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Don’t fan provincialismMr Imran................................................Terrorist attack on Karachiairport, an eye opener................................................Are Palestine and Israelheading for reconciliation?

See Page 04

ANKARA—Iran and Turkey on Mondaypledged to work together to stop extremismand bloodshed in the Middle East despite theirdeep differences over Syria’s civil war.

“Iran and Turkey, the two important coun-tries in the region, are determined to fightagainst extremism and terrorism,” Iran’s Presi-dent Hassan Rouhani told a news conferencein Ankara.

He said the instability in the region ben-efited neither the neighbouring countries, northe world, and said Turkey and Iran agreed towork together.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul com-

Iran, Turkey pledge cooperationdespite split over Syria

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Almost a day af-ter an armed attack on Karachiairport killed at least 29 people

including militants, FederalInterior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan on Mondaynight said that foreign as wellas local elements were in-volved in recent terrorist at-

Foreign, local elements involved in attacks: NisarTerrorists wanted to destroy all planes, report to PM reveals TTP claims airport

attack, warns Govt of more such attacks 29 including 10 terrorists killed

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tacks in Pakistan.Speaking at a press confer-

ence held at the airport here, hesaid at least 19 security person-nel including 11 Airport Secu-rity Force personnel werekilled in the brazen attack.There are reports of 29 otherswounded in the attack also, headded.

Chaudhry Nisar praisedsecurity and law enforcementforces for the successful andtimely completion of the opera-tion against the assailants.

“Rangers troops reachedthe airport in seven and armedforces in 10 minutes time,” hesaid.

According to the securityofficials, the operation wascompleted by 1:30am to2:30am as all ten militants werekilled by then, said Nisar. They,however, continued the opera-tion for an hour or so to makesure no militants were left hid-

ing in the airport’s premises.The minister said that all

national installations remainedsafe in the attack. However, headded that three aircraft werepartially damaged.

“The main target of the as-sailants was to destroy air-craft.”

Nisar said every street andcorner of the country was atterrorists’ target and urged thesecurity personnel to remain on

their toes.Regarding weapons recov-

ered from the attackers, he saidthere were clues pointing to-wards the involvement of acountry, but this was yet to beverified. The interior ministersaid that people who wentmissing during the operationare being located by the secu-rity forces and rescuers.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR/QUETTA—Four soldiers werekilled and many others were injured in suspectedsuicide attack near Boya checkpost on DattaKhel road in North Waziristan Agency and atleast two paramilitary soldiers were killed andthree others injured Monday in an explosion thathit a paramilitary convoy in Awaran.

In North Waziristan, official sources said,security personnel were establishing a smallcheckpoint near Boya checkpost on main DattaKhel road when the suspected suicide bomberstruck his vehicle into the checkpoint. Subse-quently, four Frontier Corps’ soldiers werekilled whereas several others sustained inju-ries.

Security personnel cordoned off the area andlaunched a search operation in the area whileDatta Khel road has been closed for traffic.

In Awara, Balochistan, at least two paramili-tary soldiers were killed and three others injuredMonday when an explosion hit a paramilitaryconvoy in Awaran, about 350 kilometres awayfrom the provincial capital Quetta, officials said.

Sources in the Frontier Corps told media thatan FC vehicle was on a routine patrol in Mashkayarea of Awaran when militants targeted itthrough a roadside improvised explosive device.

They said the blast also damaged the ve-hicle carrying the FC personnel. The injuredpersonnel were rushed to Quetta for medicaltreatment.

FC personnel and local administrationreached the spot and cordoned off the area asthey initiated investigation into the incident.

No arrests have so far been carried out inconnection to the incident, the sources said.

The blast follows a separate gun and suicide

6 security personnel martyred inN Waziristan, Awaran attacks

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Hafiz Gul groupextends ceasefire

to June 20STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The NorthWazristan Taliban Shura led byHafiz Gul Bahadur has ex-tended the ceasefire till June 20and also assured the govern-ment to carry out probe into theBoya checkpost suicide blastwhich left at least three FC sol-diers and a child dead earlieron Monday.

Ahmedullah Ahmedi, thespokesman of North WaziristanTaliban in a statement issued tothe media said that after a meet-ing with the grand jirga ofNorth Wazristan, the shura hasdecided to extend the ceasefiredeadline by ten days.

Following massive

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LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—The deadly and well-plannedattack on Jinnah International Airport on Sun-day night has sent tremors to the power corri-dors in Islamabad, forcing it to convene emer-gency meeting of Cabinet Committee on Na-tional Security to take decisive steps to defeatterrorism.

For quite some time, the stakeholders havebeen restless on terror strikes not only in FATAregion but also in Karachi and Balochistanclaiming lives of innocent people and men in

CCNS meeting summonedto take decisive steps

Twin bombingnear Kurdish partyoffice in northIraq kills 30KIRKUK/TIKRIT Iraq—Atleast 30 people were killed ina double bombing targetingthe offices of a Kurdishpolitical party in the northernIraqi town of Tuz Khurmatoon Monday, local officialsand medical workers said.

Security sources said acar bomb blew up at acheckpoint near the localheadquarters of the PatrioticUnion of Kurdistan (PUK)party, before a truck packedwith explosives was deto-nated beside a wall.

The attack is the latest ina show of strength bymilitants who have beenregaining ground in Iraq andon Sunday killed 18 people intwin blasts targeting PUKoffices in the town of Jalawla.

The Sunni militant

Four trippedMangla unitsrestoredLAHORE—Four units ofMangla Dam Power Housethat were tripped due to‘technical fault’ were repairedand restored on Mondaymorning.

The electricity supply ofup to 1000 mega watts alsobegan with the restoration ofthe units. According to Waterand Power DevelopmentAuthority (WAPDA)spokesperson, the repair workis in progress on the fifth unitas well. WAPDA spokesper-son also clarified thatcontrary to reports, the unitswere not tripped due to fireeruption, adding that it wasdue to a technical faultdeveloped by the trans-former.—INP

India deniesinvolvement inKarachi attackKARACHI,—Indian HighCommissioner to Pakistan Dr.TCA Raghavan on Mondaycondemned terrorist attack onKarachi airport and rejectedallegations of Indianinvolvement. “We condemnthe terrorist attack instrongest terms.

Such allegations arebaseless and there is no truthin these accusations,” theIndian envoy said while

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KARACHI: Fire-fighters extinguishing fire after militants attack at Jinnah International Airport. (Another picture on Back Page)

List of martyredand injured

KARACHI—At least 19people embraced Shahadatwhile 26 others sustained in-juries during an attack onKarachi Airport late Sundaynight. The injured wereshifted to Jinnah Hospital.

According to Jinnahhospital administration, themartyred included AirportSecurity Force personnelTariq Mehmood 32, AbdulMaalik 30, Muhammad

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PIA resumesflight operationAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI–After the controlof the unfortunate attack bythe extremists at the Karachiairport, PIA resumed its nor-mal operation from JinnahInternational Airport re-sumed at 1600 hours PakistanStandard Time.

Special Assistant toPrime Minister on Aviation,Mr. Shujaat Azeem said “the

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—A day-long investigation into theattack on Jinnah International Airport (JIA)Karachi has thus far revealed that the terroristshad entered the airport premises in three groupsfrom two different locations.

The group which first entered the JIAKarachi premises had worn Airports SecurityForce (ASF) uniform while the members of twoothers groups wore track suits. It has also beenrevealed that the security at the gate which was

Terrorists entered ingroups from two sides

used by terrorists for entrance was comparativelylow as compared to other gates as it was usedby staff for entrance.

It was also cleared on Monday that the weap-ons which terrorists used in the attack were notmanufactured in the country. The recoveredweapons would be sent to laboratory for foren-sic test today. All the terrorists have worn bul-let-proof jackets and kept the hand grenades intheir pockets for exploding themselves.

A well-placed source told Pakistan Observer

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI —Goods worth mil-lions of rupees lying at thecargo area of Karachi airportwas gutted as a result of act ofterror causing huge losses to thebusiness community.

In order to avoid such inci-dents in future, the governmentmust rely on digital securitysystem rather than depending

Cargo worth millionsof rupees gutted

7 workers of cargo terminal missingon manpower and install scan-ners at all the entry and exitpoints of the city in order tostop influx of explosives in thefinancial hub of Pakistan.

President of the KarachiElectronic Dealers Association(KEDA), Muhammad Idreesurged the government to an-nounce compensation to busi-nessmen whose goods lying at

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uniform.The fast changing situation in FATA with

breakaway of key TTP faction led by KhanSaeed alias Sajna, Gul Bahadur’s revocation ofpeace agreement with authorities, attack onbuses at a hotel in Taftan, attacks on securityforces in different areas, security forces actionsin Balochistan and lately very dangerous attackon Karachi airport aiming to destroy aircraft willbe the subjects to be discussed. Taliban havetaken responsibility of the attack.

Sources close to PM house said defining

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Iran closesborder with

PakistanOBSERVER REPORT

QUETTA—Iranian borderguards fired two dozen rocketsinto Balochistan province onMonday evening, however, nocasualties were reported, an of-ficial said.

Spokesman for the FrontierCorp Khan Wasey told mediathat Iranian border guards fired24 rockets in Balochistan’sPanjgur district.

mended Rouhani’s policies since taking officein August last year, saying they were helpingIran open up to the world.

The diplomatic niceties though paperedover a complex and often dysfunctional rela-tionship between the two countries. Those tieshave taken an especially bitter turn in recentyears as a result of increasing competitionbetween Sunni and Shia Muslim powers acrossthe region.

Rouhani’s trip to Turkey, flanked by acrowded delegation of ministers and Iranianbusinessmen, saw 10 bilateral deals signed in

Russia would reactto NATO build-upnear bordersMOSCOW—Russia wouldconsider any further expan-sion of NATO forces near itsborders a “demonstration ofhostile intentions” and wouldtake political and militarymeasures to ensure its ownsecurity, a senior diplomatwas quoted on Monday assaying.

The comments comeamid a deep crisis betweenRussia and the West overUkraine and days after U.S.President Barack Obamaoffered increased militarysupport for eastern EuropeanNATO members to ease theirconcerns over Moscow.

“We cannot see such abuild-up of the alliance’s

QUETTA—National Testing Service(NTS), introduced to evaluate academicperformance and transparent - on meritselection of the candidates in differentsectors, is feared to lose its mandatedrole due to unaffordable fee charges forlower middle class.

In a society where political influenceand bribery were common practices toimpede the way of poor intelligentsia, itwas imperative to make NTS, a talenthunting institution, rather than a sourceof earning.

“A large number of our poor stu-dents was highly talented andhardworking but finance hampers themfrom achieving their objectives,” AliImran, a lecturer in a local college regret-ted. It was worth appreciating that the

incumbent government and a numberof public sector organizations were ap-proaching NTS for the selection of pro-fessionals through an independent andtransparent system,” said Fahim, a freshuniversity graduate. “I applied for a postin Provincial Disaster Management Au-thority Balochistan (PDMA) and paidRs. 1000 to appear in the test, which wasnot easy to afford for a jobless person”,he added.

The NTS, formed in 2003, initiallyhad 3 client departments in the very firstyear and 17000 candidates were tested.The number of clients has now gone upto 300 with 5,332,810 candidates ap-peared till 30 April 2014, data shared byNTS revealed.

The trend to hire competitive human

resource for job market through NTS,was gaining popularity in Balochistanbut again the emphasis was laid to keepminimum charges for maximum access.

To ensure merit and transparency,Speaker Balochistan Assembly had alsodirected to hire professionals throughNTS for assembly’s vacant posts.

Another appreciative example in thisregard was Home Minister, who, despitepolitical pressure, involved NTS for theselection of grade-17 and other posts inPDMA Balochistan.

Without any doubt the selection ofcandidates in an independent and com-petitive environment was healthy butfinancial constraints of the jobless pooryouth must be kept in mind to achievetargeted goals.

NTS qualified candidates await appointments

Heavy fee charges may hamper NTS objectives

Unemploymentbiggest problem

TANDO MUHAMMAD KHAN—The Sindh Minister forPrison, Anti Corruption and Mineral ResourcesManzoor Wassan has said unemployment is the big-gest problem in Tando Muhammad Khan district.

“Soon we will launch employment scheme to givejobs to the qualified people at the union council lev-els,” he assured here Monday while speaking to thepeople at an open katchehry according to a handoutissued by Sindh Information Department. —APP

HYDERABAD: Ranger personnel stand on a road during strike call of ASWJ against killings of party workers.

ISLAMABAD—Secretary Water andPower, Nargis Sethi alongwith her teamunder the direction of Minister for Waterand Power, Khawja Muhammad Asif andState Minister Abid Sher Ali are puttingtheir best efforts to provide re-lief to people in the scorchingheat, by ensuring better powerload management and servicedelivery.

In the recent days with therise in demand due to severeheat wave across the countryand the mercury rising upto 50degrees centigrade in someparts of the country, the Secre-tary Water and Power took anumber of surprise visits to dif-ferent parts of the country, saida press release issued hereMonday.

These visits were paid to exactlyascertain the quantum of distributioncompanies’ efficiency and their servicedelivery. In her visits she inspected nu-merous sub-divisions, complaint cen-ters, grid stations, transmission and dis-tribution system, the national powercontrol center, power distribution com-

All-out efforts to mitigatepower consumers’ sufferings

panies (DISCOs) head offices, and simi-lar other electricity installations.

Nargis Sethi also met local peoplewherever she went and took their viewsabout the service delivery and the quan-

tum of load-shed-ding in their areas.

The Secre-tary also urged thepeople to pay theirelectricity bills andconserve energy sothat more and morepeople could benefitfrom the existingpower generation.

During thewhole week the Sec-retary Water andPower and allDISCOs chiefs re-

mained in contact via video link and sheordered them to remain at their stationsand field offices for at least three monthsand avoid unnecessary movements sothat electricity load and service deliverywere better managed.

She also directed them to prepare theirown load management plans for the

forthcoming Ramzan as there must notbe any loadshedding during Sehar andIftar hours. Nargis clearly told them thatshe along with her team at federal levelwould remain on video link during Seharand Iftar, so that public could get reliefon spot, if there was any discrepancy.

A number of other decisions werealso made by the Secretary Water andPower for betterment of the system.

The Federal Complaint Centre hasbeen made more powerful and it hasbeen tasked with redressal of publiccomplaints, if these are not paid heed atDISCO level.

On the orders of Nargis Sethi, allDISCOS had notified their task forces,which had been entrusted with the re-sponsibilities of visiting all their sub-divisions and taking immediate and ap-propriate actions on public complaintsand theft etc.

Nargis Sethi also issued directionsthat all operational staff of the DIS-COS will remain on duty on Saturdayand Sunday at all levels during thehot season, so that decisions couldbe made on immediate basis at differ-ent levels.—APP

PTI to ease masses woes

Akbar Ayub Khan and Yousaf Ayub Khan inaugurating Mirpur-Pind Jamal Khan roadproject.

PESHAWAR—Taliban Committee member and Jamat-e-Islami provincial Amir Professor Ibrahim Khan Mon-day strongly condemned terrorists’ attack on KarachiInternational Airport and accepting of responsibilityby Taliban.

A press statement issued here by Al Markaz AlIslami, Provincial headquarters of Jamat-e-Islami, saidthat Professor Ibrahim has condemned the attack andsaid that Taliban should have to avoid such activities.

He said that such attacks by Taliban would not bea solution to any problem, adding that already halteddialogue process should be resumed for long lastingpeace in the country. He opined that the Government,Military and Taliban should have to continue dialogueprocess to curb violence in the country and reactionof every action.

Professor Ibrahim said innocent people were killedin such attacks which is very condemnable.

Earlier, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Speaker National As-sembly has strongly condemned the terrorists attackat Karachi Aiport and paid rich tribute to security per-sonnel who laid their lives in operation against theterrorists. The Speaker termed it a shameful act of ter-rorism. —APP

Prof Ibrahimcondemns

TTP airport attack

ABDUL KHALIQ QURESHI

A B B O T TA B A D —KhyberPakhtunkhawa ChiefMinister’s advisor to worksand communications, AkbarAyub Khan has said thatkeeping in view the PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf by implement-ing together with to follow-ing its 100 percent manifestois striving hard to convertpublic difficulties into easi-est mechanism. He informedthat on PK 50 no kutcha roadwould be found particularly

in the June 2015.This, he said while inau-

gurating a project Mirpur toPind Jamal Khan whichshould be completed withthe estimated cost of Rs.3000 million. Prior to this theadvisor to CM was receivedby Yousaf Ayub Khan withpump and show soon afterhis arrival on the site to gracethe occasion. He said thatPTI Chief, Imran Khan hadworked in the past, and pres-ently he has no emotionalcourage to launch and estab-

lish mere openening cer-emony, adding that corrup-tion would be rooted out en-tirely from whole of provincesoon.

Bedside, HajiMuhammad Zaman, MalikAkhtar, Nazir Khan, SyedRiaz Hussain Shah,Dr.Akhtar Zaman, ImranMughal, Haji Riaz, MalikMuhammad Nawaz, HajiAbdul Manan, HajiMazloom, HajiManzoor,Farman Gul, KhalidMehmood,ex-Nazim Riaz

Ahmad Khan instead ofthose hundreds of dignitar-ies and elders were alsopresent on this occasion.Meanwhile, SuperintendingEngineer, Ansar, XENRafaqat Shah had briefedabout the project.The chiefengineer has suggested thatif 5 years more chanceyielded to them the plan of50s could be changed en-tirely. He suggested thatpeople belonging to PK 51would also be benefitted withthe instant project also.

Meanwhile, YousafAyub Khan said thatMirpur, Kamilpur, PindJamal Khan, would be ben-efited through such commu-nication system. He saidthat for the sake of potablewater supply schemes vari-ous crores rupees fundinghas already been yielded tothese areas. He informedthat provision of such fundhas been made because ofwe are in the ruling party,but opposition leaders haveno right to provide financialassistance for the comple-tion of development workson any area of the country.He also issued necessary in-structions to those residingnearby under constructionroad to cooperate with themuntil the completion of suchdevelopment work.

PESHAWAR—The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, SardarMahtab Ahmad Khan has asked the senior officials of FATADevelopment Authority (FDA) to make early allotment of in-dustrial plots under 2nd Phase of Momand Marble City; re-invigorate the pace of progress on its development activitiesand ensure its early completion. He said this while pre-siding over a briefing at Governor’s House, here on Monday.The Governor was briefed that establishment of an electricitygrid station alongwith installation of its transmission lines be-

FDA directed for early allotment of industrial plots

Talent test for FATA studentssides construction of boundary walls and internal roads havebeen completed at the industrial estate.

Further, it was added, allotment of 80 plots under the IstPhase of the project has already been completed while applica-tions from potential entrepreneurs have also been received forallotment of additional 100 plots under its 2nd Phase.The Governor after having a detail review of the pace of progresson the project desired to make best use of the available re-sources and avoid un-necessary expenditures.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Anti Narcotics Force(ANF) recovered 47 kg heroin, 98kg charas and 12.9 kg opium andarrested 19 persons including fourlady drug smugglers and seized sixvehicles.

ANF teams conducted opera-tions in various cities includingRawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar andKarachi, said a press release issuedhere on Monday.

According to details, ANFRawalpindi intercepted a Honda carnear Chakwal Mor, Jhelum and re-covered 17 kg heroin tactfully con-cealed in the secret cavities of thecar. Two accused namely KashifSiddique and a lady Dilraj both resi-dents of Noushera were arrested atthe spot.

ANF Rawalpindi Airport teamintercepted Altaf Hussain r/o MandiBahauddin at Benazir Bhutto Inter-national Airport and recovered 550gram heroin tactfully concealed in

19 including 4 lady drug smugglers heldcigarettes. The accused was to travelto Spain via Dubai by Flight No. EK-613.

During initial investigation, anassociate of the accused, Qasim Alir/o Gujrat was also arrested from thewaiting area.

ANF Rawalpindi interceptedMuhammad Bashir and Lubna Bibiboth residents of Khushab atIslamabad Airport and recovered 650gram Ice tactfully concealed in thepacks of utility items. They wereboarding for Jeddah by Shaheen Air-lines Flight No. NL-719.

ANF team also apprehendedFarid Khan r/o Charsada at IslamabadAirport and recovered one kg herointactfully concealed in utility items. Hewas to travel for Dubai by ShaheenAirlines Flight No. NL-551.

ANF Rawalpindi arrestedMuhammad Naeem and JavedMushtaq both residents of Jhelumand recovered four kg charas from

their personal possession. They weretravelling on Honda 125 motorcyclenear market stop, GT Road, Jhelum.

ANF also arrested MuhammadFazil r/o Rawalpindi at Islamabad Air-port and recovered 17 kg heroin tact-fully concealed in furniture items (in5 pehries). The accused was board-ing for London by Flight No. PK-785.

ANF Lahore apprehended awomen namely Nihayta Bibi fromLahore and recovered 4.2 kg opium.

ANF Lahore intercepted a CorollaCar RG-866 Islamabad at a checkingpoint in Mianwali and recovered 10kg heroin tactfully concealed in se-cret cavities of the car. Two accusednamely Masood Shah and ShabanKhan Durrani both residents ofNoushera were also arrested on thespot. ANF Lahore arrested a Zam-bian woman namely Masaza at SialkotAirport and recovered two heroinfilled capsules (weighing 48 gm) fromher possession. She was to travel to

Bahrain by Flight No. GF-769.ANF Lahore intercepted Toyota

Vitz (without number plate) near ShahJamal Road, Muzaffargarh and recov-ered 3.8 kg charas tactfully concealedin secret cavities of the car and ar-rested the accused namely NasirAbbas r/o Muzaffargarh on the spot.

ANF Lahore arrested NadeemKhan r/o Khyber Agency at AbdullahTravels Bus stand, Lahore and re-covered 800 gram charas and 300 gmopium from his personal possession.

ANF Peshawar intercepted aNissan Sunny Car No D-2553 atPishtkhara Chowk, Ring Road,Peshawar and recovered 8.4 kg opiumand 2.4 kg charas, tactfully concealedin the secret cavities of the car. Twoaccused namely Gultiaz Khan werearrested on the spot.

ANF Peshawar arrested ShahidKhan at Peshawar Airport and recov-ered one kg heroin, tactfully con-cealed in his trolley bag.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Meteorological De-partment (PMD) on Monday forecastmainly very hot and dry weather for mostparts of the country during the next 24hours.

However, dust-thunderstorm rain is ex-pected at a few places inGilgit-Baltistan, Malakand,Hazara and Peshawar divi-sions during night.

According to the syn-optic situation, seasonallow was lying over northBaluchistan and adjoiningareas. A shallow westerly trough was alsoprevailing over northern most parts of thecountry.

The highest maximum temperatures re-corded during the last 24 hours wereJaccobabad, Dadu, Shaheed Benazirabad,Moenjodaro and Sibbi 49 C, Pasni, Sukkur,Lasbella, Bhakkar, Kasur, Nur Pur Thal 48C.

The maximum temperatures recorded

Hot, dry weather to continueduring the last 24 hours were Islamabad 41C, Lahore 46 C, Karachi 43 C, Peshawar 43C, Quetta 35 C, Skardu 28 C, Murree 30 C,Muzaffarabad 41 C, Gilgit 34 C, Faisalabad45 C, Multan 46 C and Hyderabad 43 C.The Lahore office reported that severe heat

wave conditions would con-tinue over most plains of theprovince, including the pro-vincial capital, as well asadjacent areas and southernPunjab till the end of currentweek. Local Met officestated in its report on Mon-

day that temperature would also rise by oneto two degree celsius during next two daysduring day time.

A weather system is likely to enterBalochistan on Saturday (June 14) and un-der its influence rains with thunderstormmay occur at scattered places of thePunjab. In the city minimum temperaturewas 28 degree celsius while maximum onMonday was 45 degree centigrade.—APP

Jamil Fakhriremembered

ISLAMABAD—Today wasthe third death annivarsaryof veteran TV actor JamilFakhri. He died on this dayin 2011.

Jamil Fakhri was born inLahore in 1946. After gradu-ation, he joined the NationalBank of Pakistan, privatenews channel reported.

He started doing theatreat Wapda Auditorium,Lahore, and at Alhamra withactors like Kamal AhmedRizvi, Athar Shah Khan, AliEjaz and Nannah.

His popular stage playsinclude Andar Ana ManaHai, Zuban Daraz andLahore Bypass.

He was consideredamong the founding artistesof PTV. Lahore TV producerYawar Hayat gave him abreak in TV plays.

His popular TV playsinclude Tanay Banay,Daldal, Waris, AndheraUjala, Bandhan and EkMauhabat Sau Afsanay.

His role of police in-spector Jaffar Husain in PTVplay Andhera Ujala becameso popular that film directorShabab Kairanvi selectedhim for big screen. Fakhriacted in more than 50 films.Muskarhat and DeewanayDo are among his bestflicks. —APP

ISLAMABAD—Japan has provided financialgrant of US$ 116,444 to provide clean andsafe water to three villages nearMuzafarabad.

Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan,Hiroshi Inomata on Monday inauguratedthe water supply system that has startedproviding clean and safe water to villagesLower Showai, Makkol, and Sherwan of theMuzaffarabad District in Azad Jammu andKashmir (AJK).

The inauguration ceremony was at-tended by staff of the NGO, members of lo-cal community and other notables from thearea.

The project was made possible by agrant from government of Japan to Astafada,an NGO actively working for rural and com-munal development in AJK.

On the occasion, Ambassador Inomatastressed the importance of clean drinking

Japan provide $ 116,444grant for clean drinking water

water and basic sanitation service and askedthe community to be responsible for takinggood care of the facility so that its benefitscould be long-term and sustainable.

He expressed the hope that this projectwould lay the foundation of a better futurefor the area and also contribute to strength-ening of ties between people of Japan andPakistan.

Before this initiative, the area which lieson suburb of Muzaffarabad city was suffer-ing from a shortage of clean water, espe-cially during summer season.

This had a adverse effect on the com-munity, particularly in terms of health as evi-dent by a high prevalence of the hepatitisdisease in the area.

This project has provided more than 480households with safe water at their door-steps which would be availed all yearround.—APP

ISLAMABAD—President MamnoonHussain on Monday lauded the per-formance of security agencies includ-ing ASF, Police, Rangers and armedforces in response to the attack atKarachi airport.

The President paid tribute to theShuhada, a President House press re-lease said. He expressed satisfactionthat national assets were safe.

Rawalpindi: Benazir InternationalAirport security was beefed up afterterrorist attack on Karachi Airport.

Manager Benazir International Air-port Muhammad Ayaz Jadoon talkingto APP said that extra contingents werecalled at the airport, with enhancedsnap checking of vehicles at entry pointand only passengers were being al-lowed to enter.

He said the authorities are making

every possible move to thwart suchattempts and ensure the safety of air-port and passengers.

As part of the highest level of se-curity, each individual entering the air-port is being checked and all tempo-rary passes have been cancelled, headded. Parking of vehicles near theRawal lounge had been restricted.

Quetta: Following the deadly attackon Karachi International Airport, thesecurity of all Airports in Balochistanhas been increased on Monday.

“Security plan of the Quetta Air-port has been revised with additionaldeployment of the ASF personnels,”Quetta Airport official told APP. Henoted that all vehicles and pedestri-ans entering in the premises of theQuetta international Airport was al-lowed to entered after checking. “The

flights to and from Karachi are sus-pended while flight operation to othercities was continued as per sched-uled,” he added.

Reports reaching here also sug-gested that additional security mea-sures were put in place at and aroundGwadar, Turbat and Zhob Airports toavoid untoward incident.

Lahore: The Karachi airport terror-ist attack has jolted the whole aviationactivity in the country, disturbing theflight schedule from major airports todomestic and international destina-tions.

The incident has left thousands ofpassengers stranded at various airports.Most disturbed were passengers whowere to take connecting flights eitherfrom coming abroad or leaving for for-eign countries.—APP

Security of across country airports beefed up

Mamnoon lauds security agencies’retaliation to terrorists attack

Karachi, Lasbelavarsities sign MoU

of cooperationKARACHI—Centre of Excel-lence in Marine Biology(CEMB), University ofKarachi has signed Memo-randum of Understandingwith the Faculty of MarineSciences, Lasbela Univer-sity of Agriculture, Waterand Marine Sciences(LUAWMS) on Monday onthe occasion of the WorldOcean Day.

The objective of thisMoU is to promote the mu-tual collaboration in aca-demic and scientific re-search activities betweenthe two institutes.

Prof. Dr. MuhammadQaiser, Vice Chancellor, Uni-versity of Karachi appreci-ated the efforts of CEMB indeveloping academic link-age with an institution inBalochistan which has 800km long coastline and wherescientific exploration ishighly required.

He said that this will leadto furthering marine sci-ences in the country. Dr.Qaiser added that Universityof Karachi will provide maxi-mum support in the devel-opment of LUAWMS.

Dr. Dost MuhammadBaloch, Vice Chancellor,Lasbela University of Agri-culture, Water and MarineSciences, said that the twoinstitutes are geographicallyvery close, and can becomeeven closer by developingcollaboration in Marine Sci-ences. Dr. Baloch showedhis keen interest in obtain-ing technical assistancefrom Karachi University inother disciplines as well.

He also appreciated theresearch facilities at CEMBand concluded that thisMoU will be beneficial forboth of the universities.

Dr. Pirzada JamalSiddiqui, Director CEMBpresented Center’s achieve-ments in Marine Sciences.Dr. Siddiqui said that CEMB,a pioneer institute of marineresearch, has produced anumber of professionals inthe field who are now serv-ing various public and pri-vate sector organizations.

The Center has alreadystarted providing technicalassistance and expertise tothe students of theLUAWMS, Dr. Siddiquiadded.—APP

QUETTA: President National Party of Baluchistan Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo addressing a press conference on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Activists of National Pasban Pakistan Tehreek holding a protest infavour of their demands outside press club on Monday.

FAISALABAD: Traffic warden performing duty in steel cabin at Kutcheri Bazar on ahot day.

‘Foreign hand involved in Balochistan unrest’

QUETTA—Provincial Home Minister, MirSafaraz Bugti on Monday said,”foreign handwas involved in terrorism in Balochistan”.

In his statement issued here he saidBalochistan has long border with neighbor-ing countries and terrorists have their train-ing camps in mountainous areas.`“ There are 34 camps in a neighboringcountry’s mountainous areas where terror-ists get training and later, carryout sabotageacts and attacks on innocent people inBalochistan,” he said.

He said that federal government was ex-tending full cooperation to the provincialgovernment to maintain peace and order. Thesecurity forces were playing important roleto curb terrorism in the province, he added.Chagai: The district management of Chagaiconfirmed that death toll of Taftan incidenthas risen to 24 and 18 other people were in-jured, 14 serious injured were shifted to CMHQuetta through helicopters.

Deputy Commissioner Chagai, SaifullahKhetran quoting hospital reports told mediapersons, here on Monday that death toll ofTaftan incident has risen to 24 while, 18people were injured.` “Twenty-four dead include men, women andchildren who in a convoy of 300 pilgrimsreached Taftan from Iran on Sunday and were

attacked by the armed attackers in two ho-tels of the border town. “The injured whowere in serious condition were shifted toCombined Military Hospital Quetta by threehelicopters on Monday morning”, he added.

Talking to APP correspondent, TehsildarTaftan, Ghulam Mustafa said that terroristsfirst attacked Al-Hashmi hotel and openedindiscriminate fire at the pilgrims sitting in-side the hotel, leaving two pilgrims dead andsome other injured.

“Levies Force team immediately rushedto the hotel where exchange of fire betweenthe armed attackers and the Levies Person-nel took place, resulting in killing of one oftwo assailants,”he said, adding that anothersuicide bomber blew him up during the firingthat left more pilgrims injured and badly dam-ages to the hotel building.

He said that during the moment, twobomb blasts took place in another hotelnamely, Al-Murtaza where a number of pil-grims were also staying, resulting in deathand injuring of some of them.

Ghulam Mustafa said that 300 pilgrimsriding in six buses reached border town ofTaftan from Iran before sunset and theyreached two local hotels for one-night stayas they had to leave for Quetta on Mondaymorning along with security teams.—APP

QUETTA—Balochistan police department iscommitted for families welfare of theirmartyred police officials, who sacrifice theirlives in the line of duty.

Talking to reporters here Assistant In-spector General (Training) Balochistan po-lice Fashuddin Ahmad said the bereaved fami-lies of martyred police men are an integralpart of the institution. He said Inspector Gen-eral Balochistan police Mushtaq AhmedSukhaira himself is very conscious aboutwelfare of the families of martyred police offi-

cials and has issued various directives, stan-dard operating procedures and standing or-ders in this regard. The I.G Balochistan po-lice has formulated a comprehensive policyin September, 2013 to ensure maximum facili-ties to the bereaved families, he said, addingThe Policy vide SOP No.4 is strictly imple-mented by the Police department. Under thepolicy, the respective Regional police offic-ers and District Police Officers are bound topay regular visits to the families of themartyred police men.—APP

Facilities to bereaved families

ISLAMABAD—Ministry of Religious Af-fairs and interfaith Harmony has asked53,814 successful intending pilgrims ofGovernment Scheme to submit their ma-chine readable passports by Tuesdaythrough their respective banks for furtherprocess and action.

Talking to APP, he said the passportsmust be valid up to March 31, 2015.

After receiving documents, he saidthe Ministry would issue hajj flightschedule and initiate the process of

Hajj applicants asked tosubmit passports today

stamping of visas.He said the government has brought

down to Hajj expenses up to Rs 250,000per person. The excess amount receivedalong with the applications would be re-funded soon.

Hajj flight operation would start fromAugust 27 and schedule to culminate bySeptember 28. Each successful Hajishould reach their nearest Haji camp threedays prior to their flight for training andvaccination.—APP

Don’t fan provincialismMr Imran

AFTER getting all the required details PTI Chairman Imran Khan inhis press conference termed the Federal Budget for the next fiscalyear as rich friendly and advanced a ten point demand for imple-

mentation by the government. However, more noticeable was his allega-tions against the budget makers and the government leadership who happento be from Punjab; as he has repeatedly been accusing that the lion’s sharegoes to the Province of Punjab, saying that development funds were firstbeing diverted to Lahore and now to Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Though the PML-N spokesman and Minister for Planning and Devel-opment Ahsan Iqbal strongly rebutted the charges saying that Imran is afraidthat if development projects started by the PML-N government were com-pleted, then his politics would have no future; but we would urge Mr ImranKhan to please differentiate between rulers from Punjab and the Provinceof Punjab. It is his political right to comment on the political leaders of theother parties, but unnecessarily targeting Punjab only because the develop-ment projects were being undertaken in that Province, and thus fanningprovincialism and a sense of deprivation among other Provinces, is abso-lutely uncalled for. We think either Imran Khan has not gone through thePSDP or he has been misguided by his experts. The Metro Bus and otherprojects in Lahore were executed from the Provincial budget and the samecould be done by other Provinces from their own resources. As far Federalprojects are concerned, the PTI Chief should have kept in view the Gwadarport, Karachi-Lahore Motorway, Pak-China economic Corridor, Khunjrab-Havelian motorway, Thar coal project, Gaddani power projects, Diamer-Bhasha and Dassu Dams are not located in Punjab. It was Punjab, whichsacrificed its share in the last NFC so that other federating units could get ahigher share of resources. We would give just one example of discrimina-tion being shown to Punjab and that is supply of gas to the Province. Whilethere is no gas load shedding in KPK, Balochistan and once a week inSindh, Punjab CNGs are provided gas only for two days in a week and eventhe domestic consumers are crying over lack of pressure what to talk ofsupply to industries but unfortunately no one in Punjab raised voice overthis discrimination. Did Mr Imran speak about this problem of Punjab andasked his party’s government in KPK to provide additional gas quota to theProvince. Therefore, we would say the incitement against Punjab is a sadreflection on the part of Imran Khan because he is leader of one of the threepopular parties and his voice is heard with attention and creation of ill-willby any one in any way is an unpardonable crime.

Terrorist attack on Karachiairport, an eye opener

THE storming of the Karachi airport by a group of heavily armed terrorists on Sunday night was meticulously conceived and executed and re-

flects that the men behind the planning and implementation were well in-formed about the installations and security arrangements. The Terroristsreportedly armed with Indian-made weapons including automatic weap-ons, hand grenades, suicide jackets and rocket launchers penetrated fromthe old terminal opening fire and hurling grenades making their way ontothe tarmac launching multiple blasts.

The attack speaks volume as the terrorists, reportedly all foreigners,battled the security forces in one of the most brazen attacks in years inPakistan’s biggest city. The security personnel, including the commandos ofPakistan Army, Rangers, ASF and others promptly responded, otherwise thedamages would have been manifold. During the fighting 24 people includingten terrorists were killed. Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif rightlycongratulated participating troops for a well coordinated, successful opera-tion eliminating all militants and paid tribute to all Shaheeds and injured fortheir supreme sacrifice. The prompt reaction and elimination the terroristsshowed the superb professionalism, training and commitment of the Armycommandos and others. Though the operation is over but it has left manyquestions about the security arrangements at the old airport from where theterrorists entered, how they got the information of poor security, terroristsentry into the airport area with heavy arms and above all the people behindthem. Though the TTP has claimed responsibility but it has no capacity tolaunch such a dare-devil attack. It is appreciable that no country or foreignagency has been blamed but we would stress that it is certainly the handiworkof foreign agencies that brought in foreign terrorists and this should be an eyeopener. The attack will raise fresh concerns about Pakistan´s shaky securitysituation, and questions about how militants were able to penetrate the Air-port, which serves one of the world´s biggest cities. The episode also estab-lishes how the terrorists have established a network all over Pakistan, whichmust be eliminated; otherwise there could be many more such incidents.

Are Palestine and Israelheading for reconciliation?

DIFFERENT channels appear to be at work to resolve the lingeringPalestinian issue in order to bring stability in the volatile Middle East.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry, since taking over, has been very activeto bring the leadership of Israel and Palestine at the negotiating table butevery time, the Israeli leadership creates new issues and subverts the talks.

Now Pope Francis waded head-first into Mideast peace-making wel-coming the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents to the Vatican on Sunday foran evening of peace prayers just weeks after the last round of US-sponsorednegotiations collapsed. Francis warmly greeted both the Israeli PresidentShimon Peres and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before head-ing out to the Vatican garden for the service. Though Vatican officials haveinsisted that Francis has no political agenda by inviting the two leaders butthe meeting could have significance on the ground beyond mere symbol-ism. In the Middle East, symbolic gestures and incremental steps are im-portant and who knows what conversations can occur behind closed doorsin the Vatican. Pope Francis told the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents thatthey “must respond” to their people’s yearning for peace in the Middle Eastand find “the strength to persevere in undaunted dialogue”. The latest ini-tiative by the Pope gives the impression that a well written script is beingimplemented and things are moving to logical conclusion. The questionarises, has some behind the scene understanding arrived and the two sidesare heading towards some sort of reconciliation? One needs to closelywatch the situation in the weeks and months ahead.

Emerging strategic scenario

The realmarijuana

story

THE narrative has beenfirmly established: Marijuana use is innocent, a plea-

surable pastime with few if anyharmful effects. Those who cau-tion that making pot legal mightcreate significant problems havebeen laughed off as alarmists or oldfuddy-duddies. A sobering newarticle in today’s New EnglandJournal of Medicine may startlesome people out of this hazy-dazyreverie. A report titled “AdverseHealth Effects of Marijuana Use”from the National Institute on DrugAbuse, part of the federalgovernment’s National Institutesof Health, summarizes the latestresearch into marijuana use.

Marijuana, it says: • Is particu-larly harmful to children andyouths under 21 years of age. Forexample, youths who use mari-juana are more likely to drop outof school. • Can affect short-termmemory “making it difficult tolearn and to retain information.” •Is associated with “significant de-clines in IQ” if used frequentlywhen one is an adolescent or ayoung adult. • Impairs a person’s“motor coordination, interferingwith driving skills and increasingthe risk of injuries” while operat-ing a vehicle. • Is addictive. About9 percent of users overall becomeaddicted, but that number rises to17 percent of those who start asadolescents and shoots up to asmuch as 50 percent among thosewho use pot daily. • Is related tosocial ills. “Heavy marijuana usehas been linked to lower income,greater need for socio-economicassistance, unemployment, crimi-nal behaviour, and lower satisfac-tion with life,” the article notes.What’s more, evidence exists thatmarijuana is a “gateway drug” toother, even more powerful, illegaldrugs (as are alcohol and nicotine).“[M]arijuana addiction ... predictsan increased risk of the use of otherillicit drugs,” the article concludes.

More research is needed tofully understand all the possibleramifications of widespread mari-juana use, the article adds. Olderstudies, it points out, may under-estimate the effects: Marijuanabeing sold today contains aboutfour times as much THC, the in-gredient that produces the “high,”than it did in the 1980s, the reportsays. While medical use of mari-juana was not the subject of theanalysis, it did note that there alsois “limited evidence” in the datato suggest a medical benefit, de-spite some physicians who “con-tinue to prescribe marijuana formedicinal purposes.” The earlymonths of Colorado’s experimentto legalize marijuana show little tocontradict these findings – andlittle to encourage other states tojoin in. As one opponent in Colo-rado told The New York Times: “Ithink, by any measure, the experi-ence of Colorado has not been agood one unless you’re in the mari-juana business. We’ve seen livesdamaged. We’ve seen deaths di-rectly attributed to marijuana le-galization. We’ve seen marijuanaslipping through Colorado’s bor-ders. We’ve seen marijuana gettinginto the hands of kids.”

Concerns over possible physi-cal harm from marijuana useshould be taken seriously. But per-haps the most heart-rending con-clusion in the study associatesmarijuana with “lower satisfactionwith life.” A life not dependent ona drug such as marijuana thatclouds thinking is a life that isfreer and fuller. As with alcoholand tobacco, the two most popu-lar legal drugs, the supposed plea-sures of marijuana are ephemeral,the lasting effects most often dis-satisfying and destructive. Alco-hol and tobacco have been tryingto take hold of their users for cen-turies, long before the kind ofstudies now beginning to be madeon marijuana were possible. Thefact that both alcohol and tobaccoare still legal – and still harmingsociety – does nothing to enhancethe case for adding a third ruinouspartner in marijuana.— The Christian Science Monitor

MEDIA WATCH

MAJOR change has occurred in subcontinentafter three decades of dy-

nastic rule. Congress party standsdefeated and reduced not even amini-opposition. Moody ascent topower is ringing bells all over theWorld, especially in South Asia.Not-withstanding what he has beensaying during election campaign, asa Prime Minister, it will be diffi-cult to judge at this moment. Howhe is going to look into Interna-tional Affairs detaching himselffrom internal politics of India. Hehas been so much discussed thatevery aspect of his personality laybare in open. Looking back at histhirteen years of rule in Gujrat, hedoes not have much respect for pro-cedures and more focused on hisaims and objectives and prefer towork independent of the bureau-cratic shackles.

Though his teens he is an RSSman and never hidden his dislikesfor Muslims of India rather has con-tempt for them. Will this negativeaspect is his personality change isa question mark? That is the rea-son he had Article 370 in his elec-tion agenda. Contempt for Mus-lim manifest his attitude towardsKashmir, the only Muslim major-ity state in India. Normally, ac-cording to psychologists a persondoes not change, but for, due tocompulsion or force of the circum-stances. Multi-national ethnic en-vironment of India and interna-tional obligations may force him tocompromise between the two.

In five years he is likely to con-centrate internally, strengthening

Freedom of expression abused

FREEDOM of expression isone of the most abused freedoms in Pakistan.

Commentariat in general and somemedia persons in particular havebeen flouting the provisions of theConstitution with impunity. Thenation watched some anchorpersonsin the TV talk shows unleashingavalanche of blistering censureagainst military and intelligenceagencies. Indeed, there was criticismon media trial of politicians whenreporting the cases in the courts.During proceedings of three-dayjudicial conference organized byPakistan Supreme Court Bar Asso-ciation in September 2011, the par-ticipants among other things agreedthat “there should be no media trialand the media should not be allowedto encroach upon the space of thejudiciary”. If media is to become acredible source, it should providereliable and accurate information,and work with utmost diligence tooffer reports and comments objec-tively. Analysts should present theiranalysis, which should be unbiasedand free of prejudices.

Indeed, information is a sourceof learning; but unless it is orga-nized, processed, and available tothe right people in a format for de-cision making, it is a burden, not abenefit. However, credibility ofmedia as a source of information isof paramount importance. Afteranchorperson Hamid Mir was at-

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Sunday Magazine

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Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: magazinesocialdiary@hotmail.com

Many peopleconsider the thingswhich governmentdoes for them to besocial progress,but they considerthe thingsgovernment doesfor others associalism.

tacked, the Geo TV hadput up a banner on the TVchannel with photographof ISI Chief Lt. GeneralZaheer-ul-Islam statingthat he had planned the at-tack. At the same time thecomments by the Geoanchorpersons and editorshad continued for days

maligning the Pakistan’s premier in-telligence agency. Unfortunately, nei-ther the government nor Pemra tooknotice of the blatant propaganda.Nevertheless, the entire nation includ-ing civil society, intellectuals, ana-lysts and all media channels con-demned Geo and Jang for unlawfulmedia tirade against ISI/DG ISI, andsubsequent attempts to defend theirstance, challenging the authority ofnational institutions.

On Friday, the Pakistan Elec-tronic Media Regulatory Authority(Pemra) suspended the licence of GeoNews for 15 days and fined it Rs10million to be paid before the expiryof the suspension period. It said thesuspension period may be extendedif the fine is not paid, and that pro-ceedings for the revocation of GeoNews’ licence shall be initiated incase the licensee persists in its viola-tions. In its first ever reaction overPemra’s decision to suspend GeoNews for 15 days, the Ministry ofDefence said on Saturday that it isnot satisfied with the penalty awardedafter the private TV channel was de-clared guilty of misconduct. The de-fence ministry had sought revocationof the private news channel’s licenceand prosecution of its editorial andmanagement teams under regulatorylaws for electronic media for alleg-edly bringing premier agency Inter-Services Intelligence into disreputeand harming national interest. Mean-while, military source said the pen-

alty on Geo was too little and too late.Despite dressing-down by large

number of viewers and public scold-ing, Geo Group made premeditatedefforts to discredit PEMRA. Globalplayers and anti-Pakistan foreign el-ements also have similar agendaagainst Pakistan’s Armed Forces/ISI,and some palmed off media men andmedia groups are advancing theiragenda. They perceive that an effec-tive PEMRA will create a ‘win win’position for Armed Forces/ISI, dis-allowing any pressure from interna-tional and national organizations likeEU, HRCP and others, as PEMRAdecisions being legitimate will haveworld wide acceptance.

There is a dire need to empowerPEMRA for regulating media in aneffective manner and competentlyprotecting the prestige of our nationalinstitutions. Media trial of ArmedForces/ ISI should not be allowedunder any circumstances. Nationaland international organizationsshould not be allowed to influence thelegal structure of Pakistan by inter-fering in the internal affairs of Paki-stan and matters related to PEMRA.Protection of religious values, Islamicideals and Pakistani cultural norms,ideological foundations of Pakistan(Two-Nation theory), independencemovement and history of Pakistanmust be the guiding principles of allmedia programs in Pakistan. Con-troversial statements and derogatoryremarks on the ideology of Pakistanshould not be tolerated. Mediashould be forced to abide by the pro-visions of the Constitution with re-gard to judiciary and armed forces,as nobody is above the law.

It is unfortunate that some mediamen, especially those associated witha particular media group, act in anirresponsible manner. They do notrealize that they are providing India,

—Earl Warren US lawyer.

and introducing policies for the eco-nomic growth & India’s staggeringeconomy. For Moody, economicgrowth is the tipping point to achievegreater strategic goals in Asia in par-ticular and World in general. He islikely to come heavy on the terroristmovements prevailing within Indiansoil, which are, more than twodozen. The heat will be on Paki-stan. Thus, greater role for intelli-gence and Law enforcing agenciesin his government. It is likely tocreate tensions on eastern and west-ern borders both with Bangladeshand Pakistan. On eastern border, hehas made it clear that all Bangladeshinationals have to go back. On west-ern border, he has always been blam-ing Pakistan for non-state actors,recent wish list handed over toNawaz Sharif speaks of that. Thus,it is in evident there will be sparksbetween the relations of these twocountries. He would like Pakistan avessel state. He would like to usetrade for political purposes. Moodyis already bolstering security mecha-nism against Pakistan / China.Choice of Ajeet Doval as SecurityAdvisor and Geneal Retd. VK Singhas Minister, both hardliners. Theywill be reporting directly to Moodi,a la 1971 pre war situation.

On Foreign Policy, priority willbe to improve relations with Chinaand Japan with economic and stra-tegic aim and to marginalize Paki-stan. Creating Japan/ India strategicalliance and to better dealing withUSA. In Japan, sizing up emergingthreats, Prime Minister Abe alreadyasking for reinterpreting articles ofthe Japanese Constitution, allowingJapan to send forces to help allies,first time after 1945. Traditionalfriendship with Russia will be fur-ther improved and Afghanistan islikely to be a future Chess Board

between Pakistan and India.Abdullah Abdullah, the future Presi-dent of Afghanistan, whose inclina-tion towards India is not hidden willbe the key. It will be matter of greatconcern to Pakistan as the war be-tween Afghan Taliban and Kabul forpower is likely to spark new tensionson the Pakistani border. Thus, it isextremely important for Pakistan toquickly regain control over FATA toensure manageability of the area.

Similarly, rift in TTP be fullyutilized with stick and carrot policy.Those who are willing to come backto mainstream be encouraged. Tribalyoung men should not be allowedto wander, levies, or even army jobsbe offered and be tasked to protecttheir economic position in their re-spective areas. It is also pertinentto stop ingress of TTP into Afghani-stan from FATA as a sanctuary. Itwill be a very difficult task for Pa-kistan. Moody Government is liketo isolate Pakistan in the region forc-ing it to bend towards India. Thereshould be no doubt that Moody, aman of fixed mind and rigid person-ality will be concentrating on thelarger aims of Indian supremacy notonly in the region but also beyond.Unfortunately, on our side, we havea leadership which is confused andthe strategic aims are blurred bothinternally and externally. Similaly,good governance is of vital impor-tance for Pakistan. We have tosquarely face these challenges mili-tarily and diplomatically. We mustalso be ready to counter exteriormaneuver/diplomacy on the part ofIndia. Moody is likely to enhancethe Defence potential of India fur-ther as an instrument of foreignpolicy which he is perceived to befollowing. Cold start doctrine willbe upgraded and also enhancing thecapability of Indian Navy as a blue

water navy extending its reachthrough out Indian Ocean and be-yond Malaka

Straights and right up to East-ern Coast of Africa. There is alikely hood of greater collaborationwith Russia on one side and Japanon the other. It boils down thatPakistan must enhance its relation-ship with Russia, keeping China onits right and friendship with USA.Pakistan Navy’s capability need tobe enhanced to counter any suchfuture scenario and changing de-fence posture. The posture, de-fences of Pakistan, need to be re-examined. May be from defenceto offensive defence. It means, ca-tering for the enhanced requirementfor all the three services and con-sequent financial cost.

Internally, Army bashing muststop which is creating a very nega-tive impact both within the peopleof Pakistan and rank and file. Allirritants be removed to face thecoming challenges emerging afterchanging strategic balance. Paki-stan defence requires a revaluatedstrategic analysis for both the east-ern and western threats and evolv-ing counter measures at strategic,tactical, diplomatic and politicallevels. Simultaneously, there is arequirement to have code of con-duct for media. Issues relating todefence are never discussed in me-dia any where in the world. In nut-shell, better cohesive governance,respect and revival of civil services,strong honest bureaucracy, andstrong Armed Forces capable ofoperating under the umbrella ofNuclear Shield are of utmost vitalimportance. A limit, surgical warshould never be ruled out.— The writer, a retired Brigadierand a decorated veteran of wars,is defence analyst.

US and the West justification for ad-vancing their agenda to weakennuclear-Pakistan by denigrating ourintelligence agencies especially ISI,which are eyes and ears of military.In the recent past, when senior Su-preme Court Judge Javed Iqbal’sparents were killed, newspapers andsome anchorpersons and analysts onTV channels, directly or in a subtlemanner accused intelligence agen-cies while making a reference tomissing persons’ case. Though theyclaimed having competent investi-gating editors and reporters yet theydid not bother to investigate matterto find out the truth. Meanwhile,Naveed Iqbal step-brother of JusticeJaved Iqbal had admitted havingplanned murder of his parents.

There are indeed patriotic andconscionable elements in media, whocomprehend the issues in their trueperspective and dispel the impressionof present state of despondency, con-spiracy theories and misperceptions.But at the same time there is no dearthof biased and grossly irresponsibleanchorpersons and media men whohighlight the differences among thepillars of the state. They tried to deni-grate military especially after 2ndMay Abbottabad episode, terrorists’attack on Mehran Naval base, NATOforces’ attack on Salla check posts andother series of acts to denigrate thearmed forces. Some anchorpersonson private TV channels and colum-nists in print media have been tryingto lower the prestige of the armedforces in the eyes of public, raisingdoubts about their capabilities of de-fending the integrity and sovereigntyof the country. This must stop becauseby disgracing Pakistan’s institutions,they are striking at the very founda-tions of the country.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

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Tariq KhalilEmail:tariqkhalil21@gmail.com

Voice of the People

Karachi afterAltaf’s arrest

KHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ

Pakistan’s social and cultural hubKarachi is again seeing worst waveof violence after arrest of MQM selfexiled leader Altaf Hussain in Lon-don. MQM party leader was arrestedin London after serious charges ofmoney laundering.

Investigation was going on andafter four years of investigations, theBritish police arrested Altaf Hussain.After arrest of Mr. Hussain armedmob forcefully closed market andshops and set on fire several vehiclesin Karachi. School, Colleges and allpublic transport remain closed in cityand MQM announced sit-ins in dif-ferent parts of city. MQM agitationand recent behaviour is astonishingfor Pakistani people.

The Government of Pakistanhas denied any role in arrest ofMQM party leader and assured theywill provide help and assistance toMQM leader. Most of people be-lieve that no one in above the lawinstead of street protests and para-lyzing life of whole city MQMshould follow legal course andprove innocence of its leader inBritish court where he was arrested.The on-going disturbed peace situ-ation also proves that despite lastfour years of targeted operation inKarachi, arm groups can still para-lyze the city life within hours whichis very unfortunate.—Via email

Life savingtreatment ‘for sale’

HADIQA AMIN

“I see humans but no humanity”.‘Doctors’ are known to be the ‘lifesavers’ but now-a-days humanity israrely seen in this once known as anoble profession and most of thedoctors are becoming ‘Greedy Pro-fessional’. It’s about a month ago;during my visit to an emergencyward of a private hospital I experi-enced a pathetic scene in seekingfirst aid treatment. I had an immensepain and was feeling restlessnessdue to illness and the staff was con-tinuously saying to my attendants;“Your patient is not that much seri-ous in fact seems quite better, Doc-tor is on round, will be here in 5minutes”; however, those 5 minutesturned out 90 minutes when doctorcame calmly without any worry orconcern for her long listed patients.

This self-centred attitude of oursociety whether it is a Doctor or any-one else, we have put behind all thesenses and have became stonehearted. I request to all the doctorsout there please do justice with theresponsibility which Allah has be-stowed upon you with, do not ‘priva-tize’ yourself because you are forpublic welfare.—Karachi

PEMRA onwrong footing?

MUKHTAR BUTT

This refers to lead news’ PEMRAsuspends Geo TV’s Licence for 15days, imposes Rs 10 millionfine’(June 07). It is a strange coin-cidence that Geo filed defamationsuit against ISI for Rs 50 billion, aday before a controversial decisionby PEMRA was announced. LikePCB, PEMRA has also becomelaughing stock in the eyes of pub-lic. How hurriedly PEMRA’s actingchairman called meeting withoutparticipation of private membersduring dark hours, makes it abun-dantly clear that it has full backingof the government specially theMinister for Information ParvezRashid who from day one has beenopenly supporting Geo.

Defamation suit fled by Geo af-ter extending apology is just not un-derstandable at all. Publication ofill worded apology and positiontaken by Geo reflects the mindsetto continue with the confrontation.In fact the issue could have been

Crying for city lungsASGHAR MAHMOOD

I was delighted to see lush green Senior Citizens’ Park on Hill Road, in the elite sector of Islamabad.Environment Wing of CDA is taking a lot of interest in its upkeep and maintenance. However, basic

necessities for senior citizens, benches and wash rooms, have not been provided even in this unique Park.Apparently, this facility has been created for the retired bureaucrats living in G-5 and F-2 Sectors of thecapital city. Incidentally all houses in this area are Farm Houses on big plots with sprawling Lawns.These big houses are allotted to serving senior officers but after retirement, they have to vacate thesehouses, hence, the said Park is not for senior citizens but for senior in-service bureaucrats. Anyway thisis a good initiative by the CDA and should be extended also to those areas where the retired elderly civilservants are trying to play the last inning of their once very useful life for this country. Senior Citizensliving in private housing schemes in Zone V can not think of such facilities, though they also need tospend time in safe and secure open areas. I would request concerned authorities in the CDA to surveyZone V (Pak PWD Society Housing Scheme, National Police Foundation Housing Scheme, KorangTown, Jinnah Gardens, Soan Gardens, Pakistan Town etc.) to ensure that utility plots reserved for Parksand Schools are properly developed by the managements of these housing societies/schemes for thebenefit of residents, especially the elderly senior citizens. Parks serve as city lungs and during loadshedding Parks provide a great relief to all residents, especially senior citizens. With a little bureaucraticinterest, quality of life can improve a lot in Zone V of the Federal capital, where majority of retiredgovernment servants are living after vacating their official residences.—Via email

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Hinduvta ideology wins

ON May 26, 2014, NarendraModi took oath as the 15thPrime Minister of India.

Ashish Nandi who interviewed Modiin the 1990s, wrote that “I still re-member the cool, measured tone inwhich he elaborated a theory of cos-mic conspiracy against India thatpainted every Muslim as a suspectedtraitor and a potential terrorist”. Sothe man known to the Muslims ofIndia as a terror, is now heading thesecular democratic India. How doesit bode for the Muslims of India?During election campaign RahulGandhi remarked that the BJP onlywants to divide people, make peoplefight each other. Is there a reason forthe Muslims to feel unsafe? Because,he is the same Modi who as the ChiefMinister of Gujrat abetted communalriots (2002), in which thousands ofMuslims were butchered. The inhu-mane killings of Muslims were con-demned worldwide; the US and theUK even barred Modi from travellingto their countries. But Modi neverapologized for the Gujrat massacre.

The Hindu supremacy was appar-ent during the elections. There is nodenying the fact that Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP)’s Hindutva ideology andanti-Muslim tilt proved useful for thewinning party. During the electioncampaign, “Modi called Kerala –

with substantial Muslim population– a nursery of terrorism, threatenedillegal Bengali Muslim migrants withdeportation and cornered the Con-gress for encouraging beef exports tobenefit Muslims”. The BJP led LokSabha has its lowest ever Muslim rep-resentation just four percent of MPs,way below the Muslims 13.4 percentpopulation share. In the state of UttarPradesh, “BJP won 71 out of 80 seats.Muslims form almost a fifth of thepopulation of the state but there is nota single Muslim MP from UttarPradesh”. Besides, three newlyelected lawmakers from the state arethe one’s, who incited anti-Muslimriots in Muzaffarnagar last year. 60people were killed during the riots.

Another new trend seen in the In-dian elections is that a man from ahumble background has made it to thePrime Ministership of the country.Modi, son of a Teli Ghanchi (oilpresser) community, who as a childhelped his father in selling tea, hasoutshined Rahul Gandhi, the greatgrandson of Nehru family. Thisshows a person’s influential back-ground, being a son or grandson ofimminent political family is no morea criteria to vote for. This is a posi-tive trend in a way because in coun-tries like India (and Pakistan also),politics have been governed by someprominent families.Modi’s ascen-dancy from a tea seller to PrimeMinister’s office is being idealized bya common man of India.A commonman in India when he sees that a

chaiwala could rise to be a Prime Min-ister, it gives him hope that to be aPrime Minister one does not need tobe foreign qualified or from an influ-ential background.Another factor,which favoured BJP’s win, is theparty’s developmental work in Gujrat.

India of today represents corpo-rate interests. During the electioncampaign, Modi and his party work-ers highlighted the economic progressof Gujrat with a promise to extendthe ‘Gujrat miracle’ to the rest of thecountry. This attracted the businesscommunity as well as the middle-class Hindus.What one can deducefrom the election result is that theIndian people have voted for a partywith Hinduvta ideology. Seen inter-nationally, since the start of War onTerror (WoT), an environment of ex-tremist ideologies have emerged.State and non-state actors haveformed groupings, alliances againstone another, based on their ideologi-cal orientation. Religion has turnedout to be a determining factor in thisregard. This international trend hasalso impacted the domestic politicsof states. In the Indian elections,BJP’s Hindu ideology outmatchedthe Secular principles of Congress.Rahul Gandhi’s cultured outlook andmoderate thinking could not with-stand, Modi’s rhetoric and extrem-ist views. Similarly, another interna-tional trend in today’s world is geo-economics. For a common man inIndia, having a good living is theprime concern. “Modi has pledged to

work for all 1.25 billion of his fel-low Indians in his first speech afterwinning the elections”.

On the regional front, especiallyIndia’s relations with Pakistan, whatthe likely picture could be? Duringthe election campaign “Modi sup-porters announced that anyone whoopposed the BJP, should leave forPakistan”. In the backdrop of BJP’sHinduvta ideology, Modi’s affilia-tion withright-wing Hindu national-ist group Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS)and anti-Muslim tilt,likely scenario could be strainedIndo-Pakistan relations with the dia-logue process at the backburner? Anincrease in Indian anti-Pakistan ac-tivities, particularly its abetting ofsub-nationalist groups inBalochistan and worst scenariocould be a proxy war between thetwo South Asian neighbours inAfghanistan.On the contrary, if wevisualize the India-Pakistan relationsfrom the economic angle, as eco-nomic prosperity was also one ofBJP’s election pledge, a morebrighter picture could emerge. Inpursuance of the economic objec-tives, Indianeconomy requires en-ergy and regional pipelines – IPI andTAPI could serve this purpose. Thematerialization of regional pipelineswould enhance regional integrationand cooperation, which in turnwould enhance Pakistan’s signifi-cance, thus, relations between twoneighbours would improve.— The writer works for IPRI.

Views From Abroad

How India’s new PM may have evolved

WHEN Narendra Modiswept to a dramatic victory in India’s general

elections, becoming the first primeminister in three decades to commandan absolute majority in the lowerhouse of India’s fractious parliament,many in India worried about what hisvictory would portend.

To political opponents and mem-bers of India’s liberal intelligentsia, Mr.Modi was a divisive, sectarian, au-thoritarian figure who had presidedover the massacre of some 1,200 in-nocents, mainly Muslim, as chief min-ister of the state of Gujarat in 2002.The thought of such a figure leading adiverse and multi-religious polity thathad long been built on the “Nehruvianconsensus” developed by the CongressParty was anathema to many.

In a series of speeches, PrimeMinister Modi has gone out of hisway to avoid confrontational lan-guage, to omit issues and imagery thatIndia’s religious minorities wouldfind offensive, and to extend a handof friendship to his critics. After hav-

ing attacked the large number of gov-ernment projects and schemes namedfor members of the Congress Party’sNehru-Gandhi dynasty during theelection, he stopped his ministersfrom renaming these programs, say-ing it was more important to get themto work more effectively. His earlycabinet appointments rewarded theparty’s brighter and younger profes-sionals, omitting many of the Hindunationalist veterans and rabid ideo-logues who epitomized many Indi-ans’ anxieties about the BJP.

In a striking departure from pre-cedent, Modi also quelled concernsin India’s neighbourhood about hisrise by inviting the heads of govern-ment of India’s seven South Asianneighbours, as well as that ofMauritius (the Indian Ocean repub-lic whose population is 63 percentIndian), to his swearing-in. India’sprime ministers have never enjoyedlavish inaugurations like Americanpresidents, traditionally assumingoffice after sparsely attended and low-key oath-takings behind closed doors.Modi converted this routine into agrand, opulent 4,000-guest ceremonyon the forecourt of RashtrapatiBhavan, the presidential palace, and

invited his foreign guests to attend thetelevised coronation. The gesture in-stantly disarmed many across the bor-ders who had been alarmed by hiscombative rhetoric during the cam-paign, in which he had promised ro-bust action on the borders, assailed Pa-kistani sponsorship of terrorism, andwarned some 30 million Bangladeshiillegal immigrants in India that theyshould be prepared to pack their backson the day of his victory. His cordialwelcome to, and subsequent bilateralmeetings with, the leaders of these andother neighbouring countries reassuredthem that the Modi government wouldnot feel obliged to live up to the bel-ligerence of the Modi campaign.

So does this all add up to a Modi2.0, a very different figure in govern-ment from the ogre some of us hadfeared and demonised for years? It isstill too early to tell, but the initial signsare encouraging. Prime Minister Modiwould hardly be first opposition leaderto temper his views and conduct oncein office, but there seems to be some-thing more fundamental involved here.An ambitious man, Modi appears torealize that if he wants to make a suc-cess of his government, he will haveto lead the nation from the centre and

Shashi Tharoornot from extreme right, where he hadbuilt his base in the BJP.

His overwhelming majority,won on the back of a highly person-alized campaign that led many tovote for Modi rather than for the BJP,has also liberated him from theparty’s and his own past positions.Just as he remade himself from ahate-figure into an avatar of moder-nity and progress, he is seeking toremake the BJP from a vehicle ofHindu chauvinism to a natural partyof governance. This will mean achange in both language and tone,as he has demonstrated from day one.

For an opposition member ofparliament like myself, it would bechurlish not to acknowledge Modi2.0’s inclusive outreach and to wel-come his more conciliatory state-ments and actions. The moment hesays or does something divisive orsectarian in the Modi 1.0 mould,however, we will resist him ro-bustly. India’s people, and its plu-ralist democracy, deserve no less.The writer is a member of India’sparliament, and a former ministerof state for external affairs.— Courtesy: The ChristianScience Monitor

Look around and think..!

JUST because something existed from the time you wereborn, doesn’t mean you accept

that it continues to be that way:That’s how the motorcar was in-vented, the aero-plane, the com-puter. So look around you andthink, what you can change byputting your thinking cap on:

When Cynthia Koenig, ayoung social entrepreneur fromNew York, learned that millionsof girls and women around theworld spend hours each day col-

lecting water from distant sources,she decided to create a new way tohelp people in poor communitiestransport water and it’s called theWater Wheel. Koenig’s Water Wheelallows people to roll water in a 50-liter container versus carrying it in5 gallon (19 litre) jugs. Koenig esti-mates that the Water Wheel can savewomen 35 hours per week in watertransport time, as well as prevent thephysical strain that comes from bal-ancing 40 pounds of water on top oftheir heads for hours each day.

Every day around the world, over200 million hours are spent each dayfetching water, often from watersources miles from home, and thistask usually falls to women and girls.

By freeing up valuable time, the Wa-ter Wheel allows women to spendtime on income-generating activitiesthat can help pull her family out ofpoverty. The time savings also meansthat there is a greater likelihood thatgirls will be allowed to stay in school,further reducing the rate ofintergenerational poverty.

After receiving a $100,000Grand Challenges Canada prize todevelop the Water Wheel, Koenigfounded a social enterprise com-pany, Wello. The company is in anearly stage of development and hasbeen piloting the Water Wheel inrural communities in India. Koenigalso plans on continuing to makethe Water Wheel itself more useful

by adding in filtration, drip irri-gation kits, even a cell phonecharger that uses the rotation ofthe wheel to charge the battery ofthe cell phone and give peoplemore access to essentials likecommunication and education.

It’s a different world today,where new inventions, new ideasare grasped and help people makemillions: Quite often it’s not onlyabout money, it has a lot to dowith helping people living aneasier life, maybe helping the dis-abled with a user friendly wheelchair or whatever! Get up for aminute, take a walk, and then lookaround and think..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Diplomats under threat

A few days back the Pakistan’sHigh Commission at NewDelhi received an anony-

mous warning letter in which thestaff members of the High commis-sion were threatened seriously,” re-ported the Times of India last month.According to the details the staffmembers of the Pakistan’s HighCommission raised the issue withPakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs which ultimately discussed thematter with Indian authorities andrequested an investigation into thethreat-letter.

The Indian authorities werealso asked to increase the securityat Pakistan’s embassy in NewDelhi because according to the in-ternational rules and regulations itis the responsibility of the Indian

government to ensure the pro-tection of the Pakistani HighCommission and its staff.Unfortunately nothing practicalhas yet been done to seek for theculprits who sent this threat-let-ter to Pakistan’s Embassy in In-

dia. A spokesman of the Indian gov-ernment commented on the situationin a very casual way by saying, “Weprovide maximum possible securityto all missions and same is the casewith Pakistan.” The spokesmanmight be true in his statement butthe dangers, risks and security haz-ards which the Pakistani diplomatsin India have been facing since longare altogether alien to the diplomatsfrom the other countries in India.The members of the staff at thePakistan’s High-Commission at In-dia have always been facing theever-worst type of situation regard-ing their safety and security. Lastyear in the month of June whateverhappened to Zargham Raza, the FirstSecretary of Pakistan’s High Com-mission in New Delhi, is one of the

worst example of diplomatic insultand humiliation. According to thedetails he was attacked by allegedly‘unknown’ motor-bikers when hewas returning to his home in NewDelhi. Zargham Raza and his drivergot severely injured. Just after theincident the Pakistan High Commis-sion asked the Indian government toincrease the security of its person-nel and to provide protection underVienna convention. But the responseto this demand was just an apolo-getic telephone call of India’s for-eign secretary which he made to hiscounterpart in Islamabad.

The story does not stop here. Itis not only the Pakistani diplomatsin India who are facing life threatsand mistreatments at the hands ofthe Hindu extremists, even the stu-dents from Pakistan also have toface the same risk and threat. It issomething very astonishing that themembers of the Pakistani HighCommission received the threat-let-ter on 6th of May and on 13th ofthe same month a Pakistani student

had to face physical maltreatmentat the hands of some unknown, uni-dentified attackers. The injurieswere so severe that Ali Raza firsthad to be rushed to PondicherryInstitute of Medical Sciences andthen shifted to Jawaharlal Instituteof Postgraduate Medical Educationand Research.

It is something very strange thaton one hand the government of Pa-kistan, under the command andguidance of the Prime Minister ofPakistan Mian Nawaz Sharif, isdoing every possible effort for thepromotion of cordial relationshipwith India but at the same time theHindu extremists are doing every-thing possible to spoil and damagePakistan’s positive efforts. Now theball is in the court of Mr. Modi.Peace is the basic and the most fun-damental requirement of the time;without peace situation would beagonizingly painful and disastrousfor both the countries.—The writer is Multan-basedfreelance columnist.

Amna Ejaz RafiEmail:amnaejazrafi@gmail.com

Ali Sukhanver Email:alisukhanver@hotmail.com

resolved on 19 April by mid night,had Geo taken some pains to diffusethe situation by firing few peopleand by moving in the right direction.The present controversial decisionby government members of PEMRAin fact is licence for Geo to restarttheir transmission after 15 days andcan not be termed as punishment

This decision falls short of theexpectations of the aggrieved party andmay not yield positive results. Justimagine on one hand you regret andsimultaneously move against party andfile defamation suit. This action of Geoand controversial decision by govern-ment members of PEMRA has weak-ened Geo’s case and has caused irrepa-rable damage. News of the World pa-per of UK with 168 years of publica-tion with 2.8 million copies of circu-lation, was closed by its owner becausesome journalists were found in phonehacking. But in Geo’s case the chargeis very serious as it involves most re-spected and prestigious institutions ofthe country.

This is a very delicate and seriousissue and should have been handledcarefully in the best interest of state,but unfortunately the actions tell dif-ferent story and it appears it is head-ing towards further confrontation.— Karachi Cantt.

Unemploymentin Pakistan

IRFAN AHMED

Unemployment means economy offer-ing no jobs and the person are jobless.Pakistan is a welfare state and yet mil-lions of men and women are jobless.They are willing to be employed butthere are no jobs. These crowds ofunemployed people include educated,trained, skilled, semi-skilled and illit-erate people. This lack of employmentopportunities on a massive scale is re-ally frustrating. The unemployedpeople and their families lead a verymiserable life. With the passage oftime the problem is becoming explo-sive and our government and leadershave done nothing substantial so farto address this problem. Unemploy-ment in its turn creates many otherproblem such as indiscipline, violence,terrorism, thefts, edacity, pick-pock-eting, cheating etc. An unemployedperson is a frustrated person so he cando anything which gives way to anti-social elements like extremists, drug-trafickers, smugglers and mafias. It hasalso given rise to evils like corruption,nepotism, favouritism etc.

The job creation is hardly keep-ing pace with the rapid increasingpopulation in the country. There is ahuge back-log of jobs. The problemin Pakistan is very typical because ofour obsolete, outdated and age-oldeducation system introduced by theBritishers. Our education system needsto be changed fundamentally to caterto our industrial and technical needs.Education should be job oriented andclosely connected with our industries.

Pakistan cannot be a strongeconomy unless the problem of un-employment is adequately addressed.Many young men and women com-mit suicide because of prolongedjoblessnes and lack of any means oflivelihood. There is large exodus fromvillages and small towns to cities andbig towns in search of employment.It has created an imbalance and thereis much pressure on cities and theirnatural resources. Our villages shouldbe self dependent and for that pur-pose cottage and small industriesshould be encouraged.—Via email

Opportunities ofimporting LNG

HADIQA AMIN

Pakistan has been facing the energycrisis for many years. Demand of gasis increasing day by day and on theother hand gas reserves are fast de-pleting creating uncertainties aboutthe future gas needs and its availabil-ity. Pakistani industries have beensuffering badly due to the shortageof gas and electricity. Beside indus-tries, domestic consumers are alsofacing nightmares due to load shed-

ding of these two utilities. In order tocope up with these problems govern-ment has signed an agreement forLNG import which will bridge thegap between current demand and sup-ply situation hence benefit the indus-try as well as domestic consumers.

History tells us that our Govern-ments take late decisions and at timesimplementation takes so long whichhurts our national interests. Now thatgovernment has signed the agreementfor LNG infrastructure and import, itmust remove all the hurdles to expe-dite the project within given timelineto avoid further losses to nationaleconomy and country’s development.

Instead of importing value addedfinished goods such as urea, coun-try should focus on importing its rawmaterial, which is gas, to producethis commodity domestically andsave the national exchequer fromdraining out hundreds of millions ofdollars every year.

We can also replace furnace oiland diesel with LNG in power sectorto produce much cheaper electricity.Thus timely import of LNG will ben-efit the export oriented textile indus-try as well as to local fertilizer indus-try. Hence fruitful results will be ob-tained in the long run, by just expe-diting the LNG import.—Karachi

PBC regionalprogrammes

MAHMOOD RIAZUDDIN

Apropos of a news item published bya section of press on June 1, 2014, say-ing that Radio Pakistan has shut re-gional languages transmission, thelitany of the facts is that News andCurrent Affairs Channel (NCAC) waslaunched in 1999 to compete with lo-cal and foreign electronic channels inthis age of media explosion, and a con-sultant was formally engaged for it.However, the then PBC managementin August 2008, turned NCAC into anentertainment-cum-current affairschannel and raised it as a separate or-ganization under the title of NationalBroadcasting Service [NBS], parallelto Radio Pakistan.

The incumbent PBC manage-ment, however, restored the originalstatus and name of the channel i.e.NCAC to promote its real aims andobjectives and to compete with othercurrent affairs channels both at homeand abroad. Besides, two hours trans-mission in the morning has been de-voted for Saut-ul-Quran channel. Fur-thermore, two hours current affairsprogrammes are being aired by re-gional units in their respective regionallanguages from 11 a.m. to one p.m. soas to promote national harmony, whichcould not be compromised.

The news professionals recentlytransferred to NCAC are well knownpersonalities in their field and are wellqualified having 25-30 years newsand current affairs experience to theircredit. The Current Affairsprogrammes are not broadcast on anyFM channel of Radio Pakistan, butthe NCAC programmes are availableon the PBC transmitters at Islamabadwith coverage throughout Pakistanand adjoining parts of neighbouringcountries, Lahore, Quetta andPeshawar. Similarly, four transmit-ters, being installed in Hyderabad,Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan andFaqirabad, would become functionalin August this year. The organizationis in the process of replacement ofold transmitters and to add new digi-talized transmitters. Besides improv-ing the financial position of the orga-nization, the incumbent managementis clearing the backlog of pension andother dues of retired employees.—Islamabad

MARK VALENCIA

According to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong:“No one can say what will happen in the next 20 years.Quite possibly the status quo will prevail, with repeated

brinkmanship and occasional tensions, but hopefully no war. Butworse outcomes are easily imaginable.” He was referring to con-flict on the Korean Peninsula and between Japan and China, butsuch a conflagration could well involve South Korea and Japan’sally, the United States either directly or indirectly. Indeed, the chair-man of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, believesthat the risk of war in Asia will increase over the next 10 years asthe U.S. military technological edge over China erodes.

What are the warning signs and is there anything that can bedone to avoid this catastrophe? Signs indicative of looming con-flict are deepening distrust, vitriolic nationalistic exchanges,veiled threats and provocations. Let’s look at what has happenedjust recently. The annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore issupposed to be the premier regional forum for “building confi-dence and fostering practical security cooperation” as well as“engendering a sense of community.” During the May 30-June 1Dialogue, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel scolded Chinafor undertaking “destabilizing unilateral actions” and, in thiscontext, added that “we oppose any nation’s use of intimidation,coercion or the threat of force to assert their claims.”

Hagel went on to warn that “the United States will not lookthe other way when fundamental principles of the internationalorder are being challenged.” He also supported Japan in its bidto expand its security role in the region. Hagel reiterated that“the U.S. opposes any effort by any nation to restrict overflightor freedom of navigation.” Earlier in May, Prime Minister ShinzoAbe had drawn a parallel between Russia’s invasion of Crimeaand China’s muscle-flexing in the East China Sea and South ChinaSea. China responded in kind. Deputy Chief of General StaffLieutenant-General Wang Guanzhong said he was angered bythe remarks of both Hagel and Abe. He called Hagel’s remarks a“form of provocation,” asserting that “this speech is full of he-gemony, full of incitements, threats, [and] intimidation.” Regard-ing Abe’s remarks, Xinhua news service added “This should beall the more worrying when it becomes the banner of a countrythat invaded and occupied a large part of Asia and still is reluc-tant to come to terms with its militant past.”

It seems that confidence and trust are being eroded ratherthan enhanced by such forums. These caustic exchanges wereover the top and if they are any sign of what lies beneath, theregion is drifting toward disaster. China’s actions in the East andSouth China Seas have raised tensions, but the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South ChinaSea is being violated by all claimants. The Philippines and Viet-nam allege that China has acted contrary to the provision that“the parties concerned undertake to resolve their territorial andjurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, without resorting tothe threat or use of force, through friendly consultations and ne-gotiations by sovereign states directly concerned, in accordancewith universally recognized principles of international law, in-cluding the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.” Chinaresponds that the Philippines has violated the part stipulatingthat disputes should be resolved between “sovereign states di-rectly concerned” and that Vietnam may be on the verge of do-ing so. Given this context, physical clashes are more likely thanprogress on a robust, binding Code of Conduct.

China views the actions by Vietnam and particularly U.S.ally the Philippines as provocations encouraged by the U.S. —particularly by its “pivot to Asia,” which China believes is de-stabilizing the region. China argues that these disputes are noneof the U.S.’ business — at least directly. Whatever China’s trans-gressions, they do not appear to be a “serious threat to freedomof navigation” as the U.S. and others have alleged. China viewsHagel’s remarks as insulting and hypocritical: Hagel’s warningto China to stop “violating the territorial integrity and sover-eignty of nations by force, coercion and intimidation” flies inthe face of the U.S.’ almost daily drone and cyberstrikes intosovereign states, and the litany of U.S. military intervention insovereign countries to alter political conditions in its favor.

Hagel’s speech included a warning that the U.S. will “nottolerate any attempt to alter the status quo by force or coercion.”This was echoed by Abe in his opening speech to the forum andwas assumed to refer to China’s aggressive actions regarding theJapan-China Senkaku/Diaoyu island dispute in the East ChinaSea. Tension has increased there due in part to the frequent “pen-etration” of the 12-nm territorial sea around the islands by China’scivilian patrol vessels. These statements completely ignoreChina’s view that it is Japan that refuses to acknowledge thatthere is a dispute over the sovereignty of the islands. Moreover,to China, it is Japan that has altered the status quo there by ar-resting a Chinese ship’s captain in September 2010, “nationaliz-ing” three of the islands in September 2012, and in October 2013threatening to shoot down China’s drones over the disputed area.

Worse, China thinks the U.S. “pivot” encourages Japan to bemore aggressive. As everyone except Japan’s leadership seems toknow and understand, China harbors deep resentment bordering onhatred regarding Japan’s horrific invasion and occupation beforeand during World War II and would welcome an opportunity for“payback.” The concepts of “status quo” and “international order”are in the eyes of the beholder. Used in a regional sense, the U.S.apparently means the situation in which it is the dominant actor andpatron. Its status quo is essentially a continuation of its Cold Warpolicy and posture in the region — a substantially forward-deployedmilitary presence and a hub-and-spoke alliance structure. China as-sumes this is what the U.S. means by that political phrase and thatthe U.S. does not and will not recognize China’s enhanced statusnor respect its “core interests.” The status quo in the region is cer-tainly changing in an action-reaction dynamic, and all parties in-volved are being somewhat disingenuous about what they are doingto change it and why. The U.S. and China are clearly on oppositesides of a major political discontinuity — and perhaps history.

The U.S. is yesterday’s and today’s sole superpower, but itscredibility, legitimacy and ability to impose its will are fast eroding.Moreover, Japan is trying to regain its status as a “real country” withthe full powers of “defense” while shedding its militaristic past.That is proving to be quite a challenge. China is a developing coun-try that views the U.S.-led Western-developed world with both envyand suspicion. Its suspicion translates to fear that the West wants toconstrain — if not contain China’s rapid economic and militaryprogress and that it wants to undermine its “socialist” political sys-tem. Moreover, China perceives that it is being constrained by theinternational world order and laws that favor a system developedand sustained by the West. China’s leaders believe that China repre-sents the future — not just in hard power but also in economy, cul-ture and values. China’s leaders believe it is China’s destiny to re-gain its prominence in the region. Though the U.S. and China haverelatively opposite trajectories — one slowly declining, the otherrapidly rising — they are in this brief transitory moment in humanhistory intersecting and may even be tangential.

Clearly the two have fundamentally different views of the prin-ciples upon which a “new relationship” should be built. They —and we — are thus at a tipping point in history and in the stabilityof the “international system.” To avoid disaster the U.S. shouldhelp China moderate its stance by accommodating to some degreeits regional interests and aspirations — in short, by sharing power.When, on what issues, how and how much are challenges for thedeep thinkers in the U.S. and China to ponder and negotiate. Forits part, China needs to accept and accommodate genuine U.S.efforts to share power and prove by its actions that it is not seekingmilitary conflict. Strategic “flexibility” by both would help realizethe possibility of a “new” type of major power relationship asproposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Sunnylands sum-mit with U.S. President Barack Obama in June last year. Other-wise a collision of “core” interests is inevitable with possible di-sastrous consequences for the region and the world.

—Courtesy: The Japan Times

Asian threats,provocations givingrise to whiffs of war

JONATHAN POWER

Take the latest news. According to the Financial Times, Kenya, one of the posterboys of the African revival, is now fi-

nancially strong enough to make its debut onthe sovereign bond market in a deal worth $2billion. But it has become entangled in a de-cade-old corruption scandal that cost Kenya$770 million. The government has decided totake on the responsibility for paying off the$770 million in order to get the $2 billion (andfuture bond market loans).

In Mozambique last week ChristineLagarde, the managing director of the Inter-national Monetary Fund, warned that theplanned issuing this year of a total of $11 bil-lion worth of sovereign bonds around Africacould overload economies with too much debt.(This is up from $6 billion a year ago and $1billion in 2000.) Ms Lagarde warned Africanforeign ministers that “Africa rising” could be“spoilt”. Although Africa needs the money forthings like much needed infrastructure —ports, railways, hospitals and roads — bor-rowing gives governments “an additional vul-

Keeping Africa going upnerability”. This is especially so when it doublesthe salaries of civil servants, as Zambia recentlydid.

Standard and Poor’s, the rating agency, hastold Zambia, Ghana and Nigeria — three of thestates that have been top of the growth league— that it is now giving them a “negative out-look”. Part of the problem is that Africa is avictim of its own success, argues Ravi Bhati,regional analyst at Standard and Poor’s. As eco-nomic growth accelerates, “countries are suck-ing in imports causing the current account topost sizeable deficits”. Still the debt-to-GDPratio remains far lower than the southern Euro-pean countries.

On the positive side much is going on. TheAfrican Development Bank forecasts that for-eign investment flows into Africa will rise thisyear to $83 billion, up by nearly a quarter fromlast year. President Barack Obama is hosting asummit of 50 African leaders in August. He has

invited the chief executives of both US and Af-rican companies. He is aware that in recent yearsUS investment has fallen in relation to that ofChina, India, Brazil, Turkey and Malaysia. US-African trade in the last decade has gone from$50 billion to $100 billion. But China’s has gonefrom 10 billion to $200 billion.

Africa is where much of the world’s eco-nomic action is. Yet the picture we watch canbe rather clouded on occasion. Foreign invest-ment can have its flaws. One country to watchis China, Africa’s largest foreign investor. Re-cently Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China’scentral bank, warned that some Sino-Africandeals are “not so good, not so satisfactory”.About 2,500 Chinese companies have estab-lished themselves in sub-Saharan Africa. TheChinese premier, Li Keqiang, acknowledged,during his first trip to the continent last month,that the relationship between Beijing and Afri-can partners had suffered from “growing pains”.

But he rejected accusations than Beijing waspursuing a neocolonial policy in Africa, seek-ing its commodities on the cheap, as some Af-rican leaders and news media have said.

Zhou made his comments after he hadsigned a $2 billion deal with the African De-velopment Bank, Beijing’s first departure fromits “checque book” policy of multibillion dol-lar deals. The new fund will open contracts tothe most suitable bidder rather than just toChinese companies. There has been muchcriticism of its “checque book” activitieswhereby money has been lent to African coun-tries mainly to benefit China’s own construc-tion groups, which have built everything fromroads to hospitals. There have also been com-plaints about the poor quality of some Chi-nese-built infrastructure projects and the useof migrant labour from China rather than us-ing local labour.

Africa and its foreign investors have muchto learn and much to be aware of. They mustlisten to the IMF which casts a disinterestedeye. It is often said that Africa has nowhere togo but up. Long may it be so.

—Courtesy: Khaleej Times

CAIRO—Newly inaugurated PresidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi reappointed Egypt’sprime minister on Monday, signaling con-tinuity as he sets out to fix the economyand overcome political divisions after along period of turmoil and bloodshed. Incomments carried by the state newsagency, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehlebsaid the current government would stay onin a caretaker role until he forms a newcabinet. Consultations had not yet begun,he said, although officials have said manyof the leading ministers such as financeare likely to be unchanged.

Sisi, who as armed forces chief toppledIslamist President Mohamed Mursi lastJuly following mass protests, was swornin on Sunday in a ceremony with low-keyattendance by Western allies concerned bya crackdown on dissent. While Sisi quitthe military in March, a lower-than-ex-pected turnout in last month’s presidentialelections fell short of giving him a strongmandate to take tough measures to repairan economy wounded by three years of in-stability and regular violence which hasscared away foreign investors and tourists.

Keeping the main ministers in placecould allow Sisi to implement quickly the

Sisi keeps Egyptian premierto fix economy after turmoil

kind of reforms that the United Arab Emir-ates - one of the Gulf Arab states that gaveEgypt billions of dollars in aid afterMursi’s fall - has been encouraging. FawazGerges, Professor of Middle East Studiesat the London School of Economics, saidSisi had to tackle the problems that areundermining Egyptians’ living standardsand state finances.

“He knows that he has a one year hon-eymoon and that’s why he has to deliverin terms of jobs, in terms of lowering in-flation, in terms of the debt,” he said.“That’s why he’s keeping Mehleb in placeand that’s why he’s keeping the major port-folios.” One of the most important figuresin Egypt’s drive to resuscitate the economyis Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian,who is expected to stay on in the new ad-ministration.

Educated at Columbia University inthe United States, he was described by asenior European diplomat as the only min-istry expert able to deal professionally withthe International Monetary Fund during afailed attempt under Mursi to secure a $4.8billion loan. Reuters reported on Fridaythat Western consultants were advisingEgypt’s government - apparently with

Sisi’s blessing - on an economic reformplan which could serve as a basis for re-starting talks on a IMF loan deal.

The driving force behind the consult-ing project is the UAE, which along withSaudi Arabia and Kuwait has showeredEgypt with aid totaling more than $12 bil-lion in cash and petroleum products sinceMursi’s removal. As de facto ruler sincelast summer, Sisi has driven Mursi’s Mus-lim Brotherhood underground with acrackdown in which hundreds of its sup-porters have been killed and thousandsjailed, polarizing the most populous Arabnation.

However, Egypt’s oldest and best or-ganized Islamist movement has survivedofficial repression for decades. Sisi alsofaces a violent threat from militants basedin the Sinai peninsula who are believed tohave access to weapons smuggled fromchaotic Libya. These have stepped up at-tacks on police and soldiers since Sisiousted Mursi. Mehleb, 65, was appointedprime minister in February after servingpreviously in housing portfolio. A civilengineer, he is a former chairman of ArabContractors, one of the region’s largestconstruction companies, and worked

BEIJING—China denouncedVietnam and the Philippines onMonday for getting together ona disputed island in the SouthChina Sea to play soccer andvolleyball, calling it “a clumsyfarce” and demanded bothcountries stop causing trouble.The comments by a foreignministry spokeswoman wereChina’s first response to thegathering on the Vietnamese-held island of Southwest Cayon Sunday.

Philippine naval officialsdescribed the meeting of sol-diers from the two sides as achance to show there can beharmony despite a web of over-lapping claims to the poten-tially energy-rich waters.“Don’t you think this smallmove together by Vietnam andthe Philippines is at most aclumsy farce?” China’s For-eign Ministry spokeswomanHua Chunying said at a dailybriefing.

“China has irrefutable sov-ereignty over the Spratly Is-lands and the seas nearby,” shesaid. “We demand that Vietnamand the Philippines stop anybehaviour that picks quarrelsand causes trouble ... and notdo anything to complicate ormagnify the dispute.” The gath-ering underscores the growingcooperation between Vietnamand the Philippines, which haveboth felt China’s wrath over theSouth China Sea, even thoughboth claim Southwest Cay andother islands.

The Philippines, Malaysiaand Brunei all claim some of theSpratlys, while China, Taiwanand Vietnam claim the wholechain. China also claims 90 per-cent of the 3.5 million sq km(1.35 million sq mile) SouthChina Sea, its reach depicted onits maps with a so-called nine-dash line deep into the maritimeheart of Southeast Asia.

Diplomats and experts

China says Vietnam,Philippines’ mingling on

disputed isle a ‘farce’have described the partnershipbetween Hanoi and Manila aspart of a web of evolving rela-tionships across Asia that arebeing driven by fear of Chinaas well as doubts among some,especially in Japan, over theU.S. commitment to the region.Separately, China accusedVietnam of ramming its shipsmore than 1,000 times in a partof the sea and said while itwanted good relations with itsneighbour, it would not aban-don principles to achieve that.

A Vietnamese fishing boatsank on May 26 during a con-frontation not far from whereChina has towed an oil rig, ac-companied by a cordon of Chi-nese vessels, 240 km (150miles) off Vietnam. Last week,Vietnam television broadcastvideo showed a large Chinesevessel steaming after two Viet-namese fishing boats, then col-liding with one which capsized.

The dispute is the most se-rious deterioration of relationsbetween the Communist statesand traditional rivals since abrief war in 1979 followingVietnam’s invasion of Cambo-dia. Shortly after China broughtits oil rig into the area, Vietnamsent a large number of vesselsinto the area, China’s ForeignMinistry said on Sunday.

“There were as many as 63Vietnamese vessels in the areaat the peak, attempting to breakthrough China’s cordon andramming the Chinese govern-ment ships for a total of 1,416times,” the ministry said.“China exercised great restraintand took necessary preventivemeasures.” China has commu-nicated with Vietnam morethan 30 times, asking it to “stopits illegal disruption”, the min-istry said. The rig’s deploymentset off anti-Chinese riots inVietnam last month in which atleast four people were killed.—Agencies

BANGKOK—Thailand’s juntasaid on Monday it had orderedthe Thai ambassadors to theUnited States and Britain tomeet human rights groups in aneffort to “create understanding”about last month’s seizure ofpower. Several Western gov-ernments have spoken outagainst the May 22 coup, call-ing for a speedy return to de-mocracy. Rights groups haveurged the ruling NationalCouncil for Peace and Order(NCPO) to curb its powers todetain and prosecute civilians.

“The NCPO has orderedThailand’s ambassadors inNew York and London to meetrepresentatives from HumanRights Watch and Amnesty In-ternational to create under-standing,” Yongyuth Mayalarp,a spokesman for the NCPO,told reporters. Representativesat Amnesty International andHuman Rights Watch con-firmed they had been invited tomeet the ambassadors.

“We intend to listen to whatthe Ministry of Foreign Affairsrepresentatives have to say and,of course, we will also reiter-ate our serious concerns aboutthe military’s actions sinceMay 22,” John Sifton, Asiaadvocacy director for HumanRights Watch, told Reuters inan e-mail, adding that a meet-ing date had not yet been set.Army chief General PrayuthChan-ocha said he took powerto restore order after nearlyseven months of political tur-moil in the polarised country.He has launched a reconcilia-tion campaign aimed at heal-ing divisions.

Thai junta to explain itself tointernational rights groups

Prayuth is due to meet for-eign diplomats on Wednesdayto brief them on the military’splans. The NCPO ordered po-litical parties on Monday tosuspend activities. When themilitary scrapped the constitu-tion after the coup it was un-clear whether parties wouldcontinue to exist. The coup wasthe latest chapter in a powerstruggle between the Bangkok-based royalist establishmentand supporters of oustedformer populist premierThaksin Shinawatra, whosestronghold is in the rural northand northeast.

Thaksin’s removal in a2006 coup did nothing to healthe divide and the military nowappears intent on finishingwhat it started then, shufflingsenior civil servants and mili-tary personnel to blunt thepower of Thaksin loyalists. Theousted government was headedby Thaksin’s sister, YingluckShinawatra, until she was or-dered to step down on May 7after a court found her guiltyof abuse of power.

The NCPO has movedswiftly to revive an economybattered by months of chaos.On Saturday, Prayuth declaredhimself head of the Board ofInvestment, a position typicallyheld by the prime minister. Hehas said that this week the juntawould begin approving projectsto stimulate the economy. It isreviewing a contentious 350billion baht ($10.8 billion) wa-ter management plan and 2 tril-lion baht in infrastructureprojects initiated by the formergovernment.—Agencies

MOSCOW—Five men received long prisonterms on Monday for the killing of prominentKremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya after a trialthat failed to reveal who masterminded the Rus-sian journalist’s murder. Politkovskaya, an in-vestigative reporter who uncovered state corrup-tion and rights abuses, especially in Chechnya,was gunned down in the lobby of her Moscowapartment block at the age of 48 on Oct. 7, 2006.

The Russian authorities deny any role in herdeath. The case caused international outrage be-

cause of the brutality of the contract-style killingand the failure of the authorities - even now, afternearly eight years and several trials - to identifywho commissioned it. Kremlin critics and rightscampaigners say it symbolises the weakness ofthe rule of law in Russia. “I will be satisfied onlywhen the person or people who ordered this willbe sentenced,” said Politkovskaya’s son Ilya.

The five men, convicted by a jury lastmonth, exchanged smiles in the defendants’ glassbox before judge Pavel Melyokhin handed downthe sentences. He ordered life imprisonment forRustam Makhmudov, found guilty of pulling thetrigger, and his uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, whoorganised the logistics. The other three received

Five jailed for murder of Russianreporter, but son asks: on whose orders?

12, 14 and 20 years. Politkovskaya was one of23 reporters murdered in Russia since 2000,according to the New York-based Committee toProtect Journalists, and one of five from thesame newspaper, the independent NovayaGazeta. It is still running its own investigationinto her death.

“For as long as the name of the mastermind isnot known, there can be no talk of revealing thetruth,” said Nadezhda Prusenkova, a spokeswomanfor the paper. “Today’s sentencing is important, but

only a step. They are the lowest level in this crimi-nal chain, which must still be revealed and punished.”

Tanya Lokshina, head of the Moscow of-fice of Human Rights Watch, said that while themen were accused of killing for money, the trialhad not established the ultimate motive for thecrime. “At this point in time, it really does notseem that the government and investigation au-thorities are serious about getting to the bottomof it,” she said. Federal investigators say theyare doing all they can to find the mastermind.Makhmudov’s two brothers, Ibragim andDzhabrail, were sentenced to 12 and 14 years ina high-security penal colony for helping toshadow Politkovskaya.—Reuters

Defendants in the murder trial of Russian journalist and human rights activist AnnaPolitkovskaya, (L-R) Ibragim Makhmoudov, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, Dzhabrail Makhmoudov,Rustam Makhmoudov and Sergei Khadzhikurbanov sit inside a glass-walled cage, while apoliceman stands guard in the foreground, during a court hearing in Moscow, June 9, 2014.

MADRID—A Spanish Eurofighter jet crashed on Monday afternoon at the Moron de la Fronteraair base near the southern city of Seville, killing the pilot, a spokesman for the Spanish defenceministry said. The accident happened on the runway as the pilot was returning from a flight andnearing the base, the spokesman said. Earlier the ministry had said the crash had happened at take-off. The cause of the accident was still unclear.

The pilot was an air force captain, the spokesman said. The Moron military base is sharedbetween Spain and the U.S. air force, although only Spain uses the Eurofighter combat planes. Thejets are built by British defence company BAE Systems, European aerospace group Airbus andItaly’s Finmeccanica. Spain agreed to acquire 87 of the combat jets just over a decade ago, and hasan option to buy 16 more between 2003 and 2018, according to the defence ministry.—Reuters

Eurofighter jet crashes atSpanish base, killing pilot

Britain becomeshaven for US

companies keen tocut tax bills

LONDON—Nothing about thenarrow cream-collared lobby at160 Aldersgate Street in theCity of London financial dis-trict gives a hint of its role atthe centre of the offshore oilindustry. That’s because a lawfirm occupies the building. Yet,on paper at least, it is also hometo Rowan Companies, one ofthe largest operators of drillingrigs in the world.

In 2012, Rowan, which hasa market value of $4 billion,shifted its legal and tax basefrom the United States to Brit-ain. But not much else. “Wechanged our corporate structureand we’re legally domiciled inthe UK but our headquartersand our management team re-main in the U.S.,” SuzanneSpera, Rowan’s Investor Rela-tions Director said in a tele-phone interview from Houston.

“It has been positive. Wetake advantage of trying to becompetitive with our effectivetax rate.” Indeed, Rowan fil-ings say the shift helped cut thecompany’s effective tax rate to3.3 percent in 2013 from 34.6percent in 2008. Spera saidRowan complies with all UKtax rules. A governmentspokeswoman for the Treasurysaid recent changes to the taxrules were aimed at supporting“genuine business investment”.

“The UK is not a tax ha-ven. In 2015, our main rate ofcorporation tax will be 20 per-cent, well above the levels seenin tax havens,” she said in anemailed statement. In the lastyear around a dozen major U.S.companies including mediagroup Liberty Global, bananagroup Chiquita and drug makerPfizer unveiled plans to shifttheir tax bases overseas outsidethe United States.

Historically, when U.S.companies wanted to cut theirtax bill they usually reincorpo-rated in Caribbean Islands orSwitzerland. However, follow-ing recent legal changeswhereby Britain largelystopped seeking to tax corpo-rate profits reported in othercountries, including tax havens,companies are increasinglychoosing the UK as a corporatebase.

President Barack Obamaand Congressional Democratshave proposed measures tostem the flow of so-called “in-versions”, although Congres-sional gridlock on tax reformmeans new barriers to overseasmoves are unlikely anytimesoon. —Reuters

Sarwar 45, Muhammad Hayat 40, MuhammadAzam 35, Muhammad Iqbal 35, Hafeez 32,Irfan 25, Ghulam Murtaza 30, Tanveer AnwarKhan 40, Islam-ud-din 32, personnel of Paki-stan Rangers Sindh Dil Murad Ali 35, PIA em-ployees Muntazir 45, Fakhrul Hassan 30,Muzaffaral Hassan 30, Fazal Mehmood Zuberi52, Syed Muhammad Ilyas 50, employee ofShaheen Airline, Abdul Khaleeq Siddiqui 65.One of the deceased was not identified. Theinjured include ASF personnel Asad 22, RajabAli 40, Pervez 45, Faheem 26, Naseer Ahmed35, Abid Hussain 35, Munawar Khan 35,Hafeez 35, Yousuf 45, Sikandar 35, ShababHussain 32, Muhammad Qasim 50,Muhammad Jamal 26, Ghulam Mustafa Shah29, Rana Muhammad Afzal 22, Akhtar Hussain45, PIA employees Ahmed Sheikh 45, KhuwajaMuhammad Hassan 59, Special Security Unit(SSU) Police personnel Nisar Ahmed 28, po-lice constables Naveed and Liaquat Ali 30, Pa-kistan Rangers Sindh personnel Zawar Ahmed28, Ikramullah, Muhammad Imran 27,Muhammad Aqil and Faizullah.

In the meantime a spokesman of SindhRanger in a statement said that security forces’operation to hunt down terrorists who tried totake over Karachi airport has been completedand all ten terrorists have been killed.

“Army, Rangers, Police and Airport Secu-rity Force participated in the operation. Thekilled terrorists were between 20-25 years of ageand apparently foreign nationals”, he said.Heavy weapons and suicide jackets were recov-ered from them during the action.

Fire broke out during the operation in theold terminal/cargo area which was extinguished,the spokesman added. “All aircraft have beenchecked and no damage to any aircraft of anytype has occurred. No damage to Jinnah Termi-nal occurred”. He further said that during theaction Rangers troops fought valiantly and oneRanger personnel embraced Shahadat while fourwere injured. “Initial report collected by the se-curity forces indicated involvement of foreignhand in the terrorist activity” the spokesmanadded. Civil Aviation Authority operation willresume shortly.—APP

List of martyred and injuredFrom Page 1

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian MuhammadNawaz Sharif has commended the bravery ofsecurity forces for containing and eliminatingthe terrorist attack at Jinnah international air-port on Sunday night.” He praised the sacrificesof the martyrs who lost their lives due to theterrorist attack.

During the night of 8th June 2014, ten for-eign terrorists attacked Jinnah International Air-port Karachi by entering through Fokker andInternational Cargo Gate. Timely action of Pa-kistan Army, Rangers, ASF, Police and CAAPersonnel ensured that the damage was kept tominimum.

Mr. Shujaat Azeem personally supervisedthe resumption of flight operation at Jinnah In-ternational Airport which became possible onMonday afternoon after airport was cleared forflight operations. He visited all areas of Karachiairport along with DG CAA, Air Marshal (Retd.)Muhammad Yousaf and DG ASF, BrigadierMuhammad Azam Tiwana.

Besides others four PIA Engineering Em-ployees lost their lives while four injured.

In a condolence message, Mr. ShujaatAzeem expressed his deep sorrow and grief overthe killings of PIA Engineers who lost their liveswhile on duty.

“The entire PIA family is deeply saddenedon the loss of 04 employees of PIA Engineeringwho lost their lives namely Mr. Fakhir Laghari,Mr. S.M Ilyas, Mr. Tanveer A Khan and Mr.Fazal Zuberi . May Allah Grant them eternalpeace and strength to the family members of thedeparted souls”.

“Our prayers go out for the speedy recov-ery of all injured. We are grateful for the pa-tience and discipline shown by the passengerspresent at the airport which helped in success ofthe operation”, he said.

Around 20 PIA flights were disturbed due tothe heinous terrorist attack. One domestic flightwas diverted to Nawab Shah while three flightscoming from abroad were diverted to Lahore. Thepassengers of the diverted flights were welllooked after at alternate airports, Nawab Shah andLahore. The security at all airports in Pakistanhas been increased to the highest level.

PIA resumes flight operationFrom Page 1

Chaudhry Nisar said that the forceshad saved the people’s lives by renderingsacrifices.

Meanwhile, the initial report of the attackon the Karachi airport has been presented toPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif which revealedthat terrorists wanted to destroy all airplanesand paralyse entire air traffic operations butthe Airport Security Force blocked their marchtowards Jinnah Terminal.

Heavily armed militants launched anassault on Pakistan´s busiest airport’s inKarachi, leaving at least 29 dead includ-ing 10 militants in a six-hour siege thatthe army quelled at dawn on Monday.

Explosions and gunfire rang out as theattackers, equipped with suicide vests, gre-nades and rocket launchers, battled secu-rity forces in one of the most brazen at-tacks in years in Pakistan´s biggest city.

Authorities said all 10 militants werekilled and that the bodies of 19 victims,including security personnel and four air-port workers, had been identified at theJinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Reuters adds: Their backpacks stuffedwith food and ammunition, a squad ofhighly trained Taliban fighters attackedcountry’s biggest airport in what theyclearly expected to be a protracted siege.

Seven fighters were shot dead byArmed forces after five hours of intensegunfire at Jinnah International Airport.Three died after detonating their suicide-bomb belts.

The Pakistani Taliban said they car-ried out the attack in response to air strikesin their strongholds near the Afghan bor-der and that their mission was to hijack apassenger plane.

“The main goal of this attack was todamage the government, including by hi-jacking planes and destroying state instal-lations,” said Shahidullah Shahid, aTaliban spokesman.

“This was just an example of what weare capable of and there is more to come.

Foreign, local elements involved in attacksFrom Page 1

airstrikes by Pakistani jet fight-ers that killed at least 60 mili-tants in North Waziristan lastmonth, Taliban commandersmet to reconsider a non-aggres-sion treaty with the govern-ment. The Taliban group laterwarned the tribesmen to fleethe area by June 10 and alsowarned to take up arms againstthe security forces.

The spokesman also con-demned the attack on Boyacheckpost on Monday and saidthe Taliban Shura would probeinto the incident and take ac-tion against the culprits.

Ahmedi further said thatthe Taliban shura would havemore sittings with the jirga dur-ing this period to resolve theissue.

The statement came daysafter tribal elders from NorthWaziristan were asked by Gov-ernor Khyber PakhtunkhwaSardar Mehtab Ahmed Khanand Corps CommanderPeshawar Lt Gen KhalidRabbani to oust foreign mili-tants from their area.

The jirga was led byUtmanzai Wazir and Dawartribal elders – the two maintribes that inhabit NorthWaziristan – and Haji SherMohammad Khan, a descen-dent of the famous anti-colo-nial rebel Faqir of Ipi.

Hafiz GulFrom Page 1

Islamic State in Iraq and theLevant (ISIL) said it was be-hind that attack and alsoclaimed responsibility for thebombing on Monday, creditinga suicide bomber whose nameindicates he was Egyptian.

A further 185 people werewounded in the blasts, the forceof which destroyed many build-ings in the area. Sources saidmore bodies were likely to befound beneath the debris.

A 55-year old man who wasbeing rushed to hospital in thecity of Kirkuk on a stretcher, hiswhite robes drenched withblood, said he was returningfrom the market in TuzKhurmato when one of thebombs exploded around 200metres away from him.

“The wall of one of thehouses nearby fell on me. It hurtmy back and my legs. I startedscreaming and people came tomy rescue and pulled me outfrom under the collapsed wall.All my limbs were broken.”

Tuz Khurmato is around 170km (100 miles) north of the capi-tal Baghdad and lies in territorywhich both the federal govern-ment and the autonomousKurdistan region claim as theirs.

Both are a target for SunniIslamist insurgents who in re-cent days overran two major cit-ies, occupied a university cam-pus in western Iraq and set off adozen car bombs in Baghdad.

Nearly 800 people werekilled across the country in Mayalone - the highest monthly tollthis year so far - and last yearwas Iraq’s deadliest since vio-lence began to ease from a peakin 2006-07.

Traffic policeman Ahmed,whose body was covered inshrapnel wounds, was taken toKirkuk hospital in a car by hiscolleagues and was still wear-ing his uniform.—Reuters

Twin bombingFrom Page 1

speaking to reporters. Earlierreports said the Pakistani au-thorities recovered Indianweapons and made-in-Indiainjections from the militantskilled by security forces inKarachi. The injections are notavailable in markets. Anti-haemophilic factor (factorVIII) injections are used totreat or prevent bleeding inpeople.

The recovery of such in-jections reveals coordinatedand comprehensive planningof terrorists to launch attackon sensitive installations ofthe country. Factor-VIII in-jections are mostly used bysoldiers during the battle-field as they don’t wait formedical aid in the war. Theinjection Factor-VIII ismanually used to preventprofuse bleeding afterwounds. —INP

India deniesFrom Page 1

NEW DELHI—The government will focus onexpediting environment clearances for pendingprojects and top priority will be given to defence-related projects, environment minister PrakashJavadekar on Monday said in New Delhi.

Javadekar, while interacting with womenjournalists at Indian Women’s Press Corps(IWPC), said the ministry will focus on balanc-ing the wellbeing of people and the environment.

“We have been meeting officials to look intothe pending projects for environment clearance,and pending defence matters will be given pri-ority,” Javadekar said.

The minister said among the projects to begranted clearance is an “ambitious strategicproject” for securing Mumbai’s coast line, andseveral coast guard stations along the Indian coast.

The minister also said the government is nowlooking into giving clearance to a project aboutsetting up a radar station at the Narcondam Islandin the Andaman and Nicobar chain of islands.

“There is an island called the Coco Islandin the Bay of Bengal which is under Myanmar.However, China has its presence on that island.There is a project pending to set up a radar onNarcondam Island, which is just opposite to theCoco Island. We are looking into the project,”said Javadekar.

A tiny remote island in the Andaman andNicobar Island group, Narcondam is home toabout 300 Narcondam hornbill, a rare bird foundnowhere else in the world. Environmentalistshave advocated not giving clearance to theproject to protect the bird.—IANS

Defence projects to get priorityenvironment nod: Minister

ISLAMABAD—Prime Minister’s Fee Reim-bursement Scheme for more than 4500 post-graduate students of Southern Punjab will bekicked off tomorrow at Multan under the pa-tronage of Prime Minister Youth Programe(PMYP).

The maiden launch of the 100% PMFRSwas held in Baluchistan by Finance MinisterSenator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on 21 May andsubsequently in Peshawar on 2nd of this monthby the Chairperson of PMYP MohtarmaMayram Nawaz Sharif.

A high-level meeting to finalize the ar-rangements for 100% fee reimbursementscheme presided over by the ChairpersonPMYP Mohtarma Maryam Nawaz Sharif held,here today, decided that the Chairperson PMYPwill present 100% fee reimbursement chequestomorrow at Multan to the students hailingfrom the less developed districts of SouthernPunjab including Multan, Bahawalpur, DGKhan, Layyah, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Kushab andAttock undertaking MA, MSc, MS, M Phill

PM’s fee reimbursement schemeto be launched in S Punjab today

or PhD courses from the HEC recognized pub-lic sector universities.

The meeting was informed that out of thetotal 40,000 post-graduate students domiciledin less developed areas of the country, more than4500 post-graduate students of Southern Punjabwill benefit from the 1.20 billion rupees schemelaunched by the present democratic governmentto encourage the quest of higher education forthe students facing financial constraints. Thescheme will sponsor the 100% educational ex-penses of the post-graduate students of less de-veloped areas of the Southern Punjab, interiorSindh, entire Balochistan, KPK including FATA,AJK and GB in the FY 2013-14, the meetingwas further informed.

The meeting also gave a nod to the sched-ule for reimbursement of 100% educational ex-penses to the students hailing from InteriorSind, AJK and GB before the end of June 2014.

The meeting was attended by senior offi-cials of the PMYP and Higher Education Com-mission.—PR

The government should be ready for evenworse attacks.”

The TTP spokesman, ShahidullahShahid, said the talks had been a sham andthat the attack was revenge for the killingof Hakimullah Mehsud in November. Theformer TTP chief was killed by a CIA’sdrone strike on 1 November.

“Pakistan used peace talks as a tool ofwar, it killed hundreds of innocent tribalwomen and children. This is our first at-tack to avenge the death of HakimullahMehsud,” he told Agence-France Presse.

“We have yet to take revenge for thedeaths of hundreds of innocent tribalwomen and children in Pakistani airstrikes. It’s just the beginning, we havetaken revenge for one, we have to take re-venge for hundreds.”

An army spokesman declared thearmed response a success, saying the mili-tants “were confined to two areas andeliminated”. The attack leaves thegovernment’s year-long effort to use theprospect of peace talks to avoid a militaryconfrontation with the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan in tatters.

The latest assault started just beforemidnight on Sunday.

Wearing Airport Security Force uni-forms and armed with automatic rifles androcket-propelled grenades, the group shotits way into the airport after arriving at thecargo terminal in two mini-vans.

A senior police officer said that themilitants then split into two groups, withone attacking a gate called Fokker to cre-ate a diversion and the other storming thecargo terminal.Another senior police officer, Raja UmarKhattab, told Reuters that the attackersthen broke into groups of two and pressedahead with the assault.

“They operated in pairs. That’s whytheir bodies were found lying in pairs,” hesaid. “It seems there was some ill-plan-ning on their part. They did fire two rock-

ets but they didn’t hit their targets.”He added: “They wasted 10 men, but

couldn’t inflict serious damage on the air-port. They didn’t wear suicide vests, butinstead used suicide belts. This is the rea-son why their faces and upper bodies werenot badly mutilated.”

The plan was to make it to the nearbypassenger terminal but their advance wasdisrupted by the unexpectedly strong re-sistance of security forces including para-military Rangers.

A protracted gunbattle followed as themilitants took up positions around thecargo terminal. All passengers werequickly whisked away from the airport andflights were diverted as the gunbattle un-folded through the night.

“The militants were not able to achievetheir target of hitting the aeroplanes as theywere kept engaged by the security forces,as forces responded very quickly,” said asecurity source.

He said the militants were highlytrained and carried large backpacks filledwith dried fruit and water, suggesting theywere in for a long siege.

The official said all the attackers werewearing similar running shoes - a trade-mark feature for Taliban insurgents.Bearded, gun-toting militants wearingcamouflage and simple trainers are a com-mon fixture of Taliban propaganda videos.

“It would have been much more di-sastrous if the militants had reached themain terminal building and taken hostages.There were hundreds of passengers andstaff members present at the main termi-nal at the time,” the official said.

Two international flights, operated byEmirates and Thai Airways, were board-ing passengers at the time of the attack.

Parts of the terminal were set ablazebut it was unclear if insurgents had inten-tionally set it on fire. Heavy smoke bil-lowed into the sky well into Monday whenofficials announced the siege was over.

military power near the borderwith Russia as anything elsebut a demonstration of hostileintentions,” Deputy ForeignMinister Vladimir Titov toldInterfax in an interview.

Speaking last week inNATO-member Poland,Obama unveiled plans to spendup to $1 billion on supportingand training the armed forcesof alliance states borderingRussia.

The White House also saidit would review permanenttroop deployments in Europe inthe light of the Ukraine crisis,but fell short of a firm commit-ment to put troops on theground, as sought by Poland asa security guarantee.

“It would be hard to seeadditional deployment of sub-stantial NATO military forcesin central-eastern Europe, evenif on a rotational basis, as any-thing else but a direct violationof provisions of the 1997Founding Act on relations be-tween Russia and NATO,”Titov said.

“We will be forced to un-dertake all necessary politicaland military measures to reli-ably safeguard our security.”

Russia has long opposedNATO’s eastward expansion asthreatening its own securityand says Kiev’s plan to associ-ate itself more closely with theWest - including with the mili-tary alliance and the EuropeanUnion - has forced it to react.

The West accuses Russia ofmeddling in Ukraine to keepthe former Soviet country in itssphere of influences.—Reuters

RussiaFrom Page 1

that two groups entered the JIAKarachi from Focker Gatewhile another group managedto enter airport fromBhittaiabad, Gulistan-e-Jauharduring exchange of gunfire.

“A hi-roof carrying seventerrorist stopped near main en-trance of JIA Karachi Terminal-I and three terrorists who hadworn uniform of ASF came outof vehicle,” the source said,adding that “When theyreached Focker Gate, they werestopped by the ASF staff andasked them to prove their iden-tity.”

Terrorists enteredFrom Page 1

“The terrorists were show-ing cards to ASF staff when thevehicle which was standing atJIA Karachi Terminal-I reachedthe gate and four more terror-ists came out of vehicle andsprayed ASF staff with bul-lets,” he said, adding that “Theykilled four ASF officials andentered the airport premises.”

“After entering the airport,they hurled smoke bombswhich helped the third group toenter into the airport fromBhittaiabad by taking advan-tage of pluming smoke,” headded.

He said the rockets landedsome 2 kilometres away froman FC check post. “Loud ex-plosions rocked the entire Pak-Iran border area,” Wasey said.He stated, however, that the FCpersonnel’s timely retaliationsilenced the Iranian side andthat there was no loss of life.

The local administrationlodged a protest with the Ira-nian authorities regarding thelatest skirmish.

Iranian border guards haverepeatedly fired rockets intoPakistani territory, creatingpanic among people living inbordering areas with Iran.

Recent attacks by Iranianguards in Pakistani territoryand the kidnapping of Iranian

Iran closes borderFrom Page 1

guards in February this yearhave undermined relations be-tween the two neighbours.

Meanwhile, Iran on Mon-day closed its border with Pa-kistan for indefinite period fol-lowing the incident of Taftan,killing at least 24 pilgrims andinjuring 18 others.

The district management ofChagai confirmed that Iran hasclosed its border with Pakistanfor indefinite period.

According to deputy com-missioner Chagai, SaifullahKhetran, Zero-Point gate on Pak-Iran border in Taftan has beenclosed by the Iranian officials andall activities pertaining to travel-ling and trade through the bor-der were suspended.

the Cargo area of Karachi Air-port were set ablaze in a terror-ists’ strike on Sunday night.

President KEDA said, “ thebusiness community has suf-fered severe losses of millionsof rupees due to terrorists strikein the cargo area of Karachi air-port but no announcement hasbeen made by the governmentto compensate the” losses it hastriggered anxiety amongst af-fected businessmen.”INP adds: Despite of the clear-ance of the airport by securityforces, 7 workers of the cargoterminal have not been found,nor is there any clue about them.

These workers includeFaizan, Nabeel, Fareed,Shezan, Sultan, Saif and Inayat.Families of the missing work-ers visited Edhi morgue insearch of their loved ones andalso visited the Jinnah Hospi-tal and looked among the in-

Cargo worth millionsFrom Page 1

jured brought there, but theycould not find any.

Heirs of missing workerstold that their children workedat the cargo terminal. Securitypersonnel told that fire eruptedaround the offices of the cargoterminal during the attack andnobody could enter into the ter-minal, due to 16 hours of in-tense fire.

Meanwhile, families ofseven airport workers blockedShahrae Faisal demanding thatauthorities work towards free-ing their relatives who weretrapped in cold-storage facili-ties to escape the carnage.

“We are looking into thisand according to the familiessome seven people were trappedinside the cold storage and werein contact with the families oncell phone,” said AbidQaimkhani, a spokesman for theCivil Aviation Authority.

attack late Sunday which killedat least 24 people near the Paki-stan-Iran border, around 700kilometres southwest of Quetta.

Officials said four suicide

6 security personnelFrom Page 1

bombers attacked two restau-rants full of Shia pilgrims re-turning from Iran as theystopped at a restaurant in thetown of Taftan.

moments have reached to takedecisive steps to weed out ter-rorism. Force will be usedwherever needed as this situa-tion is intolerable when terror-ists become so dangerous tonational interests.

Though the date has notbeen decided about the meet-ing but it is expected to be heldin a couple of days.

Prime Minister will chairthe meeting while COAS Gen-eral Raheel Sharif, ISI ChiefZaheerul Islam, Interior Minis-ter Ch Nisar, Information Min-ister Pervaiz Rashid and IBChief will attend the meeting.

CCNSFrom Page 1

several sectors including fi-nance, tourism, culture andcommunications.

Iran and Turkey will alsochair the first meeting of ahigh-level cooperation council,a mechanism Ankara has estab-lished with its neighbours topromote trade and regional in-tegration.

The Iranian leader assertedhis visit “will undoubtedly bea turning point in the two coun-tries’ relationship”.

It was the first trip to Tur-key by an Iranian presidentsince former leader MahmoudAhmadinejad made a “work-ing” visit to Istanbul in 2008.The last official presidentialvisit from Iran to Turkey wasin 1996 by HashemiRafsanjani.—AFP

Iran, TurkeypledgeFrom Page 1

FO rejectsFrom Back Page

would be misled by these mo-tivated allegations,” thespokesperson commented.

She said Pakistan’s inter-ests were not served by disrup-tion of Afghan elections.

“On the contrary, a peace-ful election and a smoothdemocratic transition wouldadvance our interest in havinga stable Afghanistan. Accord-ingly, we remain committed tosupporting all efforts for a freeand peaceful election whichincludes enhancing securityalong the Pak-Afghan border,”the spokesperson said.

Earlier on Friday, Abdullahsurvived an assassination attemptwhen two blasts, including a sui-cide bombing, hit his campaignmotorcade in Kabul ahead ofnext weekend’s hotly contestedrun-off election. The explosion,however, killed 12 people.

BEIJING—China’s top news-paper on Monday warnedagainst aping Western-styledemocracy just a week after the25th anniversary of theTiananmen crackdown, point-ing to Thailand and Ukraine asexamples of the kind of chaosthe system can bring.

President Xi Jinping’s as-cendancy in a once-in-a-decadegenerational leadership transi-tion had given many Chinesehope for political reform,mainly due to his folksy styleand the legacy of his father, XiZhongxun, a former reformistvice-premier. But the repeatedmessage the party has given outsince Xi became president lastyear is that there will be nopolitical liberalization.

China has been on high alertover the past few weeks in the

Chinese party newspaper saysWestern democracy only brings chaos

run-up to the 25th anniversaryof the bloody suppression ofpro-democracy demonstrationsaround Beijing’s TiananmenSquare, detaining dissidents andtightening internet controls. Ina lengthy commentary, the rul-ing Communist Party’s officialPeople’s Daily newspaper saidthe country needed to be onguard against falling into the“trap” of Western-style democ-racy. “Over the past few months,from Kiev to Bangkok, the poli-tics of the street and publicclashes have caused deep sor-row,” the newspaper said.“Looking back at the ‘colorrevolutions’ which have oc-curred in recent years ... how canwe not say with deep feeling:rejoice that we have resolutelyupheld socialism with Chinesecharacteristics.—Reuters

World’soldest mandies atage 111NEW YORK—The world’s oldest man, aretired chemist and parapsy-chologist, has died in NewYork City. Alexander Imichwas 111. His niece saidImich died on Sunday at hishome in Manhattan. KarenBogen of Providence,Rhode Island, said she hadvisited him a day earlier. Shesaid his health declinedabout two weeks ago andhe didn’t recognise her.Imich was born in 1903 in atown in Poland that wasthen part of Russia. He andhis wife fled after the Nazisinvaded in 1939. Theyeventually moved to theUnited States in 1951. —AP

Assad grantsamnesty afterre-electionBEIRUT—Syrian Presi-dent Bashar al-Assadannounced a wide-rangingamnesty on Monday, lessthan a week after he was re-elected to another seven-year term in the midst ofcivil war. In a decreepublished by state media,Assad commuted somedeath sentences to lifeimprisonment, reduced jailterms for many offencesand canceled some othersaltogether.—Reuters

Druse headscornsHezbollahon SyriaBEIRUT — Thedecision by Lebanon’smilitant Hezbollah group tojoin the civil war inneighboring Syria and fightalong President BasharAssad’s forces was ahistoric and moral “mis-take” toward the Syrianpeople, a leading Lebanesepolitician has said.—AP

STAFF REPORTER

QUETTA—Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif onMonday ordered action against perpetratorsbehind the twin suicide attack near the Pak-Iran border at Taftan in which 24 were killed.

Nawaz directed the Inspector General ofthe Frontier Corps to personally lead the op-eration against terrorists.

Qambar Dashti, the Commissioner QuettaDivision, told media that 14 out of the total 18injured persons were in critical condition. “Wehave shifted all the injured persons to Com-bined Military Hospital in Quetta for treat-ment,” he said.The bodies and injured wereshifted in six army helicopters from Pak-Iranborder Taftan to Quetta on Monday morning.“We will hand over the bodies to their heirsafter completing identification,” Dashti said.

Akbar Hussain Durrani, the Home Secre-tary of Balochistan, said that ten buses carry-ing Shia pilgrims had entered Pakistan fromIran on Sunday evening. “When the buseswere parked at two hotels, there were explo-

PM orders action as Taftanbombing death toll reaches 24

sions,” Durrani said.He said the blasts were followed by in-

tense firing near the hotels. “We fear rise incasualties,” he added.

Frontier Corps and Levies personnel werecalled to bring the situation under control.However, the spokesman for Frontier Corps,Khan Wasey, says that the forces killed theremaining two terrorists during the operationaverting another terror act close to the hotel.

He said the forces were deployed inand around the hotel and sweeping was con-ducted in the area to avoid another attack.

A banned outfit Jaishul Islam has claimedresponsibility for the attack. A purportedspokesperson for the group, Azam Tariq, hadcalled Quetta-based journalists from an un-disclosed location to claim credit for thedeadly attack.

Sources said that intelligence agencies hadwarned of possible attacks on pilgrims one monthago, but the authorities failed to put in place ad-equate security to thwart Sunday’s attack.

Bombers hit Afghanbase, kill guard

KABUL—Three suicidebombers attacked a parkinglot at a police base in east-ern Afghanistan, killing aguard and setting 25 trucksablaze, an official told AP onMonday.

The attack on the policebase in eastern Behsud dis-trict took place late Sunday,said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai,the spokesman for the pro-vincial governor ofNangarhar province. —AP

STAFF REPORTER

K A R A C H I — M u t t a h i d aQaumi Movement (MQM)founder and leader AltafHussain had urged uponmaintaining the writ of thestate at all cost and offeredPakistan Army to send 300,000 workers of MQM, whowould fight against terror-ists shoulder to shoulderwith Pakistan Army.

The MQM Chief instrongest words con-demned terrorists and ex-pressed his deep grief overloss of lives of security per-sonnel during combat withterrorists. He prayed for theearly recovery of the injuredand peace for the departedsouls of those that em-braced martyrdom.

He said that he had timeand again been demanding

Altaf demandsdecisive action

against terroristsOffers 300,000 workers to Pak Army

Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif totake a decisive actionagainst terrorists but to noavail, the result of peacetalks with terrorists yieldedno result and hence therewas no option left except todeal with terrorists with ironhand and cleanse the coun-try from terrorists.

The result of ignoringappeals for action againstterrorists and non-engage-ment with Taliban in peacetalks had resulted in terror-ist attack on the airport inwhich several precious livesof security personnel werelost.He said that the time was ripeto start a decisive actionagainst terrorists or else ter-rorists would grow strongerand would inflict colossal lossto the integrity of Pakistan.

MOSCOW—India has the right to re-process the spent nuclear fuel (SNF)from the Russian built KudankulamNuclear Power Project (KNPP) by asupplementary agreement with Rus-sia, which relieved the builders fromthe responsibility to take over the dis-charged SNF as originally envisaged.

This was stated by A.Y.Khaperskaya, senior manager withRussia’s state nuclear corporationRosatom, at the Atomexpo 2014 - thesixth international nuclear energy con-ference that was inaugurated on Mon-day.

“India has its own plans for spentfuel processing, so we do not figurein it. Instead, with Iran we have anobligation on taking care of spentnuclear fuel”, Khaperskaya told re-porters here while responding to a

India has right to reprocess spent N-fuel: Russiaquestion on KNPP.

She was speaking at a conferencesession of Russia’s experience in man-agement of SNF and radioactive waste.

India’s department of atomic en-ergy justified the change from the per-spective that SNF is not a waste, butis a resource which could be repro-cessed for separating plutonium anduranium and can be utilised in a closedcycle to generate more nuclear power.

However, this drastic changemade by the supplemental agreementprovoked public interest pleas beforethe Madras High Court seeking a freshenvironmental clearance as the onegranted in 1989 was based on the origi-nal agreement stipulating that all SNFwould be sent away to Russia, whichthe court dismissed.

Khaperskya explained that

Rosatom was currently in the processof creating a state of the art process-ing plant that can treat different typesof SNF, that would also obviate theneed for col lec t ion of the spentfuel.

Only a smal l percent of thespent fuel can be used for repro-cess ing, leaving the problem ofwaste disposal. Towards this end,Russia is experimenting the finalburying of waste in an under-ground laboratory and geologicalsurveys are also being conducted,sa id A.N. Dorofeev, head ofRosatom’s project for SNF and ra-dioactive waste management.

Current ly, only a handful ofcountries like Finland, Sweden andGermany pract ice undergroundburial of nuclear waste..—IANS

FO rejects Pakistanlink to attack on AbdullahSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan hasfirmly rejected allegations ofits involvement in the attackon Afghan presidential can-didate Abdullah Abdullahand termed them as irrespon-sible.

“Pakistan is deeply dis-appointed by such allega-tions because they serve tovitiate the positive environ-ment created between the twocountries through construc-tive efforts over the pastmonths,” Foreign Officespokesperson TasneemAslam said in the first everreaction to such allegations.

Regrettably, these allega-tions fall in the familiar pat-tern of certain elements inAfghanistan sparing no oc-casion to malign Pakistanand its security institutionsand shifting the blame to oth-ers for their own security fail-ures, the spokesperson re-marked.

“We are sure that neitherthe Afghan people, nor theinternational community

Continued on Page 7

Thai beautyqueenresignsBANGKOK —Miss UniverseThailand hasresigned less than a monthinto her reign after beingharshly criticized on socialmedia over her politicalcomments and looks.Weluree Ditsayabut, 22,tearfully announcedMonday she was givingup the title that wouldhave allowed her tocompete in the interna-tional Miss Universepageant. The actress andformer talk show host saidshe was initially pleased tohave won the title, but thatthe hail of brutal commentson social media blastingher outspoken politicalviews and calling her fathad hurt her family.—AP

‘Foreign hand’ cannot be ruled out in Karachi attack: PR

Befitting answer to begiven to terrorists: Asif

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD —Federal Information Minis-ter Pervaiz Rashid has said that the forceswho want to destabilize Pakistan could beinvolved in terrorist attack at Karachi air-port.

Talking to media on Monday, he saidthat the terrorists wanted to take control ofthe airport. The minister said the securityforces bravely responded to the terroristattack and controlled the situation.

“We very well know about the links ofthose who oppose peace talks withTaliban”, Pervaiz Rashid said.

He said those involved in the terroristattacks were serving the agenda of enemiesof Pakistan.Paying tribute to armed forces,Pervaiz Rashid said that terrorists will bedealt in the same way and no one would beallowed to challenge writ of the state.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister KhwajaAsif has said a befitting answer to terror-ists would be given and none would darerepeat such an act, he added.

The terrorists have targeted the nationalassets in their cowardly attack.

The terrorists will be defeated in their ownhavens, he expressed the resolve, adding thatthe state will forcefully responds to such acts.

RubinaQaimkhani

injured in roadaccident

OBSERVER REPORT

SANGHAR —Sindh Ministerfor Special Education RubinaKaimkhani was injured in aroad accident here on Mon-day.

According to a report, theprovincial minister guardedby her squad was heading toSanghar when her car col-lided with a tractor trailer com-ing from the opposite sidenear Ghundan Chowk.

Rubina Qaimkhani wasshifted to Civil HospitalSanghar where she remainedfor four hours but could notget her X-ray due to unavail-ability of X-ray machine films,however, her X-ray was doneafter a machine was broughtfrom a private clinic.

Later, she was shifted toKarachi in a special ambu-lance for further treatment.According to doctors,Rubina Qaimkhani sustainedchest and head injuries in theaccident.The provincial min-ister was visiting Sanghar toattend a Khuli Kachehri (pub-lic hearing).

Indian studentsswept away indam release

NEW DELHI—Rescuers inboats were searching a Hima-layan river Monday for doz-ens of students swept awaywhen a dam released a rushof water without warning,and police said four bodieshad been found.

The students from the IT-city of Hyderabad had beentaking photographs at thebanks of the Beas River whenthey were hit by the rush ofwater from the Larji hyropowerstation.—Agencies

KARACHI: Namaz-e-Janaza of Rangers personnel martyred during gun fight at airport being offered at BhataiRangers Headquarters Super highway.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

WHILE older, overweight or injured exercisers have always valued the cushioning effects of water workouts, a

new wave of trendy, lively and high intensitygroup fitness classes is luring the young, thehip and the able-bodied intothe pool. Aqua Zumba, bootcamp, and synchronizedswimming are among theclasses experts say put ev-ery muscle through a rangeof motion even the fittestcan’t approach on dry land.

Lori Rose Benson of theYMCA of Greater NewYork said seniors populatedaytime pool classes, but theevening attracts a younger,party-oriented crowd. Syn-chronized swimming, aclass of elaborate strokesand stunts set to music, hasbecome a favorite amongBrooklyn hipsters, she said.Aqua Zumba, also called“pool party,” is popular withthe younger crowd through-out the city.

“Really, it depends on the time of day,”Benson said. “Aquatic exercise can have allthe benefits of a really tough cardiovascularworkout. It’s what you put into it.” Three timesa week at an Equinox fitness center in NewYork City, swim coach Ellis Peters leads AquaBoot Camp, an hour-long interval workout hesaid takes aim at every major muscle group.

“I try to use every inch of the 25-yard (23-meter) pool,” Peters said of the class, whichemploys flotation devices in a fast-changingsequence of running, jumping jacks and coreexercises. “We usually don’t do any one thingmore than a minute,” said Peters. Moving

through water is powerful, he added, becausethe resistance, or drag coefficient, is 12 timeswhat it is in air and works on the body in alldirections.

“I can’t imagine a machine on land thatwould be able to duplicate theomni-dimensional resistance ofthe water,” he said. “It doesn’texist.” Rhode Island-basedKaren Kent said she plungedinto pool workouts after asthmabegan to hamper her runningstyle. “I couldn’t run much inmy 20s,” said Kent, an aquaticexpert who wrote the water ex-ercise chapter for the AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine’sgroup fitness handbook.

She said even the mostable-bodied like turning to wa-ter to relieve pressure and ex-tend their range of motion.“Even really strong athleteswant to come to water to stretchmuscles back out,” she said.“Water offers another piece offitness you can’t get on the

ground.” The level of exertion feels less inthe water, she added, so the right instructorcan really ramp it up with deep water run-ning and jogging intervals.

Kent said the pool temperature for wa-ter workouts should be around 83 to 85degrees Fahrenheit (28 to 29 Celsius), withair temperature about two degrees higher.That’s because unlike swimmers, who arecomfortable in the high 70s (mid 20s), theexercisers’ heads are above the water line.“Swimming laps is different from doingexercise,” she said. “Every workout hassomething else to offer and a well-roundedathlete should do all of it.”

New wave of water workoutsattract the young and fit

Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, present-ing crest to Major General Joseph Furaha Kapwani, Commander Air Force of Tanzania,during his visit to Air Headquarters.

Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman, custodian of Eidgah shrine and Federal Minister forFinance Ishaq Dar along with other and prominent dignities attending the InternationalMilad-un-Nabi Conference.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—For the de-fence of the ideological andgeographical boundaries ofPakistan, the nation mustforge unity and organize itselfwhereas the congregations forthe remembrance of the HolyProphet (peace be upon him)are playing an important rolein the elimination of sectari-anism and terrorism andmaintaining peace.

President of Azad Kash-mir Sardar MuhammadYaqub Khan stated this whilespeaking at an InternationalMilad-un-Nabi Conference inconnection with three-day117th Urs at Eidgah Sharifhere on Sunday. “We can suc-

ceed and excel in this world aswell as in Hereafter by closelyassociating ourselves with theHoly Prophet (peace be uponhim),” he said.

Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman, custodian of Eidgahshrine and prominent spiritualfigure, chaired the conferencewhile prominent among thespeakers were Federal Minis-ter for Finance Ishaq Dar, AzadKashmir Senior Minister forLocal Government ChaudhryMuhammad Yasin, Minister ofState for Religious Affairs PirSyed Amin-ul-Hasnat, formerfederal minister for religiousaffairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi,Pir Syed Hussainuddin Shah,Maulana Abdul Mustafa Rizvi,Dr. Jamal Nasir and Haji Hanif

Tayyab. Sahibzada PirMuhammad Hassan Haseeb-ur-Rehman, who hosted theconference, also delivered aspecial address.

Speaking on the occasion,Federal Minister for FinanceIshaq Dar said that the Muslimunity is the need of the hour, asMuslims can overcome all theproblems and tribulations onlythrough unity. He said that theconference would play an im-portant role in forging the Mus-lim unity.

Pir Naqib-ur-Rehman saidthat Muslims could meet all thechallenges facing them by re-ally playing the role of slavesof the Holy Prophet (peace beupon him). He said the celebra-tion of the Milad is a charac-

teristic of the followers of Is-lam as Almighty Allah and an-gels also join the remembranceof the Holy Prophet (peace beupon him).

Chaudhry MuhammadYasin said that the abodes ofsaints are the fountainheads forthe promotion of the compas-sionate love with the HolyProphet (peace be upon him)and one learns the lesson ofpeace, tranquility and brother-hood.

Sahibzada Pir MuhammadHassan Hasib-ur-Rehman saidthat the holding of congrega-tion for the remembrance of theHoly Prophet (peace be uponhim) is part of the mannerismof Muslims.

The conference opened at

9 a.m. with recitation of theverses from the Holy Quranby Qari Muhammad Ayub,who had especially comefrom Britain, continued till 7p.m. Qari Salim Shahzad andTaslim Sabri acted ascomperes. Devotees ofEidgah shrine, including alarge number of women, fromacross the country as well asabroad attended the confer-ence. Extraordinary securityand traffic management planswere implemented duringthree-day Urs, which con-cluded on Monday.

In the end, Pir MuhammadNaqib-ur-Rehman prayed forthe unity among Muslims andprogress, prosperity and soli-darity of Pakistan.

Need for Muslim unity highlighted as Urs concludes at Eidgah Sharif

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD —Federal Ministerfor Information & BroadcastingSenator Pervaiz Rashid andCounselor Tommaso Sansone,Deputy Head of the Italian Mis-sion in Pakistan, onMonday handed over Pakistaniand Italian flags to the Pakistanimountaineers at a press confer-ence here at the National PressClub. Some 8 mountaineers fromGilgit-Baltistan have been se-lected by an Italian expert moun-taineer Murizio Gallo with thesupport of Gilgit-Batistan govern-ment and the Pakistani mountain-eers who have climbed K2. TheItalian non-governmental organi-zation (NGO) Ev-K2-CNR hassupported this very Pakistani ex-pedition with necessary funds,equipment, training, and techni-cal assistance during the expedi-tion.

Two Italian mountaineerswould be available to the Paki-stan expedition for technical sup-port and assistance in the hour ofneed. Infomration Minister and the Italian Deputy Headof Mission saw the team off and wished them success inthe expedition.

Speaking on the occasion, Pervaiz Rashid said wehave the best mountains and we are thankful to our for-eign friends who not only love our mountains but put theirefforts to mainstream and popularize it in their countries.Our special thanks o Italians who have special love forK2 for the last 100 years. He lauded the Italian friendswho took initiative and generously supported the 8 Paki-stani mountaineers from Gilgit-Baltistan.

Speaking on the occasion,President Ev-K2-CNRAgostino Da Polenza said K2 is the best brand that canuplift Pakistan’s image and the people are veryhardworking; they only lack resources that we the Italiansare trying to provide the locals to help them to do the bestfor land and available resources. We are alsogenerating awareness on the conservation of the local natu-ral resources, he said. Counselor Tommaso Sansone,Deputy Head of the Italian Mission in Pakistan, said Ital-

Pervaiz Rashid, Italian envoy seeoff Pak, Italian mountaineers

An ‘indigenous’ Pakistani team to attempt K2

Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Senator Pervaiz Rashid presenting a flag of Paki-stan to mountaineers on their departure for K2.

ians’ love for K2 began 1909, “Since then our people areassociated with Karakoram area for its conservation andmainstreaming. We are happy to be associated with theK2 and the Karakoram.”

Domenico Brozzone, the head of development, talkedabout the SEED project, a major intervention in the Gilgit-Batistan for climate research and mountaineering, andmountain development. He said the project interventionshave changed life in the area and with the development ofthe Central Karakoram National Park, adventure tourismand biodiversity conservation would be the ace achieve-ments. He also spoke about the K2 first ascent by theItalian expedition on July 31, 1954, when AchilleCompagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reached for the first timeever the K2 summit, the most difficult mountain in theword. The success was possible due to the support of theexpedition’ Pakistani members, including Amir Mahdi themember of expedition team as well as a guide and theHunza porters .

“Today the history is repeating but for the first time

ever in fact an officially Pakistani team will attempt K2summit. With the them two Italian mountaineering am-bassadors: Michele Cucchi, Alpine guide and SimoneOrigone world champion speed skiing (251,40 km/h).Theexpedition will leave form Skardu on June 14, where theItalians will join the Pakistani team.

The summit attempt is foreseen at the end of July,”he further said. Team Lead of the expedition, MuhammadTaqi said, the Pakistani expedition if fully funded by theItalian people and government, it had to be done by thelocal and federal governments. But, this is very unfor-tunate that mountaineering is not the priority of our gov-ernments. We are happy and looking forward to scalethe K2 as mountaineers not as porters. Among otherswho spoke on the occasion, included Italian mountain-eer and adviser to Pakistan expedition Murizio Gallo,National Press Club President Shahryar Khan, GhulamRasul from the Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism department, andMunir Ahmed, Communication Cgief Ev-K2-CNR andFocal Point for the expedition.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A five-member delegation ofTanzanian Air Force headed by Major Gen-eral Joseph Furaha Kapwani, Commander AirForce of Tanzania visited Air Headquarters,Islamabad on Monday.

On his arrival at Air Headquarters, asmartly turned out contingent of Pakistan AirForce presented the Guard of Honour, said apress release issued here.

The visiting dignitary paid homage to themartyrs of PAF by laying floral wreath on Mar-tyrs’ Monument.

Later on, the delegation was introduced toPrincipal Staff Officers of Pakistan Air Force.

The distinguished guest attended a brief-

ing at Air Headquarters on the organization,role and functioning of Pakistan Air Force. Healso called on Air Chief Marshal Tahir RafiqueButt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force,in his office. Both the dignitaries remained to-gether for some time and discussed matters ofprofessional interest.

Later in the day, delegation Air Force ofTanzania also visited Air Defence Command,Pakistan Air Force. The delegation attended abriefing on the working of Air Defence Com-mand and also visited Air Defence OperationCentre.

On their arrival, the delegation was re-ceived by Air Vice Marshal Ejaz MahmoodMalik, Air Officer Commanding, Air DefenceCommand, Pakistan Air Force.

Tanzanian Air Force Commandervisits Air Headquarters

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad High Court onMonday directing status quo on writ peti-tions challenging appointment of actingchairman the Pakistan Electronic MediaRegulatory Authority (Pemra) and a num-ber of decisions by the authority and ad-journed hearing until June 17.

Justice Noor-ul-Haq N Qureshi whilehearing a writ petition filed by two pri-vate members of Pemra Israr Abbasi andFareeha Iftikhar challenging the appoint-ment of Acting Chief of Pemra Pervaiz

Rathor, directed to club all the cases linkedto the same matter and announced June 17for hearing them all together. Till then astatus quo will maintain, directed the IHCin its brief order.

It may be mentioned here that a citi-zen Sohail Bhatti had already challengedPervaiz Rathor’s appointment as Memberof the Pemra but after the latter’s appoint-ment as Acting Chairman. On Monday, thejudge observed since the two cases wereidentical in nature the court would like tohear them together. On Monday, PervaizRathor’s counsel Dr Rana M Shamim ap-

peared before the court and sought timefor submitting reply. Pemra’s DirectorLegal Zahid Malik was also present on theoccasion.

In their petition, the private membershave held that in the Pemra ordinance thereis no provision of Acting Chairman there-fore Rathor’s appointment should be declaredillegal and all the decisions made in the meet-ing under his chairmanship on June 6 shouldbe declared null and void. It may be men-tioned here that in June 6 meeting, Pemrahad imposed Rs10 million fine on Geo TVbesides sending its transmission off air.

IHC directs status quo on Pemra affairs

Court to hear writ against PervaizRathor’s appointment on 17th

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—A week-long calli-graphic exhibition started here atRawalpindi Arts Council (RAC) onMonday to put on display 50 art piecesfor art-lovers.

Provincial Parliamentary Secretaryfor Information and Culture RanaMuhammad Arshad inaugurated the ex-hibition where unique art pieces ofpride of performance winner AftabAhmed Khan were showcased.

He took round of the art gallery andadmired the artist for presenting the cal-ligraphic art, mostly verses from theHoly Quran in Khat-e-Nastaleaque andKofi, in his distinctive style.

RAC Resident Director WaqarAhmed, former resident director NaheedManzoor and number of art-lovers werealso present on the occasion.

Rana Arshad congratulated AftabAhmed Khan on his achievements andsaid such work could be expected froman inborn artist.

He said that it was a great honor forhim to inaugurate the exhibition basedon verses from the holy Quran. He alsopraised the efforts of RAC for holdingthe exhibition, adding that Aftab AhmedKhan was a precious asset of Pakistanwho represented his country world-wide.

Later, the Parliamentary Secretarydistributed certificates among femalestudents participating in different artcompetitions including interior, fash-ion, textile and stain glass designing.

50 calligraphic art pieces put on display

Work on displacedtube wells

ISLAMABAD—Capital Devel-opment Authority (CDA) offi-cial said on Monday that workon the construction of six dis-placed tube wells which comein the way of Metro Bus routewould be completed in a fewdays.

Talking to APP the direc-tor public relations CDA AsifKhichi said the new tube wellswill start functioning soon.

“The work on the construc-tion project of displaced tubewells was almost completedwhich was delayed due to waitfor soil testing reports by the soilexperts” he further added.—APP

04:30 01:3005:30

09:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

June 10

MEETINGS of the SenateStanding Committee on Fi-nance, Revenue, EconomicAffairs and Statistics andPrivatization will be held inIslamabad from Monday toThursday.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Provincial ParliamentarySecretary for Information and CultureRana Mohammad Arshad Monday saidPunjab government was making all-outefforts to revive film industry and bringnecessary amendments in the DramaticPerformances Act-1876 to promote localart and culture.

Addressing a news conference here atRawalpindi Arts Council (RAC), he saidthe government was in contact with filmindustry association besides district levelart and culture committees were being

strengthened to achieve the task acrossthe province.

Punjab Film Censor Board, he said,has been reactivated to prevent objection-able scripts and explained that no vulgardrama and dances were staged at artscouncils working under the provincialgovernment.

He expressed firm resolve of the gov-ernment to increase production of localfilms and quality stage dramas, sayingthat all available resources would be uti-lized to promote the country’s art andculture at national and international level.“Tax on cinemas has been abolished to

promote the industry.”Sharing details of activities taking

place during the last 12 months at RAC,Rana said the council held around 140events including drama, literary and“Sufiana Kalam” to encourage artists,writers, poets and singers.

Presently, he said, RAC was holdingaround 24 courses of different durationto polish basic skills of youth aspiring toexcel in art and literary field.

The Parliamentary Secretary an-nounced to observe birth and death anni-versaries of national heroes “Mashaheer-e-Pakistan” having important role in cre-

ation of Pakistan), in a befitting mannerto pay tribute to their services at officiallevel. He vowed to make the country atrue Islamic welfare state in line with thevision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad AliJinnah, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Madar-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah and Sir SyedAhmed Khan.

Rana said Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) government, whenevercame into power, launched a number ofmega projects and built fly-overs, under-passes, latest health facilities includingRawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC)state-of-the-art Urology department and

a multibillion Metro Bus service in thecity to facilitate the common man.

He said foreign investors were show-ing confidence in the leadership of PrimeMinister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif andPunjab Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif, which was evident fromthe fact that China made an investment of$35 billion in various fields and signed20 memorandums of understanding withPakistan.

Besides, United Arab Emirates, Iran,Turkey and Britain were also supportingthe country in getting rid of financialproblems.

Efforts on to revive film industry: Rana

FJWU signs MoUwith Mitsubishi

STAFF REPORTER

R A WA L P I N D I — F a t i m aJinnah Women University(FJWU) on Monday signed aMemorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) with MitsubishiCorporation for academic co-operation.

The MoU was signed byVice Chancellor Prof. Dr.Samina Amin Qadir and Gen-eral Manager, Islamabad Li-aison Office, Kenzo Iijima inthe Vice Chancellor’s office.The MoU emphasizes coop-eration in research and meritbased scholarships to the stu-dents.

Prof. Dr. Naheed ZiaKhan, Dean Faculty of Artsand Social Sciences, Dr.Humaira Ahmad, Registrar,Mrs. Nighat Reza, DeputyDirector Admissions andMr.Imran Rashid Mirza, As-sistant General Manager,Islamabad Liaison Office alsoattended the impressive cer-emony. Before that, Registrargave detailed presentation onuniversity’s future and ongo-ing projects.

Commuters facing hardship as Metro Bus Project goes on in Rawalpindi.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The medical experts have ad-vised the ci t izens of twin ci t ies ofRawalpindi and Islamabad to take specialpreventive measures to protect them fromcarrying dengue virus.

According to them, citizens should prop-erly dispose off the solid waste and stop wa-ter storage practices at their residences toprevent access to egg-laying female mosqui-toes.

They said mosquitoes breed primarily incontainers like earthenware jars, metal drumsand concrete cisterns used for domestic wa-ter storage, as well as discarded plastic foodcontainers, used automobile tyres and otheritems that collect rain water.

Dr Wasim Khawaja from Pakistan Insti-tute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) talking toreporter on Monday said that dengue is amosquito-borne infection, which in recentyears has become a major public health con-cern.

He said dengue fever is a severe, flu-likeillness that affects infants, young childrenand adults. He added the spread of dengueis attributed to expanding geographic distri-bution of the four dengue viruses and of theirmosquito vectors, the most important ofwhich is the predominantly urban speciesaedes aegypti.

He said the rapid growth of urban popu-lation is bringing ever greater numbers of

Doctors advise citizens to adoptdengue preventive measures

Over 100 suspects arrestedduring search operation

people into contact with this vector, espe-cially in areas that are favourable for mos-quito breeding like where household waterstorage is common and where solid wastedisposal services are inadequate.

He said dengue viruses are transmittedto humans through the bites of infective fe-male aedes mosquitoes. He added mosqui-toes generally acquire the virus while feed-ing on the blood of an infected person.

He said after virus incubation for eightto ten days, an infected mosquito is capable,during probing and blood feeding, of trans-mitting the virus to susceptible individualsfor the rest of its life.

He said the virus circulates in the bloodof infected humans for two to seven days, atapproximately the same time as they sufferfrom fever.

He added the clinical features of denguefever vary according to the age of the pa-tient.

Dr Sharif Astori from Federal Govern-ment Poly Clinic (FGPC) said infants andyoung children may have a non-specific fe-brile illness with rash as older children andadults may have either a mild febrile syn-drome or the classical incapacitating diseasewith abrupt onset and high fever, severeheadache, pain behind the eyes, muscle andjoint pains and rash. He said denguehaemorrhagic fever is a potentially deadlycomplication that is characterized by highfever, haemorrhagic phenomena.

Benazir Int’lAirport security

beefed upRAWALPINDI—Benazir Interna-tional Airport security was beefedup after terrorist attack on KarachiAirport. Manager Benazir Inter-national Airport MuhammadAyaz Jadoon talking to APP saidthat extra contingents were calledat the airport, with enhanced snapchecking of vehicles at entry pointand only passengers were beingallowed to enter.

He said the authorities aremaking every possible move tothwart such attempts and en-sure the safety of airport andpassengers. —APP

Drive againstbeggars

ISLAMABAD—About 2591 pro-fessional beggars had been liftedfrom Islamabad Capital Terri-tory (ICT), during a campaignagainst the menace of beggary.

During campaign ,as manyas 1463 were shifted to EdhiHome, 273 shifted to Child Pro-tection Center and 456 beggarswere challaned and 420 finedwhile 59 professionals were sentto jail, said an official of ICTadministration.—APP

Deputy Prime Minister Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajcak called on Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq atParliament House.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Islamabad Electric Sup-ply Company (IESCO) has constituted a taskforce to improve the functioning of com-plaint offices at sub division level and toprovide relief to the consumers in the up-coming holy month of Ramazan-ul-Mubarikand peak season of summer.

The task force consisting SarbulandKhan (Manager), Zahid Saleem Usmani(XEN), Raja Khurram Ali (A.M), PervaizIqbal (A.M) and Mian Mukhtar Ahmad(A.M) will monitor the implementation ofload shedding schedule, checking of com-plaint offices and their adequacy for servicesproviding to the customers, said the IESCOspokesman.

The task force will also monitor the re-covery campaign and billing process and willexpedite the installation of new connections.

Immediate redresses of public complaints

regarding over billing/ non receipt of bills isalso included in the duties of task force.

The checking report of the task force willbe submitted to the IESCO Head office ondaily basis.

Meanwhile, Islamabad Electric SupplyCompany (IESCO) on Monday issued powersuspension programme for various areas ofits region due to necessary maintenance androutine development work.

According to IESCO Spokesman, thepower supply of the following Feeders / GridStations would remain suspended as under:June 11 (Wednesday) from, 06:00am to09:00am, PTC & Sana Ullah Shaheed feed-ers, Cantt Area, Rotas Road, West Colonyand PTC.

June 11,14,16,18,21,23,25,30 from06:00am to 09:00am, Garmala, Nathwala,Sangohi feeders, Garmala, Monan, ThathiMughlan, Sangohi, Nara,Nathwala and sur-rounding areas.

IESCO sets up task force toprovide relief to consumers

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Rawalpindipolice have arrested over100 suspected persons in asearch operation conductedin several areas of the cityduring Sunday night.

According toRawalpindi police spokes-man, city Police on the spe-cial directive of Regional

Pol ice Off icer (RPO)Rawalpindi Umar HayatLalika and City Police Of-f icer (CPO) HamyounBashir Tarar launched asearch operation and con-ducted severa l ra ids inRawalpindi Division underthe supervision of Superin-tendent Police (SP) RawalTown and DSP City.

Station House Officer

(SHO) Pirwadhai Pol iceStation, SHO Ratta Amral,SHO City along with heavycontingent of police of threepolice stations conductedraids in different areas in-c luding Pirwadhai , Lar i

Adda, Bangash Colony, FujiColony and adjoining areas.

During the raids, policeapprehended 120 suspectedpersons initially and afterquestioning, over 100 per-sons were arrested.

RAWALPINDI—A big crater right in themiddle of Rah-e-Aman crossing on AdialaRoad speaks volumes about the lethargicattitutde of the Chaklala Cantonment officials.Repeated requests for repair work by the resi-dents to the authorities have fallen on deafears.

The residents of Askari 7, 14 and numer-ous colonies along the road on Monday de-cried the apathy of Chaklala Cantonment au-thorities as the ditch could lead to fatal acci-dents.

Col (retd) Muhammad Ramzan, a residentof Askari VII, told APP that a number of mis-haps had taken place as motorists had toabruptly stop their vehicles to avoid the ditch.A motorcyclist had a fall when his bike got

Rah-e-Aman crossing crater speaksvolumes about Cantt Board officials apathy

stuck in the ditch, luckily he survived with-out injury, he added.

When asked, a Cantonment official saidthe ditch had been filled with mud. Here thequestion arises that will a road on which oiltankers and heavy traffic ply, will remain in-tact till proper ground work is not carriedout?

Col (retd) Kianee, another resident ofAskari 7, said the colony roads had alreadybecome ruins due to the indifference of theCantonment board and now the main road wasbreaking up thanks to the official lethargy.

Meanwhile, the Cantonment residents de-manded of the officials to carry out urgentpatch-work on various roads before the onsetof monsoon rains.—APP

Hundreds of British Sikhs held a march in central London to protest against Operation Blue Star by Indian armyagainst Sikhs in Indian state of Punjab 30 years ago.

Thousands of people on Monday, participated in the funeral of the two Kashmiri youth, who were killed by Indiantroops during a siege and search operation at Kakapura in Pulwama.

WASHINGTON—Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, the Secre-tary General of World Kashmir Awareness, hassaid that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute isessential to create an environment of peace andsecurity in South Asia. Dr Fai while addressingthe press and community leaders in Springfield,Virginia said that the willingness of Pakistan andIndia to intensify their efforts to settle the Kash-mir dispute would prove fruitless unless the twogovernments directly associated the Kashmirileadership with the negotiation process to peace-fully resolve the dispute over Kashmir.

He added that a sincere and serious effort

Resolution of Kashmir disputeessential for regional peace: Dr Fai

Sikhs urge UK PM to tackleModi on self-determination

SRINAGAR—The All Parties Hurriyet Con-ference (APHC) leader and the Chairman ofJammu and Kashmir Peoples League(JKPL), Mukhtar Ahmad Waza has paidglowing tributes to martyr, Tufail AhmadMattoo and to the 125 other martyred youthof 2010 uprising. Mukhtar Ahmad Waza ina statement issued in Srinagar said that suchunprecedented sacrifices would neither beallowed to go waste nor would be forgot-ten. “It is highly shocking that the killers ofthese innocent souls were roaming free.Justice still remains undelivered”, he said

Waza said that Kashmiris have offeredcountless sacrifices to press for demand ofright to self-determination and would con-

Waza, Zamrooda paytributes to martyrs

tinue their struggle for taking the martyrs’mission to its logical conclusion. Meanwhile,a party delegation comprised Ghulam QadirRah, Imtiyaz Ahmad Reshi, Ghulam AhmadMir and Jaffer Kashmiri visited the house ofShaheed Tufail Mattoo on his martyrdomanniversary and paid glowing tributes to him.They also expressed sympathy and solidar-ity with the bereaved family.

The Chairperson of Kashmir TehreekKhwateen, Zamrooda Habib in a statementissued in Srinagar paid tributes to the twoyouth, martyred by Indian troops, the otherday. She denounced the imposition of cur-few by the authorities in the area followingthe killing of the youth.—KMS

‘Killings can’tsuppressliberation

movement’SRINAGAR—The HurriyetConference has paid glow-ing tributes to the twoKashmiri youth, BilalAhmad Butt and MudassirAhmad Sheikh, killed by In-dian troops during a siegeand search operation atKakpura in Pulwama.Hurriyet Conferencespokesman in a statementissued in Srinagar said thatkillings and other humanrights violations by the In-dian forces could not sup-press the ongoing Kashmriliberation movement as themorale of the Kashmiripeople was high and themovement would be takento its logical conclusion.

The spokesman saidthat the unprecedented sac-rifices given by the peopleof Kashmir would not be al-lowed to go waste but woulddefinitely bring positive re-sults. He urged the Kashmiripeople to also boycott theso-called assembly elec-tions like the Indian parlia-mentary sham polls. He saidthat the Indian governmentwas propagating the polls atinternational level thatKashmiris supported thepolicies of the Indian gov-ernment.—KMS

JKPM urgesModi to ensure

safety of Kashmirisinside India

JAMMU—The Jammu andKashmir Peoples’ Move-ment (JKPM) has urged In-dian Prime MinisterNarender Modi to ensurethe safety and security ofKashmiri students and busi-nessmen in India who arefacing harassment and in-timidation at the hands oflaw enforcement agenciesand members of Hindu ex-tremist organizations. TheAPHC leader and senior viceChairman of the JKPM, MirShahid Saleem, in a state-ment said that after the inci-dents of students’ expulsionin Meerut and Ghaziabab,the Kashmiri students werefeeling unsafe and were liv-ing under the tremendousfear and pressure which wastaking a heavy toll on theirstudies.

The JKPM leader saidthat fear psychosis amongthe Kashmiri students hadincreased manifold after theBJP came to power in NewDelhi. He said the BJP,which is known for its anti-Muslims agenda, has al-ways been open againstpeople of Jammu and Kash-mir.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The veteran Hurriyet leader,Syed Ali Gilani has paid glowing tributes tothe two Kashmiri youth, Bilal Ahmad Buttand Mudassir Ahmad Sheikh, who werekilled by Indian troops during a siege andsearch operation at Kakpura in Pulwama,the other day. Addressing the participantsof funeral over phone from Srinagar saidthat the people of Kashmir especially theyouth were being killed due to the rigid andunrealistic policies of the Indian govern-ment. He said that the people of Kashmirhad given countless and unprecedentedsacrifices for Kashmir cause which wouldnot be allowed go waste.

Syed Ali Gilani called upon the Kashmiripeople to also boycott the upcoming so-calledassembly elections like the Indian parliamen-tary sham polls and give a message to Indiaand the international community thatKashmiris had no interest with the so-called

Gilani pays homage totwo martyred youth

elections or other perks and privileges butwanted their birthright to self-determination Hesaid that the people of Kashmir should notafraid of the BJP newly formed government inIndia as the Congress and BJP were both sidesof the same coin. He urged the world commu-nity to bring an end to the worst human rightsviolations unleashed by India in the territoryby resolving the Kashmir dispute.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the MuslimLeague Jammu and Kashmir comprisedAbdul Ahad Parra, Feroz Ahmad Khan,Abdur Rasheed Dar and Manzoor AhmadLone participated in the Namaz-e-Janaza ofthe two Kashmiri youth, Bilal Ahmad Buttand Mudassir Ahmad Sheikh. On the occa-sion, Abdul Ahad Parra paid tributes to themartyrs and expressed solidarity with thebereaved family. He said that the sacrificesof the Kashmiri martyrs would not go wastebut would bring positive results.—KMS

SRINAGAR—A gathering of Youth AwamiAction Committee (YAAC) held at historicMirwaiz Manzil, Rajouri Kadal, in connec-tion with the golden jubilee celebrations ofAwami Action Committee (AAC) beginningfrom June 20. The YAAC on the occasionpaid glorious tributes to founder of AAC,Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq and es-pecially Moulvi Mushtaq Ahmad on his 9thmartyrdom anniversary.

Announcing the reviving and reorga-nizing of YAAC, the AAC Chairman,Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who addressed thegathering, stated that youth were the price-less asset of nation. He said the youth rep-resenting trade, or politics, or social activi-ties, or any other field has a pivotal role toplay in all the aspects of life. Mirwaiz statedthat Kashmiri youth, especially from down-town, on one hand, were aware of their richtraditions and values, while, on the other,were also the brave soldiers of the freedomstruggle and right to self determination.”

Asserting that the youth were full oftalent, Mirwaiz stated that YAAC would

Youth are brave soldiers offreedom struggle: Mirwaiz

provide a platform for such people to showtheir mettle and grit. Mirwaiz announcedthat on June 27 at Lal Bazaar, Khan Bagh,AAC would organize a youth conventionduring which youths would be made awareabout their duties towards society and free-dom struggle. Mirwaiz appealed to thepeople to make the June 20 rally and youthconvention on June 27 a grand success.

On the occasion, the YAAC President,Sofi Mushtaq Ahmad and Vice President,Farooq Ahmad Saudagar stated that con-tribution of AAC leaders and activists to-wards demanding people’s right was re-plete with example of sacrifices andstruggle since 1931. They also assuredMirwaiz they would leave no stoneunturned to make the YAAC strong andunited. They further stated that they wouldmake all programmes of the party a suc-cess. Meanwhile, AAC would conveneworkers rally at historic Mirwaiz Manzil on13th June to remember the contribution ofmartyr Moulvi Mushtaq Ahmad towardsfreedom struggle.—Agencies

Kashmir issueunfinished

agenda of 1947:Shabbir Dar

SRINAGAR—Hurriyet leaderShabbir Ahmad Dar has saidthat Kashmir issue is theunfinished agenda of 1947and has called for address-ing without any further de-lay. Shabbir Ahmed Daralong with Hurriyet activ-ists, Mushtaq Ahmed Mir,Imtiyaz Ahmed and Shariefddressed public gatheringsat Reban and Nowpora.

“The unresolvedkashmir issue reminders usabout the freedom of Paki-stan and India and an un-ending slavery & agony ofKkashmiri people,” Daradded. “This is the mostdangerous issue on theplanet because of its geopolitical importance and be-ing the most unfortunatepart of history,” hewarned.—KMS

Curfew imposedat Kakaporain Pulwama

SRINAGAR—An undeclaredcurfew has been imposed inat Kakapora in Pulwama fol-lowing the killing of twoyouth by Indian troops dur-ing siege and search opera-tion. Two youth identifiedas Bilal Ahmad Bhat andMudasir Ahmad Sheikhwere killed by the person-nel of 50-Rashtriya Riflesand 183 Central ReservePolice Force on Sunday.

A police spokesman in astatement claimed onemartyred youth as a Divi-sional Commander of a mili-tant organisation. Indianpolice authorities imposedcurfew after scores ofpeople staged anti-Indiaprotests.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The veteran Hurriyet leader,Syed Ali Gilani has expressed concern overrising incidents of crime against women andhas demanded an impartial probe into allega-tions of molestations and sexual harassment.Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagarsaid, “Any conscientious citizen will be con-cerned at reports of sexual harassment againstwomen. There should be an impartial and fairprobe into these allegations.”

He was referring to the allegation of mo-lestation levelled by a nurse against her fourhealth department officials, and the incidentof alleged molestation of a student by herteacher. The nurse along with her childrenand husband met the veteran leader at hisresidence. Syed Ali Gilani said, the allegationsshould be probed in an open court instead ofbeing investigated in the corridors of power.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir

Gilani seeks open-court probeinto molestation charges

People’s League Chairman, Mukhtar AhmadWaza along with party leaders including NazirAhmad Khan, Ghulam Qadir Rah, JafarKashmiri, Imtiyaz Ahmad Reshi andMohammad Abdullah visited the family ofteenage schoolgirl who was allegedly mo-lested by her teacher. He demanded a fairprobe into the three shameful molestationcases. South Kashmir Civil Society (SKCS)terming the recent molestation cases as bruteand atrocious, demanded an impartial andtime- bound probe. SKCS in a statement said“whether it is the chopping-off an ear of a girlstudent or a teacher who has reportedly mo-lested a girl from Kulgam, who happened tobe a student or the allegations leveled by asenior nurse against some medicos, in all suchcases, a high level expert committee shouldbe formulated comprising a reputed high courtjudge to look into the matter.”—KMS

towards a just settlement of the Kashmir dis-pute must squarely take into account the groundrealities and fully respond to the people’s rightsinvolved in it. Fai underscored that the KashmiriAmerican community is prepared to help in theinitiation of a credible negotiation process be-tween all parties concerned.

Barrister Sultan Mahmood Choudhary,former Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir and Se-nior Leader of Pakistan Peoples Party Azad Kash-mir said “The freedom struggle in Jammu & Kash-mir has passed through its transformation fromarmed struggle to a non-violent mass movement.

This non-violent, indigenous and peacefulstruggle needs to be recognized and strength-ened by the world powers.”

The road to peace in Afghanistan goesthrough Kashmir. Barrister Sultan urged Indiato positively respond to Pakistan’s sincere ef-forts and willingness for a peaceful settlementon all issues through composite dialogue, in-cluding the Kashmir dispute. Barrister believedthat only Kashmiris had the right to decide thefuture of their territory. The host committeeincluded, Sardar Zarif Khan, Sardar ZulfiqarKhan and Sardar Zubair Khan.—NNI MUZZAFARABAD: The investigation officer monitoring rescue operation after Jeep

accident at Khanbandway.

Thousands attend funeralof martyred youth in IHK

LONDON—Hundreds of British Sikhsheld a march in central London to pro-test against Operation Blue Star byIndian army against Sikhs in Indianstate of Punjab 30 years ago. Themarch was held from Hyde Park toTrafalgar Square involved somesloganeering and chanting. “Thou-sands were killed or disappeared,” saidBalvinder Kaur of the Sikh Council UK.The military raid on the Golden Templein Amritsar was conducted in June,1984, which killed hundreds of Sikhsincluding Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

British Sikhs have also been an-gered by recent revelations in de-clas-sified documents published by theUK government in January, whichshowed that a British officer was re-cruited to help plan the operation. AsSikhs all over the world mark 30 years

since the notoriously bloody IndianArmy attack on the holiest Sikh shrine,Sri Harimandar Sahib, often called theGolden Temple, in Amritsar, leadingSikh organisations have asked DavidCameron to repay the debt owed byBritain to the Sikh nation. They wanthim to press the new Indian govern-ment to respect the right of self-deter-mination and other human rights, orface stern international sanctions.

On the day the memorandum wasdelivered in Westminster, Sikhsmarched in Amritsar asserting theirsovereignty and demanding freedom.The plight of Sikh political prisonerswas also raised, some of whom facethe death penalty whilst others are stillbeing held despite the completion ofjail sentences. The memorandumpointed to a sustained pattern of In-

dian non-compliance with internationallaw which has led directly to unend-ing conflict in Punjab, Kashmir,Nagaland, Assam and elsewhere. TheSikh memorandum reaffirmed the goalof an independent sovereign state ofKhalistan, which would offer the onlymeaningful protection from India’sproven propensity to violently op-press national minorities, illegally ap-propriate their natural resources andchallenge their very identity (Article25 of India’s constitution declaresSikhs to be Hindus for the purposesof personal law and places of wor-ship).

The document asserted that theUK, as the former colonial power, hasa moral responsibility to act in an im-partial manner to protect nations in theface of Indian aggression. Quoting Sir

SRINAGAR—Thousands of people, today,participated in the funeral of the twoKashmiri youth, who were killed by In-dian troops during a siege and search op-eration at Kakpura in Pulwama, the otherday. APHC leaders, Zafar Akbar Butt,Yasmeen Raja, Syed Bilal_Pulwamamartyre funeral Bashir Andrabi, AbdulAhad Para and leaders of Tehreek-e-Hurriyet Jammu and Kashmir led the pro-cession in the area, today. Pro-Pakistanand pro-freedom slogans were raised onthe occasion. Addressing the mourners,the leaders paid glowing tributes to themartyred youth and reaffirmed theKashmiris’ pledge to take their missionto its logical conclusion. They said thatIndia’s policy of suppression and oppres-sion had failed to crush the ongoing lib-eration struggle.

The veteran Hurriyet leader, Syed AliGilani addressing the participants of fu-neral over phone from Srinagar urged theworld community to bring an end to theworst human rights violations unleashedby India in the territory by resolving theKashmir dispute. Hurriyet leaders,Shabbir Ahmad Shah and ZamroodaHabib in their statements paying tributesto the youth urged India to read the writ-

ing on the wall and grant the people ofKashmir their right to self-determination.

Meanwhile, undeclared curfew wasimposed in Pulwama following the killingof the two youth, identified as Bilal AhmadButt and Mudassir Ahmad Sheikh, by theIndian troops. Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, theSecretary General of World KashmirAwareness, while addressing a gatheringin Springfield, Virginia, called upon Paki-stan and India to directly associate theKashmiri leadership with the negotiationprocess to peacefully resolve the disputeover Kashmir.

Former Prime Minister of Azad Kash-mir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry,on the occasion, criticised the silence ofthe international community over the un-ending atrocities perpetrated by Indiantroops on the Kashmiris. In London, hun-dreds of British Sikhs held a march in cen-tral London to protest against OperationBlue Star, launched by Indian armyagainst Sikhs in Indian state of Punjab 30years ago. A memorandum was deliveredin Westminster, pointing to a sustainedpattern of Indian non-compliance with in-ternational law which has led directly tounending conflict in Punjab, Kashmir andelsewhere.—KMS

Regardless of age,regardless of

position, regard-less of the busi-

ness we happen tobe in, all of usneed to under-

stand the impor-tance of branding.

We are CEOs ofour own compa-

nies: Me, Inc. To bein business today,our most important

job is to be headmarketer for the

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—Tom Peters

ISE-10 index witnessedbullish trendISLAMABAD—IslamabadStock Exchange wit-nessed bullish trendhere on Tuesday as theISE-10 index was up by2.67 points and closed at4,470.21 points. A totalof 105,700 shares weretraded, which were downby 302,800 shares whenit compared withprevious day’s tradingof 408,500 shares. Out of148 companies, shareprices of 53 companiesrecorded increase whileshare prices of 95companies registereddecrease where as onecompany remainedstable in today’strading.—APP

SBP reminds public toexchange decimal coinsKARACHI—State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) hasreminded general publicto exchange decimal coinsof paisa 1,2,5,10, 25 and50 till last working day ofSeptember 2014. Thesecoins can be changedfrom the field offices ofSBP’s Banking ServicesCorporation (BSC) andcommercial/microfinancebanks branches by theabove deadline, said anSBP press release here onMonday. For awarenessof general public, SBP hasadvised the commercial/microfinance banks todisplay posters/bannersat visible places of theirbranches for exchange ofdecimal coins.—APP

Port Qasimshipping activityKARACHI—Two shipscarrying containers wereberthed at Qasim Interna-tional Containers Termi-nal. Meanwhile four moreships carrying containersand chemical also arrivedat outer anchorage of PortQasim during last 24hours. Berth occupancywas 45% on Mondaywhere five ships namelyExpress Kailash, SerotaTiga, Veruda, Amazonitand RBD Anima e Coreare currently occupyingberths to load/offloadcontainers, cement andfurnace oil during last 24hours. A cargo volume of77825 tonnes comprising70832 tonnes imports and6993 tonnes exportsinclusive of containerizedcargo carried in 671containers (TEUs) werehandled at the Port duringlast 24 hours. —APP

Conversion ratesKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign CurrencyDeposits, Dollar BearerCertificates, ForeignCurrency Bearer Certifi-cates, Special U.S. DollarBonds and profitsthereon by all banks andfor providing ForwardCover on ForeignCurrency Deposits(excluding F.E- 25deposits) by the StateBank on June 10, 2014.The rates are U.S. DollarRs. 98.6099, Japanese YenRs. 0.9621, Pound SterlingRs. 165.7140 and Euro Rs.134.3264.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Commerce Engineer Khurram DastgirKhan said on Monday that Pakistan is pursuing a policy to enhancetrade and investment by focusing on Eastern and Central Europe inaddition to the traditional Western European markets. The Ministerstated this during his meeting with the visiting MiroslavLajc k, DeputyPrime Minister & Minister of Foreign & European Affairs of theSlovak Republic here on Monday.

The Minister appreciated Slovak support for Pakistan in obtain-ing GSP plus, trade preferences from European Union and proposedthat both countries may establish a Joint Trade Committee whichwould provide a regular forum to identify items of mutual interestand explore areas of economic cooperation. The Minister informedthe delegation that formation of joint ventures, especially in GSPPlus related sectors (textile and apparel, leather, footwear, ethanol,carpets and surgical goods) would yield mutual benefits for bothsides.

Slovak entrepreneurs would yield the advantages of cheaperraw materials and abundant skilled and semi-skilled workforce inPakistan, their Pakistani counterparts would benefit from modernbusiness practices, introduction of new technologies and easier ac-cess to Central and Eastern Europe. The proposed Joint Trade Com-mittee will work to formulate a strategic plan for a quantum increasein bilateral trade and identification and removal of non-tariff barriers.

It will enhance collaboration between trade promotion organiza-tions of two countries in holding specialized exhibitions in eachother country and exchange of commercial intelligence. The Minis-

Govt trying to enhance trade, investment in EU marts: Dastagirter appraised the delegation about the enormoustrade opportunities that growing Pakistani marketsprovide to foreign investors. He also talked aboutthe ease of doing business in Pakistan and thepolicies the Government put forth to facilitate tradeand investment in the country.

Khurram Dastgir Khan said that Pakistan pro-vides duty free access for import of technologyand machinery to set up alternate energy plantswith no restrictions on remittances on profits anda liberal power purchase template. He invited theSlovak companies to invest in Pakistan in energy,mining, agro-technology and food processing sec-tors. Talking about the endeavours the Govern-ment undertook to eliminate energy crisis the Min-ister said that huge investments have been madesince June 2013 in thermal, hydel, nuclear and al-ternate energy sectors.

The demand of energy in a growing countrylike Pakistan is continuously rising which providesvast opportunities for foreign investors to benefitthrough investment in the nascent alternate en-ergy sector. Slovak Deputy Prime Minister informed the meeting thatSlovakia is an export-oriented economy with a GDP growth rate of4.5%-highest rate of growth in European Union. The new EU mem-bers have dynamic markets, which provide diverse trade opportuni-

ties to their trading partners. MiroslavLajc k also informed the Min-ister that Slovakia will become the President of EU during the sec-ond half of 2016 which will further strengthen the relations betweenPakistan and Slovakia. —APP

ISLAMABAD: Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan, Federal Minister for Commerce, holdingmeeting with a delegation of Slovak Republic led by their Deputy Prime Minister andForeign Minister, Miroslav Lajcak.

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique, witnessing agree-ment signing ceremony between Pakistan Railways and Maple Leaf.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Zakaria Usman, President FPCCIdemanded immediate withdrawal of the in-crease in the rate of GIDC (Gas Infrastruc-ture Development Cess), which has been in-creased by more than 200% in the budget.This increase is applicable on independentpower plant, Captive Power Producers, CNGand industrial consumers. He pointed outthat this increase would badly affect the in-dustrial activities and the cost of doing busi-ness will be increased manifold. In case it isimplemented, the normal gas bill of an in-dustry would be become exorbitant. He saidthat the government one side is facilitatingthe industries and business community toenhance the economic activities in the coun-try and to generate surplus production soas to and get the maximum benefit of GSPplus status recently achieved.

He further explained that said that GIDCwas applicable at the rate of Rs. 13/- perMMBTU in January, 2012 which wasabruptly increased to Rs.100/- in July, 2012,almost 7 to 8 hundred times, thereafter the

FPCCI demands hikewithdrawal in GIDC rate

business community filed petitions againstillegal increase in the court of law, the courtissued stay order and the matter is still pend-ing in the court. He said that it is surprisingto note that in-spite of the above fact, Gov-ernment again increased its rate by 200%,this is a great injustice and would hamperthe manufacturing process in the industriesoperating on gas most of them are located inSindh and KPK. This increase should bewithdrawn immediately, he urged.

The President FPCCI also highlightedthe issue that in the Finance Bill Govern-ment has included a provision accordingto which the Courts of Pakistan will not beallowed to give a decision of depositingthe disputed amount in the court. FPCCIbelieves that the courts of the country mustbe allowed to operate according to the con-stitution of Pakistan. He further said thatif the above amendment is passed by theparliament justice will be denied to the af-fective party as they have to deposit thedisputed amount in the account of exche-quer and it will be lengthy and expensiveaffair to get the refund.

KARACHI—JCR-VlS Credit Rating Com-pany Limited (JCR-VIS) has reaffirmed themedium to long-term entity rating of Oil andGas Development Company Limited(OGDCL) at ‘AAA’ (triple A) and short-termentity rating at ‘A-1+’ (A one plus). Out-look on the assigned rating is ‘ stable’. Theassigned ratings take into account low busi-ness risk profile of the company emanatingfrom strong market dynamics related to oiland gas exploration sector in general andstrategic importance of OGDCL in the localcontext in particular, said a press releasehere on Monday.

While pursuing growth opportunitiestranslating into enhanced production capac-ity through continuing exploration activities,

JCR-VIS reaffirms OGDC ratingthe company has maintained low businessrisk profile. Maintenance of debt free capitalstructure by the company translates into lowfinancial risk profile. Shareholding structureof the company, whereby around three-fourth shares are held by the Government ofPakistan, is also a key-rating factor.

During FY13, the company witnessedconsiderable reduction in outstanding tradedebts on account of government’s initiativesto partially resolve inter-corporate debt alongwith intensified follow-up by the company’smanagement leading to increased collectionof receivables. Trade debts were settledagainst government backed privately placedterm finance certificates and Pakistan Invest-ment Bonds.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Federal Minister of Science andTechnology, Zaid Hamid has assured theprivate sector of to provide full assistancein promotion of Halal brands; establishmentof one window under Ministry of Sciencefor Accreditation and certification of com-panies. Addressing to the World Halal As-sembly recently the minister said that verysoon the law would be presented in theNational Assembly for the approval after itis being recommended by all stakeholders.

World Halal Assembly was jointly or-ganized by Halal Products and Services As-sociation of Pakistan (HAP) and PakistanStandards and Quality Control Authority(PSQCA) duly supported by SMIIC (Stan-dards and Metrology Institute of IslamicCountries), The OIC body mandated towork on Halal Standards and Accreditationon behalf of OIC. (Organization of IslamicCountries) Guest of Honor, AyatollahHassan Alemi, representative of SupremeLeader in Jihad-e-Agriculture, Iran in hisspeech emphasized on the need of harmo-nization and cooperation in order to achieve‘One Halal’ logo and ‘One Halal’ standard.He informed that his government is fullysupporting the SMIIC agenda. Furthermore,he informed his government priorities forthe promotion of Halal brands, imports and

Govt to promote Halal brandsexports procedures and the latest develop-ment made by his Ministry.

Later, in the sessions, the internationalHalal industry experts from all over theworld gave comprehensive information tothe audience; addressed the issues andchallenges related to Halal business, certi-fication, accreditation and marketing. Theyalso highlighted the role of trade bodies inpromotion of Halal trade and highlightedthe issues, which could be taken up by thegovernments for promotion of Halal ex-ports.

Chairman, HAP, Kazi Asad Abid and Se-nior Vice Chairman, Asad Sajjad in theirspeech and presentation informed the audi-ence about the opportunities available andhow to enter in this trillion dollar Halal mar-ket to give a boost to the efforts of govern-ment to achieve desired export results. PirBuksh Jamali, Director General, PSQCA in-formed that the World Halal Assembly wasthe largest Halal gathering in the region.

He informed that the delegates havegiven overwhelming response. Severalcooperation agreements were signed dur-ing the World Halal Assembly betweenPakistani companies and standardizedbodies for the export of Pakistani Halalproducts. These MoUs would help Paki-stan to increase the Halal exports of Paki-stan in big volume.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Pakistan AutomotiveManufacturers Association (PAMA)in its statement has complimented Mr.Mohammad Ishaq Dar for presentinga fair and equitable national budget2014-15 despite the many challengesfacing the economy. ‘We commend theefforts of the Honourable FinanceMinister and the Chairman FBR toenlarge the tax base and provide a levelplaying field as these initiatives arelikely to spur economic growth,’ saidthe spokesman of PAMA.

‘We welcome the FinanceMinister’s decision to reduce the SalesTax on tractors to 10% and abolish the

PAMA praises Finance Minister for fair budgetFederal Excise Duty on vehicles above1800cc. Both these decisions willboost sales and help increase the rev-enue on account of higher volume,’he added. ‘The Association appreci-ates recognition on part of the gov-ernment to revise the amount of du-ties on imported used cars fixed in2005, though in our view the extent ofthis increase is nominal compared tothe increase in price of cars on accountof changes in US Dollar and JapaneseYen exchange rate parity. While thismeasure will help increase the produc-tion volume of local cars and capacityutilization of the plants, we urge thisduty structure on used imported carsis reviewed again and duties increased

equitably,’ spokesman added.PAMA spokesman said, ‘Our

other concern point is the sales taxpaid on services and indirect mate-rial or supplies not being allowedagainst taxable goods. We hope thisanomaly is addressed so as not toincrease the cost of doing businessof our members who are all honesttaxpayers.’ ‘We believe the positivetaxation measures proposed in thebudget will result in overall increasein volume of domestic production inthe automotive industry, leading toincreased employment, additionalrevenue to the Government and ingeneral boost the economic activityin the country,’ he added.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Turkish businessmen are ready to ini-tiate joint ventures with their Pakistani counter-parts as they are convinced that ample opportuni-ties lie in a number of sectors including Construc-tion and Energy. This was stated by Mr MetinGundogdu, head of seven-member strong Turkishbusiness delegation, while speaking at the LahoreChamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday.LCCI President Engineer Sohail Lashari, Vice Presi-dent Kashif Anwar, former Senior Vice PresidentYaqoob Tahir Izhar, Executive Committee MembersTalha Tayyab Butt and Chaudhry MuhammadAslam also spoke on the occasion.

The Head of the Turkish delegation said thatTurkey for being second fastest growingeconomy of the world after China and first in theEuropean Union has a lot to offer to their Paki-stani counterparts and they should avail theavailable opportunities. The head of the delega-tion called for exchange of business delegationsso that both the sides could have first handknowledge of the available opportunities in Pa-kistan and Turkey. He said that both the coun-tries have marvelous untapped business poten-tial that needs to be realized by maximizing the

Turkish businessmen to initiate joint ventures with Pakistani counterpartsinvolvement of private sectors of the two coun-tries. He hoped that the economic relation be-tween the two countries would strengthen fur-ther to create a win-win situation for Pakistanand Turkey.

Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI PresidentEngineer Sohail Lashari said the time has comethat the businessmen of both the countries shouldenhance their bilateral relations which will be ben-eficial for the people of both the countries. He said,“We can strengthen our economy by adopting thedevelopment and progress of Turkey as model.”He commended the efforts made by Chief Ministerof Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif whose vision hascontributed to a great deal in accelerating the twoway interaction among the business communityof Turkey and Pakistan.

He said that textiles sector has traditionallybeen the biggest sector of the economy. Studiesand surveys confirm that its contribution in totalexports are almost 60% and it engages almost 38%of manufacturing labour force to acquire more than46% share in overall manufacturing. The LCCIPresident said that in the context of having wonthe GSP plus status, the need of technology im-provement and capacity building in textile sectorof Pakistan is necessary. We have been offered a

golden chance to further increase the textiles ex-ports by USD 2 billion. It does attract foreign in-vestment and no other country can become betterpartner with Pakistan than Turkey. So any initia-tive from Turkish business community related toTextiles is always welcome.

Engineer Sohail Lashari said that Turkey is wellpositioned to take advantage of Pakistan’s eco-nomic potential and its geo-strategic location. “Letus make trade and investment, the central pillar ofthis cooperation.” He said that with regard to solidwaste management, it is proposed that waste-to-energy solutions are gaining a lot of success inmodern world.

He said that Pakistan is facing severe crisisin energy sector and it is the best way that wego far all possible options of alternative energy.He emphasized that some kind of understand-ing should be developed between the privatesector representatives of both the countries thatwill certainly provide basis to convert that intobusiness deals. He said that these practical stepswill surely go a long way in enhancing the cur-rent level of two-way trade between Pakistanand Turkey which is constantly dipping since2011.

He stressed the need to identify the reasons

as to why our total trade that once touched thelevel of USD 916 million in 2011 has come down toUSD 557.5 million in 2013. He said that some ana-lysts presume that the trade volume between Tur-key and Pakistan can be increased as high as US$2 billion with some joint efforts made by publicand private sectors of both the countries. It willremain a presumption unless some positive andpractical steps are taken.

He also called for B2B meetings on regularbasis in order to strengthen our business ties.He apprised the Turkish delegates that LCCI hasachieved a unique milestone by establishing aMediation Centre in collaboration with Interna-tional Finance Corporation. He said that we havemore than 40 accredited mediators who can pro-vide mediation services in order to settle anytrade dispute. I think this centre will serve as aconfidence booster for Turkish business com-munity to positively consider Pakistan for tradeexpansion. The LCCI President said that timehas come for making social, cultural and eco-nomic alliances to overcome the challenges. Inhis address, the LCCI Vice President KashifAnwar hoped that the Turkish delegation visitwould pave way for enhanced volume of bilat-eral trade between the two countries.

Flour price tobe reduced in

RamazanKARACHI—Sindh Ministerfor Food Jam MehtabHussain Dahar has said thatthe government is consider-ing to lower the prices of flourin Ramazan ul Mubarak andto give subsidy on flour tothe poorest of the poor. Hesaid that every possible effortwill be made to sell flour at Rs36 Kilograms in Ramazan.

This he said while presid-ing over a meeting regardingRamazan package in his officeon Monday. Secretary FoodSaeed Ahmed Awan, SecretaryFinance Suhail Ahmed Rajput,Commissioner Karachi ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui and otherhigh officials also attended themeeting. He said that the gov-ernment was also consideringholding stalls at 28 points ofKarachi where the flour wouldbe sold on cheaper rates. Hesaid that the Food Departmentwill take action against illegalprofiteers with the help of thelocal administration. The FoodMinister requested to all stake-holders to develop a mecha-nism to curb corruption andillegal profiting in order to getdesired results. To provide re-lief to the poorest of the poorhelp may be sought from thedata of Benazir Income Sup-port Programme and allflourmills will be taken onboard regarding Ramazanpackage, he added.—APP

PCGA hailsgovt move to

proposeincentives fortextile sector

LAHORE—The PakistanCotton Ginners Associa-tion (PCGA) has hailed thegovernment’s decision topropose incentives, relax-ation, rebate and taxationfor adopting new technol-ogy, assurance to cut inmark-up rate, duty-freeimport of textile industryand reduction in rate inexport refinance and clear-ance of refund claims inthree months.

The PCGA demandedfor allowing the ginners toimport duty free modernginning machinery so thathigh quality cotton couldbe produced. Presidingover a meeting, PCGA ViceChairman Aasim SaeedSheikh said “we have re-jected the proposal to im-pose five percent GeneralSales Tax (GST) on oil-cake, describing this levyis detrimental to the live-stock sector.”

It said that oil cakewas major part of animalfeed and it would affectthe prices of beef, milk,yogurt and other milkproducts and such deci-sion would prove an eco-nomic death of the smallfarmers who were en-tirely depending on theirmilch-animals.

Aasim Saeed said thePCGA demanded of thegovernment that sales taxon oil-cake must be with-drawn and not to createcomplications for theginners by dividing thebuyers of oil-seed intotwo groups of registeredand unregistered other-wise a state of conflictwould be developed be-tween the FBR and gin-ners.—Agencies

LSE looses45.46 points

LAHORE—Lahore StockExchange here Mondaywitnessed bearsh trendby losing 45.46 points,as the LSE Index-25opened with 5698.55points and closed at5653.09 points . Themarket’s overall si tua-tion also did not corre-spond to an upwardtrend as it remained at1.317 million shares toclose against previousturnover of 1.907 millionshares, showing a down-ward sl ide of 590,200shares. While, out of thetotal 92 active scrips 14moved up, 20 shed val-ues and 58 remainedequal.

The Major Gainers ofthe day were Hascol Pe-troleum Limited, PakistanPetroleum Limited andSamin Textile Mills Limitedby recording increase intheir per share value by Rs3.31, Rs 2.02 and Re 1.00respectively. Shell Paki-stan Limited, Nishat MillsLimited, and Oil and GasDevelopment CompanyLimited lost their per sharevalue by Rs 17.90, Rs 4.49and Rs 1.83 respectively.Top three Volume Leadersof the day included FaujiCement Company Limitedwith 345,500 shares,Lafarge Pakistan Cementwith 262,500 shares andPakistan Petroleum Limitedwith 205,200 shares.—APP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 98.50 98.30

UK 165.57 165.23

Euro 134.41 134.14

Canada 90.13 89.94

Switzerland 110.25 110.02

Australia 92.15 91.96

Sweden 14.86 14.83

Japan 0.9611 0.9592

Norway 16.56 16.53

Singapore 78.74 78.58

Denmark 18.01 17.98

Saudi Arabia 26.26 26.21

Hong Kong 12.71 12.68

Kuwait 349.29 348.58

Malaysia 30.81 30.74

Newzealand 83.87 83.70

Qatar 27.06 27.00

UAE 26.82 26.76

Kr. Won 0.0968 0.0966

Thailand 3.035 3.028

Daily opening& closing ratesPMEX Index 2,989Total Volume (Lots): 10,826Traded Value (Rs): 2,632,923,285

Commodity ......................... Price Quotation ................... Open ................. CloseCRUDE OIL ........................ $ Per Barrel ............................ 102.74 ................ 103.28SILVER ................................ $ Per Ounce ........................... 19.012 ................ 19.092GOLD .................................. $ Per Ounce ........................... 1,252.3 ............... 1,255.8GOLD .................................. Rs Per 10 gms ........................ 40,220 ................ 40,324MTOLAGOLD ................... Rs Per Tola ............................ 48,131 ................ 48,282GOLD .................................. Rs Per Tola ............................ 48,131 ................ 48,282RICEIRRI6 .......................... Rs Per 100 kg ......................... 3,610 .................. 3,607PALMOLEIN ..................... Rs Per Maund ....................... 4,392 .................. 4,389SUGAR ............................... Rs Per kg ................................ 45.15 .................. 45.11ICOTTON ........................... US Cents per pound ............ 85.38 .................. 84.51WHEAT .............................. Rs Per 100 kg ......................... 3,361 .................. 3,358

The total value traded was recorded at PKR 2,632m. Number of lots traded was10,826 and PMEX Commodity Index closed at 2,989. Major business was contributedby gold amounting to PKR 1,493m– up by 15 percent, followed by crude oil (PKR1,057m) and silver (PKR 82m).

SIALKOT—Ambassador of Brazil in Pakistan Alfredo Leonion Monday unveiled the official FIFA soccer ball ‘Brazuca’which was made in Pakistan at a colourful ceremony at theSialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). Speak-ing on the occasion, the Brazilian ambassador said thepurpose of the visit to Sialkot was to promote commercialties between Brazil and Pakistan.

“The Brazil Embassy in Pakistan has started issu-ing f ive-year mult iple entry visas to Pakistanibusinesspeople. Brazil contributed $18 million in cashto flood victims of Pakistan over the last three year asit has enlarged its diplomacy and plays more active ininternational fora,” he added. In his address of wel-come, Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry(SCCI) President Dr Sarfraz Bashir said immense pos-

Brazilian ambassador unveilsPak- made FIFA soccer ball at SCCI

sibilities and huge potential of joint ventures and co-operation in various sectors existed between Pakistanand Brazil. The ceremony was also attended by a largenumber of businesspeople and people from all walksof life.

Brazuca is an informal local term which means “Bra-zilian” or to describe the Brazilian way of life. The sportsindustry achieved the distinction in 1982 when “Tango”a ball also made in Sialkot was used at the FIFA WorldCup. The new ball features six identical panels along-side a unique surface that will provide improved grip,touch, stability and aerodynamics on the field. Sportsenthusiasts and fans of soccer across the world will bewatching and sharing something made in Pakistan inthe FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil. —APP

LAHORE—Zong, Pakistan’s fastest grow-ing telecom network concluded the ZongCircle Usage Promotion prize distributionby awarding the winners at a recently heldpress conference. The campaign began on10th February 2014 and ran till 10th April,2014, targeted at existing and new custom-ers who activated the Circle Usage Promo-tion. The awards included a Honda CRZhybrid sports car, two Honda CBR500 bikes,three Honda CBR150 bikes and more than30 other prizes.

Speaking at the occasion, Babar Bajwa,Executive Director Marketing, Zong said,“While it is important to ensure our cus-tomers have the best service experience, itis also important that our valued custom-ers are rewarded for their loyalty. Our cus-tomers are an important part of the ZongFamily and are the reason for our success,this has helped Zong achieve the 3rd Po-sition in the industry in terms of customerbase, alongside Zong has managed to sur-pass the milestone of 26 Million custom-ers in a short span of time. Much to thecustomers delight, Zong recently becamePakistan’s first and only Super 3G & 4Goperator and as always we shall ensureour customers have the best pool of ser-vices with the most advanced technologyin the country. After the recent success of

SIALKOT: Brazilian Ambassador Alfredo Leoni is addressing in a meeting with Sialkotbusiness community during his visit to Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

LAHORE: Babar Bajwa Executive Director Marketing Zong and his team along withthe lucky winners of Zong Circle Campaign.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan International Airlines(PIA) and CFM International today cel-ebrated a relationship that has been 30years in the making. The Pakistani flag car-rier was one of CFM International’s veryfirst customers and began operatingCFM56-3-powered Boeing 737-300 aircraftin 1985.

“It is an honor to be here today cel-ebrating this tremendous milestone withPakistan International Airlines,” saidJean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO ofCFM International. “We have a very spe-cial relationship with this airline. As oneof our first customers, they placed theirfaith in our people and our products longbefore we had ever really proven our-selves. They stayed with us during somevery difficult times and we are here cel-

PIA, CFM Int’l celebrate30-year relationship

ebrating the bond that was forged be-cause of that.”

PIA operates scheduled services to 24domestic destinations and 38 internationaldestinations in 27 countries across Asia,Europe and North America from its head-quarters at Jinnah International Airport inKarachi.

Overall, the CFM56-3-powered 737 fleetin service has logged more than 210 mil-lion flight hours and 150 million-engineflight cycles since the first airplanes weredelivered to in 1984. During this time, theCFM56-3 engine has consistently main-tained the highest standards for enginedependability and reliability. The fleet hasa 99.98 percent departure reliability rate.The engine also maintains a .002 in-flightshutdown rate, or one event every 500,000-flight hours; this type of aircraft logs be-tween 2,500 to 3,500 flight hours per year.

FAISALABAD: The children of a farmer helping father to spread the corns for dryingunder the sun heat at farm.

LAHORE: President, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Engineer SohailLashari presenting memento to Turkish business delegation Head, Mr Metin Gundogdu.

ISLAMABAD—The bundlepackages of mobile phoneoperators on SMS hasraised usage as record 221.7billion Short Messages(SMSs) were exchanged byconsumers during first ninemonths of this year. The cel-lular mobile operators, dur-ing the period, adopted ag-gressive promotional strat-egies for winning competi-tion from each other and of-fered attractive packagesfor voice, data, and SMS in-cluding free calls and unlim-ited SMS.

These marketing tacticsresulted in more businessfor companies mainly voicecalls an SMS, revealed re-cent figures issued by Paki-stan Telecommunication

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Post received theforeign remittances amounting toUS$64.9 million dollars equivalent toRs7,451.4 million during the first ninemonths July-March 2013-14 of currentfiscal year. According to Economic Sur-vey, Pakistan Post also received anamount of Rs35.5 million during the pe-riod July-Feb 2013-14 on account of ter-minal dues for imbalance of internationalmails received from and dispatched toother countries.

Pakistan Post dispatched more volumeof mail than it receives for delivery. Thusit always remains net creditor. Pakistan

Consumers exchange record221.7b SMSs in 9 months

Authority (PTA) here onMonday. Similarly, duringfirst two quarters of thisyear, the international in-coming and outgoing min-utes stood at 4,244 million.The figures further revealedthat incoming traffic onLong Distance International(LDI) networks is slidingwith every passing quarteras LDI operators have re-ceived a total of 3,184 mil-lion minutes during Jul-Dec2013.

High tariff for Pakistandue to increase in ApprovedSettlement Rate (ASR) andmore traffic on Over the Top(OTT) services and illegalchannels are some of the keyfactors behind the fall in in-ternational traffic. Total in-

ternational outgoing min-utes have been reported 531million minutes during Oc-tober to December 2013whereas 717 million minuteswere carried by LDI opera-tors to international destina-tions during the same pe-riod last year.

One of the possiblecauses for this trend couldbe increased usage of OTTservices such as Skype,Viber, Tango and othersmart phone applications.Only a broadband connec-tion is required to commu-nicate through these OTTchannels, therefore, therapid influx of smartphoneshas given more awarenessto general public to use suchchannels.—APP

Pakistan Post receivesRs 7,451.4m remittances

Post is in process of implementing theDoha Postal Strategy approved by the24th Congress of the Universal PostalUnion to improve the inter-operatabilityof the international postal networks.

Pakistan Post also earned commissionamounting to Rs806.8 million during theperiod July to March 2013-14 by collect-ing an amount of Rs161,365.865 millionthrough National Savings Schemes. Pa-kistan Post has been doing Saving Bankwork as an agency function on behalf ofthe Ministry of Finance under the Gov-ernment Savings Bank Act 1873 on com-mission basis.—APP

ZonG rewards ‘Circle UsagePromotion’ winners

our Circle Heavy Bike Campaign and theCircle Usage Promo, Zong has announceda promo where a lucky winner will win aMercedes simply by buying a new ZongSIM or porting onto the Zong network andrecharge Rs.200”

The top management at Zong distrib-uted the prizes to 5 lucky winners. The high-light of the occasion was when Mr.Muhammad Asif from Nawabshah washanded over the keys to Pakistan’s firstHybrid sports car, Honda CRZ. Mr. NaseerAhmed Abbasi (Karachi) the keys for theHonda CBR500 bikes, while Mr. Aazim Khan(Manshera), Mr.Malik Bilal (Gujrat) and Mr.Hazrat Hussain (Karachi) were awarded theHonda CBR150 bikes at the press confer-ence.

Zong Circle is designed especially forthe youth of the nation and includes veryaffordable service charges, a fast internetconnection and many other exciting addons. The ‘Zong Circle Usage Campaign’ wasthe last promotional campaign from Circlethat builds upon several other successfulpromotions concluded in the past for theyoung Circle users. As a company whichvalues its customers, Zong has always beenat the forefront of bringing promotions thatprovide excitement for customers and re-ward them for their loyalty.—PR

MobilinkFoundation

donates rescuevehicle to PALS

LAHORE—Mobilink Foun-dation has donated a pur-pose fitted Rescue Vehicleto Pakistan Life Savers As-sociation (PALS) in a cer-emony held at the NTO of-fice in Karachi. The vehiclewill be used for transporta-tion of lifeguards along thebeach and quick transfer ofbeach-related accident vic-tims to hospitals. The ve-hicle has been fitted with atwo-way radio, which al-lows the lifeguards to re-main in contact with thecontrol center.

The deployment of thevehicle is expected to cutdown the lifeguard’s re-sponse time significantlyand make surveillance ofthe Sand-Spit Coastlineeasier for the patrol cap-tains. Omar Manzur, Headof Corporate Communica-tions, Mobilink said,“Mobilink’s on-going part-nership with PALS is re-flective of our commitmentin making a difference inthe community.—PR

Synergy Group toexpand network

with DANKARACHI—As a part ofSynergy Group’s expansionplans, Michael Nederlof,Regional CEO, Dentsu Ae-gis Network (DAN) visitedPakistan to boost collabo-ration with its local partner.Mr. Nederlof currently over-sees the operations and ex-pansion of 6 Dentsu Aegis’sbrands in Middle East,North Africa and Pakistan,namely, Dentsu, Carat,Vizeum, Isobar, iProspectand Posterscope. Duringhis trip, he visited all threeSynergy Group offices inKarachi, Lahore andIslamabad.

Nederlof discussedgrowth plans in terms of ca-pability enhancement byintroducing new busi-nesses and tools to sup-port an integrated commu-nications approach for ser-vicing clients in Pakistan.Mr. Nederlof said, “Westarted two years ago withour partner Synchronizemedia and I am very happywith the progress we aremaking. We are winning cli-ents in the domestic andinternational markets. Wehave already establishedCarat in Pakistan; our nextstep is to expand in cre-ative, digital, out of homeand research together. Cur-rently, we have six busi-nesses under the DentsuAegis Network and we planto launch all of them in Pa-kistan together with Syn-ergy Group.”

Ali Mandviwalla, COO,Synergy Group, welcomedMichael to Pakistan, say-ing, “2014 is of great sig-nificance for SynergyGroup. Michael’s visit atthis juncture marks a sub-stantial new beginning inour relationship withDentsu Aegis Network.This progressive partner-ship will not only addvalue to our existing busi-nesses but will also ben-efit our clients in terms ofavailable resources, globalknowledge and researchunder the Dentsu AegisNetwork.” The strategicpartnership between Syn-ergy Group and DentsuAegis Network’s mediaagency has proven to be asuccessful venture forboth the companies. Overthe years, Synergy Grouphas expanded itself as oneof the most valued inte-grated communicationagency networks in Paki-stan.—PR

ABBOTABAD: Corps Commander Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani giving away 24th KP Open Golf Championship trophy toGhazanfar Mehmood.

THAILAND: A Thai youth, left, kicks the ball as five elephants block the goal during a soccer match between men and elephants organized byAyutthaya Elephant Camp to celebrate the World Cup soccer tournament taking place in Brazil, in Ayutthaya province.

PESHAWAR: President Press Club Nasir Hussain and President Khyber Union ofJournalists Nisar Mehmood, senior journalist Syed Bukhar Shah playing table tennisduring the inauguration ceremony of Sports Gala Festival organized by Khyber PhotoJournalists Association.

PESHAWAR—Ghazanfar Mehmood clinchedthe title on the final day of the 24th KhyberPakhtunkhwa Open Golf Championshipplayed in Piffers Golf Course at Abbottabadon Monday.

In Veterans Amateurs 1st Net was wonby Colonel (R) Mushtaq while Senior Ama-teurs Grass was won by Colonel Arif and1st Net by Colonel Shahid, said a press re-lease issued by ISPR.

Amateurs (HCP 10 to 16) Gross waswon by Raheem Bali and 1st Net by ArslanKhan.

In ladies category, Mrs. Ami Qin scoredfirst Net position while Mrs. Tahira Nazirwas runner up. Amateur (HCP 9 and below)1st Net was won by Ziaref while 1st Grossby Ghazanfar Mehmood. Minhaj was givenconsolatory prize.

Ghazanfar wins 24th KPGolf Championship

In boys (U-13) Faizan Ali while in boys(U-18) Arbab Nadir was able to grab thetitle.

Corps Commander Lieutenant GeneralKhalid Rabbani distributed prizes amongstthe winners and said that Pak Army hasrestored Swat Golf Course to promote golfin the province.

Earlier in his welcome address, Briga-dier Zakir Hussain extended facilitation tothe management of Piffer Golf Course forassisting the organization of such a megatournament. He also highlighted the stepsbeing taken for the promotion of golf moni-tory assistance to the players and additionof new tournaments in calendar year.

Large no of military and civil officials,players and spectators attended the clos-ing ceremony.—APP

THE HAGUE—The legendary Netherlandspenalty corner striker, Floris Bovelander hasexpressed his dismay that 4-time formerchampion Pakistan was un-able to qualify for HockeyWorld Cup.

“Its pity that nation likePakistan which has contrib-uted hugely and got rich his-tory in field hockey are nothere to feature in the WorldCup,” he told reporters atthe Kyocera Stadium onSunday.

“Its really disappointingto see that Pakistan hockeyhas gone down so low thatthey failed to qualify for theWorld Cup,” he pointed out.

He said Pakistan hockeyneeds support because theyachieved excellence inWorld Cup, Olympics, andChampions Trophy and dominated thesport for so many years.

“I think I got my best moments in Paki-stan and winning World Cup in Lahore in1990 was most memorable and I always

Pakistan’s none participationin Hockey World Cup

pity: Bovelandercherished those moments,” the 48-year-oldBovelander, commented.

“Its was really great to beat Pakistan inPakistan before a massive crowd. It was 24-

year ago. Its long time. But Istill remember it vividly andstrong cheers of the crowdis still echoing in my ears,”he recalled.

“I always enjoyed play-ing against Pakistan in theircountry. Because they lovedme and I was hero there,” hesaid. “We got a great deal ofrespects from the peoples af-ter our 3-1 triumph in the fi-nal in 1990 World Cup final,”he remembered.

“Sometimes I watch thevideo and images of 1990World Cup on the YouTubeand enjoy them,” he added.

He rated Shabaz Ahmedas greatest player and rivals, who scoredthe lone goal in the final.

“Pakistan players were naturally giftedwith superb dribbling and dodging skills,”he pointed out.—APP

Ronaldo backin training

NE W YO R K—Crist ianoRonaldo, suffering withtendinitis around his leftknee and an injury to hisright thigh, trained withhis Portugal team-mateson Sunday for the f irstt ime since joining theWorld Cup squad 10 daysago.

Midfielder RaulMeireles was also in-volved in the session butcentral defender Pepecontinued to train sepa-rately, the PortugueseFootball Federation (FPF)said in a statement.

As per media reports,Ronaldo didn’t show anylimitations during first 15minutes of the sessionwhich were open to themedia. The World Playerof the Year missed the re-cent fr iendlies againstGreece and Mexico.

Ronaldo, 29, struggledwith minor injuries duringthe closing weeks of RealMadrid’s season beforeplaying 120 minutes in theChampions League finalagainst Atlet ico Madridand scoring the final goalin their 4-1 win, with a pen-alty.—AFP

Nationalswimming

begins from13th

LAHORE—The 52nd Na-tional Men’s and 13th Na-tional Women’s (Open)Swimming Championships(50m) will be held fromJune 13 to 15 under aus-pices of the Pakistan Swim-ming Federation and Paki-stan Women’s SwimmingAssociation at the Paki-stan Sports Board Swim-ming Pool Complex,Islamabad.

All the Affiliated unitsof the federation namelyKhyber Pakhtunkhwa,Fata, Balochistan,Islamabad, Sindh, Punjab,Gilgit Baltistan, Army,Navy, PAF, Wapda, HECand Pakistan Railway willbe competing in the cham-pionships.

A total of 38 events willbe contested. Team manag-ers’ (men and women) aswell as technical officialsmeeting will be held onJune 12.

The championship willalso serve as open trials forfollowing internationalcompetitions for the year2014-15: XX Common-wealth Games, Glasgow(July23 –Aug 3, 2014);Second Youth OlympicGames, Nanjing, China(Aug 16–28, 2014); 17thAsian Games, Incheon,Korea (Sept 19–Oct 4,2014); 12th FINA WorldChampionships (25m),Doha, Qatar (Dec 3–7,2014); 16th FINA WorldChampionship, Kazan(July19 – Aug 2, 2015).—APP

KARACHI—Opener Ahsan Ali smasheda brilliant unbeaten double century asAlamgir Gymkhana outclassed NationalGymkhana by 165 runs to qualify for thefinal of the KCCA Zone-VI Daud KhanMemorial cricket tournament at the KCCAStadium.

Ahsan’s dazzling 124-ball knock,which was embedded with 33 boundariesand three sixes, propelled AlamgirGymkhana to a mammoth total of 369-5 inthe allotted 40 overs of the first semi-fi-nal.

Mohammad Hasan also batted well tocontribute 55 while sharing a fifth-wicketpartnership of 130 with the well-setAhsan.

National Gymkhana, in reply, were all

KARACHI—Pakistan’s Mohammad MajidAli was on song registering secondstraight triumph as his team-mates fell preyon the second day of the 15th Asian U-21snooker championship in Chandigarh, In-dia.

Fresh from his 4-0 rout over IndianNikhil Saigal on Saturday, Majid, whosettled for a silver last year, justified hiscredentials when he sent UAE’s Obaid Al-Mehairi Badar packing 72-9, 78-24, 65-15,65-40 to consolidate his position in groupB.

Haris Nadeem suffered second defeatwhen he went down to Malaysian SheldonSenagang 2-4 to lose his grip in group A.The Malaysian stormed back from twoframes down to turn the tables on his op-ponent 36-63, 49-82, 75-7, 78-43, 63-56, 63-38.

Two other Pakistanis, former national

Asian U-21 snooker championship

Majid on song ascompatriots stumble

champion Hamza Akbar and Amir Tariqalso were disappointed, losing their re-spective opening fixtures. Thailand’sThanawat Thirapongpaiboon fought backfrom 1-3 down to post 4-3 victory overHamza (24-92, 47-58, 94-1, 27-75, 66-54, 67-35, 83-6) in group E while Indian IshpreetChiewchan gets the better of Amir 4-2 (46-71, 81-60, 62-28, 49-76, 63-41, 57-43) ingroup F.

Results: Mohammad Majid Ali (Paki-stan) bt Obaid Al-Mehairi Badar (UAE) 4-0 (72-9, 78-24, 65-15, 65-40); ThanawatThirapongpaiboon (Thailand) bt HamzaAkbar (Pakistan) 4-3 (24-92, 47-58, 94-1,27-75, 66-54, 67-35, 83-6); IshpreetChiewchan (India) bt Amir Tariq (Pakistan)4-2 (46-71, 81-60, 62-28, 49-76, 63-41, 57-43); Sheldon Senagang (Malaysia) bt HarisNadeem (Pakistan) 4-2 (36-63, 49-82, 75-7,78-43, 63-56, 63-38).—APP

Ahsan hits double tonDaud Khan Memorial cricket tournament

out for 204 in the 37th over with AbdulRehman (57) and Abrar Warsi (47) bat-ting defiantly. Slow left-armer BilalManzoor claimed three wickets for 17runs.

In the final Alamgir Gymkhana willmeet either Pakistan CC or Sakhi HasanGymkhana.

Summarised scores: ALAMGIRGYMKHANA 369-5 in 40 overs (AhsanAli 212 not out, Mohammad Hasan 55,Mohammad Waqas 27, Jaahid Shaukat Ali23; Adnan Wasi 2-25); NATIONALGYMKHANA 204 in 36.5 overs (AbdulRehman 55, Abrar Warsi 47, Simon Saleem26, Faiz Hussain 25, Usman Khalil 23; BilalManzoor 3-17, Jaahid Shaukat Ali 2-31,Najeebullah Khan 2-39).—APP

LHC dismissesPCB Management

Committeeextension petition

SPORTS REPORTER

LAHORE—The LahoreHigh Court Monday dis-missed a writ petition chal-lenging extension of tenureof the PCB’s ManagementCommittee by the Inter Pro-vincial Coordination (IPC)Ministry Islamabad for 120days with effect from 9thJune 2014.

The prime minister aspatron of the Board had or-dered the extension of theManagement Committee foranother 120 days, whichwas subsequently notifiedby the federal governmenton June 6 through the IPCministry.

The PCB’s legal coun-sel Mr. Taffazul HaiderRizvi had raised a prelimi-nary objection to the main-tainability of the writ peti-tion, taking the plea that thematter was sub-judice be-fore the Honorable SupremeCourt of Pakistan.

After hearing the pre-l iminary arguments ofboth the counsel on a writpetition filed by NaushadAhmad, Justice MansoorAli Shah declared: “Sincethe matter was alreadysub-judice before theHonorable Supreme Court,the High Court thereforecould not take up such awrit.”

The counsel for the pe-titioner, Barrister HarrisRamzan, had pleaded be-fore the Lahore High Courtthat he was not aware thatthe matter was alreadypending before the Su-preme Court.

COL DU BEAL (France)—Britain’s defending championChris Froome of Team Sky made it two wins in two dayswhen he won Monday’s second stage of the Criterium duDauphine ahead of Spanish arch-rival Alberto Contador.

After victory in Sunday’s opening time-trial stage,Froome ensured himself of the race leader’s yellow jerseyon the 156km second stage that ended with a gruelling13.6km climb of the Col du Beal.

“It’s the first time this year that we’ve both battled,”said Froome of his “duel” with Contador.

“I gave it everything. It was block to block. I triedseveral times to attack but he (Contador) is very strong. Itwas really tough between us.”

A breakaway by Alessandro de Marchi was eventu-ally reeled in with 7.5km to go despite a 2min 40sec leadthe Italian had going into the final ascent.

Froome was followed home by Contador, with Dutchrider Wilco Kelderman in third, 4sec adrift.

The Kenyan-born Briton, the reigning Tour de Francechampion, now stands 12sec clear of Contador, himselftwice a winner of the Grand Tour, in the overall classifica-tion.

Kelderman and American Andrew Talansky, who fin-ished fifth, two emerging riders, as well as Belgian JurgenVan den Broeck, fourth, vainly tried to make the most ofthe rare moments of respite offered by Froome in the finalkilometres.

But it was a group of six riders, still lead by the Briton,which emerged going into the final kilometre.

Among this group, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali finally con-ceded 27sec to Froome and Contador to cross in sixth.

Kelderman, well oiled by the recent Giro d’Italia, re-sisted better without being able to rival the yellow jerseywinner for the second time in two days.

Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski and American Tejay VanGarderen, both Tour de France hopes, lost two minutes toFroome.

If he could count on Wales’ Geraint Thomas and Span-iard Mikel Nieve in the first part of the climb, Froome’susual trusty lieutenant, Australian Richie Porte, struggledthroughout the day to finish more than ten minutes off thepace. Tuesday’s third stage covers 194km from Ambert toTeil and gives the sprinters a race opportunity in the mostlymountainous race.—AFP

Cycling: Two out of two forFroome ahead of Contador

JenniferLopez won’tbe singing

WC song liveI S L A M A B A D — J e n n i f e rLopez won’t perform theWorld Cup’s official songalongside fellow artistsPitbull and Claudia Leitteduring the tournament’sopening ceremony in Brazil,FIFA officials said on Sun-day, Daily Maily reported.

Football’s governingbody said Lopez cannot per-form at Thursday’s event asearlier planned because ofunspecified ‘production is-sues.’ The singer’s represen-tatives didn’t explain the rea-son why she wouldn’t be join-ing the act.

They only confirmed theannouncement in an emailedresponse, saying ‘regret-fully Jennifer Lopez will notbe attending this year’sWorld Cup opening ceremo-nies.’ FIFA said in a newsrelease that Cuban-Ameri-can rapper Pitbull and Bra-zilian singer Claudia Leittewill sing the official tune WeAre One before Brazil takeon Croatia at Thursday’sopening game in Sao Paulo.

The song has been a letdown for many Brazilians,who complain that it soundstoo generic for the nation’sBossa Nova-crazed audi-ences and that it featuresforeign musicians singingmostly in English and Span-ish.—APP

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—The Indian cricket boardwants “younger” umpires. According tothe highly placed sources in BCCI, 58years is the maximum age limit for themto officiate in the matches. This was con-firmed by Ravi Savant, the chairman ofthe Umpires Sub-Committee.

Speaking exclusively, he says, “wehave deliberated on several issues in-cluding the age-limit for the umpires. Itwas decided to have this age limit (58years) for the umpires. The decision willbe conveyed to the BCCI’s working com-mittee for ratification”.

At present, the BCCI have three cat-egories of umpires. The age-limit for Testumpires is 60 years, for umpires officiat-ing in only ODIs’ (but not in Testmatches) is 58 years and Ranji Trophyumpires’ age- limit is 55 years.

No over-age umpires: BCCI fixes58 years as age-limit for them

The BCCI, however haS been flex-ible and if the umpires were medically fitenough and having good eye-sightswere still getting the assignments irre-spective of their age-limits.

S. Venkatraghavan, the former ICCumpire and who currently has been onBCCI’s pay-roll as Director-(umpiring),didn’t attend the meeting for some per-sonal reasons.Pension enhanced for retired umpires

“The committee has also proposedthe enhancement of the pension amountof the retired umpires. Now we have pro-posed that all BCCI retired umpiresshould get a monthly pension of Rs.25,000, instead of Rs. 15,000”, informsRavi Savant.

Simon Taufel invited“As was the past, the former ICC Elite

Panel umpire, Simon Taufel (Australia)will be invited in August to deliver lec-tures and guide the inspiring umpires ofthe nation”, he added.

SIALKOT: Brazilian Ambassador Alfredo Leoni at the inaugural ceremony of BRAZUCA Football in connection with20th FIFA World Cup heads to Brazil between 12 June to 13 July 2014 at SCCI on Monday.

SIALKOT—Ambassador of Brazil in Pa-kistan Alfredo Leoni on Monday un-veiled the official FIFA soccer ball‘Brazuca’ which was made in Pakistan ata colourful ceremony at the SialkotChamber of Commerce and Industry(SCCI).

Speaking on the occasion, the Bra-zilian ambassador said the purpose ofthe visit to Sialkot was to promote com-mercial ties between Brazil and Pakistan.

“The Brazil Embassy in Pakistan hasstarted issuing five-year multiple entryvisas to Pakistani businesspeople.

Brazil contributed $18 million in cashto flood victims of Pakistan over the lastthree year as it has enlarged its diplo-macy and plays more active in interna-tional fora,” he added.

In his address of welcome, SialkotChamber of Commerce and Industry(SCCI) President Dr Sarfraz Bashir said

Brazilian ambassador unveilsPak-made FIFA soccer ball

immense possibilities and huge poten-tial of joint ventures and cooperation invarious sectors existed between Paki-stan and Brazil. The ceremony was alsoattended by a large number ofbusinesspeople and people from allwalks of life.

Brazuca is an informal local termwhich means “Brazilian” or to describethe Brazilian way of life.

The sports industry achieved the dis-tinction in 1982 when “Tango” a ballalso made in Sialkot was used at the FIFAWorld Cup.

The new ball features six identicalpanels alongside a unique surface thatwill provide improved grip, touch, sta-bil i ty and aerodynamics on the field.Sports enthusiasts and fans of socceracross the world will be watching andsharing something made in Pakistan inthe FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.—APP

LONDON—Kevin Pietersen insistedMonday he’d felt a sense of “re-lief” to be out of the England dress-ing room after his controversial exitfrom the side.

However, England’s all-time leading run-scoreracross all formats said he hadgood relations with his oldteam-mates and said he be-lieved the reason why formerEngland spinner AshleyGiles was overlooked for therole of national head coachwas because of their friend-ship.

Despite being the team’sleading scorer in their 5-0Ashes thrashing in Austra-lia, Pietersen was dramati-cally ditched from the En-gland set-up upon the side’sreturn.

Former England captainPietersen said he was “grateful” forhis international career but that hehas now “moved on”.

“In fact, it has been a relief to be

Pietersen ‘relieved’ to be out of England set-up

PARIS—Rafael Nadal clinched his ninthFrench Open and 14th career Grand Slamtitle on Sunday with a brutal 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory over a battling NovakDjokovic.

The world number one also becamethe first man to win five Roland Garroscrowns in succession as the 28-year-old took his record at the tournament to66 wins against just one defeat.

His tally of 14 majors equals the markof Pete Sampras and puts him just three

behind the all-time record of RogerFederer who is almost five years older.

Defeat was cruel for world numbertwo Djokovic, the 2012 runner-up, whostill needs a French Open title to becomejust the eighth man to complete the ca-reer Grand Slam.

“Every moment was crucial, all thepoints were so hard,” said Nadal.

Nadal wins ninth FrenchOpen, 14th Grand Slam

“Playing against Novak is always abig challenge, I have lost to him the lastfour times. Every chance I have to beathim it’s because I have had to play tomy limit. I feel sorry for Novak. He de-serves to win this tournament one dayand I am sure he will.“

He added: “It’s an amazing, emo-tional moment for me. I lost the Austra-lian Open final this year when I had aproblem with my back. Today tennis hasgiven me back what happened in Aus-tralia.“

The Serb dominated the early stagesof Sunday’s final, the pair’s 42nd meet-ing, seemingly immune to the swelter-ing 30-degree heat on Philippe Chatriercourt.

But Nadal, playing in his 20th GrandSlam final to Djokovic’s 13th, grew stron-ger as the final wore on as he ended afour-match losing streak against his old

rival.The 3hr 31min duel ended on a sour

note when Djokovic double-faulted onmatch point, shaken by a shout fromthe crowd.

In a tense opening to their seventhGrand Slam final meeting, the steadierDjokovic, sporting a white cap againstthe fierce sun, pounced to break for 5-3,after Nadal put too much zip on a fore-hand.

The Spaniard had two points tobreak back in the ninth game but two

more ballooned forehandskept Djokovic, who had evenserved and volleyed at 0-30,in the picture.

He took the opening setwhen Nadal, off balance andstranded behind the baseline,went long with a slappedbackhand.

It was only the secondtime the champion haddropped the opening set of afinal in Paris, in 2005 againstMariano Puerta and in 2006against Roger Federer.

However, he regained theadvantage with a break tolead 4-2 in the second set withan inside-out forehandstretching the Serb whocould only net a desperatereturn.

But back came Djokovicfor 3-4 after a sloppy Nadalservice game punctuated byan untimely second doublefault.

The world number twosaved a break point to go to4-4, Nadal then held beforeDjokovic suffered his firstserious lapse which was as

sudden as it was surprising.A wild forehand gifted Nadal two

set points and the top seed convertedwith a merciless, crunching forehand.

Djokovic was rapidly wilting in theParis heat as a 22-shot rally laid the foun-dation for a Nadal break for 2-0 in thethird set, courtesy of a weary backhandvolley into the net.

PARIS: Spain’s Rafael Nadal holds the Musketeers trophy after winning the Frenchtennis Open men’s final match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Roland Garrosstadium.

KINGSTON: Kane Williamson cuts off the back foot during West Indies vs New Zealand1st Test on Monday.

QUITO—Oswaldo Minda earned a late call-up to Ecuador’s World Cup finals squad onSunday as a replacement for the injuredmidfielder Segundo Castillo.

Castillo, who lost his battle to be fit afterinjuring ligaments in his rightknee during a friendly withMexico on May 31.

“In spite of his deter-mined efforts and those of themedical team he will not be fitin time for the World Cup,” theEcuador Football Federationsaid in a statement.

Minda, 30, was in coachReinaldo Rueda’s provisional30-man squad but was left outwhen the final list of 23 wassubmitted.

Minda, who played forEcuador at the 2011 CopaAmerica, will add steel to theEcuadorean midfield althoughRueda will hope he is more dis-ciplined than when playing forhis MLS side Chivas wherehe has acquired a reputation for being ahardman and has a poor disciplinary record.

Meanwhile, Colombian coach JosePekerman called up midfielder CarlosCarbonero to replace the injured AldoRamirez in his World Cup finals squad.

Carbonero, 23 and who recently won the

Minda replaces Castillo inEcuador squad

Argentinian league title with River Plate, hasbeen capped just once and did not feature inPekerman’s original provisional 30-man squadfor the finals in Brazil.

Ramirez, 33, had been struggling to be fit

after suffering a knee injury in April and hiswithdrawal is a further blow to Colombia’shopes of at least progressing from theirgroup.

Talismanic striker Radamel Falcao wasruled out last week after failing to recover froma serious knee injury.—AFP

out of the dressing room because itwas not a pleasant place in Austra-lia,” Pietersen wrote in a column inMonday’s edition of Britain’s Daily

Te l e g r a p hnewspaper.

“ W ewere losingand in myopinion theenvironmentwas poorand I wasnot alone int h i n k i n gthat.

“It is aview sharedby a numberof the play-ers whohave spokentheir mindssince com-

ing back from the tour.”Pietersen said his relationship

was “fine” with fellow senior En-gland players such as Stuart Broad

and the now retired Graeme Swann.“I have no issue with the play-

ers, as many have said in interviewssince the tour ended.

“I speak to Stuart Broad and Ieven organised for Graeme Swannto go on holiday to one of myfriend’s hotels after he retired.”

South Africa-born Pietersen wasaccused by some critics of a reluc-tance to “grind out” runs in Aus-tralia, but he was adamant he wasbest playing in the attacking stylethat had served him so well through-out his career.

“It would have been easy for meto start defending a bit more,” hesaid. “Would that have made me abetter player? No. I am a risk-takerin cricket, in business and all partsof my life.”

Reflecting on his time with En-gland, Pietersen added: “Fourteenyears ago, I was an off-spinner fromPietermaritzburg who did not knowwhere his life was going.

“Now I have played 104 Tests,batted at all the best grounds in the

world and been lucky enough toscore hundreds everywhere.

“Could I play more Test cricket?Yes of course, but should I sit herethinking I should be playing onThursday (against Sri Lanka atLord’s)?

“No, because that is when jeal-ousy and negative thoughts comeinto your head.”

Pietersen’s fall out with thencoach Peter Moores led to him be-ing stripped of the England cap-taincy and Moores being sacked.

Moores is now back for a sec-ond spell in charge, with Pietersensaddened his friend and fellow 2005Ashes-winner Giles, who wasEngland’s one-day coach, wasn’tpromoted to the head coach role.

“Sadly I think he (Giles) was justtoo close to me for the England andWales Cricket Board’s liking. Thatis the problem.

“He had spoken too positivelyabout me in Australia for the ECBto give him the job. It is a shame forboth sides.”—AFP

Germany windespite Hayward

hat-trickTHE HAGUE—Andy Hay-ward scored a hat-trick forNew Zealand, but it wasn’tenough as Germany pre-vailed 5-3 in a fast-pacedmatch at the men’s hockeyWorld Cup here.

New Zealand’s lossleaves Argentina and theNetherlands in strong po-sition to claim the twosemi-finals spots in Group‘B’.

Germany went ahead 2-0 on an early goal by FlorianFuchs and a strike by Mar-tin Zwicker — his first oftwo — on a run through theNew Zealand defence.

Hayward scored his firstin the 33rd minute, but Ger-many responded before thehalf and then always led byat least two goals.Hayward’s other goals onpenalty corners proved toolittle, too late.

Argentina beat SouthKorea 5-0 in the other matchand need only one pointfrom their final match againstSouth Africa to book a last-four berth.—AFP

Williamson tonbuilds strong

platformKINGSTON—The first Testmatch after two high-profileTwenty20 tournaments - theWorld T20 and the IPL - gotoff to a slow start at SabinaPark, as New Zealand’s runrate stayed below 2.65 anover throughout the day.The visitors, however, hadthe better time of it afterKane Williamson and TomLatham adjusted to thepitch, whose strongest char-acteristic was its sluggish-ness, and put on a 165-runstand for the second wicket.

The spectators whocame to the ground to seeChris Gayle bat in his 100thTest had to wait after WestIndies’ new Test captain,Denesh Ramdin, lost thetoss. Instead, they werewitness to the comebacksof four bowlers from lay-offs of varying lengths,and the discipline of twoyoung New Zealand bats-men, who played with apatience that is becomingincreasingly rare in interna-tional cricket.

Just when it seemedWilliamson might go intostumps a few short of a cen-tury, he snapped out of hisscoreless trance and late-cut successive deliveriesfrom Benn to bring up hissixth Test hundred.—AFP

ScoreboardNew Zealand, first innings:Latham c andb Shillingford .................. 83Fulton c wkpr Ramdinb Taylor ............................. 1Williamson not out ...... 105Taylor not out ................. 34Extras: (b-5, lb-5, w-5,nb-2) ................................. 17Total: (92 overs) ........... 240Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-174.Bowling: ............ O-M-R-WTaylor ................... 17-7-22-1Roach ................... 17-4-56-0Bravo ....................... 1-0-2-0Benn ..................... 28-8-75-0Samuels ................. 5-1-13-0Shillingford ......... 24-3-62-1

WHILE older, overweight or injured exercisers have always valued the cushioning effects of water workouts, a

new wave of trendy, lively and high intensitygroup fitness classes is luring the young, thehip and the able-bodied into the pool. AquaZumba, boot camp, and syn-chronized swimming areamong the classes expertssay put every musclethrough a range of motioneven the fittest can’t ap-proach on dry land.

Lori Rose Benson of theYMCA of Greater NewYork said seniors populatedaytime pool classes, but theevening attracts a younger,party-oriented crowd. Syn-chronized swimming, aclass of elaborate strokesand stunts set to music, hasbecome a favorite amongBrooklyn hipsters, she said.Aqua Zumba, also called“pool party,” is popular withthe younger crowd through-out the city.

“Really, it depends on the time of day,”Benson said. “Aquatic exercise can have allthe benefits of a really tough cardiovascularworkout. It’s what you put into it.” Three timesa week at an Equinox fitness center in NewYork City, swim coach Ellis Peters leads AquaBoot Camp, an hour-long interval workout hesaid takes aim at every major muscle group.

“I try to use every inch of the 25-yard (23-meter) pool,” Peters said of the class, whichemploys flotation devices in a fast-changingsequence of running, jumping jacks and coreexercises. “We usually don’t do any one thingmore than a minute,” said Peters. Moving

through water is powerful, he added, becausethe resistance, or drag coefficient, is 12 timeswhat it is in air and works on the body in alldirections.

“I can’t imagine a machine on land thatwould be able to duplicate the omni-dimen-

sional resistance of the water,”he said. “It doesn’t exist.”Rhode Island-based KarenKent said she plunged into poolworkouts after asthma began tohamper her running style. “Icouldn’t run much in my 20s,”said Kent, an aquatic expertwho wrote the water exercisechapter for the American Col-lege of Sports Medicine’s groupfitness handbook.

She said even the mostable-bodied like turning to wa-ter to relieve pressure and ex-tend their range of motion.“Even really strong athleteswant to come to water to stretchmuscles back out,” she said.“Water offers another piece offitness you can’t get on the

ground.” The level of exertion feels less inthe water, she added, so the right instructorcan really ramp it up with deep water run-ning and jogging intervals.

Kent said the pool temperature for wa-ter workouts should be around 83 to 85 de-grees Fahrenheit (28 to 29 Celsius), withair temperature about two degrees higher.That’s because unlike swimmers, who arecomfortable in the high 70s (mid 20s), theexercisers’ heads are above the water line.“Swimming laps is different from doingexercise,” she said. “Every workout hassomething else to offer and a well-roundedathlete should do all of it.”

New wave of waterworkouts attract young, fit

Namaz-e-Janaza of martyred Ranger personnel is being at Bhitai Rangers Headquarters.—PO photo

Recovered weapons during operation against terrorists at Jinnah International Airport.—PO photo

Pakistan Army on high alert at Jinnah International Airport.—PO photo Sultan Chaki

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Secretary Excise and Taxa-tion (E&T) Department, Government ofSindh, Abdul Majeed Pathan has said thatgovernment of Sindh plans to introducesecure vehicle registration plates withinbuilt security features which will bedigitally scanned through cameras at vari-ous toll plazas.

Speaking at a meeting during his visitto Karachi Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (KCCI), Abdul Majeed Pathanadded that these secure vehicle registra-tion plates would prevent tampering ofnumber plates of stolen vehicles and en-hance security checks of vehicles.

President KCCI, Abdullah Zaki, VicePresident KCCI, Muhammad Idrees,Chairman Provincial/ Local Taxes and

Allied Matter Sub-Committee KCCI,Shahzada Nasir Maqbool, ChairmanTaxation Sub-Committee KCCI, HassanSheikh Vohra and other Managing Com-mittee members were also present at themeeting.

Secretary Excise & Taxation furtherinformed that the department was prepar-ing to launch new number plates in nextfiscal year after awarding a contract toan international company for manufac-turing the plates. These new plates willbe fixed to the body of the vehicles andcan therefore not be stolen, he added.

Commenting on concerns raised byKCCI members over collection of pro-fessional tax by multiple authorities in-cluding KMC, Excise department andCantonments, he said that excise and taxa-tion department has already taken up this

matter with all the authorities and it hasbeen decided that professional tax willeither be collected by the Excise & Taxa-tion Department or by cantonments. Inresponse to KCCI’s demand to waive off0.85 percent cess being charged atKarachi Airport only whereas other air-ports of the country are exempted fromthis duty, Abdul Majeed Pathan assuredthis issue will certainly be considered.

He said that excise and taxation de-partment was making efforts to facilitatethe business community by focusingmore on technology. In this regard, thedepartment plans to introduce online fa-cility for registration of vehicles and pay-ment of various provincial taxes via creditcard whereas the number of existing NBPbranches authorized to collect provincialtaxes will also be enhanced.

Sindh Govt plans to introducesecure vehicle registration plates

Governorsummons Assembly

on FridayKARACHI—Governor ofSindh, Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khanhas summoned the Sindh Pro-vincial Assembly to meet onFriday next at 5 pm in the SindhAssembly premises.

An official hand out issuedhere on Monday said.—APP

PMLF Sindhcondemns airport

attackKARACHI—President Paki-stan Muslim League Func-tional (PMLF) Sindh andFederal Minister for OverseasPakistanis, Human Develop-ment Pir Syed SaddarudinShah Rashidi, Secretary Gen-eral Sindh Nawab Rashid AliKhan and chief media coor-dinator Kamran Tessori havestrongly condemned Karachiairport attack.

The leaders in their jointstatement have expressed deepsorrow and grief over thedeaths of ASF, Police andRangers personnel and em-ployees of PIA.

They prayed for early re-covery of the injured.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Pakistan Peace Coali-tion [PPC], Pakistan Civil Society ForumSindh Chapter and Pakistan Institute ofLabour Education and Research [PILER]have vehemently condemned the terror-ists attack at the Karachi Airport Sundaynight, which continued till Monday af-ternoon, resulting in deaths of 18 person-nel of law enforcement agencies includ-ing Airport Security Force, Rangers andPolice, as well as killing of 10 terrorists.

In a joint statement, the civil societyorganizations regretted the loss of livesof personnel deployed at the Airport whofell victim to the terrorists’ offence againstthe biggest airport of the country.

“The matter raises serious questionsover the state of security and intelligencethat covers highly sensitive establish-

ments such as the Karachi Airport, whichis used by the public most frequently. Lastnight terrorists proved that they can holdthe state of Pakistan hostage anytime theywant.” The statement expressed concernthat the mid-night attack signals deep in-filtration of militants in the city, who hadaccess to opportunities to plan such a highlevel assault. “This has serious repercus-sions for the city of Karachi that houses20 million people, from all over Pakistan.They are already a victim of acute law-lessness, and threatened by political, eth-nic and sectarian violence. Their dailylives are already crippled by the continu-ous state of political instability in themega city. This attack adds to their inse-curity manifolds.”

The statement said that the citizensof Karachi would be within their right toraise questions over the effectiveness of

the operation, launched last year to targetcriminals and address growing violencein the city. “The operation has been run-ning for months and yet the terrorists wereable to carry out an attack at the mostguarded and sensitive public installation.”

The PPC, PCSF and PILER urgedthat the core causes of militancy and ter-rorism be addressed. The state’s continu-ous support to the forces espousing vio-lence, its dual policy on the Taliban andits unwillingness to commit itself to thewelfare and development of its citizens,opting to pursue its own narrow interests,is at the root of the crisis that the peopleof this country repeatedly have to face.“Defence and security claim one of thehighest shares of resources in the annualbudget of the country. Yet, Pakistani citi-zens, especially those in Karachi, remainat the mercy of terrorists.”

Civil society condemns terroristattack on Karachi Airport

Summer festivalSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Management ofPearl Continental Karachi, withgreat zeal has organized Sum-mer Art Festival started todayand will continue till 11th Junewith a focus to promoting theart and artists of Pakistan.

The festival will help creat-ing awareness about Pakistancreative talent to the guests es-pecially foreign guests stayingatPearl Continental Karachi thatwould help enhancing the softimage of Pakistan.

Prof. Dr. Pirzada QasimRaza Siddiqui is a noted Paki-stani scholar, Urdu poet scien-tist and educationist and theVice Chancellor of the ZiauddinUniversity inaugurated the fes-tival this morning.

Commissioner directscompliance of ban

on fireworksKARACHI—Commissioner Karachi, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiquihas said that Home department Sindh has imposed ban onmanufacturing, sale and use of fireworks on religious occa-sion of the “Shab-e-Barat”.

Chairing a meeting of concerned officials here on Mon-day he directed all deputy commissioners, assistant commis-sioners and Mukhtiarkars to effectively ensure compliance onthe ban under section 144 Cr.PC.

He said that fireworks and crackers cause great difficultyand annoyance to people engaged in prayers especially pa-tients and elderly persons so all administrative officials ac-companied by police visit corresponding areas to check andmonitor the situation.

The commissioner further directed municipal officials toensure proper arrangements of cleanliness, lighting and cut-ting of bushes at graveyards.

Special steps must be taken for security of a large numberof people visiting graveyards on the eve coupled with wellthough out traffic management plan, he added.—APP

MQM expressessorrow over damage

by fire to customwarehouse, offices

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—MQM’s membersof National Assembly have ex-pressed deep sorrow over thedamaged caused by the fire tocustom warehouse and officesof the private companies.

Good worth millions of ru-pees which were in the customhouse for the clearance has beenburnt to ashes.

MQM’s MNAs have de-manded that Federal govern-ment should pay compensationto the businessmen for the loss.

They added these business-men had lost their hard earnedsavings because of fire.

KARACHI—Centre of Excellence in MarineBiology (CEMB), University of Karachi hassigned Memorandum of Understanding withthe Faculty of Marine Sciences, Lasbela Uni-versity of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sci-ences (LUAWMS) on Monday on the occa-sion of the World Ocean Day.

The objective of this MoU is to promotethe mutual collaboration in academic and sci-entific research activities between the two in-stitutes.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Qaiser, Vice Chan-cellor, University of Karachi appreciated theefforts of CEMB in developing academic link-age with an institution in Balochistan whichhas 800 km long coastline and where scien-tific exploration is highly required.

He said that this will lead to furtheringmarine sciences in the country. Dr. Qaiseradded that University of Karachi will provide

maximum support in the development ofLUAWMS. Dr. Dost Muhammad Baloch, ViceChancellor, Lasbela University of Agriculture,Water and Marine Sciences, said that the twoinstitutes are geographically very close, andcan become even closer by developing collabo-ration in Marine Sciences. Dr. Baloch showedhis keen interest in obtaining technical assis-tance from Karachi University in other disci-plines as well.

He also appreciated the research facilitiesat CEMB and concluded that this MoU will bebeneficial for both of the universities.

Dr. Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui, DirectorCEMB presented Center’s achievements inMarine Sciences. Dr. Siddiqui said that CEMB,a pioneer institute of marine research, has pro-duced a number of professionals in the fieldwho are now serving various public and pri-vate sector organizations.—APP

Karachi, Lasbela varsities signMoU of cooperation

WHILE older, overweight or injured exercisers have always valued the cushioning effects of water workouts, a

new wave of trendy, lively and high intensitygroup fitness classes is luring the young, thehip and the able-bodied into the pool. AquaZumba, boot camp, and syn-chronized swimming areamong the classes expertssay put every musclethrough a range of motioneven the fittest can’t ap-proach on dry land.

Lori Rose Benson of theYMCA of Greater NewYork said seniors populatedaytime pool classes, but theevening attracts a younger,party-oriented crowd. Syn-chronized swimming, aclass of elaborate strokesand stunts set to music, hasbecome a favorite amongBrooklyn hipsters, she said.Aqua Zumba, also called“pool party,” is popular withthe younger crowd through-out the city.

“Really, it depends on the time of day,”Benson said. “Aquatic exercise can have allthe benefits of a really tough cardiovascularworkout. It’s what you put into it.” Three timesa week at an Equinox fitness center in NewYork City, swim coach Ellis Peters leads AquaBoot Camp, an hour-long interval workout hesaid takes aim at every major muscle group.

“I try to use every inch of the 25-yard (23-meter) pool,” Peters said of the class, whichemploys flotation devices in a fast-changingsequence of running, jumping jacks and coreexercises. “We usually don’t do any one thingmore than a minute,” said Peters. Moving

through water is powerful, he added, becausethe resistance, or drag coefficient, is 12 timeswhat it is in air and works on the body in alldirections.

“I can’t imagine a machine on land thatwould be able to duplicate the omni-dimen-

sional resistance of the water,”he said. “It doesn’t exist.”Rhode Island-based KarenKent said she plunged into poolworkouts after asthma began tohamper her running style. “Icouldn’t run much in my 20s,”said Kent, an aquatic expertwho wrote the water exercisechapter for the American Col-lege of Sports Medicine’s groupfitness handbook.

She said even the mostable-bodied like turning to wa-ter to relieve pressure and ex-tend their range of motion.“Even really strong athleteswant to come to water to stretchmuscles back out,” she said.“Water offers another piece offitness you can’t get on the

ground.” The level of exertion feels less inthe water, she added, so the right instructorcan really ramp it up with deep water run-ning and jogging intervals.

Kent said the pool temperature for wa-ter workouts should be around 83 to 85 de-grees Fahrenheit (28 to 29 Celsius), withair temperature about two degrees higher.That’s because unlike swimmers, who arecomfortable in the high 70s (mid 20s), theexercisers’ heads are above the water line.“Swimming laps is different from doingexercise,” she said. “Every workout hassomething else to offer and a well-roundedathlete should do all of it.”

New wave of waterworkouts attract young, fit

Students presenting models of cultural sites, historical buildings, monuments and archaeo-logical sites.

Youngsters bathing in canal during a hot day in the Provincial capital on Monday.

Ambassador of Turkey Sadiq Babur Girgin calls on Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Exhibition on ‘Cultural preserva-tion and restoration through Art and Craft’ wasorganized under the supervision of Dr SadiaShaukat at Township Campus, University ofEducation, Lahore.

Different models were presented by Mas-ters’ Education students. The purpose of thisevent was to raise awareness about cultural pres-ervation and restoration and to enhance under-standing of cultural significance and suggeststrategies to preserve historical sites and build-ings which will further help for publicizing thecultural heritage and encouraging public in-volvement in their conservation.

Students presented different models of cul-tural sites, historical buildings, monuments andarcheological sites by using old newspapers andmagazines.

More than seventy models were displayedrepresenting culture of four provinces of Paki-

stan. visitors appreciated the efforts of studentsand congratulated them for raising awarenessabout a noble issue, Dr Sadia, organizer of theevent also shared her views, she said culturalheritage will only survive if its value is under-stood and appreciated by the people and in par-ticular by the younger generation. Promotionof conservation education is to be encouragedthrough academic institutions, as well asthrough publication and mass media.

Special programs meetings, exhibitions andseminars etc. should aim to arouse public aware-ness and interest are also useful weapon forsustainable development. She further said thatcultural conservation, reservation and restora-tion is only our survival of national identity.

Dr Sadia also shared her future plans toestablish an institute of sustainable develop-ment for sustainable Pakistan, team of Paki-stan Observer congratulated her on her suc-cessful event and her passion regarding a se-rious cultural issue.

Exhibition on ‘cultural preservation,restoration through art, craft’

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—A group of philanthropistshailing from Taiwan will distribute about500 ton rice among the needy and desti-tute people of Pakistan and this charitycampaign will start from June 12 inLahore and later extend to other parts ofthe country.

This was disclosed by Prof DrGhulam Qadir Fayyaz, General SecretaryCleft Lip and Palate Association of Paki-stan (CLAPP) while addressing a pressconference held here on Monday atLahore Press Club.

Dr Ghulam said the Executive Direc-tor of Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation(NCF) Rebecca Wang was leading thedelegation, while the other members wereamong Lee Shang Lin, Huang Pei Li and

Liang Yung Kuang. President Al MustafaWelfare Society (Trust) Mian KhalidHabib Elahi was also present on the oc-casion.

Prof Fayyaz said that delegation hasreached with an aid of 500 ton rice fromTaiwan and it would be distributed dur-ing the next three months with the helpof Al Mustafa Welfare Society (Trust),which already has a countrywide net-work.

He further said that a ceremony forthe distribution of rice would be held atShahdara, Lahore on Thursday and laterit would also distribute in other parts ofthe country include 15 districts of thePunjab province, 25 districts in Sindhprovince and then in Muzaffarabad AzadKashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andBalochistan. “The rice aid had already

reached in Karachi and Al Mustafa Wel-fare Society was making 10 Kg bags foreach family and this was the fourth timewhen Taiwan was sending the rice aid inPakistan, in 2011 we had received 100ton rice for the flood victim, in 2012 wereceived 400 tons rice and last year wereceived 500 ton rice from the brothercountry,” he added.

The market prices of the rice aid wasestimated Rs 30 million, while AlMustafa Welfare Society had spent Rs 5million for packing, transportation anddistribution purposes.

Prof Fayyaz said that during currentyear CLAPP would conduct 300 surger-ies for the children who were sufferingcleft lip and palate problems. CLAPPwould organize free camps in backwardand for flung areas for this purposes.

Taiwan sends 500 tons riceaid to needy Pakistanis

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Chairman Albayrak Groupof Companies Ahmet Albarak and TurkAmbassador Sadik Babur Girgin haveappreciated the vision of Punjab ChiefMinister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifregarding completion of several devel-opment projects for the progress and

welfare of the people of Punjab and saidthat he is utilizing his tremendous lead-ership qualities and abilities for raisingthe living standard of the masses.

They said that Punjab is emergingas a developed and prosperous province.They said that Shahbaz Sharif hasproved his abilities by ensuring comple-tion of development projects in a record

period of time.They further said that Lahore metro

bus project has been completed in arecord period and lakhs of citizens arebenefiting from this economical andspeedy transport service. They said thatprojects like metro bus are a gloriousexample of utilization of national re-sources on the masses.

Turkey appreciates devvision of Punjab Govt

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Leader of Jamiat Ahle-Hadith Senator Prof. Sajid Mir called onPunjab Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif, here Monday. Overallsituation of the country was discussedin the meeting. The Chief Minister saidthat Pakistan is facing the challenge ofextremism and terrorism however, Mus-lim League-N government is determined

to overcome all the problems being facedby the country.

He said that the whole nation willhave to unite on one platform to steerthe country out of lawlessness. ShahbazSharif said that the cowardly act of ter-rorism at Karachi Airport is highly de-plorable but the security officials havethwarted the nefarious designs of theterrorists by laying down their lives. Hesaid that sacrifices of security person-

nel will not go waste.He said that the whole nation is pay-

ing tributes to security forces over theircourage and bravery. Shahbaz Sharifsaid that Ulema should promote the sen-timents of religious tolerance, brother-hood and amity for creating a peacefulsociety. Member National AssemblyHafiz Abdul Karim and Amin SulemanMangla of Bait-ul-Mal Punjab were alsopresent on the occasion.

Sacrifices of security personnelwill not go waste, says Shahbaz

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Lahore High Court (LHC)Complaint Cell on Monday has disposedof a notice regarding death of a 65-year-old woman allegedly during police raid,as the guilty police officials have beensuspended from service and departmen-tal proceedings have been initiatedagainst them.

According to details, a Bhiki policeparty consisting of an ASI, Abdul SalamDogar and three constables, along withtwo complainants Ghulam Rasool andHakim Bashir, raided a house owned by

Sheikh Riaz Ahmad in Capri Park areato arrest him in connection with a mon-etary dispute. As the police entered thehouse, Riaz’s elderly mother MaqboolBibi asked them the reason for the tresspass and offered resistance. During theensuing scuffle, the ASI pushed thewoman whose head struck against anelectric pole resulting in her instant death.

On a press report LHC ComplaintCell had taken cognizance of the issueand directed District & Sessions JudgeSheikhupura to probe into the incidentand submit a detailed report within aweek as to the steps taken by the police

along with his own comments. The Ses-sions Judge reported that City A-Divi-sion police registered a criminal caseagainst Ghulam Rasool, Hakim Bashir,ASI Abdul Salam, Head ConstableShabbir Ahmad, Constables Shujah,Akhtar and Sarwar. Delinquent policeofficials have been suspended and servedwith a charge sheet for imposition ofmajor penalty. The D&SJ has directedthe DPO Sheikhupura to ensure impar-tial investigation of the case strictly onmerit and in accordance with law andsubmit police report u/s 173 Cr.P.C. inthe court within the stipulated time.

Inquiry against cops initiatedfor torturing lady to death

Ombudsman directsBenevolent Fund

Board to clear casesof funeral grant

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Calling for Com-puterized National Identity Card(CNIC) of the deceased govern-ment employee for funeralgrand from Benevolent FundBoard is quiet unnecessary andirrelevant, declares Ombuds-man Punjab Javed Mahmood.

Concerned departmentknows well that NADRA can-not issue CNIC to a deceasedcitizen so such requirement tan-tamount to denial of legitimateright of the widow and childrenof the deceased governmentemployee, says the OmbudsmanPunjab.

He has directed BenevolentFund Board to clear hundredsof case of funeral grant as earlyas possible and not to stop pay-ments to the families of pension-ers in future on account of nonavailability of CNIC of de-ceased employees.

Incahrge Mohtasib PunjabPension Cell, Wazir AhmadQureshi, in the light of Ombuds-man Punjab’s orders, directedDCO Gujranwala /ChairmanDistrict Benevolent Fund Boardto finalize 54 cases of funeralgrant pending payment duringkhuli kuchery at Gujranwala.