Ep14feb2015

Terror revisits Peshawar Al-Jazeera journalists freed from Egypt prison CAIRO—Two Al-Jazeera journalists were freed Friday from an Egyptian prison pending retrial, their families said, after spending more than a year in jail in a case that provoked global uproar.

A Cairo court on Thursday ordered the release of Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian, who are facing retrial on charges of supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

“We finished the procedures for the release of my brother a short while ago,” Mohamed’s brother Assem told AFP. “He is at home for the first time in more than a year”. Fahmy’s brother Adel posted on Twitter: “My brother has been released from the police station! I am going on holiday before they arrest him again!”

Fahmy, Mohamed and Australian Peter Greste were arrested in December 2013 and originally sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail for allegedly aiding the Muslim Brotherhood Continued on Page 7

US rejects former ISI chief claim about Osama WASHINGTON—The United States on Thursday said the statement by the former ISI chief Lt Gen (rtd) Asad Durrani that the Pakistan’s powerful spy agency “most likely knew hiding place of Osama bin Laden” is incorrect.

The State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, insisted there is no reason to believe that Pakistan Government knew about the whereabouts of the Osama bin Laden. “As we’ve stated in the past, and the President and Secretary (Hillary) Clinton at the time stated, we don’t have any reason to believe that the government of Pakistan knew about the location of bin Laden.

That remains our belief,” Psaki told reporters at her daily news briefing. “Correct”, Psaki said when asked what Durrani is saying is entirely wrong. The ex-ISI chief in an interview to Al Jazeera said that most likely ISI sheltered Osama bin Laden and hoped to use the

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Hindu extremists vandalise Christian school in Delhi NEW DELHI—A Christian missionery school in South Delhi was vandalised by Hindu extremists late Thursday night, after two men entered the school building, destroyed the CCTV cameras and wrecked the principal’s office. Holy Child Auxilium school’s senior wing in Vasant Vihar was closed for students after the late night ransack.

Father Savari Muthu, spokesperson for the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese said that this was an attack on the minority community. “The Principal’s office has been totally ransacked. The miscreants even knew where the CCTV was and tampered it first. There has to be a stop to these kind of incidents,” he said. The police has however

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Obama’s hollow call to MNS

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Wang widens and deepens Pak-China ties ................................................

Terrorism: Army’s appreciable chase of terrorists

See Page 04

20 dead, 50 injured in mosque attack Strike identical to APS TTP owns responsibility of cruelest act

Indian FS to visit Pakistan STAFF REPORTER

Sindh that left over sixty people dead ered from inside the mosque. How- of the prayer was in progress and hospitals of the City and appeals were and many injured. ever, the people offering their prayers claimed that the forth bomber who made for blood donation. Doctors in The eye witness and the Police stopped a third suicide bomber from failed to detonate his explosive laden Hayatabad Medical Complex confirm PESHAWAR—The repercussions of the deadly Army Public School authorities said a group of terrorists detonating his vest, though he was also vest, was overpowered by the people that the death toll has reached to 19, and over 50 others have been injured.

Peshawar terrorist’s attack on Decem- penetrated into the Imam mosque killed in exchange of gunfire”. The and was killed by his own pistol.

As the explosions and indiscrimi- Another injured succumbed to his inber 16 that had eaten up over 150 Imam Bargah by scaling the back wall provincial Police chief said adding the people including 135 innocent souls of the mosque situated near Passport people inside Imam Bargah demon- nate firing played havoc in the juries in the evening taking the death and had literally shaken the entire office in Hayat Bad town ship when strated bravery and caught one of the mosque, the security forces and res- toll to 20. country, were not over as yet when the the Friday prayers were in provincial metropolis was again progress and hurled hand bathed in blood by the “terrorists” on grenades in the compound Friday leaving at least 20 faithfuls of the mosque. They also dead and over fifty others seriously resorted to heavy firing wounded. This time the venue was the before they detonated Imamia mosque Imam Bargah in posh their explosive laden jacklocality Hayatabad and the occasion ets in an identical style of the APS attack some two was the Juma congregations.

The death toll from the multiple months back.

“The attackers first explosions followed by indiscriminate firing and suicide bombings is feared hurled hand grenades beto go higher as the medics in the city’s fore entering the Imamia major hospitals described the condi- Masjid Imam Bargah tion of many injured as critical. Three where they opened fire suicide bombers blew themselves into and carried out the first pieces while the forth one, whose ex- suicide-bombing”. The Inspector Genplosive laden eral Police jacket could not (IGP) Khyber explode, was Pukhtunkhwa killed by the Nasir Durrani faithfuls and told media men guards present adding the atin the mosque.

STAFF REPORTERS tackers entered The defunct the mosque by Te h r e e k - e Taliban Paki- I SLAMABAD /M ULTAN / scaling a wall of stan (TTP) has K A R A C H I — P r o t e s t s an adjacent unr e p o r t e d l y erupted across the country der-construction owned the re- on Friday evening in the building. He sponsibility of wake of the deadly attack said the attackthe obnoxious on a Peshawar imambargah ers arrived in a PESHAWAR: Security personnel busy in collecting evidences after suicide attack and firing at Imamia mosque at posh act. The fresh that left 20 dead and 50 in- car which they Hayatabad Township. burnt. came two weeks jured.

There were reports of “The first suicide bombers so he couldn’t explode, but cue teams rushed to the site of the While the Imam Bargah mosque after a deadly suicide bomb- agitation and protests bomber carried out the attack the other managed to blow himself up. blasts and shifted the victims to was damaged badly a number of veing at an Imam from different areas of in the gallery of the mosque The faithfuls present in the mosque Hayatabad Medical Complex and hicles parked outside the compound while the body of the second on the other hand said six people en- Khyber teaching hospital as emer- also caught fire where as window Bargah in Continued on Page 7 suicide bomber was recov- tered the mosque when second Riqa’t gency was declared in all the major Shikarpur, Continued on Page 7

TARIQ SAEED

Protesters take to streets

Nawaz hails strong China-Pak relations Gen Raheel, Wang discuss security matters ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif shaking hands with Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi at PM Office.

Dar seeks update measures to choke funding for terrorists MIAN ARSHAD ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Friday, sought update on measures outlined by the National Executive Committee (NEC’s) special sub-committee to choke funding for the terrorists’ activities as well as proposals on amendments in Anti Money Laundering (AML) Act, 2010.

While chairing the 8thmeeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Anti-

Money Laundering and combating terrorism financing here, Finance Minister said that money laundering and terrorism financing were important issues and that NEC needed to meet frequently to discuss the status of ongoing efforts to address these issues.

The Minister also gave instructions for finalizing prepara-

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KSE-100 gains 156 points, breaks correction spell AMANULLAH KHAN KARACHI—KSE-100 which confronted with corrective move during the entire week now seems to have come out of the corrective move with a gain of 156 points to close in green at 33, 943 levels Friday.

There are improved sign on economic front including the upcoming HBL first phase transaction in Mar-15, expected to generate US$0.5billion, will be another key test for further increase in

reserves.

Other major inflows in FY15 potentially

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ISLAMABAD—In a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Mr Wang Yi on Friday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan looks forward to welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We believe this important visit would further strengthen the all-weather strategic partnership between the two countries,” the premier said, adding that the Chinese president’s visit will bring them closer to achieving the dream of building a “Pak-China community of shared destiny”.

The premier underscored Pakistan attaches high importance to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and expressed confidence that President Xi’s expected visit would help fast-track CPEC early harvest projects.

The Chinese foreign minister also informed PM Nawaz that the purpose of his visit is to

Modi calls Nawaz, wishes luck for cricket World Cup

prepare for President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan.

Welcoming Mr Wang Yi on his first official visit to Pakistan, PM Nawaz also said that friendship with China is the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, emphasising that China has always been a sincere friend of Pakistan.

PM Nawaz further said security for Chinese nationals working in Pakistan is a matter of high priority for Pakistan and special arrangements are being made for this purpose.

Mr Wang Yi, in turn, thanked the government for taking measures to improve security of Chinese personnel and institutions in Pakistan.

The Chinese foreign minister also conveyed the greetings of Chinese Prime Minister Mr Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping to PM Nawaz, adding that China appreciates the importance

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ISLAMABAD—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday telephoned Pakistani counter Nawaz Sharif among other leaders of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries and wished them luck for the cricket World Cup which kicked off today. “[Five] Saarc nations are playing [and] are excited about the World Cup. [I] am sure [World Cup] will celebrate sportsman spirit [and] will be a treat for sports lovers,” Modi tweeted.

The Indian prime minister was optimistic that five Saarc countries were participating in the cricket’s biggest tournament. He hoped for the teams to play with passion.

“Cricket connects people in our region [and] promotes goodwill. Hope players from Saarc region play with passion [and] bring laurels to the region,” Modi said.

The Indian premier also tweeted that newly appointed Foreign Secretary would soon visit Saarc countries to strengthen the country’s ties with other member countries.

Earlier in a series of tweets, Modi had individually wished good luck to members of India’s World Cup squad.

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PPP, MQM stage walk-out from NA over GST on petrol products STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Opposition parties including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Friday walked out from the national Assembly recording their protest over the increased tax on the petroleum products.

National Assembly session was headed by Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed in which the opposition parties left the NA while demonstrating protest against escalated tax on petrol.

Opposition Leaders stated that they have given sufficient time to the government to reduce the taxes but the government didn’t pay any attention on this issue and demanded to lower the taxes to relief the nation.

Moreover, Deputy Speaker adjourned the hearing till indefinite time following the lack of quorum.

Two more convicted terrorists hanged

Pakistan undermined Karzai’s govt, admits Musharraf

M IRPUR —Two death row

‘India stabs Pakistan in the back’

convicts were executed in the Central Jail Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

Security in and around the prison was on red alert where a large number of relatives of the convicted prisoners had turned up. The bodies of the convicts were handed over to their respective families after the execution.

Muhammad Riaz, son of Zafar Ali, and Mohammad Fayaz, son of Muhammad Sharif were sentenced to death for killing the son of Fazal Rabbani, the Advocate General of Azad Kashmir, in 2004 during a robbery at his home in Mirpur.

Both the convicts were residents of a village near Sarai-Alamgir, in Gujrat district and had been apprehended a few days after the crime was committed. The two were initially sentenced to ten years imprisonment and a fine was imposed, but the victim’s family pursued the matter in the AJK Federal Shariat Court, which enhanced the punishment to death penalty in November 2005.

The appeals of the prison-

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L ONDON —Former military ruler Pervez officer academy in the town of Abbottabad.

Musharraf has admitted that Pakistan sought to undermine the Afghan government when he was in power because then president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai “helped India stab Pakistan in the back”.

In an interview with The Guardian, which was published on Friday, Musharraf said, “In President Karzai’s times, yes, indeed, he was damaging Pakistan and therefore we were working against his interest. Obviously we had to protect our own interest.”

He added, however, that now the time had come to “totally cooperate” with Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president since September.

“But now President Ashraf Ghani has come and he is trying to restore balance in Afghanistan. We must totally cooperate with him.”

The former president also called for an end to the backing of militant “proxies” in Afghanistan.

The Guardian reports that for Musharraf, the most welcome development was Ghani’s decision this month to send six army cadets for training at Pakistan’s

“Karzai infuriated both Musharraf and Ashfaq Kayani, his successor as army chief, by spurning offers to help train Afghanistan’s embryonic army. Instead, Karzai sent cadets to India, where Musharraf believes they were “indoctrinated” against Pakistan,” the article states.

‘ISI cultivated Taliban to counter Indian action against Pakistan’ Meanwhile, the former military chief also said that the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) cultivated the Afghan Taliban after 2001. “Obviously we were looking for some groups to counter this Indian action against Pakistan,” he said.

“That is where the intelligence work comes in. Intelligence being in contact with Taliban groups. Definitely they were in contact, and they should be,” Musharraf said.

“Pakistan had its own proxies, India had its proxies, which is unhealthy. I do admit this, it is most unhealthy. It is not in favour of Afghanistan, or Pakistan or India. It must stop,” he added.

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Khan vows to make KP a model in 3-month STAFF REPORTER PESHAWAR—Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan said on Friday that better changes would be seen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in next three months as the provincial government was working on health, education and other basic issues.

Khan also inaugurated “Sehat Ka Ittehad” program for eradication of polio from Khy-ber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata on Friday, saying his party was taking steps for better health facilities for the people.

Talking to media here the PTI chairman confessed that his government could not do what it intended to do immediately as the PTI has come in the government for the first time. Earlier, he heard people’s problem on radio, saying he would fre-quently be available for the people’s issues and their solution. He again criticized the PML-N govern-ment for creating hurdles in the country’s develop-ment. Khan also said that he sees next election in PESHAWAR: Chairman PTI Imran Khan talking to media after inauguration of anti-polio programme ‘Sehat-ka-Itehad’. this year.

Air Chief inaugurates PAF Hospital at Jacobabad STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force inaugurated PAF Hospital at PAF Base Shahbaz (Jacobabad) today.

Air Chief after cutting the ribbon unveiled the inauguration plaque and visited various wards of the hospital. Air Chief while expressing his satisfaction said that it was his dream to have a hospital at PAF Base Shahbaz and the PAF hospital would also help in providing the best possible medical services to the people from the remote areas of Sindh.

PAF Hospital is a state of the art facility, having capacity of 100 beds. It will provide valuable health services for local population in the fields of Gyne, ICU, Xray, Physiotherapy and Nursery. Specialist doctors of various categories like Medical Specialist, Surgical Specialist, Child Specialist, Eye Specialist, ENT Specialist, Psychiatrist, Gynecologist, Radiologist, Pathologist and Anesthetist would be available round the clock for treatment of the patients.

Coop with Pak to be strengthened: German Envoy FAISALABAD—German Ambas-sador to Pakistan Dr Cyrill Nunn on Friday said cooperation in German-Pakistan educational and research institutes will be further strengthened to get benefit from each other experiences. He was talking to University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan at the Syndicate Room in which UAF faculty members who were also alumni of German Universities participated.

The ambassador said students and faculty exchange programme would be fortified. He said Germany was running world third largest student and faculty exchange programme that would be beneficial for Pakistani scholars. He said many Pakistani students were getting educa-tion in Germany especially in engineering, botany, chemistry etc.

He said Germany in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission was offering tremendous scholarships to Pakistani students. He said that the German believed on the internationalization to work together for development. He lauded efforts of the UAF taken in the area of education and research.—APP

33 KP candidates submit nomination papers for Senate polls

PML-N to sweep Punjab senate elections: Kh Saad I SLAMABAD —Federal Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique on Friday claimed that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was in the position for wining all its Senate seats from Punjab. Talking to mediapersons outside Parliament House, the minister said that the PML-N has awarded tickets to its candidates according to its voting strength.

He said that after the consultations with allies in Balochistan, PML-N has announced candidates for Senate elections. He said that selling and buying trend of Senate votes would be discouraged adding that Senate elections would be transparent. The minister said that all political parties would get seats according to their strength. He said that a former Senator form Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is offering money for votes which is very bad trend.

P ESHAWA R : The first phase of nomination papers for Senate elections 2015 completed here on Friday as 33 candidate filed their papers for Senate polls due in March 5. According to Election Commission KP, 17 candidates filed their papers for General Seats including Waqar Ahmed Khan, Ammar Ahmed Khan (Independent), Ataur Rehman (JUI-F), Haji Adeel, Liaqat Tarkai (Awami Jamhori Itehad), Sirajul Haq (Jumaat e Islami), Professor Abrahim (JI), Lt Gen retd Salahuddin Tarmizi (PML-N), Abdul Malack, Noor Alam (PPP), Khanzada Khan (PPP), Fazal Muhammad, Shebli Faraz (PTI), Salman Hameed Afridi and Muhammad Anwar Burki.

As many as seven candidates have filed their nomination papers for Women reserved seats including Fauzai Fakhruzzman, Sitara Ayaz (Indepen-

dent), Bibi Shafia, Samina Abid (PTI), Ribbia Basri, Shazia Tehmas (PPP) and Shaheen respectively. For technocrat seats, Abdul Latif Yousafzai (PTI), Abdul Malack, Muhammad Hamyaun Khan (PPP), Numan Wazir (PTI), Afrasaib Khan Khattak (ANP), Syed Sabli Faraz (PTI), Adnan, Javed Abbasi (PML-N) filed papers.

For minorities seats, James Iqbal, John Waliam, Ravi Kumar and Amar Jeet submit papers with Provincial Election Commissioner Musarat Shah who is the returning officer for Senate election from KP. The scrutiny process will be commenced from February 16-17 and appeals against acceptance and rejections would be heard from February 20-21.

The candidates can withdraw their papers by February 25 while polling would be held on March 5, 2015.—APP

PTA raid 2 illegal gateway exchanges

Police foils attempt to marry 9-year girl to 45-year man

Judge orders release of 4-year old ‘robber’ D ERA G HAZI K HAN —Local police of- year old man by raiding a house in Khairpur. ficers on Friday have detained a 4-year old minor child in a case of conducting robbery. As per details, a four-year old minor child was taken before the court under the case of carrying out robbery.

During the hearing, Civil Judge enraged over the performance of local police and ordered to release the child as early as possible.

KHAIRPUR—Sindh Police foiled an attempt to marry off a nine year old girl to a 45

Police sources claim that a nine year old girl named Fauzia Sharki was sold for a sum of 120,000 rupees by her father to a 45 year old man in the name of marriage.

Additional Superintendant Police Masood Bangash told media that on a secret tip off Station House Officer (S.H.O) Shah Latif, Zulekha Ansari raided the illegal marriage ceremony and arrested the 45 year old groom, groom’s father and the nine year old girl’s father.— Online

Unhygienic meat sellers booked

25 couples tie knot at simple ceremony

L A H O R E — P r o v i n c i a l The government teams, he

BASHIR AHMAD RAHMANI H AFIZABAD —As many as

Food Min-ister Bilal Yasin on Friday told the Punjab Assembly that the Lahore Food Authority had taken strict action against sellers of unhygienic meat.

Replying to questions by members during question-hour session, he said out of total 22,000 samples obtained by inspection teams during visits, 13,700 were declared pass while rest 8,300 were rejected.

He said laws under the Food Authority Act were being made so that sellers of dead or unhygienic meat could be brought to an account ruthlessly.

Presently, he said, one year rig-orous imprisonment or Rs 2 million fine for selling dead or unhygienic meat. He replied to a question that inspection of meat shops in Lahore and it was also carried out in Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan besides taking samples.

The minister urged the House to pass the Food Authority Act 2012 at the earliest so that they could tight noose around the sellers of dead meat. He maintained that owing to effective measures by the government prices of food articles had gone down.

said, were con-ducting raids at various markets and bazaars to keep prices of edi-bles at minimum level.

Answering questions, Provincial Industries Minister Chaudhry Muhammed Shafiq said the Punjab gov-ernment under the leadership of CM Shahbaz Sharif was strengthening a network of industries. “We are determined to made the industrial base more stronger aiming at to reduce unemployment in the province,” he added.

The minister said for establishing new small industrial estate, they were in close contact with chambers of commerce and industries. “We set up industrial estate where it requires,” Shafiq added.

He said a feasibility of small industrial estates at Rajanpur, Layyah, Bahawal Nagar and Bawalpur had already been completed while spade work would get underway during the current fiscal year.

The minister said the government was also focusing to set up technology colleges in various districts.—APP

TETH matches int’l standards: Salman

M UZAFFARGARH —Tayyip gency ward, OPD, surgical I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a n Erdogan Trust Hospital ward, medical ward, ENT Tele-communication Authority (PTA) in its ongoing efforts to control grey traffick has unearthed two illegal gateway exchanges in Multan and Bhah-walpur.

According to details, two successful raids against the grey operator were carried out along with FIA team in Multan and Bhahwalpur,said press release issued here on Friday.

First raid was carried out at Liaqatabad, Multan and an illegal exchange comprising of two gate-ways, Switches, SIMs, Laptop and Modems were confiscated.Two persons were arrested who were JACOBABAD: Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan in FIA custody for further inAir Force during his visit to PAF Hospital at PAF Base Shahbaz. vestigation.—APP

Qamar Zaman lauds NAB Balochistan performance

SSP suspends SHO for negligence

(TETH) matched the standard of an international health fa-cility whose number of beds would rise from 100 to 150 during the current fiscal year. The Punjab government will elevate it as a teaching hospital and in first phase, facilities of paramedics and nurses would be taught in it.

Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq said this while talking to reporters after examining dif-ferent sections of the hospital here on Friday.

He added that education of medicines would be started here in the second phase for which qualified and seasoned Professors would be recruited.

Equipped with the latest facilities the hospital had four storeys which includes emer-

ward, cardiac ward, dental ward, blood bank, laboratory, operation theatres and general wards.

Salman said the Punjab government was ex-hausting all resources to extend basic health facilities to the masses, adding that they were ensuring provision of free medicines at all DHQs, THQs, and BHUs. The hospital was completed by Turkish International Corporation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

Replying a question, he said process of doctors’ induction was underway and by end of the ongoing month, they would be deputed on all Basic Health Units (BHUs) in the district. He said the provincial government campaign against measles and polio were in progress successfully.—APP

25 deserving hapless couples were tied knot at a simple but impressive wedding ceremony held here in the local gymna-sium. The mass wedding ceremony was organised by Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad Zargar, a Uganda-based businessman and President Pakistan Association of Uganda. The brides were provided dowry worth Rs. 1 lakh each. More than three thousand guests including the family members of the brides and grooms attended the wedding lunch.

The ceremony was attended among others by Ch. Mehdi Hassan Bhatti exMNA, former Federal Minster Ch. Liaqat Abbas Bhatti, former Provincial Minster Ch. Shoukat Ali Bhatti, Ch. Mubashar Abbas Bhatti ExDistrict Nazim hafizabad, PTI MPA Shaneela Root, Amanullah Sandhu President District PTI/Secretary General DBA and local journalists.

Ch. Liaqat Abbas Bhatti, Ch. Mehdi Hassan Bhatti and others appreciated the noble gesture of Sheikh Rasheed Zargar and urged other well-to-do and philanthropists to follow suit.

SSDP-SANA organise int’l training workshop HYDERABAD —The Quality Enhancement Cell, University of Sindh in collaboration with Sindh Skill Develop-ment Programme of Sindhi Association of North America (SSDP-SANA) organised an international training workshop titled “What is in cloud for me? the Share Point Online Perspective” at the Institute of Business Administration.

A University spokesman informed here on Fri-day that the workshop was conducted by two resource persons from Sydney, Australia Dr. Aslam Pervez Memon and Dr. Asif Khowaja. The training workshop was an initial stage to jump to the Share Point technology with which the Sindh University will be the first public sector varsity to migrate to the introduced technology.—APP

H Y D E R A B A D —The SSP Q UETTA —Chairman Na- tion & Monitoring Team cluding FATA and Gilgit Hydera-bad Irfan Baloch tional Accountability Bureau (NAB) Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, commended the performance of NAB Balochistan asking all officers to work more vigi-lantly and diligently in order to curb corruption and corrupt practices from the country.

“People pined hope in the NAB for the elimina-tion of the corruption from the society and thriving system,” he said while addressing the NAB official during his visit to NAB Baluchistan Bureau on an annual inspection of the Bureau.

DG NAB Balochistan Syed Khalid Iqbal, Di-rector Prevention and Awareness Mohammad Amir and Director HR Syed Safdar Shah were also pre-sent.

NAB Chairman Inspec-

(CI&MT) who was deputed to conduct Annual Inspection of NAB Balochistan Bureau for the year 2014. The inspection was carried out from February 11 to February 13, in order to review and evaluate the performance of NAB Balochistan Bureau on the basis of a quantified grading system.

The Chairman NAB said NAB is Pakistan’s apex anticorruption organization which is assigned with the responsibility of elimination of corruption through a holistic approach of awareness, preven-tion and enforcement.

It operates under the National Accountability Ordinance-1999 which is extended to all of Paki-stan, in-

Baltistan. NAB has its Headquarter at Islamabad while it has seven re-gional Bureaus located at Karachi, Lahore, Pehsa-war, Quetta, Sukkur, Multan and Rawlapindi.

The Chairman NAB said that NAB Balochistan is one of the important Regional Bureaus of NAB. It plays prominent role in contributing towards the overall performance of NAB. During the briefing, the Chairman was in-formed that NAB Balochistan disposed of 857 com-plaints received during the year 2014. In 2014, NAB Balochistan disposed of 295 Complaints Verifications (CVs), completed 70 of the total 177 authorized inquires and finished 26 out of 47 au-thorized investigations.—APP

here Friday suspended SHO Tando Jam police station Sikandar Bhatti over the incident of a prisoner ’s attempted escape from the Civil Court Building.

According to details, a suspect Mohammad Waseem was arrested for allegedly stealing a motorbike which was recovered by Tando Jam police from his possession. Waseem was produced in the Court of Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate- 7 who had ordered him to be sent on physical remand of seven days to Central Jail.

However, as the police were taking him out of the court room Waseem escaped and jumped from second floor of the court DERA ALLAH YAR: ADC Dera Allah Yar Muhammad Yaqoob Bangalzai supervising building—APP polio drops to a child during polio immunization drive.

Cold, dry weather to continue

CHAMAN: A traders’ leader addressing the participants of protest against proposed changing of Gwadar-Kashgar route.

JI slams Obama for silence over Chapel Hill murders

ISLAMABAD—The met office on Friday forecast mainly cold and dry weather in most parts of the country during next 24 hours. According to synoptic situation, continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country.

The lowest minimum temperature expected at: Parachinar 7øC, Skardu -6øC, Astore -5øC, Gupis, Kalat and Kalam -3øC, Hunza -2øC and Gilgit -1øC. The minimum temperatures of main cities would be Muzaffarabad 4øC, Islamabad 5øC, Rawalpindi 6øC, Lahore 8øC, Multan 7øC , Karachi 16øC, Hyderabad 15øC, Quetta 2øC and Peshawar 7øC, The Multan Met office has forecast cold and dry weather for the city and its suburbs during the next 24 hours.

On Friday, the maximum and minimum tempera-tures were recorded as 26.2 C and

9.5 degrees centigrade, respectively. Humidity was recorded 66 per cent at 8 am and 44 per cent at 5 pm. While the Lahore Met Office reported that cold and dry weather is expected in the country, including the provincial capital,

during the next 24 hours, a daily weather report said.

Weather remained cold and dry in most parts of the country during last 24 hours. In the provincial capital, the maximum temperature was recorded 20 degrees celsius while the minimum remained 9 degrees celsius on Friday.—APP

PUC, ASWJ condemn attacks on Imambargah

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Pa- vened a meeting, attended PESHAWAR—Jamaat-e-Islami leader became a target of terror,” he added. whole nation stands with the addressing the issue at hand, the kistan Ulema Council Allama by Ulema and religious Sirajul Haq slammed US President Barack Obama for not condemning the Chapel Hill shooting up till now.

“Why is the American press so quiet against this act of terror? Why are there no protests? Is it because the victims wore scarves?” Haq questioned while talking to media after submitting his senate nomination papers. “The US need to fulfil its duty towards the three youth who

Commenting on the Baldia factory fire, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader said that the nation is looking towards Islamabad for answers and for those accountable for the deaths to be brought to justice. ‘“The courts and the government have not handed justice to the 259 lives that were lost in the factory fire,” he said. Further commenting on the incident, Haq said that the

labourers who lost their lives and Jamaat-e-Islami is with the labourers and the masses.

“I am shocked that after the joint investigation team (JIT) report was released, the Sindh government has taken no action whatsoever. Instead they are considering to invite them Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to join the provincial government,” he informed. “Instead of

government have gone out into the markets, asking the cost of tomatoes and vegetables. But those who destroyed our steel mills, who have robbed our banks, ruined WAPDA and robbed the nation, they are not questioned,” he continued. Concluding his address, Haq demanded a probe in response to the JIT report and said that those involved should be brought to justice.—Online

PMDC issues directions for renewal of registration MULTAN—The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) has directed doctors to provide CME/CDE certification at the time of their renewal with the PM&DC. The step has been taken to standardise medical and dental profession under section 16B of the PM&DC (Amendment) Act 2012 for the renewal of license to practice.

In a statement issued here on Friday, Deputy Registrar (technical/registration) Dr Shaista Faisal said no renewal of the PM&DC registration would be considered without certificate of CME after implementation of CME/CDE guidelines available at the PM&DC website. She informed that all doctors intending to renew their registration the information regarding CME/ CDE along with guide-lines and institutions has been uploaded on www.pmdc.org.pk.

She added doctors were given six months am-nesty time till June 30 this year to complete their CME/CDE credit hours. If a doctor provides less than

five years of credit hours (twenty five credit hours for general practitioners and fifty credit hours for specialists) his/ her registration will be renewed in equation to the CME/CDE credit hours provided. She apprised certificate of Continuing Medical Education (CME) of only following DAI/ Institutions will be entertained which would be registered with the PM&DC: University of Health Sciences Lahore, AFPGMI Rawalpindi, Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi, Ziauddin University Karachi, ISRA University Islamabad Campus Islamabad,Baqai Medical University Karachi, Khyber Medical University Peshawar, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro, Riphah Academy of Research & Education (RARE) Rawal-pindi (Riphah University), Pakistan Institute of Cardiology Lahore,Federal Government Polyclinic (PGMI) Islamabad, Foundation University Islama-bad, College of Family Medicine Pakistan Karachi, Aga

Khan University Karachi, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana, Gand-hara University Peshawar, Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences for Women Nawabshah.

She said Participation in International/National Conferences, guest speaker in International/National Conferences is equivalent to 8 credit hours/ 4 Credit point, Paper Presentation (Oral/ Poster) in International/ National Conferences is equivalent to 4 credit hours/ 2 Credit point, Participation in International Conference as Delegate is equalent to 4 credit hours /2 Credit point, National Conference organized

by Recog-nized accredited is equalent to 4 credit hours/2 Credit point, National Professional Organization, Outside CME CDE/ Symposiam organized by rec-ognized professional is equalent 2 Credit points bodies. Dr Shaista added that One Credit Point was equal to 2 credit hours, one credit hours is equal to 3 hours Session.—APP

Video-conference

Securing border between FATA, KP

Enabling envi-ronment for free, responsible media

Minister wants return of FC

STAFF REPORTER

STAFF REPORTER P ESHAWAR—Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani Friday demanded of the federal government to return Frontier Constabulary to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa enabling the provincial government to secure border between FATA and the province.

Talking to media during his visit to injured of mosque attack in Hayatabad Medical Complex, he said that terrorists succeed to carry out terrorist activities in settle ar-

eas due to insufficient security of border of KP and FATA areas.

The Minister further said that due to insufficient police force, the police could not protect or petrol the border, adding if FC troops are returned to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the border could be made protected from terrorists infiltration.

The Minister strongly condemned terrorist attack on the mosque and termed it a cowardly inhuman act. He said no religion allows killing of innocent people. Mushtaq Ghani said that such terrorist attacks.

KARACHI—Under a contract with USAID funded Citizens’ Voice Project, Institute of Business Management (IoBM) organized a video conference on “Enabling Environment for Free & Responsible Media”. The “ t h r e e - s t a t i o n ” videoconference brought together distinguished media personalities, business and media educa-tionists, and representatives of APNS, as speakers and panelists.

Mr. Arif Nizami, Editor, Pakistan Today, Mr. Zahid Malik, President & Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observer, Mr. Matiullah Jan, Anchor, Waqt News, Mr. Sarmad Ali, Secretary General APNS, Dr. Tanvir A. Tahir, Executive Director – APNS, Dr. Hasan Sohaib Murad, Rector UMT, and Ms. Shahida Kazi, Dean Jinnah Univer-sity (former Head of Media at IoBM) participated in the discussion, that lasted about two-and-a-half hours.

The focus of the discussion, also at-tended by the Deans of the colleges at IoBM CBM/CES, CESD and CCSIS - was on key factors necessary for close collaboration between media and citi-zens. MANSEHRA: A worker whitewashes ISIS wall chalking at Karakoram Highway.

Effective career counselling of students urged STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —Around ten representatives from worldclass institutions of United States visited Roots International Schools to hold meetings with CEO Roots International Schools Mr. Walid Mushtaq to discuss the students exchange opportunities and promote intellectual trade in both states. The representatives along with their teams conducted a college fair to provide free information to the students and on campus career counselling by the directors of universities.

The guests included representatives from Marshal University, Luther College, Murray College, Minot State University, George Mason University, Purdue University, North East Wisconsin Technical College, University of South Florida, Saint Peter’s University, Emporia State University, Colorado State University, Oregon State University, Colorado State, Hiram College and University of Kentucky.

US College Fair provided a great way for students to get information about different colleges at the same venue. The college fair was organized by the department of Global Reach and School placement of Roots International Schools to open up gateways for oneto-one career counselling for Rootsians. In the history of private institutions never had it happened that directors and Chief Executives of foreign universities mingle with the students to discuss their career paths and guide them about the opportunities in their institutions for the students.

Roots International Schools took this great initiative to empower its students. The representatives indicated their interest in taking the relationship one step further admiring the repute of Roots International Schools not only in Pakistan but globally due to its global activities and initiatives.

CEO Roots International Schools Mr. Walid Mushtaq proudly announced and appreciated the young Rootsians who got scholarships and acceptances from different Universities of the world. All the guests congratulated CEO Mr. Walid Mushtaq, all the teachers and staff and the children on the occasion. They appreciated the outstanding reputation.

Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi Friday strongly condemned the suicide blast at Imambargah in Peshawar, which claimed several innocent lives.

Talking to PTV, he termed the incident as ‘tragic’ and expressed the confidence that the government and law enforcement agencies would soon overcome the menace of terrorism under the National Action Plan (NAP).

He said Ulema from all schools of thought were united to fail nefarious designs of anti-state elements carrying out terrorist activities and wanted to fan sectarianism in the country.

The Ulema Council, he said, after Jumma prayer con-

scholars from different schools of thought, and condemned the incident.

He said Ulema reiterated their firm resolve to support the government in implementing the NAP for eliminating terrorism from the country. Ashrafi said the council was the first that issued a ‘Fatwa’ (religious decree) against terrorism saying that taking lives of innocent people was forbidden in Islam.

He said Islam was the religions of peace, harmony and brother and never allowed anyone to take lives of people by carrying out subversive activities.

Ashrafi highlighted importance of unity among ulema.—APP

Drastic measures to deal with challenges RAFIULLAH MANDOKHAIL Z HOB —Inspector General Frontier Corps Ba-lochistan Maj General Sher Afghan while addressing tribal leaders said that collective and drastic measures were needed to deal with challenges. Peace can not be ensured without the help and support of the local people.

FC head said that his visit was aimed at ex-changing mutual thoughts, strengthen relations of confidence and efforts for improving law and order with tribals’ precious advises, adding they can play an important role and conspiracies can be foiled through unity and mutual cooperation.

“The enemies are trying to sabotage peace, but they would not be succeeded in their ne-farious designs.

Action against those involved in kidnapping is underway”. He said.

IG said that all efforts would be made to maintain peace in the province. The tribesmen should cooperate with the Frontier Corps, keep vigilance in their areas and do not allow outsid-ers. He added.

FC chief further said that after 28 year he arrived in Zhob. The people of the area are patriotic, peace loving and hospitable. Peace is prerequisite for development of any area. If there is no peace there will be no development, he said.

Notables assured IG that they would extend full cooperation for the prosperity and peace in Balochistan. On the occasion, Station Commander 29 Brigade Brigadier Naveed Zaman, Commandant Zhob Militia Col. Malik Muhammad Hayat.

HYDERABAD: Shia Muslims hold a protest against suicide attack on Imambargah and Masjid and killing of innocent people in Peshawar.

Bahria Town offers hefty financial help to cops’ families STAFF REPORTER KARACHI—The Bahria Town had provided financial assistance to the families of 20 cops, who were shot by terrorist or had laid their lives in the line of duty. The Bahria Town as promised offered hefty sums of money to the aggrieved families as compensation Friday.

The aggrieved families had gathered at the Central Police Office on I I Chundrigar Road to get cheques from the Bahria Town.

Each aggrieved family was given R.1 million and 125-yard plot.

Since the launch of the targeted operation in the port city of Karachi, the terrorists had shot around 186 cops while 136 were victims of terrorism in 2014. Financial compensations to the families of killed cops were pending despite announcements and hence the Bahria Town, a nongovernmental organisation dealing with private real estate business had announced to extend financial assistance to the aggrieved families.

The Bahria Town chief Malik Riaz, however, in November 2014, Bahria Town and the Sindh Police signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide financial help to the families of cops killed in the line of duty. The MoU was signed by IGP Sindh Ghulam Hyder Jamali and Bahria Town chief executive Zain Malik at a ceremony at the CPO while under the agreement, Bahria

Town, had announced to give a package of Rs4.5 million to the family of each police martyrs – Rs1 million and plot worth rupees 3.5 million from November to onwards.

The Inspector General of Police, Sindh Ghulam Haider Jamali had on the occasion said that salient decline in incidents of target killings and other heinous crimes had occurred after sacrifices of the cops. The targeted operation against the criminals and terrorists was in full swing and Sindh Police had the situation under complete control regarding the law and order.

He lauded the Bahria Town for the financial support and said the Bahria Town had proved that the whole nation was standing at the back of Police and was extending full support to Police for the welfare of the cops’ families.

Speaking on the occasion, Bahria Town’s Zain Malik said Police had offered sacrifices due to which massive decline in crime rate and target killings had been ensured.

He said each family of martyred cops had been given Rs.1 million and 125-yard pot as announced by Bahria Town chief Malik Riaz.

Sindh Police had also requested Bahria Town administration to compensate at least the families of all police martyrs of 2014 and also requested to compensate the heirs of those policemen who lost their lives in rural Sindh.

Obama’s hollow call to MNS

MEDIA WATCH

Will new Ukraine ceasefire last?

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RESIDENT of the United States Barack Obama made a telephone call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to update him about what tran spired during his recent visit to India. During conversation, which lasted for about half an hour, the two leaders reportedly exchanged views on a number of related issues and Mian Nawaz Sharif conveyed Pakistan’s concern over some of the recent developments.

The United States and India, being sovereign countries, are within their right to exchange visits and enter into understanding on bilateral issues but other countries have also genuine apprehensions about some aspects of IndoUS relationship that impinges upon their national interests. Economic cooperation and bilateral investment are issues that purely concern Indians and Americans but defence pact, strategic accord and support for Indian bid to secure a permanent berth at the UN Security Council as well as so-called Indian role in post-withdrawal Afghanistan have legitimately raised apprehensions in Pakistan and China. It was in this backdrop that the Prime Minister conveyed to Obama that India doesn’t deserve to be a permanent member of the Security Council since it has been violating the UN resolutions on Kashmir. Obama also conveniently skipped mentioning about Kashmir dispute during his stay in New Delhi despite the fact that the conflict can imperil peace of the region. Similarly, he just made a vague and indirect reference to human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir and those of overall minorities in India. It is also regrettable that despite repeated requests by Pakistan to enter into same kind of civil nuclear cooperation as the US is eager to extend to India, there is no positive response from Washington so far. As far as the issue of terrorism is concerned, Pakistan has rendered tremendous sacrifices and is presently engaged in a decisive battle that would have direct bearing on peace of the region and beyond but unfortunately, Americans are talking about assigning greater role to India in Afghanistan, which is not acceptable to Pakistan for obvious reasons. India is already misusing Afghan soil to destabilize Pakistan and therefore, the idea to strengthen its presence there means extending support to plans to weaken Pakistan. In this backdrop, when all kinds of material, diplomatic and political support is being offered to India at expense of core national interests of Pakistan, Obama’s phone call to Nawaz can only be described as hollow.

Wang widens and deepens Pak-China ties C

HINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a highly productive two-day visit to Pakistan, bringing the two nations still closer in many fields.

He met Pakistani leadership and exchanged views on vital bilateral, regional and international issues of interest to the two countries.

Pakistan and China have always maintained close and fraternal ties but it is satisfying that they are poised to take them to the new heights in months and years to come. This is not just rhetoric but practical steps including dozens of projects under the proposed Economic Corridor plan are being taken to consolidate cooperation between the two countries. Wang reiterated that the Chinese President would soon visit Pakistan during which agreements are to be signed for execution of different projects that form part of the Corridor. We have been pointing out in these columns that timing of the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister was important as it came immediately after Obama’s meaningful visit to India. It was also not a coincidence that Obama’s phone call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came when Wang was in Islamabad having strategic talks with Pakistani leadership. As against the United States, which is trying to ditch Pakistan in Afghanistan, the Chinese leader has categorically stated that Pakistan has significant role to play in Afghan reconciliation, a goal that China intends to help realize by offering its own mediation services. It was also remarkable to note that China supported Pakistan’s viewpoint on expansion of the UN Security Council. No doubt, all Chinese leaders including Mr. Wang worked hard in giving new dimensions to Pak-China relations turning it into a strategic and comprehensive partnership. Therefore, the President rightly conferred on Wang Hilal-e-Pakistan award for his meritorious contribution towards strengthening of relations between the two countries.

Terrorism: Army’s appreciable chase of terrorists T

HURSDAY’S news briefing by Army spokesperson Major-General Asim Saleem Bajwa was significant in that it cleared many things and inspired confidence among different segments of the society about ability and capability of our Armed forces to defend the country against the menace of terrorism and extremism. Bajwa’s statement, his frank answers to ticklish questions and his body language conveyed a vivid impression that our valiant forces are fully resolved to take the on-going war against terror to a decisive conclusion.

The DG, ISPR, no doubt, made a superb and professional presentation before the press, covering minute details of what transpired in relation to APS tragedy, operation Zarb-e-Azb, intelligence sharing with neighbouring Afghanistan and issues of foreign interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan. It was quite encouraging to hear from him that the group of 27 involved in Peshawar attack stands busted with 09 terrorists killed, 12 arrested and an active hunt for the remaining six terrorists. He also plainly stated that the issue of either killing or handing over of Mullah Fazlullah is number one priority during talks with Afghanistan. He expressed confidence that Afghanistan would hand him over to Pakistan as Fazlullah is a known and established terrorist. The unambiguous statement of Bajwa about Indian patronage of TTP and involvement in Balochistan and FATA should be an eye-opener to many circles not only within Pakistan but also throughout the globe. India claims to be a victim of terrorism but its support for the deadly terrorist organization exposes its real face and designs. It is because of this that the Director-General ISPR urged the international community to do more for Pakistan. It is strange that Pakistan was being pressurized to act comprehensively against terrorists but no such pressure is being applied on abettors of terrorism like India. Important countries of the world have their own axe to grind but we are sure the nation would continue to extend solid support to its Armed forces till elimination of each and every terrorist.

We also hope that people would foil attempts of distracters, who are indirectly supporting terrorists by different tactics.

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Is this civilised discourse?

MQM over Baldia factory fire. He used indecent language against PTI women workers, alleging that “PTI had been running a den in the garb Mohammad Jamil prostitute of sit-in in Islamabad, Email: mjamil1938@hotmail.com with Shireen Mazari as in charge.” He also threatened print and electronic IVIL discourse demands media for highlighting the JIT report. that democratic participants PTI Chairman Imran Khan, in a quid respect each other. In genu- pro quo, criticized MQM chief Altaf ine democratic societies, arguments Hussain and called him an insane man in a debate are tolerated. Thomas and a coward. He advised the MQM Hollihan, professor at the Univer- to get rid of him at the earliest. Meansity of Southern California’s while, Altaf Hussain has apologized Annenberg School of Communica- for his uncalled for remarks.

A day after the elections, Altaf tion said: “To engage in a healthy political argument is to acknowl- Hussain in his address asked the esedge the possibility that one’s own tablishment to separate Karachi arguments could be falsified or from the rest of Pakistan if they did proven wrong. This demands that not like the public mandate of his citizens listen respectfully to the party. After 2013 elections, Pakistan claims made by others. Name-call- Tehrik-e-Insaf had staged a sit-in ing, threats and bullying behaviours against rigging of elections in NA do not meet the demands of effec- 250, a Karachi constituency. In a tive deliberation.” In Pakistan, po- telephonic address to MQM activlitical leaders have never paid at- ists staging a sit-in before the Electention to establish democratic tra- tion Office in Karachi, that he ditions in their parties; they never would unleash his party workers on created second and third tiers of the protesters who would cut them leadership, nor efforts made to in- into pieces. He also said that culcate democratic spirit in their anchorpersons may criticise the workers. The discourse in TV talk MQM but should stop accusations shows or public meetings is any- against the descendents of those thing but civilized discourse. MQM who created Pakistan. Then, Lonhead honcho is also one of those don Metropolitan Police sources who often resort to vitriolic and had confirmed having received thousands of phone calls from Pathreatening posture.

After the release of Joint Inves- kistanis over Altaf Hussain’s retigation Team (JIT) report on marks meant to incite violence Baldia factory fire, which named against PTI protesters, and threats MQM activist Rizwan Qureshi re- to break up Pakistan.

UK High Commissioner to Pasponsible for the gory incident that killed 250 workers, MQM chief kistan had said: “Under British Altaf Hussain criticised the agen- laws, promoting hatred and viocies and accused them of having lence is liable to punishment and hatred for the MQM. He lashed out Altaf Hussain’s statements must be at the PTI for its criticism of the taken seriously”. Altaf Hussain of-

News & Views

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ten reminded that Urdu speaking people are civilized, but his odious calls or his diction could be described anything but civilized.

Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Altaf Hussain Hali, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Hasrat Mohani, baba-i-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq and many others had indeed contributed to the promotion of Urdu language, and enriched the culture. They were the icons that had made prodigious contributions to development of literature. Had they ever used the language Altaf Hussain used in his speeches? They did not use foul language against anybody, not even against functionaries of the British Raj, because they were civilized in the real sense.

Altaf Hussain, while rejecting the JIT report said that the matter should be investigated by Scotland Yard and the UN. Before 2013 elections, when the court had ordered demarcation of a few constitutions in Karachi, London chapter of the MQM had written a memorandum to the UN asking it to use its influence for holding fair and free elections, and putting pressure on ECP to stop pursuing the process of delimitation of constituencies in Karachi. Such memorandum submitted to the UN tarnished the image of Pakistan as a sovereign state and was also reflective of lack of trust by the party concerned on the ECP and the government of Pakistan. Involving international community on internal affairs of Pakistan is condemnable. It is ironical that the party that remained in power and enjoyed perks, privileges and power of the governance for more than twenty five years, stooped so low to disgrace its institutions.

Unfortunately, Altaf Hussain was critical of people of all provinces.

After formation of the MQM, its

very first target was Sindhis, who had given the refugees lands in Sindh, and established for them PIB Colony and other residential areas in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Later, the MQM took on Punjabis, Pushtuns and even Balochs of Lyari. Altaf Hussain should do a bit of introspection whether he is doing any service to the descendents of those who had waged a struggle under the leadership of Quaid-eAzam for separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent. He has to realize that Karachi is a port city, and like elsewhere in the world, workers from all regions and areas of the country go there to eke out living. It should be borne in mind that Karachi is not only for Urdu speaking people; it is home to Punjabis, Balochs, Sindhis and Pushtuns.

All of them have given sweat and blood in development of this mega city. And no ethnic fraternity can throw the other one out of Karachi. There is a perception that Altaf Hussain is upset because MQM’s authority or power enjoyed during Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf eras has waned or eroded.

Apart from that, other mafia groups have also emerged, and there is a turf war among them to control their areas of influence. MQM chief, who has lorded over his party from London for over twenty three years, often makes incendiary speeches. He has been inviting patriotic generals to take over; has been ridiculing the Supreme Court, and is responsible for the shutting down of Pakistan’s commercial hub from distant shores. As a matter of fact, whenever his party’s stake in the power pie is threatened, he utters extreme remarks.

—The writer is Lahore-based senior journalist.

Kejriwal emerges as Modi’s challenger of laws and administration has condemned its 1.26 billion people to, he was an early booster of the man who is now India’s PM. However, he has not been M D Nalapat reticent in subsequently pointing out that far too Email: mgnalapat@gmail.com much of the Modi government is in fact a retread of past regimes, writing HOSE who, either out of stu months ago that what the people of pidity or culpability, fail to India were witnessing was a govunderstand the truth go on to ernment that in its functioning was abuse. For the past six weeks, this “20% Modi, 40% Vajpayee and columnist has forecast the victory 40% Manmohan Singh”. The of the Aam Aadmi Party over the people of India voted out Vajpayee BJP in the jut-concluded assembly in 2004 and Manmohan Singh in polls for Delhi. His assessment at 2014,they do not want to see a rethat time was 48 out of 70 seats peat of such regimes, but expect a for the AAP, a view which was governance system that will 100% seized upon by a prominent BJP be what Candidate Modi insider (known as an expert spin promised,light on the people and bowler) to paint this columnist as heavy on wrongdoers. being not independent in his analyInstead, whether it is Sonia sis but a supporter of the AAP. In- Gandhi or the numerous ministers deed, this spin bowler ensured that in the Manmohan Singh governeven some BJP spokespersons ment who have enriched themparroted this line, hinting that the selves, far from being held to acforecast of an AAP sweep was not count, they seem to have escaped based on a realistic analysis of the accountability altogether. Indeed, round situation, but was the result the few who were at the forefront of a bias in favour of the AAP. of the campaign against Sonia Let it be said that this colum- Gandhi and corruption were - all of nist has a bias in favour of clean, them - carefully excluded from the lean and transparent governance, team Modi put together after the and will support those implement- 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Instead, ing such a vision while opposing those known to have been close to the many who continue with the Sonia Gandhi and to the previous colonial model of an intrusive, cor- government were placed in key rupt and opaque system of admin- positions. These include an indiistration. Seeing in Narendra Modi vidual who was so cosy with the an individual who (with his cry for previous government that he was “Minimum Government and the only opposition leader to get Maximum Governance”) could regular briefings from the Intelliensure a freeing of India from the gence Bureau, which shows the chains which the colonial system extent to which he was indulged and

Geopolitical notes from India

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trusted, because the IB gave him juicy bits of information on his political rivals in the BJP (and on some of his former patrons), much of which ended up in newspaper headlines and got circulated through television anchors, all of whom had the same special relationship with this BJP personage as Sonia Gandhi had.

Another individual given a high responsibility by Prime Minister Modi had been appointed to several nationalised bank boards by the Manmohan Singh government, from where he lobbied for loans to corporates, most of which is now bad debt. Rather than look to fresh talent untainted by previous association with successive governments, each of whom were known for corruption, Prime Minister Modi relied on the same stale catchment area of Lutyens Delhi and the favourites of Lutyens Delhi for his key picks, and is now paying the political price for such a decision In an earlier column, it had been mentioned how elections in Delhi would be crucial for Prime Minister Modi. Had the results been 29 seats for the BJP and 39 for the AAP, it would be a different matter. By winning 67 out of 70 seats, Arvind Kejriwal has replaced Rahul Gandhi as the main challenger to Prime Minister Modi. Till now, it as Rahul Gandhi who was seen as the politician who was a foil to the Prime Minister, certainly a convenient individual to have as a rival.

From February 10 onwards, it is Kejriwal who has taken over that role. Voters across the country will see him and the party he leads as the best bet against Modi, and this will give the AAP a taliwind strong

enough to make them a challenger to the BJP in at least the major cities of India, a factor which could result in 200 seats out of 542 in the next Lok Sabha, assuming that the AAP does not go rural, as it may. For the composition of Team Modi and the continuation of several of the Congress-era policies by a Prime Minister who was portrayed as the polar opposite of the Congress Party and its leader Sonia Gandhi are making the AAP led by Kejriwal the real counter to the Congress Party.

Interestingly, not a single Congress leader has been invited to the swearing in ceremony of the new AAP government in Delhi on February 14.Clearly,the AAP wants to be the party which sucks up both the anti-Congress as well as the anti-BJP vote, a formidable combination Should Kejriwal show that he can deliver administratively, and ensure that some of the more Luddite members of his party be kept in check, he can by 2017 emerge as a potent challenger to Prime Minister Modi, even denying the PM a second term. By focussing on Kejriwal and pitting Modi against Kejriwal in the Delhi polls, the BJP has played into the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party. Unless Modi delivers on the promise of change from the past, his party will be the loser in the years ahead.

—The writer is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University, Haryana State, India.

HE Ukraine ceasefire agree ment reached after laborious negotiations in Minsk this week may or may not last. Unfortunately, we can be sure of one thing: it will not in itself lead to a real peace. The objectives of Russia, Ukraine, the separatists, the Europeans and the Americans are so divergent they are impossible to reconcile. The reduction in the level of violence if a ceasefire even half holds was of course worth pursuing, in spite of the agreement being deficient in other respects. In just the first five days of this month 263 men, women and children were killed in the fighting zone, and this does not include military casualties.

Anything that brings this kind of appalling figure down is obviously to be welcomed, and anything that limits the expansion of the war into areas of Ukraine hitherto untouched even more so.

But nothing will be settled and new fighting will be a constant possibility until one side or the other revises its aims, or to put it more exactly, decides what those aims are. The body language of the leaders at Minsk told its own story. They looked as if they did not trust one another. They looked as if they would prefer to be anywhere in the world except in Minsk. They looked as if they were pretending to be in charge but were inwardly aware that they were not. They looked, in a word, hapless. The truth is that they have collectively dug themselves into a hole from which it is proving desperately hard to get out of. Nobody planned or wanted to get into this situation, no doubt including Vladimir Putin. But his responsibility is great, even though it is not his alone, and the question of what his objectives are is critical. We know what Ukraine wants, which is full control of its territory and borders. We know what the separatists want, which is also full control, at most with a very nominal nod to Kiev’s authority, of their territory and borders, plus somebody to pay the bills, since they are broke, administratively incompetent, and likely to remain so. We know what Europe wants, which is a deal that will hold, be relatively satisfactory to Ukraine, and halt the slippage of relations with Russia towards permanent hostility.

Mr Putin is more obscure.

Sometimes he has restrained the separatists, sometimes he seems to have given them the green light for offensive action. They do not have full trust in him, while he has not got full control of them. Sometimes he seems to have had annexation in mind, at other times the evidence has suggested that this is the last thing he wants. Sometimes a grand plan to undermine both Ukraine and Europe as a whole seems to emerge, then there are moments when it looks as if he understands this is too ambitious. Sometimes he seems to want to get back on terms with Europe and America, sometimes not.

A man with a secret strategy, or a serial tactician with no strategy worthy of the name? Not easy to answer. What can be said with certainty is that Mr Putin does not want to be seen to lose. His whole political position, in his own country and to an extent in the world, is based on projecting an image of being brilliantly and imperturbably on top of things. His cockiness, his kind of wit, his geopolitical discourses, his physical poise, are all instruments to this end. But this emperor, we may surmise, is secretly aware of the danger of losing his clothes.

He may also have an inkling not only that the damage done to his relationship with western countries can never be fully repaired but that the direction in which he has taken Russian politics is a dangerous one.

He has conjured up a simplistic black and white nationalism that is useful to him at the moment but which could be very problematic in the future. If the new Minsk agreement fails because he does not deliver his side of the bargain, there will be additional western sanctions, a much wiser way of exerting pressure than the proposal for arms shipments that some are floating in Washington. But something else is needed, something that could be presented in Russia as a victory of sorts but would in fact be, and be internationally understood to be, a serious compromise. Yet it will be a risky business, to try to craft such an outcome with a man who is not trusted by western leaders and who has been so unpredictable in the past.— The Guardian It’s an ill-wind that blows nobody any good — Proverb

A valuable health guide Name of the book Author Reviewed by Publisher

Dawa, Ghiza Aur Shifa Dr Asif Mahmood Jah Yumna Nayab National Book Foundation, Islamabad Rs 130/-

Price

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R Asif Mahmood Jah’s book Dawa Ghiza Aur Shifa is a Health Guide which gives valuable advice on medicines, their side effects and precautions in case of common ailments. Dr. Jah is the author of several books on public health in English and Urdu; this particular volume is a health guide for ordinary people, for whom Dr Jah offers some commonsense advice: avoid unnecessary use of medicines, take care of your diet and the rest will follow.

However, what’s unique about the book is that Dr Jah is a qualified doctor who is nevertheless inclusive in his approach.

Many of our doctors emerge from medical school with nothing but con-

tempt for all forms of healing other than modern allopathic. The book is divided into 84 short chapters, most of which are dedicated to some ailment or another. Thus, for instance, chapter 44 deals with Diabetes. It begins by listing commonly prescribed allopathic medicines and then lists diabetic symptoms. Next is a list of warning: do not take these medicines if lactating, and so on. Other commonsense warnings follow: take advice from doctor, get yourself checked regularly, and avoid eating sweet things. In the fourth sub-section of each chapter, there is talk of alternative therapies.

Then Dr. Jah plunges into terrain not normally found in a physician’s manual: take anti-diabetic Roti bread

(made from Methi leaves and basin or flour) and recite some verses of the Quran (which he specifies) in order to cure the disease.

In a way, Dr Jah’s manual is uniquely a product of our society. The three chief forms of healing that he advocates modern allopathic, herbal and spiritual indicate the way that many Pakistani tackle illness. When you come down to it, all three are an appeal to higher authority for a problem that is out of one’s control, whether the higher authority is Science, the Wisdom of the Ages, or God. On the whole, though, Dr. Jah seems to favour the Wisdom of the Ages (Folk Home Remedies) and appeals to the Divine. Perhaps this is a good thing - issuing a manual for selfdiagnosis and prescription would be hazardous, to say the least, given how easily prescription medicines are available over the counter. Instead, presumably, this book should be taken in conjunction with the recommendations of one’s physician.

Dr Jah’s favourite natural healing products are Honey, Olive Oil, Ginger, Black Pepper, Salt, Lemon, Methi leaves, Isapgoule, alongwith fresh vegetables and fruits. Besides the 84 chapters, the new edition of the book con-

tains 100 easy to follow, one to 2 liner, effective natural as well as herbal Folk Home Remedies which can be easily followed and applied with success to get immediate relief.

These easy remedies can be best described as first-aid measures which in most of the cases can prove life saving before reaching a doctor/hospital for correct diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Dr. Jah’s recommendations in respect of the most of the ailments/diseases are usually easy to follow and accord with one’s common sense.

Ultimately Dr. Jah feels that healing must be accomplished through the use of all three techniques he suggests: Modern Medicine, Dietary Care and Prayer. Whatever one’s own beliefs, Dr. Jah has written a useful health guide that caters for all healing preferences.

The book has been beautifully printed by National Book Foundation and its price is within the reach of everybody. Three editions of the book has so far published within the span of 03 three months and 4th one is ready for printing. Dawa Ghiza Aur Shifa is a family health guide and must read for every member of the family.

View From Abroad

US-India nuclear breakthrough that wasn’t Brahma Chellaney

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URING US President Barack Obama’s recent India visit, a stalled, decade-old civil nuclear deal took centre-stage, with the two sides announcing a breakthrough on the contentious issues blocking its implementation — a development that promised to potentially open the path for a Japan-India nuclear deal. It now appears that the breakthrough was more hype than reality and that there is little prospect of the US-India deal’s early commercialisation. With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his side, Obama announced that “we achieved a breakthrough understanding on two issues that were holding up our ability to advance our civil nuclear cooperation.” The two issues identified were nuclear accident liability and the administrative arrangements to govern the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement — the successor to an accord the United States unilaterally terminated after India detonated a nuclear device in 1974.

US officials said India agreed to address American concerns over its liability legislation by setting up a $245 million nuclear insurance pool and issuing a “memorandum of law” — essentially an executive action.

The Indian foreign ministry, for its part, said “the deal is done,” with the two sides having “reached an understanding on civil nuclear liability and finalized the text of the administrative arrangements.” But it has now become apparent that the US and India are still locked in negotiations to tie up loose ends and that the muchtrumpeted breakthrough was little more than an effort to project a substantive advance during a presidential visit rich in pageantry and symbolism. Obama was the chief guest at India’s Jan. 26 Republic Day parade, a year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had that honour.

While claiming a breakthrough, neither side released any details, including on how another sticking point had been resolved: a US demand that New Delhi accept nuclear-material tracking and accounting arrangements that go beyond the safeguards system that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved and applied to nuclear-armed India’s civilian nuclear program. The US demand entails establishing, on top of

the IAEA inspections system, a bilateral safeguards system — an elaborate and expensive arrangement in which India would separately track and account for nuclear materials “by flag” (that is, by each national origin). The same stumbling block over parallel safeguards in perpetuity has held up India’s conclusion of nuclear deals with Japan and Australia but not with Canada, which dropped that demand. Shortly after Modi took office last May, the Indian foreign ministry conveyed to Tokyo that concluding a nuclear deal must take centre-stage during a Modi visit to Japan. Even though Modi postponed his Japan visit by several weeks for unrelated reasons, negotiations failed to yield a deal.

Australia has no nuclear power program, despite holding the world’s largest uranium reserves, and can only offer to export yellowcake, which India is already sourcing amply from other suppliers. Japan’s importance, by contrast, is underscored by two facts: It is the world’s leading supplier of heavy nuclear forgings, with just one Japanese company — Japan Steel Works — controlling 80 percent of the global market for large forged components for light-water reactors (LWRs); and the US-based Westinghouse is owned by Japan’s Toshiba, while another reactor vendor, GE-Hitachi, also headquartered in the US, is jointly owned by America’s GE and Hitachi of Japan.

India, pointing out that IAEA safeguards guarantee that all its imported materials are accounted for and devoted to peaceful purposes, has resisted the demand for establishing additional safeguards with America (and Japan) bilaterally, saying this would amount to assuming onerous obligations not envisaged even in the original US-India nuclear deal of 2005.

While the “flagging” arrangements sought by the US and Japan are strictly a government-to-government issue, nuclear liability has become a bone of contention between the Indian government and the firms seeking to export commercial reactors to it — the two US-Japanese private companies, France’s state-controlled Areva and Russia’s Rosatom.

The US government, however, has also weighed in against the Indian liability law, calling it an obstacle to the deal’s commercialisation. To be sure, India and the US have made considerable progress in recent

months on resolving the sticking points, although a final deal has yet to be clinched. Progress has come mainly due to Indian concessions. As US Assistant Secretary for State Nisha Biswal admitted last week, the two sides are still “trading paper” and working to stitch up the deal.

The Modi government has yielded ground, even at the risk of facing criticism at home. For example, it has agreed to reinterpret domestic law so as to effectively transfer reactor vendors’ nuclear accident liability risks to Indian taxpayers. Indian law allows suppliers to be held liable in case of an accident. The government is also reinterpreting another provision of the law to bar victims of a nuclear accident in India from suing for damages in the US. These actions are likely to prove controversial, given India’s bitter experience over the 1984 gas leak from an American-owned Bhopal city plant that killed about as many people as the Fukushima disaster. Indeed, Japan’s dual liability laws, which indemnify suppliers and make plant operators exclusively liable, should serve as a sobering lesson for India: GE built or designed all the three Fukushima reactors that suffered core meltdowns in 2011, yet the US firm went scot-free, despite a fundamental design deficiency in the reactors.

On the issue of parallel safeguards, New Delhi has agreed to go more than half-way to meet America’s demand, which springs from its Henry J. Hyde Act, enacted in 2006 to govern the nuclear deal unveiled the year before. India will establish a datasharing and material-accounting mechanism with America. Its “flagging” of materials by nationality will also involve tracking items sourced from third countries but used in USorigin reactors. Yet US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward R. Royce has criticized this arrangement as not adequate. With complex legal, pricing and other issues still pending, the deal’s commercialisation is anything but imminent. In fact, the two sides are yet to sign the administrative arrangements, which they announced had been “finalized.”

It is an open question whether the deal will ever yield substantive energy benefits for India, given the exorbitant price of foreign-origin reactors, the concomitant need for India to heavily subsidize the electricity from such plants, and grassroots

safety concerns over the Fukushimatype multi-plant nuclear parks earmarked by India for Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi and Areva, each of which is to sell prototype LWR models presently not in operation anywhere in the world. The accidentstricken Fukushima reactors were also the first of their kind. Adding to India’s risks is its plan to induct a multiplicity of different LWR technologies from the US, France and Russia. This will also exacerbate its maintenance challenges. Nuclear power faces an uncertain future, with few new reactors under construction in the West. Yet India has continued to place the nuclear deal at the hub of its relationship with America.

Washington has obligingly pandered to this Indian weakness, entering into protracted implementation-related negotiations. The original deal had already spawned multiple subsidiary deals before Obama announced a “breakthrough” on two more auxiliary deals. Each deal has been hailed

by New Delhi as a diplomatic success, regardless of the concessions it had to make or the new obligations thrust upon it.

It is past time for India to reduce the salience of the nuclear deal in its relations with America and prioritise other issues concerning its core interests. Why a deal to import reactors to generate an increasingly uneconomical source of energy is critical to Indian interests has never been elaborated by the deal pushers in India other than through beguiling slogans, such as “End of nuclear apartheid against India” and “A place for India at international high table.”

Such imports will create thousands of jobs for American workers but will be out of sync with Modi’s “Make in India” initiative to expand domestic manufacturing base.

India’s diplomatic over-investment in the nuclear deal has only made it harder for it to address more fundamental issues in its ties with the US, including an increasingly one-sided defence relationship.

Rarely before has America acquired a major arms client of the size of India so rapidly. It will take concerted efforts, without being weighed down by the nuclear deal millstone, to forge a true, enduring US-India partnership. The writer is a geo-strategist and the author of the award-winning “Water: Asia’s New Battleground.”

— Courtesy: The Japan Times

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HIS happened a few days ago while talking to a friend on my cell and suddenly found him walking next to me; yet we continued conversing to each other through our instruments!

Made me think the wily mobile is sure taking over our lives!

Another friend who boasts everyone in his family has a phone, and who himself carries two, called me out for dinner, along with his family. “Hi,” I said as I walked into the hotel lobby.

“Hello,” he said, winking at me, “you got the reservations?”

“What reservations?” I spluttered, “I thought you were taking

word you’ve really grown, stop calling me uncle.”

“Uncle,” continued the girl talking into her yellow tinted instrument, “you’ve got to allow Jenny to come with us; we’ll see she comes back by eleven.

Promise uncle, promise!” She grinned at me and winked and I sheepishly winked back at her and turned to her younger brother, who seemed lost in thought. “How’s school?” I asked “Algebra was terrible,” said the boy, “but I’ve taken notes and I’ll give them to you.”

“I don’t need any notes,” I smiled, “Luckily I don’t have to study Algebra anymore..” “I can give you my geometry notes too if you’ll come out with me,” said the boy grinning at me and pressing his heavyweight German phone tightly to his ear with anticipation. I looked away quickly

Preservation of heritage MOOMAL ZAFAR SIDDIQUI

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he spirit, identification and cultural norms of a country are founded upon and reflected through its historical heritage. But unfortunately that’s not the case in our country. We claim to be highly educated, well-awarded and well-equipped, yet we compromise on our foundations. Here, I would like to express my dismay on the Sindh festival which was celebrated in different parts of Sindh and other highly glamorous fashion shows which take place now and then. Every bit of such events demonstrate the heavy amounts spent on them recklessly. Whereas I believe if such”heavy amounts” are put into the preservation of heritage, it would benefit many as well as the country on a bigger scale. Conditions of our museums, libraries and other historical places are just hopeless. They are the same since ages, no work of further preservation and enhancement is taking place. Heritage buildings are important venues linking new generation with an older one and thus as places to be used for education and citizenship. It also leads to various economic stabilities in a longer run. Therefore, it is my keen request to the respective higher government authorities to look into the matter of preserving our heritage, so that it benefits the upcoming generation in relating and having better concepts with history. Also investing sufficient amounts for their renovation purposes before it’s too late.

—Karachi

Fascinating Northern Areas LARAIB HAMEED Pakistan is well-known for its beautiful Northern areas. These areas are truly called a visitor’s paradise. Pakistan has some of the world’s most beautiful valleys in its Northern areas having alpine flowers, fairy meadows, turbulent rivers and snow-covered mountains. Hunza Valley is among one of the most popular valleys among tourists. Its major town Karimabad has some of the beautiful and elegant peaks in world including Rakaposhi, Passu Peak and Hunza Peak. Especially the view of Rakaposhi is worth-seeing in moon-light. Another attraction of Hunza is the Baltit Fort that gives an awesome ancient touch.

Most of the tourists come here to see these two big attractions.

Moreover Hunza provides a pleasure of trekking and hiking to the tourists. Gilgit Valley is also considered as one of the finest valley of Pakistan. It is located at an elevation of 1454 meters. Gilgit is not only known for its beauty but also for a number of historic places that are worth-visiting. Some of the attractions in Gilgit Valley include Budha Sculpture engraved out of stone; Taj Mughal (30 KMs from Gilgit town); Sher Qilla Naltar Valley(at a three hours drive from Gilgit link road where you enjoy services of rest-house and various private hotels, alpine forest and a Ski slope) For those tourists who like to play and watch Polo, Gilgit is the best place to visit. A Polo tournament is held in Gilgit valley every year in the month of November.

Like other valleys of the Northern areas of Pakistan, the Gilgit valley also provides attractions like trout fishing, trekking, hiking and mountaineering. Visiting Kaghan valley proves to be a wonderful and memorable experience. It is located in the Province of Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa. It is popular for its lakes, streams and gorgeous water-falls but is mostly known for its one lake named Saif-ul-Maluk. It is among one of the most stunning lakes of Pakistan. Here in the waters of this valley, world’s renowned fishes are found named Trout and Mahasheer.

Especially the trout of River Kunhar is very popular among tourists and locals as well. Skardu is the main town and capital of Baltistan which is situated in the background of Karakoram Mountainous range.

The journey from Islamabad to Skardu by air is full of enthusiasm as it provides a breath-taking view of the high mountains. Its attractions include Buddhist Rock, Sadpara Lake, Kachura Lake, Shigar Valley and Khaplu Valley. The Swat Valley is considered perfect for spending holidays. It is full of beautiful views of cold lakes, slopes covered with beautiful flowers and gardens full of fruits-laden branches. It is located at an elevation of 975 meters. It is the only valley where the tourists can go at any time of year as its weather is not as extreme as compared to other valleys.

—Via email

Defeat: A drive to new start

Talking wireless..! me out?” “Without reservations I cannot leave the country damn it!” he shouted, as he smiled at me, waved me in and continued yelling into his rather tiny phone while I looked on sheepishly.

His wife, a pretty woman and a mother of two equally good looking teenagers was already sitting inside the restaurant, along with her children. They looked like one big happy family as they all talked, shouted, laughed and cracked jokes into their own little fancy phones!

“You’re coming in a little late,” said his pretty wife, smiling at me with her eyes. “No,” I said, “I’m right on time.” “But if you come in late you’ll miss all our kitty party action!” she cried into her cute little mobile, leaving me mortified at my stupidity. “Hi uncle!” said his daughter across the table. “Hi!” I said, “My

Voice of the People

SHABINA ATIF and studiously studied the menu.

“You’re become very quiet,” said my friend giving me a nudge and sitting next to me.

“I guess you all are very busy” I said, looking at his smart cell lying still on the table. “But you can’t remain so quiet,” continued my friend shouting into the second phone, I’d forgotten he had. “We’ll organize a lovely kitty party just for you!” said his pretty wife at my side looking at me coyly.

“No your dad isn’t coming along” said her daughter smiling at me. “We’ll study Algebra and geometry and some new topics together,” said the son winking at me.

I fled the restaurant, ran outside and heard my mobile ring. “Hey”, said my friend’s voice, “we haven’t chatted for a long time, let’s talk now..!”

—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

What does one mean by defeat? Is it losing a cricket match from your arch rival or losing a badminton tournament? It may be said that you are defeated when you are deprived of victory by your competitor. Defeat is a dark phase of life. If you experience a sense of gloom and depression on someone’s victory over you, it would amount as if your belief in yourself is being shattered. It is rightly said that invisible scars cause the most pain. Similarly, a defeat you face individually, whose murky consequences over shadow the light of your own soul is much more painful than a defeat in any match or competition.

Our life is like a train; that only goes on. It does not wait for you to catch up with its increasing velocity. As long as you cope up with the ride, you’ll be fine. But as soon as an obstacle comes in the way, there you

are no where as are left behind! These obstacles are no rocks or barriers; but the people whom we are surrounded by all the time and whom we value and consider to be good ‘friends’ and be a source of strength for us in hours of despair.

These obstacles came in my way also when I was left behind and felt completely defeated! I trusted the wrong people - the ones whom I believed would remain by my side in hardships; help me to mend the bridges and cross them with me. I fell into complex! I just bowed down when I was told about my deficiencies. I made those fears evident and soon they were exploited. Instead of valuing myself and making others value me, I was more concerned about the deficiencies that people thought I had. No one is born perfect! Every being is imperfect and that adds beauty to a human soul. Fortunately enough, this feeling of defeat came with its advantages. It helped me to defeat other people’s control over my opinions and wills. It helped me to break the shackles of “What will they think” into “that what I think!” I’m back on my ride that only goes on. No obstacle can stop me now. I am a warrior, a warrior who has won her own defeat! A proud person at the end of the day!

—Islamabad

Load shedding: A fact of life JAVAID BASHIR The load shedding has become a fact of life in Pakistan. We are facing worst kind of Energy Crisis. The protesting crowds have exhausted over this matter. They have no energy left to protest any more, but the government does not care. The destruction of property and burning of tires must be condemned and the culprits arrested and brought to justice. We must behave in a civilized and respectable manner. We should refrain from indulging in such harmful conduct and activities.

The damage done to the property affects our own pocket book. We must try to build instead of demolishing what belongs to us. We must understand that load shedding has become a fact of life and there is no escape from it. We must bear it, as a nightmare.

—Karachi

Why to care what others think?

FATIMA ZAIDI Sooner or later, we all are influenced by what another person considers or comments upon something we do or say. The fact of the matter is that we start thinking under that influence and affect our personalities, conducts and characters. Our psyche is therefore directed towards the parameters which are nor actually our own bur are acquired under stress, duress and social pressures which we perceive to be there – though in reality they might not be there.

This happens to each of us in numerous structures and to numerous degrees of force. Our reluctance keeps us away from encountering genuine opportunities and communicating our actual selves in apprehension of what others will think. We do things in life basically on the grounds that we are searching for acceptance from others to make ourselves feel great. Our quest for satisfaction and peace then gets dependent upon the factors outside of ourselves. This is really damaging to our living psyches and standards.

— Via email

Palliative care

peccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psycho-social and spiritual. The palliative care is non-specialist care which includes day to day care and psychological and social care within hospital or home.

The people who having HIV/ Aids, they are living with a killer disease, need palliative care. The palliative care strategy is required at every level either for care-givers or family and community of the patients. The effective communication with patients and with their families will be a healthy tool. This is observed many times that patients and their families mostly find difficulty to discuss and share their feeling openly. They seek help regarding disease information and patient illness management and they want to listen from Care-giver.

The good communication strategy is needed for good palliative care.

—Islamabad

Newspapers & modern society LARAIB HAMEED Newspaper is one of the initial communication tools of the society. It has been the most effective medium used in conveying the local, regional, international and national news to readers. Ever since the beginning of the printing of the newspapers the human race owes a lot to this medium that keeps the people aware of the happenings in different parts worldwide.

Today the major dailies employ correspondents to collect news from all over the place and also from state organizations. They write about any and every event happening at all corners of the world. They act as the guardian of the society. They help in developing public opinion. They act as a mirror of the society and inform everything in minute detail, thus help in forming a collective opinion.

In this contemporary time the role of newspapers is very significant in the promotion of trade, commerce and business. Big corporate houses and business houses promote their products through advertisements published in newspapers. Advertisements like the classified advertisements, significant community announcements and communal notices also make up the main content and substance of newspapers.

Sports, educational as well as campus news, cultural activities, dance/drama and fine arts are a few of the indispensable features of every primary newspaper. The readers get the knowledge of any and every activity happening in and around the area. They read about the opinion and reviews, the editorials and feature articles to know about the incident in detail. The modern day newspaper also has a column, the letters to the editor, in which the reader can write about his grievances or appreciation about any report or incident in the society. The newspaper also informs about the political activities, the new laws or the sports and activities happening in society.

Apparently after reading these paragraphs it seems that the role of newspapers is to convey information and help in developing public opinion only. In reality, it is not limited to this extent. A modern day newspaper has done miraculous activity in recent years and shown that even in the age of internet and news portals, the radio and television, newspapers can still change the life, the thought and mind of the society. They can still help in creating a common opinion and work as a corporate social responsible tool and fight for justice if needed. They can change the government or help in punishing a criminal by simply acquiring public support and demanding justice. This is one of the major tools of democracy.

—Via email

RANA TASSAWAR ALI

DISCLAIMER

The concept of palliative care emerges in 1960s, and the philosophy of palliation included to managing end-of-life symptoms medically.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as ‘an approach that improves the quality of life of individuals and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and im-

THE articles, columns and letters are published on these pages in good faith. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.

—Editor Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

World cautiously hails Minsk deal on Ukraine BEIJING—The international community has ties concerned to ensure that a genuine and day that the Minsk deal must be respected. responded with cautious optimism to the Minsk peace deal reached Thursday between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany on ending the Ukraine crisis. The agreement envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and independenceseeking insurgents starting on Sunday, to be followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line and constitutional reform to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters Thursday that the parties “have managed to agree on the main issues,” including the withdrawal of heavy weapons, a special status for Ukraine’s eastern regions, provisions on border controls, and humanitarian issues. Meanwhile, all sides also stressed that disagreements remained.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged all parties involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine to fulfill their commitments made at the Minsk peace talks and ensure that a genuine and lasting cease-fire will take effect on Sunday as agreed. “The secretary-general expects that the commitments which have been made in Minsk will be respected by the parties. He urges the par-

lasting cease-fire will commence on Feb. 15 as agreed, paving the way for a broader political settlement of the conflict, based on the Minsk accords,” said a statement released by Ban’s spokesperson.

The United States welcomes the cease-fire agreement and calls for immediate implementation of the deal, the White House said Thursday. The agreement represents a “potentially significant step” toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty consistent with the Minsk agreements from last September, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.

Earnest called on all parties to carry out the accord and the September agreements “fully and without delay.” “The true test of today’s accord will be in its full and unambiguous implementation, including the durable end of hostilities and the restoration of Ukrainian control over its border with Russia,” the spokesman said.

The White House also expressed its concerns about the escalation of fighting in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, which it said “is inconsistent with the spirit of the accord.” European Council President Donald Tusk said late Thurs-

“We give it cautious support. Words put down on paper must translate into real deeds.

The cease-fire must be respected, we must see a real de-escalation of the conflict,” Tusk told reporters after an informal EU summit in Brussels. Tusk said the EU “will not hesitate to take necessary steps” if the Ukraine peace pact were not implemented.

He also noted that the EU leaders did not discuss any new sanctions or the removal of current sanctions against Russia. Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande acknowledged that more work needs to be done despite the temporary peace deal.

“This is a glimmer of hope, no more no less,” Merkel told reporters in Brussels. There are still major hurdles lying ahead and concrete steps must be taken, she noted. Hollande called the package of the Minsk agreements “a relief for Europe” and “a hope for Ukraine.”

He thanked Putin for influence he exerted on leaders of the self-claimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. He also thanked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for his active participation in the negotiations. British

Prime Minister David Cameron said that he welcomed the concerted efforts, but actions on the ground is more important. “What matters actually is actions on the ground rather than just words on a piece of paper.”

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto warned that the cease-fire will not begin until Sunday and disturbances may happen. Niinisto said the initial stage of peace would start when heavy weapons are withdrawn. Then issues related to the surveillance of the border, a possible special status of eastern Ukraine and an agreement on the ties between the EU and Ukraine remain to be solved.

He warned that an uncertain situation is likely to continue in Ukraine for a long time.

Also on Thursday, Albania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the ceasefire agreement.

“The agreement reached this morning once again underlines the importance of resolving conflict through peaceful means and all-inclusive political dialogue,” it said. It urged parties concerned to “fully engage in respecting and implementing all elements of this agreement and in particular the ceasefire ... to achieve a sustainable solution, in the best interest of Ukraine and its citizens.—Xinhua

China to strike stability and growth balance B EIJING —China will bal- forward restructuring meaance stability and growth to achieve medium-to-high speed growth in 2015 through stabilizing macroeconomic policies while deepening economic reform, economists observed.

A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Thursday stressed the determination of policymakers to strike a balance between stability and growth in adapting to the new normal of economic growth.

China will stabilize and improve its macro-economic policies; maintain the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy; and continue fine-tuning and targeted regulatory measures in 2015 to secure steady economic growth, said the meeting. The meeting also called for deepening reforms in the investment, financing, pricing and taxation sectors and the continued streamlining of administrative procedures and powers to tackle economic slowdown.

The meeting signalled policymakers’ resolution to continue the quality-growth drive in the second largest economy, which is pushing

sures to fend off impacts from a continued slowdown, said Zhang Zhuoyuan, an economic researcher from the China Academy of Social Sciences. China’s economy grew 7.4 percent in 2014, the weakest annual expansion in 24 years, and a string of economic indicators for the new year, including in manufacturing and trade data, all suggested continued weakness.

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI), the main gauge of manufacturing activity, fell below 50 for the first time since October 2012 in January, and data last week showed exports fell by 3.2 percent and imports plunged 19.7 percent for January.

Zhang said the ongoing slowdown would not force China to backtrack on its reform promises, because a lack of reforms could be fatal for long-term development.

Furthermore, stability and growth can be mutually reinforcing as the the necessary adjustment in economic structure will help promote the steady growth, he added.

Zhang Qing from the Chinese Academy of Governance observed that China had an arsenal of policy options at its disposal to counter the slowdown in 2015.—Xinhua

China plans tourism zone with Russia, DPRK C H A N G C H U N —China is ward by the Hunchun City planning an international tourism zone in its northeastern border area with Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Tumen River Delta international tourism area will include part of China’s Hunchun City, as well as a 10 sq km plot each from Russia and DPRK, said the government of China’s Jilin Province. The three sides will jointly build tourism facilities.

At the ongoing annual session of the provincial legislature, Jiang Chaoliang, governor of Jilin, said the province would draw up a blueprint for the tourism area this year and explore a management model that would involve the three countries.

The initiative was put for-

government in 2013 and has drawn interest from authorities of the border areas of Russia and DPRK. Visitors shall enter the tourism zone without visa and shopping shall be dutyfree, according to officials.

In the long run, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Mongolia will join the tourism area via highways, railways and air routes, said Zhao Xiaojun, director of Jilin Provincial Tourism Administration.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) in 1995, which provides a multilateral forum for its member countries to tap potential economic opportunities.—Xinhua

Rescuers clear the debris of a passenger train after it derailed on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, India.

Train accident kills 11 in south India B ANGALORE —At least 11 people have died after three coaches of a train derailed in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, railway officials say on Friday. The accident took place near Anekal, about 40km (25 miles) from the state capital, Bangalore, on Friday morning. Officials said the toll was likely to rise as many bodies were trapped in the wreckage.

Seventeen people are injured.

There have been numerous train accidents in India in recent years, killing hundreds of people. India’s railway network operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day. Railway officials said the BangaloreErnakulam Intercity Express left Bangalore a little after 06:00 local time [12:30GMT] and that the accident took place 90 minutes later.

“I had dozed off when there was a sudden jerk and people started falling off,” Vinay, who works for an IT software company, told BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi. “I tried getting out through the emergency exit window, but there was a lot of smoke. So we jumped out of the train.” Correspondent say India’s vast railway network is trying to reduce frequent accidents.—Online

Why China says no to “wrong Western values”?

T

HREE Muslim university students were gunned down Wednesday in North Caro lina, United States. After seeing the ‘breaking news’ alert on my phone, from the UK’s Independent newspaper, I switched on the TV to tune in to CNN. Nothing there. Instead, I saw a suitably stern Christiana Amanpour in conversation with French journalist Didier Francois about the latest ISIS terror. Then I turned to the old, ever dependable Beebs. Nothing there, either. Not even on the ‘fair and balanced’ Fox News or our own Al Jazeera.

In fact, the news about the shooting of the family of three, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammed, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad, 19, all students of the North Carolina University, in their home trickled down on wires much later. And even when it did, the response from Western and international media outlets was limited and understated. No ‘Terror Alert’! No screaming headlines about the attack, or minute-by-minute live coverage.

President Obama did not rush to condemn the killings as he did following the recent attacks in Paris and elsewhere. As far as I know, the White House has yet to issue a formal statement on the killing. Much of the US and Western media has played it down as a ‘petty crime

over a petty issue’ like parking.

An Associated Press report wondered if the killing had anything to do with ‘hate.’ It answered its own question saying the killer, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, described himself as a ‘guntoting atheist’ as if that explained the killings.

Ripley Rand, the US Attorney for North Carolina, said the “crime appears at this point to have been an isolated incident.” Hicks’ attorney said the man “was frustrated day in and day out about not being able to park where he wanted to.”

So there you have it. It was a minor parking issue. It wasn’t even a hate crime, it seems, let alone a terror attack. As someone quipped on Twitter, terrorism happens only if Muslims go berserk. Comparisons are odious. But if all lives are equal in the eyes of the world, why do we not see the same global outrage and outpouring of grief and solidarity with the victims that one witnessed following the Charlie Hebdo carnage?

Where are the righteous statements from London, Washington and Paris, condemning the act of terror in this case? After the Paris killings, an agitated David Cameron had vowed to ‘stand squarely for free speech and democracy.’

Mimicking Blair and Bush, Cameron had thundered: “These people will never be able to take us off those values.” What about the ‘freedom and democracy’ of those killed in North Carolina? Were they any less human? What makes

GEORGE S. HISHMEH

F

OR generations, hardly has any Israeli leader clashed as loudly with key powerful supporters — the American presi dents — as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with President Barack Obama over the current US peace seeking stance with Iran over the latter’s nuclear aspirations.

This conflict has also touched off a serious rift between this arrogant Israeli leader and several prominent top fellow co-religionists in the US who run influential American Jewish organisations.

At the same time, another front-page issue was publicly outlined: The decades long Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is bound to precipitate a similar result, primarily because of Israel’s expansionist policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and its continued failure to spell out readiness to accept a fair settlement with the Palestinians.

Although international attention to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has not recently been as loud as the Iranian issue, an announcement from the so-called Middle East Quartet last Sunday unexpectedly called for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations as soon as possible.

The Quartet representatives — the US, Russia, the EU and the UN — urged a “sustainable peace” which, they underlined, according to a State Department statement, “requires the Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood and sovereignty and those of Israelis for security to be fulfilled through negotiations based on the two-state solution”. The Western negotiators with Iran, known as the P5+1, include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China — plus Germany, are at present in Munich, Germany, in the midst of negotiations in the hope of reaching an outline for a nuclear deal by the end of March, in keeping with a target set by negotiators last year.

There is also the upcoming divisive visit of Netanyahu to Washington, at the surprise invitation of Speaker John A. Boehner, to address next month a joint session of Congress, which has been split over whether to impose at present further sanctions on Iran or, as favoured by most Democratic congressmen and several prominent Jewish leaders, to lie low until the negotiations in Munich are over.

President Obama has been on record against any vote on sanctions in order not to jeopardise the current negotiations regarding the disputed Iranian nuclear programme.

Consequently, a justifiable outcry emerged both in Israel and the US against the visit by the Israeli prime minister who remains determined to come. His point: “Just as I went to Paris [after the recent terrorist attack there], so I will go anyplace I’m invited to convey the Israelis’ position against those who want to kill us.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Sweden this week to meet with the new prime minister, Stefan Lofven; his country infuriated Israel by becoming the first major European country to recognise Palestine as a state.

Consequently, Sweden’s relationship with Israel has nosedived, the first sign being the cancellations of a visit by Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom to Israel, reportedly because Israel would not give her an official welcome. Before his arrival in Sweden, Abbas seemed determined to pursue the advantages gained after Palestine joined the International Criminal Court (ICC), a step that will also infuriate Israel.

He has also just announced the formation of a new 32-member committee, led by top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, that will be assigned to submit complains of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Israel. The Palestinian Authority, which already asked the ICC to investigate the Gaza operation, is now planning to ask the court to also look into Israel’s settlement construction.

The latest Israeli infraction in this respect was the publication of Israeli tenders for 580 hotel rooms in occupied East Jerusalem. These recent ugly steps arrogant Netanyahu has taken are likely to cripple his attempt to regain his country’s premiership at the Unlike western countries, which pay more BEIJING—The West breathed a collective sigh March 17 elections, a view that is shared by many when Chinese education minister recently attention to liberty, protection of private propIsraelis as recent polls indicated there. erty and other civil and political rights, China, vowed to ban “wrong Western values” in universities. Those who follow the antiquated paradigm of autocracy versus democracy will invariably label the announcement as ideological tightening and claim China is closing the door to western culture.

But this sort of conclusion, without prudent review of why the Chinese government resists these “wrong Western values” or the context of this decision, is in itself wrong. China does not oppose the ideas of liberty, democracy, equality and human rights, which are among the core values of western culture. In fact, these concepts are included in the Constitution. However, China’s understanding of these concepts may differ to the West.

Many in the West misunderstand China, confidently predicting the fall of the Communist Party of China (CPC), they wish for the country to purge itself of its old political system, to replace it with a more western model: In this way, they believe, China would be “accepted” by the West. There is no universal criteria to judge political values. Therefore, China must assimilate western values within its own political culture. Otherwise, it could ruin the future and fate of the entire nation.

China has always stressed the protection of human rights, which are the basic goals of countries seeking for good governance. However, it holds different values from the Western thought that human rights are natural born. China holds that the concept of human rights depends on objective conditions, like history, traditions, and economic and social development, thus, there is no universal concept of human rights.

a developing country, prioritizes the right to subsistence and development. In addition, humans do not only have civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights.

Liberty is cherished the world over, including in China. In the political spectrum, liberty is a symbol of Western political thought that is based mainly on the individual. Chinese traditions and Marxist ideology, however, is based on collective liberalism. Liberty also depends on objective conditions so some liberties in Western countries cannot be adapted to Chinese circumstances.

While hailing the contribution of western democracy to the development of civilization, China cannot copy another country’s political system. China’s people’s congress system emphasizes the legislative body’s support for and supervision over the government to achieve effective decision making.

It rejected a multi-party system; the west-style “separation of powers”. The people’s congress system serves the common interest of the masses, and is the best way to ensure the Chinese people are the true masters of their own country.

China did not just stumble upon its current political system by accident, nor did it happen by random invention. It is a result of a laborious processes of trial and error; reflection and institutionalization. During this process, some western concepts such as multiparty elections and the separation of powers were proved unsuitable for China’ s development.—Xinhua

North Carolina killings not an act of terror?

AIJAZ ZAKA SYED

Arrogant outbursts

the killing doubly tragic is the fact that the couple had only recently met, during a fund raiser for the Syrian refugees, briefly dated and married.

The younger girl was visiting them. They were like any other regular American family. So why doesn’t their murder provoke the same response as other such killings and attacks have?

Truth be told, some are more equal than others, as Orwell would argue. Especially in these perilous times when the whole world seems to have gone stark, raving mad.

Islamophobia in the West and around the world has touched unprecedented, alarming proportions. A new USA Today cartoon, picked up from a regional publication, this week portrayed Muslims as the new Nazis and Islam as equivalent of Hitler’s sick, jaundiced worldview founded on hate and hubris. Few eyebrows were raised though. Seems it’s now perfectly okay and cool to wear Islamophobia and worst racial and religious prejudices on your sleeve and get away with it.

So given the sweetness and light that is spread around these days by western media narrative and even by responsible, elected leaders, targeting a particular people and faith for all sins imaginable, should you be surprised by these killings?

As Mohammad Abu-Salha, the slain women’s father and a psychiatrist, said: “The media here bombards the American citizen with Islamic, Is-

lamic, Islamic terrorism and makes people here scared of us and hate us and want us out. So if somebody has any conflict with you, and they already hate you, you get a bullet in the head.”

On the other hand, can you really blame the world if Islam and Muslims these days find themselves under fire everywhere? The shenanigans of lunatics like the IS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and Pakistani Taleban, all in the name of the blessed faith of course, do not just repeatedly shame Muslims, they have played a critical role in fueling the mistrust, hatred and demonization that the faithful face across the world.

One incident like the Peshawar school massacre is enough to boost their already shining image. Even from its own glorious standards of savagery that the IS has established in a very short time, the manner in which the Jordanian pilot Maaz Al- Kasaasbeh was dealt with — caged, burned to death and bulldozed — was truly diabolic and horrific. What faith can sanction and condone such satanic acts of revolting brutality? Certainly, not ours. If these perverts can do this to a Muslim, imagine the potential of their intolerable cruelty against those considered beyond the fold! And how do Muslims expect to be viewed around the world after such bouts of casual, spine-chilling savagery by folks who claim to speak and act on their behalf? There are bound to be repercussions.

—Courtesy: Arab News

—Courtesy: JT

[The writer is a Washington-based columnist]

Koreans co-existence faces outside barriers YANG MIAN

A

FTER nearly seven decades under different social sys tems, the two Koreas have no plans to abandon their own systems. In this context, the reunification of the Korean Peninsula can only be achieved by allowing the coexistence of both systems, which can transform a zero-sum struggle to ethnic reconciliation that is mutually beneficial. This win-win approach has proved to be viable in China’s practice of managing the return of Hong Kong and Macao.

North Korea’s late leader Kim Il-sung proposed in 1980 that the Korea could be reunified by founding a Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo under the condition that the North and the South recognized each other’s social systems. However, decades after the system coexistence was proposed, although a three-point charter of Korea’s reunification was reached, there has been little substantial progress in promoting this goal.

The US stands as the biggest external obstacle of the reunification, as it is the initiator of peninsula division and a main player of the cold war games in the peninsula. One of the main US aims in getting involved in peninsula affairs is to validate its presence there.

And its presence in Northeast Asia eyes not just North Korea, but all the powers in the region and its regional strategic layout.

US policy in this regard is part of its Asia-Pacific strategy. A peaceful and unified peninsula will drive US forces out of the region and dent the US-Japan-South Korea strategic triangle.

This doesn’t fit US hegemonic interests in Northeast Asia, and the reunification proposal won’t suit the US appetite at least for now. Besides, the system coexistence proposal doesn’t involve the nuclear issue that most concerns the US. Conservative forces in South Korea won’t agree to the coexistence initiative, either. They intend to overthrow the current system in the North out of intense hostility toward communism and hold on a policy of reunification through victory over communism, which denies any tolerance of the North. They also hold out hopes that North Korea will collapse on its own. These make them the largest hindrance within the peninsula in achieving system coexistence. The right-wing forces in Japan also have negative effects on reunification. While South Korea has already put Japan under huge pressure of competition, a unified Korea will create an economy equivalent to Japan in Northeast Asia.

US investment bank Goldman Sachs projected in a report in 2009 that a united Korea that includes Asia’s fourth largest economy, South Korea, could surpass Germany and Japan in terms of economic might in the next 30 to 40 years. If realized, this will weaken Japan’s current position in Northeast Asia and disrupt its dream of becoming a major power.

Kim Ye Jin wrote in the article that the reunification formula through system coexistence “will create tremendous benefits not only for the Korean Peninsula, but also Northeast Asia as a whole,” but this may meet enormous difficulties when translated into action. Currently, the two Koreas have yet to deepen their mutual trust, the Pyongyang-Washington relations remain tense and a cold war climate lingers on the peninsula. Against this backdrop, it is difficult to carry out any solutions no matter how reasonable they are. Nevertheless, history proves that the reunification of nations divided due to political system and ideology will ultimately be achieved. This will also apply to the peninsula.

—Courtesy: GT [The author is a professor of international relations at the Communication University of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn]

Al-Jazeera journalists

20 dead, 50 injured

From Page 1 organisation of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Their initial trial came against the backdrop of strained ties between Egypt and Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based.

Greste has since been deported from Egypt under a decree allowing foreigners to face trial or serve their sentences in their home countries, signed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Fahmy and Mohamed must appear in court again on February 23, for a retrial ordered last month when a court said there was insufficient evidence to support their original conviction. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the pair’s release, urging authorities to free other journalists “in accordance with Egypt’s international obligations to protect the freedoms of expression and association”.—Agencies

From Page 1

US rejects From Page 1 al-Qaeda chief as a bargaining chip with the US to strike a deal on Afghanistan before he was killed in a covert Navy SEALs raid in 2011. “I cannot say exactly what happened but my assessment was it is quite possible that they (the ISI) did not know but it was more probable that they did,” Durrani said in the interview according to the transcripts released

by Al Jazeera.—INP

panes of nearby buildings were smashed.

The Bomb disposal Squad also defused number of hand grenades in the compound of the mosques that could not explode. In-charge Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) Shafqat Malik said the attackers looked like Uzbeks.

The jacket of the forth bomber that could not be detonated was defused in the evening.

Talking to media at the Hayatabad Imam Bargah blasts site, the IGP KP Nasir Durrani said that the attack might be a reaction of army’s Zarb-e-Azb operation that is underway in tribal areas which are at just five minute drive from here. Durrani said police teams were gathering evidences from the mosque.

He said the attackers cut barbed wire of an adjacent under-construction building to barge into the Imam Bargah.

The KP Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani has asked the federal government to return FC to KPK. Mushtaq Ghani called for deployment of Frontier Corps personnel, saying that the Imam Bargah is very close to tribal areas which made access for terrorists easy. He said despite repeated requests the FC could

not be deployed on the line separating the tribal and the settled areas. He warned of more such like attacks if FC contingents were not deployed at sensitive points.

Khyber Pukhtunkhwa police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) have prepared an initial report of Peshawar Imam Bargah attack and forwarded it to the Interior Ministry.

According to the initial report sent to the ministry, four suicide bombers entered the Imamia Mosque Hayatabad of which three detonated their explosive vests while the fourth assailant was shot dead.

The report further says, the suicide jacket of the fourth bomber could not explode and it was defused by the BDS team. In the report it was stated that legs of three attackers, body of fourth and three hand grenades, which were defused timely, were seized from the site of the attack.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives in the terrorist attack. The prime minister directed authorities to ensure provision of the best medical treatment to the injured. He said the government was committed to eradicating the menace of terrorism and extremism from the country.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan condemned the attack and said he wanted to visit the site but was stopped by the police due to security concerns. ANP c Chief Asfandyar Wali, JI

Ameer Siraj Ul Haq and other leaders also condemned the blast in strong words and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families.

The Chief Minister Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak while condemning the terrorist incident said that beast like terrorist elements killed in cold blood innocent people while they were offering Juma prayers in the mosque. He said though such barbaric act is not allowed in any religion or ethics in the world but it is in-fact quite insult to humanity. He acknowledged that stopping suicide attack was much difficult rather impossible but it is however a decided fact that provincial Govt would reach to the roots of those anti-nation and anti-state elements who sponsored terrorism. In our country and hence would utilize all the resources and energies to eliminate terrorism.

Pervez Khattak has also directed for focusing full attention on treatment of the injured persons admitted in three major hospitals of the metropolis. Chief Minister appreciated the courageous role of the Nimazis who foiled the suicide bomber who blasting himself and made clear that our people are from a brave nation and their commitment against terror and morale could not be weakened through such wicked and plight acts of subversion and killing innocent people.

Pervez Khattak also expressed the confidence that federal Govt would ensure implementation on National

Modi calls Nawaz From Page 1 Bilateral relations and matters of mutual interests were discussed during the telephone conversation between Nawaz Sharif

and Modi. The Prime Minister Sharif told his Indian counterpart that Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding disputes with India through dialogue.

Nawaz Sharif was further quoted in the report as saying that dialogue between Pakistan and India is imperative for peace and stability in the region, adding that Pakistan desires friendly relations with all its neighbors.

Two more From Page 1 ers, challenging their punishment were rejected by the Azad Kashmir Supreme Court in June 2006. AJK’s then President Raja Zulqarnain Khan had rejected the mercy appeals filed by convicts in October 2010.

Nawaz hails From Page 1 Action Plan on emergency basis as per spirit of the decision of APC. Likewise he said center would address our issues and problems on security on priority basis to enable our provincial Govt to tackle with the issue of terrorism effectively.

Meanwhile the Majlis-eWa h d a t - u l - M u s l i m e e n (MWM) has announced threeday mourning over loss of lives in suicide bombings in Hayatabad Peshawar. The MWM has also countrywide protests on Sunday. The Balochistan Shia conference has also called for three days of mourning and called for the arrest of those involved in the attack within 48 hours.

Hindu extremists From Page 1 called it a possible case of theft.

This is the sixth attack on the community since December last year.—INP

Pakistan undermined From Page 1 Further, speaking about India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), claiming it backs regional separatists in an effort to break up Pakistan. “The RAW of India, the ISI of Pakistan have always been fighting against each other since our independence. That is how it continued, it continues now also.

It must stop, but it can only stop when leaderships on both sides show the will to resolve disputes and stop confrontation in favour of compromise and accommodation.”

He went on to speak about the ‘western bias’ towards India, saying, “India is the greatest democracy, promoter of human rights and democratic culture’? All bullshit”. “There is no human rights. The religion itself is anti-human rights. In the rural areas, if even the shadow of an untouchable goes on a pandit, that man can be killed.” The former military ruler talks about life in Pakistan, where he is embroiled in a treason case, and how he misses his old life.

The articles adds, interestingly: “But he says his problems are nearly behind him, and that he has the army to thank.—Agencies

Pakistan attaches to friendship with China and the contribution the premier has personally made to take this relationship to new heights.

Mr Wang Yi said that during the Chinese president’s visit, both sides will hold in-depth discussions on all matters of mutual interest including economy, security and regional developments in the backdrop of changing international scenario.

The Chinese foreign minister said that Pakistan and China are iron brothers and frequent bilateral exchanges have further strengthened this relationship.

President Xi attaches great importance to the relationship with Pakistan and cherishes the trust and friendship between the two countries, he said.

The Chinese foreign minister also said that the menace of terrorism and extremism is the common enemy of both Pakistan and China, adding that China will continue its cooperation with Pakistan in successfully overcoming this challenge.

Pakistan and China are celebrating 2015 as

their year of friendly exchanges which has formally begun with Mr Wang Yi’s visit and will be followed by a series of high level bilateral visits from both sides.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry were present during the meeting.

Ambassador of China to Pakistan, Mr Sun Weidong was also present on the occasion.

The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Army Chief General Raheel Sharif at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Islamabad and discussed security matters and bilateral defence cooperation.

According to sources, the army chief briefed the Chinese foreign minister about progress made in the ongoing Operation Zarb-i-Azb in the tribal areas of Pakistan and elsewhere.

Mr Wang Yi appreciated the sacrifices made by the Pakistani armed forces in the war against terrorism.

Dar seeks update From Page 1 tions for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary.

Director General Financial Monitoring Unit of the Ministry of Finance gave a detailed presentation on status of National Risk Assessment (NRA) and National AML/CFT Strategy. He informed the participants that FATF (Regional Review Group) visited Pakistan in Dec 2014 to

assess implementation status of the National Action Plan and expressed satisfaction over it.

He also briefed the Minister on the preparation for FATF Plenary to be held in Paris from Feb 22-27, 2015 where implementation on the National Action Plan by Pakistan would come into focus. The meeting today also dilated on other issues to be discussed in the plenary session.

Protesters take to streets From Page 1 Peshawar where people burnt tyres, blocked roads and chanted slogans denouncing militants and attacks on worshippers.

Meanwhile, protesters gathered at Numaish Chowrangi in Karachi to stage a sit-in against the Taliban attack on the imambargah in

Peshawar.

Members of civil society staged protest at Supermarket in Islamabad. They chanted slogans against militants and blamed the government for not being able to curb the menace of terrorism.

They further demanded that the government initiate a

clean-up operation against militant elements throughout the country.

Shia scholar Arif Hussain also condemned the attack, adding that these attacks will continue if they are not brought under control. “They are enemies of the state and Islam,” he said.

KSE-100 include two more IMF tranches in the best case of smooth progress on reviews. As a result, it is believed total forex reserves to close Jun-15 at US$17.3billion.

These positive development on the financial front may have a trickle down effect on the movement of the stock market in Pakistan.

From Page 1 The Market volume on Friday was 249 million shares, while Jahangir Siddiqi & Co was the volume leader with 33 million shares traded to their

credit, PIA was second volume leader with 17 million shares and third was Pak Electron with 16 million shares traded to their credit

CCoP approves transaction structure for NPCC divestment MIAN ARSHAD

Shakti Kapoor attacked by crowd MUMBAI— Indian actor Shakti Kapoor encountered an unpleasant incident that left him injured while shooting for his next with Tusshar Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani in Kanpur last week. According to Bollywood news release, a source narrates the incident saying, “A crowd had gathered around the film set to have a glimpse of the actors. After wrapping up the day’s schedule, Kapoor went and met his fans. But, someone from the crowd pulled his ear and robbed his earring leaving him injured.” The film’s team immediately took the actor to a clinic for treatment.—NNI

Sabir Shah not resigned ISLAMABAD— PML-N secretary general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has said Pir Sabir Shah is still with PML-N and he has not resigned from office of president of PML-N KPK. He said this while talking to the journalists here Friday after filling nomination papers for senate election. To a question he said Pir Sabir Shah is annoyed on some matters and PML-N central leadership will soon pacify him. The motive behind electing Kalsoom Parveen and Rahila Magsi is that PML-N wants to take along all parties. Rahila Magsi belongs to backward area of Sindh and the decision to bringing her in federation is good omen, he added.—Online

MQM divided into groups ISLAMABAD — Dissident MQM member and former Minister Nabeel Gabol has disclosed that the Muttahida has been divided into 4 groups and each group leader has its own agenda Talking to newsmen outside the Parliament House on Friday he said that MQM has divided into 4 groups and each group leader has its own agenda.

He said that MQM quaid Altaf Hussain is trying to keep the party together. But some self vested interest people in the party are damaging the party for their self monetary interests. He said that such people should be held accountable as in the future such people would prove detrimental to the party.—Online

DAMASCUS: Hezbollah Troops moving towards Israeli Border from Syrian Side.

PR: PML-N not believe in politics of provincialism, ethnicism

Hezbollah troops fast approaching Israeli border D AMASCUS —Bolstered by

Lebanese Shiite militant L AHORE —Federal Minister for Informa- cies with the aim to promote national har- the mony and solidarity. With regard to recent group Hezbollah and its pa-

tion, Broadcasting and National Heritage Pervaiz Rashid said Friday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz PMLN does not believe in politics of provincialism and ethnicism.

Talking to media persons along with spokesman of Punjab government Zaeem Qadri after filing his nomination papers for Senate election, here at the Election Commission, he said the government always adopted national approach to serve the masses.

To a question,he said that representation in the Senate was based on provincial quota, not on regional or linguistic grounds.

He said that the people were contesting the election from seats of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Fata. He added the PML-N leaders from southern Punjab including Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, Senator Zafarullah Khan Dhandla, Senator Rafiq Rajwana and Senator Najma Hameed were already in the Senate.

Pervaiz Rashid said the PML-N gave Senate tickets to the candidates on the basis of qualification, capability, democratic struggle and parliamentary experience.

He said the PML-N always discouraged differences on ethnic and parochial tenden-

discovery of copper,gold and iron reserves in Chinot,he said that untiring efforts of Punjab Chief Minister contributed to this big discovery. He said both Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in the ceremony of copper reserves discovery had said that this great asset will be a treasure for whole Pakistan and not Punjab only which showed nationalistic approach of the PML-N leadership.

The minister said that any person who “landed through the parachute” will not be a candidate of the PML-N in the Senate election.

To another question about the proposed visit of Chinese President to Pakistan and US President’s telephone call, Pervaiz Rashid said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has good contacts with the international community.

He added that Obama’s telephone and Chinese President’s visit are a good omen for Pakistan which showed that international community gives importance to Pakistan. PML-N leadership wanted stability and peace in the country that was mandatory for country’s prosperity and development, he added.—APP

PTI announces names for Senate polls ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced names of 10 candidates from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for Senate elections scheduled for March 5.

According to a press release issued here on Friday, the party has issued tickets to Mohsin Aziz, Shibli Faraz, Fazal Muhammad Khan and Barrister Salman Afridi on general seats. On technocrat seats, the party has issued tickets to Nouman Wazir and Latif Yousafzai. On minority seats, the party has issued tickets to John Cannet William and Ruvi Kumar.

The party said that it had received a total of 131 applications — 80 for general seats and 51 for technocrats — for Senate polls

and tickets were issued to the candidates on the basis of competency after a thorough scrutiny of applications. K-P chief minister’s sister-in-law Nafisa Bibi had also submitted an application but the party refused her ticket. Source also said that the party’s parliamentary board had included names of PTI Provincial President Azam Sawati and General Secretary Khalid Masod but later their names were withdrawn after differences emerged in the party over the selection.

Meanwhile, a like-minded group in the PTI has opposed the party’s decision to issue ticket to Liaquat Tarkai, father of Provincial Health Minister Shehram Tarkai, who is also leader of Awami Jamhoori Itehad.—Online

trons in Tehran, the Syrian Army continued its rapid advance into southern Syria Friday, inching closer to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. “Regime troops and their Hezbollah-led allies are advancing in the area linking Daraa, Quneitra and Damascus provinces,” close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Beginning earlier this week, the Syrian government confirmed they launched a “broad operation” to recapture strategic hilltops and key swaths of territory lost last year to rebel groups including the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, alNusra Front.

A field commander told Syrian State TV: “The military operation launched by the Syrian army in the south continues under the leadership of Syrian President Bashar Assad and in cooperation with the axis of resistance — Hezbollah and Iran,” according to the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Alawsat newspaper. Amin Hatit, a military strategist close to Hezbollah, added that “it appears that the initial results surpass all expectations. ...

Within 48 hours, goals were achieved for which ten days were allocated,” according to Asharq Alawsat.

Syrian State television reported the offensive swiftly gained control of the town of Deir al-Adas and the village of Deir Maker and Tal al-Arous and Tal al-Sarjeh.

But rebels told ABC News the battles are ongoing, and ABC News was unable to independently confirm the captured towns.—AP

I SLAMABAD –The Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP), Friday, approved Transaction Structure for divestment of National Power Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC)..

The Privatization Commission Board had recommended the strategic sale of the government of Pakistan (GOP) shares in NPCC in a meeting held on January 23, 2015.

CCOP met here with Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar in the chair while Federal Minister for Planning & Development, Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Commerce, Khurram Dastgir, Chairman BOI, Miftah Ismail and other senior officials were also present in the meeting which upheld the recommendation after detailed deliberations Chairman Privatization Commission, Mohammad Zubair briefed the Finance

Minister and members of the CCOP that the Financial Advisor (FA), i.e. M/s MCB Bank and UBL, was appointed for the optimal divestment of GOP shares in NPCC. Based on their market sounding exercise, the FA proposed strategic sale of a GOP shares in NPCC. NPCC was established in 1974 by the Government of Pakistan, under the Federal Ministry of Water and Power, with the special objective of executing power engineering projects speedily and economically, not only at home but also in other friendly countries.

NPCC is fully equipped to undertake speedy execution of power projects on turnkey basis, i.e. Extra high voltage transmission lines, cable networks, LV distribution network, substations, industrial electrification, external lighting of housing complexes, etc., and has demonstrated proven capability during more than three decades in its field.

Nisar to visit USA next week W A S H I N G T O N —Interior minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan is arriving here on a four day official visit on Tuesday to attend a summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) to be hosted by United States.

Federal Minister for Interior Ch Nisar Ali Khan will attend a ministerial summit hosted by White House on February 18 during his first ever visit to US since PML (N) took power in June 2013.

He will also meet officials from US administration including dept of State.

A statement issued by the White House says on February 18, 2015, the White House will host a Summit on Countering Violent Extremism to highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters.

Palestinian school girl freed after six weeks

This summit will build on the strategy the White House released in August of 2011, empowering local partners to prevent violent extremism in the United States, the first national strategy to prevent violent extremism domestically.

Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) efforts rely heavily on well-informed and resilient local communities.

Boston, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-St.Paul have taken the lead in building pilot frameworks integrating a range of social service providers, including education administrators, mental health professionals, and religious leaders, with law enforcement agencies to address violent extremism as part of the broader mandate of community safety and crime prevention.—Agencies

Myanmar clashes with rebels kill 47 soldiers

T ULKAREM —Israel freed on Friday a 14-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl, whose jailing six weeks ago for planning to attack Israelis became a focus for anger over the arrest of children in the occupied territories.

An AFP photographer in the West Bank town of Tulkarem said Malak alKhatib was released there and greeted by her parents, relatives and the mayor, before being taken home to Beitin village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.

Malak was arrested on her way home from school on December 31, and a military court subsequently jailed her for two months.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said two weeks had been deducted from the sentence due to her age.”—AFP

Gas pipeline blown up in Dera Bugti OUR CORRESPONDENT

YANGON—Nearly 50 soldiers China said on Tuesday that D ERA B UGTI —An eightwere killed in a week of fighting between government troops and Kokang ethnic rebels in Myanmar, state media reported on Friday. The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said air strikes had been used in the response to the flare-up in Shan state, near the Chinese border.

It is the heaviest fighting in at least two years, officials said. It comes as the government tries to sign a peace deal with rebel groups. There are reports that thousands of people have been leaving the area to escape the fighting.

some people had crossed over into its southern Yunnan province, and that they were being looked after.

The Kokang are a Han Chinese ethnic group, and their armed wing a remnant of the Burmese Communist Party which fragmented in 1989. For years they have run a largely autonomous strip of land on Myanmar’s northeastern border with China.

This dramatic upsurge in fighting appears to have been triggered by the return of one of their leaders - Phone Kya Shin - from five years of exile in China.—Online

inch diameter gas pipeline blew up in an explosion near Dera Bugti area Loti on Friday. Sui officials reported that a gas pipeline in Loti area was exploded by some unidentified militants suspending the gas supply to the Loti Gas field from Kunwan number 3.

Security forces have geared up the investigation process to find the suspects. Moreover, officials stated that teams have been dispatched to the affected area to restore gas supply as soon as possible.

US is escalating secretive war in Afghanistan: NYT WASHINGTON—As an October chill fell on the mountain passes that separate the militant havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a small team of Afghan intelligence commandos and American Special Operations forces descended on a village where they believed a leader of Al Qaeda was hiding.

That night the Afghans and Americans got their man, Abu Bara alKuwaiti.

They also came away with what officials from both countries say was an even bigger prize: a laptop computer and files detailing Qaeda operations on both sides of the border, a report in New York Times said. American military officials said the intelligence seized

in the raid was possibly as significant as the information found in the computer and documents of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, after members of the Navy SEALs killed him in 2011. In the months since, the trove of intelligence has helped fuel a significant increase in night raids by American Special Operations forces and Afghan intelligence commandos, Afghan and American officials said. The spike in raids is at odds with policy declarations in Washington, where the Obama administration has deemed the American role in the war essentially over.

But the increase reflects the reality in Afghanistan, where fierce fighting in the past year killed

record numbers of Afghan soldiers, police officers and civilians. American and Afghan officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing operations that are largely classified, said that American forces were playing direct combat roles in many of the raids and were not simply going along as advisers.

“We’ve been clear that counterterrorism operations remain a part of our mission in Afghanistan,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said on Thursday. “We’ve also been clear that we will conduct these operations in partnership with the Afghans to eliminate threats to our forces, our

partners and our interests.”

The tempo of operations is “unprecedented for this time of year” — that is, the traditional winter lull in fighting, an American military official said. No official would provide exact figures, because the data is classified. The Afghan and American governments have also sought to keep quiet the surge in night raids to avoid political fallout in both countries. “It’s all in the shadows now,” said a former Afghan security official who informally advises his former colleagues.

“The official war for the Americans — the part of the war that you could go see — that’s over.

It’s only the secret war that’s still

going. But it’s going hard.” American and Afghan officials said the intelligence gleaned from the October mission was not the sole factor behind the uptick in raids.

Around the same time that Afghan and American intelligence analysts were poring over the seized laptop and files, Afghanistan’s newly elected president, Ashraf Ghani, signed a security agreement with the United States and eased restrictions on night raids by American and Afghan forces that had been put in place by his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. Mr. Karzai had also sought to limit the use of American air power, even to support Afghan forces. Gen. John F.

Campbell, the American commander of coalition forces, appears to have interpreted his mandate to directly target Afghan insurgents who pose an immediate threat to coalition troops or are plotting attacks against them.

He is not targeting Afghans simply for being part of the insurgency. But one criterion used to determine whether an individual is a danger to the force, an American military official said, is whether the person has in the past been associated with attacks or attempted attacks on American forces — a large group, given that the United States was at war with the Taliban for more than a decade. —INP

Some areas of the brain ‘may not slow down with aging’

P

AST research has suggested that as we age, our brain functions slow down. But a new study from The University of Adelaide in Australia indicates that there are areas of the brain that remain as effective in old age as they are in youth.

A new study suggests that some areas of the brain may remain as effective in old age as they are in youth.

Dr. Joanna Brooks - who performed the study while she was a visiting research fellow at the schools of psychology and medicine at The University of Adelaide - recently presented the findings at the 12th International Cognitive Neuroscience Conference in Brisbane, Australia.

To reach her findings, Dr. Brooks analyzed the “spatial attention” skills of 60 older adults aged 55-95 and younger adults aged 18-38.

Spatial attention is the ability to focus on a particular object in an environment with an array of visual stimuli. We use spacial awareness in day-to-day life, such as when we drive, walk, and pick up and use objects.

Study participants were asked to carry out a series of spatial awareness tasks. One task, for example, required subjects to wear a blindfold while feeling a variety of wooden objects. They had to judge where they thought the center of each object was.

Results ‘challenge current models of cognitive aging’ Dr. Brooks found that all participants regardless of their age - believed the center of each object was more toward the left-hand side of where it actually was.

She notes that in other tasks involving touch and sound, participants in both age groups gave the same responses, indicating that there may be cognitive systems in the right cerebral hemisphere of the brain - responsible for spatial awareness and other functions - that are protected from aging. This study, according to Dr. Brooks, challenges current theories about how aging affects the brain: “When we think of aging, we think not just of the physical aspects but also the cognitive side of it, especially when it comes to issues such as reaction time, which is typically slower among older adults. Our results challenge current models of cognitive aging because they show that the right side of the brain remains dominant for spatial processing throughout the entire adult lifespan. We now need to better understand how and why some areas of the brain seem to be more affected by aging than others.” This research is part of an international collaboration with scientists from the UK, which aims to gain a better insight into the mechanisms behind spatial attention in the human brain.

But Dr. Brooks notes that this study could also provide a better understanding of how conditions that impair cognitive functioning, such as Alzheimer’s disease, affect the brain.

Medical News Today recently reported on a study by researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, which suggested that older people who can process visual information quickly are more likely to stay mentally acute.

Another study, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, suggests that the brain functions of older adults work better in the morning.

Pakistan-CARs land, air connectivity need of hour: President RAZA UR REHMAN ISLAMABAD—President Mamnoon Hussain Friday said that land and air connectivity between Pakistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs) was the need of hour as it would boost economic cooperation with Turkmenistan and other countries of the region. He was talking to Ambassador of Turkmenistan, Atadjan Movlamov, who called on him here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The Ambassador conveyed to President Mamnoon Hussain the invitation of President of Turkmenistan to attend the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the ‘Declaration of Turkmenistan’s Permanent Neutrality’ to be held in December this year at Ashgabat, a press statement issued from the President office here said.

The President said,Pakistan considers Turkmenistan an important regional player due to its strategic location and energy resources, adding, Turkmenistan can help Pakistan in meeting its energy requirements while Pakistan can provide land and sea trade corridor to Turkmenistan.

He encouraged the idea

Atadjan N. Movlamov, Ambassador of Turkmenistan called on President Mamnoon Hussain. of regular people-to-people exchanges bers of Commerce and Industry of both kistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project to establish contacts and enhance cul- the countries be enabled to create linkages and also conveyed his good wishes to the tural cooperation between the two coun- and synergies in agriculture, textile, food Turkmen leadership. The Ambassador aptries. processing and other sectors of mutual in- prised that both Pakistan and Turkmenistan The President emphasized on the need terest. shared the mutual vision of economic coto explore new possibilities of economic The President stated that Pakistan at- operation and Turkmenistan was interested and commercial cooperation and advised taches high priority to the timely comple- in benefitting from Pakistan’s experience that trade facilitation bodies and Cham- tion of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pa- particularly in the textile sector.

Air Chief inaugurates Mumbai attacks alleged mastermind’s tree planting campaign bail application rejected for spring season ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—A judicial magistrate on Friday re-

jected the bail request of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi — the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks — in a case pertaining to the abduction of a man named Anwar six-and-a-half years ago. Arguing against the bail request, public prosecutor Nabeel Tabish said that investigation in this case was still underway. He said that until and unless investigation was complete, the First Information Report (FIR) against Lakhvi could not be dismissed.

Judical Magistrate Naveed Khan subsequently rejected Lakhvi’s bail plea. Lakhvi’s counsel submitted the application during the hearing Friday and contended that the kidnapping case registered against his client was false.

Following registration of the kidnapping case in December last year, Lakhvi was arrested by police and taken into protective custody at the Shalimar

People buying Valentine Day gifts for their loved ones from a shop in Saddar.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt inaugurating the spring season tree planting campaign by planting a sapling at Air Headquarters.

CITY REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Tree Plantation Campaign of Pakistan Air Force, for the Spring season 2015, was launched at Air Headquarters here on Friday.

Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force inaugurated the campaign by planting a sapling.

The ceremony was attended by Principal Staff Officers, airmen and civilians of PAF, said a press release issued here.

The spring plantation campaign is carried out at all PAF Air Bases every year, which provides valuable contribution in creating a pollution free environment.

This year also, Pakistan Air Force has planned to plant saplings on a large scale during the season.

Today’s inauguration has kick-started the tree plantation campaign for the year 2015 at all PAF Air Bases and installations.

Pakistan attaches great importance to ties with UK STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Friday said that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with the United Kingdom, which were based on mutual respect, interest and understanding.

In a meeting with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Member of British House of Lords who called on him at PM House here, the Prime Minister said frequent interaction between the leadership of the two countries has resulted in enhancing of political, economic and cultural ties.

However, there is scope for further expansion of relations, he added.

Sayeeda Warsi apprised the Prime Minister of matters relating to the Pakistani community in the UK, said a statement issude by the PM’s office.

police station as there was no suitable place to accommodate him at the Golra police station. Lakhvi is also facing trial for being the alleged mastermind in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Lakhvi, 54, was reportedly arrested soon after the attacks from the headquarters of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group in Muzaffarabad.

He was tried in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on charges of training terrorists and facilitating the Mumbai terror attacks, filed by a Special Investigation Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency, since 2009. It might be pertinent to mention that Lakhvi’s detention has been extended for third time. On the request of the Islamabad police, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi’s detention, which was ending today (Saturday), has been further extended. This is the third time Lakhvi’s detention has been extended. The deputy commissioner in this regard has sent out a written detention order to prison officials.

Draft bill gathering dust in Cabinet Division

Salt iodization law still a far cry ZUBAIR QURESHI Fajar

06:25 01:30 04:00

I SLAMABAD : Legislation for universal

salt iodization is a key action required to combat iodine deficiency. A draft of Zohr Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDDs) Asr Control Bill, developed a few years ago Meghrab at Sunset after due consultations among the various stakeholders including the federal Isha 07:15 line ministries, provincial departments Brothers in Islam and civil society actors awaits the apestablish regular proval of the Cabinet Division.

This was stated by panellists at the prayers & charity seminar entitled “Media Advocacy Workshop on Salt Iodization” organised

by TheNetwork for Consumer Protec-

February 14

PAF meeting PAF Retired Officers’ Association (PAFROA) Rawalpindi / Islamabad chapter is holding meeting, at Officers’ Mess, PAF Base Nur Khan at 1600 hours on 14 February, 2015 (Saturday).

All members and their families are cordially invited and are requested to intimate about their attendance to Secretary PAFROA, Wg Cdr (Retd) Zafar Hameed on Telephone No – 9525811, 9280376. PAF retired officers who desire to become member of the association are also cordially invited.

February 17

Lunch of report INSTITUTE of social and Policy Sciences in collaboration with Alif Ailaan is organizing the launch of report and discussion on “Public Financing of Education in Pakistan (2010-11 to 201415)” on February 17. at Marriott Hotel Islamabad from 03:00 pm to 05:30 pm.

February 23

Literary conference TO observe 33rd Death Anniversary of great revolutionary Poet Hazrat Josh Malihabadi,Josh Adabi Foundation will organize in collibration with Sukhanwar and Rawalpindi Arts Council, Josh National Literary Conference on 23rd February ,Monday at 3.00 pm at Rawalpindi Arts Council, Cultural Complex, Shamsabad ,Murree Road ,Rawalpindi. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Senator Pervaiz Rashid will preside the occasion.

Civil Aviation employee shows honesty STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—A employee of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Friday showed honesty by returning passports, educational documents, mobile phones and other valuables here at Benazir Bhutto International Airport. According to details, a passenger, Ahmed Waqar, Passport No.MP1164331 belonging to Scheme-III, Chaklala, Rawalpindi arrived here from Dubai by Air Blue Flight No.PA-211 today. He left his hand bag containing original passport, two brand new Samsung Galaxy cell phones and original degrees of MBA besides other valuable in the baggage trolley at the Airport. Muhammad Jahangir, Chest No.64 of PFS Staff on duty found it and informed his sectional head.

Meanwhile, the passenger returned back to the airport in search of bag.

tion with the support of UNICEF at a local hotel on Thursday. Media-persons representing various print and electronic and social media organizations participated in the event. Sarwar Munir Rao former Controller News PTV, well-known anchorperson Tausiq Haider, Executive Coordinator TheNetwork for Consumer Protection Nadeem Iqbal, Rubina Bhatti, Dr Maria Qureshi and Laila Leghari addressed the media persons and highlighted the need for early legislation on this subject.

Sarwar Munir Rao asked the journalists to use the power of pen, (tongue in case of electronic media) to ensure

consumption of Iodized salt at their homes and in society. Tausiq Haider was of the view that the absence of law and lack of quality control measures on the part of authorities concerned were among the major factors leading to low production and consumption of iodized salt.

This deficiency is uncommon in the developed countries mainly because of universal salt iodization. People who don’t get enough iodine cannot make sufficient amount of thyroid hormone, said he.

TheNetwork for Consumer Protection Executive Coordinator Nadeem

Kuri Model Village: More than 3,000 bogus claimants unearthed

Iqbal emphasising on the need for law said the journalists could play an active role in taking this message to the wider audience. To explain how effective enforcement of legislation can make the difference he quoted an example where “Pakistan and Afghanistan were drawing salt from same source but surprisingly enough the salt imported to Afghanistan was iodised unlike Pakistan for there was a strong legislation on iodisation,” adding that the proposed law at the federal level making iodization of edible salt mandatory would help ensure that every household is using iodized salt.

Earlier in her opening remarks, Dr Maria Qureshi said that one only needs a teaspoonful for life, or 150 micrograms daily costing less a than 100 rupees. Yet it is not unsurprising that over half of Pakistan’s population is thought to be at risk of developing IDDs, particularly pregnant mothers and children. “A large number of children annually are born mentally deficient due to this deficiency among pregnant women.” The reported use of iodized salt for cooking purposes, she said quoting the National Nutrition Survey, 2011, was 39.8 per cent across Pakistan whereas only 64.2 per cent mothers showed awareness about the iodized salt.”

Felicitation ceremony in honour of president IIUI

ISLAMABAD—Yet in another scam rocking land and rehabilitation Waseem Shamshad the Capital Development Agency (CDA), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has unearthed 3,000 bogus claimants in the Kuri Model Village Scheme.

The FIA after conducting a thorough inquiry into the scam has declared 3,000 applicants, out 7,200 applicants, as bogus.

After the FIA conducted the inquiry, the CDA has linked compensation to the applicants with clearance from the scrutiny committee that has been formed after the scam had surfaced.

Around seven years back, the CDA had acquired the land in Kuri and Rehara villages to turn the area into a Model Village.

Reliable sources that CDA former director

attempted to show that the total affected people were 7,200. The FIA after arresting Shamshad conducted an inquiry and detected that the actual affected were 4,000 and not 7,200 as claimed by the CDA official.

The sources said that after the FIA report, the CDA has decided that the affected people will only be compensated once the scrutiny committee cleared their names. The CDA has also decided not to involve the Land Directorate in the compensation process and instead the scrutiny committee will be tasked to do the job to avoid controversy and ensure transparency.—Online

Sub standard bio metric verification machines irk people ISLAMABAD—Sub standard machines supplied by the mobile phone companies to their franchise offices for bio metric verification of sims have become source of nuisance for the elderly persons in terms of thumb prints verification.

As the finger prints of elderly persons are not clear therefore, they are facing difficulties in connection with bio metric verification of their sims. These machines are incapable to verify the finger prints or thumb impressions of elderly persons and this way the sims held by the aged persons will render invalid after February, 26. “I have obtained my National Identity Card (NIC) just 3 months before but the machines being used by mobile compa-

nies franchise have failed to verify my thumb impression and finger prints, said an elderly Muhammad Azam.

“Wherever we go for verification of our thumb impression or finger prints in connection with sims, we return disappointed after receiving the remarks feom franchise men that our finger prints and thumb impression are not matching. Where should we go, said a group of elderly persons. The government should devise a separate mechanism for elderly persons in the age brackets of 50 and above with regard to bio metric verification of our sims, they demanded. Franchise holders are also overcharging the citizens on account of verification charges, complained citizens.— Online

NHA to undertake projects worth Rs 400 billion STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—National Highway Authority’s Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar has said that all necessary measures have been taken to complete NHA’s development projects through Public-Private-Partnership on BOT basis in collaboration with the private sector, and we have also set a revenue target of 400 billion rupees through such deals in the coming years, the Chairman added.

One billion rupees Road Safety Plan will be jointly carried out by NHA and Motorway Police, under which awareness about road safety will be created among the general public. Chairman NHA was presiding over the 245th meeting of NHA’s Executive Board.

On this occasion, IG Motorway Police Muhammad Saleem Bhatti, Joint Secretary Ministry of Finance Waqar Ahmad, Technical Chief, Planning Commission Muneer Ahmad Anjum, Joint Secretary Ministry of Communi-

cations Rizwan Malik, Qazi Iftikhar Ahmad Vice President NESPAK, Amna Imran Khan Chief Executive NTC, and Members NHA and other senior officials were also present.

The Chairman NHA, while briefing the Board Members over converting the Karachi-Hyderabad Superhighway into a 6lane motorway, said that this road connects important roads of the country to the Karachi port, therefore, it was imperative to convert this road into a 6-lane Motorway to provide better travel facilities to the travellers. The Chairman said that FWO being the highest bidder, has been awarded this contract to complete this project on BOT basis, and added that this deal will generate considerable revenue for NHA. The Chairman NHA said that ground has been levelled to set up NHA’s Road Development Fund and added that self-reliance is a welcome step towards early completion of development projects.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter Faith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf addressing a ceremony in the honour of President IIUI Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draweesh. his services to Pakistan and Muslim appreciated his services while quoting RAZA UR REHMAN Ummah. He added that he along with his books and said that the books are ISLAMABAD—A felicitation ceremony Dr. Masoom Yasinzai playing vital role precious asset of Muslim Ummah as was organized by Central Jamiat Al- in making IIUI an ideal and leading uni- the writer addressed the most contemHadees in honor of President Interna- versity of the Muslim Umaah and world. porary issues.

Abdul Aziz Hanif said that Dr. Altional Islamic University Islamabad He was of the view that his ministry is (IIUI) Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh interested in working with IIUI for pro- Draiweesh has come to Pakistan for a who was conferred Tamgha-e- Imtiaz motion of Arabic language and added sacred cause and his hard work has led by the government of Pakistan for his that as a pilot project 50 professionals IIUI towards the prosperity and develuntiring efforts in the field of educa- would be trained by IIUI in Arabic lan- opment. Saeed Yousaf in his remarks tion especially comparative jurispru- guage soon. Federal Minster said that said that Pak Saudi relations are forgovernment is mulling to float a bill re- ever and IIUI is an example of mutual dence.

The ceremony was attended by garding making Arabic language com- brotherhood between both countries.

Dr. Masoom Yasinzai said in his Federal Minister for Religious Affairs pulsory in Pakistani education system and Inter-Faith Harmony Sardar from Primary to intermediate. He fur- speech said that IIUI and Saudi Arabia Muhammad Yousaf, Badar Al-utaibi of ther said that government is also work- have a unique relationship which has Saudi Embassy, Director Maktab ud ing on establishing Quran complex and produced constructive steps such as Dawah Dr. Muhammad Bin Saad Al- numbers of Saudi organizations have Dr. Al-Draiweesh’s presence at IIUI as Dosri, Dr. Abdul otain of Rabita Alam e vowed to support this idea while he President. He added that IIUI is workIslaami, Former Minister for Religious said that it is a visible example of Pak ing for the unity of Muslim Ummah Affairs Aijaz ul Haq, Acting Ameer of Saudi string ties. Sardar Yousaf added while he suggested that government Central Jamiat Al-Hadees Maulana that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has al- should establish Quran complex at IIUI Abdul Aziz Hanif, Head Jamiyat Ulma e ways stood with Pakistan in moments as it has scholars who can see the complex in best way. Dr. Tahir Mansoori, Islam AJK Maulana Saeed Yousaf, Rec- of grief and happiness as well.

Speaking on the occasion, Aijaz ul the Vice President IIUI also felicitated tor IIUI Dr. Masoom Yasinzai and a large haq said that Dr. Al-Draiweesh is one Dr. Al-Draiweesh on behalf of the number of scholars.

Speaking in the ceremony, Sardar of the best humans he met in the life teachers and students and appreciated M Yousaf lauded Dr. Al-Draiweesh for who is an example of brotherhood. He his services for IIUI.

Speakers laud Radio’s role in educational pursuits

Closing ceremony of on campus training at FJWU CITY REPORTER R AWALPINDI —The closing ceremony of five-day long workshop on ‘Indigenous on Campus Training’ (IOT) was held on Friday at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) after imparting training to the thirty participants from various offices.

The training workshop was organized

by the university in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Resource Persons of the workshop were Junaid Zaidi, Advisor, Faculty Development Academy, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Ghulam Mujtaba Kiyani, Treasurer FJWU and Dr. Mubashar Nadeem, Director, Directorate of Research, University of Education.

VC AIOU Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui addressing to the panel discussion on Youth and Radio on World Radio Day.

STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Speakers at a panel discussion here on Friday underlined the importance of radio broadcasting in educational pursuits and reformation of the society. The panel discussion titled ‘Youth and Radio’ was arranged by the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU)’s Institute of Educational Technology (IET) in collaboration with UNESCO on the World Radio Day. The panelists discussed various aspects of radio broadcasting, its importance and the challenges being faced by the youth broadcasters.

Prominent broadcasters and acaCricket fever is on. Young boys playing cricket which has gained full momentum ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup, demicians from the local universities at Jinnah Avenue.

participated in the discussion, underlining the need of maximum use of campus broadcast radio to facilitate the students for a better understanding of their relevant subject.

Vice chancellor Prof. Shahid Siddiqui while presiding over the panel discussion said the radio has been most fascinating role in providing information and entertainment to the people.

The AIOU he said has been using multi-media in a big way as a medium of instruction to improve literacy rate in the country. Fighting illiteracy was a big challenge for the AIOU to overcome it through non-formal system.

They, he added has been successful in catering the needs of the people,

particularly those living in far-flung areas and those who could not join the formal system due to social and cultural constraints.

UNESCO’s representative in Pakistan Zafar Hayat Malik spoke on the importance of the day, and said it provided an opportunity to develop greater cooperation among the broadcasters to give a better voice to the people for change in the society.

The discussion was also attended

by Mir Mukhtiar Hussain Talpur, Director IET, Dr. Zafar Iqbal chairman media department international Islamic University, Ayesha Jameel Director Programs FM 92.2 and Dr. Saqib Riaz Department of Mass Communication AIOU.

ABVP activists try to disrupt Kashmir talk in JNU SRINAGAR—Activists of BJP’s students’ wing Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) tried to disrupt a public meeting on Kashmir issue at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

Reports said a group of ABVP members tried to manhandle Delhi University professor SAR Geelani when he began his address at JNU’s Tapti hostel JNU in the seminar titled ‘The Undying Spirit of Kashmir: The question of Self-Determination.’ The event had been organised by Delhi-based Democratic students Union (DSU).

Geelani, an Arabic teacher and a Kashmiri, escaped unhurt in the attack as he was escorted by students, most of them Kashmiris. Nearly 500 students, who attended the event, later took out a procession and chanted slogans in favour of Kashmir’s freedom from India.

The event organisers said they had got permission from the university authorities to hold the event. The permission was, however, withdrawn at the eleventh hour, they said.

“They told us that the event wouldn’t be allowed because one of the speakers is SAR Geelani and that it is an anti-India meeting. But we made it sure that come what may, we will hold the meeting,” Omar Khalid, a DSU mem-

ber and one of the event organisers, told Kashmir Reader over phone from Delhi.

The event coincided with the death anniversaries of JKLF founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Mohammad Afzal Guru, who were hanged and buried in Delhi’s Tihar jail, on February 11, 1984, and February 9, 2013, respectively.

During his address, Geelani who was arrested along with Afzal and others in the Parliament attack case but later acquitted, said, “Killings of Kashmiris by Indian forces have made us fearless of death. These killings always give new momentum to our freedom struggle. It did so when Maqbool was hanged; it is doing now as well.”

“Azadi is our destiny, which we will achieve one day,” said Geelani, who is also president of the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners, as the JNU campus reverberated with azadi slogans. Geelani said India calls herself the largest democracy “but Kashmiris have no space in India’s democratic setup.” He said it was imperative for India to resolve the Kashmir dispute at the earliest if it wants peace in South Asia. Arif Ayaz Parray, a Delhi-based Kashmir writer and Uzma Falak, a writer and poet, also spoke on the occasion.—KW

‘BJP’s Delhi rout lends upper hand to PDP’ NEW DELHI—The Congress the government,” said Soz. on Friday said the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will have an upper hand in the ongoing negotiations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir due to the saffron party’s dismal show in the Delhi Assembly elections.

Congress spokesperson Salman Soz said the PDP has an upper hand after the BJP’s total wipeout in Delhi. “For the BJP, it is a matter of great urgency that they be seen as forming another government.

They (BJP) will do anything to be a part of the next government. The BJP will have to make some serious compromises on its core ideology,” Soz said.

He further said the delay in government formation in Jammu and Kashmir is causing a lot of inconvenience to the people of the state. “Our state does need a government; there is no doubt about it. The people are facing a lot of difficulties and there has been a considerable delay in the formation of

“We wish the next government all the best. I hope they do what is best for the people of the state. We are waiting to see what program is likely to emerge, on what basis they are going to form the government.

These two political parties are like oil and water. So, they have no chemistry,” he added.

Meanwhile, the BJP said that its talk with the PDP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir is heading in a positive direction.

“The party has been in discussions with the PDP and hopefully a final decision will emerge. Both the parties have been engaged in discussions and the discussions have progressed quite well,” BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said. A fractured verdict in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections last year left no party with a clear majority.

The highest number of seats was won by the PDP, but the party with 28 seats fell well short of the 44 seats required to form the government.—KD

JKPFL pays rich tributes to Bulla S RINAGAR —In occupied Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL) has paid glowing tributes to Ghulam Muhammad Bulla, who was tortured to death in the Central Jail Srinagar on February 15, 1975.

Ghulam Muhammad Bulla was victimized for opposing the Indra-Abdullah Accord 1975. The JKPFL Chief

spokesman, imtiaz Ahmad Shah, in a statement issued in Srinagar said that Ghulam Muhammad Bulla was a brave Kashmiri and remained committed to the cause of Kashmir’s freedom from India till his last breath.

He said that the best way to pay tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs was to continue their mission till complete success.—KMS

Solidarity expressed with family of martyred youth S RINAGAR —In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyet leaders including Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Mohammad Yousuf Naqash, Bilal Ahmad Shah, Fayaz Ahmad Kaloo and Mohammad Shafi Dar visited Palhalan area of Baramulla and expressed solidarity with the family of a youth, Farooq Ahmad Butt, who was recently killed by Indian troops by opening fire on peaceful protesters. unnamedPaying glowing tributes to the martyrs the leaders said that it had become a routine for occupation forces to quench their thirst with the blood of Kashmiris. “The sacrifices offered by our martyrs strengthen our conviction and belief in taking forward our freedom movement .The sacrifices of our martyrs will bear fruit soon and we will reach our destination of complete freedom,” they added.—KMS

Kupwara under curfew K UPWARA , I HK —Against continued atrocities of the Indian occupation forces Kupwara and its adjoining areas remained under strict curfew. Shoot-at-sight order has been given to the CrPF. The people came out of the restriction and staged protests. Agitators hurled stone on the forces. Because of protesters-forces clashes both sides suffered minor injuries The protesters also burnt army bunkers at Regipora.—KT

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister AJK, Ch Abdul Majeed called on Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ch Muhammad Barjees Tahir.

Traumatized Kashmir bemoans apathy SRINAGAR—Azam Inqilabi, patron JK Mahaz- Ahmad to the resistance leadership. The naïve police ings of inveterate rancour and acrimony will become e-Azadi, while vehemently condemning the brutal killing and assassination of student Farooq Ahmad Butt at Palhalan Pattan (Kashmir) by arrogant armed personnel of India, has said in his statement: “The self –conceited haughty imperialist rulers of India sadistically relish the sufferings and hardships of victimized and brutalized Kashmiris. Their obstreperousness, chauvinistic rabidity, fascist arrogance and imperialistic disposition to authoritarianism and jackbooted administrative callousness does not ebb and abate. They continue to gibe, jeer and mock at self-respecting Kashmiris who offered unprecedented sacrifices for their inalienable right to selfdetermination during the past 67 years.

They are confounding and complicating the Kashmir issue through their subterfuge, prevaricative and plausible dialectics. These cunning chauvinists, as proponents of Machiavellian and Chanakiyan politics of deceit and dissemblance, are engaged in hoodwinking the free world through disinformation and ego-centric mono-maniacal paralogism. Their obduracy based “atoot-ang” mantra and monotone has rendered the situation in South Asia unpredictable.

We fail to fathom why Indian rulers fail in honouring the commitment of Pt. Jawaharlal, the expremier of India, regarding plebiscite and referendum in Kashmir. They continue to harp on their illogical stand and stance vis-à-vis Kashmir. Let the free world know that 30 crore Indians are underprivileged and pauperized. That is why Maoist proletariat is restive in India. Maoist ultras are active in impoverished hamlets of India. Still Indian chauvinists crave for hegemony in South Asia.

I condemn the statement of DG police (Kashmir) in which he had attributed the killing of student Farooq

officer, who wants to inadvertently invite trouble by implicating Kashmir resistance leaders in the tragic Palhalan episode, is totally oblivious of the fact that the political resistance leaders of Kashmir including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Yasin Malik and Nayeem Khan, are the resistance pacifists strategists who facilitated the transition of the armed resistance to peaceful political assertion.

Organizations like Hurriyat Conference and JKLF played important and pivotal role in imparting political shade to the resistance movement of Kashmir. In fact, they asserted while politicizing the armed resistance. And this is how they provided respite and reprieve to the suffering but heroic nation of Kashmir. Does the police chief of Kashmir want to convey a message to the almost neutral soldiers of Kashmir police that they too should imbrue their hands with the blood of their innocent compatriots? Why should a sadist be allowed to add to toxicity and venomousness of the situation? This is not the way to detoxify the already deteriorated and aggravated situation of Kashmir.

I lament the apathy and indifference of the local English and Urdu papers which did not bother to publish articles regarding the heroic struggle of protomartyr Maqbool Butt on Feb. 11, 2015 when the whole Kashmiri nation paid glowing tribute and homage to the resistance icon Maqbool. Does it mean that Kashmiri journalists have graduated themselves in the art of sensationalism alone? It is true that they highlight the tragic episode of killing of an innocent Kashmiri, arson and rampage. Who will remind the free world of its obligation to honour the enormous sacrifices of Kashmiris through pacifist efforts to seek a peaceful settlement of Kashmir issue?

The brew and stew of dormant and pent-up feel-

palpable only when the fulminated freedom zealots of Kashmir will have recourse to compulsive violent assertion. Learn the art to capitalize on the sacrifices of the martyrs of Kashmir to force the world community to work strenuously for the early peaceful settlement of Kashmir issue.

It is heartening to know that government of Pakistan has decided to adopt a proactive diplomatic role to apprise the world community of the human rights abuse and violations in Kashmir. A fascist country like India has no right to scramble for a role in UN Security Council.

Cannibalism and vampirism of Indian imperialists will thwart their march to the world body for a berth in it. It is time when the Muslim Countries should extricate themselves from the marsh and quagmire of slumber and ossifying self-delusion. They should, while saying adieu to lassitude and vapidity, assert with promptitude to checkmate the expansionistic obtrusion of Indian imperialists who are hellbent on destabilizing South Asia through their totalitarian stratocracy in Kashmir.

Unilateralism of USA can become a boon if Mr. Barack Obama, the US President, resolves to adopt altruistic, egalitarian and populistic attitude as global pacifist to lead the world to the comprehensive campaign for the peaceful resolution of festering issues like Kashmir and Palestine.

That is what the suppressed and oppressed people of the world demand of you. Let Obama become the global saviour to salve the wounds of the mortified and vandalized countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria etc…That will be something which we will ascribe to Christian puritanism and humanism of USA, the oldest democracy of the globe.—KW

Tainted officer named to probe graft SRINAGAR—Castigating authorities for not initiating any action against a ‘corrupt’ official, aspirants in large numbers Thursday staged a massive protest against Chief Education Officer Budgam Nazir Ahmed Dar and alleged that the said officer received money in lieu of class IV appointments in the district.

The candidates assembled at Media hub in Srinagar and

raised slogans against the ‘tainted’ officer.

The protestors said that the then Director had assured them probe against the ‘tainted official’ would be initiated in a weeks time, but a month has passed and still no action has been taken against him. “It is the mockery of justice that, the present Director has appointed his Personal Officer to look into the matter and the said Personal Officer is himself involved in the fraud,” they said.

They said that for the provisional selection of the candidates, a five member committee was constituted in which the CEO Budgam Nazir Ahmed Dar was appointed as Chairman of the said recruitment committee despite the fact various aspirants for the said post were his close relatives.

“The norms have been thrown to the wind while filling the class IV posts in the education department. I have secured 85 percent marks in Matric and 80 percent in 12th class but failed to find my name in the final list. Instead, many candidates have made it to the final list whose percentage is far below than me,” an aspirant told.

It is pertinent to mention here that the office of Chief Education Officer, Budgam had issued a notification wide number CEOB/NT/ADVER/14-99349 dated 5/2/ 2014 inviting applications from the eligible candidate for filling the class IV posts.

Some dropped candidates said that the process of filling of the vacancies consumed too much of time. When the candidates made

hue and cry against the delay in the publication of the list the CEO was left with no choice, but to come out with the list, said these candidates. “We have come to know that the CEO was about to handover the appoint letters without publishing the list. We pursued very hard and got the list published but to our utter disappointment despite having the top merit,” said a protesting candidate.

The protesting aspirants said that the finalization of the ‘fraud’ selection list has been prepared by keeping the two key members of the constituted committee in dark. They demanded action against the ‘tainted’ CEO and appealed authorities to take necessary action so that justice could be delivered to the deserved left out candidates.—KD

Kashmir not being presented properly to world community: Laura HAMEED SHAHEEN ISLAMABAD—Internationally renowned Dutch Researcher on Kashmir Ms. Laura Schuurmans visited Youth Forum For Kashmir (YFK) office to have an interaction with the YFK Kashmir activists here in Islamabad on Friday. She is currently based in Jakarta and her writings on the issue of Kashmir are frequently published in the Jakarta Post. It was a specialized discussion between Ms. Laura and the participants as they were keenly interested in the activities undertaken by Ms. Laura. She has been in touch with the dispute of Kashmir for almost a decade and has penned several articles and a book on the issue, says a YFK emailed media note.

She emphasized the fact that the issue of Kashmir was not presented to the international community the way it should have been. The need was to continually tell the world about the grave human rights violations in Kashmir by the Indian-occupational MUZAFFARABAD: Central leader of PML-N Ch. Ahsan Manzoor is giving away certificates to a local girls school stu- forces. She opined that the immense Indian clout due to its large economy is a huge obstacle in the way of anyone who wants to dents here on Friday.

Have Kashmiris did blunder by choosing PDP? DR. ABDUL RUFF

I

T appears Kashmiris, in desperation of keeping Hindutva BJP out of Kashmir val ley, have willingly committed a Himalayan blunder by choosing PDP in maximum number of seats in the JK poll held recently, giving rise to a hung assembly. Now the party is threatening the Kashmiris with a first ever joint PDP-BJP government in the restive JK region.

Under pressure from BJP government at the Centre, the PDP off and on attempts to launch a cabinet with BJP, ignoring the support extended by other parties like National Conference.

PDP has, in courting the BJP, made a mockery of the wishes of Kashmiris to protect the valley from Hindutva “ghar vapasi” movement that will certainly add more grave yards in Kashmir. f course, after voting their favorite political parties, the people as voters

have no control over their own leaders.

In view of the fact the Indian premier Narendra Modi has never attempted to stop the forced conversion and by implication it means it encourages the immoral process of conversions into Hinduism. he selfish and power hungry PDP is bent on courting the BJP when other options are clearly available to the rich Mufti parivar. .

One reason that is being pushed up by the PDP as the valid reason for joining hands with BJP is to get more funds from the centre now ruled by the BJP. But the argument is untenable because the centre has to provide the central fund and assistance to every state in India, no matter who rules the centre and states. owever, if the states are also ruled by the same party as of the centre, some “more funds “could be released from New Delhi and quickly. The issue here seems to be simple.

PDP wants to get all benefits from New Delhi for the rich and corporates in dealing business abroad and can enjoy as many foreign trips as they desire if they court the centre.

Any deal that is genuine and legal would be supported by the centre irrespective of political differences but PDP expects something more and more and hence the need and longing for a “deal” with BJP. ne should appreciate the Kashmiris to have successfully blocked the BJP-PDP deal for “joint governance” in Kashmir so long that somehow negatively impacted the Delhi poll outcomes. Had BJP managed to cobble up a government in JK with PDP, possibly BJP would not have lost the battle so badly although AAP victory looks much assured on its own merit.

As such there is not rationale for a BJPPDP alliance because that is going to affect the life of Kashmiris in the troubled valley,

already crippled for other political reasons. hould, however, the PDP still moves ahead for a government with help from BJP it is indeed taking a calculated risk just for some personal and private gains. People in the valley do not wish that and voted against BJP. They fear BJP. It is quite likely, people of Kashmir valley would not vote for PDP if the polls are held now as they do not want to buy trouble by voting the PDP. In fact Aam Aadmi party that has just ousted both Congress and BJP in the poll from Delhi state can make inroads in the JK state as Kashmiris will see the fruitfulness of supporting a genuine humanist party like AAP which will benefit the state and people. It goes without saying that Muslims in Delhi have also wholeheartedly supported the AAP, resulting in the unprecedented electoral victory for the people, whose party is AAP. —Courtesy: Kashmir Watch

talk about Kashmir. However, this doesn’t mean that the Kashmiris or Pakistanis should lose hope and continue to raise their voice for the issue of Kashmir as one day someone will listen to them.

She stressed the need that the Kashmiris also needed to be united in their struggle for freedom. Any goal cannot be achieved until people struggle for it together. Hence the Kashmiris first need to get united and tell the world loudly and frequently about their woes under occupation. Ms. Laura expressed keen interest and appreciated the activities undertaken by Youth Forum For Kashmir.

YFK activists included Ahmed Quraishi, Shaista Safi, Muhammad Hassaan, Mariah Atiq, Qudsia Mashhadi, Ghulam Shabbir, Naeem Qurban, Hamna Mahrukh, Zarmina Batool and Maryam Khan.

The YFK is a grassroots lobbying group led by young Kashmiris and Pakistanis working to ensure justice to Kashmiris living under Indian military occupation.

UN Kashmir rulings vital: DCM TOKYO—Kashmir Solidarity Sharif‘s statement that dialogues Day was observed here Friday.

On this occasion Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. Ali Javed read out the messages of the President and Prime Minister Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion the DCM highlighted the importance of United Nations Resolutions regarding Kashmir issue and emphasized the need that the only simple way to solve the Kashmir issue is by implementing UN Resolution on Kashmir giving the basic right of self-determination to Kashmiris to decide their future. He also quoted Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz

will remain inconclusive with India until resolution of Kashmir dispute.

The publicity material highlighting the background of the Kashmir issue and showing the atrocities of Indian forces in occupied Jammu and Kashmir were displayed. Pakistani community and Japanese nationals attended the event. Two Pakistani nationals presented their poetry in Urdu in which the valour shown by the Kashmiri people against the brutalities and sacrifices rendered by them were highlighted. The event was concluded with the prayers for earlyresolution of Kashmir.—Email

SBP injects Rs 623.1b into market KARACHI —State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday injected Rs 623.1 billion into market through its open market operation (OMO) for seven days. SBP statement said that the rate of return accepted is 8.15 percent per annum.—APP

Bullish trend in ISE-10 index ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Stock Exchange here on Friday witnessed bullish trend as the ISE-10 index was up by 36.17 points and closed at 3967.29 points. A total of 115,000 shares were traded, which were up by 74,300 shares when it compared with previous day’s trading of 40,700 shares. Out of 148 companies, share prices of 100 companies recorded increase while share prices of 48 companies registered decrease where as one company remained stable in trading. The share price of Murree Brewery increased by Rs. 37.89 per share while the share prices of Packages Limited decreased by Rs. 15.18 per share. PIA, Bank of Punjab and Hascol Petroleum remained the top trading companies in Friday’s trading with 105,000, 5000 and 3000 shares respectively.— APP

Shipping activity at Port Qasim KARACHI—Shipping activity at the Port remained active at the Port where three ships C.V APL Oman, C.V MSC General and M.V Azur carrying containers and canola seeds were arranged berthed at Qasim International Container Terminal and Grain & Fertilizer Terminal respectively at Port Qasim here on Thursday, port sources said, Three more ships scheduled to load/ offload containers, crude oil and palm oil also arrived at the outer anchorage of Port Qasim during the same day. Berth occupancy was managed at the Port at 50% on Thursday, where seven ships namely C.V APL Oman, C.V MSC General.C.V Maersk Detroit, M.V Azur, M.V DL Dahlia, M.T Globe Tanya and M.T Karachi occupied PQA berths to load/ offload containers, canola seeds, coal, LPG.—APP

FTA with ASEAN countries on cards SME sector growth vital for Dastgir told National Assembly STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan Friday told National Assembly that efforts were being made to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with ASEAN countries to promote trade and exports with these countries. Answering questions of Legislators in National Assembly during question hour, he said export of pine nuts to China has increased from 51 million in 2012-13 to 68 million dollars in 2013-14.

He informed the House that as a result of Preferential Trade Agreement [PTA] signed with Indonesia, the exports of Kinoo have increased to 19.22 million dollars in 2013-14 from 3.2 million dollars in 2012.

The Minister said PTA with Indonesia

FBR dismisses Principal Appraiser from service MIAN ARSHAD I SLAMABAD —The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has dismissed Principal Appraiser, Model Customs Collectorate (MCC), Naimatullah Alvi from service on his proved involvement in various acts of omission and commission constituting inefficiency, misconduct and corruption.

According to FBR, disciplinary proceedings under Government Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 1973 were initiated against Naimatullah Alvi, Principal Appraiser (BS-16), presently posted in MCC (Preventive), Karachi).

A two-member inquiry committee consisting of

Additional Director (BS-19), Post Clearance Audit, Lahore Dr. Asif Mehmood Jah and Deputy Director (BS-18), Internal Audit (Customs), Lahore Muhammad Farrukh Sharif, was constituted to conduct inquiry on account of various acts of omission and commission committed by the accused officer, constituting Inefficiency, Misconduct and Corruption.

On the basis of inquiry report dated August 2013 submitted by the inquiry committee, the accused Principal Appriaser was served a Show Cause Notice in September 2013 and in response, he submitted his defence reply in January 2014.

—John Wooden

After considering the inquiry report, reply of the accused to the Show Cause Notice and his oral submissions during the personal hearing, the charge of “inefficiency” under rule 3(a) of the Government Servants (E&D) Rules, 1973 was established against him.

FBR Member (Admn) being the Authority in this case, after having considered all aspects of the case and the recommendations of Authorized Officer therefore imposed the major penalty of dismissal from service upon Naimatullah Alvi, with immediate effect. However, he shall have the right of Appeal as admissible in the Civil Servants (Appeal) Rules, 1977.

LAHORE: Chief Engineer NTDCL Engr. Mahmood Ahmad and Vice President KEPCO Mr. Jae-Han Go exchanging consultancy contract’s documents.

Contract for 500 KV Dasu transmission line project inked STAFF REPORTER

I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.

will also facilitate Pakistan’s entry into ASEAN market. Replying to a question, the Commerce Minister said that Pakistan and Afghanistan recognise the importance of working together to effectively combat the menace of terrorism. Â He said the government has turned a new leaf in Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan. He said Pakistan respects sovereignty of Afghanistan with reciprocation.

He pointed out that Pakistan and Afghanistan are cooperating closely to eliminate terrorism.

He said in the wake operation Zarb-eAzb, the terrorist infrastructure has been eliminated from North Waziristan. Khurram Dastgir Khan told the House that Pakistan is a party to all the four Geneva Conventions regarding humanitarian law.

L AHORE—National Transmission & Despatch Company Limited (NTDCL) and Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) signed a consultancy contract for Designing, Engineering and Construction Supervision of 500 Kv Dasu-Islamabad transmission line, today.

Chief Engineer NTDCL Engr. Mahmood Ahmad and Vice President KEPCO Mr JaeHan Go signed the contract during a ceremony held at a local hotel at Lahore.

While speaking on the occasion, General Manager (GSC) Abdur Razzaq Cheema said that WAPDA had identified 26 potential Hydropower Project sites in northern areas. Dasu Hydro Power Project is one of the identified site on Run-of-River Indus with total capac-

ity of 4320 MW. The project is to be developed in two stages each of 2160 MW. As per schedule, the first stage of the project will be completed by June 2019. The responsibility of NTDCL is to construct 500KV D/C transmission line from Dasu Hydropower Project to Islamabad via Mansehra for evacuation of 2160 MW Power at first stage.

Mr Razzaq Cheema said that NTDCL is committed to arrange evacuation of power, six months ahead of scheduled completion of Dasu Hydropower Project which is due in Dec 2018. General Manager (GSC) further said that Transmission Line Dasu is World Bank funded project with Financing Agreement to the tune of US$ 350 million, including 10 million for project management and supervision.

SECP rolls out vision for commodities trading STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —In order to facilitate farmers in better price discovery access for their products and to provide them easy access to markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has embarked upon developing a road map for the commodity market in Pakistan. The SECP is restructuring the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited (PMEX) to improve its effectiveness and to shape it into a vibrant commodity futures exchange.

The roadmap revolves around the idea whereby commodity exchanges play a pivotal role in the trading cycle of commodities with particular focus on contracts that involve delivery of

local agricultural produce like wheat, rice, sugar, potato and others. The development of commodity markets will provide farmers electronic aces to commodities markets and hedging against price risk.

The roadmap also perceives warehousing facilities for commodities as an important component of the commodity trading cycle because warehousing provides producers/farmers/ traders standardized storage and smooth delivery of perishable items.

Receipts issued by warehouses convert inventories held by farmers/producers into a readily tradable item at the commodity exchanges. Warehouse receipts can be traded or used as collateral to support borrowing or accepted for delivery against a fu-

tures contract.

In order to achieve this expanded role of the PMEX, the SECP is pleased to appoint Dr. Salman Shah as chairman of the board of directors of PMEX. Mr. Shah has held eminent posts in the past like as Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Revenues.

He holds a Ph.D in Finance and Economics from Indiana University. He has also taught at world’s prestigious universities for 16 years.

The SECP is also appointing Mr. Syed Talat Mahmood, President Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited as director on the board of directors of PMEX. The SECP hopes that their induction will greatly benefit implementation of SECP’s vision for development of a vibrant commodity futures market.

exports hike, employment

ISLAMABAD: Delegation from United National Industrial Development Organization, led by Director General, Li Yong called on Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform, Prof Ahsan Iqbal in the Planning Commission.

STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —Delegations from United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Korea called on the Federal Minister for planning, Development and Reform Prof. Ahsan Iqbal in the Planning Commission today. Korean Delegation was led by KPMG Chief Advisor Mr. Young Keun Lee and Unido delegation by Director General Mr. Li Yong.

Ambassador of Finland Mr. Rauli Suikkanen also met the Federal Minister today. Talk-

ing to the Korean delegation he said, “Shared learning takes development to new heights due to exchange of ideas and transfer of knowledge. We welcome learning from our Asian neighbours”.

While discussing the importance of SME sector in the economic growth, he said, “Small Medium Enterprises not only increase exports but also create opportunities of employment. Keeping in view the young demographic dividend of Pakistan, the government is seriously committed to make SME sector more vi-

brant with the technical support of Korean Government”.

Talking to the ambassador of Finland the Federal Minister said, “Pakistan welcomes learning from Finland’s education sector to promote entrepreneurship and create job opportunities.

Knowledge has become the key driver for socio-economic development in the globalized world. We have increased investment in human resources at the higher education level to record levels so that youth can play a vital role in development of knowledge based

economy in a highly competitive global environment” He said, “We want bilateral relations with Finland with emphasis on transfer of technology and expertise in the social sector. The science of development needs exchange of technologies and expertise in the modern era rather than depending on loan money”.

He assured the ambassador to establish a link between both the governments as to how newly established National Curriculum Council in Pakistan could work well in improving our education system.

Currency

Selling

Buying

USA

101.20

UK

155.92

155.62

Euro

115.55

115.32

Canada

80.99

80.83

Switzerland

109.05

108.84

Australia

78.67

78.52

Sweden

12.01

11.98

Japan

0.8535

0.8519

Norway

13.25

13.22

Singapore

74.67

74.52

Denmark

15.52

15.49

Saudi Arabia 26.97

26.92

Hong Kong

13.05

13.02

Kuwait

343.02

342.34

Malaysia

28.29

28.24

Olson inaugurates WECREATE Center for women entrepreneurs

101.00

Newzealand

75.35

75.20

Qatar

27.79

27.74

UAE

27.55

27.50

Kr Won

0.0922

0.0921

Thailand

3.104

3.098

NBEAC-IBA Conference 2015 held STAFF REPORTER I SLAMABAD —The National Business Education Accreditation Council (NBEAC) and Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi organized the 2nd Deans and Directors Conference entitled “Building Bridges, Fostering Collaborations in Business Education”. The conference was a venue for experience sharing, based on discussions and perspectives of business school heads, industry professionals and entrepreneurs. NBEAC, which was established by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan in 2007 to assure quality in business education degree programmes, is a national level accrediting authority to organize and carry out comprehensive programme of accreditation.

The strategic conference provided a platform for the participants to share their experiences in establishing linkages and fruitful contributions made to the development of business education, industry and economy.

Prominent speakers from around the globe and country shared stimulating ideas. Challenges faced by business institutions in establishing and promoting linkages with other universities, local and national businesses, family and public corporate and SMEs at both national as well as international level were also addressed.

Eminent participants included Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, Dr. Ishrat Husain, Director IBA, Dr. Hasan Sohaib Murad, Chairman NBEAC, Dr. Sadia Nadeem, Fast School of Management, Dr. Syed Zahoor Hassan, LUMS, Dr. Muhammad Mohsin, Institute of Management Sciences Peshawar, Dr. Ehsan ul Haq, Suleman Dawood School of Business LUMS, Mr. Talib Karim, IoBM, and Dr. Shaukat Brah, Ex-Dean KSBL and many others.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed appreciated the efforts of NBEAC and IBA in organizing the conference and bringing industry and academia on one platform and discussing challenges faced by the business education community in Pakistan. He also launched the first Business Education Magazine of NBEAC “BizInsight”.

Dr. Hasan Sohaib Murad said that NBEAC is functioning as an accrediting authority to facilitate and enhance quality of business education in the country. He informed the audience that this year 105 registered business schools are participating in the NBEAC Deans and Directors Conference as compared to 86 participants in the previous conference. Dr. Ishrat Husain said that the alliance between NBEAC and IBA will play an important role in enhancing quality of business education in Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Reinforcing the U.S. commitment to advance gender equality through entrepreneurship in Pakistan, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Richard G. Olson, U.S. State Department Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Scott Nathan, and Additional Secretary for the Pakistan Ministry of Commerce Rubina Ather inaugurated the Women’s Entrepreneurial Center of Resources, Education, Access, and Training for Economic Empowerment (WECREATE) in Islamabad. The WECREATE Center, the first of its kind in the world, will advance gender equality in entrepreneurship and provide training, support, and mentorship for women entrepreneurs in Pakistan.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Olson said, “This center has enormous potential. It will help women overcome some of the barriers they encounter in Pakistan and develop initiatives to increase opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to start and grow their own businesses. It will maximize public-private partnerships to increase women’s participation in the economy

Weekly inflation decreases by 0.55pc

Oil prices down in Asian trade SINGAPORE—Oil prices fell in Asia Friday after enjoying a strong rally in the previous session in response to news that leading petroleum producers are curtailing investment. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery fell 13 cents to $51.08 while Brent crude for April was down 17 cents to $59.11 in mid-morning trade.

WTI gained $2.37 in New York while Brent for March surged $2.39 on its last day of trading.

Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said dealers are wary about the impact of such cuts in the immediate term.

“We will continue to see range-bound trading in the immediate term with little change to fundamentals,” Ang told AFP. “The main thing is crude production. As long as production levels don’t go down for now, it is hard to see a reversal of low oil prices,” he said. “Markets seem to be ready for prices to go up again. They are just waiting for a sign that production will be significantly cut.”

A US stockpiles report Wednesday showing crude reserves standing at an 80year high for this time of the year has exacerbated concerns about a global supply glut.—AFP

and implement community-based programs to spur economic growth and innovation. The Center will offer mentorship, classes, resource materials, and access to a network of other women entrepreneurs across the country and around the world.”

WECREATE Marketing and Communications Manager Mavra Bari commented, “The opening of the center is an opportunity to support not only new women entrepreneurs but also diverse ideas and perspectives. It will give women a space to unleash their creative potential.” The center is supported by the U.S.-Pakistan Women’s Council and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with StartUp Cup, TiE Islamabad, Change Mechanics, and the Hashoo Foundation.

Launched by Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in September 2012, the U.S.-Pakistan Women’s Council is a public-private partnership that links U.S. and Pakistani universities, businesses, and other supporters, to initiatives that advance economic opportunities for women in Pakistan. WECREATE Centers are currently in development in Zambia, Kenya, Cambodia, and Vietnam, with other Centers expected in the future.

on February 12 for the lowest income group up to Rs 8,000 decreased by 0.55 percent as compared to the previous week. The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 199.94 points against 201.05 points registered in the previous week, according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The weekly SPI has been computed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urban centers and 53 essential items for all income groups and combined.

Meanwhile, the SPI for the combined income group was also decreased by 0.57 percent as it went down from 208.22 points in the previous week to 207.03 points in the week under review. As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined group in the week under review decreased by 0.27 percent. As compared to the last week, the SPI for the income groups from Rs 8001-12,000, Rs 12,001-18,000 and 18,00135,000 decreased by 0.57

STAFF REPORTER K ARACHI —The local industry has earnestly demanded of the government to withdraw regulatory duty on import of those industrial inputs that do not fall under the category of luxury items. President Lasbela Chamber of Commerce and Indusry (LCCI), Yakoob H Karim said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken the decision blindly and without examining the HS Codes to impose regulatory duty on import of various items that fall under the category of luxury items.

He pointed out that some iron and steel products that either not manufactured in Pakistan or come under the luxury items.

He further elaborated that flat-rolled products of iron (HS Code 7210) are yet to be produced in Pakistan but are necessary in various sectors of industry as flat-rolled iron used to manufacture crown and caps of

During the week under review average prices of 16 items registered decrease, while that of 09 items increase with the remaining 28 items’ prices unchanged. The items which registered decrease in their prices during the week under review included tomatoes, eggs hen (farm), chicken farm (live), garlic, LPG cylinder (11kg), potatoes, onions, rice irri-6, rice basmati, sugar, wheat, mustard oil, vegetable ghee (tin), vegetable ghee (loose), wheat and cooking oil. The items which recorded increase in their average prices included tea, bananas, milk powder, pulse gram (washed), gur, pulse moong (washed), pulse mash (washed) and red chilly powder.

The items with no change in their average prices during the week under review included bread plain (medium), beef with bone, mutton, milk fresh, curd, slat powder, cooked beef (plate), cooked daal (plate), tea prepared (cup), cigarettes, long cloth, shirting, lawn, georgette, gents sandal, gents chappal , ladies sandal, electric charges, gas charges, kerosene oil.—APP

bottles and massively 15 used in the food, beverages, packaging and other industries and due to slapping of 5 per cent R.D on flat-rolled products would increase the industrial cost to about 15 to 20 per cent. “It’s not a luxury item and R.D can not be imposed on import on such items that neither produced locally or used as essential industrial raw-material”, Yakoob explained. He demeaned of the FBR high ups to immediately withdraw 5 per cent regulatory duty on flat-rolled products come under the harmonized code 7210.

LCCI chief said that FBR has recently issued SRO 121(1) under which it has also imposed R.D at five percent on items besides flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600mm or more, coldrolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated; flat-rolled products of iron or nonalloy steel, of a width of 600mm or more, clad, plated or coated.

CCP conducts training workshop tion Commission of Pakistan (CCP), in collaboration with the USAID, US Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) and US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted a two-day work-

marketing and to enable them to learn from international best practices. US FTC is the US federal agency responsible for anti-trust and consumer protection. The workshop was conducted by experts from the FTC Mr. Russell Damtoft, Associate Director, (Office of International Affairs) and Mr.

instances where a firm was abusing its dominant position and merger review. The international experts shared the analytical techniques and practices deployed by the US FTC, which could also be adopted by the CCP. Ms. Vadiyya Khalil, Chairperson CCP, thanked Mr. Joe Yang, Attorney Advi-

shop on Competition Law for its professional staff.

The aim of the workshop was to build capacity of the CCP’s professional staff in key enforcement areas i.e. investigating cartel agreements, abuse of dominance, merger review, deceptive

Krisztian Katona, Counsel for International Anti-trust.

Mr. Damtoft presented the analysis deployed by the FTC in identifying and investigating cartels and dealing with deceptive marketing practices. Mr. Katona focused on how to identify

sor, CLDP and the experts from US FTC for organizing the training and hoped that such collaboration between the two agencies would continue in the future. The Chairperson awarded certificates to the participants of the workshop.

ISLAMABAD—The Competi-

Industrialists protest against gas interruption

I SLAMABAD —The weekly percent, 0.58 percent and K A R A C H I —Industrialists inflation for the week ended 0.59 percent respectively.

Tycoons express concern over levy of RD on raw-material

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD: The newly appointed CEO Huawei, Aragon Ming called on Minister of State for IT & Telecom, Ms. Anusha Rahman.

under S.I.T.E Association of Industry in Karachi staged a protest near Governor House on Friday in the wake of non-availability of gas supply to the industries.

Protesters were holding black flags and placards urging to resume gas supply.

They said the pressure of gas provided to the industries has been considerably low from the past two days that has halted work at the industries whereas the gas supply was cut short for 13 days in January as well.

They urged Governor Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to grant them their due right. They further accused the gas supply company of making excuses while the industries were in complete shambles.

DIG South Mr. Abdul Khalique Sheikh met the protesters and stated that the protesters were demonstrating peacefully whereas the protest at Fawara Chowk clogged the road for traffic.—Online

ISLAMABAD: JH LEE, Samsung Pakistan MD, Shakirullah of Smart Zone and M. Saad-ul-Hasan, Marketing Head Samsung Pakistan at inauguration of Samsung Cavalry Ground Brand shop.

42 shopkeepers fined K ARACHI —The divisional and district administration Karachi challaned 42 shopkeepers and fine of Rs.33,000 were imposed for profiteering and violating officially approved price list.

According to a handout issued here on Friday, during crackdown the administration fined 19 milk sellers, 10 grocers, 10 vegetables sellers and 3 chicken sellers.

The action against profiteers were taken in the areas including Liaquat Abad, Gulberg, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, New Karachi, Murad Memon Goth, Model Colony, Shah Faisal, Saddar, Aram Bagh, Civil Line, Garden, Jamshed Quarters, Gulzar Hijri, Orangi Town, Baldia Town and other areas.Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui has said that the operation against profiteers will continue till the sale of essential items is not ensured according to officially approved price list.—APP

LCCI slams Peshawar tragedy SALIM AHMED

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Informational and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, Moshin Nawaz Ranjah, MNA cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the Mandarin Festival arranged by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.

LAHORE: Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan addressing in Annual Dinner of PAAPAM.

Mobilink carries out biometric re-verification at NA STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—As part of the Bio-metric SIM re-verification drive, Mobilink teams visited the National Assembly to carry out the re-verifica-

L AHORE —The

Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Tuesday condemned in severest possible terms ugly terrorist attacks in Peshawar and urged all the Parliamentary parties to take unified stand to weed out the menace of terrorism. Loss of precious innocent lives is not bearable and tolerable at all.

The LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz, Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir, Vice President Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi and Executive Committee Members termed the terrorist attacks on innocent students a cowardly act and an ugly attempt to destabilize country aimed at creating an impression of unsafe place in the eyes of international community. The LCCI office-bearers urged the government to cope with law and order related incidents with iron hands.

tion process for parliamentarians, government officials, visitors and clerical staff. The initiative is part of Mobilink’s aggressive drive for biometric re-verification of SIMs of its customers before the deadline of 26th February 2015.

Omar Manzur, Director Corporate Communications Mobilink highlighting the importance of re-verification said, “SIM re-verification is a national cause and as the industry leader we are committed to reaching out to every Mobilink customer as we lead this drive. We have received an overwhelming response to our re-verification drives in federal and provincial government offices, private institutions, press clubs, media organizations as well as the journalist fraternity across Pakistan. Our teams are motivated as we continue to expand our touch-points for customers in every nook and corner of the country.”

The objective of this activity was to increase awareness amongst government officials, their friends and family regarding the SIM re-verification process. The Mobilink teams highlighted the importance of the process to the verifiers and encouraged them to urge their circle of friends to come forward and re-verify their SIMs for a safer future of Pakistan. Mobilink teams continue to visit several government and private organizations across the country as a means to ensure bio-metric re-verification of its customers and meeting the deadlines set by the government.

Chairman PCB updates cricketing nations’ envoys K ARACHI —Chairman

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Shaharyar Khan updated envoys from cricketing nations as well as head of the European Union in an informal setting, at a dinner in Islamabad on Thursday evening.

According to media release issued on Friday the PCB chairman briefed the high commissioners and other diplomatic staff from 10 nations and head of European Commission posted to Islamabad on the general improvement in the security situation following the Pakistan Army’s launching of Zarb-eAzab last June to eliminate terrorist safe havens in FATA and elsewhere.

Chairman Shaharyar similarly talked in depth over the steps taken and standard operating procedures adopted by PCB to ensure the safety, security and comfort of teams visiting Pakistan.

The Chairman PCB’s initiative was aimed at bringing international cricket back to Pakistan by first convincing

the diplomats of the nations that Pakistan wanted to host cricket series at national, sub-national, age-group and women’s level before doing a similar exercise with the Board’s counterparts in those countries.

The High Commissioners from Australia Peter Hayward), Great Britain Philip Batron, India T.C Raghwan), New Zealand Eamonn O’Shaughnessy), Sri Lanka Jayalath Weerakkody, Suhrab Hossain (Bangladesh), Bharat Raj Paudyal (Nepal), Janan Mosazai(Afghanistan) and Lars Gunnar Wigmark, Head of European Union posted in Islamabad most graciously attended the meeting.

Diplomatic representatives and others who joined the briefing were MoinFudda, Counsel General, New Zealand, a representative from the Kenyan High Commission in Islamabad, Ejaz Chaurdhary, secretary, federal ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, Shakil Shaikh, member, PCB Governing Board and Intikhab

Alam, Director, Domestic Cricket Operations PCB. Chairman PCB shared the road map being implemented to bring all other venues in line with top-of-the-line watertight security protocols already in place at Lahore and Karachi.

Talking to the guests, he said that besides the senior tours, PCB would also be seeking to host junior international teams and women’s teams and assured the audience that outfits of all denominations visiting Pakistan shall be provided presidential level security.

Chairman PCB gave a visual presentation and dilated upon the impeccable security arrangements made during the recent tour of Team Kenya in December 2014 to Lahore, which was a huge success.

He also said that the Team Kenya expressed full confidence and satisfaction on the security arrangements taken by the PCB management during the tour.—APP

FCW clinch Inter-Board Girls Tug-ofWar C’ship

NED girls throwball team in final KARACHI—NED University girls team advanced in the final of IBA Sports League Throwball Tournament after three victories in a row here at IBA Campus on Friday.

NED University first defeated Greenwich University, Bahria University was next victim and in third match they beat the host IBA University to advance in the finals.

NED University team comprising Erum Bukhari, Hunza Khan, Najiyya Siddiqui, Mahnoor Asif, Sara Raza, Hannah Shoaib, Yusra Rahimtoola and Hira Rasool and Maliha Zafar displayed oustanding game to emerge winner.

The final will be held February 16.—APP

Sana retains Pakistan women team lead vs SA in UAE

Sibtain’s brace helps NBP to lift Quaid Gold Cup hockey

Chief Collector Customs Tariq Huda, K ARACHI —Fast emerging Pakistan forK ARACHI —Sana Mir has ward Sibtain Raza blasted a pair of field goals PHF Secretary Rana Mujahid, Olympians

been retained the skipper of

P ESHAWAR —Frontier College for Women clinched the trophy after defeating Peshawar Model Girls Degree College in the final of the BISE Inter-College Girls Tug-of-War Championship played here at BISE premises on Friday.

Frontier College for Women defeated PMDC by 2-1 in a three pulls. The team of Frontier College for Women lost in the first pull against PMDC but it staged a strong come back and secured victories in two consecutive pulls by winning the grand final.

Earlier, in the semi-final FCW defeated Girls College Tajo Bibi Charsadda in the first semi-final by 2-0 while PMDC recorded victory against Government Higher Secondary School, University Town by 2-1.

Before the start of the Championship under the aegis of KP Tug-of-War Association, the players of all the four participating teams were introduced to the chief guest Director Sports FCW Rahim Bibi. Miss Najma Qazi, Miss Shazia and In-charge Sports Waqar Alam of BISE were also present on this occasion.

Secretary KP Tug-of-War Association Taj Muhammad was also present.—APP

LAHORE: World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman presenting World Chmpionship Belt to PML-N MNA Hamza Shahbaz.

PESHAWAR: Students of Frontier College for Women pulling the rope during final of Tug-of-War in Inter Board Girls Champinship against Model Girls Degree College organized by BISE.

KP Youth Games postponed due to security reason PESHAWAR—With just three days remained let our people down and should try our level to the all done opening ceremony scheduled on February 16 at Qayyum Sports Complex Peshawar, the most awaited and talkative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Youth Games postponed due to security reason till March 15.

This was stated by Secretary Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs Aftab Akhbar Durrani while addressing a press conference here at Media Center on Friday. He referred to the letter received by the Directorate of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Additional Inspector General of Police (Special Branch) requesting for the postponement of the Games due to security threats.

He said that the decision was taken in the larger interest of the players security. He said the Games would be rescheduled very soon.

He said it the mandate of the associations to hold or organize various Games while the Directorate should work as facilitators and should initiate developmental projects for the promotion of sports.

He said 18 private, nine state lands and remaining 20 sites have already been selected for developing play grounds as PC-I have been approved and submitted to C&W department for releasing tendering.

He said the suggestion of holding the Games in phases would certainly come under discussion in a meeting to be held on Monday, next so that to involve the youth in healthy activities. “We are looking very positively and the activities should be continued,” he added.

He said, “Our department is the only source of hope for the Peshawarites who went under tremendous shock and law and order situation.” He have planned 12 to 13 different events besides sports activities like food, culture and tourism festivities. “We would not

best to bring the smile back on their faces,” he added.

When contacted, Syed Aqil Shah, he said: postponement of the Youth Games certainly reflects a bad name and sign of deprivation among the youth who were eagerly waiting since long and have prepared themselves for the most awaited Youth Games, a sobbing Aqil Shah, Vice President of Pakistan Olympic Association, told APP soon after hearing the announcement of postponement of the Games till March 15, 2015.

“We are playing wrongly with our youth as they are confined to their homes and obviously cancellation or postponement of the Games would lead to wrong impression against PTI led government for their failure to provide security,” said Aqil Shah who masterminded the 31st National Games in a time when Peshawar was gripped by serial of bomb blasts.

“We are still very obliged to the than Corps Commander Peshawar who had given us a go ahead signal for holding the 31st National Games in 2010 even there were a serial of bomb blasts and security threats in the provincial capital,” Aqil Shah added. It is astonishing that the PTI Government led by legendary Imran Khan is unable to ensure security for the games.

He also suggested that the Games might be organized in parts or phases rather in one go but cancelation and postponement would give a wrong impression to the rest of the world. It is also create a bad name to the province as Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan have already organized their Games despite security threat as they taken a bold initiative only to involve the youth in healthy sports activities, Aqil Shah remarked.—APP

Pakistan for the series against South Africa being played in Sharjah Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from March 10 to 23, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday.

Pakistan team will be play three One-day Internationals (ODIs) and as many Twenty20 Internationals.

Team was released after approval by PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan, PCB Women’s Wing has announced the 16 member women’s team as well as four reserves for the upcoming home series.

The three ODIs are a part of the ICC ODI Championship which is also a qualification process for the Women’s World Cup to be held in England in 2018.

The preparatory training camp for the series will be held from February 28 to March 10 at National Cricket Academy, Lahore.

Squad: Sana Mir (Captain), Bismah Maroof, Syeda Nain Fatima Abidi, Rabiya Shah (wicketkeeper), Nida Rashid, Javeria Wadood, Asmavia Iqbal, Marina Iqbal, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Sania Iqbal Sadia Yousaf, Nahida Khan, Iram Javed, Anam Amin, Kainat Imtiaz and Sidra Amin. Reserve: Sidra Nawaz, Aliya Riaz, Naila Nazir, Diana Baig. — APP

Inthikab Alam inaugurates Cricket Club House SPORTS REPORTER I SLAMABAD —The General

ISLAMABAD: Australian High Commissiner Peter Heyward, Director PCB Intikhab Alam and others cutting ribbon during the inauguration of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 “Watch ‘em Win” at Serena Hotel.

Manger of Islamabad Serena Hotel, Mr. Michelle Galopin, along with former Pakistan Cricket Team Captain Inthikab Alam inaugurated the Cricket Club House; a step taken to enhance the overall enthusiasm of the Cricket World Cup Experience 2015-an event which was initiated

by Serena Sports Diplomacy.

The inauguration was attended by Australian High Commissioner, H.E Peter Heyward ,the New Zealand High Commissioner, members of the press as well as former and current cricket players including Adnan Akmal and Babar Azam.

as National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) lifted the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup Hockey Tournament crown with an emphatic 3-1 victory over PIA here at the Customs Sports Complex turf on Friday.

Besides Sibtain’s brilliant scoring effort, NBP custodian Amjad Ali starred in his team’s triumph by bringing off some spectacular saves.

After the barren first quarter, Pakistan’s Champions Trophy hero, Arsalan Qadir put his team in front in 25th minutes by beating Olympic goal-keeper Imran Butt with a superb drive.

However it was third quarterfinal which changed the game in NBP’s favor. Sibtain Raza banged two snap field goals in a space of mere five minutes to make it one-way traffic with a 3-0 lead.

Sibtain Raza gleefully scored both the goals on the rebounds which surprised experienced goalie Imran Butt.

PIA forwards created a number of threatening attacks. But lack of finishing and good blocking by Amjad thwarted their attempts.

PIA secured as many as half a dozen short corners but it was Kashif Ali which converted the lone in 54th minutes.

President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Akhtar Rasool, who was chief guest presented the trophy and keys of brand new Corolla car to NBP captain Muhammad Tausiq while Kashif Ali received runners-up trophy and cash purse of Rs.500,000.

Hasan Sardar, Islahuddin Siddiqui, Wasim Feroze and other players also present on the occasion.

Kashif Ali was declared the best player of the tournament while Arsalan Qadir got the prize for highest scorers award by netting 11 goals.

In the meantime President NBP Iqbal Ashraf Khan, Sports and CRS head Iqbal Qasim have congratulated the team on winning the title for the second time.—APP

Inter Board Sports Competitions start tomorrow SPORTS REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), Friday, reviewed arrangements for the upcoming week long Third-Inter Board Sports Competitions scheduled to start from tomorrow (Sunday). The event will continue to February 22.

PSB Director General, Dr. M. Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, chaired a meeting in this regard here to review the finalization of arrangements for the organization the said sport event.

The chairman of various committees presented progress report and steps taken for the successful organization of the event.

Six officers have been nominated as focal persons of the games to facilitate the competitions.—APP

LAHORE: Actress Megha, Nigar, Shama and Samgam holding the poster of Pakistani cricket team players on the even of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Naz Theater.

PTCL brings superior World Cup experience for cricket enthusiasts ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has taken the lead by bringing advertisement free World Cup 2015 for cricket lovers nationwide. PTCL remains a proud supporter of Pakistan Cricket Team and PTCL customers can now enjoy the much awaited Cricket World Cup on-the-go without missing any action.

PTCL is the largest information communication technology and entertainment services provider in Pakistan, touching millions of lives through its broadband and digital television services. To provide fans with an uninterrupted World Cup experience, PTCL has unveiled a new SmartTV application that makes World Cup matches available on mobile phones, iPads and laptops.

Kamal Ahmed, Chief Digital Services Officer (CDSO) PTCL said, “As a digital leader, PTCL understands the public pulse when it comes to digital entertainment preferences, be it on in-home screens or across handheld smart devices.”

“Being a proud supporter of Pakistan cricket team, PTCL is binding the entire Pakistani nation together to cheer for our heroes through its SmartTV platform. This PTCL service enables our customers to enjoy advertisement-free cricket experience and support their national team,” added Kamal Ahmed.

The SmartTV application makes viewing even more fun with its ‘Time Shift TV’ and ‘Pause and Rewind’ in-app features that enable viewers to rewind and re-play exciting moments. In addition to these features, PTCL subscribers also get access to 150 digital quality TV channels to watch movies through video-on-demand and TV programs through TV-on-demand. There is even a ‘Personal Video Recorder’ that enables customers to keep their favourite content for personal library.

Yasir Manzoor, GM Video Services, PTCL, said “We recognize that the future of news and entertainment lies with over the top TV application. We constantly endeavor to provide our customers with quality content on various screens. We want to entertain our customers everywhere anytime” PTCL subscribers can simply download the SmartTV application from Google Playstore for Android phones (Android Tabs coming soon) or iTunes for Apple iOS devices and view the entire Cricket World Cup 2015 uninterrupted. The service is available at only Rs. 499 for the entire World Cup. PTCL SmartTV is geared towards delivering high quality entertainment and information content for Pakistani audience nationwide.

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, WC 2015, Group A, Christchurch

Form, expectation favour New Zealand T HE country is holding its breath.

The New Zealand team has spruced up its cricket machine one part at a time over the past few weeks, bossing matches from the start at times, roaring back to win them at others, and now their public is as primed for the big event as they. This team, with a bold leader in the vanguard, two star batsmen in the batting engine room, and real menace in their attack, holds New Zealand’s best-ever hope of winning cricket’s big prize, the nation feels.

Tens of thousands of kilometres away, another island nation has had its cricket balloon pricked. Sri Lanka’s hope for the World Cup has not burst entirely, but it is spluttering about the room, deflating quickly.

Wednesday’s ignominious loss to Zimbabwe in a warmup match was the final ill omen for many. Sri Lanka’s fans are passionate, but are largely not obsessive. Many may skip the 3:30am starts until the team gives them reason to believe again.

So as New Zealand arrive, wanting only to sustain their success, confident the bowlers will not lose their lines, and lifted by the feeling that someone in the top seven will always find a way to fire, Sri Lanka are scrambling around, searching for that spark that will set their campaign alight. In past world tournaments, the visitors have found it in unlikely places.

Rangana Herath’s five wickets for three runs set them ablaze in Bangladesh last year. A 23-year-old Lasith Malinga’s four wickets in four balls kickstarted their 2007 surge in the Caribbean.

A newly-promoted Tillakaratne Dilshan’s sparkling starts carried them through in the 2009 World T20. A glance through Sri Lanka’s likely XI suggests they have the quality to win the tournament, but at present, not the form.

Christchurch has been wonderful

in the approach to the curtain raiser, but on the eve of the big day, a worsening weather forecast has slightly soured the mood. Light rain is expected until about mid-day, and is then expected to return later in the evening.

Temperatures are not expected to climb above 15 degrees.

In the spotlight: Leader. Figurehead.

Talisman. Brendon McCullum will have the eyes of a nation on him over the next six weeks, and it all begins in his adopted hometown. As someone

who never takes a backward step he seems energised by the prospect. But Saturday morning will surely feel different to any other match? “I normally sleep pretty well,” he said when asked about pre-match nerves. He knows personally, and as a team, there is not much more that could have been done.

At the other end of the spectrum Angelo Mathews had been soaring in the first eight months of 2014, but has since watched his side lose 11 of the 18 completed ODIs they have played since mid-October. The verve and the energy that characterised Sri Lanka for much of last year appears to have depleted, but still, the team is full of players who have tasted extraordinary success.

Mathew’s job, in his first World Cup as captain, is to inspire his men again, while providing the sturdy finishes and canny overs that have been instrumental to Sri Lanka’s good re-

Shehzad fit for Pak-India clash following injury scare ADELAIDE—Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad has been declared fit for Sunday’s World Cup match between Pakistan and India, his X-ray report revealed on Friday. Shehzad suffered an elbow injury after being hit by a bouncer from Ehsan Adil during practice. However, his report today showed that there was no fracture and he would be in form for the first match. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman says the batsman is fit and fine and available to the team which is preparing for Sunday’s sensational clash with India.

Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Waqar Younis on Thursday backed senior batsman Younis Khan to return to form in the World Cup despite a worrying slump.

The 37-year-old has managed just 1, 7, 9, 11, 25 and 19 in the six matches Pakistan have played since arriving in New Zealand last month.

Younis was not in the selectors’ planning for the World Cup but the veteran hit a hundred in the 3-2 defeat against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates in November last year and forced his way into the 15-man squad.—Agencies

sults in recent years.

Teams news: All 15 New Zealand players are expected to be available for the match. With Trent Boult and Tim Southee having had success at Hagley Oval as a pair, they are frontrunners to take the new balls on Saturday. The top order is relatively settled, but McCullum did mention that his team would keep an eye on the weather, and make late adjustments to the XI if necessary.

New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Adam Milne, 11 Trent Boult Replacement quick Dushmantha Chameera landed in New Zealand on Thursday, and as such, does not have a great chance of playing in the first match.

With Jeevan Mendis having hit a fifty against Zimbabwe on Wednesday, Sri Lanka may play him in the lower middle order again.

Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal are also competing for a middle-order spot. Karunaratne’s decent outings in the warm-ups perhaps give him the edge.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dimuth Karunaratne/Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Lasith Malinga Pitch and conditions: Mathews expected the Hagley Oval surface to be full of runs, but given Sri Lanka’s recent troubles against high-quality swing bowling at this venue, he may think twice before batting first. If the outfield is going to be damp, and chances of a Duckworth-Lewis intervention are high, teams may prefer to chase anyway.

Clarke feared career was finished

Afghanistan fend off dogged UAE in last WC warm up

S YDNEY —Hobbled Australian captain Michael Clarke said Friday he feared his career was fin-

MELBOURNE—Afghanistan will head into the with an 86 before being trapped lbw by Alam. cricket World Cup with momentum after downAfghanistan were on the back foot early ing a spirited United Arab Emirates by 14 runs on a steamy day at the Junction Oval and in the teams´ last warmup match in Melbourne slumped to 50-3 when Javed removed numon Friday. A match that had meandered for ber three batsman Nawroz Mangal for 16 afmuch of a steamy day at Melbourne´s Junc- ter also capturing opener Javed Ahmadi for tion Oval sprang to life late in the afternoon 12. Samiullah Shenwari steadied the innings as the dogged Emiratis scrambled hard to reel with a controlled 58, allowing fellow middle in their opponents´ 308-9. order batsman Najibullah Zadran (46) and allAll-rounders Rohan Mustafa (24) and rounder Mirwais Ashraf (34 not out) to set up Amjad Javed (18) mounted a lusty eighth an imposing total.—AFP wicket stand to push UAE within 20 runs of victory, but paceman Dawlat Zadran intervened to bowl Javed and the Middle Eastern minnows sucAfghanistan innings: Amjad b Mirwais ................................. 26 Javed b Amjad Javed ........................... 12 Berenger c Gulbadin Naib b Javed ..... 39 cumbed quickly thereafter.

Usman Ghani run out ........................... 11 Krishna c Aftab Alam b Hamid Hassan49 Paceman Aftab Alam took Nawroz b Amjad .................................. 16 Khurram b Aftab Alam ....................... 86 Asghar b Krishna .................................. 33 Patil c & b Nabi .................................... 28 3-43 from his 6.2 overs to be Samiullah c Patil b Amjad ..................... 58 Shaiman b Aftab Alam .......................... 3 the pick of the Afghanistan Nabi b Naveed ...................................... 30 Rohan run out ........................................ 24 Najibullah b Naveed ............................ 46 Naveed b Nabi ........................................ 2 bowlers, including the matchAfsar b Amjad Javed ........................... 17 Amjad b Dawlat ................................... 18 winning wicket of tail-ender Mirwais Ashraf not out ........................ 34 Saqlain b Aftab ....................................... 1 Gulbadin b Krishna ............................... 24 Tauqir not out ........................................... 4 Saqlain Haider for one.

Extras: (lb 14, w 10, nb 3) ...................... 27 Extras: (lb 2, w 10, nb 2) ...................... 14 Total: (9 wickets) ................................. 308 Total: (all out) ...................................... 294 All-rounder Javed, one of Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-25, 3-50, 4-109, 5- Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-101, 3-182, 4-234, 5the few home-grown Emirati 147, 6-212, 7-226,8-268, 9-308 244, 6-250, 7-253, 8-289, 9-290, 10-294 Bowling: ................................... O-M-R-W Bowling: ................................... O-M-R-W players in the side and an airNaveed ..................................... 10-1-78-2 Hamid Hassan ........................... 6-0-53-1 line cargo supervisor away Amjad Javed ............................ 10-1-39-4 Dawlat Zadran ........................... 6-0-51-1 Kamran Shazad ......................... 9-0-67-0 Nabi ........................................... 10-0-43-2 from the game, took 4-39 to Tauqir .......................................... 7-0-24-0 Mirwais ..................................... 10-1-51-1 Krishna ....................................... 9-0-42-2 Javed Ahmadi ............................ 5-0-20-1 lead the UAE bowling.

Nasir Aziz ................................... 3-0-28-0 Aftab Alam ............................. 6.2-0-43-3 Left-handed batsman Rohan .......................................... 2-0-16-0 Gulbadin ..................................... 4-0-21-0 UAE innings: Asghar ........................................ 1-0-10-0 Khurram Khan, the team´s 43year-old talisman, sparkled

ished as he toiled to recover from hamstring surgery.

But the 33-year-veteran, who will sit out Saturday’s World Cup opener against old enemy England, also admitted that if he was forced to quit, then he would accept his fate.

“When scans confirmed I had torn my hamstring (after the last day of the Adelaide Test against India) I thought I might just have played my last game of cricket,” Clarke told the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

“I had suffered my fourth hamstring in six months and my back was flaring up. “I had just scored a century in memory of my little ‘brother’ (Phillip Hughes, the Test batsman who died after being hit by a bouncer in a domestic game in November) in a winning Test side. “If that was to be the end, I thought, I would have no regrets.”—AFP

Razzaq for aggressive approach against India I SLAMABAD —Former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has urged the players to have a positive and aggressive approach in the match against India on Sunday saying he hopes that the green-shirts play their best game on that day and bring joy to their supporters.

Razzaq said the team which can lift itself to perform better on Sunday will have the best chance to win this encounter. “As a Pakistani, I hope and pray that Pakistan win this game. In terms of approach, Pakistan should avoid the loss of early wickets which puts pressure on any batting line-up.

Each member of the team, whether he is a bowler or a batsman, needs to do their job in that match.

On top of that, only a positive and aggressive approach can help Pakistan beat India,” he told Pakpassion.net in an interview.

Razzaq said the Indian team is better than Pakistan on paper. “Pakistan team has

issues with fitness and their chances of victory lie with someone performing outstandingly well on that day. The Indian team has a good combination in place and they have been playing well together but despite that, this will be a neutral venue so let’s see who can perform better on February 15,” he said.

Speaking about how far can the 1992 World Cup winners can go in the 2015 edition of the tournament, Razzaq said it all depends on how Pakistan do in the first game against India and what momentum they can gain from that game.

“But having said that, one must also remember that it is not the World Cup final as if they lose, it will not be the end of the tournament for Pakistan.

The players need to play all their games at the highest intensity possible and with that kind of attitude, a semi-final berth or even a place in the final is not beyond their reach”, he said.—APP

Some areas of the brain ‘may not slow down with aging’

P

AST research has suggested that as we age, our brain functions slow down. But a new study from The University of Adelaide in Australia indicates that there are areas of the brain that remain as effective in old age as they are in youth. A new study suggests that some areas of the brain may remain as effective in old age as they are in youth.

Dr. Joanna Brooks - who performed the study while she was a visiting research fellow at the schools of psychology and medicine at The University of Adelaide - recently presented the findings at the 12th International Cognitive Neuroscience Conference in Brisbane, Australia.

To reach her findings, Dr. Brooks analyzed the “spatial attention” skills of 60 older adults aged 55-95 and younger adults aged 18-38. Spatial attention is the ability to focus on a particular object in an environment with an array of visual stimuli. We use spacial awareness in day-to-day life, such as when we drive, walk, and pick up and use objects.

Study participants were asked to carry out a series of spatial awareness tasks. One task, for example, required subjects to wear a blindfold while feeling a variety of wooden objects. They had to judge where they thought the center of each object was. Results ‘challenge current models of cognitive aging’ Dr. Brooks found that all participants - regardless of their age - believed the center of each object was more toward the left-hand side of where it actually was.

She notes that in other tasks involving

touch and sound, participants in both age groups gave the same responses, indicating that there may be cognitive systems in the right cerebral hemisphere of the brain - responsible for spatial awareness and other functions - that are protected from aging. This study, according to Dr. Brooks, challenges current theories about how aging affects the brain: “When we think of aging, we think not just of the physical aspects but also the cognitive side of it, especially when it comes to issues such as reaction time, which is typically slower among older adults.

Our results challenge current models of cognitive aging because they show that the right side of the brain remains dominant for spatial processing throughout the entire adult lifespan. We now need to better understand how and why some areas of the brain seem to be more affected by aging than others.”

This research is part of an international collaboration with scientists from the UK, which aims to gain a better insight into the mechanisms behind spatial attention in the human brain. But Dr. Brooks notes that this study could also provide a better understanding of how conditions that impair cognitive functioning, such as Alzheimer’s disease, affect the brain. Medical News Today recently reported on a study by researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, which suggested that older people who can process visual information quickly are more likely to stay mentally acute.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Senior Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar and Agha Siraj Durrani Speaker Sindh Assembly cutting cake on the occasion of the 36th Anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (Iran’s National Day) dinner hosted by Consul General Mehdi Sobhani at Consulate premises.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

Two dead bodies recovered from Orangi Town STAFF REPORTER K A R A C H I —At least two dead bodies of two unidentified people were recovered from two different parts of Orangi Town on Friday, police said.

A bullet-riddled dead body of unidentified man was recovered from Christian

Muhalla, Mianwali Colony.

Officials in Peerabad police station said that the police was informed regarding presence of a dead body by area resident. A police party rushed to the spot to shift the dead to hospital for postmortem.

Police said that the victim could be 26 or 27 years in age

and had worn shalwaar and kameez. Police claimed that the identity of the deceased could not be ascertained as yet but he seems to be Pakhtoon apparently.

Another dead body of 25year-old man was recovered from outside Malik Jamal School located in Orangi Town 11 ½. Officials in Iqbal

Market police station said that a police party reached at the spot on information of area residents and shifted the dead body to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) for autopsy.

Police claimed that the victim had worn pent and shirt and apparently he seems to be Urdu-speaking. The identity of the second dead

Commissioner orders dev work in Gulzar-e-Hijri housing schemes K ARACHI —Commissioner and Assistant Registrar, Coop- the area. He also assured coop- Project Director informed that Dr Tilo Klinner Consul General Germany cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the ” Wella Professionals Wella Learning Academy”.—PO photo

Karachi Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqi directed the Project Director of Scheme-33 to initiate outer development work in housing schemes in Gulzar-e- Hijri.

Presiding over a meeting to review the development matters related to Scheme -33, he directed the Deputy Commissioner East Agha Pervez, who is also the Project Director, to ensure the completion of outer development work in shortest possible time.

The meeting was attended among others by the Deputy Commissioner East, representatives of ABAD Anwer Gagai

erative Housing Society.

It was decided that action against encroachemts would be initiated to start development work in Scheme -33 while a campaign for recovery of dues would also be launched. A committee headed by Deputy Commissioner-East comprising members from the Federation of Housing Societies, ABAD, Registrar, Cooperative Society was formed to oversee the development work of the scheme.

The Commissioner also asked the representatives of Housing Societies to play their role for outer development of

Zulfiquar Mirza playing at the hands of establishment: Patel STAFF R EPORTER KARACHI —Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Karachi Division President Abdul Qadir Patel and General Secretary Syed Najmi Alam severely lambasted former Home Minister Dr Zulfiquar Mirza for his ant-PPP statements and allegations on former President and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

They said Dr Mirza had gone mad as he had lost the mental equilibrium. He was being made a puppet at the hands of those ant-PPP forces that always haunted the party and wanted to eliminate it and impose undemocratic forces on Sindh produced and trained by the Establishment.

The ant-PPP forces were highly intimidated from the PPP, its Sindh government and they had now used Dr Mirza for their vested interests. On the other hand, Dr Mirza had a history to stab in the back of his own people, who had been very kind to him and supported him to rise from the grass root.

They said the people of Sindh were well familiar with ant-PPP forces and promoters of anti-PPP elements such as Dr Mirza so that they could make the soil of Sindh fertile for making people of Sindh as their slaves. However, such elements had never been successful and would still be defeated on all fronts.

They said the timing of Dr Mirza was quite meaningful and he had once again proved that he would leave no stone unturned to sabotage efforts for bringing peace, tranquillity and stability in Sindh province.

They advised Dr Mirza to review his position as he was exposing him as enemies of Sindhis and a tool of the ant-PPP and anti-Sindh pro-establishment forces.

eration for release of required development fund to complete the work in Scheme-33. The

Rs 15 billion were required to complete the outer development of Scheme-33.—APP

body could not be confirmed before our going to press.

Some areas of the brain ‘may not slow down with aging’

P

AST research has suggested that as we age, our brain functions slow down. But a new study from The University of Adelaide in Australia indicates that there are areas of the brain that remain as effective in old age as they are in youth. A new study suggests that some areas of the brain may remain as effective in old age as they are in youth.

Dr. Joanna Brooks - who performed the study while she was a visiting research fellow at the schools of psychology and medicine at The University of Adelaide - recently presented the findings at the 12th International Cognitive Neuroscience Conference in Brisbane, Australia.

To reach her findings, Dr. Brooks analyzed the “spatial attention” skills of 60 older adults aged 55-95 and younger adults aged 18-38. Spatial attention is the ability to focus on a particular object in an environment with an array of visual stimuli. We use spacial awareness in day-to-day life, such as when we drive, walk, and pick up and use objects.

Study participants were asked to carry out a series of spatial awareness tasks. One task, for example, required subjects to wear a blindfold while feeling a variety of wooden objects. They had to judge where they thought the center of each object was. Results ‘challenge current models of cognitive aging’ Dr. Brooks found that all participants - regardless of their age - believed the center of each object was more toward the left-hand side of where it actually was.

She notes that in other tasks involving

touch and sound, participants in both age groups gave the same responses, indicating that there may be cognitive systems in the right cerebral hemisphere of the brain - responsible for spatial awareness and other functions - that are protected from aging. This study, according to Dr. Brooks, challenges current theories about how aging affects the brain: “When we think of aging, we think not just of the physical aspects but also the cognitive side of it, especially when it comes to issues such as reaction time, which is typically slower among older adults.

Our results challenge current models of cognitive aging because they show that the right side of the brain remains dominant for spatial processing throughout the entire adult lifespan. We now need to better understand how and why some areas of the brain seem to be more affected by aging than others.”

This research is part of an international collaboration with scientists from the UK, which aims to gain a better insight into the mechanisms behind spatial attention in the human brain. But Dr. Brooks notes that this study could also provide a better understanding of how conditions that impair cognitive functioning, such as Alzheimer’s disease, affect the brain. Medical News Today recently reported on a study by researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, which suggested that older people who can process visual information quickly are more likely to stay mentally acute.

Senior most judge of Lahore High Court Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik is inaugurating Democratic Lawn at High Court bar association on Friday.

Nation has resolved to eliminate terrorism, extremism: Shahbaz STAFF REPORTER L AHORE —Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif presided over a high level meeting here today which reviewed overall law and order situation in the province and the steps taken under National Action Plan.

The Chief Minister directed concerned authorities to ensure effective implementation of the National Action Plan as the steps taken in this regard are proving very effective. He said that concerned institutions are performing their responsibilities with the best coordination.

He said that Punjab government,

with the help of concerned departments, has taken immediate and effective measures while necessary amendments have also been made in the laws for making sentences more stringent. He said that the nation has resolved to eliminate terrorism, extremism and sectarianism on permanent basis and terrorists and extremists are going to meet their logical end very soon. He said that Pakistan will be rid of the menace of terrorism and extremism with the force of national unity.

The Chief Minister said that a decisive action is being taken against terrorists and the whole nation is standing by its armed forces and law-enforce-

ment agencies in the war against terrorism. He said that there is a new spirit and determination in the Pakistani nation and it is time to take decisive action to root out the menace of terrorism.

Shahbaz Sharif said that victory is the only option in the war against terrorism which will be won at any cost so as to come up to the expectations of the masses. He said that extraordinary measures are being taken in the existing extraordinary situation for the protection of life and property of people and encouraging results are being witnessed. He said that war against terrorism is vital for the survival of coming

generations and a collective decision has been taken for restoration of peace and law and order in the country.

He said that there is no room for extremism and terrorism in the country which will be rooted out to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state in the real sense. The meeting reviewed in detail the measures taken in the province for eradication of terrorism, extremism and sectarianism. Provincial Minister for Home Col.(R) Shuja Khanzada, Member Provincial Assembly Rana Sanaullah, Chief Secretary, Inspector General Police, Secretary Home and concerned officers were present on the occasion.

Monthly wages of work charged employees raised SALIM AHMED

Students taking part in the annual sports day of Kinniard College on Friday.

Development projects worth billions of rupees launched in province STAFF REPORTER LAHORE—Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan Muslim League-N government has initiated development projects worth billions of rupees for the welfare and betterment of the masses. He said that maintenance of transparency, standard and speedy completion of uplift projects is the hallmark of provincial government.

He was presiding over a high level meeting, here today. The Chief Minister said that the PML-N government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has provided relief to the people by making a record decrease in the prices of petroleum products. He said that solid measures have also been taken to reduce transport fares and the prices of essential items in the wake of reduction in the fuel prices. He said that mea-

sures for the welfare of the people and provision relief to the masses will continue in future as well.

He said that the mineral reserves found at Chiniot-Rajwa are a gift of Allah Almighty and will change the destiny of the nation. He said that all the problems being faced by the country will be resolved under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. The Chief Minister stressed upon elected representatives to spare no effort for the solution of problems of the people and ensure time completion of development projects in their respective areas.

Provincial Ministers congratulated Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif over discovery and certification of mineral reserves in Chiniot-Rajwa and said that these hidden treasures have been found under the guidance of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

L AHORE —Punjab Government has issued notification to enhance the minimum monthly wages of work charged employees of the government departments of the province on the intervention of Ombudsman Punjab Javed Mahmood.

According to notification issued, work charged employees would get minimum amount of Rs. 12000/ in place of Rs. 9000/ as monthly salary. Ombudsman Punjab has also disposed of the complaint filed by the work charged employees of Irrigation Department on the subject.

According to details, work charged employees of Mankera Division, Irrigation Department Khoshab, lodged a complaint to Advisor Ombudsman Punjab Khoshab Asifa Gull that Punjab Government, during Annual Budget speech, announced to enhance minimum monthly wages of workers @ Rs. 12000/ but they are being paid the wages @ Rs. 9000/ which is old one. Ombudsman

PML-N does not believe in politics of provincialism, ethnicism LAHORE—Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Pervaiz Rashid said Friday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz PML-N does not believe in politics of provincialism and ethnicism.

Talking to media persons along with spokesman of Punjab government Zaeem Qadri after filing his nomination papers for Senate election, here at the Election Commission, he said the government always adopted national approach to serve the masses.

To a question, he said that representation in the Senate was based on provincial quota, not on regional or linguistic grounds. He said that the people were contesting the election from seats of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Fata. He added the PMLN leaders from southern Punjab includ-

ing Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, Senator Zafarullah Khan Dhandla, Senator Rafiq Rajwana and Senator Najma Hameed were already in the Senate.

Pervaiz Rashid said the PML-N gave Senate tickets to the candidates on the basis of qualification, capability, democratic struggle and parliamentary experience. He said the PML-N always discouraged differences on ethnic and parochial tendencies with the aim to promote national harmony and solidarity. With regard to recent discovery of copper, gold and iron reserves in Chinot, he said that untiring efforts of Punjab Chief Minister contributed to this big discovery. He said both Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in the ceremony of copper reserves discovery had said that this great asset will be a

treasure for whole Pakistan and not Punjab only which showed nationalistic approach of the PML-N leadership.

The minister said that any person who “landed through the parachute” will not be a candidate of the PML-N in the Senate election. To another question about the proposed visit of Chinese President to Pakistan and US President’s telephone call, Pervaiz Rashid said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has good contacts with the international community.

He added that Obama’s telephone and Chinese President’s visit are a good omen for Pakistan which showed that international community gives importance to Pakistan. PML-N leadership wanted stability and peace in the country that was mandatory for country’s prosperity and development, he added.—APP

Punjab Javed Mahmood directed Advisor District Khoshab Asifa Gull to probe the issue.

It was revealed during the course of inquiry that the announcement could not be matured as notification was required to proceed further. Ombudsman Punjab Office issued notices to Secretary Finance Punjab on October 09 & 18, 2014. Secretary Finance in its replies dated October 29 & December 11, 2014, ensured that the required notification will be issued soon and process in this regard is started.

On the intervention and regular follow up of Ombudsman Punjab Office, Provincial Government issued notification of Approval of Revised Schedule of Wages Rates 2015 and provided the copy of the notification to Ombudsman Punjab who disposed of the complaint accordingly.

As per revised schedule of Wages Rates, work charged employees of all provincial departments would get minimum monthly salary @ Rs. 12000/ raising the same from Rs. 9000/. Ombudsman Punjab Javed Mahmood has said that the notification should have been issued soon after the announcement made during budget speech. He asked the authorities to look into the maladministration and inefficiency

of the concerned as work charged employees remained

deprived of the fruits of the announcement of enhancement

of wages since 7 months due to non issuance of notification.