crisis which elected rulers are not capable of handling the current state of affairs of the country. And they were totally opposed to democracy believing like any other dictator that parliamentary democracy did not suite the people of their country. They kept hold on multiple roles for themselves at a time, i.e. the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief Executive, the Martial Law Administrator and the President of Pakistan, etc. They glued to power and did not give up their post till the public anger reached at the boiling point. They made the country unstable and insecure by their wrong policies which to them were in the best interest of the country.

They broke the country in two parts, and they executed the elected ruler. They always used sticks to stop the peoples' voices, and never took the way of dialogue. They issued several decrees which amended the constitution and greatly expanded their power The current Pakistan Government should rebuild national confidence and morale, strengthen the federation, remove inter-provincial disharmony and restore national cohesion, revive the economy and restore investor confidence, ensure law and order and dispense speedy justice, depoliticize state institutions and ensure swift and across the board accountability.

Traffic woes Hazara Road is one of the busiest roads. Throughout the day, the road witnesses a heavy flow of traffic. The road is connected with Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Abbottabad. Unfortunately, there is no traffic signal at the entrance of the road. Commuters travel at their own will, leading to frequent traffic jams. People remain stuck in traffic for hours.

In addition, many commuters have lost their lives because of the absence of traffic signals. The concerned authorities must look into this critical matter to prevent ?traffic jams and fatal accidents.

–Engr Asim Nawab (Islamabad)

Healthcare This is to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to the condition of hospitals, clinics and dispensaries that fall within both the private and public sectors in

Islamabad. More or less, all hospitals are in a deplorable state. Doctors and paramedical staff don’t give proper attention to patients. There are a large number of people at government hospitals in Islamabad who do not receive proper attention.

How cruel would it be, if someone goes to a hospital for a check-up and comes home with a new deadly disease? In a country where the rulers go abroad for their check-up and their family members live and do business abroad, the plight of the people will remain unresolved.

–Hashim Abro (Islamabad)

While you were busy conspiring against others, you left your closet open & your skeletons fell out. God has His own ways.

–Maryam Nawaz Sharif

Two Parallel Cases: Imran Khan Vs #Sharifs. Both shared almost same arguments-only repute differs-SC 2 hav final say.

–Zahid gishkori

Ch. Nisar's interior ministry was more about his mood swings, sulking bouts & tantrums than it was about interior ministership.

–Nadeem Farooq paracha

It was NS who was able to present the receipts of last 70 years. IK can't even present his receipts of last 10 years #ZakatChorPaisaGol –Nida Ali

Write to us editor@dailybusinessnews.pk fb.com/DailyBN twitter.com/BusinessNews

PM is on a stay,whole country is on a standstill every day costing in Billions..need to restore normalcy as soon as possible #PanamaCase –Fawad Hussain

Market Insight

Sunday, July 23, 2017

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CPEC to bring economic revolution: AJK President

FAISALABAD: Workers busy in their work on an embroidery machine. –Online

FOREX RATES F.C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .LOW RATE U.S $ (Cash Free Market) . . .107.30 SAUDIA RIYAL . . . . . . . . . . .28.55 UAE DIRHAM . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.15 EURO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124.60 UK POUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138.80 JAPANI YEN . . . . . . . . . . . .0.95273 CHF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112.60 DKK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.65 NOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13.18 SEK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.85 AUD $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84.01 CAD $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85.10 SGD $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78.11 HK $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13.62 KWD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352.11 QTR RIYAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nil OMANI RIYAL . . . . . . . . . . .277.18 BH DINAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281.69 INDIAN RUPEE . . . . . . . . . . . .1.55 IRQ DINAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.077 MALAYSIAN RINGIT . . . . . .25.00 IRANI RIYAL . . . . . . . . . . . .0.0026 BTK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.28 AFGHANI RUPEE . . . . . . . . . .1.60

. . . . .HIGH RATE . . . . . . . . . . .107.50 . . . . . . . . . . . .28.80 . . . . . . . . . . . .29.40 . . . . . . . . . . .125.60 . . . . . . . . . . .139.80 . . . . . . . . . .0.97273 . . . . . . . . . . .113.60 . . . . . . . . . . . .16.75 . . . . . . . . . . . .13.28 . . . . . . . . . . . .12.95 . . . . . . . . . . . .85.01 . . . . . . . . . . . .86.10 . . . . . . . . . . . .78.61 . . . . . . . . . . . .14.12 . . . . . . . . . . .352.21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nil . . . . . . . . . . .277.68 . . . . . . . . . . .282.19 . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.65 . . . . . . . . . . . .0.085 . . . . . . . . . . . .26.00 . . . . . . . . . . .0.0032 . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.38 . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.70

Minister stresses on reviewal of industrial policy LAHORE: Provincial Minister Industries Commerce & Trade Sheikh Alla-u-din has stressed on reviewal of industrial policies in order to fulfil future needs of the Punjab Industry sector. Presiding over a meeting on the topic of Punjab Industrial Policy held at Industry Department Committee room here on Saturday, he said there was no doubt that the province had good Industrial potential besides skilled labour.

The provincial minister said that due to increase in ratio of import manufacturers were moving towards trading which had badly affected local industry. "It is need of time to promote, made in Pakistan products to protect and promote our local industry," he stressed. –BN Report

PFC demands boost in exports LAHORE: Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) on Saturday, demanded the government to undertake aggressive tariff reforms, explore more foreign market access and diversify its export base for attaining the ambitious export target of $45 billion.

PFC Chief Executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq while chairing the Board of Directors meeting of the council here on Saturday, urged the government to take radical steps to widen the exports, support local manufacturers and help reduce the growing import bill, as well as give the Pak hand-made world class furniture products a competitive edge in the local, regional and global markets.

He said there were a lot of companies in Pakistan that produce standard hand-made world class furniture and other products that the country doesn't need to encourage or allow indiscriminate import of unnecessary products especially that were produced in the country. Therefore, the list of prohibited imports needs to be enlarged to include items our local firms produce, he added. Mian Kashif said the situation in furniture sector too was not presenting good sce-

nario as furniture import is Rs 4 billion annually while export related to furniture items is about Rs 600 million.

He said local furniture industries have developed very well to meet European standards, so the government and the public need to trust indigenous products. "This is how we can ensure the sustainability of our local industries and guarantee employment opportunities for our teeming youths", he added.

Making it clear that PFC is not totally against putting ban on all kinds of furniture items, however, Mian Kashif said the government should put ban only on those items which are not essential and which can be produced in the country easily. "The import of goods cannot be prevented entirely because Pakistan is committed to trade agreements that govern the import and export processes", he added. Mian Kashif said the government should also provide more visible support to furniture business in terms of grants and interest free loans on easy terms to small scale woodworkers for exhibiting and travelling to trade shows and promoting Pak export as a success globally. –BN Report

Power sector deficit on the rise ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister while inaugurating Lowari tunnel, once again claimed to have brought an end to the darkness that had engulfed the masses due to chronic power outages.

But this is far from true with unscheduled loadshedding still taking place across the country while even scheduled power outages stand at more than six hours in major cities. The situation is much worse in rural and semi-urban areas. Taking stock of the IMFs recently projected power sector capacity and demand statistics and comparing it with

the NTDC projections in the NEPRA State of Industry Report 2016 there seem to be different timelines for when the power deficit will actually be met.

NTDC projects a deficit of 500MW in 2018 but illustrates a steeply increasing surplus after that which will reach 4694MW by 2021. It also puts the installed capacity at 41950MW by the end of that year. However, the IMF projects that the deficit will be briefly met in 2018 but that it will re-emerge for another four years till 2022. There is two other interesting take-away from the graph.

One is the fact that the IMF after accounting for both CPEC and nonCPEC related projects, puts the power sector capacity around 26000MW by 2021. This is in stark contrast to NTDC’s projections which show the installed capacity to be 41950MW for the same period. IMF projections do not reach 40000MW much further down the road by 2024 even. Secondly, the addition of non-CPEC energy projects will result in almost four times the power generation capacity as compared to CPEC projects in the next seven years. –BN Report

MIRPUR, (AJK): President Azad Jammu & Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan Saturday said ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would ultimately bring about an economic revolution in Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

He was addressing a seminar titled 'Mainstreaming Environment in CPEC Projects - Special Economic Zone Mirpur,' hosted by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at a local hotel.

Masood Khan said Azad Jammu & Kashmir State would also be the beneficiary of the gigantic project since four projects have been approved under CPEC including Kohala and Karot Hydropower projects respectively in Muzaffarabad and Kotli Districts, the Quadruple M Expressway from Mansehra to MuzaffarabadMirpur to Mangla and a Special Economic Industrial Zone to be set up in Mirpur.

Highlighting the broadbased prospects of CPEC in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, President Masood said it would not only be an opportunity for infrastructure development, energy and industry but also a catalyst for promoting ecotourism and establishing biological and wildlife corridors. Biodiversity sites along the Corridor will be preserved and developed, he added. He said Azad Kashmir is ideal for eco-tourism because that too is an emerging industry. "It is our responsibility to preserve our natural habitats with as much seriousness as

experience of Chinese and Pakistani entrepreneurs, he said. "Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its affiliate - CPEC - China has undertaken to provide advanced and sophisticated technologies.

The Governments of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir too would diligently make sure that this zone does not cause environmental degradation and in fact, meets the highest environmental standards," he added. The government, President said, was exploring clean energy options in AJK. "Solar energy consumption is gaining ground and it is also necessary to identify wind corridors for generation of wind power or developing solar-wind hybrids.

Masood Khan further said that mainstreaming environment in the CPEC entails effective monitoring and oversight; and in this regard government regulators, civil society and the media should play an active role. The AJK President said that the State Government has focused its due energies on developing requisite capacities, refining guidelines on Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment under the relevant legislation. EIAs, however, should be conducted more regularly and rigorously.

"The AJK government is in the initial phase of designing the zone in Mirpur and we can make environment a keystone for it and other CPEC projects to follow' , he said.

"The CPEC projects in Azad

Kashmir will be made sustainable both economically and environmentally. We need modern industrial infrastructure but it should also be conceived and implemented with the environmental impact in mind," he added.

Sardar Masood said that self-evident that economic development and environmental protection are closely linked. In modern day planning, the two cannot and should not be separated.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should therefore be integrated into all development projects. There should be no two opinions about this, he added.

He recalled that October 2005 deadly earthquake and the 2010 floods had shown fragility of ecosystems as well as their vulnerability to natural disasters. The President emphasized the need of highlighting, adequately, the concrete measures which have been taken by Chinese and Pakistani planners and their corporate entities to incorporate environmental dimensions in CPEC's land and marine projects. He called for focusing to achieve the objectives of the project which will have to develop an overall environment-friendly culture. "The AJK Government is fully committed to doing so," he added. The President congratulated the AJK Environmental Protection Agency and Laraib Energy for bringing all stakeholders together in the predesign or the design phase of Mirpur's special economic zone (SEZ). –BN Report

GDP growth beats ADB’s projection for 2016-17 ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that Pakistan’s economic growth rate for 2016-17 surpassed the bank’s estimate that the international lender had projected three months ago.

Published in April, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) projected GDP growth to edge up to 5.2 per cent in 2016-17. In contrast, the economic survey released by the Ministry of Finance a month later stated that the growth rate reached the nine-year high of 5.28pc.

The supplement to ADO released by the ADB on Thursday said the country’s economic growth was supported by a revival in agriculture as well as by continued expansion in construction and steady growth in services. Strong private consumption remained the largest contributor to growth. –BN Report

Businessmen urge govt to increase import taxes MULTAN: The business community of southern Punjab has urged the government to discourage imports by imposing heavy taxes and regulatory duties like those in India in order to control the soaring trade deficit, which swelled to the historic level at $32.58 billion in the previous fiscal year.

In a statement, Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi expressed concern over the runaway trade deficit and weakening exports.

He said Pakistan’s imports soared 18.67% to a historic high at $53.02 billion in FY17 against imports worth $44.69 billion in the previous year.

However, exports registered a decline of 1.63% and were recorded at $20.45 billion compared to $20.79 billion in the preceding year.

Roomi, however, was optimistic that exports would start taking off with support from the Prime Minister’s incentive package worth Rs180 billion.

The MCCI official suggested that import of commodities and products which are produced in Pakistan should be discouraged with the levy of taxes, tariffs and regulatory duties. He underscored the need for reviewing the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with different countries including China and Turkey to ensure balance of trade in all cases. –BN Report

we pursue industrialization, " he added. "We are also striving to get a tourism corridor included in the framework of CPEC," he said.

AJK President said he is also conscious of the environmental aspects of the four projects approved under the CPEC. Masood Khan said that AJK was building its own cascades down the Jhelum, Neelam and Poonch Rivers and their tributaries.

The construction of the Neelum-Jhelum, Jagran, Patrind, Kohala, Mahal, Azad Pattan, Karot and Gulpur hydropower projects will initiate an energy revolution.

These projects would also throw up environmental challenges that it would be necessary to transform these challenges into opportunities.

The AJK President disclosed that the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor had decided in its meeting on December 31, last year in Beijing, that out of the nine industrial zones to be established under CPEC, one would be set up in Mirpur.

This would be a truly historic watershed and a big avenue to huge opening for Azad Jammu Kashmir's economy which would stimulate industrial growth and make Azad Kashmir an economic engine for manufacturing and exports, he added.

With the advent of the proposed Mirpur special economic industrial zone as an economic hub, Azad Jammu Kashmir would tap into the professional and technological

FAISALABAD: Farmers busy their field by using old methods for the new crop. –INP

FAISALABAD: Member FCCI election commission Mian Aftab Ahmad addressing a press conference at FCCI. –INP

NHA spent 376b on road projects in past four years ISLAMABAD: National Highway Authority (NHA) has spent Rs.376,794.457 Million on the construction of highways and motorways in the country during past four years.

An official source told APP Saturday that in the financial year 2013-14 Rs. 57,457.6 million were spent on federal road projects, in 2014-15 Rs. 72,672.1 million were spent, Rs 2015-16 million, Rs. 82,960.7 million,Rs 2016-17 Rs.163,685.9 million were spent.

He said that during past four years Rs 136,992.922 million were spent on road in the Punjab, Rs 68,922.735 million in Sindh, Rs 79041.155 million in Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw, Rs 39747.533 million, Rs 23,588.878 million, and others Rs 28501.234 million.

He said that quality of works on the construction of highways and motorways projects, is up to desired and

laid down specifications.

He said that consultancy firms are engaged after a competitive procurement process and deployed on the projects to supervise all the construction activities and to ensure quality of works as per standards and contract specifications.

He said that laboratories are established on project sites, wherein engineering tests are conducted by the supervision consultants at every stage of the project implementation to ensure quality.

The official that the NHA has formulated a Monitoring & Inspection Wing led by the General Manager (Monitoring & Inspection) for rendering project inspections at different stages of project execution.

The Inspection Team visits the projects at various stages and performs quality assurance tests independently to ensure quality of works. –BN Report

Fish exports up by 21pc KARACHI: Pakistan’s fish and fish preparation exports went up by 20 per cent in quantity and 21.35pc in value during 2016-17 due to price increase in world markets and higher landing of the catch. However, the Marine Fisheries Department (MFD) fears that following the suspension of seafood exports to the United States after an inspection visit, other countries may follow suit.

Pakistan’s fish and seafood products are already banned in the European Union and Saudi Arabia.

The average per tonne price of fish rose to $2,616 in 2016-17 from $2,539 in 201516. Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) shows that fish exports reached $394 million (152,858 tonnes) in 2016-17 as compared to $325m (127,910 tonnes) in 2015-16.

Seafood exports had shown a declining trend during the past three years – from $370m in 2013-14 to $325m in 201516. A decrease in the quantity of fish exports was also noticed in the same period, dropping from 151,000 tonnes in 2013-14 to 127,910 tonnes in 2015-16. –BN Report

Cement sector growth neutralized by fiscal pressures KARACHI: For all the hype that was created beginning last year for prospective demand in construction, the cement sector closed off the fiscal year with a mediocre increase of 4 percent in dispatches in FY17 year-on-year.

This increase comes from an 8 percent growth in dispatches to domestic markets and a profound drop in cement exports (by 21% in FY17)— a trend that we have closely been following and cautioning against.

The figures reported by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA) show the sector bid the fiscal farewell with 40 million tons of cement— of which only 12 percent was exports. In FY16, this share was 15 percent, still much lower than

earlier years when exports and local sales mix used to be 30:70.

A good chunk of cement sales used to constitute exports going to Afghanistan which was a key market for Pakistan; the latter a key supplier of cement to the economy that had very little capacity to manufacture cement itself. However, once sanctions from Iran lifted, the country which is one of the largest producers of cement with a capacity of 80 million tons started exporting to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Iraq at cheaper rates. As a result, Pakistani cement manufacturers lost their market share in Afghanistan, and nearly two years later are still finding it difficult to find their footing in that market.

Other markets it seems remain

unexplored. South Africa was a key market but currently has an anti-dumping duty on Pakistani cement. India was proving to be a saving grace when we kicked off this fiscal year as cement exports to the country started to increase despite border skirmishes that have hurt trade relations between the two nations. However, these two slowed down in the months after.

India is the second largest cement manufacturer in the world. Pakistan was able to export after 2007 when India removed the countervailing and additional duties on imported cement to fill the demand-supply gap in the economy. There are also only select markets in the country that welcome Pakistani

cement because of the price cut— around 10-15 percent less than Indian cement reaching those locations (e.g. Amritsar). Now the country is expanding so it may not even require imports to meet any gap. India can only be a limited market for Pakistani cement.

On the domestic front, the industry closed off FY17 with a capacity utilization of 87 percent and cement lobbies believe the demand they would see over the next five years is an upwards of an added 28 million tons to what numbers are currently. At 46 million tons of capacity, the sector is now fast in expansion mode with most players racing to add capacity to their plants in the hopes to capture this elusive construction demand.

The estimates seem ambitious but deals have already been signed; financing arranged, mining licenses obtained, plants commissioned. The industry by FY20 would have a combined capacity of nearly 74 million tons. But with the current shrinking share of exports from the sales equation, domestic demand will be carrying the entire growth on its shoulders and it is a tough position to be in. In FY17, domestic dispatches grew by less than 10 percent— even if in the future, they grow at the same pace, the subdued exports will continue to balance them out.

So while the capacity utilization has reached a high of 90 percent, this utilization would significantly fall over the coming years.

Our prediction is that the cement cartel will break by fiscal 2020 and prices will come down as price competition is a certainty.

The companies that will be able to benefit the most as they embark on their combined journey to add capacities will be those who try to reach other exporting markets. Depending so heavily on domestic demand is not the best strategy and diversifying the sales and destination mix would be the best bet for any company hoping to remain ahead of the pack. Exports also tend to keep manufacturers on their toes, so they are able to maintain their competitiveness.

The sector is growing and expanding no doubt—but not without qualifiers. –BN Report

6

Around the Globe

South Korea's Parliament approves 11T Won Extra Budget Plan SEOUL: South Korea's parliament approved an extra budget that had been caught up in a fight between the new government and the opposition for the past month. The 11 trillion won ($9.8 billion) in extra spending is the centerpiece of President Moon Jae-in's plans to create tens of thousands of new jobs and boost growth. Budget approval was delayed after disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties over a number of issues, including the president's nominations for various offices.

The extra money will help Korea return to 3 percent GDP growth, President Moon said during a cabinet meeting in June, but the delay raised concerns about how the new government would actually implement its economic policies, given that it doesn't have a parliamentary majority. The parliament has cut back about 150 billion won from the initial 11.2 trillion won plan that would have created about 110,000 new jobs both directly and indirectly, according to the finance ministry. Most of those would be in the public sector, including police, firefighters, assistant teachers and social workers. Due to the revision, a slight portion of the extra budget initially allotted for creating jobs will go to aiding recent drought damages and the upcoming Olympics. Opposition lawmakers reviewing the extra budget plan last week raised questions about whether the country should add new public-sector jobs. -BN Report

Billionaire Ackman's Pershing Square Files for Two New Funds NEW YORK: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP filed documents for two new funds Friday. The New York-based hedge fund didn't disclose the total amount it wants to raise and provided few other details in the regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The funds are called Pershing Square VI LP and Pershing Square VI International LP. The international vehicle is asking for a minimum investment of $100,000 from each participant.

A representative for Pershing Square declined to comment on the nature of the funds or their purpose. Ackman said in May his latest investment, which has yet to be disclosed, comprised about 5 percent of the hedge fund's capital at the time. Pershing Square typically buys large stakes in a handful of big companies and agitates executives and directors to make changes to boost shareholder returns.

Ireland Seeks Custodian for Apple Cash as Collection Nears DUBLIN: The Irish government is setting up a fund to manage the estimated 13 billion euros ($15.2 billion) it will collect from Apple Inc. in back taxes, nearly a year after the European Commission ruled the country had provided a sweetheart deal on tax to the U.S. firm. The government and Apple will jointly appoint a custodian to hold the money to be deposited by the iPhone maker, the finance ministry said in an emailed statement.

The funds will be held in escrow pending appeals by Apple and Ireland, which could take years. One or more investment managers will also be hired to manage the money.

"Commencement of this procurement process represents a significant milestone and follows months of intensive discussions between Ireland, Apple and the European Commission on the recovery process," the finance ministry said.

The EU's Competition Commission ruled last August that Ireland gave Apple a special deal on corporation tax breaking state-aid rules. That meant Apple would have to pay as much as 13 billion euros in back taxes.

Ireland was supposed to have collected the funds by January. Irish officials are working intensively to comply with its recovery obligations "as soon as possible, and remain in regular contact with the European Commission and Apple on all aspects of this process," the ministry said.

Australia Ships First Uranium to India for Testing, Bishop Says SYDNEY : Australia has sent its first uranium shipment to India for testing purposes ahead of possible commercial sales to the nation, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. "I can confirm that the first shipment of uranium has taken place in mid-July, when a small sample of uranium was transferred for testing purposes," Bishop said in an emailed statement on Saturday.

"The transfer is part of ongoing commercial negotiations between Australian uranium exporters and India's Department of Atomic Energy on possible sales contracts for civil nuclear-power generation," Bishop said. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott signed an agreement with India for civil nuclear cooperation in September 2014, opening the door for uranium sales. Australia's current leader, Malcolm Turnbull, said in April he was looking forward to exporting uranium to the nation as soon as possible after holding talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Chan Says Hong Kong May Raise 2017 Growth Estimate, RTHK Reports VICTORIA: Hong Kong's government is likely to raise its growth target as the city's economy expands faster than expected this year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said, according to RTHK. The government is likely to raise its full-year growth estimate by 0.5 percentage points from the 2 percent to 3 percent forecast in its annual budget in February after reviewing data in August, Chan said.

Hong Kong's economy is rebounding after growing 1.9 percent in 2016, compared with average annual expansion of 2.9 percent over the past 10 years. The city's growth ratebeat analyst expectations in the first quarter as retail sales recovered and property prices reached records.

There are still downside risks remaining for the city, including uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policies and capital flows amid rising Federal Reserve interest rates, Chan said. The government is capable of providing at least 18,000 private housing units in the fiscal year ending March 2018, Chan said. Last year, the government beat its annual target to provide residential units to help ease the housing burden and soaring property prices. The government wouldn't ease property cooling measures to help buyers purchase apartments, Chan said in June. -BN Report

GREECE: A man stands in front of a damaged building following an earthquake off the island of Kos. -BN Photo

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Deutsche Bank says to move jobs to Frankfurt post-Brexit BERLIN: Germany's largest lender Deutsche Bank is bracing for Brexit and will have to move jobs from London to its headquarters in Frankfurt, chief executive John Cryan has said.

"For now, it's far from clear what Brexit constitutes, we are not really sure what shape it will take," Cryan said in a video published on the bank's website Thursday.

"We will try to minimise disruption for clients and for our own people, but inevitably some roles will need to be either moved or at least added in Frankfurt," he said. With some 9,000 employees in London-around one in 10 of its global workforce-Deutsche is the largest presence of any foreign bank in the UK. "But we will maintain a duplicated infrastructure at least for the transition period," he said. -BN Report

WASHINGTON: Outgoing White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer waves as he walks into the White House. -BN Photo

Euro gets boost from ECB's Draghi; Nasdaq ekes out record NEW YORK: The euro rose Thursday after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi's comments bolstered the single currency even as interest rates were kept low again.

Draghi avoided details on when the ECB might begin to wind down its bond-buying program, but said the matter would be on the agenda this fall. Analysts also noted that he avoided comments that might have deflated the euro's recent rally.

Equities were mixed, with Paris finishing lower and Frankfurt flat after both markets lost momentum with the euro's rally. In the US, the Nasdaq eked out a record for a third straight session, while the Dow and S&P 500 both retreated from all-time highs set Wednesday.

The ECB kept its key interest rates unchanged as Draghi played down expectations the bank could

soon announce an end to its mass buying of 60 billion euros ($69 billion) a month of government and corporate bonds.

"We need to be persistent, and patient," Draghi said, as "really there isn't any convincing sign of pickup" in inflation. But Draghi also said tapering would soon be discussed.

"We simply said that our discussions should take place in the fall, or in autumn, since we are in Europe," Draghi said. Most ECB watchers expect the central bank to soon announce a path out of bond-buying that will see it "taper" or wind down the scheme step-by-step next year.

While inflation remains sluggish, economic growth in the 19-nation eurozone has picked up strongly enough to dispel the fears of deflation that had prompted policymakers to launch QE. "Although Draghi said

tapering scenarios were not discussed at this meeting and they didn't talk about what will happen in September, the ECB's tease about discussing tweaking stimulus sometime between September and November was enough to satisfy euro bulls," said BK Asset Management managing director Kathy Lien.

The euro was up more than one percent near 2030 GMT at $1.1631.

"On balance, we remain comfortable with our view for now that the ECB will announce a tapering plan at the next meeting on 7 September," Nomura said in a note.

"No clear message from the ECB and President Draghi on the tapering announcement in September may slow the momentum of euro appreciation, after recording a new high today. However, Mr Draghi's benign view on the recent euro appreciation

should limit room for retracement, in our view." Mystery Bond Trader Nets $10 Million on Treasury Strangle Gamble. The unknown bond trader who placed a potentially record wager in the Treasury options market may have just netted a $10 million profit. The $10 million worth of put and call options on 10-year Treasury futures that the trader purchased on July 11 expired Friday at 3 p.m. in New York. At expiry, the benchmark 10-year yield was about 2.23 percent, down about 15 basis points from when the so-called strangle trade was initiated. This kind of position gains value if there's a major swing in prices in either direction.

Futures prices rose to 126-10, representing profit of about $10 million for whomever made the bet, assuming they didn't pare the position as it turned profitable. -BN Report

Record S&P 500 Failing to Stem Steadiest Fund Outflow Since 2009 NEW YORK: Even as the S&P 500 Index clawed its way to a fresh record and squeezed out a third consecutive weekly gain, signs of fading enthusiasm in U.S. stocks have become increasingly difficult to ignore.

The latest can be seen in the SPDR S&P 500 Trust, the biggest exchangetraded fund tracking the U.S. equity benchmark.

As of Thursday, investors had pulled $3.8 billion out of it in July. That puts the fund on pace for a fourth consecutive monthly outflow, which would be the longest streak since the start of the bull rally in 2009.

And it isn't just the $237 billion SPDR fund that's thinning. Traders took $2.1 billion out of U.S. mutual funds and ETFs in the week ended July 12, ICI data show.

That compared with $5.1 billion that went into funds around the world.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch's most

recent fund manager survey found allocation to U.S. stocks is the most underweight since 2008.

"We've contributed to that because we've been moving money out of largecap stocks in the U.S.," Ed Keon, managing director and portfolio manager at Quantitative Management Associates LLC, said by phone.

"We're not bearish, it's just a question of better growth with lower valuations elsewhere."

The S&P 500 touched new highs this week before retreating as an intensifying investigation into President Donald Trump stoked concern that his economic agenda may stall.

The benchmark gauge added 0.5 percent in the five days to end at 2,472.54. The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 1.4 percent, ending the week at a record 5,921.525. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3 percent to 21,580.07.

Strong earnings growth this year has kept the S&P 500's price-to-earnings multiple below its March peak, despite the index reaching all-time highs. Even so, most equity valuations outside the U.S. remain more compelling.

In Europe, German and French shares trade at a trailing P/E of as low as 18.9, compared with the S&P 500's 21.6. Japanese shares are at 19.2, and emerging-market stocks tracked by MSCI Inc. trade at 16.1. MSCI's world index excluding the U.S. trades at 19.7.

Utility shares led the S&P 500's advance this week, climbing 2.6 percent in their best performance since February as the 10-year Treasury yield dropped nine basis points. Real estate shares added 0.8 percent.

Technology stocks rallied for the fourth week in five as the Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 1.4 percent. Industrial and financial stocks weighed on the market. -BN Report

Democrats want review of Amazon's Whole Foods deal WASHINGTON: A group of Democrats in Congress urged the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in a letter this week to conduct a more in-depth review of online retailer Amazon.com Inc's plan to buy grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. The lawmakers asked that the review include consideration of what effect the $13.7 billion deal could have on access to healthy foods in so-called food deserts where residents may have limited access to fresh groceries.

"While we do not oppose the merger at this time, we are concerned about what this merger could mean for African-American communities across the country already suffering from a lack of affordable healthy food choices from grocers," the letter said on Thursday. The letter was signed by U.S. Representative Marcia Fudge and 11 other Democrats, including Senator Cory Booker. Amazon and Whole Foods hope to expand access to fresh

food, said Brian Huseman, Amazon's vice president of policy, in a letter to Fudge, also on Thursday.

"We agree with you that access to food is an important issue for the country, and we share your goal of improving that access," Huseman said in the letter. Amazon has lobbied to be able to accept food stamps online and is participating in a pilot program.

"We deliver low-cost, healthy food to zip codes across the country that before Amazon had limited access to a large selection of high quality foods," Huseman wrote to Fudge.

Fudge's letter was made public by the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), which represents many of the unionized grocery workers in the United States. Fudge's office confirmed she had sent the letter. Amazon's plan announced in June to buy premium grocer Whole Foods roiled the grocery industry and sparked worries the deal could raise prices, reduce the quality of

products and hurt employment. Still, most antitrust experts expect the Federal Trade Commission to approve the planned merger. The letter asking for more scrutiny was praised by the UFCW union. "Political concerns about Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods are growing for good reason," UFCW President Marc Perrone said on Friday.

"Amazon's monopolistic desire to control the retail market and replace good jobs with automation is not only a direct threat to the hard-working men and women at Whole Foods, it's also a direct threat to our economy and consumers." Amazon has sought to dispute that it would monopolize the grocery industry. Wal-Mart Stores Inc currently controls the largest market share.

"We also do not plan job reductions as part of the acquisition, which if approved would result in a company with a combined less than 3 percent of national grocery sales," Huseman wrote. -BN Report

Microsoft profit rises on shift to cloud computing SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Thursday reported that its quarterly profit climbed to $6.5 billion, lifted by its shift to computing services hosted in the internet cloud.

The US technology giant said revenue in the recently ended quarter rose to $23.3 billion, with $7.4 billion of that due to its "intelligent cloud" offerings.

"Innovation across our cloud platforms drove strong results this quarter," Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a release.

"Customers are looking to Microsoft and our thriving partner ecosystem to accelerate their own digital transformations and to unlock new opportunity in this era of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge."

Intelligent cloud is how Microsoft refers to services that let businesses take advantage of computing power online in its data centers, coupled with insights or analysis by artificial intelligence software.

Microsoft also said that cloud-based products such as Office 365 rose in the quarter, with the number of Office 365 subscribers climbing to 27 million.

The quarterly profit figure topped Wall Street expectations, while revenue was roughly in line.

Microsoft shares were up just over a percent to $75.05 in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings report. Microsoft said early this month that it was cutting an unspecified number of jobs amid reports the US tech giant was reorganizing its global sales operations. -BN Report

GE shares fall as profit slumps WASHINGTON: General Electric Co's (GE.N) shares dropped sharply on Friday after it posted a 59-percent decline in second-quarter profit and put off an expected cut to 2018 earnings targets until November, when new CEO John Flannery will be four months into his job.

The maker of power plants, jet engines, medical scanners and other industrial equipment said profit and sales declines largely reflected sale of its appliances business.

It beat analyst expectations on adjusted profit, but cash flow was weak and GE said full-year profit and cash

flow will be at the low end of its forecasts. GE also said it would update its 2018 earnings target of $2 a share in November, later than analysts had expected. Analyst consensus 2018 estimate is $1.73, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, already suggesting a significant cut.

The length and scope of the review raised concern, since GE has just come through major shifts in its portfolio.

"It's discouraging that we're going to wait again for the company to perform as we wait for the new CEO to review everything," said Jim Corridore, analyst at research firm CFRA, which cut GE

shares to "hold" after Friday's results.

Incoming CEO Flannery acknowledged on a conference call that his review would take time, but said it had not altered GE's 2017 outlook.

Still, the stock could be in "in a state of limbo" until the review is finished, Deane Dray, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note.

GE's cash flow was below expectations and also weighed on the stock, said Jeff Windau, analyst at Edward Jones.

"People want to get the answers sooner" to Flannery's review.Shares were down 3 percent at $25.87 in mid-morning trading after earlier hitting a 2-year low.

GE faced a "slow-growth, volatile environment" in the quarter, Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in his final earnings release before his Aug. 1 retirement. Immelt's tenure began days before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and included the 2008 financial crisis. While GE stock is 27 percent below its price when Immelt arrived, it has more than tripled from its nadir in 2009.

Immelt sold off NBCUniversal, appliances and most of GE Capital. He acquired power assets from France's Alstom (ALSO.PA), merged GE's oil and gas business with Baker Hughes, and moved the headquarters to Boston.

Flannery said he is "in the middle of a series of deep dives into the businesses." He also is "taking a hard look at our corporate spending" to ensure it contributes to earnings, and on a listening tour of investors.

GE has cut $670 million in industrial overhead costs this year, Immelt said, and will "meet or exceed" its $1 billion target for 2017 - a goal set after discussion with activist investor Trian Fund Management. GE was under pressure to report strong cash flow after a weak showing in the first quarter. Cash flow from operations totaled $3.6 billion, up from $400 million in the first quarter.

The figure was down 67 percent from a year ago, partly reflecting the loss of contributions from the appliances division. Revenue fell 12 percent to $29.56 billion, slightly above the $29.02 billion consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. GE said its appliances sale eliminated $3.1 billion of revenue.

Net profit slumped 59 percent to $1.34 billion, or 15 cents a share, in the quarter ended June 30, from $3.30 billion, or 36 cents a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings fell 45 percent to 28 cents a share, compared with estimates for 25 cents. -BN Report

Entertainment

Sunday, July 23, 2017

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Linkin Park singer died on friend’s birthday INKIN Park frontman Chester Bennington killed himself on the birthday of his late friend Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, highlighting the close friendship between the two troubled singers.

Fellow rockers and the nu metal band's legions of fans voiced shock and rolled out tributes after the 41-year-old Bennington was found hanging at his Los Angeles home on Thursday. A number of fans pointed out on social media that Thursday would have been the 53rd birthday of Cornell, who similarly died from hanging in May and like Bennington had spent his life combatting drug and alcohol problems. Bennington had toured with Cornell and sang Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah" at his funeral.

Linkin Park guitarist and songwriter Mike Shinoda, in an interview shortly after Cornell's death, said Bennington had been so affected that he could not keep his composure during a pre-

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LONDON: Switzerland's Hug Marcel (R) wins the Men's 800m T54 race during the World Para Athletics Championships in London. –BN Photo

Musician plays guitar during brain surgery

USICIAN Abhishek Prasad strummed his guitar throughout his neurosurgery to help doctors zero in on the part of the brain being operated on during the first such procedure in India.

The 37-year-old had been suffering from musician's dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that leads to involuntary muscle contractions. Prasad had to be kept conscious during the surgery as the doctors needed continuous feedback to work out exactly which parts of the brain were to be targeted to stop the cramps affecting the three fingers on his left hand.

So the obvious thing was to play his guitar. It is only the eighth time in the world that such a procedure has been undertaken with the patient being conscious, a statement by Bengaluru's Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain hospital said on Friday. "A 14-mm hole was made in the skull and a specialised electrode was passed into the brain under local anaesthesia," Sharan Srinivasan, a stereotactic and

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GoT’s Sophie Turner at Comic Con HILE fans of Game of Thrones are revelling (or reeling) from the seventh season's first episode and news of Kit Harington-Rose Leslie going the next step in their relationship, there may be another tiny happy thing to enjoy.

Sophie Turner – the face behind the confused, abused and fast evolving Sansa Stark of Winterfell – recently made an appearance at a San Diego Comic-Con panel and underscored that she believes in her character more now.

Admitting that Sansa earlier frequently fell prey to Littlefinger's (played by Aidan Gillen) schemes, Turner told host Kristian Nairn – who portrayed Hodor – that the character "has grown and has been manipulated by these people [after] silently absorbing and learning and adapting".

Turner then added, "In my opinion, she’s just as good at playing the game as he is at this point," according to Times. About time the Seven Gods put some sense in that girl! "In terms of seeing men in a different light, I think she sees the world in a different light," the 21-year-old star noted, adding that "she’s woke now guys, she’s really woke"!

Fans obviously cheered on at Turner's response. But how likely is that she will slip into someone else's trap? "She’s cautious, she trusts no one, man or woman, family member or not. That’s important when you play the game of thrones," the star explained.

The first episode of Game of Thrones' seventh season had many admirers concerned about the JonSansa relationship, especially with regard to Littlefinger budging in… as usual. It now remains to be seen who's really manipulating who between Sansa and Littlefinger. –BN Report

functional neurosurgeon at the hospital, said.

Prasad was overwhelmed with the outcome after suffering since October 2015 with the disorder that could have ended his career. He had tried several hospitals to find a cure, but most doctors could not diagnose the problem or had focused on the cramps rather than the neurological activity causing them. "It was a very emotional moment for me and my family. This is what I have been waiting for," said Prasad, who had quit his IT job to pursue a career in music.

"It was very disheartening and depressing for me. I used to cry often due to that. Every morning, I would wake up and try to play the guitar. But after 5 minutes, I gave up."

The disorder is estimated to affect around 1-2 percent of all professional musicians.

After the surgery on July 11, he will need a couple of weeks of physiotherapy to help his recovery and get back to performing pain-free. "My first target is to release an album by the end of this year or the middle of next year," Prasad said. –BN Report

Players unhappy with prize money

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KARACHI: Jalaluddin Rumi, a Sufi saint and scholar had said in 13th century that greed makes a man blind and foolish, and makes him an easy prey for death.

This seems exactly the case for Pakistan cricket team, if not for all then at least for some of the players.

According to some reports, few of the players were just unhappy despite being showered with treasures for winning the Champions Trophy.

Their grievances - according to sources - was that not getting equal share of cake as those who actually did perform well in the tournament.

After the reports of players'

grievances came into public, at least two companies have backed out of the plans of honouring cricketers. "Two companies have told PCB that players' objection on rewards is unacceptable to them and they've put their programs on hold," said a source. "The companies have told the board that they can't give equal prize to all the players, and performers will be preferred over non performers," the source added.

The news of players' unhappiness came into limelight on Thursday when players looked furious after not getting equal amount of reward as the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and the final's centurion Fakhar Zaman received. The source further revealed that PCB is upset with the scenario and the message has been conveyed to the players that they can't demand same share from everyone.

Pakistani cricketers, for winning the Champions Trophy, were showered with millions by everyone, from government to private sectors.

Each player was announced 10 million rupees reward by the PM in a function last week. –BN Report

India eyes history in WWC final LONDON: India have the chance to alter the course of cricket history when they face hosts England in the Women´s World Cup final at Lord´s on Sunday.

Since the tournament´s inception in 1973 -- two years before the men´s World Cup started - it has been dominated

by England and Australia, with New Zealand, in 2000, the only other country to have won the event. The final sees this year´s edition come full circle, with India having upset the form book to beat England by 35 runs in the tournament opener in Derby on June 24.

"It isn´t going to be easy for England," promised India captain Mithali Raj after her side´s stunning semi-final win over six-times champions Australia in Derby on Thursday. A 36-run victory over the title-holders was built on Harmanpreet Kaur´s stunning 171 not out.

An innings full of correct yet powerful shots ought to have banished any remaining stereotypes about ´demure´ women´s cricket in general and the India team in particular. Certainly there was nothing ´ladylike´ about the fiercely competitive Kaur´s angry reaction towards batting partner Deepti Sharma after almost being run out on 98.

India upset the form book to beat England by 35 runs in the tournament opener on June 24 For Raj and India pace bowler Jhulan Goswami, the leading run-scorer and wickettaker in women´s one-day international history respectively, this could be the last chance the two 34-year-olds have to win the World Cup. But the significance of the day goes far beyond what it means to their cricket careers. –BN Report

concert sound-check.

"Chester couldn't even make it through the song. He was getting halfway through and getting choked up," Shinoda told Radio.com.

In a tribute penned after Cornell's death, Bennington said he was weeping "with sadness, as well as gratitude, for having shared some very special moments with you and your beautiful family".

"You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known. Your talent was pure and unrivaled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and

heartache all wrapped up into one," he said in the tribute posted by Cornell's family on Facebook. "I suppose that's what we all are. You helped me understand that," he said.

Cornell's widow has cast doubt on whether the Soundgarden singer intentionally committed suicide, saying his judgment may have been impaired by his anxiety medication. Linkin Park was one of the key bands in the movement of nu metal, blending Bennington's angst-ridden, raw vocals with pop structure and rapping by Shinoda.

Lana Del Rey still ‘lusts’ for life ANA Del Rey emerged on the music scene as a haunting figure.

She was Born to Die, in the words of her breakthrough album, and darkness permeated her sound and worldview. Five years after Born to Die, the prolific singer on Friday put out her fourth major-label album, whose title Lust for Life - would appear to show the inverse mindset.

Yet for the 32-year-old singer, sorrow and joy are intricately interconnected. On Lust for Life, she enjoys the world's pleasures all the while feeling cursed by their ephemerality.

Del Rey carries the album through her quickly recognisable voice, breathy and coquettish yet sauntering with echoes of Nancy Sinatra. Lust for Life builds on Del Rey's signature cinematic style, melancholic with an aura of classic Hollywood, yet the album also shows touches of hiphop swagger most apparent in seamless appearances by rapper A$AP Rocky.

The title track - no relation to punk icon Iggy Pop's classic Lust for Life brings in emerging R&B superstar The Weeknd, who in his mellifluous falsetto at times

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reaches a higher range than Del Rey. Even if the song celebrates life, it opens with a dark allusion to a Hollywood suicide before finding joy in the here and now.

"Take off / Take off all your clothes," Del Rey intones, as The Weeknd sings, "They say only the good die young / That just ain't right." Del Rey teams up with other major names on the album. Stevie Nicks, her sandy voice smoothly complementing Del Rey's, joins for "Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems," while Sean Lennon brings a gentle beauty to "Tomorrow Never Came." If Lust for Life largely stays true to the sound honed by Del Rey, the New York-born singer reaches into new territory as she speaks out - in her own way - on politics. Del Rey has hardly become a protest singer. But she becomes a uniquely effective voice in turning her forlorn sound into a reflection on the America of Donald Trump. On "God Bless America - And All Beautiful Women In It," Del Rey's gloominess gives way to uplift as she finds solidarity in the masses of women who took to the streets after the shock of Trump's election.

"May you stand proud and strong / Like Lady Liberty, shining all night long," Del Rey sings. –BN Report

CALIFORNIA: Liam Cunninham, Sophie Turner, Jacob Anderson and Conleth Hill speak onstage at Comic Con International 2017 "Game Of Thrones" panel And Q+A Session at San Diego Convention Center San Diego. –BN Photo

Linkin Park US tour canceled after suicide of Chester Bennington: Rock

band Linkin Park on Friday cancelled its North American tour after the suicide of frontman Chester Bennington on Thursday.

"We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Chester Bennington. The Linkin Park One More Light North American Tour has been cancelled and refunds are available at point of purchase. Our thoughts go out to all those affected,” tour promoter Live Nation said in a statement. –BN Report

Haq in final of ATP Tennis series

KARACHI: Pakistan's tennis ace Aisam ul Haq, along with his partner Rajeev Ram of USA, has qualified for the final of ATP Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in New Port.

The top seed of the tournament, Pak American duo faced third seed IndiaAustralia pair of Leander Paes and Sam Groth in the nail biting semi final.

Aisam and Rajeev could win only four games in first set of the match but came back strongly in the second set, saving multiple match points with score of 7-6 to take the game into super tie breaker. The Pak-US duo continued their battle in the thrilling super tie breaker to win it 11/9 and qualify for the final where they will meet Australian pair of Matt Reid and John Smith. –BN Report

Hasan Ali signs up for CPL LAHORE: Pakistan pacer and Champions Trophy hero Hasan Ali has been signed by West Indies’ popular T20 venture Caribbean Premier League (CPL), sources within the Pakistan Cricket Board said. According to the sources, the star bowler will be featuring for CPL franchise St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, which also boasts the likes of Faf du Plessis, Samuel Badree, Carlos Brathwaite, Lendl Simmons and Brad Hodge.

Hasan Ali’s latest signing comes on the heels of his agreement with Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) earlier this month, under which he will also be playing for Comilla Victorians in the upcoming season later this year. The 23-year-old is currently waiting for his US visa, which will enable him to play for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in some matches which are scheduled to be held in Florida in early August. –BN Report

Women’s cricket team: A bigger deal than it really is HE Women's cricket team returned on July 17 from their atrocious campaign at the ICC Women's World Cup where they lost 7 out of the 7 games they played. Fortunately for the girls nobody was particularly paying attention to their performance. Sure, there were grumbles and mumbles and talk of an unnecessary change in leadership, but that is all just part of the automatic backlash that is bound to rear its ugly head. Whatever the situation, they did still lose all of their games.

Of course nobody had paid enough attention to know that they had lost numerous times from promising situations and a lack of comprehensive infor-

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mation meant we shrugged in annoyance and turned our head the other way.

Besides, we had more important and interesting things to obsess about than a women's world cup. The entire nation is still on a high from the men's victory in the Champions Trophy as can be seen by the continued gifts being showered upon them. On the other end is the never-ending and ever-more fascinating panama case. Why would anyone ever pay attention to the Women's cricket team when there is just so much more on everyone's plates?

However, in the middle of a busy time for the country's minds with so much to pay attention to, there was one incident involving the women's

cricket team where we did collectively stop, hurl a couple of abuses at the PCB and then turn back towards more important things.

When the women's team landed back in Pakistan on July 17, news reports began spreading about there being no arrangements for the players to be escorted home. Word got around that the board had not organised a bus that would take the players back to their homes. Things became worse when pictures of one of the world cup players emerged returning home on the back of a motorbike with her cricket bag, bat sticking out and all, hanging from her arms.

Everybody was outraged. Maybe it's

the deep set feeling in most men that women need to be protected or maybe it's just that everyone has the time to turn around for a moment and say a couple of bad words to an authoritative body (the PCB in this case) and then go back to whatever. Or maybe it's just anger at a clear injustice and blatant mismanagement. All this indignancy, however, became a little redundant when the PCB Thursday evening in a press release declared that the players who had gone back home on the motorbike and others that did so did of their own violation after seeking permission from the team manager. The PCB had arranged a bus to take the players back to the National Academy and transportation for them to

go home form that point onward.

What must be realised is that the PCB is a very large organisation with substantial funds and some very talented people.

Despite all else, they are capable of following basic procedure and arranging such things as buses.

Whne Jamshed Dasti and Sheikh Rashid were seen on motorbikes, they were taken as Awami heroes. Nobody was outraged at that.

But what is even sadder is the fact that people, and the media, found it as easy to comment on the return of the women's cricket team without any knowledge of it. Just as they found it easy to comment on their performance in the world cup with no knowledge of it. –BN Report

CMYK

Sunday, July 23, 2017

High level delegation of private sector leaves for Bhutan LAHORE: A high level delegation of private sector Saturday left for Thimpu (Bhutan) to represent Pakistan in the forth coming 70th executive committee meeting of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Talking to media prior to departure, leader of the delegation Vice President SAARC Chamber and Chairman United Business Group Iftikhar Ali Malik said that distinctive features of the CEPC would also be highlighted during the deliberations besides briefing to the participants on regional issues confronting the South Asian countries.

He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would act as a trade

bridge between South Asia, Middle East and Europe by building roads, railways and, consequently, the enhance trade potential of the region.

He said the CPEC was a geo-economic project, with economic implications not just for China and Pakistan, but also indirectly benefit other countries those are not part of the $46 billion investment.

The economic corridor would benefit new emerging regional cooperation in South Asia, besides transforming the future of the region, driven by economy and energy, and the laying of pipelines and building ports with roads rail infrastructure, he added.

Repatriation of IDPs from SW to begin from 25th ISLAMABAD: Final phase of Repatriation of Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) from South Waziristan (SW) will begin from July 25, which will continue till August 5. Talking to VOA, Spokesman of FATA Disaster Management Authority for South Waziristan, Saeed Aman said that almost all the displaced people from South Waziristan had returned to their homes, but the final phase was being initiated for those, who could not rehabilitate for some reasons.

He appealed all people to ensure their return adding, all the remaining IDPs should contact to compound of political administration set up in Tank area for their registration. Responding to a question, Saeed Umar said those, who do not return in this phase, would not be considered as IDPs adding, they would not be entitled to receive any relief. He said total 3500 families belonging to different areas of South Waziristan Agency would go home in the final phase. -APP

Answering a question, Iftikhar Ali Malik said goods from the landlocked Bhutan and Nepal could not access the Pakistani markets through the shorter land route passing through India.

"These countries cannot transit their goods through Pakistan to Central Asia and China. Similarly, Bangladesh cannot access the shorter land route through.

India to Pakistan and onward to China or West Asia, North Africa and Gulf states", he said and added that island nations of Maldives and Sri Lanka can of course reach China through Gwadar. Bhutan and Nepal can directly link with China, while Bangladesh lies on the Southwestern route of the Silk Road linking it with Kinmin in Yunnan province of China.

Shaharyar Ali Malik, deputy leader of the delegation said global trade statistics reveal that while the volume of trade among the SAARC states and the rest of the world are increasing, intraregional trade remains far below its potential.

"We should, therefore, have to evolve mechanism to incentivize formal trade among the SAARC member countries. In this context, I will like to reemphasize the need for a gradual reduction and eventual elimination of Tariffs, Para-tariffs and Non-tariff barriers so as to allow freer trade amongst the SAARC states", he added. -APP

UK DFID keen to support education sector in Sindh KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that his government took some drastic steps and an emergency has declared in Education Sector as a result improvements were visible.

He said this while presiding over a meeting with a delegation of United Kingdom Department for International Development (UK DFID) led by its head Ms Joanna Reid at Sindh Chief Minister House, said a statement issued here on Friday.

Besides others, the Sindh Education Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, Secretary Education Aziz Uqaili and RSU chief Faisal Uqaili attended the meeting. The chief minister said that he was giving special attention to education and health sectors. He said that in education sector administration and teaching cadres had been separated and audit system had also been developed and special focus was being given on teachers-training to build their capacity. He said that fiduciary reviews ratings of multilateral funding agencies for education sector projects were getting better.

Added SMS-based complaint system was

also in place.

Education minister Jam Mehtab Dahar said that Directorate of Monitoring and Evaluation had been established.

It was fully functional throughout the Sindh province with live IT-based dashboards, independent monitors, data centers and biometric system for the monitoring of over 45,000 schools.

Management Information System (MIS) had also been established as well school management committees had been made functional, he said.

Secretary Education Aziz Uqaili discussing the areas where assistance was required said that there was a need for improving the existing school infrastructure through construction of additional class-rooms and upgradation of primary schools to secondary.

Adding that some basic facilities such as toilets, drinking water, boundary walls and solar-power systems were also required in most of schools. The secretary said that Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) was another area where DFID could extend its assistance. -APP

Kuwait accuses Hezbollah of training Shias accused of forming ‘terror cell’ KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait has protested to Lebanon over the alleged training by Hezbollah of 21 Shias that were convicted on charges of forming a "terror cell" in the Sunnimajority emirate last month.

It demanded that pressure be put on the Shia militant group, which has ministers in the Lebanese government, to ensure there was no repetition. The protest follows Kuwait's expulsion of 15 Iranian diplomats on Thursday over Tehran's alleged links to those convicted.

The letter delivered by Kuwait's ambassador in Beirut late on Friday said the emirate's supreme court had found that "Hezbollah took

part in contacts, coordinating meetings, paid funds and provided arms and military training in Lebanon" for the defendants.

It called on Lebanon to take "necessary measures to curb these disgraceful practices"

by Hezbollah as it is a partner in the government, ambassador Abdulaal al-Quenai told the official KUNA news agency.

Unlike neighbouring Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, Kuwait maintains diplomatic relations with Shia-majority Iran. Shias make up around one third of the emirate's population. However, sectarian issues remain sensitive. -APP

NAB recovers Rs 45.877m from NTC's contractor

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered Rs 45.877 million related to irregularities and loss to national exchequer found in case of a project for construction of National Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n Corporation (NTC) Regional Office Building, Lahore.

As per details, Managing Director of NTC, Brig (Retd) Viqar Rashid Khan had forwarded the case to NAB for investigation. A press release issued here on Friday said that during a meeting, Director NAB informed the PAC SubCommittee-III the case has been finalized with a recovery of Rs 45.877 million in favour of NTC. It was informed that using its good offices, the case was pursued by Managing Director NTC and was successfully finalized, audit report 2009-10 revealed. The convener of the PAC SubCommittee-III appreciated Viqar Rashid Khan which resulted in recovery of Rs 45.877 million from the contractor. -APP

ISLAMABAD: PTI spokesperson Fawad Choudhry flanked by Senator Shibli Faraz and MNA Murad Saeed addressing a press conference. -Online

KARACHI: Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated newly constructed Shaheed Munawar Suharwardi underpass at Drig Road in Karachi. -Inp

PM needs to decide by tonight about stepping down: Shah SUKKUR: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah said on Saturday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif needs to decide by tonight to step down from his post.

Shah, speaking to reporters here, stated that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) should choose a new prime minister from the party.

"He [Nawaz] needs to decide by tonight to resign so he can maintain dignity. If he wants to convey his innocence he should. We do not want to get into that debate. But the decision needs to be made tonight before the Supreme Court verdict," Shah said.

Shah emphasised that the PPP wanted Parliament to complete its tenure and for a new prime minister to come.

"We have never demanded that the government or assembly be dissolved."

The Opposition leader said he agreed with Interior

Minister Chaudhry Nisar's objections. "[My] differences with Nisar aside, his objections are correct that Nawaz Sharif consulted with junior mem-

bers of his party and ignored the senior leadership," Shah remarked, adding that whether Nisar decides to resign or not is the minister's decision to make. Shah also

took aim at Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf chairman Imran Khan.

"It's not just Nawaz Sharif who will be going. Imran Khan will also go with him," he said. -APP

Don't attack others with a lie when you can be destroyed with truth: Maryam to Imran LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz on Saturday tweeted, aimed at PTI Chairman Imran Khan, that those who attack others with a lie can be destroyed with truth. Maryam's tweeted after Imran's counsel presented documents in the Supreme Court today while defending him in the foreign funding case. Tweets by the first daughter carried screenshots from a local news channel regarding Imran's case in the apex court.

She further said that while Imran was busy conspiring against her family, his own secrets were exposed. "God has His own ways," said Maryam in the tweet.

Earlier today, Imran's counsel has submitted to the Supreme Court details of his flat in London and cricket contracts, defending him in the foreign funding case.

As per the statements presented to the apex court, Imran started earning money abroad when he started playing cricked during his days as a student at University of Oxford, England. The details state that Imran was selected to play cricket for Pakistan, also for Worcestershire from 1971. He played for Sussex County from 1977 to 1988. All the payments Imran received had income tax deducted from them at source, the documents state.

Since Imran had to spend his days outside Pakistan to fulfil his commitment to Sussex Country Cricket and to participate in other international cricketing events between 1977 and 1988, he was a non-resident, the statement reads. Therefore, it added, the Pakistani income tax law did not apply to him. -APP

NAVTTC plans to economically empower 0.1 million individuals ISLAMABAD: National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) has planned to make socio-economic empowerment of 0.1 million individuals through provision of market-able hands-onskills. An apex body, addressing challenges of technical and vocational stream in the country, is committed to achieving the task under Phase-IV of Prime Minister Youth Skill Development Programme (PMYSDP).

Detailing the future plans, official sources Saturday said these include formal certification of 50,000 informally skilled individuals under NAVTTC's Recognition of Prior Learning Programme (RPL) and Skill Development Training of 1100 Temporarily Displaced youth from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The training would be provided in best of the best institutes located in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar etc. through Pakistan-Italian Debt Swap Agreement.

The sources said other plans include skill

development training of 200 individuals belonging to oil and gas producing/ experience districts with collaboration of OGDCL, enhancing level of collaboration with development partners like Germany, Norway and European Union and further strengthening coordination with developing agencies.

The sources said since inception of the commission, high priority has been paid to technical and vocational sector and maximum initiatives have been taken for timely address of issues being faced by the sector across the country. Moreover, the sources said NAVTTC has established a National Skills Information System (NSIS) to consolidate demand and supply related information of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates at local and international level including analysis of labour market for informed decision making. The database is facilitating for future planning, management and delivery of training in TVET sector. -APP

LHC moved against media trial of pending cases LAHORE: A petition has been filed before the Lahore High Court against media trial of pending cases including Panama case.

Amjad Farooq Bismil Advocate filed the petition through his counsel, AK Dogar, submitting that the law did not allow comments on pending cases in the courts but the media was not paying any heed to the law.

Referring to heated media debates on Panama Papers case, he contended that the entire country was in grip of prejudicial publicity for more than a year.

‘With held Coalition Support Funds reimbursement not assistance’

Schemes worth Rs 300m okayed for PP-82

ISLAMABAD: The $50 million withheld by the Pentagon from Pakistan were not assistance but a reimbursement of expenses incurred by Pakistan towards achieving "common objectives in the fight against terrorism", Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States (US) Aizaz Chaudhry told APP on Friday.

Chaudhry said that Pakistan had paid a staggering human and financial cost during the past decade in the fight against terrorism.

"It is a well-known fact that Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts have resulted in a significant decline in terrorists attacks," the ambassador said. He further said that "Pakistan is maintaining the momentum in fighting terrorism ... through Operation Raddul Fassad and the recently launched Operation Khyber4". Chaudhry's remarks were in response to reports by a foreign agency that Pentagon has

JHANG: Punjab government has given approval of different development schemes for PP-82 Athara Hazari, worth Rs 300 million and all these schemes will be completed during the current fiscal year.

This was stated by MPA Azam Chaila while talking to the journalists here on Friday.

He said 16 water filtration plants would be installed at 16 different places of Athara Hazari with Rs 40 million to provide clean drinking water to the citizens. -APP

withheld $50 million that were to be paid under the Coalition Support Fund.

According to the report, the funds were held back after US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said he could not verify that Pakistan had made enough efforts against the Talibanaffiliated Haqqani group, during a US Congress defense committee hearing.

The US had allotted $900 million to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund, out of which $550 million had already been reimbursed. Out of the total, $300 million were withdrawn by Congress as part of a broader appropriations act.

However, the report, quoting Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump, said that the withholding of funds did not reduce the significance of the sacrifices that the Pakistani military had undertaken over previous years. -APP

German runaway girl who converted to Islam found in Iraq BAGHDAD: A German girl who ran away from home shortly after converting to Islam has been found in Iraq, prosecutors said Saturday.

The 16-year-old girl, identified only as Linda W in line with German privacy laws, is getting consular assistance from the German Embassy in Iraq, said prosecutor Lorenz Haase from the eastern German city of Dresden.

Haase wouldn't confirm media reports that the teenager from Pulsnitz in eastern Germany had been fighting

for the Islamic State (IS) group in Mosul.

"Our information ends with the girl's arrival in Istanbul about a year ago," he told The Associated Press (AP), adding that further details about her whereabouts in the last year were part of an investigation.

Several female foreign IS fighters were detained by Iraq's military in Mosul recently, but Haase couldn't confirm that the German girl was part of that group.

Earlier this week, Iraqi officials

said they had arrested a foreign woman they believe is German, in Mosul's Old City. They said she had been recruited by an Arab IS member through social media. However, they did not identify the woman as Linda W. Photos of a dishevelled young woman in the presence of Iraqi soldiers went viral online last week, but there were contradicting reports about the girl's identity. Some said it was Linda W, while others identified her as either a Chechen IS fighter or a Yazidi girl.

Hundreds of Germans, including several girls and young women, have in recent years left the country to join IS in Syria and Iraq. While some have been killed in battle and suicide bombings, and others have returned back to Germany, there's also a large number that have been unaccounted for, security officials here say. Many of them were radicalised via social media.

Local newspapers reported last year that Linda W, who is from the small town of Pulsnitz near Dresden, was also in touch with IS members online

before she ran away from home last summer. She started to cover her hair and wear long gowns before she disappeared from her family's home. Her mother later found a copy of the girl's plane ticket to Turkey under a bed, media reported.

In a different case, a French woman captured earlier this month in Mosul with her four children is facing possible prosecution in Iraq for allegedly collaborating with IS, in a test case for how governments handle the families of foreign fighters now that the

extremists are in retreat.

The woman, believed to be in her thirties, was arrested on July 9 along with her two sons and two daughters in a basement in Mosul's Old City, according to the Iraqi intelligence officials. Two Iraqi intelligence officials told the AP on Wednesday that the woman is being investigated in Baghdad and could face terrorism charges for illegally entering Iraq and joining IS. He added that the French government wants the children handed over to France. -APP

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