SAtuRDAy April 27, 2013 Jamadi-us-Saani 16, 1434 I Rawalpindi/Islamabad I Vol, VI, No. 08 I www.thespokesman.pk Pages 12 I Price 10/-

TTOODDAAYY’’SS WWEEAATTHHEERR

An afternoonthunderstorm

HIGH: 33 LOW: 17

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GOING GREEN,COMING CLEAN– ATHAR MIAN

PG I 06

HEALING THEWOUNDS OF FATA– ANWAR MEHSUD

CMyk

A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK:BILAWAL BHUTTO

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SNEAK PEEKBabus demanding bribeto vet house possessions

The governmentdepartments, it seems,have avowed to irritatecitizens instead offacilitating them. Afresh example of the

above-said attitude is the case of aflat/quarter that is not being handedover to its bona fide allottee withoutbribe. The officials at estate officeinstead of releasing the quarter fromillegal possession for its legal allottee,are asking for the bribe, claimed by thevictim.

Page 02

Sindh cities shut for secondday in MQM mourning

Business activities,education institutionsand transport remainedclosed in various citiesof Sindh for the secondconsecutive day on

Friday on a call given by the MuttahidaQuami Movement against anotherbomb attack on the party’s electionoRce in Karachi.

Page 04

Awami Workers Party in pollswith new socialism plan

With a slogan to ‘build anew programme ofsocialism for 21st centuryPakistan’, AwamiWorkers Party (AWP) iscontesting the upcoming

general elections from five NationalAssembly and 11 provincial assembly seatsin Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Page 05

‘Pakistan never defaultedon international obligations’

Dr. Shahid AmjadChaudhry, Adviser toPrime Minister onFinance said thatPakistan has neverdefaulted in its

international obligations since 1947and will never default. The Adviserto Prime Minister on Finance dr.Shahid Amjad Chaudhry passedthese remarks while meeting withHiroshi Oe, ambassador of Japan toPakistan who called on him onFriday.

Page 09

PFDC - Colours of fashioncomes under one roof

Where fashion,glamour and stars,meet each other, ThePakistan FashionDesign Council[PFDC] kicks off their

sixth collaboration for prêt à porterfashion week in Lahore. PFDCFashion Week 2013 is four daysfashion frenzy with lineup of 33famous fashion designers, textilehouses and high street labels. Variousdesigners show their talents anddesign philosophy at day one.

Page 10

ZEESHAN JAVAID

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Water and PowerDevelopment Authority's (WAPDA)allied power distribution companiesin connivance of Central PowerPurchase Agency (CPPA) havecompleted paperwork to shiftanother financial burden ontoelectricity consumers by seeking anenormous increase of Rs. 1.38 perunit in the name of monthly fueladjustment charges in bills for last

March.The Spokesman has learnt from

documents it has, that the ex-WAPDA nine power distributioncompanies excluding KarachiElectric Supply Company (KESC)have petitioned the National ElectricPower Regulatory Authority(NEPRA) for an additional increasein power tariS on behalf of thenumeric game designed by CPPA.Once NEPRA, the tariS

determining authority, approves the

proposed increase, powerdistribution companies will be ableto pull a hefty Rs. 8.28 billion outfrom the pockets of electricityconsumers, suSering an average 16to 20 hours of electricity outagesacross the board. NEPRA has setApril 30 to hear all stakeholders atthe authority’s secretariat toannounce a decision.According to the CPPA’s

calculation with the authority, theelectricity purchase agency sold

6.018 billion units to powerdistribution companies, whereasfuel cost was Rs 54.990 billion inMarch 2013.The CPPA is of the view that

because of hike in prices of furnaceoil in the international market, costof thermal power generationautomatically increased, adding thepower generation through otherresources including Hydel duringMarch had declined and powergeneration companies were

compelled to generate electricitypower through imported fuel.Sources in the Ministry of Water

and Power informed TheSpokesman that over the last fouryears, power tariS has beenincreased up to 337 percent to meetthe government's daily expenses orunder the head of developmentwork, while on the other hand powerdistribution companies are yet toachieve the proposed targets ofarrears recovery.

WAPDA seeks to bleed consumers for Rs 1.38

KKAARRAACCHHII:: PPeeooppllee ssttaannddiinngg aatt tthhee ssiittee ooff aa bboommbbiinngg nneeaarr tthhee AANNPP oo((ccee iinn MMoommiinnaabbaadd.. –ONLINE

KKAARRAACCHHII//IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: At least 15 peoplewere killed and more than 40 injured —including six children — in an explosion nearan Awami National Party (ANP) oRce in theMominabad area of Orangi Town on Friday.The number of causalities is expected to riseas some of injured are in a critical condition.The bombing came after an ANP

candidate was targeted in the Landhi area ofthe city; however, he escaped unhurt.The explosion in Mominabad, caused by

an explosive device targeting a cornermeeting of the party, was heard in severalareas of the city including North Nazimabad,Gurumandir and Soldier Bazaar.DIG West Zafar Bukhari said that the blast

targeted ANP candidate Bashir Jan, but heremained safe in the incident.Earlier in the day, the vehicle of ANP

candidate was attacked with cracker bombin Landhi. He, however, remained safe in theblast. ANP spokesman said Abdul Rehman,who is contesting election from NationalAssembly constituency NA-255, was on hisway to somewhere when miscreants hurled acracker on his car in Landhi MuzaSarabadColony Friday morning. The candidateremained safe in the blast, however, twopasserby children were reportedly injured inthe blast. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) claimed responsibility for bombattacks on two ANP candidates in Karachi,which killed and injured dozens of people.TTP spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claimedresponsibility in a telephonic call late Friday.ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan

condemned the bombing but vowed that hisparty would not boycott the elections.Meanwhile, the ANP has announced a dayof mourning for today (Saturday).The caretaker chief minister of Sindh

condemned the attack and ordered the IGSindh to submit a report of the incident.

On Thursday, a blast had targetedMuttahida Qaumi Movement’s electionoRce in the North Nazimabad area of thecity, claiming five lives. The party had calledfor a day of mourning across the city.The Taliban have directly threatened the

three main parties in the outgoinggovernment, the Pakistan People’s Party, theAwami National Party and the MQM, whichare often described as secular.ANP, one of the largest political forces in

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, is being targetedwith increased frequency. The party hascome under attack in K-P at least seventimes over the past few weeks.Meanwhile, strongly condemning the

recent killing and kidnapping of leaders ofMQM as well as attack on party’s pollingoRce in Karachi, the Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP) termed it as failure of theprovincial government contrary to theassurances given regarding maintenance oflaw and order in their respective provinces.While considering complaints received to iton behalf of the party, the ECP unanimouslycondemned the incident and termed it asfailure of the provincial government inmaintenance law and order in the province.The ECP has, on several occasions,categorically directed the provincialgovernments to ensure the security of allcontesting candidates and political leaders. The commission has called upon the

provincial government of Sindh to take allpossible measures to ensure the security ofall the contesting candidates and leaders ofall political parties in the provinceparticularly in Karachi by making fool proofarrangements in this regard. Thecommission also expressed its deepestcondolence with the MQM and the bereavedfamilies on the deaths of its leaders andworkers. –AGENCIES/STAFF REPORT

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Supreme Court(SC) has directed AttorneyGeneral (AG) to hold a meetingwith the government, ElectionCommission, NADRA and otherstakeholders for enactment oftemporary legislation to includeoverseas Pakistanis in theelectoral process.A 3-member SC bench headed

by the Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry resumed hearing the"overseas Pakistanis right tovote" case on Friday.The AG told the court the

Election Commission (EC)couldn't make overseasPakistanis part of the electoralprocess and the federation toohad replied that nothing hadbeen done about the issue and itwas too late now.The CJ remarked that nowhere

had the federation nor EC saidthey had reservations andNADRA and Ministry ofOverseas Pakistanis had saidthat it was practicable. The AGsaid that since the EC hasreplied in categorical terms thatthey can do nothing. If EC issaying that it cannot be done

then government is bound tocomply with directions of ECunder Article 225.The NADRA chairman said in

his reply that NADRA couldinclude overseas Pakistanis inthe electoral process by the E-voting system for whichcomputer software had beendeveloped and NADRA hadspoken to the Finance Ministryfor funds. It had also written tothe EC. The Foreign Ministrytoo had assured the court that itcould implement the court’sorders. Counsel for the ForeignMinistry said Pakistan'sconsulate in Jeddah wascontacted and arrangementswould be completed in a month.The CJP remarked “Think aboutit. We will issue orders in thisrespect and you will have to doit. If you don’t comply with theorders of the court, we will dealwith you. We have kept the ECfortified. Extraordinaryimportance will have to be givento overseas Pakistanis. Givethem their right to become partof the electoral process.”The hearing of the case was

adjourned till April 29. –ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: Indian spy SarabjitSingh, who was imprisoned atKot Lakhpat Jail, was shiftedto hospital after he wasattacked by five of his fellowprisoners on Friday. Hereceived severe head injuriesand was later shifted to JinnahHospital for medicaltreatment where doctors saidhe was in critical condition.Sarbajit was awarded death

sentence for his involvementin bomb blast in Lahore’sBhaati Chowk area in 1990.His mercy petitions were

rejected by the courts and

former President PervezMusharraf. The PakistanPeople’s Party-led governmentput off Sarabjit's execution foran indefinite period in 2008.His family members have

visited Pakistan several timesand made many mercy appealsto the president to revokeSarbajit’s death sentence. Anassistant superintendent ofpolice and jail warden weresuspended following theattack on Sarabjit Singh andPunjab Home Departmentordered the investigation ofthe attack.According to Inspector

General (IG) Punjab, assistantsuperintendent, jail wardenand several other personnelhave been suspended fornegligence. –ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: A ForeignORce spokesman Fridayconfirmed that concurrenceof seven host governmentshas been received for theconduct of polling foroverseas Pakistanis.At the weekly news

briefing, he said the ElectionCommission had short-listednine countries where pollingcould be held. “Theconcurrence from SaudiArabia, Bahrain, Oman,Kuwait, Australia, Canadaand the United Kingdom hasbeen received while aresponse from the US andthe United Arab Emirateswas awaited.”To another question he

said Pakistan embassy inBaghdad has been asked toextend assistance toPakistani Zaireen strandedon Iraqi border.To another question the

spokesman said there are noterror camps in Pakistan.About arrest of four British

Muslims for plotting terrorattacks and allegations thatthey received training inPakistan, he said terroristsare being tried indifferent countries andthey make differentstatements. –AGENCIES

KKAARRAACCHHII:: A high-levelmeeting chaired by InterimPrime Minister Mir HazarKhan Khoso on Fridaydecided to constitute ajoint task force to deal withrising incidents ofterrorism ahead of thegeneral election scheduledfor May 11.In the meeting it was

decided to constitute a jointtask force, comprisingfederal and provincial lawenforcing agencies, to dealwith growing incidents ofterrorism.Interim PM expressed

the resolve to break thenexus of terrorists. He saidthat such incidents werean attempt to sabotage theelection process. Hedirected FC, Rangers andthe police to jointly moveagainst terrorists. It was also decided in the

meeting that close circuitcameras will be installed atsensitive polling stationsin Karachi. –ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD::Intelligence agencies havewarned that the Talibanhave made plans to kidnapformer military rulerPervez Musharraf, who iscurrently being held at hisprivate residence hereafter being arrested inseveral criminal cases.The intelligence agencies

have issued an advisorythat the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan mightattempt to abductMusharraf while he isbeing taken from hisfarmhouse to court, aprivate channel reportedon Friday.The channel quoted its

sources as saying that theTaliban were working withother jihadi groups tokidnap Musharraf.The intelligence agencies

directed security agenciesto ensure strictsurveillance and tightsecurity to foil the plans ofthe militants, the report

said. Shortly afterMusharraf returned toPakistan from self- exile lastmonth, the Talibanannounced that they hadformed a special squad ofsuicide bombers andsnipers to target him.A car rigged with a huge

amount of explosives wasrecently found nearMusharraf 's farmhouse onthe outskirts of Islamabad,which was declared a "sub-jail" after he was arrestedlast week when a courtrevoked his bail in a caseover the detention of dozensof judges during the 2007emergency. –ONLINE

‘Taliban plan tokidnap Musharraf ’

ANP meetingbombed inKarachi

Overseas Pakistanis’ right to vote

SC tells AG to‘arrange’ a law

Indian spy Sarbajit injured infellow prisoners’ attack in jail

Joint taskforce to tackleterrorism

7 countriesallow overseaspolling

� 15 dead, over 40 injured in explosive device blast� ECP says violence failure of provincial government

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Speakers at the launch of policy briefon water management in the Central KarakorumNational Park on Friday emphasised oncollaborative eNorts to practice research on theimpact of climatic changes in the highlands. Theysaid that only an integrated and collaborativeapproach would help conserve the glaciers for asmooth and steady provision of water, not only forhuman life but also for the downstream as well.The policy brief was launched by the SEED Project

of EVK2CNR in collaboration with the KarakorumInternational University and other partners. ItalianEmbassy Head Domenico Bruzzone was the chiefguest. Javed Malik, one of the guests, said, “Ourglaciers contribute a large volume of water to the RiverIndus that runs across the country and supports theagriculture of Pakistan. We need to take immediatesteps to conserve our water towers by conserving thenatural habitats and water resources besidesprotecting the rivers and lakes from the untreated

waste water.” Dr Najma Najam said that the KIU isone of the major partners in the implementation ofthe project. “As many as 20 students have enrolledfor the PhD programs on variety of natureconservation and social development while 40research projects are being run and those studentsspend their weekends in the field,” she said. SEED Project Director RaNaele Del Cima said that

the objectives of this policy are to draw on the bodyof knowledge generated by the researches that havebeen carried out since 2009 through the SocioEconomic Environmental Development project forthe CKNP in Gilgit-Baltistan. “Specifically, thedocument highlights water issues and defines somepriority actions based on the research findings” shesaid. She added that the recommendations providesupport to the Pakistan National Drinking WaterPolicy (2009) that states the need to ‘provide accessto safe and sustainable drinking water supply to theentire population of Pakistan by 2025.’ �ONLINE

Speakers stress joint eNort for water management

SHANEL KHALIQ

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Research on happiness hassuggested that up to 50 percent of happinesslevel depends on genetics and only a 30 to 40percent on how we think and act, said DrChristine Combe, a veteran educationist.He was addressing an interactive session on

Personal and Professional Growth through lifesatisfaction, organised by the Vista Consult. Asthe decade of the 1990s progressed more,research began to be carried out on happinessas a consequence of the positive psychologymovement which emphasised people’s strengthsmore as compared to weaknesses.A large part of this research has shown that

contrary to widespread belief life circumstances

such as marital status, physical attractivenessand occupation account for only 10 to 20percent of our happiness. Christine Combe whohas been in the business of education fordecades now and was also president of TESOLInternational, an international body for thedevelopment of teachers, highlighted someimportant ingredients of happiness in livesaccording to global research.Most of this research has pointed out certain

major indicators such as relationships, personalpractices, personal characteristics, leisure,professional practices and life purpose as whatdefine and shape happiness in the lives. Selfconfidence and satisfaction over one self has alsobeen identified as a key factor in determininghappiness level. “Studies have also shown that

greater ethnic identity is associated with 10percent greater life satisfaction,” says Combe.Getting the right amount of sleep was also

identified as integral in boosting happiness.According to Dr Combe, studies have revealedthat better sleepers are 31 percent more satisfiedwith their lives than average sleepers.Furthermore, when elaborating uponprofessional practices and goals, Dr Combe saidthat experience has shown that people whofollow their intuition mostly were generally moresatisfied. “Hence over thinking and analysing alloptions can lead us to making a decision that wemay not be content with later,” she added. Concluding the session, she said that aligning

the goals with one another can have a majorimpact on attaining a higher happiness quotient.

Happiness level depends on genetics: research

CMYK

CMYK

AIOU awards to studentcounselors, workersIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Allama Iqbal OpenUniversity will give annual awardsfrom the next year to its studentcounselors and field workers on thebasis of their outstanding performancein increasing the admission percentagein their areas, said AIOU ViceChancellor Prof Dr Nazir AhmedSangi. He was addressing theconcluding ceremony of the three-dayworkshop of the student counselorsand field workers of the university. Theworkshop was arranged by theDirectorate of Student Advisory andCounseling Services in which studentcounselors and field workers across thecountry participated. �ONLINE

CDA approves generatorsfor tubewells in Sector I-8IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The CapitalDevelopment Authority has approvedinstallation of generators to ensuresmooth supply of water from tubewellsin Sector I-8. Taking strict notice ofpersisting water short fall in the sector,CDA Chairman Tahir Shahbaz approvedthe proposal. Engineering MemberSanaullah Amman proposed that thegenerators be installed at tubewells toavoid suspension of water supply in thewake of loadshedding hours. �ONLINE

Blind woman commitssuicide in G/10-4IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: A woman committedsuicide due to her handicap in the areaG/10-4 here the other day. According todetail, a woman Shakeela Rafiq ainhabitant of G/10-4 was in dire distresson account of her blindness andcommitted suicide. It has been told thatsome two years back Shakeela neighbornamely Muhammad Ali threw acid onher face due to which her eyes and facewas severely burnt she also lost her eyesight in the incident. The woman fed upwith her handicap committed suicide byhanging her self from the ceiling fan.Her husband has appealed from theDeputy Commissioner not to conductpost mortem of his wife, the request hasbeen accepted. It is significant tomention here that the blind woman washis second wife. �ONLINE

Uplift to be paced upIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Decision has beentaken to gear up the developmentwork in the G-14 and also to initiatework in G-15/3 sector respectively.Federal Government EmployeesHousing Foundation sources saidthat the survey has been started in G-15 sector and DG HousingFoundation; Talat Rashid hasdirected the technical wing that PC-1be prepared for the developmentwork in G-15/3. �ONLINE

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Islamabad HighCourt on Friday expressed annoyanceover the failure of Interior Ministry tosubmit report against IslamabadPolice Inspector General Bin AminKhan in case related to escape offormer president Pervez Musharraffrom the court and also warned that

non compliance of the court ordersmay fall heavy on them.Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddique

resumed hearing of the case related toMusharraf ’s escape from the courtafter rejection of his interim bail onApril 18. During the course ofhearing, Interior Ministry SectionOMcer Malik Ali Muhammadsubmitted before the court that the

ministry had not received writtenorder from the Supreme Court due towhich the report cannot be preparedagainst the police chief.On April 18, the former president

got succeeded to escape from the IHCeven after the judge declined toextend his interim bail and issuedorders for his arrest. Later, the IHCtook notice of the police failure to

apprehend the former military rulerand summoned the police chief inperson before the court.After examining the situation,

Justice Siddique on April 23 directedthe Interior secretary to take actionagainst the IGP for his failure toensure the proper arrangements forMusharraf ’s arrest after cancellation ofhis interim bail. However, the IGP

challenged the high court decision inthe Supreme Court but the apex courtalso dismissed the plea of the policechief and directed the Interiorsecretary for carrying out investigationagainst the IGP on merit.But even after the court directions,

the Interior Ministry failed to carryout any type of investigation or actionagainst the IG Islamabad which

perturbed the court. The InteriorMinistry oMcial adopted before thecourt that the documents, regardingthe case, have also been sent to LawMinistry for legal opinion. However,the court asked them not to linger onthe case under pretext of opinions.However, after hearing the case,

the court adjourned the hearing tillApril 29.

Interior Ministry annoys IHC over Musharraf escape� Court warns not complying with orders may fall heavy on ministry officials

TThhee ssttuuddeennttss ooff DDrr AAbbdduull QQaaddiirr KKhhaann SScchhooooll SSyysstteemm pprrootteessttiinngg iinn ffrroonntt ooff NNaattiioonnaall PPrreessss CClluubb ffoorr tthheeiirr ddeemmaannddss.. �THE SPOKESMAN

HOMER BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The government departments, itseems, have avowed to irritate citizens instead offacilitating them. A fresh example of the above-said attitude is the case of a flat/quarter that isnot being handed over to its bona fide allotteewithout bribe. The oMcials at estate oMce insteadof releasing the quarter from illegal possessionfor its legal allottee, are asking for the bribe,claimed by the victim.The documents reveal that Zia Ullah Khan,

working as Stenographer in the Ministry ofPrivatization on deputation basis, was allotted aquarter vide estate oMce Letter No. 9/7-D, G-9/2/EII/EO, on which he obtained protectivestay order from the court of civil judge. On that time, the house was in the possession of

Arif Khan, who was working as statisticalassistant at the Federal Bureau of Statistics. It isrevealed in the documents that Arif Khan wasgetting retired on June 15, 2012, while he wasgranted a grace period of six months to handoverthe quarter to its new allottee.

“On December 14, after the expiry of the graceperiod for handing over the possession of thequarter, I forwarded an application requesting tohandover the possession of the quarter peacefully,but then I came to know that during past thegrace period, the quarter was illegally re-allottedto a charge nurse of the Pakistan Institute ofMedical Sciences,” said Zia Ullah Khan, thevictim. He said that he visited Malik NomanLangrial, the then Minister of State for Housing,several time to bring the issue into his notice. “The minister directed to inquire the issue and

submit the inquiry report within three days.Although it had been confirmed during theinquiry that I was the real allottee of the quarterwhile the allotment letter of the nurse wasdeclared bogus, the inquiry report was neversubmitted to the minister despite his orders,” saidZia. He said after visiting the oMce again and again,

the estate oMce finally issued a notice on January3, 2013, to the current possessor of the quarterdirecting him to handover the possession of thequarter within 24 hours, but all in vain.

He claimed that now the oMcial of the estateoMce as well as the police instead of providinghim justice has joined their hands with the illegalpossessor and demanded him bribe.“When Arif failed to handover the possession

of the quarter despite the notice issued, Iapproached to the enforcement cell of the estateoMce and requested to release the quarter fromhis possession but they refused to provide anysort of assistance, while Joint Estate OMcer AyubKhan, Inspector Sarfraz and Sub-Inspector Tahirhameed demanded twenty thousand rupees forvacation of the subject quarter, which I paid toMr Ayub Kahn, they did nothing,” said Zia.He said after two months, he again visited Mr

Ayub with the same request but he againdemanded even higher amount of bribe throughhis middle man. “Mr Ayub along with his enforcement staN

namely Inspector Sarfraz and Sub-InspectorTahir Hameed demanded me rupees 100,00through Assistant Sub-Inspector Asghar Ali ofMargala Police Station, for releasing the quarterfrom illegal possession, which I refused.

ZEESHAN JAVAID

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Algerian AmbassadorDr Ahmed Benflis said that Pakistanand Algeria are enjoying excellentpolitical relations but the economicrelations are not satisfactory, therefore,both the countries should strengthenbilateral trade ties by establishingdirect contact between the businesscommunities of both the countries.He was addressing to the business

community of Islamabad Chamber ofCommerce & Industry. He said that theAlgerian economic reforms and itssocial sectors are playing major role forthe betterment of its people as well as itoNers great opportunities for theinvestment in various industrial andagricultural sectors. He said that wehave rich oil and gas reserves,exporting Liquefied Natural Gas toseveral countries like Italy, Spain andFrance. Therefore, Pakistanientrepreneurs and investors couldfurther develop trade relations withtheir brotherly country Algeria for themutual benefits of two countries, headded. The ambassador said thatrecently Algeria had signed a MoUwith Pakistan in the field of trade andcommerce with an aimed to boost upthe trade and commercial ties betweentwo countries.He said that an international

exhibition would be held in May andJune this year in Algeria and hopedthat Pakistani businessmen wouldavail this opportunity by taking part inthis exhibition and introducing theirproducts there. On this occasion, ICCIPresident Zafar Bakhtawari saidPakistan and Algeria have alwaysenjoyed extremely cordial and friendlyrelations, as Pakistan was one of thefirst countries to recognise theProvisional Government of Algeria. Hesaid that both the countries were facingthe problem of terrorism andexpressed hope that they wouldovercome this menace very soon.He said that Pakistan is in deep

energy crisis; therefore, Algeriashould help Pakistan by increasingexports of LNG. Similarly, Pakistanibusinessmen could also explore theopportunities and export of rice andtextile products directly to Algeria.Bakhtawari said that Algeria isPakistan's important trading partnerbut still trade volume between boththe countries is negligible if takingaccount of trade volume of Algeria asUS $124 billion in 2012.

Algeria, Pakistanshould developbilateral trade,says envoy

Babus demanding bribeto vet house possessions

PPMMLL((QQ)) lleeaaddeerr CChh PPeerrvvaaiizz EEllaahhii aaddddrreessiinngg aa pprreessss ccoonnffrreennccee iinn tthhee ffeeddeerraall ccaappiittaall.. �THE SPOKESMAN

FFoorrmmeerr HHiigghheerr EEdduuccaattiioonn CCoommmmiissssiioonn cchhaaiirrmmaann aanndd ffoorrmmeerr ffeeddeerraall mmiinniisstteerr DDrr AAttaauurr RRaahhmmaann aawwaarrddiinnggaa mmeeddaall ttoo aa uunniivveerrssiittyy ssttuuddeenntt..

EE--VViillllaaggee FFoouunnddaattiioonn PPrrooggrraammmmeeCCoooorrddiinnaattoorr FFaauuzziiaa NNoouusshheeeenn aaddddrreessssiinngg aacceerreemmoonnyy iinn ccoonnnneeccttiioonn IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall DDaayy ffoorrIICCTT’’ss GGiirrllss.. �ONLINE

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Venom Inc. This should not beheld against me in a court of lawas I solemnly declare that these

are absolute lies, dirty whispers and wildspeculation that I have heard whilecrawling in the dark power corridors ofthe creepy Capital. You will believe themat your own risk Shh...If you have venomto spill please don’t hesitate to share withus on our blog at www.thespokesman.pk

POWER ALLEYS|����

MOHAMMED RIZWAN

LAHORE: It’s time Pakistan takes another stepforward. It has already gone through nothingless than a revolution – dedicated Facebookpages, Twitter accounts, text messages – all in-creasing candidates’ access to the masses andspreading the messages like never before. Butthis digital media revolution is basically benefit-ing those who have access to internet and cellphones. Most of the rural and semi-rural popu-lation in the country certainly do not have accessto internet and have partial access to cell phones,despite the technologies’ vast urban appeal. Sowhat’s the best way to reach maximum numberof people in Pakistan without being actuallythere? – TV. Television hit the waves in Pakistansome 49 years before and its appeal and pene-tration has only increased ever since. It is alsoconsidered the best thing next to physical ap-pearance.True, today political parties in Pakistan areaware of this and have bought airtimes on na-tional networks to reach the masses. However,surprisingly and interestingly the same partiesare shying away from media debates that arenationally televised between the heads of thecontesting parties. The concept is old in maturedemocracies but it is catching up. Even in Iran,a country controlled by clergy, the nationalmedia aired public debates of presidential can-didates. The idea, if applied in Pakistan, has thepotential of transforming the collective political

wisdom of the nation almost instantly. The peo-ple here would be able to judge who is telling alie and who has the most potent programme ofreform for them.PML-N, so far, is the only political partyamong the three frontrunners – PPP, PTI andPPP – that is resisting the idea. PTI is actuallythe one that originally proposed it. PPP and itsyoung leader Bilawalalso look receptive ashe is consideringrunning his party’scampaign throughvideo conferencesand real timeTV ad-d r e s s e s .Religiousparties, weall knowhow muchthey lovel o u d -speakers.They would love this idea, thinkingof it as yet another chance of deliver-ing sermons from the pulpit. Butthere are several political leaders inPakistan who never allow two-waycommunication. Even the seniorparty leaders, who have been servingthe party for years, do not dare tospeak against the leader. Reason: the

party heads do not like to be told what is rightand what is wrong. They have the tendency totreat the party as fiefdoms and the workers andsecond-tier leaders as serfs.And there are few party leaders who, evenafter serving a public life for decades, are not thebest of communicators. They can mutter partypositions written in the form of chits to whoeverwants to listen but they can’t stand in a dock infront of millions of people on national televisionand spell out their party’s policy on a particularissue. The very idea simply baPes them and thefear of failing is too much to handle. It alsoclearly shows deep in their heart they do not feelthemselves answerable or accountable to thepeople of Pakistan. They are accustomed to

hear claps to whatever they

utter. No one dares tell them otherwise.But the political culture is changingfast…faster than the old order of politics inPakistan could keep pace with. A change in PML-N campaigning in Lahoreis already visible. Despite the fact that thechallenger this time is not PPP, its PTI thatcomprises youngsters and political rookieswho are out to challenge the established po-litical order. In NA 119, considered home con-stituency for Sharif family from whereShahbaz Sharif returned victorious many atimes, Hamza Shahbaz is up against a 34-yearold first timer. For the first time Hamza iscampaigning going door to door in this con-stituency and making every eRort possible towoo the voters. It was unthinkable in the last elections.Usually in NA 119 and NA 120, the seat fromwhere Nawaz Sharif is running, the MPAsrunning from these constituencies would runthe campaigns of elder Sharifs while they areoR to other parts of the country. But this timein NA 120, Kalsoom Nawaz and MaryamNawaz are going door to door against YasminRashid, another first timer of PTI. The PML-N is changing its political campaign ways andit’s high time that they let the change take itscourse and agree to nationally televised pub-lic debates with their opponents. History isreplete with examples that when changecomes it doesn’t matter how much resistanceis oRered by whom.

A new kid on the block: Bilawal BhuttoSAEED MINHAS

There has hardly been anelection since 1970s when areal Bhutto was not seen

running through rallies, addressinggatherings and waving to the crowdsacross the country to harvest supportfor the party candidates but all thishas changed in this election. To understand this phenomenon,The Spokesman ventured into theparty ranks and interviewed multiplelayers of leadership. Given below aresome of the thoughts transpired fromthese discussions held with Benazirloyalists, Zardari lovers and politicalpundits.Threats from Taliban, Zardari-centric party politics, new rules of theelection game and a half-hearted andhalf matured legal chairman of theparty are all being cited as the reasonsfor Peoples Party’s absence frompolitical campaigning. There areothers who believe that it is but usualto see the ruling party’s popularitygoing for a dip in Pakistan’schequered political history. Yet thereare those who are blaming the courtsfor throwing the party in the arenawith their hands chained to contestthose who seem to have receivedspecial treatment throughout PPP’sfive-year rule from My Lords.The fact remains that masterBilawal, despite hiring a surname, isyet to transform into a Bhutto, whompeople remember as challenging thethreats and posing questions toopponents while standing right in themiddle of the masses. The

transformation from Zardari toBhutto is considered not a small oneby many of the seasoned partystalwarts. A new kid on the block ishow many political opponents havestarted calling Bilawal even beforethe upcoming elections. Partyloyalists refer to him as young masterwith all due reverence for his adoptedfamily name of Bhutto.Many are drawing parallels withthe defiance of his late motherBenazir Bhutto, withoutunderstanding that Benazir launchedherself in Pakistani politics at a timewhen state funded fanatics had not

started hitting inwards. Ziaul Haqand Company’s strategic assets werebusy in foreign lands and Pakistanishad never heard of suicide bombersor IED attacks. She learned the art ofleadership on the job and defiancecame with the passage of time. Therewas a time when she agreed to all thedictates of the Khakis before the 1988swearing in and then came the 2007parleys where she pulled uniformedjunta into NRO negotiations toensure her own and Mian NawazSharif ’s return to the country. Shedefied the same Khakis only aftergaining a hard-earned maturity.

Bilawal, on the other hand, did nothave to go through house arrests, didnot see a tyrant holding hisgrandfather and neither could he findthe time to mix and mingle with thePakistanis. The result is that hehardly knows anyone but those whowere considered loyalists by hismother during their self-exile days inDubai or London. Shifting schoolsfrom Islamabad to Karachi then on toDubai and ending up in London washow he completed his studies sincehis birth in 1988. He was only threemonths when his mother weatheredthe heavy hands of Khakis andearned an election victory.Bilawal, for all practical purposes,revealed in many interviews with allthose who saw him raised in all thoseplaces, has grown up under theshadows of his mother and, at themost, with his two sisters. Hischemistry with the father’s Zardariclan has never been in place till hiscrowning as party chairman inDecember 2007 or even as Tuman(Chief) of Zardari tribes in 2010. Allthose whom he had seen surroundinghis mother were systematically keptout of the gates by Zardari andresultantly he could find himselfdoing nothing but posing for thephoto-ops where his father would berunning the show. Proverbial unclesand aunties looked at him withapathy and cared for him like apolitical infant, revealed thoseinsiders who have seen him formonths in Garhi Khuda Bukhsh orKarachi.The result is that Bilawal is seen at a

distance from the real party and moreclose to the huge legacy he has beenasked to carry on, without much timeand liberty to choose between his likesand dislikes. Having his mother’slooks is not the only resemblance hebrings to the political table ofPakistan; he is already subjected tomany rumours ranging from hispersonal relations to his liking orotherwise for many aunties anduncles surrounding him. He is alreadyfacing many of the questions beingraised in the current elections aboutthe conduct and politics of his fatherand much more reverence from thesame critics for his mother that itmight take him another—dependingon many factors—election cycle tofathom the diRerence between hisacquired status and his bloodline. Asone of the old family servants oncerevealed about one of the lastmeetings of Benazir Bhutto with allher three kids, she distributed themajority of her properties andbelongings amongst her twodaughters and quite a little to Bilawal.But as the servant quotes, she toldBilawal that “you will get much morefrom your father than you and I canboth imagine.” Bilawal has already gotso much more from father’s side thathe might need lot more time tounderstand what his mother hadadvised him before leaving forPakistan after signing the NRO inDubai. For the time being socialmedia might remain the only domainfor this little master of the politicalfield, as he does not even know whatto do and who to trust.

High time Pakistan gets on the debates bandwagon

SALMAN ABBAS

ISLAMABAD: Political alliancebetween Pakistan People’s PartyParliamentarian and PakistanMuslim League-Quaid and adeadlock over seat adjustmentbetween Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamaat-e-Islami may havea significant impact on the results ofthe two constituencies of the capitalcity, NA-48 and NA-49.Both the candidates of PML-N, whosucceeded in becoming MNAs fromNA-48 and NA-49 during theelections of 2008, may have to facetough competition during the generalelections of 2013. The move whichfalls heavy on them was the consensusover seat adjustment between PPPPand PML-Q, and the comeback ofJamaat-e-Islami and PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the generalelections.During the general elections of2008, PML-N leader Anjum AqeelKhan was elected as MNA from NA-48 whereas PML-N candidate Tariq

Fazal Chaudhry won the seat ofnational assembly from NA-49 but atthat time both the JI and PTI hadboycotted the elections which hadultimately gone in favor of PML-N.PPP’s former leader Syed Israr Shahremains second in NA-48 whereasSenate Chairman Nayyer HussainBhukari had secured the secondposition from NA-49 in 2008elections.Conversations with the local leadersof both the constituencies showedthat although there was a greatuncertainty in both the constituenciesover which candidates of whichparties will be elected as MNAs fromboth constituencies, JI leader MianMuhammad Aslam and PPPP leaderMustafa Nawaz Khokhar seemsstrong in NA-48 and NA-49. Local leaders said that the PTIfactor has spread uncertainty in boththe constituencies as no one was sureabout the position of PTI candidatesin the federal capital.However, keeping in view theapparent situation and the past

results, it can be said that MustafaNawaz Khokhar seems very strongin NA-49 as during the elections of2008, PML-N candidate TariqFazal Chaudhry had 45482 voteswhereas the PPPP candidateNayyer Hussain Bukhari had 44726votes and PML-Q candidateMustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who hasnow joined PPPP, got 34728 votes.Mustafa is the joint candidate ofPPPP and PML-Q from NA-49 andNayyer Hussain Bukhari, who has alarge vote bank in rural areas of thecapital city, has also extended his allout support for Mustafa. But thePTI factor cannot be ignored at allbecause the candidate of PTI fromNA-49, Ilyas Meherban, has beencarrying out his political campaignin full swing.JI candidate Mian MuhammadAslam seems strong in NA-48 as allthe mainstream parties except PTIhave not given their party tickets tostrong candidates in the saidconstituency. Mian Aslam has beenenjoying good support among traders

and religious circles and is alsoknown as a respectable personality inthe capital city. On the other handPML-N candidate Anjum AqeelKhan, who was elected as MNA in2008, has lost his support after being

involved in some scams includingthat of National Police Foundation, inwhich he was also jailed for allegedlydepriving the NPF of acquiring landto develop a housing society. PPPPhas awarded the party ticket to a newface and a businessman, Faisal SakhiButt, in NA-48. Butt has tried hard tomuster the support of the public,even adopting some unjust meansduring last some years. Faisal Butthad wielded considerable in theCapital Development Authority(CDA) due to his close relations withPresident Asif AlI Zardari andremains the head of PM Task force onIslamabad. Later, the IHC tooknotice of Butt’s unjust interference inthe matters of CDA and alsosuspended the task force. PTI has given the ticket in NA-48to Javed Hashmi. Local PTI leaderstold The Spokesman that Javed wasknown as a reputed politician in thecountry but there was resentmentamong the party workers over thedecision of Hashmi to contest theelections from this constituency as

they think that any other leadershould be given the chance tocontest election from thisconstituency. PTI leader Syed IsrarShah has also submitted thenomination papers from NA-48 buthe was denied the right of ticketdespite the fact that he secured thesecond position in 2008 electionswhen he contested on the ticket ofPPPP. Interestingly, Javed Hashmihas also not launched his formalcampaign in NA-48 yet. According to the locals, strongcompetition will be held betweenPML-N and PPPP in NA-49 andbetween JI and PML-N in NA-48. However, the supporters of all thecandidates were extending their allout efforts to convince the public forcasting vote to their favorite one.PTI leader from NA-49 IlyasMeherban, PML-N Tariq FazalChaudhry, JI candidate MianMuhammad Aslam and PPPPcandidate Faisal Sakhi Butt havebeen putting considerable effort intotheir campaigns.

Intriguing and equal contests await the capital

PML-N faltering in Seraiki belt

The Saraiki beltis turning outto be PML

(N)’s soft belly inPunjab. Mian NawazSharif was supposedto address a rally in

Khairpur tehsil of Bahawalpur tostrengthen Riaz Pirzada in his campaign.Mian Sahb addressed a rally in Yazman butthe Khairpur rally was cancelled as reportscame in of very little spectators. This couldhave damaged the aura of the PML (N)supremo in a crucial stage.PML (N) faces intense resistance in theSaraiki belt’s 41 seats. The biggest reasonhas been the Nawaz League’s stance on theSaraiki province. The party showedflexibility ‘too little, too late’ on this issue.The fact is that former Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif did not want to share Takht-e-Lahore by dividing his kingdom. TheSharifs tried to compensate in the end butthe message that they were opposed to theSaraiki cause got registered generally. Thebiggest impact of this is felt in BahawalpurDivision. Tariq Basheer Cheema remainsstrongest in two out of four Bahawalpurconstituencies on a PML (Q) ticket. PPP’sKhatija Waran is equally strong, and so isSami Gillani, because of the declaredsupport of Nawab Salahuddin. MumtazPTI’s Mumtaz Matiana seems comfortablein Bahawalnagar and so is PPP’s Dr MazharGhafoor. The PPP looks strong in almost allsix seats of Rahimyar Khan, thanks to theclever maneuvering of Governor AhmadMahmood, and is reasonably comfortable inMuzaRargarh, D G Khan and Rajanpur.PML-N has a slightly better chance inMultan’s two seats and partially in Bhakkar.Mian Sahb made an immense eRort inLayyah but the party is seriouslyconstrained on both seats.In Lodhran the party is not in a verystrong position. They have only oneelectable, Akhtar Kanju, whose nephwAbdul Rahman Kanju is opposing him onthe seat, making it very diQcult for the elderKanju to attain victory. PTI’s candidateJehangir Tareen is strong in Lodhran andthe party’s rally in the area was a success.In Khanewal they have included a strongperson like Fakhar Imam but he is expectedto lose as the man who contested from theparty’s ticket in 2008 has the PTI ticket thistime but Raza Heraj of PML-Q is seeking ahattrick of victories in this area. The otherseat of Khanewal, where PPP’s 2008 winnerIftikhar Nazir has joined PML-N, GhulamMurtaza Metla of PTI is considered to bevery strong.

Nisar not happy withPunjab govt overappointmentsIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Senior Pakistan MuslimLeague-N leader Chaudhry Nisar AliKhan Friday raised suspicions aboutthe functioning of the Punjabgovernment, led by Caretaker ChiefMinister Najam Sethi. “We have noobjections against the transfer ofprovincial police chief, chief secretaryand other top oJcials in Punjab. Butwe are against those people who wererecommended by Pakistan People’sParty and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q,” he said while talking with thereporters. Ch Nisar said that the PML-N would go to election and register awin with the public support. “No matterhow much seats PML-N win, ouragenda will be to end the sense ofdisappointment,” he said. To a question,he said that Pakistan Tehrik-i-InsafChairman Imran Khan does not qualifyto challenge two-time former primeminister Nawaz Sharif. ONLINE

EC adjourns hearing of fake degree casesIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The ElectionCommission adjourned the hearing offake degree cases of three formerparliamentarians till the next month.The commission will hear the cases ofAmina Ulfat and NawabzadaMohammad Akbar on May 16 ‚ whereascase of Maulvi Abdul Samad will beheard on May 23. A three memberbench with Chief ElectionCommissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahimin the chair heard the cases in thecapital. ONLINE

Free postal ballot for govt employeesIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan Post haswaived oK postage charges for morethan 60,000 government employees,army men and electoral staK,expressing their right of franchisethrough postal ballot. Under normalcircumstances, the Pakistan Post standsto gain Rs 960,000 worth of revenue,while the national postal service hasinformed Election CommissionAdditional Secretary Muhammad AfzalKhan about the decision. The ElectionCommission released the exact list ofthose facilitated through postal ballotever since the 1970 general elections upto 2008 elections. The statisticsreleased recall 40,000 such personsbenefited during 1970 elections, 34,000during 1977, 46,823 during 1985,42,635 in 1988, 63,635 in 1990, 44,649in 1993, 54,062 in 1997, and 9,013during 2008 elections. ONLINE

Ministry gives five-monthextension to IESCO CEOIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Despite the strongopposition of the board of directors,the Ministry of Water and Power hasgiven extension of five months to JavedPervez as the chief executive officer ofthe Islamabad Electric SupplyCompany. Javed Pervez who was to beretired on April 22 after reachingsuperannuation, has been awardedextension by Water and PowerMinister Musadiq Malik, sources inthe ministry said. Pervez enjoys cordialrelation with the federal minister andhis extension is result of a dealbetween both the personalities, theysaid. IESCO board of directorsstrongly opposed the extension ofJaved Pervez and forwarded names ofGeneral Manager Development MalikMuhammad Yousaf and GeneralManager Transmission MuhammadRafique for the appointment of thenew CEO. ONLINE

KKAARRAACCHHII:: AA rriicckksshhaaww ddrriivveerr ttaakkiinngg aa nnaapp iinn NNoorrtthh NNaazziimmaabbaadd,, oonn tthhee mmoouurrnniinngg ddaayy aannnnoouunncceedd bbyy MMQQMM aaggaaiinnsstt tthhee bbllaasstt oouuttssiiddee tthhee eelleeccttiioonn oo22ccee ooff MMQQMM iinn NNuussrraatt BBhhuuttttooCCoolloonnyy.. ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Senate’s StandingCommittee on Defence and DefenceProduction Chairman Senator MushahidHussain Syed has said that Pakistan is avibrant democracy and there are multiplepower centres playing eKective role instrengthening democracy and democratictraditions in the country. He wasexpressing these views in a meeting with adelegation comprising of 75 oJcers fromcommand and StaK College Quetta led byColonel Saqib Ali Cheema at Parliamenthouse here on Friday. In a meeting with adelegation of the Command and StaKCollege, Quetta, led by Colonel Saqib AliCheema at the Parliament House onFriday, Mushahid referred to proactiverole of the Senate including policymakingin such areas related to defence anddefence-related issues.Mushahid cited the example of the

Senate’s Standing Committee on Defenceand Defence Production which is a strongcommittee with its own website, generatesregular reports and for the first time in theparliamentary history is holding publichearing on such issues like civil militaryrelations and the need for new defencestrategy in light of new emerging securityenvironment.Senator Mushahid praised the role of

armed forces saying that the valiant menin Khaki were giving tremendoussacrifices in war against terrorism andextremism and definitely fighting thebattle for Pakistan. “We are all proud ofprofessionalism of our armed forces,” hesaid. In this regard, it is mentioned in theconstitution that judiciary and armedforces were national institutions whichshould not be subjected to any kind ofcriticism, he said. ONLINE

Mushahidcalls Pakistana vibrantdemocracy

HHYYDDEERRAABBAADD//KKAARRAACCHHII:: Business activities,education institutions and transport remainedclosed in various cities of Sindh for the secondconsecutive day on Friday on a call given by theMuttahida Quami Movement against anotherbomb attack on the party’s election oJce in Karachi.An explosive-laden motorcycle blew up near

MQM election oJce in North Nazimabad’sNusrat Bhutto Colony on Thursday night, killingat least six people and injuring 13 others.Subsequently, the MQM again announced a

day of mourning across Sindh on Friday asbanned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimedresponsibility for the attack. It was the secondsuch attack on MQM. On Tuesday, four peoplewere killed and over a dozen injured when ablast ripped through MQM’s election oJcelocated at People’s Chowrangi in NorthNazimabad area of the city.In the wake of the strike call made by the

coordination committee of Muttahida QuamiMovement, all educational institutions, petrolpumps and business outlets were reportedlyclosed while roads wore a deserted look onFriday. No major incident of violence wasreported. The attendance in government oJceswas also thin as employees could not reach their

destinations because of non-availability ofpublic transport.All the examination papers scheduled for

today were postponed as Private SchoolAssociation announced to close educationinstitutions in the wake of uncertain law andorder situation. The same situation was reported from

elsewhere in Sindh, with large and smallmarkets shut amid thin traffic on roads inHyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, TandoAllahyar, Nawabshah and other towns ofSindh on MQM’s second call for mourning.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain advised the massesto exercise all possible caution to avert anyuntoward incident of terrorism. In a statementissued from London, Altaf Hussain said thepeople should immediately inform police abouta suspicious vehicles, individuals or things andavoid sitting on roads and outside of theirhouses in their localities to save themselvesfrom any potential threat of terrorism.The Muttahida said the terrorists are

roaming scot-free about the city and the stateinstitutions have failed to provide security andprotection to the people. ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD.. The Intel Pakistan honoured and encouragedthe 10 finalists of the National Science Fair who will representPakistan in the upcoming Intel International Science andEngineering Fair 2013, to be held in Arizona in May. Theencouraging ceremony of the finalists was held on Friday.The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a

program of society for science, is the world's largestinternational pre-college science competition. The premier global science competition for students in

grades 9–12 provides an annual forum for more than 1,500high school students from 70 countries to display theirindependent research. Intel Pakistan’s Public Relation OJcerAsma Aziz said on this occasion that Intel ISEF opens a worldof opportunities to the young and talented youth of Pakistanby encouraging them to study science and learn aboutresearch. “It is a platform to identify, encourage and promoteyoung scientists as it not only helps them to dream big, butalso teaches them the skills required to achieve those dreamsas well,” she added. ONLINE

Sindh cities shut for 2ndday in MQM mourning

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

LLAAHHOORREE:: The US Agency for InternationalDevelopment, 15 national and multinationaltrade firms and a group of recent universityfemales marked the successful completion ofsecond round of the “Women in TradeManagement Training and MentorshipProgram.” The USAID-sponsored program aimed to

increase the participation of Pakistani women inthe international trade sector. Under thisinitiative, the USAID has arranged three-monthinternships for 48 recent university graduatefemales. The internships were hosted by 15 well-known companies including Nishat Apparel,Texlynx, Li and Fung and Engro in Lahore while

Interloop, MK Sons, Masood Textiles and ElleryHomestyles in Faisalabad.This internship program provided an

opportunity for women to not only explore acareer in the international trade and sourcingsector but also gain professional skills incommunications, marketing, productdevelopment, and supply chain management. Many of the interns have now secured

permanent jobs within the trade sector. This wassaid by Maryam Noor who was hired by anorganisation in Lahore as operations assistant,“Getting work at the company has been one of akind experiences and I thank the USAID formaking this happen. This program has helped

me immensely in my professional development.”The trade sector in Pakistan currently employs

very few women in managerial positions. AUSAID-funded study showed that the womencomprise less than 10 percent of managementand 20 percent of junior staK in trade companies.USAID’s this initiative works to set up linkagesbetween international firms and localuniversities, so that more women may haveopportunity to explore careers in internationaltrade. This initiative will also help companiesselect the best-suited female university graduatesfor training and potential future recruitment.The ceremony brought together the 31

participating women from Lahore and

Faisalabad, their employers, and the USrepresentatives to commemorate theaccomplishments of the program. This programis just one of the many US assistance programs inPakistan. The US assistance spans such sectors aseconomic growth and agriculture, energy,education, health, and community infrastructure.In past three years, these programs have

provided 11,000 scholarships to Pakistanistudents, increased incomes for 600,000farmers and restored more than 800 megawattsto the national grid. All the US programs alsoseek to strengthen governance, transparency,and women’s participation in socio-economicactivities of their country. PR

US expands opportunities for Pakistani women

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Former primeminister and Pakistan MuslimLeague-N President Nawaz SharifFriday called for furtherstrengthening of the existingrelations between Pakistan andthe Arab Islamic countries. Speaking at a meeting with Arab

ambassadors at the residence ofthe Saudi envoy, he pointed outthat the general election was amost important event in thecontinuing efforts to strengthenthe democratic institutions, as thiswould be the first peaceful change

of the government in accordancewith the constitution. During the course of their warm

and cordial meeting, Nawazhighlighted the salient features ofhis party’s manifesto for thegeneral election. He spoke of theenormous challenges confrontingPakistan which ranged frominflation, unemployment,depleting energy resources and analarming deterioration in the lawand order situation. Nawaz assured the Arab

ambassadors that he and his party

accorded the highest priority toreinforcing further the existingexcellent relations with the Arabnations, while urging them toenhance their participation in theeconomic growth anddevelopment. This would not onlystrengthen the existing bonds offriendship but also create betterunderstanding amongst thepeoples, he said. The Bahraini ambassador

thanked the former primeminister for sparing time,notwithstanding his election-

related commitments to meet withthe Arab envoys and to brief themon his party’s manifesto includinghis future plans to resolve thecomplex problems confronting the country. He said that the Arab countries

attached great importance torelations with Pakistan, whichthey viewed as a sincere friend.Nawaz was accompanied bySenator Ishaq Dar, the leader ofthe opposition in the Senate anda former ambassador TariqFatemi. ONLINE

Nawaz shares manifesto with Arab envoys� Former prime minister assures envoys of excellent relations in future

10 finalists torepresent Pakistan

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: An Indian television channelhas invited fast bowler Mohammad Asif tobe a part of the next season of the Big Boss,a controversial show. Asif has been involvedin several controversies till now, includingmatch fixing scandal and an aKair withactress Veena Malik. In 2008, he wasdetained at the Dubai International Airportfor 19 days for carrying a small quantity ofopium in his wallet when he was on his wayback to Pakistan from India.The speedster was banned for testing

positive for a banned anabolic steroidnandrolone just before the ICC ChampionsTrophy on October 16, 2006. It resulted inone-year suspension for Asif in November2006, though he was later acquitted by aPakistan Cricket Board appellate tribunal.People say that Asif would be moredisgraced after coming in the show. ONLINE

RRAAWWAALLPPIINNDDII:: AAwwaammii MMuusslliimm LLeeaagguuee PPrreessiiddeenntt SShheeiikkhh RRaasshhiidd AAhhmmaadd hhoollddiinngg ttaallkkss wwiitthh mmeemmbbeerrss ooffEElleeccttiioonn CCoooorrddiinnaattiioonn CCoommmmiitttteeee ooff TTaahhrreeeekk NNiiffaazz FFiiqqhh--ee--JJaa33aarriiyyaa.. ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: SSttaattiioonn CCoommmmaannddeerr AAkkbbaarr NNaaqqii pprreesseennttiinngg aa PPeeaaccee AAwwaarrdd ttoo JJoosseepphh FFrraanncciiss ffoorr hhiiss sseerrvviicceessiinn tthhee fifieelldd ooff hhuummaann rriigghhttss.. ONLINE

Indian TV invitesfast bowler Asif

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Funeral prayers of the five victims of Thursday’s blast, including three ofthe same family, have been offered amid tears, sobs and tension. Last night, six peoplewere killed in the blast near office of Muttahida Quami Movement located in NorthNazimabad’s locality Nusrat Bhutto Colony. The blast was so fierce that the nearbybuildings and shops received damage and a car parked nearby was destroyedcompletely. The bomb blast victims were identified as Bilal, Imran, Ayub, Aqeel andAadil. Meanwhile, the Rabita Committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement hadearlier asked traders to re-open markets and requested transporters to bring thetransport on roads after the Friday prayers. Karachi Transport Ittehad President IrshadBukhari announced that the transport will be available on roads at 4pm. ONLINE

Funeral prayers for blast victims

LLAAHHOORREE:: Pakistan Tehrik-i-InsafChairman Imran Khan has emphasisedthe need for peaceful, free and fair electionso that the people may exercise their rightto vote in a peaceful manner.Imran strongly condemned the

continuing attacks on oJces of diKerentpolitical parties and expressed regret andsorrow over the tragic loss of innocentpeople. He urged the people to cast theirvote to patriot politicians so as to bringchange. ONLINE

Imran wantspeaceful election

LLAAHHOORREE:: MMaarrrryyaamm NNaawwaazz ttaallkkiinngg ttoo mmeeddiiaappeerrssoonnss aatt hheerr oo22ccee.. ONLINE

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

TAHIR ALI

PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: With a slogan to ‘build anew programme of socialism for 21stcentury Pakistan’, Awami Workers Party(AWP) is contesting the upcominggeneral elections from five NationalAssembly and 11 provincial assemblyseats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Party’s central chairman Fanoos

Gujjar is contesting elections from NA-28 Buner and is hopeful to win seats inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, as the party ifformed by poor and the leadership also

represent the same segment of society.“Only workers could realize themiseries of working class and AWP isproviding this platform,” said Gujjar.According to the party manifesto,

AWP is a party of the working peoplethat aims to bring together thestruggles of workers, peasants,students, women and othermarginalized groups to fight for ademocratic and socialist society.AWP was formed in December 2012

after the merger of three left-wingersLabour Party Pakistan (LPP), Workers

Party Pakistan (WPP) and AwamiParty Pakistan (APP).According to AWP manifesto if the

party came to power it will nationalizedthe major industries, including thoserun by the military, and will placeunder the control of democratic state.The party will resist imperialistaggression against people in all itsmanifestations, be they drone strikes,multinational capital or austeritymeasures imposed by the IMF andWorld Bank.The Privatization policy will be

immediately stopped, all privatizedindustries will be re-nationalized andsacked employees will be re-instated.The democratic right of workers toform trade unions will be recognizedand protected as part of the state’spolicy of democratizing the work placeand improving working conditions.Radical land reforms will be

immediately implemented and landwill be redistributed among thepeasantry in order to break thepolitical and social power of big landowning families.

The party recognizes that the questionof women liberation has receivedinadequate attention, even withinLeftist circles. The party aims to fightagainst all forms of discriminationagainst women and considers women avanguard of the revolution, withoutwhom any fundamental change isimpossible. The hollow ideology ofreligious fanaticism will be fully exposedand popular opinion will be mobilizedto fight against such retrograde forces.Pakistan’s multinational essence will be

recognized and a genuine federal system

based on the right of self-determinationfor all nations will be established. Theexisting, oppressive state institutions willbe replaced with those that provide forbasic needs and are fundamentallydemocratic in their functions.Talking to The Spokesman, AWP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa press secretaryAgha Bakhtiar Ali said, “We don’t havefunds like other parties to run theelection campaigns. So we are relyingmostly on door to door campaign. Theresponse of people is very encouraging;people will see the result on May11.”

Awami Worker Party in polls with new socialism programme

QQUUEETTTTAA:: The political empowerment andleadership for women politicians must beensured by all political parties in the country,while discriminatory practices and lawsagainst women must be eliminated by thegovernment, said former womenparliamentarians and experts at a women’sleadership forum held on Friday.The Women’s Leadership Forum was jointly

organised by Search for Common GroundPakistan and PAIMAN Alumni Trust as partof their ‘Women’s Initiative for Learning andLeadership (WILL)’ campaign to celebratestruggles and achievements of womenpolitical leaders, especially from theprovincial assemblies and districts ofBalochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP), Sindh as well as the FederallyAdministrated Tribal Areas (FATA).Major national and regional political parties

namely the PPP, MQM, PML (Q), ANP andJUI and PTI were represented by 26 aspiringwomen politicians and ex-councillors and 6ex-MPAs who attended the Forum.Balochistan was represented commensuratewith actual representation of womenparliamentarians in the respectivelegislatures. Ruqqaya Saeed Hashmi PML-Q,Uzma Pir Ali Zai ANP and Raheela HameedDurrani PML-Q presented their perspectiveson the forthcoming general elections andtheir current political challenges, experiences,insights and needs."There is an urgent need to proactively

engage and fully support Pakistan's womenpolitical leaders as they walk their individualand collective leadership journey, while facingnumerous socio-cultural, economic andpolitical challenges in their daily lives," saidSFCG Pakistan Executive Director Ammara

Durrani. "The forthcoming general electionsprovide the nation a golden opportunity toharness the true potential of our women'scompetent and responsible leadership."The Second Women’s Leadership Forum

witnessed robust discussions between bothelected and potential political and socialwomen leaders who had gathered for mutualsupport, development and solidarity. Morespecifically, the forum provided a supportiveand safe environment for participants toshare their vision, experience, insights, needs,challenges, successes, and strengthen eachother as leaders. Moreover, it helped theparticipants to collectively develop futureplans for strengthening women politicalleadership in the country. These womenpolitical leaders had earlier participated in aseries of training workshops on peace-building leadership and media messaging.

The Second Women’s Leadership Forumwas held as part of SFCG Pakistan’snational “Strengthening WomenParliamentarians for Effective Government”project that is working with current andaspiring women political leaders atprovincial and district levels, as well asproviding guidelines to media for engagingwith audiences on specific issues identifiedby women parliamentarians.Search for Common Ground Pakistan works

to transform the way communities andsocieties deal with disagreement – away fromadversarial approaches and towardscollaborative problem solving. We work withlocal partners to find culturally appropriatemeans to strengthen societies’ capacity to dealwith disputes and disagreementsconstructively: to understand the differencesand act on the commonalities. –ONLINE

Women’s Forum for greater participation in elections

DDEERRAA GGHHAAZZII KKHHAANN:: Like other parts of the country, preparations here too are in full-swing for the May 11 general elections. However, poorlaw and order situation has made campaigning colourless in many areas. –ONLINE

OUR STAFF REPORTER

AATTTTOOCCKK:: Former chief minister andPML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif onFriday said Imran Khan had becomethe captain of Zardari’s B-team andalso was speaking his language. ThePML-N served the masses withsincerity and spent billion of rupeeson development projects whichincluded roads, small dams andnetwork of Daanish Schools.Addressing a rally at Liaquat Ali

Khan Shaheed Stadium Attock,Shahbaz said if voted to power, hisparty would get the country out ofloadshedding and ensure revival ofprime state-run organisations whichhad been made bankrupt. He saidduring the PPP government, therewas a corruption of billion of rupeeson a daily basis, while billion ofrupees had been looted in the RPPsand many other projects.He strongly criticised Imran Khan

and said he was leading the B-teamof Zardari and unable to see thecorruption of Zar Baba, NICL and

Haj scams, and plunder and collapseof PIA, Railways and Steel Mills. Hevowed if voted to power, all thesedepartments would be madeprofitable.Talking about the projects

launched and completed in Attock,he said a Danish School had beenbuilt in Jand at the cost of Rs 700million, while Sora Dam costing Rs500 million at Pindigheb and abridge near Injra at the cost of Rs1,020 million were underconstruction. He also listed hisgovernment’s achievements in theprovince and said as many as 80thousand teachers were recruited onmerit besides providing 30thousand tractors to farmers onsubsidised rates.He urged the people to vote PML-

N, if they wanted a corruption-freePakistan, recalling that it was PML-N, which made the country anuclear power, launched GwadarPort project, constructed motorwaysand introduced metro bus service,the first of its kinds in Pakistan.

Begging for food – girl diesafter boiling water thrown on herTTOOBBAA TTEEKK SSIINNGGHH:: Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Najam Sethi on Friday tooknotice of a gruesome incident in which a six-year old girl died of burns afterboiling hot water was thrown on her last night According to details, a gypsyfamily, which was craving for food, went to a wedding dinner in the Rajana area ofToba Tek Singh and begged for a meal. However, a waiter at the party instead ofgiving them some food threw boiling hot water on the gypsy family due to whichtwo women and six-year-old Kalsoom received severe burns. The child breathedher last this morning. Area police collected evidence from the scene but so far ithas not registered any case. Najam Sethi, while taking notice of the ghastlyincident, asked DPO of the area to submit a report. He said that the Punjabgovernment would do its utmost to provide justice to the grieved family. –ONLINE

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) hasdemanded to remove “no-go” areas,declare the entire city ‘sensitive’ anddeploy army personnel at all pollingstations on the day of electionsThese demands were made by JI

Karachi Chief Muhammad HussainMehanti while addressing a crowdedpress conference at Idara-e-Noor Haqhere on Friday. Talking to media,Mahenti said that the JI workers arebeing threatened in several areasincluding Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Federal BArea, New Karachi, North Nazimabadand Defence View by the terrorists ofMQM adding the party flags, bannersand posters have also been ragged bythese terrorists in many areas of the city.Citing the example of a fresh incident

of violence; JI Karachi Chief said that theMQM terrorists on Thursday night hadbadly torture the two JI workers namelyEjaz and Saad Ali Khan in Federal Barea, Block 9, when they were busy ininstalling party flags and banners in thesaid area and tried to kidnap them.Apprising the details, Mahenti said

that when the JI General SecretaryKarachi Naseem Siddiqui went toconcern police station to register an FIRagainst the MQM terrorists, the police

refused to do it. “Police is acting as B-team of the MQM, as it has not yet takenany step against the terrorists”, Mahentialleged.He further said that the Election

Commission of Pakistan (ECP) andcaretaker government should take noticeof the said terrorism incidents.Speaking on the occasion, Chief JI

Sindh Dr Mairaj-ul-Huda Siddiqui hassaid that the MQM by observing 2 strikesin just 3 days has presented its manifestobefore the people of the city that it willgive terrorism, extortion and violence tothe masses. “The elections in city shouldbe held under the supervision of Army, aspolice has failed to ensure safety to thepeople”, he added.He further said that the credibility of

the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)Fakruddin G Ibrahim is linked with hissteps being taken. “The action should betaken against both the Taliban and‘Zaliman’, Dr Mairaj added.Naseem Siddiqui, Raja Arif Sultan,

Farooq Niamatullah, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Nasrullah Shajih and ZahidAskari among the JI leaders who werepresent on t he occasion. MustaqeemNoorani of JUP also spoke on theoccasion. –ONLINE

Polls in Karachi

JI demands removalof ‘no-go’ areas

� Says PTI chief ignoring PPP’s corruption,various scams involving billion of rupees

PTI Nazriati Groupblasts ticket allocationGGHHAALLLLAANNAAII:: The PTI NazriatiGroup Mohmand Agency workersheld a public gathering at Pandilai onFriday, where they blasted the partyleadership over allocating tickets towrong people.Addressing the gathering, Dr Bashir

Khan, Sajid Khan, Dr Khalil Bajur,Sajjad Khan and Meena Khan Afridisaid that the parliamentary board hadawarded party tickets without meritsand they rejected these decisions. Theyfurther said their rights had beensnatched and they were compelled toannounce independent candidates inthe election.They said, “We want toprove on Imran Khan and PTIleadership that in FATA PTI NazriatiGroup has been totally ignored andparty tickets were given to the wrongpeople.” –ONLINE

Tribal elder shotdead in MohmandGGHHAALLAANNAAII:: Unidentified gunmenshot dead a tribal elder Malik Haji GulNawaz Khan in the Babi Khel area ofMohmand tribal region on Friday.According to sources, the attackers atmidnight barged into the hujra ofMalik Gul Nawaz Khan and tied thesons and others boys with ropespresent in the hujra, after which theyentered the house of tribal elder.When they saw the tribal elder comingout from his room, they sprayedbullets at him, as a result of which hedied on the spot.After the incident,security forces and politicaladministration conducted searchoperation in the area and on thepointing of sniOer dogs’ two brothersincluding their two sons of killed elderarrested and shifted to Ghalanailockup. Funeral prayers were oOeredat 11 am in his ancestral graveyard atBabi Khel. –STAFF REPORT

Tarkzai tribesmen tosupport independentGGHHAALLAANNAAII:: Tribesmen of HafizKhel, Dado Khel and Qasim Kheldecided in a jirga held here at theHujra of Nisar Mohmand onThursday that they would supportindependent candidate NisarMohmand in the upcoming electionfor NA-36. Addressing the meeting,Nisar Mohmand addressing the jirgasaid that they would reconstruct thedamaged houses because ofmilitancy-related incidents, ifelected. He criticised the previousNational Assembly members, sayingthat they had nothing for the welfareand progress of the area. NisarMohmand said provide educationand health facilities to all theMohmand tribesmen were animportant part of his manifesto. Hesaid that restoration of peace in thearea was his top priority and hewould try his best to restore law andorder situation in the area.Nisar alsopromised that he would works forthe betterment of agriculture, socialsafety of labour, unemployment,senior citizens, development works,taxes and the issue of 25 disputedvillages. –STAFF REPORT

KP governor for 10 MWsolar power systemsPPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: Khyber PakhtunkhwaGovernor Engineer Shaukatullah hasgiven go ahead signal to take practicalinitiatives to explore possibility forinstallation of solar power generationsystems in various parts of FATA withat least 10 megawatt electricity ateach station. Presiding over a meetingat Governor’s House, Peshawar onFriday, the Governor said, keeping inview the vast gap between supply anddemand ration in respect of electricityin FATA in particular, there is a needto opt for solar energy system, whichoOers tremendous opportunities forits development. The meeting thatwas second of its nature was alsoattended by certain experts from theprivate sector enterprises, beside theChief Executive, TESCO, ParvezKhan Swati, and the senior oNcials ofthe FATA Development Authority. Itmerits a mention here that theproposed system when materializedwill be meant for the people of FATAonly alongside the existing nationalgrid system. –ONLINE RRIISSAALLPPUURR:: Cadets presenting guard of honour during the graduation ceremony at

Pakistan Air Force Academy Risalpur. –ONLINE

�Also stresses army deployment at polling stations

PPP’s claims are ‘pack of lies’LLAAHHOORREE:: Former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif on Fridayheld the former government responsible for prevailing energy crisis inPakistan. “The power crisis is owing to the electricity theft, circular debtof Rs 500 billion and the corruption carried out in rental powerproject,” said Shahbaz Sharif who is central leader of Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz and candidate from Lahore’s National Assemblyconstituency NA-129. Addressing a press conference, Sharif lashed outat Pakistan People’s Party, saying that PPP’s advertisement campaign is‘pack of lies’. “Transparency is the hallmark of PML-N government thatall the advertisements of the PPP in this regard are devoid of facts,” hesaid. “PML-N govt never quashed any project regarding electricity,but only expensive projects were reviewed,” Shahbaz toldreporters, holding the former PPP government responsible forprevailing electricity crisis in the country. –ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: “Ourdefence forces in synergyare fighting the menace ofextremism”, said GeneralKhalid Shamim Wynne,Chairman Joint Chiefs ofStaO Committee, during thegraduation ceremony of 74Engineering Course, 88 AirDefence andCommissioning Parade of132 GD (P), 78 EngineeringCourse, 13 A&SD and 01Navigation courses held atPAF Academy Risalpur.Addressing the aviation

cadets, General KhalidShamim Wynne said, “PAFpossesses a variety of potentmilitary equipment andnew additions are alwayswell-catered for to maintainit as a strong instrument ofour national defence. Beingthe custodians of aerialfrontiers of our sacredhomeland, you will berequired to operate andmaintain the sophisticatedand expensive aircraft andother equipment in thehighest state of operationalreadiness. Being theinheritors of the legacy ofbrave deeds of theillustrious predecessors, theyounger generations in thedefence forces have all thepotential to emulate theirdeeds and set new examplesof valour and dignity.”The chief guest further

said, “Pakistan is a peace-loving country and alwaysfollows the policy of friendlyrelations and mutualgoodwill with all countriesof the world. However, inthe recent security scenario,where the extremistelements are trying todisrupt our peace andharmony, ourresponsibilities haveincreased manifold.”

‘Armed forcesin joint fightagainst terror’

‘Imran isZardari’sB-team

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

THE SPOKESMANChief Editor: Huma Ali

Executive Editor: Atif MateenResident Editor: Saeed Minhas

Consulting Editors: Jalees Hazir Samina Choonara

Healing the wounds of FATA

In 2010, a post-crisis need-assessment study was carried out forKhyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and theFederally Administered Tribal Areas(FATA) with the assistance of WorldBank and other regionalorganisations and donors. Besidesidentifying gaps in key areas for thefuture development initiative in thecrisis-hit areas, the study’s mostimportant aspect, although not muchhighlighted, was references to thecauses that led to the crisis. It mighthave been a matter of interest formany who wanted to know theperspective of the donors on theinsurgency but essentially, it did littlemore than reinforce their narrative.Personally, I ammuch moreinterested in understanding thecauses that lie at the root of the crisisin FATA, as that understanding isessential to improve the situation. Tome, the two most important causesfor the dismal state of aUairs in FATAare the crisis in Afghanistan and thepoor governance mechanism andservices delivery in the tribal areas.While the crisis in Afghanistan isnot in our control and Pakistancannot sort it out on its own, the crisisof governance is certainly somethingthat is of our ownmaking. Thepolitical leadership and the militaryestablishment of Pakistan had theopportunity to steer the situation in apositive direction, especially when thepolicy driven by the military hadbipartisan support. The failure toresolve governance issues in FATArests squarely on the shoulders of ourleadership which must now put its acttogether for better results.Issues like corruption in themanagement set up, pooradministration of justice, corruptionin the Jirga system and evenunderdevelopment are oUshoots ofpoor governance. The question is:what were those poor practices whichplayed havoc with the entire socialfabric of the tribal society?Firstly, almost all the politicalagents, with a very few exceptions,have been posted for someunprofessional and monetaryconsiderations and they make moneyby selling development schemes,receiving kickbacks, taking bribes inthe settlement of tribal disputes,

manipulating unaudited AgencyDevelopment Funds under theirdiscretion and, most importantly,taking cuts in the hugeundocumented and informalsmuggling. These political agentsmade millions of rupees per week andshared the spoils with otherstakeholders like the commissioner,secretary to the Governor, additionalchief secretary, chief secretary, sectorcommanders of intelligence agencies,headquarter FC, the Governor and,above all, those elders who used topreach honesty while protecting thecorruption of these political agents allacross FATA. Secondly, FATA isdevoid of economic opportunitiesand, therefore, smuggling is believedto be a legitimate business in mostparts of the tribal areas.All these corrupt practicesreinforced each other and created theperfect environment for attracting,

providing space and absorbinglawless elements. For petty personalbenefits, the corrupt administrationallowed ideological influences frominside the country and across theborder to give a violent and aggressivedirection to local frustrations. For aman with no education or economicopportunities but traditionally armedwith a weapon and fighting skills, theenvironment created by theadministration presented violence asthe only available economicopportunity. Many saw it as a meansof earning a livelihood without reallyunderstanding its repercussions andthe price their people would have topay for it.As a result, thousands of peoplewere killed, wounded, jailed and wentmissing. Houses were destroyed,psychological disorders spread like anepidemic, educational opportunitiesdeclined and losses worth billions of

dollars were incurred. The losses areyet to be documented, and it mighttake decades before they are. Besidesthe international powers playing theirgreat game, ideological godfathers,the Taliban, security agencies,bureaucracy, madrassas, Ulemas,politicians and media, all areresponsible for these losses, either bycommission or omission.In most parts of FATA, it is claimedthat the area has been cleared insuccessful operations. There is nodoubt that the Pak army, FC, Levies,Khassadars and other securityagencies have paid a huge price andmade a lot of sacrifices to achieveconsiderable successes in FATA. Thisis not enough though. To guaranteepeace in the future, the mostimportant driver of crisis,governance, must be reformed andimproved. The future rehabilitationstrategy for FATAmust incorporate

measures to stop the increasingalienation among the tribal peopleand compensate the people who losteverything to violence. It mustrecognise and award individuals ofthe security apparatus who sacrificedtheir lives for the country. Otherwise,it would seem as if all the blood wasshed to protect vested interests.Frankly, tribesmen and peoplehaving connections with the tribalareas and its people, are convincedthat the post-crisis governance set uphas been far more corrupt, lessdynamic and non-responsive. Thecorrupt administration has infectedother institutions with its vices,especially the security agencies. APolitical Agent in FATA has to beposted after clearance from and withthe consent of diUerent umbrellasecurity organs of the Pak Army like11 Corps, intelligence agencies andthe Governor House, yet these

institutions have not paid anyattention to or taken theresponsibility of checking corruption.‘The Political Agent Khyber got hisposting by paying Rs 280 million’,says an oTcial of the Khyber Agencywho would like to stay unnamed.Similarly, 10 truck-loads of non-custom paid goods are allowed forone of the Aman Lashkars at Tirah.Under this cover, dozens of trucks areallowed to enter Pakistan and theyare not even checked for what theyare loaded with. This illegal traTcfetches an illicit earning of at leastthree million rupees per night,causing a loss of billions of rupees tothe national exchequer. The generalperception in the area is that all thisgoes on with the blessings of the PakArmy, because it gives clearance topost the corrupt political oTcersinvolved in smuggling under theirprotection.The oTcial of the Khyber Agencytold me that NAB oTcials and theFIA were investigating corruptioncharges against Political Agent-Khyber but his eUective skills ofmuk-muka, active lobbying andsupport in the FATA secretariat, theGovernor’s House and intelligenceagencies ‘removed the irritants andgot him an extension instead’.The corrupt practices have beenstrengthened in the post-crisisgovernance set-up, and the corruptpolitical agents are better protected.The suUering public is nowmoreexposed to exploitation at the hand ofthe political administration, securityagencies and the militants. A majorityof the tribesmen feel, andindependent sources confirm, thatboth militancy and counter-militancystrategies equally trouble the people.The drivers of corruption, poorgovernance and indiUerence of thestate machinery to the plight of thecrisis-hit tribal society, could take thesituation to the point of no return inFATA, considering the tradition ofrevenge here. The myopic nationalleadership is creating a new and moredangerous form of silent alienation oftribesmen from the Sate andnationhood of Pakistan. All tribesmenare not terrorists. Please let themcontinue to say “Pakistan Zindabad,Pak Army Payendabad”.

THEWRITER IS AN INDEPENDENTJOURNALIST BASED IN PESHAWAR

Block 11, G-6/1, Aabpara, IslamabadTelephone: 051 260 7153-4

Fax: 051 260 7498www.thespokesman.pkce@thespokesman.pk

Tribesmen are convinced that the post-crisis governance set up has been farmore corrupt, less dynamic and non-responsive. The corrupt administrationhas infected other institutions with itsvices, especially the security agencies

What’s in a name?I recently read a very well thoughtthrough and well expressed articleon your op-ed pages which led meto some questions. One, it isdifficult to follow the logic of whatis being printed since it is such amixed bag. Two, I never understoodthe logic of pseudonyms.

The “fiction” by Keekar Kanairlast week (Is this a weekly column?Hard to locate it in the archives)was political in the most selfreflexive way. It explored things wenever say to ourselves, for instance,that inexplicable irritability most ofus – the wealthy – have towards thepoor, how we cannot quite mange itdespite our “high”, “foreign”education.The guilt we harbour for theirtroubled lives full of illness andtragedy that is yet bornecommunally, and how distraughtthis relationship between domestichelp and the house owner always is.We are not free to hate thoseweaker and more vulnerable thanus, and yet it lingers, dehumanisingboth the employer and theemployed who never treat eachother as people.But moving as this piece ofwriting was, I was annoyed at whythe writer feels it necessary to

conceal his identity. I ponderedover the possible reasons for it.Maybe he is a Mafiosi wanted bythe police, he is a high rankingpolitician who wants to exercise hisliterary vein, (is it you, ubiquitousImran Khan?), he is the editortrying to conceal his soft boiledwriting? Why not own such goodwriting?

SAJID ALIISLAMABAD

Stopping violencebefore polls

On Thursday, six people were killedand about 15 were injured when ahigh intensity bomb went oU near theelection oTce of Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) located in NusratBhutto Colony, North Nazamabad,Karachi. The bomb was concealed ina motorcycle parked near the election

oTce of MQM. Eshanullah Ehsan,spokesman of Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) claimed theresponsibility for the bomb blast.This incident shows clearly that thistime the elections are going to besoaked in blood. Reportedly, the TTPhas admitted several times that it willnot spare two other political partieswhich are Awami National Pary(ANP) and the Pakistan People'sParty (PPP). That also means thattheir campaigns to contact peoplemay not go smoothly and in turn theymay suUer in the elections.Apparently, in the forthcomingelections, all three parties have to relyon their loyal voters to vote them in.Can the Election Commission (EC)devise a strategy to allow theseparties to do canvassing in a way thatcould save their leadership from theTaliban attacks?

ANWAR BHATTILAHORE

Our sins of silenceTahir Malik’s article on the sins ofour nation was a refreshing read.The author has boldly taken upissues that are brushed under thecarpet by our media and so-calledintellectuals. While the “Doctrineof Necessity” and the hanging ofBhutto have been much discussed,we hardly get to hear a word aboutthe injustice meted out to ourfellow citizens of former EastPakistan. The denial of AwamiLeague’s democratic right to rulethe undivided Pakistan was surely agreat sin, and we cannot blame theBengali people of wishing to live ina country where they could rulethemselves. This is something thatescapes the attention of many ofour political commentators.Another point raised by the writerhas been considered taboo by ourmedia, that of declaring theQadianis as non-Muslims. While

God alone can judge who is andwho is not a Muslim, a so-calledliberal and progressive governmentthought it fit to make it thebusiness of the State to passjudgment on someone’s faith,taking upon itself the right todecide who is and who is not aMuslim. This shameful politicaldevelopment not only subverted thevision of the Quaid-e-Azam butalso laid the foundation for Zia-ul-Haq who made laws in the name ofreligion and infested our societywith religious bigotry and violence.I appreciate the bold article andhope that it will initiate a nationaldebate on this important butignored issues.

JAMILA MAQSOODISLAMABAD

Please email your letters toletters@thespokesman.pk or postthem to our address in Islamabad.

ANWAR MEHSUD

The IMF said it met with Pakistani oTcials last week, but has notyet received a request for a loan from the country, which faces acritical balance of payments situation. JeUrey Franks, the IMFmission chief to the country urged the authorities to begin takingthe necessary actions to stabilise the economy and lay thegroundwork for future growth. It is rather strange that on 18January 2013 i.e. two months before the PPP-led governmentcompleted its term, JeUrey Franks during his meeting with agroup of journalists had talked at length on the grave economicsituation Pakistan was faced with. He had indicated that theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) may sign a loan programwith the caretaker government if all major political parties agreeon a broader set of action plans and tough prior actions. But howcould the caretaker government create consensus among themajor political parties to agree to IMF’s harsh conditions for theloan facility? Besides, the caretaker government is not mandatedto enter into negotiations with the IMF.The outgoing PPP-led government had already held severalrounds of talks with the IMF on a new loan arrangement, but thelending agency seemed unhappy with Islamabad’s response tosuggested economic reforms, particularly the lowering of fiscaldeficit and improving tax-to-GDP ratio. A recent IMF report onPakistan’s economy noted that the country’s gross externalfinancing requirements in the next fiscal would be $10.5 billionwhile its ability to repay loans would weaken significantly infiscal 2012-13. Anyhow, the IMF has expressed its willingness tooUer $5 billion for an extended facility. Nevertheless, thecaretaker government or the elected government, which will beinstalled after the elections, must remember the saying about theIMF: ‘No one is executed, though plenty starve to death as aresult of its policies’. IMF touts that it helps recover theeconomies that are in dire straits, but in fact it has the record ofmultiplying the problems of countries it is supposed to help out.Its conditions of withdrawing subsidies, devaluation of currencyand privatisation of prime national assets adversely impact thepeople and the State.Pakistan is already in the grip of debt to the extent of $60 billion,and despite the rescheduling of the debt (passing on to the nextgenerations), one day it has to be paid. If this trend continues,Pakistan would find itself in a vicious cycle and it would have totake more loans to pay back the old loans, which means anincrease in debt servicing, and hence an increase in fiscal deficit.There are other ways to avert the economic disaster. Theincoming government must show zero-tolerance to corruption,tax evasion, wastages and mismanagement in public sectorenterprises. It should learn to live within its means and reduce thenon-development expenditure by curtailing perks and privilegesof cabinet members and parliamentarians. If the axe falls ondevelopment expenditure, Pakistan would not be able to buildinfrastructure for further development and industrialisation togenerate employment opportunities. On their part, the trade andindustry should resort to aggressive and innovative marketingpolicies, look for non-traditional markets and try to increase theexports of value-added products to overcome the trade deficit.

Say no to the IMF

In the wake of Thatcher’s departure, Iremember her victims. Patrick Warby’sdaughter, Marie, was one of them. Marie,aged five, suUered from a bowel deformityand needed a special diet. Without it, thepain was excruciating. Her father was aDurham miner and had used all his savings.It was winter 1985, the Great Strike wasalmost a year old and the family wasdestitute. Although her eligibility was notdisputed, Marie was denied help by theDepartment of Social Security. Later, Iobtained records of the case that showedMarie had been turned down because herfather was ‘aUected by a Trade dispute’.The corruption and inhumanity underThatcher knew no borders. When she cameto power in 1979, Thatcher demanded a totalban on exports of milk to Vietnam. TheAmerican invasion had left a third ofVietnamese children malnourished.I witnessed many distressing sights,including infants going blind from a lack ofvitamins. ‘I cannot tolerate this’, said ananguished doctor in a Saigon paediatrichospital, as we looked at a dying boy. Oxfamand Save the Children had made clear to theBritish government the gravity of theemergency. An embargo led by the US hadforced up the local price of a kilo of milk up

to ten times that of a kilo of meat. Manychildren could have been restored with milk.Thatcher’s ban held.In neighbouring Cambodia, Thatcher left atrail of blood, secretly. In 1980, shedemanded that the defunct Pol Pot regime -the killers of 1.7 million people - retain its“right” to represent their victims at the UN.Her policy was vengeance on Cambodia’sliberator, Vietnam. The British representativewas instructed to vote with Pol Pot at theWorld Health Organisation, therebypreventing it from providing help to where itwas needed more than anywhere on earth.To conceal this outrage, the US, Britain andChina, Pol Pot’s main backer, invented a“resistance coalition” dominated by Pol Pot’sKhmer Rouge forces and supplied by the CIAat bases along the Thai border. There was ahitch. In the wake of the Irangate arms-for-hostages debacle, the US Congress hadbanned clandestine foreign adventures. ‘Inone of those deals the two of them liked tomake’, a senior Whitehall oTcial told theSunday Telegraph, ‘President Reagan put it toThatcher that the SAS should take over theCambodia show. She readily agreed’.In 1983, Thatcher sent the SAS to train the

“coalition” in its own distinctive brand ofterrorism. Seven-man SAS teams arrivedfrom Hong Kong, and British soldiers setabout training “resistance fighters” in layingminefields in a country devastated bygenocide and the world’s highest rate of deathand injury as a result of landmines.I reported this at the time, and more than16,000 people wrote to Thatcher in protest.‘I confirm’, she replied to opposition leaderNeil Kinnock, ‘that there is no Britishgovernment involvement of any kind intraining, equipping or co-operating with theKhmer Rouge or those allied to them’. Thelie was breathtaking. In 1991, thegovernment of John Major admitted toparliament that the SAS had indeed trainedthe “coalition”. ‘We liked the British’, aKhmer Rouge fighter later told me. ‘Theywere very good at teaching us to set boobytraps. Unsuspecting people, like children inpaddy fields, were the main victims’.When the journalists and producers ofITV’s landmark documentary, Death on theRock, exposed how the SAS had runThatcher’s other death squads in Ireland andGibraltar, they were hounded by RupertMurdoch’s “journalists”, then cowering

behind the razor wire at Wapping. Althoughexonerated, Thames TV lost its ITV franchise.In 1982, the Argentine cruiser, GeneralBelgrano, was steaming outside the Falklandsexclusion zone. The ship oUered no threat, yetThatcher gave orders for it to be sunk. Hervictims were 323 sailors, includingconscripted teenagers. The crime had acertain logic. Among Thatcher’s closest allieswere mass murderers - Pinochet in Chile,Suharto in Indonesia, responsible for ‘manymore than one million deaths’ (AmnestyInternational). Although the British state hadlong armed the world’s leading tyrannies, itwas Thatcher who brought a crusading zealto the deals, talking up the finer points offighter aircraft engines, hard-bargaining withbribe-demanding Saudi princes. I filmed herat an arms fair, stroking a gleaming missile.‘I’ll have one of those!’ she said.In his arms-to-Iraq enquiry, Lord RichardScott heard evidence that an entire tier of theThatcher government, from senior civilservants to ministers, had lied and broken thelaw in selling weapons to SaddamHussein.These were her “boys”. Thumb through oldcopies of the Baghdad Observer, and there arepictures of her boys, mostly cabinet ministers,

on the front page sitting with Saddam on hisfamous white couch. There is Douglas Hurdand there is a grinning David Mellor, also ofthe Foreign OTce, around the time his hostwas ordering the gassing of 5,000 Kurds.Following this atrocity, the Thatchergovernment doubled trade credits to Saddam.Perhaps it is too easy to dance on her grave.Her funeral was a propaganda stunt, fit for adictator: an absurd show of militarism, as if acoup had taken place. And it has. ‘Her realtriumph’, said another of her boys, GeoUreyHowe, a Thatcher minister, ‘was to havetransformed not just one party but two, sothat when Labour did eventually return, thegreat bulk of Thatcherism was accepted asirreversible’.In 1997, Thatcher was the first former primeminister to visit Tony Blair after he enteredDowning Street. There is a photo of them,joined in rictus: the budding war criminalwith his mentor. When EdMilliband, in hisunctuous “tribute”, caricatured Thatcher as a“brave” feminist hero whose achievements hepersonally “honoured”, you knew the old killerhad not died at all.

(COUNTERPUNCH)

Corruption and inhumanity under Thatcher knew no borders

There is no doubt that the Pak army and other security agencies havemade a lot ofsacrifices to achieve considerable successes in FATA. To guarantee peace, however,themost important driver of crisis, governance, must be reformed and improved

JOHN PILGER ‘Her real triumphwas to have transformed not just one party but two, so that when Labour did eventually return,the great bulk of Thatcherismwas accepted as irreversible’. Obviously, the old killer has not died at all

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

3 November 2007 was the daywhen Pervez Musharraff declareda state of emergency in Pakistan.Musharaff persecuted the mediaby taking them off air and thehigher judiciary was put underhouse arrest, including therespectable judges of theSupreme Court. Political leaderspushed against the dictator withfull force on all forums andlaunched an agitation on thestreets against the unlawfulemergency but most of themwere arrested and put behindbars with criminal casesregistered against them.During this hide and seek, thePTI Chairman, Imran Khan, alsowent underground and plannedto address the students of thePunjab University Lahore at thenew campus. He was trying toengage young men and womenfrom the university to start amovement against the dictator. Atthe time, the police and other lawenforcement agencies were in hishot pursuit but he managed tohide at some unknown place. Sowhen he appeared in person atthe university in front of theDepartment of Biochemistry,students rushed toward him andsurrounded him, chanting slogansagainst the emergency and themilitary dictator.Suddenly, from nowhere, asmall group of miscreantsemerged who belonged to astudents’ oganisation. They cametoward him and began pushinghim toward the Centre for HighEnergy Physics. They lockedImran Khan inside the room of anassistant professor for almost twohours where they started hurlingabuse and manhandling anational hero. Fortunately, ImranKhan managed to negotiate withthe kidnappers and get out of theroom. This was a violent actagainst him to stop him fromaddressing the students. At thetime, there was no PTI youthwing in the university and he wasman enough to appear alone inthe university, despite all theodds. Later, he was arrested bythe police, which was standingoutside the gates of the campus.The PU incident brought aninspirational change in the mindand hearts of the youth ofPakistan. Imran Khan was putbehind bars where he went onhunger strike. Later, he wasreleased from jail and from thenit seems he has only one mission -to encourage the youth ofPakistan to participate in politics.As a result, thousands of youngpeople have joined the studentwing of PTI and respond to hiscall in general. Here I must say,the PU incident was just thebeginning of a new era of youthpolitics where Imran Khan

proved himself a worthypolitician to be followed.In the period between the PUincident and the 30 October jalsain Lahore, he envisioned NayaPakistan¸ which 40 million youngPakistanis will help him build.His party grew by leaps andbounds because of his popularityamongst the youth. He gaveyoung people a new ray of hopeand some light, asking them toengage in a country to take itforward into the future where, forthe last 65 years, feudal, corrupt,slavish, and deceitful people havebeen holding on to power.His principled stance on thedrone attacks and the Global Waron Terror has remained the samein the past ten years, which hasnow become the core focus of hisparty manifesto. For the last twoyears, his party commissionedpolicy papers on a variety ofissues to explore the problemsfacing the country and how theymay be resolved, somethingwhich is not being done by anyother political group or party.His struggle for a new Pakistanattracts prominent politicalfigures, entrepreneurs,industrialists, musicians andpeople from all walks of life tojoin hands with him in a positiveeffort to rebuild this country.Despite all criticism, he fulfilledhis promise to hold intra-partyelections, which is anotherhistorical turning point in thepolitical system of the country.From the incident at PU to theMinar-e-Pakistan jalsa, and fromMelbourne Cricket Ground toShaukat Khanum and NAMALUniversity, he has proved himselfa fighter. All his achievementsbelong to Pakistan, but his biggestachievement has been to politicisethe youth of the country.Today, we see massivegatherings of people who show upto listen to his ideas and visionbut the political system inPakistan is quite complex whereelections are a game of thrones.Many political analysts stillbelieve that the contest betweenPTI and PLM-N in the Punjabwill decide who will form the newfederal government. In thisregard, the stakes are high andboth parties have set their agendato give a sucker punch to eachother in Punjab’s elections.Having said this, throughout hiscricketing career, Imran Khanremained a source of inspiration toyoung Pakistani men and women,and now he has become a symbolof change to them. It is now up toIK to blow the whistle and showhis leadership qualities to root outthis old deeply entrenched corruptpolitical system to make a NayaPakistan with the help of 40million young voters.

THE WRITER IS A FREELANCER

The suggestions oUered here have beenextended from the views of the limited numberof water experts, social scientists, communityactivists and citizens consulted by the PunjabUrbanResource Center (PURC) in a period ofsixmonths fromOctober 2011 toMarch 2012.To start with, adequate infrastructure is highlyimportant. Unfortunately, most of the sanitationinfrastructure has decayed. The rusted pipelinesdo not only leak the water but also contaminateit. Therefore, they need to be replaced at thesecondary, tertiary and household levels. In2002,ManagingDirector,WASA, Gujranwalainitiated a campaign tomobilise households toreplace their rusted supply lines andwith hisextensive eUorts, hemobilisedmany householdsto do so. All water agencies need to adopt suchpractices in order to incorporate them in PunjabDrinkingWater Policy (PDWP).Sanitation is important, in fact, in somecases, it is more important than water supply.The returns of sanitation are higher than thoseof water supply. In Pakistan, health budgetsare being spent on waterborne diseaseoverwhelmingly. Water can be made safe if thesewerage is well functioning and water is notthrown into drains without treatment. Bydoing this, we can have an eUective watersupply system.The general principle of undertakingdevelopmentwith government’s own resourcescan be applied to thewater sector, too. In 2003, Iread a book, AsianWater Supplies: Reaching theUrban Poor, which has busted themyth thatwater infrastructure needed donor funding. Theexperience ofmanyAsian countries has been

cited in the book. Its author says that the urbanwater supplies can be sustained on the publicrevenues. Following the experience of the Asiancountries as cited in this book, the PDWP shouldenvisionways to solve water sector problemswith government’s resources whereas its currentposition to seekmore resources from the donorswill not be very helpful to solve the problems.The way water schemes are designed for theADP currently, havemany problems.Improvements in formulating andimplementing the Annual DevelopmentProgramme (ADP) will contribute to resolvethese problems.Misuse of water is the leading cause of waterlosses. In February 2012, I interviewed 30people from various informal settlements ofMultan. They complained thatWater andSanitationAgency (WASA)Multanwas notprovidingwater to Katchi Abadis but theresidents of Gulgashat Colony used towash theircars with pipedwater. In Lodhran andKhanpurcities, the sweet drinkingwater was being usedfor sprinkling on the roads and playgrounds. Thereduction of water losses can solvemanyproblems being faced by thewater sector inPunjab. Therefore, all agencies related towatersupply - theHousing, UrbanDevelopment&PublicHealth EngineeringDepartment (HUD&PHED), theWASAs, the TehsilMunicipalAdministrations (TMAs) - should be entertainedwith clear policy provisions to reduce, if noteliminate, water losses.Eliminating illegal water connections is alsoan important means of minimising losses. Inmost of the towns in South Punjab, the TMAs

do not have documentation of the watersupply connections which paves the way totheft. W. Winarni’s observation about thewater losses in developing countries is relevantfor PDWP. He observed that the illegal waterconnections, faulty meters, faulty meteringpractices, inadequate tariUs and absence ofwater meters constitute leading sources ofwater losses in the developing countries. Sameis the case with Pakistani cities. In aninterview in July 2011, Managing Director ofWASA Gujranwala told me that most of theillegal water connections in Gujranwala wereinstalled by the rich people of the city.Losses can be reduced by improving thecapacity of the water supply agencies torecover costs. The water supply agencies inPunjab are unable to recover costs. They evencan’t recover highly subsidised flat rate billsfrom the consumers. In 2011, the ManagingDirector, WASA, Rawalpindi lamented that40,000 of his Agency’s 91,000 customers werenot paying the tariUs.Inmy view, the basic things such asdeveloping systems ofmaintaining records ofwater connections and revenue collection will bethe first important step in recovering costs. Thewater supplies agencies need to harness thepotential of GIS and organisations such asMuawin, which provide low-cost solutions tothe critical development problems.Tominimise losses, it is also highly importantthat the tariUs are rationalised. All water supplyagencies levy highly subsidised tariUs, which isone of the reasons of their being in loss. Theincrease in costmay not reduce consumption; it

will improve the financial situation of watersupply agencies. However, any proposal for littleincrease inwater tariUs becomes politicallycontroversial. The political row over increasingtariUs ofWASARawalpindi illustrates this point.Raising commercial rates is an even biggerproblem as traders, hoteliers and businesses canoften influence government agencies in theirfavour. In the age of water scarcity, it is unfair toprovide water on flat rates. It is also unfair toprovide subsidies which favour rich people. Inorder to improve water supplies sustainably, allthe agencies involved in water supply in theprovince need to rationalise water tariUs.The PDWPdoes not provide for setting up thesocial companies which deliver water oneconomical rates.Water filtration plantsbusiness is another area which has growntremendously in Punjab but finds nomention inthe PDWP. The newspapers are full ofadvertisements of various private companiesselling water filtration plants. Clearly, waterfilters are the option for all those householdswho care about water - clean and safe andwhocan aUord installing a filter. Besides, the privatewater supply companies are promoting bottledwater as panacea for drinking water troubles inPunjab. The quality and prices of bottled waterare seriously questionable.InMay 2010, Pakistan Council of Research inWater Resources (PCRWR) tested 63 brands ofbottled water. It found 33 brands unsafe forhuman consumption. The social companies forproviding water andwater filtration plants oUera good alternative to the private sectorprovision. Private water supply companies

should be charged for the water they extract.Social companies, on the other hand, should besubsidised. Overall, private sector water suppliesneed to be regulated.Policy oriented research is urgently needed forunderstanding the implications, incorporationand integration of trends: demographic,climate, privatisation and cultural, across thepublic sector.Some demographic trends are highly sensitiveto the drinking water sector. The household sizeis decreasing whereas the household number isgrowing. According to 2012 statisticspublished in The Nation, the number ofhouseholds has tremendously increased inPakistan. According to a statistical studyconducted in 40 countries, the cumulativegrowth of the households is greater than thecumulative growth of the population.The number of private companies isincreasing, making water an economiccommodity being sold and bought. It exposesthe fact that society has accepted the principle -who can aUordmust buy water.The values of preserving water and respectingit as a resource and preventing pollution andcontamination have become extinct.Acceptance for bottled water is increasing.Wasting water is not being consideredabominable. Consuming tap water is becomingunfashionable largely due to the contaminationof water. All such practices exhibit a reality: theethics of water has been changed.

THEWRITER IS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR ATFORMAN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, LAHORE

The subject of clean technology andenvironmental conservation seems tohave taken a break since the global2008 financial crisis. Owing todramatic falls in growth rates,industrial production was reduced,fisheries demands and general energyconsumption from highly pollutingcoal, gasoline and diesel for transport,dropped enough for the pollutionlevels to decrease worldwide. Even themuch feared damage to the ozonelayer fromGHGs (green house gases)and glacier melting from globalwarming was halted. But thistemporary good news is fading as thesputtering growth engine for emergingmarkets, now half the global economy,and the US, one quarter of world GDP,is back inmotion.First, some basic principles need beunderstood among the fear andloathing. In the 1970s, it was the fabledPopulation Bomb that was heldresponsible for environmentaldegradation, a predicted growth inhuman numbersmostly in theunderdevelopedworld. But this failedtomaterialise due to technologicalbreakthroughs in food production andmuch higher economic activity fromliberatedmarkets and increased globaltrade. There is long term (from 1850sonwards) evidence that the earth haswarmed slightlymore, about 1 degreeCelsius, in the twentieth century thanin the nineteenth, with the trendaccelerating, but whether this is merelya statistical quirk is debatable.Second, the recent earthquakes,flooding and generally badweatherover the last two decades has now beendeclared as random, not caused byglobal warming, by theUSNOAA(National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration). In factmany such

upheavals were exaggerated by theglobalmedia and internet socialnetworks, implying heightenedawareness. The related cause of GMO(geneticallymodified organism) foods,and of processed corn sugar, is provingto be a false alarm as well - to date,after 50 years of data, there is noevidence of their ill eUect.The GMOdebate, however, has beenconflated with that of high-concernpesticide use (e.g., Alar with applegrowing), and is being phased out inindustrial countries. But a relatedeUect of global warming is a shift ofbiological organisms out of theirnatural habitat, potentially causinggrave danger like the spread of globalpandemics (e.g., the recurring chickenflu crossing over from animals tohumans) and this season’s destructionof one-third of Florida’s citrus cropfrom an importedmicro-pest.However, the Silent Spring (1962) thatlaunched the occasionallymisguidedenvironmental movement is largely,and thankfully, still chirping.But the general pollution and globalwarming levels that destroy health andsafety, and are highly detrimental tocommerce and trade, especially in highgrowth emergingmarkets like China,India, and their Asian and Africanneighbours, must be factored in anypolicy. Beijing is nowmore pollutedthanMexico City, long considered thebenchmark, along with Karachi andNewDelhi. A developing course ofaction is cap-and-trade strategies thatintegrate the cost of such eco-damagewith business and economic totalfactor productivity.The 2000s era UN and EU cap-

and-trade policies that required largewestern corporations to pay a per tonfees of the carbon, sulphur and GHGsthey produced from industrialoperations spewing harmful pollutants(e.g., Freon from air-conditioners andmonoxides from coal and oil burning)were appropriated up to 70 per cent byChinese companies claiming to oU-set

pollutants by production of greener ormore environmentally safe products.They were abandoned after morethan a hundred billion dollars oftransfers. The cap-and-tradestructure is nowmuch more privatemarket driven in theWest, with highadoption among US corporationssince its inception in 2006.Clearly, it is emergingmarkets thatare now producingmost pollutants,given their energy-intensivemanufacturing, a point that suchcountries use in their favour by arguingthat they end up paying for the whole-scale transfer of low end and highpollution operations to their still-poorworking classes. (China’s per capitaincome is still only $6000 comparedwithUS’s $50,000, even though Chinais now number two in the globaleconomy after theUS). They also claimthat while industrial and thus,pollution, growth, is highest in theirlands, it is still theWest that creates thelargest global pollution, given itsmature economies and highwasteconsumption. Americans consumetwenty timesmore energy per capitathan the global average (ironically,Saudis are evenworse.) Also, theindustrialisedWest has been through ahigh pollution aggregation period sincethe late seventeenth century shift fromagriculture to industrialisation; while itnowmoves into the Information Age,other regions seek a break from strictregulations to catch up.Thus, along withUS reluctance tohandicap its industry, the KyotoProtocol (2005) following the RioConvention for climate change (1992)did not includemuchmandatoryregulation, something which Europeand Latin America had insisted on. Itis interesting to note that the record ofconservative US governments hasactually been better than those ofliberal regimes: it was Nixon, and thenFord, who founded the EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) in1972 along with automileage

eTciency, catalytic conversion, publicland andwater conservation laws andsolar credits, in the wake of the 1973ArabOil embargo.Today, theUS economy is abouttwice as energy eTcient as it was in1972, something Europe and otherregions have been unable tomatch.While the 2006 corn ethanolregulation was a Bush era disaster,causingmassive food price spikes, italso indirectly saved Africa’s farmeconomy, earlier devastated bysubsidisedUS and EU exports. TheObama record of clean-tech subsidies(e.g., Solyndra, $500m, Karma electriccar, $200m), courtesy Berkeleyacademic andNobel laureate StevenChu’s leadership at theUSDept. ofEnergy, has only resulted inbankruptcies, a result of feedingconstituencies. The Karma of Berkeleypitching itself to Shell Oil, themostpolluting global company, for a $500mclean-tech partnership has becomepsychedelic withdrawal.Our semi-literate technocrats,parroting their sugar-daddy sahibs,have been talking up the otherwiseglobal failures of photo-voltaic solar,wind and bio-fuels they hope can beconverted into oUshore accounts-bound foreign aid, while ignoring amajor home-grown resource that canbe a clean energy solution in our energyand employment starved civil war state.Thewell established cottonseed oilindustry hasmany parallels with palmoil, a globalMalaysian/Latin exportwhich is now close to fuel use again,besides use as cooking oil. Apart frombarter trade for Iranian gas, and civiliannuclear development of newer,muchsafer and cheaper 250MWSMLWRtechnology (instead of traditional,accident-prone 1000MWreactors),Pakistan ought to upgrade itscottonseed oil agri-industry to fuel usefor domestic consumption and export.

THE AUTHOR IS A SILICON VALLEYENTREPRENEUR

Going green, coming clean

The way for the future

ATHAR MIAN

AHMAD KHAN

IMDAD HUSSAIN

TheWest creates the largest global pollution, given its high consumption

The crisis in water management in the Punjab is easily manageable without relying on foreign donors

IK: the youth leaderFrom the incident at PU to the Minar-e-Pakistan jalsa, and fromMelbourneCricket Ground to Shaukat Khanum andNAMALUniversity, he has proved himselfa fighter. All his achievements belong toPakistan, but his biggest achievement hasbeen to politicise the youth of the country

ThIrSTy cITIeS-III

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Indian businessman held forraping US charity workerKKOOLLKKAATTAA:: Police in eastern India havearrested a local businessman for allegedlyraping a US charity worker, an oScialsaid on Friday, as anger grows over thehigh incidence of sexual crime in thecountry. “Dinesh Burman, 40, wasarrested on Thursday after an Americanwoman lodged a complaint with police,”said Kaliappan Jayaraman, the policecommissioner of Siliguri town, in WestBengal state, where the crime allegedlyoccurred. The US national, in her 50s,said Burman, a land broker andbusinessman, raped her on April 15 andthreatened her with violence if sheapproached the police, Jayaraman toldAFP over the telephone. Siliguri, whichlies in the foothills of the Himalayas, islocated 460 kilometres north of statecapital Kolkata. Protests have ragedacross India following the fatal gang-rapeof a medical student on a moving bus inthe capital New Delhi last December,which provoked thousands of people totake to the streets in anger. –AGENCIES

‘Italian govt couldbe announced today’RROOMMEE:: Italian prime minister-designateEnrico Letta could announce a newgovernment on Saturday and go beforeparliament to spell out its program earlynext week, political sources said onFriday. Letta, deputy leader of the center-left Democratic Party, has been indiscussions to iron out remainingdiTerences with Silvio Berlusconi'sPeople of Freedom (PDL) partyfollowing an initial round of talks onThursday. After two months of politicalstalemate following an inconclusivegeneral election in February, Letta isunder pressure to move quickly and forma government capable of leading Italyout of recession. He met both PresidentGiorgio Napolitano and outgoing PrimeMinister Mario Monti on Friday but isunlikely to announce anygovernmentuntil Saturday, several people close toLetta said. –AGENCIES

Iraqi forces retakecontrol of Sunni townBBAAGGHHDDAADD:: Iraqi security forces haveretaken control of a Sunni town north ofBaghdad after gunmen who seized itwithdrew without a fight, as the deathtoll from four days of violence in thecountry reached 150. OScials say theSunni militants pulled out of the town ofSuleiman Beg on Friday afternegotiations with local tribal leaders.The gunmen's seizure of the town onThursday came amid a string of violencethat began on Tuesday when governmenttroops raided a Sunni protest site in thecentral town of Hawija. That raid left atleast 53 people dead. Dozens more werekilled in subsequent unrest in westernand northern Iraq. Meanwhile, police sayat least two bomb blasts hit Sunniworshippers as they were leavingmosques in western Baghdad followingFriday prayers, killing at least 4worshippers and wounding severalothers. The violence is the deadliest infour months of protests by Iraq'sminority Sunnis, who have beendemanding the resignation of PrimeMinister Nouri al-Maliki, a majorityShi'ite. They accuse his Shi'ite-ledgovernment of marginalizing the Sunnicommunity and unfairly targeting itsleaders for prosecution and arrest.Maliki has appealed for calm anddialogue, urging Iraqis in a televisedaddress on Thursday "not to remainsilent" about what he called eTorts byterrorists to drag the country backtoward a sectarian civil war. Iraqiauthorities have said the Hawija raid wasaimed at cracking down on militantssuspected of infiltrating the ranks ofSunni demonstrators. –AGENCIES

SIMON JENKINS

VOTER trust in the EUfalls to record low. Soproclaimed the front pageof The Guardian. In everyone of the big European

states, trust has gone into "avertiginous decline". Five years ago, nocountry, not even Britain, showed morethan half its voters hostile to Europe,and most were strongly supportive.Now, according to the EU's ownEurobarometer, distrust runs at 53% inItaly, 56% in France, 59% in Germany,69% in the UK and 72% in Spain. TheEU has lost the support of two thirds ofits citizens. Does it matter?Nothing brings out the tribe in all of

us like the issue of Europe. Voters reachdeep into their political psyche to findcomfort or aversion in the idea ofEuropean union. Any piece of news isadapted to fit. EU apologists regardthis week's news as inevitable given thepolitics of austerity, widely seen aspunishing ordinary people for theprofligacy of recent European leaders.In time of trouble, voters take refuge innation and locality. It will not last.

To sceptics this will not wash.Majorities should matter to democrats,however inconvenient. "Anti-Europeanism" was growing acrossEurope even before the credit crunch -witness the Lisbon treaty referendums.It is reflected in the rise of nationalistparties and is rampant even amongsuch one-time EU loyalists as Spain,Italy, Greece and Germany. As the headof the European Council on ForeignRelations, José Ignacio Torreblanca,said of yesterday's poll, ‘The damage isso deep that it does not matter whetheryou come from a creditor or debtorcountry… citizens now think theirnational democracy is being subverted’.Even the EU president, José Manuel

Barroso, knows he has a problem. Hecomplained this week of a ‘lack ofunderstanding’, both of the politics ofausterity and of ‘who does what, whodecides what, who controls whom …And where are we heading to?’ Aresulting "resurgence of populism andnationalism" was threatening his"European dream". Yet he remains indenial that his dream is just that.Dreams make dangerous politics,

and when they require the imposition

of "yet more Europe" against the run ofpublic opinion, they are badly in needof a reality check. The new requirementthat the EU (in this case Germany)imposes budgets on indebted statesgoes far beyond anything domesticvoters seem likely to tolerate.Barroso's dream is becoming the

vision espoused by the Columbiaprofessor of European history IstvánDeák, who demanded last year in theNew York Times ‘a new imperialconstruct’ as the only alternative to savethe continent from a ‘revival oftribalism’. To Deák this new empire was‘a sacred task… an almost religiousgoal: a new European faith thatbelongs to no church’.This sort of talk has always led

Europe down the road to catastrophe.It was the dream of the Inquisition, theHoly Roman Empire, Napoleon'sviceroys and Hitler's gauleiters. Todayit cloaks the meddling regulations andunaudited fraud of the ever-burgeoning EU. The idea that such anempire can orchestrate the disciplinesof the euro and still win the consent ofEurope's peoples is absurd. Democraticdeficits cannot last long before lapsing

into dictatorship or mob rule. Thehistory of Europe proves that peoplewill not tolerate conquest, whether bybullet or bureaucrat.Angela Merkel's bankers may be

powerful, but the eurozone's "troika" ofinspectors cannot hope to rule for ever.Imagine if they had their hands onFrance and Spain. This German proto-empire may have been acquired, likeBritain's 18th-century one, "in a fit ofabsence of mind", but if there is oneachievement on which modern Europecan surely rest its case, it is that ofnational democracy. There is no way theEU can supplant it through consent.Europe is not a seamless democratic

state. It is the construct of a treatybetween disparate sovereign states, allin varying degrees of revolt against it.As Merkel's careful courtship of DavidCameron shows, his domestic travailsover Europe are not his alone. EveryEuropean government is looking overits shoulder at a soaring scepticism,some sincere, some undeniably sinister.Even a majority of Germans are nowanti-EU, and a third want thedeutschmark back.Only a constitutional illiterate could

imagine a fancy European institutioncalling Brussels to account. The presentEU parliament has no ministerialresponsibility, no governing partydiscipline and reflects no identifiableinterest, culture or "demos". MEPsrepresent an agglomeration of greed,voting always for more spending. EUaccountability is only to the council ofministers and, through them, todomestic voters. We once wonderedhow. Now we know, from public opiniongalvanised by the toxicity of the euro -the EU's very own "poll tax".That said, leaders such as Cameron,

Merkel and the new rulers of Franceand Italy are still obliged to lead. Theintroduction of the euro may have ledto a true parting of ways, between moreEurope and less Europe. But even lessEurope means some Europe. If andwhen Barroso wakes from his dream,there must be some reality.Treaties are not forever, but nation

states are. Those that are part ofEurope must deal with each other.They must discipline their commercein the widest sense, or they will lapseback into tit-for-tat duties, retaliatoryembargos, cod wars, border controls

and beggar-thy-neighbourliness.Brussels may be a parody of the Towerof Babel, but a trading bloc still needs atower if it is to retain competitivepotency in the world.Cameron and the sceptics therefore

need to be constructive to be plausible.They need to argue for a EuropeanBretton Woods, to write oT bad debtsand recalibrate regional economies byreturning to revalued regionalcurrencies. They need to proposeEuropean institutions that respectnational politics and character, not justgrab more power to the centre. Thereneeds to be a sceptics' vision of Europe.Closer European union was an answer

to war. After that it oTered an answer tocommunist dictatorship. In both itcould claim success. Finally, atMaastricht in 1992, it flew too near thesun. It pretended that one currencytraded within a single politico-economicspace could overcome economicdiversity and yield a common wealth. Itoverreached itself. In refusing torecognise this failure, Barroso and hiscolleagues now risk jeopardising evenEurope's earlier successes.

(The Guardian)

The European dream is in dire need of a reality check

KKIIEEVV:: FFlloowweerrss ppllaacceedd iinn ffrroonntt ooff ppiiccttuurreess ooff CChheerrnnoobbyyll vviiccttiimmss dduurriinngg aa ccoommmmeemmoorraattiioonn mmaarrkkiinngg tthhee 2277tthh aannnniivveerrssaarryy ooff tthhee CChheerrnnoobbyyllnnuucclleeaarr aacccciiddeenntt iinn KKiieevv.. TThhee wwoorrlldd''ss wwoorrsstt nnuucclleeaarr aacccciiddeenntt hhaappppeenneedd iinn CChheerrnnoobbyyll oonn AApprriill 2266,, 11998866.. –WIRE SERVICE

SSEEOOUULL:: The South Koreangovernment advised all itsemployees to leave KaesongIndustrial Complex, UnificationMinister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in astatement."We have no choice but to ask all

our workers to withdraw fromKaesong Industrial Complex inorder to protect our people's safetysince Pyongyang rejected ourworking-level talks oTer," accordingto the statement.Ryoon said the Democratic

People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)must guarantee that South Koreanemployees leave Kaesong safely andprotect the property of SouthKorean firms in Kaesong IndustrialComplex under agreement reachedbetween DPRK and South Korea."South Korea will continue to

provide government support tokeep South Korean firms' normalmove in the Kaesong IndustrialComplex," he added. The statementcame a few hours after the DPRKrejected South Korea government'sproposal for working-level talksover Kaesong issues.The operations of 123 South

Korean companies in KaesongIndustrial Complex have beenhalted for more than two weekssince April 9 when Pyongyangpulled out 53,000 DPRK workersfrom the industrial zone. Until nowthere are still 175 workers in theKaesong Industrial Complex.South Korea's Unification

Ministry Thursday set a deadlinetalks oTer about the KaesongIndustrial Complex to DPRK.However, it was rejected on Friday.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-

moon on Thursday expressed hopesthat operations at the KaesongIndustrial Complex in the DPRKcould return to normal "as soon aspossible through dialogue."The inter-Korean industrial

zone, launched in late 2004 underthe joint management of SouthKorea and DPRK, has been one ofthe key symbols of economiccooperation between the twocountries. –AGENCIES

Seoul asksemployees toleave Kaesong

MMOOSSCCOOWW:: A fire sweptquickly through apsychiatric hospital outsideMoscow early Friday, killing38 people, some of themsedated and in their beds,oScials said.The one-story brick-and-

wood hospital buildinghoused patients with severemental disorders, HealthMinistry oScials said.AnEmergencies MinistryoScial said the fire startedin a wooden annex andthen spread to the mainbrick building, which hadwooden beams.Health Minister Veronika

Skvortsova said that half ofthe patients took sedativesat night. She insisted thatthe patients were not tiedto their beds and were notgiven any medication thatwould leave themunconscious and unable toescape. At least 29 peoplewere burned alive, saidIrina Gumennaya, aspokeswoman for thefederal InvestigativeCommittee. Investigatorssaid the 38 dead included36 patients and twodoctors. They said a nursemanaged to escape andsave one patient, whileanother patient got out onhis own. The EmergenciesMinistry also posted a listof the patients indicatingthey ranged in age from 20to 76. –AGENCIES

DDHHAAKKAA:: Bangladesh textile workersvented their anger on Friday, burning carsand clashing with police, as the death tollpassed 300 following the collapse of abuilding housing factories that made low-cost garments for Western brands.Miraculously rescuers were still pulling

people alive from the rubble - 72 sincedaybreak following 41 found in the sameroom overnight - two days after the eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirtsof the capital, Dhaka.But there were fears that hundreds of

people were still trapped in the wreckageof the building, which oScials said hadbeen built illegally without the correctbuilding permits. "Some people are stillalive under the rubble and we are hopingto rescue them," said deputy fire servicesdirector Mizanur Rahman.A spokesman for Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina said she had ordered the arrest ofthe owners of the building and of the fivefactories that occupied it.Army spokesman Shahinur Islam said

the death toll had reached 304 and H. T.Imam, an adviser to the prime minister,said it could exceed 350.Anger over the working conditions of

Bangladesh's 3.6 million garmentworkers, the overwhelming majority ofthem women, has grown steadily since thedisaster, with thousands taking to thestreets to protest on Friday. About 2,350people have been rescued, at least half ofthem injured, from the remains of thebuilding in the commercial suburb ofSavar, about 30 km (20 miles) fromDhaka. An industry oScial has said 3,122people, most of them female garmentworkers, had been in theRana Plazabuilding despite warnings that it was

structurally unsafe. Emdadul Islam, chiefengineer of state run CapitalDevelopment Authority (CDA), said thatthe owner of the building had not receivedthe proper building consent, obtaining apermit for a five-storey building from thelocal municipality, which did not have theauthority to grant it."Only CDA can give such approval," he

said. "We are trying to get the originaldesign from the municipality, but sincethe concerned oScial is in hiding wecannot get it readily." Furthermore,another three storeys had been addedillegally, he said. "Savar is not anindustrial zone, and for that no factorycan be housed in Rana Plaza," Islam toldReuters. Bangladesh is the second-largestexporter of garments in the world butmany factories remained closed for asecond day on Friday, with garmentworkers protesting against poorconditions and demanding the owners ofthe building and the factories it housedface harsh punishment.Police and witnesses said protesters set

fire to a number of vehicles and damagedother garment factories. Dhaka Districtpolice chief Habibur Rahman identifiedthe owner of the Rana Plaza buildingasMohammed Sohel Rana, a leader of theruling Awami League's youth front.Imam, the prime minister's adviser, saidRana had "vanished into thin air". "Peopleare asking for his head, which is quitenatural. This time we are not going tospare anybody," Imam said. Wednesday'scollapse was the third major industrialincident in five months in Bangladesh. InNovember, a fire at the Tazreen Fashionfactory on the outskirts of Dhaka killed112 people. –AGENCIES

Bangladesh buildingtoll exceeds 300

38 diein Moscowhospital fire

AANNKKAARRAA:: Turkey said on Fridayany use of chemical weapons bySyrian President Bashar al-Assadwould "take the crisis to anotherlevel", but remained cautious aboutany foreign military intervention inthe conflict on its border.The White House said on Thursday

Assad's government had probablyused chemical arms on a small scale,but that President Barack Obamaneeded proof before he would act."We have been hearing allegations

of the use of chemical weapons for

quite some time now and these newfindings take things to another level.They are very alarming," Turkishforeign ministry spokesman LeventGumrukcu said."Since the very first reports of

chemical weapons being used inSyria emerged we have been askingfor a thorough investigation by theUnited Nations to substantiate thesereports. However, the Syrian regimehas not allowed this."Syria, which has so far denied

access to U.N. investigators because

of a dispute over their remit, deniesfiring chemical weapons and accusesanti-Assad rebels of using them."This has been done by

organizations, including al Qaeda,which threatened to use chemicalweapons against Syria. They havecarried out their threat near Aleppo.There were victims," SyrianInformation Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in Moscow. "The Syrianarmy does not have chemicalweapons," Interfax news agencyquoted Zoubi as saying. –AGENCIES

Chemical arms could escalate Syria crisis: Turkey

30 killed in Afghanistan as buscollides with wrecked oil tankerKKAABBUULL:: A bus crash killed 30 people in southern Afghanistan afterthe vehicle collided with the wrecked remains of an oil tanker attackedby Taliban insurgents. It is estimated that up to 11 people were injuredin the crash, which occurred before sunrise on Friday. OScials say thebattered tanker had been left by insurgents for several days. Itsposition, in the middle of a narrow road on the border of Helmand andKandahar provinces, meant it posed a significant hazard for othertraSc. Authorities had declared the area too dangerous to enter. Whenthe bus collided with the tanker, both vehicles burst into flames. AbdulRazaq, provincial police chief of Kandahar, said the fiery crash hadcaused many passengers to sustain severe burns. Razaq stated thateight passengers had been injured in the incident, while Omar Zawak,the governor’s spokesman in Helmand province, later gave an estimateof 11. Razaq and Zawak both confirmed men, women, and childrenhad been casualties. The bus, which left the capital of Helmandprovince late Thursday, was scheduled to stop in Kandahar city beforetraveling north to Kabul, the Afghan capital. –AGENCIES

The EU has lost the support of two–thirds of its citizens, yet its leaders won't wake up. It's time for a sceptics' vision of Europe

Syrian officials deny use of chemical weaponsDDAAMMAASSCCUUSS:: Two Syrian officials denied Friday thatgovernmentforces had used chemical weapons against rebels, Damascus' firstresponse to U.S. assertions that it had. On Thursday, the White Houseand other top Obama administration officials said that U.S.intelligence had concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" thatthe Syrian governmenthas twice used chemical weapons in its civilwar. In the Syrian capital however, a government official saidPresidentBashar Assad's military "did not and will not use chemicalweapons even if it had them." He instead accused opposition forces ofusing them in a March attack on the village of Khan al-Assad outsideof the northern city of Aleppo. –AGENCIES

DPRK warns ofdecisive action onKaesong issuePPYYOONNGGYYAANNGG:: TheDemocratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) said Fridaythat it would take decisiveaction should South Koreaaggravate the situationregarding the Kaesong jointindustrial zone. The DPRK'sNational Defence Commission(NDC) made the warning in astatement carried by theoScial KCNA new agency,apparently in response toSeoul's formal proposalThursday for substantivedialogues on the Kaesongissue. The South Korean sideasked Pyongyang to reply byFriday noon, saying that itwould have to take importantmeasures if the DPRK refusedthe oTer. Labeling Seoul'sdemand as being "little short ofan 'ultimatum'", the NDC saidthe dialogue oTer made bySouth Korea "is nothing but acrafty trick."–AGENCIES

Envoy urges enhancedbilateral trade betweenPakistan, sri lankaCCOOLLOOMMBBOO:: Pakistani HighCommissioner Maj Gen QasimQureshi, Friday, emphasized toexplore ways and means to furtherenhance business connectivity andvolume of bilateral trade between thetwo countries. During his GalleDistrict in Southern Sri Lanka, theHigh Commissioner attended ameeting with the oMcials of the GalleDistrict Chamber of Commerce &Industry. The meeting reviewed theprevailing business environmentbetween the two friendly countries.While speaking on the occasionQasim Qureshi emphasized the needto explore ways and means to furtherenhance business connectivity and thevolume of bilateral trade between thetwo countries. The HighCommissioner noted that the twocountries have put in place anoverarching economic framework tofacilitate businessmen of bothcountries to set-up and strengthencommercial and investment ventures.The hallmark of this framework is theFree Trade Agreement (FTA), whichhas been operational since 2005’, headded. He further stated that Pakistanand Sri Lanka also have a BilateralInvestment Treaty (BIT) and an MoUon Customs Co-operation. H.E QasimQureshi highlighted that PakistanoNers extremely attractiveopportunities to the Sri Lankantraders and consumers to benefit fromabundant raw materials, available atcompetitive prices and low freightcosts. He explained that Pakistanproduces various varieties of rice,vegetables and fruits, which ifimported from Pakistan to Sri Lanka,can considerably reduce the inflationin food items, at the same timeproviding a wide choice ofconsumables. Later in the day theHigh Commissioner also met theGovernor Southern Province Ms.Kumari Balasuriya, Southern NavalCommander Rear Admiral PiyalHarischandra De Dilva (P.H.De Silva)and Mustafa Mohammad Awn, Headof Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) GalleDistrict. �ONLINE

Euro zone sees light at end of tunnel, pitfalls remainBBRRUUSSSSEELLSS:: There are no calls forcelebration, no desire to relax in thecorridors of Brussels but someoMcials believe the euro zone hasturned a corner, sharpening the focuson longer-term reforms andstructures. Despite a messy bailout ofCyprus, markets are calm, Ireland'srescue program is on track and Greeceand Portugal, while still in recession,hope for a slow recovery next year.Slovenia's banks are a concern, but onethat policymakers are confident theycan deal with. And although Malta'sbanking system is vast compared withits economy, it is not structured in thesame way as in Cyprus. The samegoes for Luxembourg. Spain's bankrestructuring appears to be working."All the skeletons are out of thecloset," said one senior oMcial whohas spent much of the past threeyears working on the crisis. "Thereare no more major issues in thepipeline." It is a line of thinkingshared by European Central Bankpolicymaker Yves Mersch, who saidon Wednesday he did not expectanother country to "slump further".The relative calm has given oMcials inBrussels breathing space, and thesigns are that several countries,including France and Spain, could begiven an extra year or two to meettheir budget deficit goals. �AGENCIES

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Gold (oz)

rs. 1,599.52 rs. 98.15

Dollar interbank Cement (bag)

457.00 6,900.00

Cotton (Maund) urea/bag

1,704

Coal spot

$87.90/Ton 11.42%

10-y Pib Furnace oil

76,188/MT

CurrEnCy buyinG sEllinGUS Dollar 99.70 99.95Euro 128.86 129.10British Pound 152.94 153.21UAE Dirham 26.95 27.20Saudi Riyal 26.45 26.70Kuwaiti Dinar 345.92 352.48Canadian Dollar 96.61 98.31

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Islamabad Chamberof Commerce & industry (ICCI)reaches the finalists of the WorldChambers Competition 2013 bypresenting its Best YouthEntrepreneurship Project to aninternational judging panel duringdedicated Congress session.The 2013 World Chambers

Competition which was held atDoha, Qatar, received entries from65 chambers of commerce andindustry from 42 countries and ICCIwas among the 25 finalists, whopresented their innovative projectsat this forum.

This World Chambers Congressplays a crucial role in gearing upchambers of commerce to satisfy andgo beyond the new needs of businessas well as it increases global unitybetween chambers and opens up newchannels of dialogues.In this year’s competition, judges

have looked for the best projects inthe categories of corporate socialresponsibility, international trade,small business, youthentrepreneurship, and BestUnconventional project.Majid Shabbir, Secretary General,

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce &

industry presented the innovativeproject of ICCI on Best YouthEntrepreneurship and qualified forthe 25 finalists as ICCI was the firstChamber of Commerce in Pakistanthat has taken initiatives for youthdevelopment and the promotion ofentrepreneurship.ICCI has also established

Entrepreneurship DevelopmentCenter with the support of Center forInternational Private Enterprise(CIPE) for providing guidance toprospective business starters andexisting businessmen in expandingtheir businesses.

A young entrepreneur’s forum hasalso been created to motivate youthstowards entrepreneurship so thatyoungsters could enter themainstream business world, embarkon an entrepreneurial career, andcontribute positively to developingthe national economy.Islamabad Chamber of Commerce

& industry has been activelyengaged to promote entrepreneurialculture in Pakistan. ICCI is alsoplanning to establish a BusinessIncubation center in collaborationwith CIPE, where under theguidance of experienced business

professionals incubation servicesshall be provided to the new andyoung business starters.ICCI has floated this idea to

management of universities, whoshowed keen interest forcollaboration with ICCI inthis project.Islamabad Chamber of Commerce &industry is also intended to organizethe six phase “train the trainer”project entitled, “Young PakistaniEntrepreneurs Business PlanCompetition,” in coloration withBall State University in Indiana andMuncie-Delaware County Chamber

of Commerce in Indiana that isdesigned to provide 80 post-graduate, young (20-25 years old),male and female Pakistani majorityand ethnic minorities living inIslamabad and the surroundingcommunities with the knowledge,skills, and for 20 of them, the seedfunds to improve their probability ofsucceeding as entrepreneurs.After these aspiring entrepreneurs

participate in two-days of a trainingworkshop focused on teaching themabout entrepreneurship, they willtake part in a three-day “BusinessPlan Competition. �AGENCIES

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The FederalGovernment, Friday, appointedTahir Mahmood as acting chairmanof Securities and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan (SECP).The Finance Division has issuednotification in this regard.Tahir Mahmood, currently

Commissioner Company LawDivision SECP, represents thecategory of Commissioners whoare being appointed from withinthe SECP under section 5 of SECPAct, 1997.He is a regular employee of the

SECP and joined the service throughFederal Public Service Commission

(FPSC) as Grade 18 oMcer in formerCorporate Law Authority (CLA) in1989. He is a chartered accountantand carries a rich experience of over25 years with CLA and the SECP.He is Fellow Member of ICMAP &

ICSP and also has degree in Law. Hepossesses extensive experience incompany law administration,takeover laws, corporaterestructuring, mergers, corporatefinance, judicial order writing etc.He has in his credit about four

hundred judicial orders passed by himin his capacity as adjudicating oMcerand member of appellate bench whileworking as Executive

Director/Commissioner SECP.Significant number of such orders

are published in CLD and referredby legal community in corporatecases. He is also member ofCompany Law Review Commissionheaded by Chief Justice of Pakistan(Retd.) Ajmal Mian.He has worked on drafting of

various laws during his tenure withSECP. His expertise in corporatelaws especially company law andtakeovers laws are largelyacknowledged by legal fertility. He ismember of various professionalforums including National Councilof ICMAP, SAFA etc.

sECP takes measures Securities and Exchange

Commission of Pakistan (SECP),Friday, initiated 122 show-causeproceedings against higher-ups ofcompanies for failing to comply withthe applicable provisions of the laws.As part of its mandate to monitor

listed and unlisted companies tosafeguard investor interest, theEnforcement Department of the SECPstarted proceedings against the chiefexecutives, directors, and auditors oflisted and unlisted companies.Enforcement actions for breaches ofstatutory requirements related to:issuance of auditors’ reports, takeover

regulations, holding of annual generalmeeting, inter-corporate financing,issuance of capital, misstatement offacts, employees’ provident funds,consolidation of financial statements,circulation of financial statements,disclosure of directors’ interests, andcost audit rules. Penal proceedingsagainst directors of listed companyconcluded on account of materialmisstatements whereby the directorssiphoned oN the tax refunds disguisingthem as proceeds from the false sale ofits subsidiary. In addition to theproceedings noted above, theDepartment has concluded seventynine (79) proceedings against directors.

ICCI showcases ‘Best Youth Entrepreneurship Project’

Tahir Mahmood appointed acting SECP chairman

MELVYN KRAUSS

E urope needs a new deal that trades less austerityfor more structural reform. It can be donewithout costing Germany a euro cent.

The contours of this shift are starting to emerge, withSpain leading the way. To persuade the EuropeanCommission to relax its budget deficit targets for 2014to 2016, the government of Mariano Rajoy this week setout plans to overhaul pension systems and reform labormarkets, service sectors and fiscal management.OMcials in Brussels are likely to be receptive to these

ideas, because they see that current policies risk tearingapart the European Union. EU Commission PresidentJose Manuel Barroso warned this week that politicallyEurope is pushing against the limits of austerity. Barrosois right that the euro area’s crisis-fighting mix needs tochange: In Spain, unemployment reached 27 percent,and a new government being formed in Italy will needto oNer carrots to secure the structural changes that willhelp its economy grow again. Despite the anger of someGerman politicians about Barroso’s comments, relaxingdeficit targets shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. Austeritydoesn’t necessarily increase the periphery’s costcompetiveness, which is the sine qua non for ending thecrisis. Structural reform is better suited to that task.

Populist PoliticsAusterity applied during a global slump creates

suNering that is exploited by protest parties andunscrupulous politicians such as Italy’s SilvioBerlusconi, who are fanning anti-German and anti-eurosentiment to gain votes. So far, structural reforms, suchas improving the eMciency of labor markets byjettisoning laws that protect certain professions, havebeen hard to carry out in the euro- area periphery. Themain reason is that those changes require taking onelites -- labor unions, taxi drivers, pharmacists or others-- that fiercely defend their privileges. This resistancemade labor reform elusive for Mario Monti, Italy’scaretaker prime minister.Mapping an acceptable path to soften or relax austerity

in return for more structural reform could allowgovernments of Europe’s periphery to secure the publicsupport they need to take on such vested interests andwin. It could also help politicians who are serious aboutfixing their nations’ problems to marginalize the likes ofBerlusconi. The initiative would have to come fromcountries that want their budget-deficit targets relaxed.The commission could rule on each case, and decidewhether the proposed reforms warranted a concession.The European Central Bank also could deploy itsOutright Monetary Transactions bond-buying programif a country’s bond market is attacked as a result of thepolicy change. Most likely, as has been the case so far, thevery threat of ECB intervention would be suMcient tokeep markets calm. The rebalancing eNort wouldn’t haveto cost northern governments a single additional euro.

NNEEWW OORRLLEEAANNSS:: Crews load and unload consumer products at the Port of New Orleans..�ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry,Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance saidthat Pakistan has never defaulted in itsinternational obligations since 1947 and willnever default. The Adviser to Prime Ministeron Finance dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhrypassed these remarks while meeting withHiroshi Oe, ambassador of Japan to Pakistanwho called on him on Friday.Pakistan’s economy is strong enough to

meet its international obligations whileJapan is very special country for Pakistanand Pakistan acknowledges contribution ofJapan in its development. Pakistan andJapan should remain engaged all the timeto further consolidate economic ties, theadviser further said. Dr. Shahid AmjadChaudhry praised Japan for extendingfunds for projects like Karachi CircularRailways, Thar coal Project and Lahorewater project and declared them as pearlsof Pak-Japan friendship. Dr. Shahid Amjademphasized that exchange of academiabetween Pakistan and Japan should also bepromoted to further strengthen therelations between the two countries.The Scholars in Japan working on

Pakistan should also be extended financialhelp by Japan the adviser furtheremphasized. The ambassador of Japan saidthat Japan is quite optimistic abouteconomic situation in Pakistan. Despitefinancial constraints in Japan, thegovernment of Japan will continue to assistand invest in Pakistan while Contributionin infrastructure development in Pakistan is

major priority of Japan.To overcome energy crisis in Pakistan,

Japan will assist Pakistan in short term,medium term and long term programmes.Japan is taking keen interest to overcome theenergy crisis in Pakistan, the ambassadorfurther said. Japan wants to eradicate poliofrom Pakistan and is already involved in polioeradication campaign. �ONLINE

‘Pakistan has never defaultedon its international obligations’

LLAAHHOORREE:: The d2w would keepmaking eNorts for elimination ofplastic pollution and development ofoxo-biodegradable products inPakistan.These views were expressed by

Saima Asghar, head of businessdevelopment of d2w Pakistan whilesigning a MoU between BusinessDynamics Pvt. Ltd and TaksonServices here on Friday. Col (Retd)Tauseef Ahmed Khan representedthe Takson Services and signed theagreement. Danyal Tauseef, AmnaYousaf Meer, Sami Rehman andNabeel Rasheed were also presenton the occasion. Ms Saima also urged the people to

keep Pakistan neat, clean and green.

She said his organisation’s mainpurpose was to create awarenessamong the people of Pakistan aboutplastic pollution and how it aNectedhuman health.Col (Retd) Tauseef said that he

was happy to see that d2w likeinternational brand was working inPakistan. He also lauded the eNortsof Business Dynamics in this regardadding that d2w was the bestsolution to the plastic pollution. Hesaid now his company and d2wwould work together for greenerfuture of Pakistan. Takson Servicesis one of the largest firms whichproduce shopping bags for DefenceHousing Authority, Bahria Town,Al-Barraq and other companies.

D2w and Takson Services sign MoU

analysis

SSaaiimmaa AAssgghhaarr ooff dd22ww aanndd TTaauusseeeeff AAhhmmeedd KKhhaann ooff TTaakkssoonn SSeerrvviicceess ssiiggnniinngg tthhee MMooUU..

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The weekly inflation,measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator(SPI) decreased by -0.01 per cent thelowest income group up to Rs.8,000, forthe week ended on April 26, the PakistanBureau of Statistic revealed.The PBS data said that the weekly

inflation for the income group earningbetween Rs 8,001 and Rs 12,000 per monthwitnessed an increase of 0.02 percent, whilethe SPI for the mid-level income groupearning Rs 12,001 to Rs 18,000 per monthwitnessed a surge of 0.04 percent ascompared to the previous week. The SPIdata shows an increase of 0.06 percent forthe upper mid-level earning Rs 18,001 to Rs35,000 per month. �ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE: Minister Law Punjab Shams Mehmood Mirza has said that Pakistan andIran have deep-rooted trade and economic relation, which will strengthen with thepassage of time. He expressed these views while talking to Iranian Consul General inLahore Muhammad Hussain Bani Asadi on Friday. Shams Mehmood Mirza said thatPak-Iran relations have historical and cultural significance and both countries areplaying an important role in solving international issues. He said that continuity indemocracy in Pakistan will improve bilateral relations and economic ties with othercountries. He said that it is need of the hour to promote mutual relations in education,culture, trade and other sectors between the two countries. Iranian Consul GeneralMuhammad Hussain Bani Asadi said that role of both countries is very important orpeace and prosperity in the region. He said that trade ties between Pakistan and Iranwill create job and investment opportunities for both the sides. The political and traderelations were also discussed in the meeting and it was agreed to promote exchange ofcultural and business delegations, it concluded. �ONLINE

‘Pak-Iran share deep trade ties’

SPI decreasesby 0.01pc

Germany can relaxEuro austerity and lose nothing

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

i created a new genre of mainstream films: emraanMUMBAI: Actor EmraanHashmi, who has carved a niche for himself in histen-year Bollywood career, says he is happy to get his due after having created anew genre of mainstream films in the industry. "As an actor I was not acceptedfor the longest time. But it did not deter me as the audience had accepted me. Inever comparedmyself with any other actors. I never had any game plan andtook whatever camemy way," Emraan told PTI. "I think, slowly I startedgetting my due. I am very happy that filmmakers like Vishal Bharadwaj andKaran Johar have started approaching me." The 34-year-old has completedclose to a decade in the industry and his greatest accomplishment is that he hasalways tried to do diMerent kind of films. "During the first five years of mycareer I was criticised for doing similar kind of roles. I always tried to get out ofmy comfort zone. -SHOWBIZ DESK

shahid working on his rugged look for rambo rajkumarMUMBAI: Shahid Kapoor seems to be soaking up the sun this season. One look at theactor and you can’t help but notice many changes in his look. He now, for instance, sportsstubble and has even gone a few shades darker. As we try to dig a little deeper to find thereason behind this, a source close to the actor reveals, “The new stubble and tan has givenhim a rugged look, which is required for his role in his next film, Prabhudheva's RamboRajkumar”. The source adds, “Rambo Rajkumar is an action packed film and Shahid hasbeen doing heavy action sequences. He has also gainedmuscle weight for the same.”Shahid’s look has got himmuch praise fromwithin the industry, and the actor himself hasbecome comfortable with it now. “It’s really diMerent from how he looks usually, which isinteresting. People have told him that as well. So now he’s started liking it too,” says thesource. On being contacted, Shahid’s spokesperson confirms the news. Rambo Rajkumaralso stars Sonakshi Sinha. -SHOWBIZ DESK

CMYK

PAkisTAni Designers sHowCAse THeir riCH ColleCTion of exCeeDingly iMAginATive DesignsIQRA AZEEM

LAHORE:Where fashion, glamour and stars, meeteach other, The Pakistan Fashion Design Council[PFDC] kicks oM their sixth collaboration for prêt àporter fashion week in Lahore. PFDC SunsilkFashionWeek 2013 is four days fashion frenzy withlineup of 33 famous fashion designers, textile housesand high street labels. Various designers show theirtalents n design philosophy at day 1. The designertextile mill voile sows is presented by Pareesa byChenONE, Sitara textile mills, Kayseria.While TapuJaveri, SaniaMastakiya, Maria B, Elan rocks theshowwith their tremendous sense of style andfashion. HumaimaMalick surprises her fans tocome as a show stopper for FnkAsia’s LATESTSpring/Summer collection. The theme ofFnkAsia was to remind the culture of Saree.Sitara textile has showcased a large variety oflawn prints. Overall PFDC day 1 was a good startfor Fashion industry of Lahore. Designer plays withearthy colours and flairs. The teams at Nabila, Toni &Guy,Maram&Aabroo and Khawar Riaz are thestylists for PFDC Sunsilk FashionWeek 2013. Showproduction and choreography is by HSY Events.

The fragrance of Chambailispreads all over Pakistan�First political film hits theatreLAHORE: Pakistan’s first political film Chambaili is release in Pakistan on Friday.“Chambaili”: the smell of freedom, the film has been written and co-produced byShahzad Nawaz and directed by Ismail Jilani. This is a 100 per cent Pakistani film. Thisfilm against a political background,the film itself to be a ‘story of bravery and sacrificeof a group of friends who are led by circumstances and incidents to find themselves atthe crisis of fate.Director of chambaili said I believe it’s the leading film ever producedin the country. -SHOWBIZ DESK A still from the film.

SHOWBIZ DESK

MUMBAI: Imtiaz Ali's next film'Highway', starring Randeep Hooda andAlia Bhatt, will release on December 13.The film, currently in its second schedule,will see Imtiaz and A R Rahman reuniteagain after their successful collaborationon 'Rockstar'. Highway is very close toImtiaz's heart as he wanted to make itbefore any other film. "There's a story inyou for years, a world you can't wait to getinto - that's 'Highway'," says Imtiaz.Ironically, Imtiaz didn't want to botherRahman for this one thinking he must bevery busy. But once Rahman heard theconcept of 'Highway' he volunteered."I'm on, if you want me!," said Rahman.

The two are now trying to match itmusically to the varied vistas of the film -fromDelhi to Rajasthan, Haryana toHimachal, Punjab to Kashmir. "Come tothink of it, it was only last December thatwe agreed to go ahead with the film. Andto start the shoot inMarch and then stick

to the schedules despite being such atough shoot is quite incredible...comeDecember 13th, 2013, you have to take theHighway!," said Sajid Nadiadwala, who'spresenting and releasing the filmworldwide.

LONDON: Singer-actress Miley Cyrus is eying to releaseher first new single by summer this year. Cyrus, 20, who isamidst the rumours of calling oM her engagement withfiance LiamHemsworth, said she is interested only in hernewmusic now, reported Ace Showbiz. "All I do is focus onmymusic. The only place I ever am is at the studio. Myfriends, my relationships with like everyone aroundme hashonestly changed since I've been working onmy record,because it is the only thing that I have wanted to give 120per cent to," she said. But the the former "HannahMontana" star stated that her priorities will surely comearound once her newmusic has been released and she startspreparing for her wedding. "I think it is like the only time inmy life that I have pushed everything aside, everyone aside,anything you know that really mattered and it really becamejust about the music," she said. -SHOWBIZ DESK

SHWOBIZ DESK

LOSANGELES:Hollywood star JohnnyDepp has reportedly built a replica bar fromTheRumDiary in his home for AmberHeard in a bid to win her back. The 49-year-old actor is so desperate to winHeard,27, back, who hemet on the set of 'The RumDiary' in 2011, that he created the replicabar on his Bahamas property to surpriseher, reportedUsmagazine. "He had a barbuilt on his Bahamas property to lookexactly like the one in The RumDiary.

The set designer created the plans. They areso in love," a source said. Depp fell forHeard after splitting with his partner of 14years, Vanessa Paradis, in June 2012.However, the pair reportedly split inJanuary after a brief fling, when bisexualHeard ran oM to Paris to be with modelMarie De Villepin. This isn't the first timeDepp has made a grand gesture toimpress Heard. He named a beach on hisprivate island of Little Hall's Pond in theBahamas after the blonde as a specialChristmas present.

Johnny Depp builds barfor Amber Heard

Miley Cyrus to releasenew single in June

Imtiaz Ali's Highway torelease in December

TAPU JAVARITAPU JAVARI

SITARA TEXTILE

SITARA TEXTILE SITARA TEXTILE

FNK ASIAELAN

ELAN

Designer Sundas Nawaz by Sitara Textile.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

CMYK

CMYK

LLOONNDDOONN:: Amir Khan has not beendissuaded from thinking big by twodefeats in his last three fights and claimsvictory on Saturday will give him theopportunity to become undisputedworld light-welterweight championlater this year. The 26-year-old mustfirst come through a catchweight (143pounds) 12-round non-title contest withMexican Julio Diaz at the MotorpointArena in his home city of HePeld,northern England, in his first fight backin Britain for two years. Victory overDiaz, a former world lightweightchampion, will keep Amir on course fora possible rematch with either LamontPeterson or Danny Garcia. Defeat to the33-year-old Diaz will finish Khan'scareer at the elite level.Khan, who is due to get married in

New York next month, is desperate toavenge both defeats to Peterson – towhom he lost controversially on pointsin December 2011 and the Americansubsequently tested positive for a

banned substance – as well as Garcia,who stopped the Briton in four roundslast July. Both Peterson, theInternational Boxing Federation (IBF)champion, and Garcia, holder of the

World Boxing Council (WBC) andWorld Boxing Association (WBA) titles,have defences to make before Amir canstart plotting revenge.Garcia takes on fellow American Zab

Judah later on Saturday night whileArgentina's Lucas Matthysse is set tochallenge Peterson on May 18. Amirclaims he has been told by his promoterGolden Boy that the winners of Garcia-Judah and Peterson-Matthysse will thenface each other and the victor of thatworld title unification fight will box himlater in 2013. "I need to keep winningand work my way back to the worldtitles," Amir told AFP. "I'm determinedto win them again. "I'm staying at light-welterweight because I want to fightLamont Peterson and Danny Garciaagain – I have unfinished business withthem and want to avenge my losses."This fight will take me to a world titleshot, hopefully in my next bout. "Juliohas a good KO ratio; I have a lot ofrespect for accepting this challenge.Diaz is an experienced fighter and theyare the diPcult ones to beat.While Amir sees his future at the 10

stone (63.5-kilogram) light-welterweight division, he was

surprisingly elevated to number two inthe WBC welterweight rankingsrecently. Defeats dashed Khan's hopesof facing boxing's pound-for-poundnumber one Floyd Mayweather Jr, theAmerican, who holds the WBCwelterweight title. But Amir has notgiven up on a future fight withMayweather. "But I have to take care ofthe light-welterweight division first. Iwant to clean it up and get revenge oneither Garcia or Peterson later this year,"he added. "I will fight twice this yearbecause (the Muslim holy month of)Ramadan is in the middle of the year.Then I will move up to a super fight at147 pounds (welterweight) next year."Mayweather is still possible. Not manypeople are in the same league as fightinghim but as long as I don't make manyany more mistakes, then why not?"Diaz is the second fight for Amir since

suQering a third professional defeat toGarcia in July last year. Khan'sdominant win over Carlos Molina in

December was his first training withcoach Virgil Hunter in San Francisco,California. He said Hunter helped himto work on his defence, making him amore complete fighter. Khan's youngerbrother Haroon, who won bronze forPakistan at the 2010 CommonwealthGames, faces fellow Englishman BrettFidoe over four rounds in hisprofessional debut as a super-flyweight.Haroon, 21, has been distracted in his

preparations by a court appearance andfine for speeding earlier this month.Also on the same bill, unbeaten USheavyweight Deontay Wilder, 27, will belooking for his 28th stoppage victim inhis 28th fight against Britain's AudleyHarrison, a former world titlechallenger and 2000 Olympic goldmedallist. Fellow Briton David Haye forthe WBA heavyweight title stoppedHarrison, 41, in three rounds in 2010before being wiped out in just 82seconds by David Price for the Britishtitle last year. –AGENCIES

Boxing sensation Amir thinking big despite defeats

HHAARRAARREE:: A mid-afternoon spellfrom Robiul Islam swung the secondand final Test Bangladesh's way. Thefast bowler troubled Zimbabweconsiderably, but the visitors wouldhave liked a few more wickets in thefinal session after the home sideended the second day on 158 for 4.The game is increasingly becomingan engrossing contest, especiallyafter the 61-run unbeaten fifth-wicket stand between EltonChigumbura, who remained at thecrease on 45, accompanied byMalcolm Waller, who was not out on30. They forced the pace, after beingheld back considerably byBangladesh's main bowler.Robiul's first spell of 11 overs cost

just 16 runs as he racked up sixmaidens. The reward was two wicketsduring that middle session, fromwhich Zimbabwe hasn’t quiterecovered. His two subsequent spellswere disciplined, too, and it helpedthe other bowlers to merely keep totheir task rather than bring outanything extraordinary. The day wasalways going to be Robiul's. His workon the second day began with the batin hand. Towards the end of theBangladesh innings, he blasted twofours and two sixes in his 18-ball 24.He took 17 runs oQ a Graeme Cremerover as Zimbabwe struggled to closeBangladesh out. When he had the ballin hand, Robiul was in the zone.

He tested Regis Chakabva with hisgood length deliveries, pitching andmoving away on most occasions. Theodd delivery every over went straighton as both Chakabva and VusiSibanda hardly made an impressionon the bowling. Chakabva wasdropped on 6 by a diving captainMushfiqur Rahim behind the wicketoQ Robiul. But he fell in the samebowler's next over. The ball didn'tappear to take the edge, but theumpire adjudged him caught behind.Sibanda fell in Robiul's followingover, his edge to the wicketkeeperthin but audible.

Robiul then had a battle toremember with Zimbabwe captainBrendan Taylor, the best batsman onshow this series. He first bowled veryfull and straight, before resorting tothe shorter deliveries. In the 17th overalone, he had Taylor gloving abouncer awkwardly before edging agood-length ball short of first slip.Taylor played 34 deliveries fromRobiul, scoring only six runs.Mushfiqur posted a third man to cutout Taylor's ramp shot against theshort ball but Robiul probablyoverdid the short stuQ.Hamilton Masakadza fell to a

Shakib Al Hasan delivery that didn'tturn. It was the left-arm spinner'sfourth ball in the game, and put thehome side deeper into trouble at 45for 3. Taylor battled on after tea,opening up on more than oneoccasion during his partnership withWaller. They added 52 before theZimbabwe captain holed out to deepsquare leg oQ Sohag Gazi. Afterwardsand till stumps, Waller andChigumbura forced the issue withregular change of strike andboundaries, which flowed more asthe visitors tried to eke out a wicketin the last hour.Earlier, Nasir helped Bangladesh

add a further 91. He made 77 oQ 103,leading two important partnershipsafter the dismissal of the top sixbatsmen. He added 33 for the seventhwicket with Ziaur Rahman, beforeputting together 51 for the eightwicket with Gazi.Nasir hit eleven boundaries, and his

positive approach against the secondnew ball should encourage the otherbatsmen to not throw it away aftergetting a start. Nasir began slowly,but didn't let go of any opportunity tofind the boundary until Cremer,becoming the ninth batsman out for367, bowled him around his legs.Robiul's hitting stretched the score to391, and his bowling made sureZimbabwe would have a hard timegetting anywhere close. –AGENCIES

Bangladesh take control of 2ndTest against Zimbabwe

BBAANNGGLLAADDEESSHH FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSSTamim Iqbal run out 49Jahurul Islam c Waller b Meth 24Mohammad Ashraful c Cremer b S Masakadza 4Mominul Haque c S Masakadza b Chigumbura 23Shakib Al Hasan c Mutumbami b Chigumbura 81Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Jarvis 60Nasir Hossain b Cremer 77Ziaur Rahman lbw b Meth 14Sohag Gazi c Chigumbura b Cremer 21Sajidul Islam c Mutumbami b Chigumbura 0Robiul Islam not out 24EEXXTTRRAASS (2 B, 7 LB, 1 WD 4 NB) 14TTOOTTAALL (all out, 113.2 overs, 501 mins) 391FFAALLLL OOFF WWIICCKKEETTSS:: 1-44, 2-58, 3-102, 4-125,5-248, 6-280, 7-313, 8-364, 9-367, 10-391BBOOWWLLIINNGG:: Jarvis 25-4-105-1Meth 22-7-41-2Masakadza 17-2-52-1Chigumbura 24.2-7-75-3Cremer 25-3-109-2.ZZIIMMBBAABBWWEE FFIIRRSSTT IINNNNIINNGGSSV Sibanda c Mushfiqur b Robiul 10R Chakabva c Mushfiqur b Robiul 12H Masakadza b Shakib 14B Taylor c Shakib b Sohag 36M Waller not out 30E Chigumbura not out 45Still to bat: Richmond Mutumbami, GraemeCremer, Keegan Meth, Shingirai Masakadza, KyleJarvisEEXXTTRRAASS (4 B, 7 LB) 11TTOOTTAALL (4 wkts, 62 overs) 158BBOOWWLLIINNGG:: Robiul 19-9-34-2Sajidul 14-5-39-0Ziaur 5-3-5-0Shakib 13-3-40-1Sohag 10-1-29-1Ashraful 1-1-0-0Toss: ZimbabweUmpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Tony Hill (NZ)TV umpire: Owen Chirombe (ZIM)Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)Match situation: Zimbabwe trail by 233 runs with6 wickets remaining in the first innings.

ZZiimmbbaabbwwee ccaappttaaiinn BBrreennddaann TTaayylloorr iinn aaccttiioonn aass BBaannggllaaddeesshh wwiicckkeettkkeeeeppeerr ccaappttaaiinnMMuusshhfifiqquurr RRaahhiimm llooookkss oonn dduurriinngg tthhee sseeccoonndd ddaayy ooff tthhee sseeccoonndd TTeesstt aatt tthhee HHaarraarree SSppoorrttssCClluubb oonn FFrriiddaayy.. –AGENCIES

SCOREBOARD

NNEEWW YYOORRKK:: Unbeaten Danny Garciasays he's ‘100 percent ready’ to defendhis World Boxing Council and WorldBoxing Association light welterweightbelts on challenger Zab Judah's hometurf in Brooklyn on Saturday (today)."I'm ready to take over Brooklyn,"Garcia said, predicting fans from hishometown of Philadelphia would out-number Judah's supporters. "Iguarantee I'll have more fans than Zabhas coming to the fight," he said.Garcia, 25-0 with 16 knockouts, wasto have defended his 140-pound (63.5kg) titles against Judah on February 9,but the bout was postponed when hesustained a rib injury in training.With the injury behind him, Garciasaid his preparation has been"perfect". "I think it was the besttraining camp I've ever had," he said."Everything was on point – sparring,running, training, conditioning.Everything went perfect." Plenty ofverbal sparring has marked the build-up to the fight, including Judahcrashing Garcia media availability at aNew York sporting goods store.Promoter Oscar de la Hoya, citing"tension in the air," took the unusualstep of holding a split pre-fight pressconference on Thursday. "I'm a littledisappointed," Garcia said, "because Icouldn't wait to look in his eyes andsnatch his soul right out of his body."Judah, a 35-year-old veteran whoboasts a record of 42-7 with 29knockouts, was incensed at being keptout of the press conference untilGarcia was finished. –AGENCIES

Merritt to race at New YorkDiamond League

NNEEWW YYOORRKK:: World record-holder andOlympic gold medallist Aries Merrittwill race the 110m hurdles at the NewYork Diamond League athleticsmeeting on May 25 organizers saidThursday. Merritt, 27, heads 110mhurdles field that also includes fellowAmerican David Oliver, the 2008Olympic bronze medallist. Afterwinning Olympic gold at the LondonGames last year, Merritt clocked12.80sec in Brussels to shatter theworld record. He's among fourOlympic gold medallists who are slatedto compete, along with long jumperBrittney Reese and Croatian discusthrower Sandra Perkovic. Theparticipation of US women's pole vautstar Jennifer Suhr, Kenyan middledistance runner David Rudisha, USsprinter Tyson Gay, Croatian highjumper Blanka Vlasic and Jamaicansprinter Veronica Campbell-Brownhad been announced previously byorganizers. –AGENCIES

USA, Iran duel to promoteOlympic wrestling bidLLOOSS AANNGGEELLEESS:: Wrestlers frompolitical foes Iran and the United Stateswill compete in a friendly internationalmeet in Los Angeles on May 19 as partof an international push to keep thesport in the Olympics. Dubbed ‘United4 Wrestling,’ the freestyle event is beingorganized by USA Wresting and youthdevelopment agency Beat the Streets-Los Angeles as part of World WrestlingMonth, which was declared by theInternational Wrestling Federation(FILA) in April after the February 12recommendation by the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) thatwrestling not be a core sport at the2020 Olympic Games. A final decision on the program of the2020 Games is to be made by the IOCin September. –AGENCIES

Unbeaten Garcia confidentgoing into Judah bout

PCB to send vigilance o#certo ICC Champions Trophy

Aqeel wins Khyber Cup

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Aqeel Khanwon the 32nd Chief of AirStaQ (CAS) Khyber CupOpen Tennis Championshipafter beating Yasir Khan inthe final at PAF Base inPeshawar on Friday. Air Vice Marshal

Muhammad Jamshed Khanwas the chief guest at the

prize distribution ceremony.Aqeel won the rain aQectedmatch with the match scoreof 6-1, 2-1. The championshipwas played from April 20 to26 and had prize money ofRs.600,000. All top rankingnational players includingAqeel Khan, Jalil Khan, YasirKhan, and Usman Rafiqparticipated in thetournament.

OUR STAFF REPORTER

LLAAHHOORREE:: The Pakistan CricketBoard will send a vigilance officerwith the team for this year's ICCChampions Trophy in England in abid to avoid a repeat of the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. PCB Chairman ZakaAshraf told media on Friday thatsteps were being taken to ensure theimage of Pakistan cricket did notsuffer again as it did when the spot-fixing scandal broke on Pakistan'stour of England three years ago. “What we are going to do is send avigilance officer with the securitymanager that usually goes with theteam. We are also going to have theplayers bound to a special code ofconduct for the tour,” Ashraf said.Pakistan go to Scotland and Ireland

for a series of one-dayers in May andthen to England for the first time sinceformer captain Salman Butt and team

mates Mohammad Asif andMohammad Amir were banned overspot-fixing during the fourth testagainst at Lord's in 2010. The trio were jailed by a crown court

in London in late 2011 and have nowreturned to Pakistan after servingtheir sentences. “What mistakes wecommitted last time we will not repeatthem. We have to consider Pakistan'sprestige and respect,” Ashraf said.Ashraf said he would personally bebriefing the players on what wasexpected of them on the tour. “We don't want any unwelcome

people around the team or theplayers being trapped into anotherscandal,” he said. A fourth Pakistanplayer, Danish Kaneria, whoappealedagainst a life ban imposedon him by the England and WalesCricket Board for corruption andfixing last year, will learn theoutcome of his appeal shortly.

LLOONNDDOONN:: Controversial Pakistanleg-spinner Danish Kaneria failedin his appeal to overturn hislifetime ban from cricket on Friday.Kaneria was banned last year forhis role in a spot-fixing plot, butdenied all involvement andimmediately indicated hisintention to contest the decision.The 32-year-old was found guilty of‘cajoling and pressurising’ formerEssex team-mate Mervyn Westfieldinto accepting cash in return fortrying to concede a set number ofruns in an over during an Englishcounty Pro40 match in 2009.The Pakistan Cricket Board

(PCB) said in July that Kaneriawould be suspended from playingin his home country until theoutcome of the appeal was known.Westfield served two months of a

four-month prison sentence lastyear after admitting spot-fixing andwas banned from professionalcricket for five years. The 24-year-old was summoned to appear as awitness, against his wishes, at theappeal after the England and WalesCricket Board obtained a witnesssummons order from the HighCourt to force Westfield to attend to

give evidence against Kaneria.During his criminal trial last year,

Westfield named Kaneria as thefigure who induced him intoaccepting £6,000 from abookmaker to under-perform in amatch in 2009. That evidence waskey to the ECB's case in imposingtheir life ban on the formerPakistan leg-spinner but, feeling hewas harshly treated in return by thegoverning body in terms of his ownban, Westfield refused to cooperatefurther. With Kaneria's legal teamarguing Westfield's originalevidence was inadmissible at theappeal, the ECB took the last resortof an order to compel Westfield.Kaneria's appeal hearing was dueto take place last December but waspostponed because Westfield didnot attend. –AGENCIES

SSTTUUTTTTGGAARRTT:: Defendingchampion Maria Sharapova hadanother tough battle on Friday asshe booked her place in thesemi-finals of Stuttgart's WTAtournament with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4quarter-final win against formerworld number one Ana Ivanovic.The 26-year-old Sharapova, whois using the clay-courttournament to help prepare forthe defence of her French Opentitle at the end of May, was againtaken to three sets as Ivanovicrallied in the second set. Havingneeded three hours to beat LucieSafarova in Thursday's second-round, the statuesque Russianhas now played more than fivehours of tennis inside 24 hoursafter needing two hours, 16minutes to beat Ivanovic.After Sharapova took the first

set, clay-court specialist Ivanovic rallied in the second with a good variety of shots. Sharapova broke Ivanovic twice in the third, in a sequenceof three breaks, before her aggressive game finally wore down the 25-year-old Serb, who reached the world number one ranking just afterwinning the 2008 French Open title. Sharapova, ranked second in the world, will now play third-seed Angelique Kerber in Saturday's semi-final after the German beat Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 7-6 earlier. –AGENCIES

Gritty Sharapova books Stuttgart semis berth

RRuussssiiaa''ss MMaarriiaa SShhaarraappoovvaa rreeaaccttss aafftteerr wwiinniinngg hheerr qquuaarrtteerrfifinnaall aaggaaiinnsstt SSeerrbbiiaa''ss AAnnaa IIvvaannoovviicc ooff tthhee WWTTAA PPoorrsscchhee TTeennnniissGGrraanndd PPrriixx iinn SSttuuttttggaarrtt oonn FFrriiddaayy.. –AGENCIES

Kaneria loses appealagainst life ban

ECP banstransfers in SindhIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: In view of thecomplaints that in the province ofSindh, postings/transfers of theoMcers were being made on politicalpressure, the Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) on Friday directedthat there will be complete ban ontransfer/posting of oMcers/oMcials ofthe federal/provincial/ localgovernments posted in the province.The ECP said a number of complaintsare being received in the Commissionthat in the province of Sindh, postingsof the oMcers were being made onpolitical pressure which it said, isundesirable because of its adverseeNect on fairness and impartiality ofthe electoral process. The Commissionfurther directed that in case of anyexigency of service, prior approval ofthe Commission shall be obtainedbefore any posting/transfer of anyoMcer/oMcial is made. The ECP on2nd April 2013 had directed theFederal and Provincial CaretakerGovernments to shuLe all Federaland Provincial Secretaries. However,it might refrain from doing so andintimate the same to the ECP if thecaretaker government considers that aFederal or Provincial Secretary isindependent and need not betransferred. –STAFF REPORT

Altaf asks karachiites to beon guard against terrorismKKAARRAACCHHII// LLOONNDDOONN::MuttahidaQuami Movement (MQM) Chief AltafHussain advised the masses toexercise all possible caution to avertany untoward incident of terrorism.In a statement issued from London,Altaf Hussain said the people shouldimmediately inform police about asuspicious vehicle, individual or thingand avoid sitting on roads and outsideof their houses in their localities tosave themselves from any potentialthreat of terrorism. He said theterrorists were roaming scot-free inthe city and the state institutions havefailed to provide security andprotection to the people. –ONLINE

JUI (F) candidates’ convoycomes under rocket attackBBOOLLAANN:: For people were injured onFriday when a convoy of JUI (F)candidates came under rocket attack.JUI (F) candidates Hashim Shiwanifrom PB 30 and Mangay Khan who isrunning elections from PB 31 were oncampaign trail in the area when theirconvoy came under attack. Fourpeople are reportedly injured in theattack. –ONLINE

MQM will not withdrawfrom elections: SattarKKAARRAACCHHII:: Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) leader FarooqSattar has said that workers of hisparty are being killed daily to compelthe party to boycott elections. Talkingto media on Friday‚ he said MQMwould not withdraw from the electiondespite killing of its workers. He saidmore than 65 MQM workers hadbeen killed since last month. FarooqSattar deplored that PPP‚ ANP andMQM had been left on mercy ofterrorists. –ONLINE

Pakistan to seal Afghanborder for May 11 pollsIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistani oMcials saythey'll seal their border withAfghanistan and restrict themovement of Afghan refugees on May11 during parliamentary elections.Media reports quoted oMcials at theInterior Ministry and the ElectionCommission of Pakistan as sayingFriday that the measure was aimed atpreventing terrorist attacks duringthe vote. OMcials did not say howthey would restrict the movement ofhundreds of thousands of peoplespread out across the country or closethe porous border. About 1.6 millionregistered Afghan refugees and 1million other Afghans live inPakistan. –ONLINE

Participation of Balochnationalists to bring peaceQQUUEETTTTAA:: Information MinisterArif Nizami has said participationof nationalist leaders and otherpolitical parties in the 2013elections would bring peace andprosperity in Balochistan. He wastalking to Caretaker ChiefMinister Balochistan NawabGhous Baksh Barozai in Quetta onFriday. The minister said theelectioneering process would pavethe way for reconciliation andamicable solution of theBalochistan issue. –ONLINE

SATURDAYAPRIL 27, 2013THE SPOKESMAN - RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD

CMyk

Published by Ahmad Waleed from Yasmeen Majeed Printing Press 69 Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi.

ECP warns against casting aspersions on opponentsOUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) hastaken serious view of the statementsbeing made by some contestingcandidates casting aspersions ontheir opponents, which it said is aviolation of the code of conduct.The warning from the ECP comes

at a time when verbal war betweenthe leadership of two majorcontestants of the 2013 polls is at

peak. The ECP said that the code ofconduct clearly stipulates that thepolitical parties, contestingcandidates and their supportersshall refrain from deliberatedissemination of false and maliciousinformation and shall not indulge inforgeries and disinformation todefame other politicalparties/leaders. The use of abusivelanguage against the leaders andcandidates shall be avoided at allcosts.

It said criticism of other politicalparties and opponent candidatesshall be confined to their policiesand programmes, past record andwork. Parties and candidates shallrefrain from criticism of any aspectof private life, not connected withthe public activities of the leaders orworkers of other parties. Criticismbased on unverified allegations anddistortion of facts shall be avoided.The ECP expected that suchviolation will not take place from

any contesting candidate or politicalparty which might necessitateissuance of a directive under the law.Meanwhile, the Free and Fair

Election Network (FAFEN)’sobservers have found out that thepolitical parties’ candidates arecontinuing to defy the Code ofConduct notified by the ECP, as theygathered reports from 152constituencies across the countrybetween April 11 and 19, 2013.FAFEN observed constituencies

comprise 97 in Punjab, 26 inSindh, 20 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP), five in Balochistan and twoeach in the Federally AdministeredTribal Areas (FATA) and theIslamabad Capital Territory (ICT).Half of the observed Code ofConduct violations were visualcampaign materials exceedingallowable sizes, including banners/panaflexes, hoardings/ billboards,leaflets/ handbills and posters (417,or 52.2%).

RRAAWWAALLPPIINNDDII:: SSeeccuurriittyy ppeerrssoonnnneell eessccoorrttiinngg ffoorrmmeerr PPrreessiiddeenntt PPeerrvveezz MMuusshhaarrrraaff aafftteerr aa hheeaarriinngg aatt tthhee AAnnttii TTeerrrroorriissmm CCoouurrtt.. –ONLINE

SAHTAK BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: In a bid to facilitatedevelopment of alternate sources ofenergy in the country, the NationalElectric Power Regulatory Authorityhas set Rs13.1998/kWh freshupfront tariN for wind powergeneration for the delivery ofelectricity to the power purchaser.The Authority in the past has been

determining upfront tariN forgeneration of electricity from windpower. The most recent upfronttariN for wind power generation wasdetermined by the regulatoryauthority on October 6, 2011, whichhad expired on December 31, 2012.However, after the expiry, theAuthority decided to determine afresh upfront tariN for generation ofelectricity from wind power, with aview to facilitating the wind powergeneration in the country. And this upfront tariN is on BOO

(Built, Operate, Operation) basis,which will be available for up to 365days from the date of itsdetermination by the authority.Documents available with this

scribe further disclosed that thetariN is applicable for wind powergeneration only and will be limitedto the extent of net annual energygeneration supplied to the powerpurchaser up to 31 percent netannual plant capacity factor. Onlythose wind power generationcompanies are eligible for this tariNthat are recommended by theAlternative Energy DevelopmentBoard for the grant of upfront tariNand the companies whose proposedplant and machinery is confirmed to

be new and of acceptable quality bythe Board. These are companieswith installed capacity in the rangeof 5 MW to 250 MW. Moreover, the choice to opt for this

tariN will only be available up to 365days from the date of itsdetermination by the Authority.It is worth mentioning that the

companies opting for this tariN willhave to achieve financial close bySeptember 30, 2014. The upfronttariN granted to any company will nolonger remain applicable/ valid if thefinancial close is not achieved by therelevant company by September 30,2014, or a generation licence isdeclined to that company.

RRAAWWAALLPPIINNDDII:: Anti-terrorism courtFriday remanded Pervez Musharraf tothe physical custody of the FederalInvestigation Agency till April 30 in theassassination of former prime ministerBenazir Bhutto in 2007.During a brief hearing at the anti-

terrorism court in Rawalpindi, JudgeChaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman acceptedthe FIA’s request to be given physicalcustody of the 69-year-old formermilitary ruler.The FIA’s lawyers told the judge that

they wanted physical custody ofMusharraf so that he could bequestioned in connection with theprobe into Bhutto’s assassination.The judge directed the FIA to

produce Musharraf in court again onApril 30.According to sources Musharraf

would continue to be held at hisfarmhouse on the outskirts ofIslamabad, declared a “sub-jail” byauthorities, while he is questioned by ajoint investigation team of the FIA.The judge rejected a request from

Musharraf ’s lawyers for changing thejoint investigation team, oMcials said.Earlier Musharraf was driven in a

motorcade from his residence to theanti-terrorism court shortly before 10a.m. Scores of policemen and armedparamilitary troopers were deployed atthe court complex to deter protestsagainst the former dictator.The media was barred from the

courtroom during Friday’s proceedings.Footage on television showedMusharraf ’s motorcade leaving thecourt complex after the proceedings.Musharraf was formally arrested by

the FIA Thursday after the anti-terrorism court directed investigatorsto include him in the probe into the2007 assassination.The FIA joint investigation team also

recorded his statement Thursday night. Meanwhile according to The Age,

Pervez Musharraf has refused an oNerfrom the authorities to return to life inexile, political sources said.“Pervez Musharraf was offered exile

which he has refused saying he willfight cases against him,” a sourceclose to the decision-makers wasquoted as saying.Musharraf returned to Pakistan last

month to end five years of self-imposedexile. On his return Musharraf found hemight have made a mistake as he didnot receive a big welcome and later wasdragged from one court to the otherand finally arrested and detained in hisIslamabad farmhouse which has beendeclared a sub-jail. Musharraf, whoformed the All-Pakistan MuslimLeague to contest the May 11 elections,has also had all his four nominationpapers rejected. “Musharraf was oNered exile in the

garb of seeing his ailing 95-year-oldmother in Dubai,” said the source.“Some international leaders conveyedto Pervez Musharraf that he should goback into exile keeping in view thehostile media and judiciary in Pakistan.They also asked him to file a plea incourt seeking bail to see his ailingmother. But Musharraf has refused andtold his well-wishers that he would notleave Pakistan until he was freed by thecourts in all cases,” the source said.“Musharraf told the interlocutors thatit was none other than his ailing motherwho had directed him to go toPakistan and get himself cleared of allcharges. He said his mother had toldhim that Pakistan was his country andhe should live and die there,” addedthe source. “He strongly believes thecourts will give him justice but weknow this is not going to happen,” thesource added. –ONLINE

BB murder case

Musharraf senton physical remand

Rs13/kWh upfront tariff set

NEPRA bidto facilitatewind powergeneration

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: To settle the ever-increasing circular debt in thecountry and to improve power sector,the Ministry of Finance has proposedincrease in the power tariN, however,the caretaker Prime Minister delayedit for the new elected government.Addressing a press conference with

Federal Minister for Water andPower and Petroleum Dr ShahidAmjad said that both the ministrieshave agreed to develop long and shortterm solution to settle the poweroutages in the country.He said that through an agreement,

the minister of Water and Power andPetroleum will take steps to add2,900 megawatt power into thesystem during next two months.He said that Ministry of Finance has

recommended financial assistance toimprove power situation in the countrywhile the Prime Minister has alsoapproved our recommendationstherefore 10 billion rupees will bereleased to the power sector whileanother amount of 35 billion rupeeswill be provided during next month.Dr Shahid Amjad said that

Petroleum ministry has agreed toprovide 150mmcfd gas for powergeneration and this gas will beprovided to striving plants. To settlethis volume of gas the ministry willcarry out gas load shedding andconsumers will have to bear it.To remove the grudges of provinces

of less supply, representative of eachprovince will be present in CPP tomonitor the power generation and

transmission to provinces.Answering to a question about

subsidies in power sector Dr ShahidAmjad said that to although it will leavebad impact on all sectors but we haveto increase the power tariN and trendof subsidies will have to remove. Hesaid that finance is working seriouslyon tariN diNerential subsidy and toenhance recoveries from provinces andin this regard federal government isnegotiating with them. At this occasion,federal minister for Water and powerMusadiq Malik said that we have tochange our system as we are sellingpower at cheap rates as compared to itsgeneration cost. Situation demands tobring changes in our power system. Toclear the ever-increasing circular debtwe will not print currency notes

because it will increase inflation andleaves bad impacts on our economy,minister maintained.Talking about power production

from IPPs Musadiq Malik said that4,000 tons oil is required on dailybasis to run IPPs that will require tenbillion if it provided then 1100megawatt additional added into thesystem. Giving further details,Federal Minister for water and powersaid that 150 mmcfd gas will generateadditional 800 megawatt and reliefwill be given to the masses. We willfocus to generate through hydelresources that is cheap way.He requested the nation to use

power eMciently and use electricappliances of better quality.Meanwhile federal Minister for

Petroleum and natural resourcesSohail Wajahat said the ministry ishopeful that with the support fromthe Finance ministry entire situationwill be improved and soon nation willhear good news. Answering aquestion, he said gas will beprovided according to eMcacy ofpower generation plants. SohailWajahat said that ministry willimpose penalty to less eMcientplants. Malik said that powerdistribution formula was formulatedin 2006 that is faulty and we suggestthe new government to bring certainchanges in it. He said that soon listwill be publicised regarding eMciencyof gas plants, RFO plants on mediafor to aware the masses about theirperformance. –ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Foreign SecretaryJalil Abbas Jilani, Friday, said thatsix clusters of identified confidencebuilding measures (CBMs) in lastMinisterial Conference in Kabulwere now ready forimplementation.While speaking at the third

“Heart of Asia” MinisterialConference of the Istanbul Processheld Almaty, Kazakhstan, heunderlined that severaldevelopments had taken placesince the last Ministerial in Kabulin June, 2012. He said this was amanifestation of result orientedcooperation to promote securityand prosperity in Afghanistan andthe region.The President of the Republic of

Kazakhstan, NursultanNazarbayev, inaugurated theConference, which was co-chairedby the Minister of Foreign ANairs ofthe Islamic Republic ofAfghanistan, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul,and the Minister of Foreign ANairsof the of the Republic ofKazakhstan, Erlan Idrissov.The foreign secretary said that

Pakistan attached greatimportance to the Heart of AsiaInitiative. He said this is thereason that we joined all the sixConfidence Building Measures(CBMs) under this process. Heconveyed his deep appreciationand thanks to the Government ofKazakhstan for hosting thisMinisterial Conference.Pakistan together with

Kazakhstan has a lead role inDisaster Management CBM. Hereported to the MinisterialConference about the draftimplementation plan of theDisaster Management CBM,prepared jointly with Kazakhstan.The CBM was later adopted by theMinisterial Conference along withother CBMs. –ONLINE

Ministerial Conference

CBMs adoptedin Kabul ready forimplementation

Plan to add 2,900MW power in 2 months

Senate to meet onMay 2 to discuss Mush caseIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Senate Chairman Friday summoned the sessionof the Upper House for May 2. He took this step in response to arequisition submitted by Senators from all parties except PML-Qin the House on the concluding day of the last session. Therequestors while submitting the requisition for the senate sessionsaid that serious proceedings regarding conduct of the electionsand judicial hearing of cases against ex-general Pervez Musharrafwere under way and they feared that after declaration offarmhouse of Pervez Musharraf as sub-jail, he could be airlifted toany other country. “So we need the House in session” observed therequestors including Senator Zahid Khan, Ishaq Dar and MianRaza Rabbani while talking to media here outside the ParliamentHouse after submission of requisition. The upcoming session willthe 93rd of the Senate. –ONLINE

� Ex-president rejects o er of return to exile

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