Lahore edition 03 08 17

CMYK

Daily published simultaneously from Lahore & Multan

Rolls-Royce powers into profit; shares soar

Hanif for inquiry into Gulalai's allegations against Imran

DETAILED STORY — PAGE 6

DETAILED STORY — PAGE 2 Volume 7, Issue No. 105

Lahore Edition

Price 4

Pages 8

Thursday, August 3, 2017. Zeqad 10, 1438 A.H.

Editor: Asad Mumtaz

References filed in ECP, PA to disqualify Imran Khan over Gulalai's allegations MURREE: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi meeting with ex-PM Muhammad Nawaz Sharif today. CM Punjab Shehbaz Sharif is also present. -Inp

PM can change, policies will not: Abbasi Cabinet ministers will take oath within a few days PM Abbasi meets Nawaz in Murree to decide on new cabinet MURREE: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Wednesday that a clear message has been sent to the world that the prime minister can change but the party's policies will remain the same.

He spoke to journalists after attending a consultative meeting with Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and party leaders in Pakistan's picturesque hill station Murree.

The new cabinet was initially supposed to be sworn in on Wednesday but was postponed in the afternoon.

Speaking to journalists, Prime Minister Abbasi said consultations were ongoing and would continue over the next few days after which the cabinet would be sworn in.

He added that Nawaz Sharif has directed the party to swiftly complete ongoing projects. Prime Minister aid the cabinet ministers will take oath within one or two days, adding that the ruling party has currently conducting consultation on the names of cabinet members.

He often replied with the same answer saying PML-N is discussing the cabinet member names and will soon announce after the consultation is completed. "In Sha Allah PML-N will win in NA-120 and future endeavors with even more majority," he said.

PM Shahid expressed confidence that they will retain the NA-120 in byelection after disqualification of Nawaz Sharif in Panama case by Supreme Court. He foresaw a victory by greater

Cabinet oath-taking delayed as consultations continue in Murree ISLAMABAD: The oath-taking of the federal cabinet on Wednesday was delayed after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) failed to finalise the allocation of ministries. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's cabinet was expected to be sworn-in at the Presidency at 5:30pm today but the event was delayed, according to sources. Nawaz Sharif is chairing a high-level meeting of senior PML-N leaders in Murree.

Abbasi, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Chaudhry Nisar, Ahsan Iqbal, Mehtab Abbasi and Pervez Rasheed, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Asif, along with other senior members, are attending the meeting.

Sources said a decision regarding the allocation of ministerial portfolios could not be finalised in time for the oath-taking. At the start of the meeting, Nawaz exchanged pleasantries with Abbasi. The new prime minister thanked the party leader and his predecessor for his support.

Contemporary political developments and formation of the new federal cabinet are being discussed in the meeting, according to sources. The meeting will also decide on the advisers and special assistants of the new premier. The federal cabinet is expected to retain a majority of the members on the same posts that were part of Nawaz Sharif's cabinet. Abbasi, too, was serving as the petroleum minister in Sharif's cabinet till last Friday.

Sources said former States and Frontier Regions minister Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch may be given the interior ministry portfolio. while Nisar is expected to be given the post of foreign minister, according to sources. However, sources had claimed earlier that Nisar will not be a part of the new cabinet.

Nawaz has been camped in Murree after vacating the PM House this weekend following his disqualification as prime minister by the Supreme Court. -APP majority in the by-polls. When asked whether Chaudhry Nisar and Ishaq Dar will retain their ministers, he said the PML-N is currently consulting the final list of ministers which will be announced in near future.

Majority of Pakistanis can avail digital financial services ISLAMABAD: A majority of Pakistanis could gain access to digital financial services as they meet the necessary criteria for it. They only require basic documentation, a technological tool and basic financial knowledge, according to the Financial Inclusion Insights (FII) Survey by InterMedia (a global research and consultancy firm) and Gallup Pakistan.

Among Pakistan's population, 95% have the necessary ID and numerical skills while 77% have mobile phone access, which are basic requirements for financial services. However, financial literacy is under 20%, which is a challenge for advanced level utility of financial services. In 2016, Pakistan's performance was relatively high on some precondition indicators, including awareness about mobile money (60%), SIM card ownership (52%), the ability to send or receive a text message (44%) and financial literacy (16%). These results indicate that a significant proportion of Pakistanis meet the necessary criteria to use digital financial services. -APP

LAHORE: Lawyer Raja Basharat has filed a petition in the Election Commission of Pakistan, seeking Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman's disqualification on the basis of "shameful" allegations of harassment levelled against him by former PTI lawmaker Ayesha Gulalai.

PML-N's Hina Pervaiz Butt, also on Wednesday, submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly for Imran Khan's disqualification on the basis of Article 62 and 63 in light of Gulalai's allegations.

A day earlier, as she announced to part ways with the PTI, Gulalai accused Khan and his "gang" of having an "immoral character".

She had alleged that Khan "would forward inappropriate and explicit text messages to party women", claiming that she received the first such message in 2013.

Addressing the media outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi said that Imran Khan must respond to the charges levelled against him.

Abbasi invited Imran Khan to hold a press conference in the evening to apologise to the nation and present himself for accountability.

"Whenever an allegation has been made against me, I held a press conference within five minutes to reveal the reality," Abbasi said.

"A grave allegation has been levelled against you [Khan] and you should have been ashamed, but you are not - because in the society that you come from, these matters are not considered shameful," added Abbasi. "If these allegations are not investigated, we will believe that justice has died."

"There should be an investigation, there should be a suo motu, so that the truth can be revealed." It is important that the BlackBerry, from which the messages were sent, be investigated and the messages should be presented to the public, he added.

Abbasi said that in 2013, he had asked the country not to let their "mothers, daughters and sisters" attend the rallies of the PTI to "protect them from this person."

He said Khan should be ashamed for asking Gulalai to show the messages as proof and for telling her that she is not a Pakhtun. "The daughters of the country are asking you to seek forgiveness," he maintained.

Opposition leader Khursheed Shah also backed PML-N's demand for an investigation, saying, "The matter concerning Gulalai is regrettable. Women never make allegations involving themselves. It should be investigated."

Gulalai, while talking to DawnNews on Wednesday, dismissed the accusation that she had struck a deal with any other political party.

"I am not greedy - neither for money, nor for any post. I prefer my education over everything else."

She claimed that what pushed her to come forward with the allegations was PTI's alleged attempt to damage the morals of the nation.

She alleged that Imran Khan "supports the worst corruption" that prevails in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "Little children are trained within the party to malign others on social media," she further claimed.

Gulalai said that had she been greedy, she would have struck a deal with the [PTI] delegation that was allegedly being sent to her to convince her against speaking out.

"I said what my conscience told me to say."

She denied meeting with any member of the PML-N, adding that she hadn't taken any decision as yet about her political future.

When asked about PPPand PML-N's demand for investigation, she said that the PTI chief's BlackBerry could be checked as she was "not the only woman who had been sent inappropriate texts".

"All Blackberry records are available with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and everything can be traced in this age of technology," she added. She said that she would coordinate "as needed" if an investigation is carried out into the matter.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ayesha Gulalai had announced her exit from the party amid a flurry of scathing allegations against party chairman Imran Khan and other top party members. Gulalai made the announcement moments before the election of a new prime minister, citing 'ill-treatment' of women in the party as the reason behind her decision, saying she had communicated her grievances to the party leadership but no action had been taken.

"Women workers are not respected in the PTI and a respectable woman worker cannot remain in the party," she had told DawnNews.

While Imran Khan himself hasn't commented on the allegations, the female workers in his party were quick to come to his defence, with many of them posting videos on Twitter on Tuesday to vouch for Khan's character. PTI's Shireen Mazari followed Gulalai's initial announcement with counter allegations, saying that the PTI worker was disgruntled after being denied a party ticket in the upcoming General Election from the NA1 constituency. -APP

Abbasi rose to premiership after attaining 221-vote majority in the lower house during yesterday s session.

He was supported by MQM-Pakistan and other coalition parties, apart from PML-N legislators. -APP

Market maintains bull run with 455 points gain KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index opened positive in the morning, gaining 455 points in intra-day trading and closed in green at 46949.04 points with heavy volumes.

Steel sector brought up the gain today and helped the market to sustain the bullish momentum. Investors have welcomed the political stability.

Volumes surged as the index jumped closer to 47000 levels as it continued its gains yesterday as well. Participation during the month remained weak with volumes coming down by 31% MoM to average 175 million shares in Jul'17.

Uncertainty on the currency (concerns on the external front) and rising political risk premium kept foreigners

at bay resulting in net outflow of US $ 37.9m during the month.

On the local side, Insurance companies (net inflow of US$ 39.26m) along with Banking institutions (net inflow of US$ 20.97m) were active on the buying side whereas mutual funds remained sellers offloading US$ 30.57m worth of equities (first monthly outflow this calendar year). Overall, trading volumes are getting better and All share index surged to 367 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 256 million shares.

Shares of 389 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 263 stocks closed higher and 107 declined while 19 remained unchanged. In KSE 100, 154 million shares were traded with a

net worth of Rs 11.93 billion.

ENGINEERING was the top traded sector with total traded volume of 46,993,000 shares. It was followed by CHEMICAL with a total traded volume of 41,850,180 shares and CEMENT sector with a total traded volume of 35,668,900.

K-Electric LTD was the volume leader with 29.45 million shares, gaining Rs 0.24 to close at Rs 6.93. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 24.03 million shares, gaining Rs 0.09 to close at Rs 11.36, TRG PAK LTD with 23.31 million shares, gaining Rs 2.13 to close at Rs 45.85 and Aisha Steel Mill with 22.68 million shares, gaining Rs 1.07 to close at Rs 22.56. -APP

HEART: Afghan men inspect the site of an a attack in Herat province, Afghanistan. -Inp

Suicide bomber attacks Nato convoy in south Afghanistan KABUL: A suicide bomber struck a NATO convoy near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Wednesday, causing casualties, said the US military.

Lt Damien E Horvath, a military spokesman, could not say how many casualties there were or provide their nationalities. The NATO mission, known as Resolute Support, "can confirm that a NATO convoy was attacked in Kandahar. The attack did cause casualties," he said.

Kandahar police spokesman Zia

Durrani also confirmed the attack and the area on the edge Kandahar was quickly cordoned off. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Eyewitness Ghulam Ali, who runs a mechanics shop near the attack site, said the intensity of the blast knocked him out. When he came to he saw one military vehicle ablaze on the road.

He stepped out of his shop but a sudden burst of gunfire drove him back inside. He heard helicopters arriving

and saw soldiers being taken away from the scene but could not determine the extent of their injuries.

Shah Agha Popal, who runs a vehicle parts shop also nearby, said he also saw soldiers being taken away by two helicopters. "But I couldn't tell if they were wounded or if they were dead," he said.

The combined US and NATO troop contingent currently in Afghanistan is about 13,500. The Trump administration is deciding whether to send about 4,000 or more US soldiers to

Afghanistan in an attempt to stem Taliban gains.

The attack came as Afghan authorities in western Herat province tightened security ahead of a mass funeral for the victims there of an attack the previous evening that killed 29. A suicide attacker opened fire inside a mosque packed with worshippers at evening prayers, before detonating his explosives. A second explosion came 10 minutes later. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack either, but

Pakistan condemns suicide attack ISLAMABABD: Pakistan, Wednesday strongly condemned terrorist attack at a mosque in Herat yesterday resulting in the loss of precious lives while many have been injured. According to a foreign office statement, Pakistan conveys its deepest sympathies to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives and prayers for speedy recovery of the injured. Pakistan reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all forms and manifestations.

Eliminating the scourge of terrorism requires cooperation among states. -APP it came a day after the Islamic State group warned it would strike Shiites.

The Sunni militant group considers Shiite Muslims as apostates. -APP CMYK

National

2

Thursday, August 3, 2017

PAC unhappy over PSDP pending projects worth Rs 4800b

ISLAMABAD: Representative of Parliamentary reporters association in meeting with Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at Parliament House. -Inp

NAB, NCA join hands to further improve IOs capacity building ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Qamar Zaman Chaudhry Wednesday said National Crime Agency (NCA), United Kingdom (UK) has carried out Training Need Analysis (TNA) to further improve capacity building of bureau's Investigation Officers (IOs). Soon course contents will be finalized and five courses will be run in Pakistan in six fields as identified by experts. In a statement issued here, he said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed between NAB and NCA for cooperation in anti-corruption domain and sharing of training facilities after approval of authorities at both ends.

He directed NAB officers to double their efforts in eradication of corruption with realization that eradication of corruption was our national duty. He said NAB had chalked out a proactive Anti Corruption Strategy to eliminate corruption through a holistic approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement and to arrest corrupt and recovered looted money from them and deposit in the national exchequer.

The chairman said figures of complaints, inquiries and investigations had become almost double as compared to the same period of 2015 to 2016. The comparative figures for the latest three years were indicative of hard work being put in by all ranks of NAB staff in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism. Increase in the number of complaints also reflected enhanced public trusted in NAB. The PILDAT in its report supported the position stated above as 42% people trusted NAB against 30% for police and 29% for government officials. -APP

PML-N believes in strengthening of democratic system: leaders ISLAMABAD: Leader PML-N Ch Mehmood Bashir Virk has said on wednesday that Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a national hero and PML-N believes in strengthening of democratic system. In an interview with Radio Pakistan he further said, the elements trying to create political instability in the country have been completely failed in their mission. "I would also like to appreciate the PPP candidate Naveed Qamar's speech in the assembly. We are thankful to MQM and other coalition parties for their votes to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi", he added.

Leader PML-N Asia Naz Tanoli also said the popularity of PML-N leadership can never be affected by the conspiracies as PML-N represents Pakistan and all the members of the party have voted for Shahid Khaqan Abbasi with mutual consensus as he was nominated by Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. Asia Naz said Nawaz Sharif is the most popular leader of the country. All the members of the PML-N have expressed satisfaction and confidence on the leadership of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, she highlighted.

Leader PML-N Raja Javed Ikhlas added that today is the victory for democratic system in our country. The PML-N leadership has accepted the verdict of Supreme Court despite of certain reservations and it is a clear message to all the political parties that no one is above the law and constitution, Leader said. Leader PML-N Khalida Mansoor said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is an old companion of Nawaz Sharif and we are sure that he would continue the development agenda of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and would also focus on betterment in agriculture, education and health services. -APP

Rush hour pollution may be worse than thought: Study ISLAMABAD: New research finds air pollution levels in cars are much higher than previously believed. "We found that people are likely getting a double whammy of exposure in terms of health during rush-hour commutes," said Michael Bergin, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, in Durham, N.C. He and his colleagues installed sensors inside about 30 cars going to and from downtown Atlanta. Over the 60 commutes, they found that levels of some types of harmful particulate air pollution in the cars were twice as high as levels detected by widely used roadside sensors, Health news reported.

"If these chemicals are as bad for people as many researchers believe, then commuters should seriously be rethinking their driving habits," Bergin added in a university news release. The contaminated air particles can include dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets. Chemical exposure was higher than seen in previous studies that used roadside air monitors, regardless of speed, type of route or whether windows were open or closed, the researchers said. "There's still a lot of debate about what types of pollution are cause for the biggest concern and what makes them so dangerous," Bergin said. "But the bottom line is that driving during rush hour is even worse than we thought." The findings were published recently in the journal Atmospheric Environment. -APP

Census results delayed due to prevailing political situation ISLAMABAD: The announcement of the 6th housing and population census preliminary results have been delayed due to the prevailing political situation in the country, which were scheduled to be made public in the last week of July. "We are ready to present the results at appropriate forum, however owing to the ongoing political situation the process was delayed," a top official of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.

The PBS was scheduled to announce the preliminary results of the census in the last week of July, however after the July 28 decision of Supreme Court and consequent nonexistence of chief executive of the country and his cabinet the presentation of the results at appropriate forum was affected, the official said. He said that the PBS has compiled the provisional results and was ready for presentation, expressing the hope that after the assumption of power by the Finance Minister and convening of the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) the results would be presented.

It is pertinent to mention that the sixth housing and population census, which was carried out after the gap of 19 years, was conducted in 151 districts of the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were covered. The last census was conducted in 1998 by the PML-N government and it was after a gap of almost two decades that the sixth census is being conducted, again by the PML-N government. The first phase of the 6th census ended on April 15, while the second phase was completed on May 25. The government spent Rs18.5 billion on the census, of which Rs 6 billion was spent on army personnel and a similar amount on the PBS staff. -APP

ISLAMABAD: Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament Wednesday observed that a number of PSDP projects worth Rs 4800 billion were pending under Planning and Development Division and their cost was escalating day by day.

The PAC directed Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform to come with the details of all pending and ongoing projects along their cost escalations, revise cost details and their delay reasons in next meeting of the body.

Chairman Committee Khursheed Shah said the public money was being wasted due to cost escalation of the PSDP projects owing to delay in their completion. It was the responsibility of PAC to keep check on irregularities to protect tax payers' money, he said.

The committee met here under the chairmanship of Syed Khursheed Shah and attended by other members including Raja Muhammad Javed Ikhlas, Muhammad Arshad Khan Leghari,

Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, Syed Naveed Qamar, Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Sardar Ashiq Hussain Gopang, Ch. Pervaiz Elahi, Mian Abdul Mannan, Ch. Tanvir Khan, Sherry Rehman and Hidayat Ullah.

The officials of Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform informed the body that National Economic Council (NEC) had decided to ensure that the sponsoring ministry would be bound to show 20% funds for any of its proposed projects.

Sardar Ashiq Gopang said but the ground reality was different, saying that projects are used to be approved against only one or two percent token money.

Secretary Ministry said preparation of PC1 without examining the projects sites and acquiring land was a main cause for delay in completion.

Chairman committee observed that a small agriculture project of a province was approved in 2009 at the cost of Rs 13 billion but its revised cost had

reached to Rs 26 billion today while the project was still incomplete.

The official of Fiance Ministry said 70% funds are allocated for ongoing projects and 30% for new projects in budget. The funds are released for the projects in accordance of available resources, he said.

Abdul Mannan asked the ministry to also provide the details of PSDP's completed or initiated during 2000 to 2008, saying that every one was answerable before the Parliament.

Muhammad Arshad Khan Leghari said the transfer of land to the residents of slums areas announced by the former Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo in the past couldn't be done so far.

Referring to three incomplete projects in his constituency, Raja Javed Ikhlas said a road from Sohawa to Chakwal was approved in 2012 with cost of Rs. 3.30 billion, saying that Rs two billion had been spent on this road but it was still incomplete. -APP

Complete shutdown in IoK against killing of youth being observed ISLAMABAD: Complete shutdown is being observed, Wednesday to protest against the bloodbath unleashed by trigger-happy Indian troops in Pulwama and other parts of the territory.According to KMS, the resistance leadership in a joint statement issued in Srinagar also appealed to the people to offer funeral prayers in absentia for three youth killed by the troops at Hakhripora in Pulwama, yesterday. The leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Farooq and

Muhammad Yasin Malik said that the shutdown was also against the continued raids, torture and arrest of youth, and the frequent crackdown and search operations by the troops in villages of south Kashmir in which common people were targeted.

They urged India to shun its rigidness and stubborn approach towards the Kashmir dispute and understand that without its resolution, peace in South Asia was impossible. The yesterday's killing had sparked protests

and shutdown across the Kashmir Valley. The puppet administration in an attempt to prevent anti-India protests against the killings had ordered an immediate suspension of Internet services and closure of all schools and colleges in the Valley.

The protests first erupted in Pulwama district where residents clashed with the troops in Harkipora area. The troops had killed two youth after destroying a building with chemical weapon and another youth during fir-

ing on the people protesting against the killing in the area.

Shutdown was observed in many districts, while public transport remained suspended in many parts of the territory. Students also held protests at colleges in several districts, including at Srinagar's Amar Singh College, Sri Pratab College, Islamia College and University of Kashmir.

Outside Amar Singh College, the police fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters. -APP

IRSA releases 499,400 cusecs water

Hanif for inquiry into Gulalai's allegations against Imran ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi Wednesday underlined the need for holding a thorough investigation into the serious allegations levelled by PTI MNA Ayesha Gulalai Wazir against Imran Khan and other party leaders.

"The allegations should be probed thoroughly and the apex court should take suo moto on it," he said while talking to mediapersons outside the Supreme Court.

He said the allegations exposed real face of Imran Khan and advised females to avoid participating in public meetings of PTI and its other political activities as

there was no respect for them.

Hanif said the PTI chief should be ashamed of the allegations, which raised several questions about his moral character and corrupt practices in the party.

"If Imran Khan denies the allegations, he must submit his blackberry mobile, which was used for objectionable texting, for inspection. And, if there will be nothing against him, I and Ayesha Gulalai will apologise from him," he said.

He appreciated Gulalai for upholding the tradition of Pakhtuns and gave priority to honour over PTI membership, and quit the party on a principled stand.

"Our religion Islam does not allow the way of life, which Imran Khan has adopted.

He should remember that he is not living in a western society," he said.

Answering a question, Hanif Abbasi said Imran Khan was liable for disqualification from the National Assembly over concealment of his assets, adding that PTI's foreign funding case was heading towards its logical end.

Hanif also criticised Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid for undue criticism against the PML-N leadership and misleading the public on different issues. -APP

Ministry of Textile Industry trained 4,514 cotton growers ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Textile Industry in collaboration with other stakeholders has trained about 4,514 cotton growers in order to enhance the output of major cash crop across the cotton growing areas of the country.

As many as 103 training programmes were conducted across the crop growing belt, besides airing 17 radio programmes and TV shows to create awareness among the farming community, said

Cotton Commissioner, Dr Khalid Abdullah.

Talking to APP here on Wednesday, he said that the farmers were provided training about off-season crop management, pink ball worm management and cotton verities selection for the cultivation. They were also trained about the soil preparation to achieve higher per acre cotton crop output to maximize the farm income by producing the clean cot-

ton crop, he added.

He further informed that 52 training programmes were organized in Punjab province and trained 2,162 farmers about the off-season crop management.

Meanwhile, 24 training session were conducted in Sindh and 27 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces respectively to create crop management awareness among the farmers of these areas, he added. -APP

ISLAMABAD: Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Wednesday released 499,400 cusecs water from various rim stations with inflow of 562,300 cusecs.

According to the data released by IRSA, water level in the Indus River at Tarbela Dam was 1,533.00 feet, which was 153.00 feet higher than its dead level 1,380 feet. Water inflow in the dam was recorded as 340,300 cusecs while outflow 312,700 cusecs.

The water level in the Jhelum River at Mangla Dam was 1,226.75 feet, which was 186.75 feet higher than its dead level of 1,040 feet whereas the inflow and outflow of water was recorded as 45,300 cusecs and 10,000 cusecs respectively.

The release of water at Kalabagh, Taunsa and Sukkur was recorded as 267,300, 255,500 and 136,500 cusecs respectively.

Similarly, from the Kabul River, a total of 50,100 cusecs of water was released at Nowshera and 98,800 cusecs released from Chenab River at Marala. -APP

Azadi stalls loaded with Flag attracting Young girls ISLAMABAD: As the day of Independence approaching fast, stalls loaded with National flag color 'Bangles' gripping the attention of Young girls to mark the day.

A report aired by a private news channel said, the preparations for celebrating I-day, to fall on August 14, are continuing in the country with great patriotic zeal and enthusiasm. The patriotic young girls are thronging to markets for buying Green and white Bagels to celebrate I-day in befitting manners. The heaviest rush was observed on bangle shops where women and children flocked in droves to buy from a wide array of colorful bangles made of either glass or metal. -APP

HYDERABAD: School, girl buying National flag mask from road side stall vendor on ahead of 70th Independence Day celebration. -Inp

Action plan for sustainable conservation of biodiversity resources finalised PESHAWAR: The Ministry of Climate Change, Islamabad has finalized a comprehensive National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) for sustainable conservation of biodiversity, forestry, wildlife and aquatic resources in the country.

Syed Mahmood Nasir, Inspector General of Forests (IGF), Ministry of Climate Change, Islamabad said this while addressing the inaugural session of the two-day national workshop on "Implementation of Modalities of

NBSAP at Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI), Peshawar today as chief guest.

Special Secretary for Environment, Forests and Wildlife, Ziaul Haq, Director General PFI, Hakim Shah, senior officials of Forest, Wildlife and Environment besides academicians from all the provinces attended the workshop.

Speaking on the occasion, IGF Mahmood Nasir said the Ministry of Climate Change has finalized NBSAP after thorough deliberations and consultations with all stakeholders of all the

provinces and its findings would be shortly shared with people.

The NBSAP, he said, would help provide a comprehensive mechanism and guidelines to Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan how to conserve and protect indigenous biodiversity resources including trees, wildlife, goats, sheep, fishes and water for next 10 to 20 years on scientific manner. He said the plan would help provide a comprehensive framework and mechanism for effective usage of science and

technology for genetic improvement, counterbalancing the growing effects of climate change and global warming and inclusive guidelines to researchers and policy makers.

Mahmood said workable recommendations of this workshop would be incorporated in the new plan of action.

Terming climate change is a global problem, the IGF said once an air was polluted by hazardous gasses, often goes to other countries causing negative effects on an environment, wildlife, bio-

diversity, fisheries and aquatic resources besides speedy melting of glaciers.

The Government has setup Climate Change Authority (CCA) to prepare and supervise implementation projects for effective adoption of climate impacts, overseas different conventions and agreements and ensure coordinated efforts to meet all the challenges posed by global warming, climate change and environmental degradation, he added.

Under Green Growth Initiative Project (GGIP)of the Federal

Government, he said, monsoon trees plantation was smoothly underway in the country and about 100million plants of various species would be sown in next five years.

The IGF suggested inclusion of climate change in curriculums, adaptation of science and technology, maximum afforstration, quality research and preparation of students on modern lines that would help overcome on challenge of global warming, climate change and desertification. -APP

City News

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Roof collapse; six injured SIALKOT: The roof of a house collapsed on Wednesday leaving six injured including three minors in the village of Kotli Miani in the jurisdiction of Beguwala police station.According to Rescue 1122, in the wake of heavy monsoon rain the roof of a house collapsed in the village of Kotli Miani leaving six injured,including three minors.

The injured included Maria (22), Noshta (7), Balqees (65), Gulfam (35), Ayesha (5) and Fatima (3).Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital.

Three drug-traffickers arrested: Police Wednesday arrested three drug-traffickers and recovered 3.460-kg charas from them. According to sources, Daska city police raided at Hajipura and arrested two accused including Afzal and Qasim Ali-and recovered 1.240kg, 1.100-kg charas from them, respectively.

Meanwhile, Kotli Loharain police intercepted one Sajjad near Khorotain Sydien and recovered 1.120-kg charas from him. Police have registered separate cases and started investigation. –APP

Sanitary worker electrocuted SARGODHA: A resident of Jinnah Colony died of an electric shock in Sajid Shaheed police precincts on Wednesday.

Police sources said that a person namely Naveed, a sanitary worker in Municipal Corporation Sargodha, was unloading the filth bucket of dumper vehicle near Chak 39-NB when the bucket touched the main electric cable accidently. He died on-thespot Mayor MC Malik Naveed Aslam announced financial assistance for the spouse of deceased sanitary worker.

875g contraband seized, 14 arrested: Police on Wednesday arrested 14 accused and recovered narcotics and illegal weapons.

Police said various teams conducted raids and arrested 14 drug pushers and criminals besides recovering 475g heroin, 400g hashish, 180 bottles of liquor, four pistols, three guns, two rifles and a revolver. –APP

Youth shot dead MULTAN: A youth was allegedly shot dead by unidentified accused in Alpa police limits on Wednesday.

According to police, Baqir Hussain was going to Jhok Veins when the accused gunned down him and fled. The police have registered a case and started investigation. –APP

Three killed in accidents FAISALABAD: Three people were killed in accidents here on Wednesday. A police spokesman said 43-year-old Shabbir Ahmad of Chak No 507-GB was travelling by a motorcycle when a speeding bus hit it. As a result, he received serious injuries and was shifted to a local hospital where he died.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old namely Laraib Maqsood of Sargodha was killed while his brother sustained injuries when their motorcycle skidded. Separately, Liaquat of Model Town Eidgah Road was hit to death by a speeding motorcycle.

Price control magistrates directed to check prices of items: Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Muhammad Shahid Wednesday directed price control magistrates to check prices of daily use items and take legal action against profiteers. Presiding over a meeting here, he said price lists should be displayed at shops for convenience of consumers.–APP

Woman killed over dispute FAISALABAD: A youth killed his sister over a minor dispute in Millat Town police limits here on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said a 23-year-old Shazia Bibi of Munnianwala exchanged harsh words with her brother Shahid over a domestic dispute. The accused along with his accomplices killed his sister and fled. –APP

Five-Day Anti-polio drive to start from Aug 7 RAWALPINDI: A fiveday polio drive would commence in the entire district from August 7.

During the campaign, 1950 polio teams would go door-to-door and administer polio drops to 811,708 children less than five years in all Tehsils and Union Councils of the district, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Talat Mehmood Gondal said here Wednesday. The Deputy Commissioner (DC) said 1950 polio teams, 396 area incharges, 204 medical officers, and allied hospitals and Tehsil Headquarter hospitals would participate in the campaign. He said all possible steps have been taken by the concerned department to make the campaign a success.

269 fix centers would also be set up to administer the drops, he added.

Sufficient quantity of vaccine is available, and no stone will be left unturned in our effort to make the campaign a success.

He urged the citizens, particularly the parents, to come forward and play their role for the elimination of the crippling disease from society. "The parents should cooperate with special teams so that the set target could be achieved."he added. –APP

FAISALABAD: A patient being moved to private hospital from government run hospital due to strike by Young Doctors Association (YDA). Patients suffered in OPDs of government run hospitals as YDA strike for the acceptance of their demands. –Online

‘Development agenda of Nawaz to be followed’ LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday said that development agenda of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would be taken forward with full vigour. In a statement issued here, he said that agitation and negative politics were lethal poisons for durable development in the country.

He said that the politics of confrontation and agitation had always damaged the national economy and created hurdles in projects of public welfare and development.

He said that chaos and differences ruined nations and societies, adding that defeated political elements were engaged in politics of anarchy and making all-out attempst to weaken the country.

"The politicians using abusive language based on lies, allegations and namescalling should first peep into their inner-self as the elements who have plundered the national resources, got their loans written off and looted the funds of development projects, are colluding with them," he added.

He said that ordinary people could not be deceived by presenting before them the elements who were corrupt to the core. The chief minister said that the opponents were afraid of popularity and development agenda of Pakistan Muslim League-N as dwindling energy crisis had made them panic-stricken. "People were with the PML-N in the past. "They are with us today and shall continue to side with the PML-N in future as well," he added. He said that the elements indulging in allegations would face the consequences of their negative politics and the nation would never forgive such elements.

The CM said that the opponents were opposing the development agenda as they had become blind in their lust for power, and added that these were the same elements who were responsible for delaying historic ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. He said that the elements that were afraid of development of Pakistan would face a historic defeat in the elections of 2018.

He said that Muhammad

Nawaz Sharif ensured peace in the country and the credit of strengthening of economy went to the solid policies of Nawaz. He said: "Nawaz Sharif rules the hearts of the people of Pakistan and no one can dare take him away from masses."

"Poverty and unemployment have been decreased due to solid economic policies of the PML-N and people salute Nawaz Sharif for his services for making the country economically viable and strong," he said, adding that Nawaz Sharif could not be wiped out from the hearts of the people.

The chief minister said that during the last four years, quite a number of mega projects of public welfare and prosperity had been completed under the leadership of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

He said the opponents inflicted huge losses on the national economy and the democratic stability just for the sake of power. "On the other hand, the PML-N has always given priority to national development and public welfare as common man is the centre of the PML-

PU students honoured

Crocodile babies in good condition

River Chenab in low flood

LAHORE: The Punjab University College of Earth & Environmental Sciences students of BS Environmental Sciences Ms Anam Riaz and Ms Oreeda Saeed have been selected as principal candidate for participation in the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program for Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan) fall-2017 & spring-2018 semester funded by the United States Department of State. In this regard, CEES Principal Prof Dr Sajid Rashid and Ms Anam Riaz called on PU VC Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir at his office.

VC Dr Zafar Mueen congratulated both the students on their achievement and presented souvenirs to them. –APP

Livestock to register 800 activists for cattle safety management MULTAN: Livestock Department started registration of 800 Community Activists in order to impart them special training on cattle management.

While talking to APP here on Wednesday, Additional Director Livestock Department Dr Sabtain said the selected Community Activists would get training for 28 days and Rs 200 per day would be given to each activist.These activists would create awareness among cattle farmers about utility of vaccinations and proper management of cattle. Every activist should be holder of one or more animals and he would be taken from almost each village in the district.

Among these 800 Community Activists there would 400 male and as many female activists.

Livestock department would keep close liaison with the trained activists and would continue to avail their services on different schemes or occasion, observed Dr Sabtain.

He informed that Punjab government was striving hard to improve milk and meat production in the province. Cattle farmers play important role in this regard. These activists would also serve as facilitator between the department and farming community, he said. –APP

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BAHAWALPUR: The management of Bahawalpur Zoo said that three new born crocodile babies were in healthy condition and added that all required care was being provided to them.

It is being mentioned here that female crocodile at Bahawalpur Zoo has given birth to three babies.

The management of the zoo claimed that it was first time that a female crocodile gave birth to babies at zoo in Pakistan. "We are proud that female crocodile gave birth to three babies and it is first time that crocodile babies are born at zoo in the country during recent history," said, Ayyub Sabir, the Curator of Bahawalpur Zoo while talking to journalists here. –APP

SIALKOT/MULTAN: The local flood department on Wednesday said that after long monsoon season, River Chenab was flowing at low level flood at Headmarala.

An official of Flood department while talking to APP said that low level flood has been recorded in River Chenab on Wednesday evening, while rivers Jammu Tavi and Munawar Tavi were also flowing at low level flood. He said that upstream has been recorded as 139,526 cusics while down-stream recorded as 116,292 cusecs in River Chenab at Headmarala.

He said the water level at River Munaawar Tavi and Jammu Tavi was recorded as 7,711 cusecs and 12,689 cusecs respectively.

N policies and public welfare is very dear to us," he added.

Shehbaz said the PMLN's government has always shown performance and due to this immaculate performance, the party is most popular in the country. "On the other hand, anarchists intend to block the development process and CPEC is making the opponents upset," he added. "Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has done the politics of public service, has changed the destiny of the nation and never compromised on his principles in the politics," he said.

CM expresses sorrow over loss of lives due to rain related incidents: Punjab

Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday expressed a deep sense of sorrow and grief over the loss of precious human lives in different incidents due to torrential rains across the province.

According to a press release issued here, he extended sympathies to the bereaved families and directed the administration of districts concerned to provide the best healthcare facilities to the injured. –APP

No flood threat in river Chenab so far: Irrigation

Multan Zone XEN Operations Chaudhry Muhammad Zahid Wednesday said that there was normal water flow in river Chenab so far.

Talking to APP here , he said that there was no floodlike situation, as water level had raised only in catchments areas a few days ago due to rains. Now situation has normalised, he added.

He said that low flood would start as water level would cross 150,000-cusec water in river Chenab. The discharge of water was recorded 98,820 at Marala Headworks, 144,855 cusecs at Khanki, 119,371 cusecs at Qadirabad and 39,092 cusecs at Trimmu Headworks on Tuesday. –APP

GCU, PSQCA ink MoU

ISLAMABAD: A woman selection wooden item from street vendor. –APP

LAHORE: The Government College University (GCU) Lahore and Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority, Karachi (PSQCA), Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote research and awareness about quality control in the country.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah and Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority, Karachi (PSQCA) Director General Muhammad Khalid Siddiq signed the 13-point accord at a

graceful ceremony organised by the University's Academic Planning and External Links at GCU Lahore.

Under the MoU, the PSQCA would provide all technical assistance to GCU Lahore in establishing the Standardisation, Quality and Technology Management Wing, and developing quality control education programmes. The PSQCA would also include the senior faculty members and scientists of GCU in its technical committees for different products evaluation. –APP

LHC notifies HCBA-Multan president for appearance LAHORE: A five-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday gave the last opportunity to High Court Bar Association (HCBA) Multan President Sher Zaman Qureshi for appearing before it on August 11.

The bench observed that if he failed to appear on the next hearing, his arrest warrants would be issued. The HCBA Multan president is being proceeded against for being rude to an LHC judge at the Multan bench.

LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah is heading the bench while Justice

Muhammad Anwaarul Haq, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza are its members.

At the outset of the hearing on Wednesday evening, the LHCB office-bearers including President Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali appeared before the bench and requested for adjourning the matter for two weeks.

However, the bench reminded them that they undertook on the last hearing that Sher Zaman Qureshi would appear before the bench on August 2.

To which, the office-bearers briefed that the HCBA-Multan had passed a resolution that Sher Zaman Qureshi would not appear before the bench.

At this, the bench said that it exercised restraint on the last hearing but the issue was being politicised. How come a person could say that he would not appear before the court, it added.

The bench further observed that the entire system was being held hostage for an individual.

However, the bench adjourned further hearing till August 11 and gave the final opportunity to Sher Zaman

Qureshi for appearing before it.

The bench also noted that it had taken administrative notice of lawyers' hooliganism on the court premises early Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, dozens of lawyers gathered outside the chief justice courtroom at about 11 am on Wednesday where the bench was scheduled to take up the matter against Sher Zaman Qureshi.

The lawyers chanted slogans against the LHC chief justice and in favour of Sher Zaman Qureshi.

Later on, they went inside the courtroom and kept chanti-

ng slogans for some time. But, they dispersed peacefully after it was learnt that the bench would not take up the matter due to the death of Justice Faisal Zaman Khan's wife. It is pertinent to mention here that on July 24, Sher Zaman Qureshi and Advocate Syed Qaisar Abbas Kazmi, along with others, initially misbehaved with Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan and obstructed the judicial proceedings at the Multan bench, and afterwards vandalised and ransacked the court premises and ripped off the name-plate of the judge.

After the incident, the chief justice had withdrawn judges working at the Multan Bench and posted them to the Principal Seat, Lahore. Later on, in view of the problems of the litigants, the chief justice restored the Multan registry from July 27 and judges resumed their work there from July 31.

A larger bench was constituted to proceed against the delinquent lawyers, under the law of contempt and High Court Rules and Orders for suspension and/or removal of their practice of the Lahore High Court (LHC). –BN Report

Opinion The cost of political instability

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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Lahore & Multan Email: businessnewspk@gmail.com

Ganging up on Gulalai

M Bilal

A group of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) women lawmakers headed by Shireen Mazari categorically rejected the accusations leveled by party's former lawmaker Ayesha Gulalai against chief Imran Khan and other leaders. Mazari went as far as terming Gulalai's statement as a politically charged move.

This group of women claimed Gulalai lied and made up the accusations against the PTI leadership for mistreating women politicians. Mazari did this by personally vouching for how she is treated by the party. What she doesn't realise is: Just because she is treated with respect in the part does not automatically mean Gulalai is lying. Mazari and her fellow PTI women should have stood by Gulalai and called for an inquiry instead of just ganging up against her. They should understand that while they can speak for themselves, they certainly cannot speak for all the women and men for that matter in the party. How does Imran Khan and other members of the party treating them nicely automatically means they haven't mistreated Gulalai? Vouching for leadership's character is one thing but launching a smear campaign against the woman who has come forward presents a completely different picture. Can they really dismiss someone who's come forth and stood up against mistreatment like that? Do they not understand Gulalai has been on the receiving end of the abuse? The least they should have done is call for an investigation and show support to Gulalai. What are men saying about this? We have a video circulating on social media where Imran Khan said allegedly about former party member Naz Baloch "good that she has left, [she] was of no use". And then there's his lawyer Naeem Bukhari who on national TV tonight made fun of Gulalai saying "I don't think I even know who Gulalai is" and then went on to say even though first gaze is allowed in Islam he doesn't "check out" all women. This is after he defended Imran Khan in usual rhetoric saying "everything about Imran is moral" and went on to say that "woman have stopped giving birth to individuals like Imran Khan" implying there never will be a more "moral" person than Imran. All this happened while the anchorperson Kamran Shahid giggled along and just like that, these men showed everything that is wrong in society that doesn't allow women to have equal chance.

In a country like ours where the gender gap is staggering especially in political circles, this is a very bad example to set. Women generally have to work twice as hard to compete with their male counterparts all the while facing harassment, intimidation and abuse. This is beyond any political divide. This is not about Imran Khan versus the opponents. This is not about who's conspiring against whom. This is about standing up with your colleagues. It already takes guts to stand up to bullying, harassment and mistreatment and when someone is taking that stand, they deserve complete support and solidarity. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's stance on the issue is spot on and deserves some heed regardless of political differences.

There should be a complete inquiry both intra-party and by law enforcement. Not only should the findings be made public but those responsible should be punished aptly. Meanwhile, the Mazari and co. should stop their blame-the-victim kind of counter attack on Gulalai.

YDA Protest Members of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) protested in Lahore on Tuesday, and have been plagued in the past with negative press. An effort must be made to sympathize with the plight of the common working doctor, for it is a hard job that these doctors do, and rewards are minimal.

One of the major issues of the YDA is how they are treated. They work long hours, and shifts at Services Hospital can be of 30 hours for a young doctor doing their house job, often with no pay.

Najam Ahmad Shah is the Secretary of Specialized Health care and Medical Education, and the ship he is running is inept and almost cruel to the doctors. The members of YDA feel that a diplomat and an engineer by profession is not capable of understanding the field of medicine, and cannot address or understand their issues. This is why all their demands have been directed to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The doctors need not only better pay, but just mere compensation for the hours they are working, as they are promised. They need to be heard by their seniors and by the bureaucracy, rather than be threatened like criminals and sprayed with water cannons.

The doctors demand the release of their fellow doctors, who have been arrested for only protesting peacefully. Burn units are required throughout the region for proper functioning of the health care system. The absence of burn units prevents doctors from facilitating patients; precisely what happened in Bahawalpur recently. They do not have health insurance, when nurses and paramedics already do. Other demands include a one-patient-per-bed policy. Free medication is also something that needs to be worked upon. One news channel asked on Tuesday: What is the fault of the patients? None, but when the doctors treating a patient are exhausted, and their wages ensure that they cannot make ends meet economically, what is expected? News of patients dying from protests is often exaggerated; these doctors have kept emergencies open during their protest. There is no real incentive for these men and women to serve their people, other than sheer altruism. When Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique terms these demands along with the protests as propaganda; it is unfair to the cause. These people are by no means pursuing their personal interests if one pays attention to their actual demands.

CCORDING to the Harvard University's Centre for International Development (CID), India is growing more strongly with high growth rate than China. Political stability is the main cause of this high growth. The democratic rule gives India the more competitive advantage on China because investors are satisfied that there will be a less chance of political thunder to crash their investments. Political stability is the important source of diversification for foreign investors and the large industries. India achieved this status by her unquestionable commitment to live under the democratic umbrella. There was a time when the poverty rate was so high almost 60%, but India did not compromise on its democratic values. And now Indians

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are enjoying the fruits of their forefather's wisdom. India is flourishing and will keep growing with the help of her democratic values. Pakistan can also attain this competitive advantage which India has in the global market.

For the year 2017, CID's model of economic potential to growth - the atlas of economic complexity, indicates that Pakistan's economic growth for the next 10 years can be 6% per annum if Pakistan keeps its economy safe from political shocks. I am a huge fan of the Atlas of economic complexity model due to its wide area scope in terms of economic complexity, diversification and the competitive potential for economic growth. This model is primarily based on the Adam Smith's theory of comparative advantage which according to him is the main source of the wealth of nation.

But this economic potential which is properly ranked by the AEC model is in crises and cannot be realised in the prevailing situation of political instability ignited by JIT. Who will actually be in disadvantage due to this expected economic decline? Definitely the common people whose welfare will be in a depression. In the history of the Indian subcontinent, either it was the ancient time or the medieval India, political stability and economic development were correlated. When India had an efficient government, it flourished. For

example, the Era of Mauryan and Gupta dynasties, When Mauryan State was effective in term of law and order and the political stability, India flourished very well. Similarly, when Gupta rose, India rose, and when Gupta declined, India went to the deep crises and poverty. Muslims from central Asia conquered the India, they established a stable and better state which brought the economic growth and prosperity back. When Mughals declined, whole India slowed down economically except the small cities which maintained their status as the trading hub by providing the peace and security. What can easily be perceived by studying the Indian history is that four important things Indian market needed from the government in order to be efficient in her performance.

These four things are political stability, law and order to secure people's lawful interests, regionally connected market by a single rule and safe infrastructure.

The irony is that modern societies and markets have become more politicised than ancient and medieval time's regimes were. Therefore, any political instability directly affects our economy and social structure. Pakistan has not yet developed democratic values, which is one of the reasons why we have a high poverty rate and social disparities. This political crisis might continue till the next election. And there is

no guarantee that the next election will easily establish a stable and independent democratic rule which would be able to complete its 5-year tenure. This vulnerability is the main cause of distrust among investors, even though the expected rate of economic return in Pakistani market is high.

Likewise, if anybody thinks that this type of political instability is the solution to corruption, he/she is mistaken. When the political system is weak, corruption will be high. Military or non-democratic government cannot control the corruption, it can only be controlled by democratic rule if it is empowered to do so independently without the threat of political storm which arises when any democratic government wants to make tough decisions. There is no country in the world which is truly democratic and politically stable but without economic development. In the modern world of great divergence, only the countries which continuously fail to solve their political disputes are poor. A market cannot work for the society when power and conflict rule instead of the will of the citizens. Do we need to decide what actually we need? If prosperity is needed, then we need to settle our political disputes on an urgent basis so that economic interests of the people can be secured without any danger resulting from the political unrest.

Better economic performance M Zahid Raffat HE federal government only recently completed four years with a good record of better economic performance and positive indicators and entered the fifth year of its tenure with quite realistic, doable and achievable targets for sustained economic growth.

Pakistan's economy remains under constant review of international financial institutions and organisations as well as donor agencies like International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank and others. All these financial institutions in their periodic reports generally appreciate Pakistan's rapidly forward moving economy and also point out shortcomings, which are taken due notice of by the senior authorities concerned and measures are taken to set things right at the earliest possible. It is generally believed that figures speak louder than words.

The federal government has also come out with facts and figures in support of its claim about rapid sustained economic growth during the last year,

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improving upon the poor economic situation it had inherited on coming into power in 2013. According to facts and figures available officially about economic performance since 2012-13, Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth stood at 5.28 percent at the end of the last fiscal year and has been described as the highest in the past decade. Comparatively, four years ago, economic growth was 3.68 percent.

For the first time, the size of the national economy has surpassed the 300 billion dollar mark.

Agriculture is the backbone of the national economy and it is good to note that it has registered a turnaround. The agricultural sector has performed impressively this year. Compared to last year's stagnation, this sector has registered a robust 3.45 percent growth. Industrial production has also grown appreciably by 5.02 percent and resultantly, businesses are now hiring additional workers to put their houses back on track and meet the growing demand. Banks, retail houses, transportation and housing, which constitute the services sector have also registered growth by 5.98 percent.

The federal government strictly followed a policy of fiscal consolidation during the period under review and this resulted in reducing the fiscal deficit from 8.2 percent to almost half; 4.2 percent this year. This achievement was made possible through higher revenue collection by way of improved administration and broadening of the tax base, undoing the decades-old concessionary Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) and curtailing non-development expenditure of the government to

the maximum extent possible.

The Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) collection in fiscal year 2012-13 stood at Rs 1946 billion. For the previous year, the target was Rs 3521 billion, representing a historic increase of as much as 81 percent in the last four years with average annual growth of 20 percent. Final revenue collection figures are not immediately available but these are hopefully expected to be little more than the target. Likewise, tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio which was 10.1 percent in fiscal year 2012-13 was likely to be around 13.2 percent this year. The policy rate, periodically determined by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), is an important factor in economic policies of the federal government. The policy rate of the SBP has come down drastically from 9.5 percent in June 2013 to the current 45-year low of 5.75 percent.

Similarly, mark-up rates of the export refinance facility have also been reduced from 9.5 percent in June 2013 to just 3 percent in July 2016.

This has obviously led to an appreciable spurt in credit to the private sector. Resultantly, credit to the private sector has grown to Rs 507 billion till May 2017 as compared to just nominal figures of Rs 93 billion in fiscal year 2012-13, making a major contribution in the expansion of business activity in the country.

Four years ago, credit for the agriculture sector was Rs 336 billion which increased to Rs 600 billion at the end of 2016 and is targeted to increase to Rs 700 billion during the current financial year, almost double the figures of 2012-13. Imports have

been recorded at 37.8 billion dollars during July 2017 to April 2017, showing an upward trajectory as compared to the same period last year. This vibrancy in imports can easily be attributed to more than a 40 percent increase in capital machinery, industrial raw material and petroleum products and increased investment under the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects focused on the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Undoubtedly, over the past four years, remittances back home from a large number of expatriate Pakistanis have - over the past four years - increased from 13.9 billion dollars to 19.9 billion dollars. This 40 percent increase was made possible due to the government's revival and payment of outstanding dues of the Pakistan Remittance Initiative.

As a matter of fact, the low trend of remittances is worrisome for the federal government, which is taking all possible measures to exhort expatriate Pakistanis to remit their earnings back home through formal channels instead of the non-formal means such as hundi, and thus continue playing their positive role in substantially increasing remittances.

There is a lot more to talk about with regards to better economic performance of the federal government during the last four years which has obviously helped it fix quite realistic targets for financial year 2017-18 besides taking new initiatives and giving relief to different segments of society. These will be discussed some other time.

Muslims genocide and our silence Hassan Ahmad ENOCIDE is an attempt to exterminate people, not to alter their behavior. Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. It is a phenomenon that has taken place throughout the history. The hunger of power and ethnocentrism has made the man to kill his own kind brutally and mercilessly. The American holocaust, Australian aboriginals massacre, New Zealand mass killings of indigenous people, Nazi killings, Muslims massacre are the worst examples of genocide in the world history.

In the current scenario of the world, the Muslims massacre is the ongoing phenomena

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either on ethnic basis, religious basis or sectarian basis throughout the world. It has caused the grave negative political, social, economic, environmental effects among the victims and suspended the regional peace. This brutal massacre has resulted in the political unrest and poverty along with weakening of infrastructure and has ruined the nation. There should be the strict check by the UN and the implementation of law and order by the governments to avoid such situations before they happen. The ban on hate speech should be observed strictly to avoid agitation among the masses.

It is a basic right of every human being to live. The genocide is an open exploitation of basic human rights which should be prevented collectively and strictly. The institutes erected in the name of law and order and legislative have the responsibility to prevent such a heinous act to happen at all. The interpretation of religions is also a main cause of peace and genocide as well. With the open message of peace and humanity from all the major religions of world one can wonder that what makes the man to kill another man. Indeed, it is the ethnocentrism propagated among followers either on religious basis or sectarian basis which resulted in the consequences that the world is facing today named as genocide.

Our homeland Pakistan, a land acquired on the base of Islamic belief and to practice Islamic tenets is also under the wave of genocide of its inhabitants. They are none other than Muslims. The massacre of Shia indigenous community in Pakistan is the victims of this

Mail Box Building prospects Almost 20 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 30 are unemployed in the country.

This is unfortunate because young people are usually considered to be a productive segment of the population. These statistics are alarming and reflects why our rate of economic growth remains abysmally low. Conservative estimates suggest that our growth rate is below eight percent. It is the government's responsibility to create jobs for the youth because they are the backbone of our society and economy.

There is also a dire need to focus on research. This can only be achieved by increasing the education budget. As a result, the government should take concrete

steps against this matter and create jobs for youth as soon as possible.

–Noor Bakhsh (Turbat)

Leaving a mark Pakistanis have excelled in various sporting activities over the years. This shows that Pakistani sportspersons are not inferior to their counterparts across the world. They have left their mark on the cricket, football and hockey fields. The 2017 Champions Trophy serves as a clear testimony of the surfeit of talent that Pakistani players possess.

A large number of players from Balochistan have also excelled in snooker. Unfortunately, the sport is largely ignored in the province. The relevant authorities should join

ongoing genocide.

According to a report published in the telegraph, more than 320 Shia's have been killed in the wake of sectarian violence's during few years. The massacre of hundreds of Muslims in Burma by Buddhists was done on religion basis in 2012. The same is the case with the brutal mass killings of Muslims in Bosnia. The Muslims are being killed in Gaza and Kashmir on their religious basis and territorial disputes.

The history is filled with the Muslim genocide throughout the world. The killings of Muslim by Sikhs and Hindus after partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. The atrocities of Bengali Muslims in the 1971. The massacre of Muslims in Gujarat (India) 2002. These are the wounds of brutality which have not healed yet.

The causes of Muslim genocide are categorized on the two bases. First of all, the killings of Muslims by Muslims on sectarian basis and secondly the killing of Muslims by other communities on religious basis and territorial basis.

The killing of Muslims on religious basis is the result of ethnocentrism among the masses and killing on territorial basis is the power play of the politics. this is done for the acquiring of territory from the indigenous community as is the case in Kashmir, Bosnia, Gaza and Burma.

These killings either of any basis has resulted into the economical fall and poverty among the massacred community. It has put a big question mark on the world peace. The use of chemical and biological nukes had initiated the grave environmental consequences. the broken families' due to killings has subjected the victims

hands to encourage sportspersons.

–G M Balochi (Turbat)

Urea sales The farmer community has welcomed the Fertiliser Manufacturers decision to resume the sales of Urea after the government gave the assurance to issue subsidy notification within 10 days time period.

Urea sales were stopped when the ministries showed reluctance to issue notification for the disbursement of newly announced subsidy in 2017-18 budgets. Government intervention was necessary to dissolve this crisis to avoid serious consequences in term of low agriculture yield and poor quality of crops. If delays and undue hiccups in processes like these would happen without considering the suggestions of the industry-experts and stakeholders, the real value and advantages of regulatory support cannot be derived.

So, in this time of need, the govern-

towards adverse social effects.

Genocide is the world's worst international human rights problem. Genocide is almost always carried out by a country's own military and police forces, the usual national forces such as the case in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir and Gaza so law and order cannot stop it.

International intervention is usually required.

But because the world lacks an international rapid response force, and because the United Nations has so far been either paralyzed or unwilling to act, genocide has gone unchecked.

Pakistan government takes precautionary measures but still the worst incidents happen.

So, in-order to prevent such things the government should effectively and strictly check the activities of banned militant organizations. The Pakistan electronic media regulatory authority(PEMRA) should put ban on such TV shows and programs which promotes hate-speech among the masses and results in the agitation.

The UNO has its major role towards the assurance of global peace. The Convention of punishment and prevention of crime of genocide-CPPCG has been recognized by the United Nations. The person guilty of genocide is tried by the international criminal court. But the response of the UN is not that much rapid which results in the luxury of time for the worst events to happen. Peace is the mantra of all the scriptures and teachings of the Prophets, saints and sages. To put the world in the path of peace is the collective responsibility of religious saints, sages and Ulema in collaboration with the international peace organizations and the UNO.

ment and fertiliser manufacturers need to cooperate and work closely in a manner that puts the farmers, the industry and the government in a win-win situation, where each party benefits simultaneously without harming the interests of each other.

–Shahid Saleem (Islamabad)

Empowering women Despite the tall claims made by the government and a few NGOs, the condition of women in Pakistan remains deplorable. The outdated traditions are still prevalent in the country. Although the number of working women has increased, women are still harassed at workplaces. For a single woman, living in the country is a Herculean task.

She faces a large number of challenges on a daily basis.

The situation is the worst in

rural areas of the country. In fact, windows living in rural areas lead an extremely difficult life. It is the responsibility of the government to uplift the status of women in society. For women living in rural areas, the government should introduce short courses so that they can learn a few skills and earn a living. Those women who have no place to live should be brought to a governmentbacked rehabilitation centre.

Together we can help the women who are living a miserable life.

–Engr Syed Muhammad Ali Shah (Larkana)

You don't have evidence #AyeshaGulalai is telling the truth.

You also do not have evidence she's lying. Stop being bigots. #Pakistan –Mehreen Zahra-Malik

Uzma Yousaf becomes first Pak female 2 climb 7,027 metre high Spantik peak in the Spantik-Sosbun Mountains sub-range –Murtaza Ali Shah

#PTI woman leader Alia talking about Ayesha Gulalai's affiliation with PPP and APML before PTI while sitting with Fawad Chaudhary.

BUHAHAHA! –Shahbaz Zahid

Great going PTI women, rock on.

Although I don't agree with most of what you say, I'm really happy that TV channels have discovered you –Marvi Sirmed

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

First setback for new PM. Fed cabinet delayed for 24 hours after consensus could not reached on Minister's portfolios.

–Mazhar Abbas

Market Insight

MARKET WATCH

Thursday, August 3, 2017

5

Market stays upward by adding 455 points

KARACHI: The KSE100 Index opened positive in the morning, gaining 455 points in intra-day trading and closed in green at 46949.04 points with heavy volumes.

Steel sector brought up the gain today and helped the market to sustain the bullish momentum.

Investors have welcomed the political stability.

Volumes surged as the index jumped closer to 47000 levels as it continued its gains yesterday as well.

Participation during the month remained weak with volumes coming down by 31% MoM to average 175 million shares in Jul'17.

Uncertainty on the currency (concerns on the external front) and rising political risk premium kept foreigners at bay resulting in net outflow of US $ 37.9m during the month. On the local side, Insurance companies (net inflow of US$ 39.26m) along with Banking institutions (net inflow of US$ 20.97m) were active on the buying side whereas mutual funds remained sellers offloading US$ 30.57m worth of equities (first monthly outflow this calendar year).

Overall, trading volumes are getting better and All share index surged to 367 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 256 million shares.

Shares of 389 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 263 stocks closed higher and 107 declined while 19 remained unchanged. In KSE 100, 154 million shares were traded with a net worth of Rs 11.93 billion.

ENGINEERING was the top traded sector with total traded volume of 46,993,000 shares. It was followed by CHEMICAL with a total traded volume of 41,850,180 shares and CEMENT sector

FOREX RATES F.C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .LOW RATE Australian Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . .84.5 Bahrain Dinar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . .84.5 China Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15.55 Danish Krone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.5 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 Hong Kong Dollar . . . . . . . . . . .13.4 Indian Rupee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.59 Japanese Yen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.93 Kuwaiti Dinar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347.5 Malaysian Ringgit . . . . . . . . . . .24.4 NewZealand $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77.75 Norwegians Krone . . . . . . . . . . .13.1 Omani Riyal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272.5 Qatari Riyal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28.6 Saudi Riyal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28.5 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Swedish Korona . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.8 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108.1 Thai Bhat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.05 U.A.E Dirham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.2 UK Pound Sterling . . . . . . . . .140.75 US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108.1

. . . . .HIGH RATE . . . . . . . . . . . . .85.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . .280 . . . . . . . . . . . .85.35 . . . . . . . . . . . . .15.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.8 . . . . . . . . . . . .127.2 . . . . . . . . . . . .13.65 . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.66 . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.96 . . . . . . . . . . . . .350 . . . . . . . . . . . .24.75 . . . . . . . . . . . .78.45 . . . . . . . . . . . .13.35 . . . . . . . . . . . .274.5 . . . . . . . . . . . .28.95 . . . . . . . . . . . . .28.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . .78.8 . . . . . . . . . . . .13.05 . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.15 . . . . . . . . . . . .29.45 . . . . . . . . . . . .142.5 . . . . . . . . . . . .108.4

BULLION (10 GRAM) 10 GRAM GOLD 24 CT GOLD 22 CT SILVER

43800.00 40150.00 630.00

Market Highlights Current Index . . .46949.04 Change . . . . . . . . .+415.61 Percent Change . .+0.89pc High . . . . . . . . . .46989.27 Low . . . . . . . . . .46533.43 Volume . . . . .154,546,670 Value . . . . .11,930,822,386 with a total traded volume of 35,668,900. K-Electric LTD was the volume leader with 29.45 million shares, gaining Rs 0.24 to close at Rs 6.93. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 24.03 million shares, gaining Rs 0.09 to close at Rs 11.36, TRG PAK LTD with 23.31 million shares,

Top Five gainers Sanofi-Aventis . . .+5.00pc Mari Petroleum . . .+3.27pc Khyber Tobacco . .+5.00pc Siemens Pak. . . . .+5.00pc Unilever Foods . . .+2.09pc

Top Five losers Philip Morris Pak. .-5.00pc Sapphire Tex. . . . . .-5.00pc Exide (PAK) XD . .-4.93pc Indus Motor Co. . .-2.18pc Wyeth Pak Ltd . . . .-1.12pc gaining Rs 2.13 to close at Rs 45.85 and Aisha Steel Mill with 22.68 million shares, gaining Rs 1.07 to close at Rs 22.56. –BN Report

Ministry wants to grow int’l exports ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce is exploring potential international markets to enhance exports, a senior ministry official said on Wednesday.

"We are working to search new trade avenues and markets in different world regions," he said. The official said the new trade policy mainly focused on improving supply chain, enhancing use of technology and providing competitiveness in a bid to enhance volume of international and internal trade.

The government, he said, was working on a plan to diversify internal trade and improve supply chains, which would ultimately enhance the exports.

The official said negotiations were underway for free trade

agreements (FTAs) with Turkey, Thailand and Iran, which would be finalized in coming months.

The government would try to reach FTAs with the Latin American countries on the same pattern, he added. The official said the South American markets had great potential and by taking timely measures, Pakistan could tap them. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Cuba had huge import potential, he added. He said under the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF), diversification of export markets was envisaged through adoption of an outreach strategy for Africa, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Latin America. –APP

KARACHI: People buying T-shirts and dresses contain national flag for their children as nation starts preparation to celebrate 70th Independence Day with full zeal and fervor. –Online

ICCI against CDA move on I-17 status ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has strongly opposed the CDA move for forwarding a summary to the prime minister to change the status of I-17 from industrial to residential sector and termed it an unwise step as it would badly affect the industrialization and investment in the federal capital. It appealed to the PM not to approve this proposal as it would go against the larger interests of the local economy.

Khalid Iqbal Malik, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairing the meeting of local industrialists said that industrial areas in Islamabad including I-9, I10 and Kahuta Industrial Triangle have reached the saturation point due to which investors were facing difficulties in setting up new industries in Islamabad. He said due to non-availability of industrial plots, many industrialists were moving to Hattar and other areas to put

up new industrial units. He said keeping in view the importance of CPEC, new industrial estate was badly needed in Islamabad to attract investment, promote industrialization and create jobs. He urged that CDA should desist from changing the status of I-17 from industrial to residential sector and focus on its development as a modern industrial estate so that industrial activities could flourish in the region.

Khalid Malik, Senior Vice President and Tahir Ayub, Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that I-17 sector was dedicated a long time ago for the development of industrial estate and emphasized that CDA should not change its status from industrial to residential area at this stage.

Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Chairman, ICCI SubCommittee on CDA briefed the meeting about the background of this project. He said that CDA in collaboration with Chamber had done

lot of work in 2008 to develop I-17 as a new industrial estate in Islamabad and it was surprising that the civic body was considering to change its status from industrial to residential area. He said this move was not acceptable to the local industrialists and CDA should immediately withdraw it in the larger interest of the economy.

Khalid Javed, Mian Akram Farid, Sh.Tariq Sadiq, Sh. Amir Waheed, Zafar Bakhtawari, Mehmood Ahmed Warraich, Naeem Siddiqui, Khalid Mian, Khalid Chaudhry and others were present at the occasion. They strongly protested against the latest move of CDA and called upon the government to direct CDA to develop I-17 Sector as a state-of-the-art industrial estate so that this region witness better growth of investment & industrial activities, create more jobs and contribute positively to the economic development of the country. –BN Report

1 TOLA GOLD 24 CT GOLD 22 CT SILVER

51100.00 46841.00 756.00

Rupee strengthens in market KARACHI: The Pakistan rupee Wednesday further strengthened against the US dollar in open market and remained firm in interbank.

As per the local money market, the dollar lost 10 paisas in open market for buying at 108.10 and for selling at 108.40, while it remained firm in interbank for buying at 105.30 and for selling at 105.50.

On Tuesday, the greenback gained 15 paisas in open market for buying at 108.20 and for selling at 108.50. The dollar remained unchanged in interbank for buying at 105.30 and for selling at 105.50. –BN Report

Tax revenue ups 8% in FY 2016-17 ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs 3,362.1 billion revenues during the outgoing fiscal year 2016-17, showing an increase of 8 percent in collection when compared to the tax figures of last fiscal year. During the last fiscal year the revenue collection was recorded at Rs 3,112.7, Chairman FBR, Tariq Pasha said while briefing the Senate Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization, which was chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla.

He said that in absolute terms, the revenue collection witnessed growth of Rs249.4 billion during the fiscal

year 2016-17 when compared to the last year. Giving break up figures, he said that direct taxes during the year stood at Rs1,344.5 billion compared to Rs1,217.3 billion last year, showing an increase of Rs127.2 billion which is 10.4 percent growth.

The sales tax collection also increased to 1,332.3 from Rs1,302.7 billion, showing an increase of Rs29.6 billion or 2.3 percent, while the Federal Excise Duty increased to Rs189.2 billion from Rs 188.1 billion, an increase of Rs1.1 billion or 0.6 percent. Under the head of customs, the FBR collected Rs496.1 billion compared to Rs 404.6 billion, showing an increase of Rs91.5

billion in absolute terms or 22.6 percent. He informed the committee that the revenue target for the year was initially fixed at Rs3621 billion which was then reduced to Rs3521 billion.

Giving justification of revenue shortfall, the FBR Chairman said that the government had provided subsidies in many sectors which had collective impact of Rs169.67 billion on overall tax collection.

He said that fertilizer subsidies had impact of Rs16.49 billion on tax collection while pesticide subsidies had an impact of Rs2.7 billion, textile package Rs11.5 billion while the export zero ratting of five sectors had

also impacted the revenue collection.

He revealed that the FBR had to face loss of Rs50 billion in collection due to illegitimate trade of cigarettes. For the current fiscal year, he informed, the board has set the tax collection target of Rs4,013 billion, which is growth of 19% over the provisional collection of Rs3,362.1 billion collected during fiscal year 2016-17. In absolute terms, it would be around growth of Rs650 billion.

He informed that this was still provisional figures and final data would come after the final reconciliation of figures with AGP on August 10. –BN Report

ICCI welcomes PM's announcement for widening tax base ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Wednesday welcomed the announcement of newly elected Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for widening the tax base by bringing every affluent individual, including parliamentarians, into the tax net.

ICCI President Khalid Iqbal Malik, in a statement, said the announcement of new prime minister that those, who did not pay tax and were living a luxurious life, would have to pay tax now, was very encouraging.

The country badly needed enhanced tax revenue to improve infrastructure and uplift living standard of its people, he added. He said Pakistan had great scope to mobilize additional tax revenue as according to FBR's own analysis, the country had the potential to collect upto Rs 6,000 billion tax revenue.

The ICCI president said according to a report of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), active taxpayers for the year 2015 were only 1.20 million out of which almost half were salaried persons.

Pakistan, he said, could not achieve better economic development without bringing all potential taxpayers into the tax net. Khalid Iqbal Malik said that the prevailing complicated tax system was one of the major constraints in promoting tax culture and urged the FBR for focusing on simplification of tax system to make it fair and just.

He assured that the ICCI would fully cooperate with the government in efforts aimed at broadening the tax base. –BN Report

Market Summary COMPANY

OPEN HIGH

LOW CURRENT CHANGE

AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLER AL-Ghazi Tractors 730 730 700 706.57 -13.19 Atlas Honda Ltd 599 600 599 600 10 Dewan Motors 44.2 46.01 44 46.01 2.19 Ghand Nissan 263.99 266.99 259.15 260.52 -3.09 Ghandhara Ind. 686.01 690 683 685.15 2.24 Ghani Automobile 12.4 12.9 12.22 12.8 0.77 Hinopak Motor 1420 1420 1420 1420 30 Honda Atlas Cars 662.4 679 660.1 673.55 12.88 Indus Motor Co 1751.09 1763.99 1751.09 1758.4 0 Millat Tractors 1400 1400 1370 1372.71 -24.66 Pak Suzuki 616.01 620.95 615 619.07 -0.68 Sazgar Eng. 225 227 215 218.66 -5.78 AUTOMOBILE PARTS & ACCESSORIES Agriautos Ind. 409.99 423.5 409.97 418.01 12.87 Bal.Wheels 146 146 145 145 -0.9 Exide (PAK) XD 733.25 748.99 731 739.16 4.83 General Tyre 279.5 282.48 278 280.1 1.82 Loads Limited 46 47 45.15 46.36 1.26 Thal Limited 642.4 648.8 635 642.18 8.85 CABLE & ELECTRICAL GOODS EMCO Industries 37.47 37.51 37.47 37.48 1.75 Johnson & Philips 27.5 27.7 27 27 -0.36 Pak Elektron 108.85 111 108.12 110.33 2.48 Pakistan Cables 326 327 321 321.41 0.91 Siemens Pak. 849 855.47 817 853.53 38.79 Singer Pak. 70.5 71.99 69 69.68 -0.62 TPL Trakker Ltd 10.7 11.44 10.45 11.44 1 CEMENT Attock Cement 269.97 282.95 269.97 270 0.01 Bestway Cement 212 215 209.05 214.4 3.04 Cherat Cement 162.4 162.4 158.5 159.97 -0.63 D.G.K.Cement 198.5 202.49 198.5 200.9 3.2 Dandot Cement 13.51 14.18 13.51 14.18 -0.01 Dewan Cement 22.15 22.9 21.85 22.77 0.91 Fauji Cement 40.89 41.24 40.75 41.16 0.54 Fecto Cement 104 105 103 104.59 0.59 Flying Cement 20.2 20.2 20.2 20.2 1 Gharibwal Cement 46 47 45.7 46.37 0.5 Javedan Corp.

42 44.15 42 44.15 2.1 Kohat Cement 201.49 201.49 199 199.53 -0.2 Lucky Cement 706 727.4 705.99 722.22 19.48 MapleLeafCement 117.75 119.6 116.5 118.53 0.78 Pioneer Cement 120 123.4 120 122.63 1.94 Power Cement 13.15 13.25 13.03 13.14 0.18 Safe Mix Con.Ltd 12.31 13.19 12.25 12.87 0.68 Thatta Cement 40.4 41.87 39.52 41.87 1.99 CHEMICAL Agritech Limited 9.66 9.84 9.6 9.78 0.12 Akzo Nobel Pak. 248.98 248.99 245 245 -4 Archroma Pak 718.9 740 710.25 726.41 15.85 Bawany Air Products14.51 14.51 14.51 14.51 0.11 Berger Paints 206.91 206.91 195 206.35 9.29 Biafo Ind. 275 285 275 284.63 10.09 Buxly Paints 117.05 120 117 117.28 1.28 Colgate Palmolive 2305 2305 2305 2305 -15 Data Agro 17.51 17.51 17.5 17.5 0.2 Descon Oxychem 19.11 19.8 18.97 19.68 0.57 Dynea Pakistan 118.02 118.02 114 114.33 1.93 Ghani Gases 26.6 27.53 26.06 27.53 1.31 ICI Pakistan 1095 1100 1072.5 1092.63 13.08 Ittehad Chem.

32.51 33.3 32.5 33.17 0.85 Linde Pakistan 272.5 273 258.1 262.22 -6.95 Lotte Chemical 11.25 11.4 10.87 11 -0.1 Nimir Ind.Chem.

57.85 58 53 54 -1.45 Nimir Resins 9 9.5 9 9.46 0.39 Pak Gum & Chem. 141.82 149.28 141.82 149.28 0 Pak.P.V.C. 9 9.68 8.73 9.42 0.57 Sitara Chemical 446 446 444 444.9 19.9 Sitara Peroxide 29.8 31.23 29.56 31.23 1.48 Wah-Noble 255 266 252 256 -2.13 MUTUAL FUND Golden Arrow 13 13.15 12.99 13.04 0.04

COMPANY PICIC Growth PICIC Inv.Fund Tri-Star Mutual

OPEN HIGH

LOW CURRENT CHANGE

32.5 32.5 32.13 32.13 15.5 15.5 15 15 8.77 9.5 8.16 9.29 COMMERCIAL BANKS Allied Bank Ltd. 92.5 92.5 91.51 91.51 Askari Bank 20.79 21.47 20.79 21.37 B.O.Punjab 11.37 11.58 11.2 11.36 Bank Al-Falah 41.4 41.4 40.75 40.99 Bank AL-Habib 58.01 58.51 58 58.25 Bank Of Khyber 14.39 16.25 14.25 15.41 Bankislami Pak. 13.26 13.78 13.26 13.5 Faysal Bank 23 23.39 22.72 23.02 Habib Bank 232.51 235.9 231.5 234.24 Habib Metropol.

34.5 34.5 33.7 34 JS Bank Ltd 8.4 8.6 8.32 8.58 MCB Bank Ltd 209.25 212 209.25 211.86 Meezan Bank 80.01 80.01 78 78.27 National Bank 61.39 61.7 61 61.22 Samba Bank 6.9 7 6.9 7 Silk Bank Ltd 1.53 1.58 1.53 1.57 Soneri Bank Ltd 0 15.5 15.5 15.5 St.Chart.Bank 24.4 24.4 22.4 22.75 Summit Bank 5.34 5.38 5.17 5.27 United Bank 212.05 215.2 212.05 214.71 ENGINEERING Ados Pakistan 68 68 68 68 Aisha Steel Mill 21.95 22.56 21.75 22.56 Aisha StelCoP/S 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 Amreli Steels 112.8 113.75 112 113.21 Bolan Casting 153 157.9 151 155.97 Crescent Steel XD 229.5 232.32 226.05 229.37 Dost Steels Ltd. 12.63 12.88 12.58 12.68 Drekkar Kings 8 9.15 8 9.15 Huffaz Seamless 45 46.5 45 45.38 Int. Ind.Ltd. 354 360 350 357.93 Inter.Steel Ltd 144.08 149.45 143 148.29 Ittefaq Iron Ind Ltd 32.95 34.29 32.25 34.29 K.S.B.Pumps 300 310 300 307.67 Mughal Iron&Ste 77.5 78.99 77.2 78.29 Pak Engineering 226.59 226.59 215.8 215.8 FERTILIZER Arif Habib Corp 40.5 40.95 40 40.48 Dawood Hercules 136 137 134.99 135 Engro Corp 340 342.74 337.12 339.82 Engro Fert.

59.29 59.45 58.8 59.03 Fatima Fert.

32.99 33.5 32.5 32.94 Fauji Fert Bin 38 39.95 37.9 39.37 Fauji Fert.

81.7 82.5 81.25 82.14 FOOD & PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS Al-Shaheer Corp 40 41.55 39.8 41.55 Clover Pakistan 57.5 57.92 55.17 57.92 Engro Foods Ltd. 130.14 134.85 130.01 134.23 Fauji Foods Ltd 95.6 96.38 90 90.99 Fauji FoodsNonV 75 75.78 73.26 74.7 Ismail Ind 330 330 330 330 MithchellsFruit 270 288.73 269 288.63 Murree Brewery 732.5 754.99 732.5 748 National Foods 305 309 301 307.51 Quice Food 7.29 7.45 7.25 7.35 Shield Corp.

630.23 690 630.23 690 Treet Corp 57.6 60.59 57.6 60.59 Treet Corp(PTCs) 27 28 27 27 ZIL Limited 141.05 143.19 140 143.19 GLASS & CERAMICS Bal.Glass 14.82 15.44 14.8 15.14 Frontier Ceram 7.71 7.95 7.65 7.95 Ghani Glass Ltd 82 83.5 81.9 82.66 Ghani Value Gla. 20.3 21.94 20.3 21.92 GhaniGlobalGlass 18.69 19.47 18.4 19.47 Shabbir Tiles 17.29 18.2 17.29 18.08 Tariq Glass Ind. 115 116.5 113 114.52 INSURANCE Adamjee Ins. 74 74 73.32 73.67

-0.25 0.29 0.52 -0.99 0.78 0.09 -0.01 -0.25 0.16 -0.39 0.03 6.7 0.06 0.26 3.33 -1.74 0.28 0.23 0.03 0 -0.75 -0.02 2.82 0 1.07 -1.2 1.73 2.36 1.7 0.2 1 1 5.26 5.55 1.63 2.67 1.27 0 -0.02 -0.61 1.78 -0.06 0.01 1.25 0.88 1.97 2.75 5.5 -3.69 -0.3 -17 13.64 -2 2.51 0.12 26.6 2.88 0.1 6.81 0.46 -0.11 0.68 1.02 1 0.85 0.52 0.26

COMPANY

OPEN HIGH

LOW CURRENT CHANGE

Ask.Gen.Insur.

27.25 28 27.01 28 Atlas Ins. Ltd 72.45 72.45 70 72.35 Cres.Star Ins. 7.24 7.49 7.2 7.41 East West Life 17.5 18 17.5 18 EFU General 164 164 156.05 160 EFU Life Assr.

295.07 303 295 300 Habib Ins. 16.8 16.8 15.98 15.98 IGI Insurance 330.5 330.5 329 329 IGI Life Ins 115.3 115.75 115.3 115.3 Jubile Life Ins 805 843.5 805 843.5 Jubilee Gen.Ins 93.85 94 93.75 93.75 Pak Gen.Ins.XB 8.67 8.67 8.4 8.51 Pak Reinsurance 47 48.39 46.3 46.79 PICIC Ins.Ltd.XR 3.25 4.17 3.25 4.17 Premier Ins. 13.7 13.7 12.81 12.95 Reliance Ins. 9.3 9.49 9.3 9.49 Shaheen Ins. 6.05 6.5 6.05 6.45 TPL Direct Insu 24 24 24 24 United Insuranc 15.76 16.23 15.76 16.12 INV. BANKS / INV. COS. / SECURITIES COS. Apna Mic. Bank( 0.24 0.25 0.24 0.25 Apna Microfin.

5.51 5.79 5.51 5.65 Arif Habib Ltd. 86.9 88.85 85.99 87.99 BIPL Securities 10 10.25 10 10.06 Cyan Limited 62.5 64.79 62.4 63.51 Dawood Equities 6.75 6.75 6.5 6.5 EFG Hermes Pak 106.25 112 106.25 110.93 Escorts Bank 18.99 19.7 18.7 19.7 F. Nat.Equities 10.34 10.5 10 10.43 F.Credit & Inv 6.03 6.03 6.03 6.03 IGI Inv.Bank 3.15 3.21 3.15 3.2 Invest Bank 2.27 2.41 2.22 2.4 Ist.Capital Sec 3.99 4.08 3.92 4.03 Ist.Dawood Bank 3.45 3.45 3.35 3.45 Jah.Sidd. Co. 22.3 22.99 22.05 22.9 JS Investments 13.94 13.94 13.94 13.94 MCB-ARIF Habib 28 28 27.11 27.11 Next Capital 22.95 23 22.15 22.9 Pak Stock Exchange 23.49 24.54 23.4 24.37 Pervez Ahmed 2.02 2.15 2.02 2.12 Sec. Inv. Bank 7.3 7.9 7.3 7.9 Trust Brokerage 19.4 19.5 19 19.5 Trust Inv.Bank 3.92 3.92 3.75 3.78 JUTE Crescent Jute 4.5 4.8 4.49 4.71 LEASING COMPANIES Grays Leasing 7.2 7.45 6.66 7 Orix Leasing 40.05 40.45 39.83 40.35 Saudi Pak Leasi 2.1 2.39 2.1 2.34 Security Leasin 5.5 6 5.25 5.86 SME Leasing Ltd 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 LEATHER & TANNERIES Bata (Pak) 3100 3100.01 3100 3100.01 Leather Up Ltd. 21.1 21.75 21.1 21.72 Service Ind.Ltd 1359 1359 1340 1359 MISCELLANEOUS AKD Capital 134.97 134.97 128.99 128.99 AL-Khair Gadoon 11.52 11.52 11.52 11.52 ECOPACK Ltd 28.51 28.51 28.51 28.51 Gammon Pak 41.49 41.67 39.6 41.67 Haydery Const 23.66 24.2 23.55 23.58 MACPAC Films 32.4 32.5 30.15 31.93 Pace (Pak) Ltd. 7.45 7.89 7.3 7.76 Pak Hotels 89.5 89.5 89 89 Shifa Int.Hosp 323 323 322.01 322.38 Siddiqsons Tin 32.3 33.53 31.6 33.53 Synthetic Prod 68 70.2 67.01 70.01 Tri-Pack Films 230 231 229 229.63 United Brands 191 191 191 191 United Dist.

69 69 66.5 66.5 MODARABAS 1st.Fid.Leasing 3.74 3.74 3.69 3.69 AL-Noor Modarab 4 4.4 4 4.4

0.5 3.35 0.17 0 0.01 -6 0 -1.34 0 4.5 -0.15 0.01 -0.4 1 -0.85 0.19 0.38 -0.33 -0.13 -0.05 0.15 1.98 0.06 1.06 -0.18 1.81 1 0.41 -0.97 -0.04 0.19 0.11 0.08 0.82 -0.03 -0.64 0.41 0.88 0.04 0.01 0.5 -0.01 0.22 -0.03 0.52 0.01 -0.14 -0.34 0.01 0.23 42.79 0 -0.33 1.35 1.98 -1.2 0.36 0.46 1 -2.62 1.59 1.08 -1.37 0 -2.3 0.1 0.3

COMPANY

OPEN HIGH

LOW CURRENT CHANGE

Allied Rent.

23.59 23.6 23.59 23.6 B.R.R.Guardian 9.4 9.5 9.4 9.5 Cres. Stand.Mod 3.85 3.85 3.85 3.85 Elite Cap.Mod 4.15 4.29 4.15 4.29 Habib Modaraba 11.25 11.47 11 11.19 I.B.L.Modaraba 3.6 3.9 3.5 3.9 KASB Mod 2.26 2.6 2.26 2.49 Orix Modaraba 23.2 23.2 23.06 23.06 Pak Mod. 2.85 3.29 2.85 3.28 Prud Mod.1st 2.42 2.5 2.34 2.44 Sindh Modaraba 5.1 5.8 5.06 5.41 U.D.L.Modaraba 37.1 37.65 36.61 37 Unicap Modaraba 2.99 3 2.99 3 OIL & GAS EXPLORATION COMPANIES Mari Petroleum 1787.65 1825 1787.65 1798.72 Oil & Gas Dev. 158.5 159.25 157 158.6 Pak Oilfields 499.99 504.99 496 503.03 Pak Petroleum 179.79 179.79 178 178.51 OIL & GAS MARKETING COMPANIES Attock Petroleum 699.89 703 695.11 699.99 Burshane LPG 55.1 56.4 55 55.69 Hascol Petrol 347.99 353 347.99 348.42 HI-Tech Lub. 112.19 115.1 112 114.55 P.S.O. 419.5 426.84 417.84 423.88 Shell Pakistan 593 603.99 585.02 593.17 Sui North Gas 165.26 169.95 164.5 166.54 Sui South Gas 42.8 43.4 42.23 43.26 PAPER & BOARD B.P.Board 9.8 10.79 9.8 10.34 Century Paper 99.99 101.9 98.99 99.75 Cherat Pack 257.4 270.28 256.5 265.73 Merit Packaging 21.75 22.65 21.5 22.58 Packages Ltd. 703 704 688 698.15 Roshan Packages 61.39 61.72 61 61.32 Security Paper 154.98 155 153 153.05 PHARMACEUTICALS Abbott Lab. 878 887 860.25 878.04 Ferozsons (Lab) 366 380.65 365 377.32 Glaxo Healthcare Pak239.02 251.5 236 245.81 GlaxoSmithKline 202.99 204 201 203.1 Highnoon (Lab) 585 585 562 573.89 IBL HealthCare 118.5 122 117.8 121.53 Otsuka Pak 284 284 274.25 284 Sanofi-Aventis 1895 1915.84 1880 1915.84 The Searle Co. 498.89 503 494.06 495.14 Wyeth Pak Ltd 2480 2510 2420.01 2466.06 POWER GENERATION & DISTRIBUTION Altern Energy 47.69 48.1 46.9 47.5 Engro Powergen 34.71 35.38 34.71 35.3 Hub Power Co. 126.01 126.5 124.75 125.66 Japan Power 4.6 4.75 4.57 4.66 K-Electric Ltd. 6.69 7.1 6.66 6.93 Kohinoor Energy 46.1 46.1 43.61 45.25 Kohinoor Power 7.51 7.93 7.4 7.9 Kot Addu Power 76.45 77 76 76.46 Lalpir Power 20.49 20.59 20.36 20.49 Nishat ChunPow 44 44 43 43.51 Nishat Power 48.25 48.25 47.6 48.25 Pakgen Power 21.47 21.47 20.9 21.03 Saif Power Ltd. 31.03 31.5 31.03 31.5 Sitara Energy 30.25 30.25 29.55 29.78 Tri-Star Power XD 10.5 11.04 10.45 10.71 REFINERY Attock Refinery 397.75 404.99 393.25 401.05 Byco Petroleum 22.15 22.24 21.6 21.78 National Refinery 785 797 780 782.72 Pak Refinery 53.03 55.62 52.6 55.62 SUGAR & ALLIED INDUSTRIES Adam Sugar 41.8 44 41.4 43 Ansari Sugar 22 22 20.12 20.12 Chashma Sugar 64 64 61 61.02 Dewan Sugar 9.95 10.35 9.8 10.11 Faran Sugar 68.5 70.45 68.5 70.4

0 0.05 0.35 0.09 0.21 0 -0.01 0.06 0.15 0.08 0.11 0.15 0.1 11.09 -0.91 -1.28 -1.47 -3.87 -0.09 0.43 3.03 10.17 -0.7 4.08 0.7 0.53 0.84 8.32 0.94 1.19 0.47 -0.11 17.79 14.79 5.8 1.56 13.89 2.64 9.75 91.23 1.17 13.09 1.49 0.45 -0.22 0.16 0.23 -0.55 0.29 0.25 0.16 -0.94 0.05 0.3 0.2 -0.32 0.03 5.49 0.09 0.03 2.64 0.51 -1.05 -0.4 0.26 3.3

COMPANY

OPEN HIGH

LOW CURRENT CHANGE

Habib Sugar 38 39.39 36.51 38.87 Habib-ADM Ltd 23 23 23 23 Haseeb Waqas Sugar10.7 10.9 10.62 10.87 Husein Sugar Mills 48.99 50.5 47.15 48.84 Imperial Sugar Ltd. 32.39 33.13 32.39 33.13 Jauharabad SugXB 50 52 50 52 Mehran SugarXD 158.7 158.7 151.13 151.13 Mirpurkhas Sugar 148.5 155 148.5 152.4 Mirza Sugar 9.5 9.5 9 9.07 Noon Sugar 81.98 84.67 79 84.67 Sakrand Sugar 28 28.5 27 27.42 Shahmurad Sugar 42.79 42.79 42.79 42.79 Shahtaj Sugar 195 195 195 195 Shakarganj Limited 92 95.4 92 93.67 Shakarganj Ltd (R) 28.5 28.77 27.25 27.6 SYNTHETIC & RAYON AL-Abid Silk Mills 8 8.41 8 8.41 Dewan Salman 4.25 4.44 4.2 4.39 National Silk 41.24 41.24 41.24 41.24 Pak Synthetics 28.5 28.5 28.49 28.49 Tri-Star Polyester 35 35.89 34.12 34.25 TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATION Avanceon Ltd 52.77 54 51.45 53.24 Hum Network 10.6 11 10.5 10.93 Media Times Ltd 3.3 3.65 3.3 3.56 Netsol Tech.

75.49 77.82 74.5 77.82 P.T.C.L. XD 14.6 14.79 14.5 14.71 Systems Limited 84.2 84.2 83 83.12 Telecard Limited 3.05 3.18 3.05 3.16 TRG Pak Ltd 44 45.9 43.51 45.85 WorldCall Telecom 2.86 2.91 2.84 2.89 TEXTILE COMPOSITE Artistic Denim 73.5 74 72.5 73.5 Aruj Industries 35.25 35.87 35.25 35.87 Azgard Nine 15.24 15.4 14.81 14.93 Chenab Limited 6.6 6.8 6.31 6.7 Chenab Ltd.(Pref) 2.59 2.75 2.52 2.73 Crescent Tex. 35.1 36.69 35.1 36.69 Dawood Law 198.52 208.25 198.52 208.25 Faisal Spinning 314 314 314 314 Ghazi Fabrics 8.35 8.45 8.17 8.34 Gul Ahmed 40 41.5 39.91 41.29 Hala Enterprise 0 9.01 9.01 9.01 Int.Knitwear 13.51 13.75 13.5 13.5 Ishaq Textiles 11 11 11 11 Jubilee Spinning 8.15 9.18 8.15 9.18 Kohinoor Ind. 6.64 7.19 6.64 7.01 Kohinoor Mills 44 44 42.4 44 Kohinoor Textile 102.99 103 101.51 102.81 Masood Textile 100.1 100.9 100.1 100.9 Mian Textile 4.41 4.78 4.41 4.71 Mohd.Farooq 4.25 4.97 4.25 4.9 Mubarak Textile 9 9 9 9 Nishat (Chun.)

53 53.65 52.5 52.71 Nishat Mills Ltd 167.95 168 164.9 165.36 Redco Textile 6.8 7.57 6.8 7.56 Reliance Weaving 38.01 38.01 38.01 38.01 Safa Textile 21.6 22.98 21.31 21.31 Sapphire Tex. 1800 1800 1800 1800 Towellers Limited 139 144.5 139 144.14 ZahidJee Tex. 15.25 15.7 15 15.12 TEXTILE SPINNING Amtex Limited 3.18 3.23 3.07 3.12 Asim Textile 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 Bilal Fibres 23.9 26.35 23.9 26.35 Chakwal Spinning 4.99 5.75 4.99 5.55 Colony Tex.Mills Ltd 5.34 5.54 5.2 5.5 Crescent Fibres 30 30.25 30 30.25 D.M.Textile 56.27 56.27 56.27 56.27 D.S. Ind. Ltd. 3.93 4.06 3.89 3.99 Dar-es-Salaam 7.5 7.6 7.5 7.57 Dewan Farooque Sp.5.84 5.95 5.76 5.84 Dewan Mushtaq 7.2 7.99 7.2 7.99

0.65 0.51 0.07 0.29 1.57 0 -5.82 4.4 -0.06 4.03 -0.18 0.64 -1 1.57 -0.28 1 0.16 1.94 -0.31 -0.87 0.89 0.53 0.2 3.7 0.19 -1.3 0.13 2.13 0.04 1 1.7 -0.19 0.26 0.21 1.74 0 5.01 0.17 1.31 0 -0.25 0 1 0.51 1.42 2.75 0 0.41 0.57 0.6 -0.15 -1.61 0.96 -0.66 -1.12 -46 6.52 0.32 0 0.48 1.25 0.74 0.42 -0.45 -2.96 0.2 0.97 0.09 -0.01

COMPANY

OPEN HIGH

Fazal Cloth Gadoon Textile Glamour Textile H.M.Ismail Hira Textile Idrees Textile J.A.Textile Khalid Siraj Kohinoor Spining Land Mark Spinning Nazir Cotton Mills Olympia Spinning Premium Tex. Ravi Textile Ruby Textile Saif Textile Sajjad Tex. Salman Noman Sana Industries Saritow Spinning Service Textile Taha Spinning

LOW CURRENT CHANGE

194.2 194.2 194.14 194.2 221.97 224.84 217.01 224.84 44.05 44.05 44.05 44.05 12 12.26 11.75 12.26 9.64 10.15 9.6 9.98 22.99 22.99 22.99 22.99 5.57 6.89 5.57 6.68 7.41 7.65 7.31 7.48 5.3 5.65 5.22 5.45 9.48 9.48 8.25 8.26 5.7 5.98 5.5 5.73 19.19 19.19 19.19 19.19 162.01 163 162.01 163 6.47 6.86 6.01 6.74 10.3 11 9.9 10.5 19 19.33 18.75 19 5.93 6.09 5.93 6.09 6.5 7 6.5 7 53.9 54.6 53.9 54.6 8.85 9.1 8.85 9.1 20.9 20.9 20.9 20.9 217.56 217.56 217 217.56 TEXTILE WEAVING Feroze 1888 102.95 103 100.22 101 Samin Textile 6.93 7.3 6.7 7.11 Service Fabrics 9.49 10.74 9.45 10.42 Shahtaj Textile 128.3 135.05 128.3 135.05 Yousuf Weaving 10 10.1 9.26 9.48 Zephyr Textile 19.25 19.85 19 19.85 TOBACCO Khyber Tobacco 865 866 864 866 Philip Morris Pak. 2637 2889 2636.25 2788.5 TRANSPORT P.I.A.C.(A) 6.1 6.28 6.07 6.23 P.N.S.C 151.2 152.89 143 145.05 Pak Int.Bulk 23.9 24.75 23.9 24.63 Pak.Int.Cont.

358 358 350.5 355 VANASPATI & ALLIED INDUSTRIES Punjab Oil 285 299.25 285 299.25 S.S.Oil 42 44.62 41.5 44.62 WOOLLEN Bannu Woollen 65.89 65.89 64.5 64.95 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Dolmen City Reit 12.7 12.75 12.1 12.24 FUTURE CONTRACTS AKBL-AUG 21.1 21.6 21.01 21.4 ATRL-AUG 398 405 394.11 401.88 BAFL-AUG 41.66 41.66 40.02 41.2 BOP-AUG 11.42 11.6 11.28 11.36 DGKC-AUG 199.9 202.7 198.95 201.63 EFERT-AUG 59.16 59.55 59 59.33 EFOODS-AUG 130 135.35 130 134.82 ENGRO-AUG 341.5 343 337.9 340.78 FABL-AUG 23.2 23.49 23 23.1 FCCL-AUG 40.9 41.48 40.9 41.33 FFBL-AUG 38.25 40.1 38 39.63 FFC-AUG 82.3 82.79 81.65 82.57 HUBC-AUG 127.33 128 125.86 125.86 ISL-AUG 145.24 150 143.99 148.95 KAPCO-AUG 76.5 76.7 76.5 76.7 KEL-AUG 6.62 7.11 6.62 6.97 MLCF-AUG 117.5 119.75 116.8 118.86 NBP-AUG 61.65 61.94 61.4 61.53 NCL-AUG 53.25 53.72 52.8 52.98 NML-AUG 168.6 168.79 165.5 166.12 OGDC-AUG 159.48 159.58 158.01 159.1 PAEL-AUG 109.25 111.45 108.6 110.64 POWER-AUG 13.25 13.32 13.02 13.19 PSO-AUG 420 427.49 418.6 425.21 PTC-AUG 14.69 14.84 14.65 14.78 TPL-AUG 10.69 11.51 10.5 11.51 TREET-AUG 59 60.73 58.5 60.65 TRG-AUG 44.1 46.09 43.7 45.98

-10.15 10.7 0.42 1 0.48 1 0.66 0.08 0.23 -0.71 0.23 1 -2 0.88 0.5 -0.35 0.12 1 2.6 1 1 10.36 -0.22 0.51 0.54 0 -0.39 -0.09 41 13.51 0.2 -5.44 0.85 14 14.25 2.12 0.63 0.13 0.76 5.24 0.22 0.04 3.1 -0.04 5.41 1.68 0.1 0.44 1.36 0.86 -0.42 5.61 -0.07 0.24 1.18 0.37 0.19 -1.71 -1.09 2.36 0.18 8.91 0.23 1 2.81 2.08

Around the Globe

6

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Rolls-Royce powers into profit; shares soar

China, BRICS trade ministers vow to fight protectionism SHANGHAI: China and the other BRICS nations pledged on Wednesday to fight protectionism and safeguard intellectual property rights, even as U.S. President Donald Trump considers action against what he sees as unfair trade practices by China. Trade ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa concluded two days of meetings in Shanghai agreeing to deepen trade and investment links, and "safeguard and develop" the multilateral trading system, according to a statement by Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan. "Ministers were committed to continue to firmly oppose trade and investment protectionism, recommitted to their existing pledge for both standstill and rollback of protectionist measures, and called upon countries to join in that commitment," the statement said.

The ministers also approved guidelines for cooperation between the five countries on intellectual property rights (IPR). "Ministers agreed to promote exchanges and cooperation on IPR legislation and enforcement in order to create favorable conditions for trade and innovation-driven economic development," the statement said. On Tuesday, a senior Trump administration official said Trump could decide as early as this week on how to respond to what he considers China's unfair trade practices. A Chinese commerce ministry official declined to answer questions about Trump. The United States has a long list of grievances about China on trade, including accusations of steel dumping and theft of U.S. intellectual property. Trump promised tough measures during his campaign last year but so far has not followed through. -BN Report

Asian tech shares boosted

by Apple's robust earnings TAIPEI: Asian tech shares rallied on Wednesday on the back of Apple's robust earnings, with hopes the iPhone maker's fortunes will help boost sales of the region's hardware component suppliers ahead of the new iPhone launch. On Tuesday, Apple Inc delivered surprisingly strong fiscal third-quarter earnings and signaled that its upcoming 10th anniversary iPhone lineup is on schedule. The news drove its stock up 6 percent to a record high in after-hours trading. In Taiwan, camera lens-maker Largan Precision rose to an all-time high of T$5,810.00 ($192.20), and was last up 4.8 percent at T$5,765.00.

Apple supplier Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, saw its shares hit a three-week high of T$119.50. Shares of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer were last up 1.7 percent at T$118.50. Catcher Technology, a metal casings and component manufacturer for electronic products, saw its shares rise to a 2-week high of T$378.50. It was last up 2.7 percent at T$375.00. Chip designer Mediatek, which supplies system-on-chip solutions for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, also saw its shares rise as much as 3.6 pct to its highest since Nov 5, 2015. The tech gains outpaced the overall stock benchmark, with Taiwan shares rising 0.80 percent to 10,519.27 points as of 0553 GMT. The semiconductor subindex rose 1.4 percent and the electronics subindex gained 1.3 percent. South Korean and Japanese component suppliers also reflected some of Apple's luster. South Korea's LG Innotek, which supplies iPhone parts such as the dual camera, jumped over 10.7 percent while the sub-index for techs rose more than 1 percent. -BN Report

Turkey central bank lifts inflation forecast as food prices jump ANKARA: Turkey's central bank increased its 2017 inflation forecast for the third time this year on Tuesday, edging it up to 8.7 percent as it tries to tackle a rise in consumer price pressures driven by stubbornly high food costs. The central bank will use every tool in its arsenal to rein in price gains, Governor Murat Cetinkaya told a news conference, although he admitted that improvements in the core inflation picture were limited so far. Cetinkaya is faced with the delicate task of trying to reconcile the battle against inflation - which reached an 8-1/2 year high of 11.87 percent in April - with President Tayyip Erdogan's demands for lower interest rates to boost growth. "The central bank will continue to use all available instruments in pursuit of the price stability objective," he said. "The tight stance in monetary policy will be maintained until the inflation outlook displays a significant improvement."

The bank's had previously expected 2017 inflation of 8.5 percent and its forecast started the year at 6.5 percent. It said on Tuesday it expected food price inflation of 10 percent in 2017. Economists took a positive view of the policy guidance from the bank, which on Thursday had left key interest rates unchanged as expected for the second straight month. "Emphasising that the tight monetary policy stance will continue as much as needed is a clear support to (the Turkish lira) in the short term," said Ozgur Altug, chief economist of BGC Partners, in a note to clients. The local currency strengthened after the central bank's comments before giving up some gains. It was at 3.5220 in afternoon trade, little changed from the previous day's close. Increases in food prices remains a pressing problem for Turkish policymakers. -BN Report

Vivendi amends plan to settle regulatory concerns in Italy MILAN: Vivendi has proposed amendments to how it plans to reduce its position of influence at Italian broadcaster Mediaset, Italy's communications watchdog AGCOM said on Tuesday. The regulator added that further talks were necessary in order to have more details on how Vivendi intends to "structurally" change its position in Mediaset.

AGCOM said in April that Vivendi's stake-building at both broadcaster Mediaset and Telecom Italia was in breach of rules designed to prevent a concentration of power in the country's telecoms and media sector and asked the French group to reduce its stake in one of the two companies. Vivendi is the biggest single shareholder in Telecom Italia, with 24 percent, and recently bought 29 percent of Mediaset, making it the second-largest investor in Italy's biggest private broadcaster.

In a statement, the regulator reiterated that Vivendi could face sanctions if it failed to comply with its ruling. Vivendi declined to comment. Under Italian law, Vivendi could be fined an amount equal to between 2 and 5 percent of its revenues unless it complied with the divestment order. Vivendi never said what its original proposal to the regulator was. Sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters that among the options on the table was a plan to cap Vivendi's voting rights at Mediaset at just below 10 percent and to transfer shares it holds above that threshold to a trust. A source close to the matter said on Tuesday that Vivendi's proposal to limit its Mediaset voting rights to 9.9 percent was not sufficient in itself to allay concerns if the French group retained a significant influence at the broadcaster. The source added that Vivendi's plan to place a stake of 20 percent in Mediaset in a blind trust was seen as a good solution as long as those shares can never be used by the French group to vote at shareholder meetings. -BN Report

LONDON: Rolls-Royce powered back into profit during the first half, propelled by strong deliveries for its Trent aircraft engines, lifting its share price almost ten percent Tuesday.

Net profit stood at ÂŁ1.58 billion ($2.1 billion, 1.77 billion euros) in the six months to June 30 compared with a loss after tax of ÂŁ1.77 billion in the first half of 2016, Rolls said in an earnings statement, with the group boosted also by a recovery for sterling against the dollar. "Civil aerospace large engine deliveries increased 27 percent," Warren East said in the release, adding that the group's savings from a restructuring programme were ahead of plan.

"Our strengthened management team is making good progress in simplifying the organisation and driving the pace of necessary change to develop a more resilient and sustainable business," he added. -BN Report

WASHINGTON: An F/A-18F Super Hornet jet flies over the USS Gerald R. Ford as the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier tests its EMALS magnetic launching system, which replaces the steam catapult, and new AAG arrested landing system in the Atlantic Ocean. -BN Photo

Shunned from bond market, US Virgin Islands faces cash crisis ST. CROIX, V.I.: For a glimpse at the precarious financial health of this Caribbean island, visit its public hospital. Pipes underneath the emergency room collapsed in May, causing waste water to back up through the drains.

Now workers and visitors - even patients - use portable toilets set up on the sidewalk. The hospital doesn't have the cash for new plumbing.

For years the U.S. Virgin Islands funded essential public services with help from Wall Street. Investors lined up to purchase its triple-tax-exempt bonds, a form of debt free from municipal, state and federal taxes.

Now the borrowing window has slammed shut. Trouble in neighboring Puerto Rico, which recently filed for a form of bankruptcy after a string of debt defaults, has investors worried that the U.S. Virgin Islands might be next. With just over 100,000 inhabi-

tants, the protectorate now owes north of $2 billion to bondholders and creditors. That's the biggest per capita debt load of any U.S. territory or state more than $19,000 for every man, woman and child scattered across the island chain of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. The territory is on the hook for billions more in unfunded pension and healthcare obligations.

"We have a government that we can't afford, and now all of it is converging," said Holland Redfield, a former six-term U.S. Virgin Islands senator who hosts a radio talk show about politics in the territory. "We're getting to the point where we may have a potential meltdown."

Ratings agencies have downgraded the islands' credit ratings deep into junk territory. With the U.S. Virgin Islands shut out of the credit markets after a failed January bond issue, offi-

cials are scrambling to stabilize its finances after years of taking on debt to plug yawning budget holes.

The government proposes to slash public spending by 10 percent. It recently hiked taxes on liquor, cigarettes, sugary drinks and vacation timeshares. And it has threatened to auction homes and businesses of property-tax deadbeats.

Governor Kenneth Mapp is quick to reassure bondholders that they get first crack at one of the territory's largest funding sources: rum taxes.

The money pays debt service before heading to government coffers, a protection called a lockbox. The U.S. Virgin Islands has "never been late on a payment, much less defaulted on a bond or loan agreement," Mapp said during his State of the Territory address in January. But how these islands will recover from years of

budget deficits and a severe liquidity crisis remains to be seen. The territory lost its single-largest private employer five years ago when a refinery shut down. Gross domestic product has declined by almost one-third since 2008. At times this year the government was operating with just two days' cash on hand. Locals live with pitted roads, crumbling schools, electricity outages and deteriorating medical care. Before Puerto Rico imploded under $70 billion in debt and $50 billion of unfunded pension liabilities, few in Washington noticed troubles brewing in the other inhabited U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Residents of these places are U.S. citizens, but they can't vote in presidential elections and their Washington delegates are non-voting figureheads. -BN Report

Asia tech stocks bask in Apple glow, dollar in the dark

Lufthansa profits soar in second quarter

SYDNEY: Asian technology stocks hit 17-year peaks on Wednesday as blockbuster earnings from Apple rippled out to component makers globally, helping the broader market offset losses in the energy sector.

Shares in the world's most valuable company surged 6 percent after-hours to a record of more than $159, taking its market capitalization above $830 billion.

That should help carry the Dow through the 22,000 mark when trading resumes in New York. E-Mini futures for the Dow were up 0.2 percent, while Eurostoxx 50 futures added 0.1 percent.

The tech giant reported better-thanexpected iPhone sales, revenue and earnings per share and signaled its upcoming 10th-anniversary phone is on schedule.

Among Apple suppliers, LG Innnotek jumped 10 percent and SK Hynix, the world's second-biggest memory chip maker, rose 3.8 percent.

Murata Manufacturing firmed 4.9 percent and Taiyo Yuden 4.4 percent, helping the Nikkei up 0.47 percent.

The MSCI tech index for Asia climbed 0.9 percent to ground not trod

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German airline group Lufthansa reported zooming profits in the second quarter Wednesday, as increased passenger demand and lower fuel costs lent tailwinds to its business.

Net profit between April and June stood at 740 million euros ($875 million), up 69.3 percent from its level in 2016's second quarter. Operating, or underlying profit reached 1.0 billion euros, on the back of 9.3 billion euros in revenue. The group, a European giant which owns airlines like Austrian, Swiss and low-cost Germanwings alongside its namesake brand, said cost-cutting in its passenger business had led to "sustainably higher earnings" over the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa's cargo unit returned to profitability in the first half as it pushes through its own efficiency drive, while its maintenance and catering divisions continued their growth. In a statement, the executive board promised "continuous structural improvements" to keep Lufthansa competitive in a world of challenges from low-cost rivals like Ryanair. The Irish carrier tweaked Lufthansa's nose earlier this year by offering flights from its home base in Frankfurt, western Germany, with plans to expand the schedule in the autumn.

Looking ahead to the full year, Lufthansa confirmed its forecast -increased in mid-July -- of operating profits adjusted for special items higher than the 1.75b euros reported in 2016. -BN Report

since early 2000, bringing its gains for the year to a heady 40 percent.

Those gains balanced losses in basic materials and energy to leave MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan steady near its highest since late 2007.

There was a note of caution over reports U.S. President Donald Trump was close to a decision on how to respond to what he considers China's unfair trade practices. Tepid U.S. inflation along with political turmoil in Washington has lessened the risk of another Federal Reserve rate hike this year, lowering bond yields across the globe. Improving data in other major economies has also served to push the greenback down nearly 11 percent from January peaks, benefiting commodities and emerging markets.

A swathe of manufacturing surveys (PMIs) out on Tuesday underlined how the improvement in activity had broadened out from the United States to Asia and Europe. Alan Ruskin, head of G10 forex at Deutsche, noted the top five PMIs were all Northern European

economies and every index in Europe was in expansionary territory above 50.

"That will do nothing to hurt ebullient global risk appetite," said Ruskin.

"This phase of the risk rally is based on growth data, but even more on subdued inflation measures."

"The latter plays to a gradual Central Bank exit from extreme policy accommodation that should prolong the global growth cycle."

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe has scored its longest monthly winning streak in over a decade.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended Tuesday with gains of 0.33 percent, while the S&P 500 added 0.24 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.23 percent.

In currency markets, the dollar steadied above deep lows though thanks mainly to positioning - bears are already so short of the currency that they are wary of selling even more.

The dollar index was stuck at 93.052, after touching 92.777, the lowest since early May 2016. It was aided by gains on a softer yen which saw it creep to 110.80. -BN Report

Oil down 1 percent on surprise rise in U.S. inventories, high OPEC output

COLORADO: Members of self-described patriot groups and militias run through shooting drills during III% United Patriots Field Training Exercise, which they describe as the largest patriot event in the country, outside Fountain. -BN Photo

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell by 1 percent on Wednesday, with rising U.S. fuel inventories pulling U.S. crude back below $50 per barrel, while ongoing high OPEC supplies weighed on international prices.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $48.63 per barrel at 0735 GMT, down 53 cents, or 1 percent, from its last settlement. That came after the contract opened above $50 for the first time since May 25 on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, was down 49 cents, down 1 percent from the previous close, at $51.29 per barrel.

The American Petroleum Institute's (API) said that U.S. crude stocks rose by 1.8 million barrels in the week ending July 28 to 488.8 million, denting

hopes that recent inventory draws were a sign of a tightening U.S. market.

Official storage figures are due to be published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration later on Wednesday.

Outside the United States, Brent was pulled down by reports this week showing production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at a 2017 high of 33 million barrels per day (bpd). That is despite OPEC's pledge to restrict output along with other nonOPEC producers, including Russia, by 1.8 million bpd between January this year and March 2018.

"OPEC output numbers in July were at 8 month highs - not good," said Matt Stanley, a fuel broker at Freight Investor Services in Dubai.

The Economist Intelligence Unit said that despite the cuts "the global market remains oversupplied," and it warned that "there is no guarantee that further cuts will be sufficient to rebalance the oversupplied global oil market."

Energy consultancy Douglas Westwood reckons that this year's oil market will be slightly undersupplied but that the glut will return in 2018, and last to 2021. "Oversupply will actually return in 2018. This is due to the startup of fields sanctioned prior to the downturn," said Steve Robertson, head of research for the firm's Global Oilfield Services. "This is in addition to the production gains through increased investment and activity in the U.S. unconventional (shale) space." -BN Report

CME sees dollars in data sales, but struggles to grow NEW YORK: CME Group Inc, the world's biggest exchange operator by market value, is looking to the lucrative business of selling data to boost revenue, spawn new financial products, and change the way many futures contracts trade. But early stumbles have undercut confidence that the Chicago-based company can catch up with rivals, much less transform the markets it dominates, anytime soon.

Even as CME reported a big jump in second-quarter profit on Tuesday, analysts were looking for answers regarding its data business, whose revenue tumbled 7 percent to $96.1 million, the low-

est figure since the fourth quarter of 2014. The decline comes months after Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy rescinded revenue goals he laid out for the unit, after finding that growing data sales would be harder than expected.

"What's driving the decline in data?"

Wells Fargo analyst Christopher Harris asked CME executives on an earnings conference call on Tuesday.

The decline was "surprising," Harris said, since CME reported strong trading volumes and is adding international customers.

Although they are making progress in revamping the data business, growth

will not come until next year, executives said. Many investors, analysts and market participants view data as the key to future profits and growth at global exchanges.

As owner of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange, and Commodity Exchange, CME has a near monopoly in trading certain futures and options contracts across interest rate, foreign exchange, equity, energy and agricultural markets. Its benchmarks, like West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and S&P 500 futures, are the basis for billions of dollars' worth of

daily commerce.

That position allowed CME to put off building a competitive data business even as rivals dived in, because it could charge premium prices.

CME produced net profit margins last year of 43 percent, versus 32 percent at Intercontinental Exchange Inc and 28 percent at Deutsche Boerse AG, according to Thomson Reuters data.

But CME is effectively leaving money on the table as customer demand for data has increased, and it is now trying to make up for lost ground.

In February, Duffy laid out an ambitious plan to grow annual data revenue 5

percent to 6 percent annually, starting this year. The strategy had three major prongs: selling more granular, real-time data to traders; offering services like cloud hosting; and licensing proprietary information to firms that create financial products like indexes and exchangetraded funds.

However, executives realized they had underestimated the complexities of building out the business, and in April nixed 2017 data revenue projections.

CME now expects to see growth next year, President Bryan Durkin said on Tuesday, without specifying a target.

The company has made progress on

staffing and is now auditing customers to see how they use CME data, to charge them properly, he said.

"It definitely represents an important revenue stream to us," Durkin said.

CME's data revenue has barely budged in recent years, even as the business became the leading source of growth for competitors.

Global exchanges reported a collective 29 percent increase in revenue from data and indexing businesses last year, with a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent since 2011, said TP ICAPowned Burton-Taylor International Consulting. -BN Report

Entertainment

Thursday, August 3, 2017

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Kohli donates bat to Afridi NGO KARACHI: Indian captain Virat Kohli has donated his signed cricket bat to former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi for his foundation Shahid Afridi Foundation. "Thank you @imVkohli for your kind gesture in support of @SAFoundationN. Friends & supporters like you ensure #HopeNotOut for everyone," Afridi tweeted with a photograph of Kohli's signed bat.

Kohli was quick to reply and wished Afridi the best for his foundation. "You're most welcome Shahid Bhai. Wishing you and the @SAFoundationN all the luck for the upcoming events. #HopeNotOut," tweeted the Indian skipper quoting Shahid Afridi's tweet.

Afridi, speaking to Media Channels,

Sanjay Dutt’s avatar in ‘Bhoomi’ will pierce your soul

FTER the teaser poster of the upcoming Sanjay Dutt starrer, Bhoomi created a storm amongst fans, the release of the main, poster - of what seems like an intense film, has created even more buzz and curiosity about Sanjay's role in the film.

A raw looking Sanjay with hair and face smeared in dirt and blood, with glaring eyes that pierced are soul - this poster is hair-raising to say the least. The film is directed by Omung Kumar and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Sandeep Singh, and is a revenge drama based on a father-daughter relationship. –BN Report

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Sturridge suffers thigh injury LONDON: Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was substituted with a thigh injury as the Premier League club beat Bayern Munich 3-0 in a pre-season match in Germany on Tuesday. Sturridge, whose career has been blighted by a string of injuries over the last three seasons, scored Liverpool's third goal, but immediately pulled up and was substituted in the 87th minute.

"He hurt his thigh. He has really prepared well, really well, so I hope this is just a small injury and that he can play again soon," Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp told reporters. –BN Report

said that Kohli's gesture is a great sign for humanity. "We must encourage good things, regardless of who is doing it," said Afridi. "Kohli is a legend and

he has always been very supportive and I am very thankful to him for his support," he added. Afridi confirmed that Kohli's bat will be auctioned for his Thar hospital project and the auction will take place in Newcastle, England.

A signed jersey of Virat Kohli was also auctioned on Monday by the Shahid Afridi Foundation.

According to reports, the winning bid for the jersey was 4,300 euros.

"People in Pakistan want to watch Kohli in Pakistan. I have played a lot in India and can never forget the respect people gave me there," Afridi continued.

"We are not politicians and have nothing to do with politics, we are ambassadors and we must continue to give a good message," he added. –BN Report

Snooker champion ignored at home ISLAMABAD: Millions were showered when cricketers brought home ICC Champions Trophy title in June, this year but just peanuts awaited another hero when he recently sailed through successfully a tough contest of International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) U18 Snooker World Championship.

Naseem Akhtar dared the best competitors of the world to clinch the U18 Snooker Championship trophy in which contestants f 29 countries participated. He was less to none to win accolades for the country, but went unsung.

Naseem, who is the firstever Pakistani cueist to win a junior title, received just Rs 150,000 and that too by his natives and not by those who have been showering benedictions on cricketers. "Pakistan

cricket team which won 2017 CT have been receiving unlimited rewards from various platforms including the government and other business communities. But no one from any other platform came forward to support or reward me when I won the World Championship," he told APP. Naseem was congratulated by the then Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Minister

Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada.

But, paying him through words felt a bit discriminatory.

This tendency seems like a question mark on approach of our authorities where a particular segment of sports is revered much than the others.

Naseem has asked the government and departments to support snooker as players need jobs for a living and currently only four to five snooker players have jobs.

"In our country only cricketers get huge prizes and other games lack support which is disappointing," he said. Why Naseem simply receives an appreciation and no monetary benefit. If cricketers are awarded with money and plots, Naseem also deserves some bounty no matter if it is not as much as bestowed to cricket team. –BN Report

Sushant preps for space adventure film USHANT Singh Rajput is all set to get into the skin of an astronaut for his next, Chanda Mama Door Ke. All excited to play an astronaut on screen and living the dreams of his mother, Sushant visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to get a first-hand experience of an astronauts' life. And now we have got hold of his picture from NASA's Space and Rocket Center where he is dressed up in a spacesuit. From the look of it, it appears as if Sushant indulged in some serious spacewalk drills.

Chanda Mama Door Ke. a science fiction film helmed by Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan and produced by Viki Rajani and Eros, is slated to release around Republic Day next year. The film also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and R. Madhavan in crucial roles.

Madhavan plays a pilot in the

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JOLIET: Nemanja Nikolic of Chicago Fire (C) poses with other winners in the winner's circle as Audi hits the track with Major League Soccer All-Star players ahead of MLS All-Star Game in Chicago at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois. –BN Photo

SRK and Salman to compete for TRPs on small screen HE two Khans of Bollywood, Shah Rukh and Salman have always been in the news for being at odds with each other. The duo has been rumoured to be at friction with each other until recently, when the actors cleared the hiccups.

But it seems to be that the waters won't stay calm for long.

Shah Rukh will be featuring in a new show very soon! The show is titled Ted Talks: Nayi Soch. The talk show is set to air in September and the shootings have already kick-started.

The show is based on the idea of the international TedX talks where famous experts of different fields come to speak on areas relevant to their training.The event is attended by many and even shared on social media for wider reach. On the other hand, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan will return to the small screen in the popular competi-

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tion show Bigg Boss 11 this year.

The Raees actor's Ted Talks: Nayi Soch will air at the same time as Salman's Big Boss 11 on a different channel. Presently, the Dilwale star is busy promoting his upcoming

film Jab Harry Met Sejal slated for an August 4 release while Salman is just wrapping up the shoot for Tiger Zinda Hai with former girlfriend and co-star Katrina Kaif in Morocco. –BN Report

Cristiano Ronaldo says his ‘brilliance’ bothers people film. Earlier too, the Tanu Weds Manu actor has stepped into the shoes of an air force pilot in Sea Hawks in 1990 and then in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti. In the words of Madhavan, Chanda Mama Door Ke "is an extraordinary story of an unsung hero."

During his training, Sushant shared photos from NASA on his social media account which went viral with SushantInSpace. The actor tweeted, "Neutral buoyancy, space walk drills and

Orion simulations are were so much fun !! Can't wait to try more :)" His another tweet read, "From a miniature Rocket to a life size one , this grown up kid will never cease to Dream. My mother always wanted her 'Sushant in Space '!!" The 31-year-old actor also stepped into the 24-foot-deep dive tank at U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.

With Raabta tanking at the box-office, Chanda Mama Door Ke becomes crucial for Sushant's Bollywood career. –BN Report

Neymar to leave Barca for PSG BARCELONA: Neymar's potential world record move to Paris SaintGermain moved a step closer on Wednesday as the Brazilian informed his Barcelona teammates he is leaving the club, a Barca spokesperson told agency.

"The player came to train as scheduled and announced to his teammates that he is leaving," said the source.

"The coach has given him permission to not train and to manage resolving his future." –BN Report

LISBON: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo said Tuesday his "brilliance" annoys people, a day after he was quizzed by a Spanish judge investigating whether he evaded paying millions of euros in taxes.

"What bothers people is my brilliance, insects only attack lamps that shine!!!!" the Portuguese wrote in an Instagram message that received over a million likes within an hour of being posted. Ronaldo spent over 90 minutes on Monday answering the questions of investigating judge Monica Gomez at a closed door hearing in Pozuelo de Alarcon, the

wealthy suburb of Madrid where he lives.

Prosecutors accuse the four-time world player of the year of having evaded 14.7 million euros ($17.3 million) in tax. Ronaldo, 32, has denied any wrongdoing. He told the judge he has always filed his tax returns and "never had the intention of evading taxes", according to a statement from his representatives.

Spanish daily El Mundo said the player - the world´s highest paid athlete according to Forbes magazine - implied during his court hearing that he was only being investigated because of who he is.

"I am only here because

my name is Cristiano Ronaldo," the player told the judge, according to the newspaper. Ronaldo had been expected to speak to the throng of reporters gathered outside of the court after the hearing but instead his spokesman Inaki Torres emerged from the building to announce the player "was on his way home", prompting jeers from the press. Portuguese television SIC reported that Ronaldo aborted the appearance at the podium set up outside the court because the court hearing had gone badly, with many moments of "tension" between him and the judge. –BN Roport

Ranveer Singh to play Kapil Dev in 1983 World Cup film ORMER India captain Kapil Dev's journey to the 1983 World Cup glory is about to be made into a biopic, and guess who is slated to play the Indian sporting hero? None other than Befikre star Ranveer Singh! The Bollywood actor has been signed to play Kapil Dev in Kabir Khan's upcoming flick which will re-live India's victory against West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final at Lord's, reports SpotboyE. Kabir Khan, whose recent film Tubelight failed miserably, has had some meetings with Ranveer in this regard and, if

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all goes well, Ranveer will soon be seen donning the cricket gear on the big screen.

Ranveer's spokes person told the publication: "It's too early to confirm anything with regards to Ranveer Singh playing Kapil Dev. An announcement will be made by the production house as and when everything is finalized." The film in question is slated to be produced by Phantom Films. Its producer Madhu Mantena is supposedly very close to the cricketer. Media reports making rounds earlier had named Arjun Kapoor as the possible lead cast for the film. –BN Report

Stevie Wonder to lead concert to protect global aid

TEVIE Wonder and Green Day will headline a concert in New York to mobilize support for efforts to eradicate global poverty as President Donald Trump proposes sweeping foreign aid cuts.

"Happy" pop star Pharrell Williams, charttopping electronic duo The Chainsmokers and alternative rockers The Killers will also play the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park on September 23, organizers announced Tuesday. Wonder said the festival came at a "crucial time," adding in a statement: "When we commit ourselves to life issues, we are showing love of the Most High."

The festival has drawn A-list stars annually since 2012 as the largely young audience presses world leaders for commitments to development as they gather in New York for the UN General Assembly. –BN Report

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Coach blames captain, sr players for dismal World Cup performance

LOS ANGELES: Director Courtney Hoffman (L) and actor Zoe Bell attend Refinery29's Shatterbox Anthology premiere of Courtney Hoffman's "The Good Time Girls" in Los Angeles, California. –BN Photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan women cricket team coach Sabih Azhar has held skipper Sana Mir and senior players responsible for team's dismal show in the ICC Women's World Cup. A source in Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told APP on Wednesday that in the report submitted by the coach he had blamed Sana for adopting negative approach and of being completely self-obsessed.

Meanwhile according to the report published by a prominent cricket website ESPNcricinfo the coach had complained that Ayesha Ashar, the long-time team manager, paid most of her attention to senior players Mir, Javeria Khan and Nain Abidi, and was "cold" towards the younger players.

"My humble view is if the set of

these four - three players and manager - continue with the national team, there is absolutely no chance of players' growth in the team," Azhar wrote.

"Juniors need confidence of the seniors, but if they are always criticised and face negative remarks, it would shake their confidence very badly and we should forget growth of women's cricket in Pakistan."

"The captain was so much negative in her approach that she inculcated fear among other team members during team meetings on number of occasions. She used to praise opponent players a lot instead of backing her own players to do well.

Eventually, the captain's negative approach did damage the confidence of our batters and bowlers and they couldn't play their natural game during matches.

Azhar wrote that Pakistan's pretournament preparation - a 30-day training camp in Abbottabad and a 15-day training camp in Leicester left him feeling confident.

"We could have won our opening league match against South Africa before losing narrowly because the girls couldn't handle the pressure at crucial moments.

In the second match against England, our bowlers gave too many runs - 377 - and the match was over before our batters went in. "Against Sri Lanka and the West Indies, our team once again couldn't give the finishing touches and lost both games. Overall, I believe we could have won at least three league matches - against South Africa, India and Sri Lanka - but the team lacked finishing approach at crucial junctures

which cost us the games."

"It became clear that the captain Sana Mir is self-centred or selfabsorbed; typically she is the last to know it," the report read. "Her denial to accept self-centredness overshadows her good qualities of confidence and esteem.

"Too many of our so-called role models, don't give a hoot about anything except themselves. To them, the 'team' is nowhere near as important as the 'me'. 'What's in it for me? I want more playing time.

I should be starting instead of them! My average, My stats, My salary, etc.' Similarly, Sana Mir's 'me-whining' affected the mindset of aspiring young players to understand how important teamwork really is to success and any team game is not about 'me', it's about 'we'! –BN Report

CMYK

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Govt to spend Rs 37.977m more on Badin coal deposit's evaluation ISLAMABAD: The government will spend Rs37.977 million more for appraisal of huge coal reserves confirmed by the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in the year 2014 after extensive drillings started since 2012.

"The government had already released Rs131.619 million in the year 2016-17, while Rs37.977 million more have been allocated to use during the current fiscal year for appraisal of newly discovered coal resources in

Badin and its adjoining areas of Southern Sindh," official sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told APP. According to GSP, they said the coal deposits were estimated to be over one billion tones. "The coal is of good quality and high heating value."

Besides, the sources informed that there were substantial deposits of gold, copper and more than 200 mln tonnes of iron ore but these could not be exploited

PTI issues 'legal' notice to Gulalai, demands apology for allegations ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has issued a "legal notice" to former party member Ayesha Gulalai for her allegations against Imran Khan, demanding an apology and resignation from her National Assembly seat.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry along with other party members announced this at a press conference on Wednesday.

Chaudhry said that since Gulalai has accused the party of moral and financial corruption, she should no longer remain on the NA seat on PTI's ticket. He added that if she fails to resign, the party will request the Election Commission of Pakistan to denotify her.

"We know that she [Gulalai] met Amir Muqam a day before [she held the press conference]," Chaudhry maintained, implying that she was in talks with PML-N. Gulalai, however, had denied that she would be joining the PML-N in a press conference on Tuesday night, in which she leveled a series of scathing allegations against Imran Khan and other top party members.

Another party member, Alia Hamza, expressed her anger at Gulalai's allegations, saying that Imran Khan had never disrespected her or any other female party member. -APP

or utilized because of lack of infrastructure and technology.

They said efforts were also being made for exploration of tertiary coal in Central Salt Range, Punjab aimed at meeting the growing domestic energy demand and develop coal fields and increasing power generation.

The sources said exploration of oil, gas, minerals and coal resources was undertaken on regular basis which contributed significant discoveries especially in oil and gas sector.

Recent geological investigations have shown that 186 billion tonnes of coal reserves exist in different parts of the country, which could be used as a primary and inexpensive source for power generation.

"More than 184 bln tonnes deposits are located in Sindh province, with Thar coal field being the largest followed by Thatta-Sonda, Lakhra and Jhimpir. The coal is lignite to lignite-A to sub bituminous B&C in character with an average heating value of 6000 BTU/lb." Coal is primarily classified into four major categories, or 'ranks' like lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. One of the most valuable content of coal is its carbon content which supplies most of its heating value. The sources informed that further investigations were being carried out to explore and evaluate coal deposits in Musakhel, Kingri and Toisar Basin, Balochistan. -APP

Chief justice asks PML-N lawyer for proof of PTI's 'prohibited funds' ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar on Wednesday asked Akram Shiekh, the lawyer representing PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi, whether any documents were available to prove that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) had accepted prohibited funds.

The chief justice was presiding over the three-member apex bench, comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Umar Atta Bandiyal, that has been hearing a petition submitted by Abbasi seeking the disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen for the non-disclosure of assets, ownership of offshore companies, and for PTI being a foreign-aided party.

During Tuesday's proceedings in the apex court, Sheikh had argued before the apex bench that Khan had submitted a "fake" certificate before the Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP] to show that no donations from prohibited sources were received by the

party and therefore, should be disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution.

However, the chief justice had observed that the Political Party Order (PPO) 2002 did not envisage such a penalty for the submission of a "fake" certificate. "On what basis can it be said that the certificate [submitted by the PTI] is fake?" the chief justice asked the lawyer on Wednesday.

He told Sheikh that the jurisdiction of determining that the funds received by a political party are illegal rested with the ECP. However, the PML-N lawyer said that the ECP has been denied its authority. Sheikh told the bench that the chief justice's observations from a day earlier warranted further clarification. "The nation should be made aware that funds were accepted [by the PTI] from multinational companies," Sheikh said, adding that the PTI had admitted to accepting prohibited funds. "Prohibited funds can be confiscated; there are laws that allow such funds to be confiscated," Sheikh argued. -APP

Seven 'inefficient' SHOs suspended: Sindh home minister KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal confirmed on Wednesday that as many as seven SHOs have been suspended for their failure to control crime in their respective police domains.

Speaking in a press conference, Siyal said: "situation will not get better until punishments are not given," adding, "the suspended SHOs were working in their professional capacity for the last three months."

The provincial home minister said that government is putting efforts to bring betterment in the police department. He added that his office is always open for the public.

Sindh government has withdrawn powers of Inspector General of Police (IGP) AD Khawaja to decide the transfers and postings of senior police officials in the province.

Approved by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the order empowers the Services, General Administration and

Coordination Department of the provincial government to issue the transfers and postings of SPs, SSPs and equivalent officers with direct approval of the chief minister.

"Chief Minister Sindh has been pleased to approve that the transfers and postings of Superintendents of Police (BS-18)/ Senior Superintendents of Police (BS-19) and equivalent shall be issued by the Services, General Administration and Coordination Department," reads the order issued by provincial Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon.

According to the notification, the order is in accordance with Rule 9(2) of the Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion & Transfer) Rules, 1974.

The government's order of August 9, 2016, whereby powers were delegated to the IGP for transfers and postings of SPs and SSPs "is hereby cancelled/withdrawn", reads the order. -APP

‘SC to decide if ECP can probe PTI's foreign funding’ ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court resumed hearing the disqualification case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan today.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab, is conducting proceedings into Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi's petition seeking Imran's disqualification for concealing his assets and the 'foreign funding' of his party. Abbasi's counsel Akram Sheikh is conducting his rebuttal over the arguments of the PTI chief's counsel.

Presenting his arguments, Sheikh said "how can someone who submitted a false certificate be considered sadiq [honest] and amin [truthful]. Justice Bandial observed that the receipt of prohibited funds has to be established first. The chief justice remarked that it is the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) job to determine if prohibited funds were acquired by the PTI. In response, Sheikh contended that the ECP has no say in this matter, and that if a commission [by the ECP] is formed, it should be asked to completely probe the matter.

Imran Khan does not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ECP, argued Sheikh.

The chief justice observed that the court will decide on the powers of the ECP to probe this case. -APP

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Auqaf & Religious Affairs of Punjab, Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri called on President Mamnoon Hussain at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. -Inp

Police sacrifices admirable: LCCI LAHORE: Police department will continue its untiring efforts for maintaining law and order and combating terrorism in the country. Protection to the lives and wealth of the citizens is the prime duty of police force This views were expressed by the CCPO Lahore Captain ® Amin Wains while talking to the LCCI Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan and Executive Committee Members here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Muhammad Ali Mian, Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, Mian Abdul Razzaq, Khamis Saeed Butt, Zahid Maqsood Butt, Tahmina Saeed, Chaudhry Khadam Hussain, Tariq Mahmood and other members were present on the occasion.

CCPO said that police department is bravely fulfilling the responsibilities with full dedication and zeal. He said that policemen have given various sacrifices but did not allow anti-social elements and terrorists to play with the lives of innocent citizens. He said that suggestion of the business community will be welcomed as these will help formation of more effective policy. He said that people should avoid protest on roads as it gives opportunities to the terrorists to play havoc.

The LCCI Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa said that sacrifices made by policemen and other law

enforcement agencies should be acknowledged as they had protected several lives by taking timely action and foiling the evil designs of the country's enemies.

He further said that we lost brave officers Captain ® Syed Ahmad Mobeen, SSP Zahid Mahmood Gondal and many other precious lives in a tragic incident happened in February 2017 during the protest at Mall road.

Business community pays rich tributes to these heroes.

He said that establishment of Dolphin Force is a good step that has

reduced the street crimes. Its scope should be increased to get more benefits as its patrolling is restricted to specific areas. Amjad Ali Jawa said that encroachment and professional beggars at traffic signals are causing traffic problems and this should be eradicated at the earliest.

The LCCI SVP said that electronic traffic violation is a positive initiative and this will help improving traffic issues. He suggested that pictures of traffic signal and vehicles should also be shown along so that no one can object automatic challan system. -APP

PML-N, PPP want Gulalai's allegations probed ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi praised on Wednesday Ayesha Gulalai, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA who quit her party last night after levelling serious charges of misconduct against party chief Imran Khan.

Addressing the media outside the Supreme Court, Abbasi termed Gulalai his sister, and assured her of his complete support. He said he had disclosed over a year ago the same charges that have been levelled by Gulalai. He said he will consider the delivery of justice to have been finished in Pakistan if investigations are not launched into Gulalai's claims. He directed PTI Chairman Imran Khan to surrender his Blackberry cellphone for the probe into Gulalai's allegations.

Gulalai claims the PTI chief ensured that the party's women members carry a Blackberry device so their chats stay encrypted. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, said a woman would never like to level such allegations unless they were true. -APP

PTI women wing to move tribal jirga if Gulalai does not withdraw charges PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) women wing has warned it will move the tribal jirga if Ayesha Gulalai does not withdraw her allegations of misconduct against party chief Imran Khan.

Addressing a presser at the Peshawar Press Club, women wing president Naeema Naz said they will approach the jirga if Gulalai does not take back her allegations that Imran Khan "is a characterless person" and "sent inappropriate text messages to her". "Why had she been silent all this time over the text message she said she received [from him] in 2013?" Naz questioned, a day after Gulalai, the former PTI MNA, quit her party claiming the honour of women was not safe in the party because of Imran Khan.

MPA Zareen Zia, speaking in the press conference, claimed that Gulalai had levelled "baseless" and "false" accusations at the party chief.

"PTI and Imran Khan have [always] respected women. There are 10 PTI MPAs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly; none of them has a BlackBerry. Even Imran Khan does not have a BlackBerry," she said.

Zareen noted that Gulalai had been made member of the central executive committee in PTI. "She wanted NA-1 ticket and when it was refused, she left the party. She has left two parties before also."

"Why didn't she think of respect when she was taking incentives during the past four years?" The MPA claimed that Amir Muqam, the provincial president of PML-N, was behind "all this matter".

"I received the first message in October 2013...you can check Imran's BlackBerry," Gulalai had said on Tuesday, adding that the PTI chairman urged other women to use BlackBerry phones so messages could not be traced. -APP

Pakistan Railways finalizes preparation for Special Azadi Train

ISLAMABAD: Spanish Ambassador Carlos Morales calls on PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain at his residence. -Online

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways has finalized preparations for "Special Azadi Train" to start its journey a couple of days before 14 August and cover thousands of kilometer long journey across the country.

The officials Pakistan Railways told APP that like previous year, Special Azadi Train would travel across the country on the occasion of 70th Independence Day. The Special Azadi Train would highlight the aspects of Freedom Movement, sacrifices of Armed Forces for the defense of the country and cultural heritage of all the regions, officials of Rawalpindi Carriage Factory told APP. They said that preparations in this regard are underway at Rawalpindi Carriage Factory, where more than 100 laborers are working to finalize models of different cultural heritages of Pakistan, adding that till August 11 Azadi Train would be ready. The Train will comprise of coaches representing the culture and traditions of all the four

provinces, Azad Kashmir and GilgitBaltistan.

The Azadi Train will also depict the country's fight against terrorism and extremism to eliminate this scrounges from the society, they remarked.

It will also update the masses about the steps taken for progress and development of the country, the officials added. Azadi Train, in its month-long journey to different cities of the country, would stop at big stations across the country to hold cultural shows, engaging the local artists.

An official of PNCA told a group of National Puppet Theater will also be the part of Azadi Train journey and they will hold puppet show on the national themes.

He said through these puppet shows, the youth and children will be educated on different important issues.

The artists of Lok Virsa will also perform in the cultural shows to be held as part of Azadi Train activities. -APP

Pakistan has least number of undersea cables in the region ISLAMABAD: Pakistan with its geo-strategic position has the lowest number of undersea cables in the region, thus placing at a disadvantage in regional telecom markets.

Currently there are 6 submarine cables connecting two landing stations in Pakistan .In 14 years only 5 additional undersea cables were connected to Pakistan.

It was expected that with the deregulation of LDI sector the number of undersea cables would increase to meet the ever increasing demand of data services and to provide redundancy and provision of cross-country connectivity to neighboring countries.

However, Multinet is the only LDI operator which is in the process of establishing SRG-I at Gwadar.

With the announcement of Telecom Policy 2015, PTA, as the sector regulator is entrusted with successful implementation of the tasks specified under broad objectives and definite targets.

Under the Policy, current licensing regime will continue to apply.

However, PTA will conduct an assessment of market absorption capacity. Any new licensing in Long Distance & International (LDI) sector will be subject to an assessment.

PTA says that over time, the performance of LDI sector has failed to meet the desired expectations. -APP

72 percent work on LOMTP completed, Kh Hassan LAHORE: More than 72 per cent civil work on Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project (LOMTP) has so far been completed at cost f Rs. 36 billion, including construction of a bridge for passing trains on Lahore Ring Road near Quaid-e-Azam interchange, close to the under-construction depot. Chairman of steering committee for Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project Khawaja Ahmad Haassan informed this during the weekly progress review meeting on

the project, here, Wednesday.

He told that laying of two kilo meters long track for parking coaches of Orange Line Metro Train has been completed at depot near Dera Gujjran as manufacturing of trains was in progress in China.

Seven sets of trains, each comprising of five cars, will be ready by the mid of next month for shipment to Pakistan.

Five sets of train have already been prepared or Lahore Orange Line Metro Train, which will operate at a commer-

cial speed of 35 kilo meters per hours for the benefit of more than 2,45,000 passengers daily.

The meeting was informed that progress on civil work on package-I from Dera Gujjaran, G.T.Road to Chouburji was 85.7 per cent, on package-II from Choburji to Ali Town was 53.0 per cent, on Depot near Dera Gujran was 77.0 per cent while on Stabling Yard near Ali Town it was 73.5 per cent.

The meeting was told that track for the orange line metro train has been laid up to a length of five kilometers out of the 13.4 kilo meters long stretch of Package-I. The work has been started from Islam Park Station and the track laying has been completed beyond Pakistan Mint Station.

The meeting was further told that grey structure of all the 11 elevated stations along Package-I and five stations along Package-II of the project has been

handed over to CR-NORINCO for electrical and mechanical works. Grey structure of another five stations will be handed over to Chinese contractor for this purpose by the end of current month while the remaining three stations will be handed over by the 14th of August.

Khawaja Ahmad Hassan directed that the task force, comprising of officials of WASA and Lahore Waste Management Company, set up for ensuring round the clock cleanliness from around Haji

Camp, Nichleson Road, should continue its work during the ongoing Hajj operation at Haji Camp, in view of the departure of intending pilgrims from this place. He directed for arranging a two days training workshop for imparting safety training to the officials of various utility services departments involved in execution of this project. He directed Chief Engineer TEPA to work as focal person for arranging such workshops on regular basis. -APP

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