Deterrent punishment is sureway out................................................Why US doesn’t droneFazlullah?................................................World needs to do more forPakistan

See Page 04

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The stock market on Fridayreturned to brisk trading activ-ity although the volumes fornot so impressive yet the indexgained 183 points amid a trad-ing volume of 141 millionshares traded in today’s ses-sion.

The market seems in anaggressive mood and the com-ing trading session likely tomake a quantum jumps as theinvestors are looking confidentin the wake of under standing

KSE 100: Brisk trading amid 183 points gainamongst the ruling party and the oppo-sition which has done away with theDharna politics.

The circulating report about furthercut in petroleum prices as well as in markup rate by the state bank of Pakistan has

injected new spirit among inves-tors. The World call emerged asthe volume leader for the day as15 million shares traded in thisstock while Maple Leaf was thesecond volume leader with 8million share and Cherat Ce-ment was on the third positionwith 6 million shares traded ontheir credit.Market is likely to touch the newhigh in the forthcoming tradingsessions, said market analysts.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Two militants, who had beenhanded down death penalties in terrorism-re-lated cases, were hanged in a prison inFaisalabadlate Friday, jail officials said.

Aqeel alias Dr Usman, a leader of thePunjab branch of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,and Arshad Mehmood, were behind the attackon the army’s headquarters in October 2009.

Usman, a former employee at an army’sstores, was also behind the attack on Sri Lankanteam in Lahore in March 2009.

Two terrorists hanged in Faisalabad jailDr Usman led attack on GHQ; Arshad was involved in attack on Musharraf

KARACHI—Pakistan, Afghanistan and theU.S.-led International Security Assistance Forcehave agreed to launch a trilateral operationagainst Taliban on both sides of the Pak-Afghanborder, a senior Pakistani official said Friday.

“It will be a coordinated trilateral operationto be launched jointly by Pakistan, Afghani-stan and ISAF on both sides of the border,”Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziztold The Anadolu Agency’s Turkish service inan exclusive interview. Aziz, who also holds theportfolio of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ad-viser on foreign affairs, said the three sidesagreed to inform each other of future targetedoperations against Taliban.

The proposed operation would be launchedon the basis of intelligence sharing between allsides, he added. Aziz ruled out the possibilityof “hot pursuit” by either side that would breachPakistan or Afghanistan’s sovereignty. “There

Pak, Afghanistan, US agreeon anti-Taliban operation

will no hot pursuit by Pakistani or Afghan forces.When we launch a targeted operation on our

side of the border, we will inform them, andwhen they do that, they will inform us,” he said.Aziz did not say exactly when or where the pro-posed operation would take place.

A senior foreign office official said on con-dition of anonymity that the decision was takenrecently during Pakistan Army Chief GeneralRaheel Sharif’s meeting with his Afghan coun-terpart, and ISAF Commander-General JohnCampbell in Kabul.

General Sharif flew to Kabul a day after agun-and-bomb terrorist attack on an army-runschool in northwestern Pakistan’s Peshawar citykilled over 140 people, mostly students, on Dec.16. “The army chief informed Afghan PresidentAshraf Ghani, and top Afghan army and ISAFcommanders that the terrorists were in constant

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—The National Electric PowerRegulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday ap-proved a Rs2.97 per unit cut in power tariff un-der the head monthly fuel price adjustment forthe month of November.

The regulatory authority made this decisionduring a public hearing which was chaired byTariq Sadozai, chairman of Nepra on Friday. Theregulator took this decision while hearing theplea of Central Power Purchasing Agency(CPPA), which has sought adjustments of varia-tion incurred in the fuel cost for power genera-tion last month. Earlier, the CPPA, in its peti-tion submitted with the regulator, sought Rs2.92

Nepra approves Rs2.97cut in power tariff

per unit reduction in power price on account ofmonthly fuel price adjustment. Also, the regu-lator by approving Rs2.97 per unit decrease inpower prices approved Rs19 billion worth re-lief for all power consumers except K-Electric.The CPPA pleaded that total 6.54 billion unitsof electricity were sold to electricity distribu-tion companies (DISCOs) in the last month. Fuelcost on power generation recorded at Rs4.49 perunit, while reference fuel cost was set at Rs7.41per unit. Also, power production with furnaceand diesel oil was reduced by 1.66 billion unitsin the said span of one month, if the power gen-eration during October is counted. Similarly,

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Mily courts beingestablished for

terror trials: AsifSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Defence Minis-ter Khwaja Asif on Fridaystated that military courts werebeing established for trials ofcases relating to terrorism.

Speaking in an interview,Asif said carrying out of deathpenalty against terrorists wouldbegin soon, adding that thegovernment had consciouslydecided to lift the moratoriumon capital punishment.

He further said that the pro-cess of establishing militarycourts for the purpose of try-ing terror suspects was alreadyunderway.

Asif added that there wouldbe no discrimination in the car-rying out convictions of terror-ists who have been sentencedto death and whose appealshave been rejected.

Continued on Page 7

Mehmood was believed to have been in-volved in an attack on former President PervezMusharraf in December 2003. Musharraf hadescaped unhurt in the attack.

Pakistan Army Chief, General RaheelSharif, Thursday signed death warrants of sixmilitants who had been convicted in attacks onthe army’s headquarters.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednes-day announced the lifting of the 2008 morato-rium on executions in Pakistan.

The decision came in the wake of theTaliban attack on the army school which killed

132 schoolchildren and nine staff members.Jail officials said Usman and Mehmood

were sent to the gallows in the industrial cityof Faisalabad. The bodies were handed overthe police for handover to their relatives, statetelevision reported.

The army spokesman Maj Gen Asim Bajwasaid the army chief on Thursday “signed deathwarrants of 6 hardcore terrorists.” He said armycourts had convicted the men “in accordancewith law” and their executions had been pend-ing.

A group of ten Taliban militants had

launched the attack which had left 10 soldiersand two civilians dead. The group was led byAqeel alias Dr Usman, a leader of the Punjabbranch of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Aqilwas injured and arrested after a 24-hour stand-off at the army’s headquarters in the city ofRawalpindi. Other attackers had been killed.

The security forces later arrested severalmore militants in connection with the attackwho were tried in a military court and awardeddeath penalty in August 2011. Aqil was alsosuspected to be behind the attack on Sri Lankan

ASHRAF ANSARI

ISLAMABAD—Civilian and military leader-ship have pledged to eradicate ter-rorism from the country while thearmy and ISAF would targetTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chiefMullah Fazlullah.

The resolve was made at themeeting of the civilian and mili-tary leadership led by PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif andChief of Army Staff GeneralRaheel Sharif at the GeneralHeadquarters on Friday.

During the meeting held onnational security, the leadershipagreed that no leniency wouldbe extended to terrorists andtough steps would be taken inthis regard. The army chief also took thepremier into confidence over his meetings

PM, COAS pledgezero tolerance for terror

Mullah Fazlullah to be taken out

Continued on Page 7

with the Afghan leadership.According to media reports Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif was reportedly in-

formed about the army and ISAF’s deci-sion to target Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

chief Maulvi Fazlullah. Fazlullah was re-portedly in contact with the Peshawarschool attackers from Afghanistan during

the assault which left 141 people,mostly school children, dead onDecember 16. “Although Chief ofArmy Staff General Raheel Sharifand DG ISI Rizwan Akhter haveprovided audio proof of attackerstalking to Fazlullah during the as-sault, Army is currently refrain-ing from chasing targets acrossthe international border,” thesources said. The audio recording,handed to Afghan authorities, wasin Pashto.

Pakistan military leadershipand ISAF agreed to targetFazlullah in a drone attack ratherthan a ground operation in the

Nanger Har, Nooristan and Kunar areas

Continued on Page 7

TTP Karachichief killed

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—The terrorists facedmajor dent when one Abid aliasMucchar was eliminated by theparamilitary force along withhis three accomplices in a pre-dawn targeted operation inMusharraf Colony here on Fri-day.

Abid Muchhar, the chief ofa Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) Wali-ur Rehman group,used to deal with group’smilitants in Karachi. He wasinvolved in number of bombblasts in the metropolis and alsoinvolved in attacks on MuttahedaQaumi Movement (MQM) and

Operation to continuetill last terrorist: Raheel

Visits Khyber AgencySTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Pakistan’s ArmyChief General Raheel Sharif onFriday visited Khyber Agencyto review the ongoing militaryoffensive against Taliban mili-tants, official said.

“COAS visited Khyberagency Friday and reviewedprogress of ongoing groundoperation,” said a statement is-sued by the Inter-Services Pub-lic Relation (ISPR).

Gen Sharif was informedthat in three different actions inthe last two days, 62 terroristshave been killed in ground

offensives and another 57 inaerial strikes.

The army chief also metwith soldiers and appreciatedtheir spirit and high morale.

“COAS reiterated that wewill continue to hit these ter-rorists wherever they are andoperations will continue till weeliminate the last terrorist,”said the statement.

After the deadly Talibanattack on Army Public Schoolin Peshawar, the security forceshave carried out a massive as-sault on the militant hideoutsin Tirah Valley.

Continued on Page 7

New Zealandbeat Pakistan totake series 3-2ABU DHABI—New Zealandbeat Pakistan by 68 runs in

the fifth and final day-night international inAbu Dhabi on Friday,taking the five-matchseries 3-2.

Chasing a daunting276-run target,Pakistan were bowled

out for 207 in 43.3 overs withpaceman Matt Henryreturning career best figuresof 5-30.

Haris Sohail top-scoredwith 65 while AhmedShehzad made 54.

New Zealand were liftedto 275-4 by skipper KaneWilliamson who made 97while Ross Taylor scored anunbeaten 88.

Pakistan won the first andthird matches while NewZealand came back to levelthe series in second andfourth games.

The two sides had sharedthe preceding three-Test andtwo-Twenty20 series 1-1.—AFP

Electoral rigging

Govt, PTI very near toreach agreement: Dar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator IshaqDar speaks during a press conference after a meeting withPTI leadership.

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Finance Minis-ter Ishaq Dar said on Fridaythat there has been considerableprogress in talks between thegovernment and the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) overtheir longstanding demand ofa probe into alleged rigging inthe 2013 general elections, andthe matter may even be re-solved within a week.

Dar, along with PTI lead-ers Shah Mehmood Qureshiand Jahangir Tareen, was ad-dressing the media after a meet-ing at the Tareen’s house inIslamabad.

“…I am hopeful of con-cluding this issue in the com-ing week,” the finance minis-

ter said, adding that the “Paki-stan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) leadership, particu-larly PM Nawaz Sharif, wantthis political saga to end.”

“..I must acknowledgedthat they (the PTI) is also co-operating, and we are veryclose to resolving the issue,” headded.

The minister said other par-ties are also a part of the pro-cess, and they will share thefinal document with them aswell.

Qureshi also spoke on theoccasion and said there wasconsiderable progress inFriday’s talks with the govern-ment.

“There has been an agree-

70 terrorists deadin Khyber strikes

US drones kill 8 on Pak-Afghan border

Continued on Page 7

TARQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The PakistanArmy led security forces inground and air offensives havemowed down as many as 70trouble makers in the restiveKhyber agency during the lasttwenty four hours. Maximumtrouble makers were killed inthe troubled Tiraah valley asthree men in uniform also sus-tained injuries in the combatwith the militants.

The security forces pacedup their activities against thealleged terrorists followingmilitants organized attack on

the Army Public School Tues-day that left around 150 peoplewith more than 135 school chil-dren martyred.

The deadliest and most bar-baric ever attack, perhaps in thehistory of Pakistan, had madeevery body weep in the coun-try and had drawn condemna-tion from all over the world.

The PAF war planes hadgone for over a dozen strikesin the Tiraah valley of Khyberagency the very same day andhad killed up to 60 insurgents.The Pakistan Air force birds, asconfirmed by the Inter Services

Continued on Page 7

Altaf demandsarrest of LalMasjid cleric

KARACHI—Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) Chief AltafHussain strongly condemnedPeshawar school attack andpaid rich tribute to the martyrs,demanding arrest of LalMosque clerk Maulana AbdulAziz who refused to condemnthe incident.

Addressing a massive rally,taken out to express solidaritywith Pakistan Army and fami-lies of the victims of Peshawarschool attack, Altaf Hussainsaid innocent children andteachers were martyred in the

Lal Masjid protest

FIR registeredagainst

Maulana AzizSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A First Infor-mation Report (FIR) has beenregistered against Lal Masjid’schief cleric Maulana AbdulAziz at Aabpara Police Stationupon unremitting pressure ex-erted from protesting civil so-ciety on Friday night.

The non-bailable FIR wasregistered under section 506 (2).

The candlelight vigil andprotest was organised in responseto a statement by Maulana AbdulAziz in which he refused to con-demn the massacre of studentsand teachers in a terrorist attackon a school in Peshawar.

Peshawar attackmastermindidentifiedDERA ISMAIL KHAN—Themost hated man in Pakistan isa 36-year-old father of threeand volleyball enthusiastnicknamed “Slim.”

His real name is UmarMansoor and the PakistaniTaliban say he mastermindedthis week’s massacre of 132children and nine staff at aschool in Peshawar - thedeadliest militant attack inPakistan’s history.

A video posted onThursday on a website used bythe Taliban shows a man with aluxuriant chest-length beard,holding an admonishing fingeraloft as he seeks to justify theDec. 16 attack. The captionidentified him as UmarMansoor.

“If our women andchildren die as martyrs, yourchildren will not escape,” hesaid. “We will fight againstyou in such a style that youattack us and we will takerevenge on innocents.”

Continued on Page 7

Mumbai attack

Lakhvi detainedunder MPOSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Alleged mas-termind of the 26/11 Mumbaiattacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhviwho was granted bail by ananti-terrorism court inIslamabad on Thursday wasdetained under the Mainte-nance of Public Order (MPO).

According to sources thegovernment has also decided toappeal against the approval ofLakhvi’s bail in superior courts.

The ATC had ordered therelease of Lakhvi after his post-arrest bail plea was acceptedand Judge Syed Kausar Abbas

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

NAPC discussesaction against

terrorismISLAMABAD—The NationalAction Plan Committee(NAPC) for action against theterrorism and extremism , hasbeen informed of proceeding ofthe important meeting chairedby the Prime Minister NawazSharif held at General Head-quarter on protection of na-tional security.

The consultations have

Death warrantsof 10 more

terrorists issuedAAMIR MAJEED / SALIM

AHMAD

KARACHI/LAHORE—Thetwo activists of banned reli-gious outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi(LeJ) Attaullah alias Qasim andMuhammad Azam alias Sharif,who were awarded capital pun-ishment in two cases of sectar-ian killing in 2004, would beexecuted anytime soon.

An Anti-Terrorism Court(ATC) issued the death war-rants of both terrorists late onFriday night. A summary hasalso been moved to an ATC forissuance of warrants of twomore activists of LeJ.

As per details, the processof execution kicked-off in theSindh province after the presi-dent rejected the petition of

Continued on Page 7

DERA ALLAYAR: Students presenting tableau during a ceremony in connection withQuaid-e-Azam Day organized by Sibbi Scouts 65 Wing.

Swiss CG’s humanitarian gesture

FAISALABAD: Faisalabad policemen stand alert on watch tower of central jail as secu-rity has been increased to high alert after government lifted six year moratorium onexecutions.

KARACHI: Mr. Emil Wyss, the Consul General, along with his wife and staff of theConsulate General of Switzerland in Karachi greeted young guests from the Make-a-Wish Foundation Pakistan.

RAWA L P I N D I —PresidentMamnoon Hussain has un-derlined the need for takingeffective measures for im-proving healthcare infrastruc-ture in the country. He saidthat provision of universalbasic health facilities play animportant role in the overalldevelopment and progress ofa country.

The President was ad-dressing the 48th Convoca-tion of College of Physiciansand Surgeons Pakistan(CPSP) here on Friday. Thosewho attended the event in-cluded, among others, Presi-dent CPSP Prof. Zafar UllahChaudhry, eminent professorsand distinguished specialistsof various fields of medicineand surgery along with senioroffi-cials of President Secre-tariat.

The President said thatmedial educationists and prac-titioners should keep them-selves abreast of latest tech-nologies and advancementsin order to not only excel inthe fields of medical sciencesbut also to positively be ableto ad-dress the emerging chal-lenges to health safety. Heemphasized that medical spe-cialists should serve thepeople with dedication to givetheir best in the related fields.The President stressed onpermanently extending mod-ern healthcare facilities to ru-ral and far flung areas of Paki-stan particularly to areas likeThar for effectively address-ing health challenges and for

48th Convocation of College of Physicians and Surgeons

Major healthcare infrastructure uplift need of time: Mamnoondealing with any future healthemergency.

Mamnoon Hussain ap-preciated the contributions of

CPSP to the development ofmedical sciences and raisingthe standard of postgraduatemedical education in the coun-try. The President also appre-ciated CPSP for earning a dis-

RAWALPINDI: President Mamnoon Hussain addressing the 48th Convocation of College of Physicians and Surgeonsof Pakistan at Rawalpindi.

tinguished position amongsister international institu-tions by maintaining highstandards of medical learning,

train-ing, research facilitiesand by promoting specialistmedical practice.

The President observedthat the College should con-tinue establishing academic

affiliations with the renownedin-stitutions of the world forexpanding the horizon oflearning and taking advan-

tage of modern medical re-search and experiments.

The President also di-rected the federal and provin-cial departments concernedto extend every possible fa-

cility to CPSP so that the in-stitute continues in its noblepursuit of achieving con-stantly improved healthcare

for all in our motherland. ThePresident expressed hopethat CPSP would continueadvancing the high principlesof medical profession.

DNA adds: Mamnoon

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The KhyberPakhtunkhwa Governor,Sardar Mahtab Ahmad

Khan has said that theShaheed Principal of ArmyPublic School, MadamTahira Qazi deserve dueNational award inacknowledgement of herbrave struggle to protectthe students while head onconfronting terrorists at-tack at the institu-tion on16th December and he him-self too will fully concedethe proposal for makingthis possible.

“The way; she con-tacted Rapid ResponseForce; ambulance serviceetc in a critical state of cir-cumstances, was exem-

Tahira Qazi deservesstudents’ protection

award: Mahtabplary and she really con-tributed her services like areal mother of the children”,he said after offeringFateha for the eternal peaceof the departed soul of theShaheed at Landi Arbab;the native suburban villageof the bereaved family inPeshawar on Friday morn-ing. She, indeed, he added,served the institution likea towering personality ofthe teaching professionand made her services im-mortal by pre-ferring tosacrifice for the studentsrather protecting her own-self which in itself is a bigmessage to make the fightagainst terrorism a real suc-cess .

The Governor ex-pressed sympathies withCol. (Retd) Zafarullah Qazi;the spouse of the Shaheedand the other members ofthe bereaved family on thisoccasion.

Meanwhile, respondingto ques-tions of media per-sons on this occasion, theGovernor said, this tragicinci-dent has led to unitethe entire nation. Now, heremarked, we as a nationhave fully accepted owner-ship of the War on terror-ism and Inshaullah the im-mortal sacrifices of the stu-dents will never go in vain.

LAHORE—Pakistan Railways has decidedto operate four special trains for winter va-cations to facilitate passengers especiallystudents. According to a notification onFriday, first special train will run betweenKarachi Cantt and Lahore on December 20and second special train will be operatedfrom Karachi Cantt for Lahore on Decem-ber 24 at 8 pm.

The PR will operate two special trainsfrom Lahore to Karachi on December 22 and26. These special trains will stop atHaiderabad, Rohri, Multan, Khanewal andSahiwal.Earlier, one special train was de-cided on Thursday, however, on heavy de-

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTelecommunication Au-thority (PTA) in its ongo-ing efforts to control greytrafficking unearthed fiveillegal gateway exchangesat Karachi, Hyderabad,Rawalpindi and Sialkot.

According to details,five suc-cessful raidsagainst the grey op-erators were carried outalong with FIA team in theareas of Karachi, Hy-derabad, Rawalpindi and

5 illegal gateway exchanges unearthedSialkot.

First raid was carriedout at House No. 250, GirziClifton, Kara-chi. An illegalexchange comprising of 1x 32 Port, 1 X 4 Port gate-ways along with 2 Laptops,3 PTCL Mo-dems 142 Simswere confiscated. One per-son was arrested from thespot .

The second raid wasconducted at Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Zainab Plaza,Karachi in which one ille-

gal ex-change comprisingof 1x8 ports 2x4 port gate-ways alongwith laptopwere confiscate. One per-son was arrested from thescene.

The PTA conductedthird raid at Flat 32,Tayyaba Complex, QasimAbad, Hyderabad in whichone illegal ex-change com-prising of 9 X 8 ports 1 x 32port gateways, 2 LANswitches, 2 laptops, 1PTCL Mo-dem and various

Sims were confiscated.One person was ar-restedfrom the spot.

Fifth raid was con-ducted at Rehmanpura,Sialkot in which one illegalexchange comprising of 6illegal VOIP gateways, 6 x12 Ports along with otherequipment a gun and am-munition etc were confis-cated. One person was ar-rested from the spot andwas in FIA custody for fur-ther investigation.—APP

PRs to operate 4 specialtrains for winter vacations

mand the PR administration changed thedecision and now four special trains will beoperated.Abbottabad: Khyber Pakhtunkhawa govern-ment on Friday decided to close all privateand public sectors schools of Abbottabaddistrict for winter vaca-tion with effect from20th December, 2014 to 28th February 2015.

This was stated by the CommissionerHazara division Arbab Muhammad Arifwhile talking to APP at his office. He fur-ther said that all private schools will remainclose from Monday alongside governmentschools in district Abbottabad for summervacations.—APP

JICA helpselectrify 6000villages, set up12 grid stations

ISLAMABAD—Japan Interna-tional Cooperation Agency(JICA) has been helping Paki-stan in power generationprojects for last three decades.The agency had funded elec-trification of over 6000 villages,establishment 12 new grid sta-tions, and laying of 1487 km longtransmission lines, besidesupgradation of training facili-ties, JICA sources told APP.JICA has helped set up BinQasim Ka-rachi, Jamshoro,Hyderabad and Ghazi BarothaHydropower projects.

The sources said in orderto reduce power transmissionlosses , Jica supported theNational Transmission andDispatch Company (NTDC)to expand its grid system bybuilding 12 new grid sta-tions,laying 1487 km long transmis-sion lines and upgrading itstraining facilities. With the helpof JICA, the national powercontrol system was success-fully converted from analogueto digital system that would helpin improving governance in thesector, said the sources.

They said that in powerdistribution, Jica had contrib-uted in the electrification ofover 6000 villages across Pa-kistan. The sources said thatJICA intended to extend itscooperation to establish an ef-ficient and sustainable elec-tricity supply system to playa role in the economic devel-opment of Pakistan.—APP

3-day mourningobserved inSingapore

ISLAMABAD—To expresssolidarity with the victims ofhorrendous terrorist attackin Peshawar, a three-daymourning was observed atthe High Commis-sion ofPakistan in Singapore. Thenational flag remained half-mast at the Chancery and theEm-bassy Residence.Acondolence book wasopened for signatures at theChancery which was signedby Heads of diplomatic Mis-sions and their representa-tives. The High Commission,in collaboration with theSingapore Pakistani Asso-ciation, also arrangedprayers for the victims onFriday, 19th, December, 2014at Baalwie Mosque,Singapore, says a mas-sagereceived here.—PR

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

SERVING humanity isthe biggest virtue,and when shown by a

foreign diplomat, it becomesa lesson forus. We callo u r s e l v e sM u s l i m s ,followers ofIslam, HolyP r o p h e t(PBUH) andK a l a m - e -I l a h i ,Q u r a n - e -

Hameed, and yet we showrare respect for the down-trodden and have nots. Wecan only hang our heads inshame

Ever since his postinghere, Emil Wyss has been en-gaged hectically in being

sympathetic to humanitariancauses. He visited Edhi, theangel of mercy, to know abouthis charity organizations,honoured the wheel-chaircricketers to show respect tohandicaps, and this week, heinvited poor, and terminally illchildren with their parents tohis consulate-cum-residenceto entertain them with magicand comedy shows, andpresent them gifts.

The fact that he, in coop-eration with the Make-a-wishFoundation of Ishtiaq Beg,brought smiles, even tempo-rarily, on children hardly ableto have two meals a day, andcan ill-afford to be dressedproperly. This was somethingmore than laudable, and a les-son to our ministers, parlia-mentarians, and governmentswho pay little attention to their

responsibilities, and are moreinterested in pomp and show.

This week, the Bahreinconsul general IbrahimHedjazi held his country’s na-tional day, but in an austereand simple manner to be re-spectful for the martyrs of thePeshawar tragedy of Decem-ber 16. Such functions are dif-ficult to cancel on the sameday. But Ibrahim himself ahumble soul, made it a pointto confine it to playing of na-tional anthems of his countryand Pakistan, and cutting ofcake. Ibrahim has been busypromoting bilateral relationsbetween Pakistan andBahrien. He is free mixingfriends, and considers Paki-stan his second home.

Reverting to the Make-a-Wish Foundation programme,Ishtiaq Beg informed the

people, that the Foundationwas formed in Pakistan in 1980and since then has been try-ing to meet the wishes of thepoor children, especiallythose terminally ill.

A the Swiss consulatetoo, at least 8 such children,suffering from blood cancer,blood deficiency, or fatal dis-eases, were treated like VIPs.They were given the gifts likeBarbie dolls, doll houses, toycars which they had wishedfor. Ishtiaq Beg, said that Pa-kistan chapter of the Foun-dation was affiliated to Inter-national make a wish foun-dation, formed in Americawith 55 countries. Childrenalso had their faces paintedwith colours, and enjoyed theafternoon with deliciousdishes. They looked happyand felt honoured. Great ges-

ture from Emil, who has setan example for other fellowdiplomats to attend to hu-manitarian causes also.

While Emil was dressedin Pakistani shalwar andkameez, his wifeAreey worea simple dress for the occa-sion. Among those presentwere eminent Pakistani filmactress Zeba Bakhtiar, andAteequr Rehman , patron inchief of the wheel chair crick-eters organization, and alsorunning a blood centre whichcaters to over 800 childrenfree of cost.Great work fromAteeq sahib, Farhat, oncechief executive of Siemensmultinational, and now doinghis own business, MujtabaRahim, once chief executiveof Sandoz, and now doing hisown business.

Hussain said the children andteachers who were martyredin the attack are the heroes ofthe country and their sacri-fices will not go to waste.

The President said thatmedial educationists and prac-titioners should keep them-selves abreast of latest tech-nologies and advancementsin order to not only excel inthe fields of medical sciencesbut also to positively be ableto ad-dress the emerging chal-lenges to health safety.

The President empha-sized that medical specialistsshould serve the people withdedication to give their bestin the related fields.

The President stressed onpermanently extending mod-ern healthcare facilities to ru-ral and far flung areas of Paki-stan particularly to areas likeThar for effectively address-ing health challenges and fordealing with any future healthemergency.

The President appreciatedthe contributions of CPSP tothe development of medicalsciences and raising the stan-dard of postgraduate medicaleducation in the country. ThePresident also appreciatedCPSP for earning a distin-guished position among sis-ter international institutionsby maintaining high stan-dards of medical learning,training, research facilitiesand by promoting specialistmedical practice.—DNA

HANGU: Security officials displaying weapons recovered during operation against militants.

KARACHI: PRCS candle lights for Peshawar martyrs.

ISLAMABAD—The met officeon Friday forecast very coldand dry weather with densefoggy conditions in mostparts of the country in-cluding federal capital for thenext 24 hours. Very cold anddry weather is expected inPunjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh,Balochistan, Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan.

However, dense foggyconditions would prevail overGujranwala, Lahore,Faisalabad, Sahiwal andBaha-walpur divisions whilefoggy conditions inSargodha, Multan and DeraGhazi Khan divisions includ-ing plains of KhyberPakhtunkhwa and upperSindh during night and morn-ing hours. Moreover, therewill be shallow or mist fog onvarious sections ofI s l a m a b a d - P e s h a w a r ,Islamabad-Lahore and PindiB h a t t i a n - F a i s a l a b a d

Dense foggyconditions to continue

Motorways and Islamabad-Kharian, Khar-ian-Lahore,Lahore-Multan, Multan-Rahim Yar Khan and RahimYar Khan to Sukkar National

Highways. According totemperatures as re-corded,Skardu -12 to -10 centigrade,Gilgit and Kalat -6 to -4, Hunzaand Quetta -5 to -3, Chitral andParachinar -3 to -1, Bannu -2to 0 and Zohb and Mur-ree -1 to 1. Meanwhile, conti-nental air is prevailing overmost parts of the country.Deputy Director Metrologydepartment MuhammadZawar said that the foggyweather will persist for tenmore days across the SouthPunjab.—APP

PRCS condemnstudents carnage

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The PakistanRed Crescent Society (PRCS)Sindh Branch organized acandlelight vigil and specialprayer at Teen TalwarKarachi on ThursdayEvening to ex-press soliditarywith the victims of Peshawarcarnage. PRCS-Sindh Chair-person Mrs. Farzhana Naekand Management Committeeof PRCS have expressed theirdeepest condolences overthe horrific terror-ist attackon Army Public School inPeshawar which claimed 141lives including 131 school-children.

The participants wereholding ban-ners, postersand placards condemn-ingthe brutal attack. Addressingthe participants ChairpersonMrs. Farzhana Naek said “Nowords can express the igno-miny of such an at-tackagainst children in theirschool”. She further said thatthis was everyone’s loss andit was a black day for Human-ity. “We are equally grievedand can feel the pain of thosefamilies who have lost theirloved ones”, said Mrs.

Naek. Meanwhile, hun-dreds of schoolchil-dren,people from International RedCross Red Crescent Move-ment, Civil Societies, mediaand a number of citizens alsotook to part to condemn theterrorist attack.—APP

Gen Ghayurvisits APSmartyred

student’s houseMALIK ABDUL QAYYUM

GUJRANWALA—Corps Com-mander Gujranwala LieutenantGeneral Gha-yur Mahmoodvisited the house of martyrstudent Umair Arshad and ex-pressed his deep sorrow withgrieved family. Corps Com-mander said sacri-fices of thestudents should not go in vainand the entire nation mustunite against the brutal act ofterror. He said the whole na-tion is stand with families ofvictims, Insha Allah terrorismand extremism would be elimi-nated through mutual unity.

C o m m i s s i o n e rGujranwala Division ShamailAhmad Khawaja said thatfly over project at Aziz CrossChowk will be completedwith a cost of Rs. 670 mil-lions and government hasrecently approved 100 mil-lions as first install-ment forthe purpose. Commissionerdirected the concerned of-ficers to approach the citi-zens whom proper-ties/shops were line marked forthis project and made thempayments for their propertiesat market rates.

He also directed that elec-tricity and telephone pollsshould be removed from thesight so that constructionwork could be start soon.Commissioner said that thisproject would be helpful toreduce traffic load in the city.Superintendent engineerroads Farhat Munir told themeeting that after approvalof 100 millions, necessarysteps are being done for re-moval of polls and for pur-chase of required properties.

QUETTA—President of the Na-tionalParty (NP) Senator Mir Hasil KhanBizenjo on Thursday said the suc-cessful meeting of the ParliamentaryParties in the aftermath of Peshawarcarnage can pave the way for sustain-able peace in the country. Taliban haveemerged as a great threat to the societyand country therefore they should bedealt with full force other-wise we willhave to brave other incidents like Dec16 which has shaken the entire world.

Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said thiswhile speaking at a reference inmemory of legendary progressiveleader Sobho Gianchandani. He saidthat military action will be useless un-less we stop efforts to make Afghani-stan our forth province, improve rela-tions with neighbouring countries,

Bizenjo backs govtefforts, army operation

abandon idea of strategic depth, en-sure equality and alter our foreign andinternal policies.

The state cannot be defended bythe help of Lashkars, he said addingthat despite heavy losses we have yetto agree on definition of terrorism andmany elements among us includingpoliticians support the terror groups.

The Senator said that Taliban haveaccepted responsibility for killing ourfuture but many are still reluctant tocondemn it which shows division in ourranks. Our enemies are united with fullclarity of mind while a good number ofpeople among us are still confused, heremarked. He informed that there is aperiod about struggle and victories ofTaliban in almost every seminary inBalochistan which is a great threat.

He paid glowing tribute toGianchandani who was an acclaimedrevolutionary leftist leader, writer, in-tellectual and a philosopher called the‘Man of, known for his outspokenviews about Sindh and its people. Com-rade Gianchandani, believed in the con-stant struggle for justice so were MirGhous Bux Bijenjo, Ghaffar Khan andGM Syed whose philosophy was in-tentionally strangulated which resultedin extremism, he said.

Others who spoke on the occasionincluded SVP NP Tahir Bizenjo, SG Dr.Yasin, NP Punjab President Ayub Malik,Naseer Memon, Adam Malik, and Dr.Nasir Mehmood who said that provinceof Sindh is relatively calm which is re-sult of teachings of Sheikh Ayaz, UsmanDeeplai and Ibrahim Joyo.—APP

MULTAN—The PakistanMedical and Dental Council(PMDC) has written a letterto the College of Physiciansand Surgeons of Pakistan(CPSP) to pro-vide the listsof institutions which are notincluded in Third Scheduleto process their registra-tioncases.

A spokesperson for thePMDC Hina Sultan Kiyanisaid here, the PMDC alsodirected the CPSP to pro-vide lists of those degrees/diplomas which need to puton the respec-tive scheduleand lists of inspections indifferent specialties.

The council through itsofficial corre-spondence hasinformed the CPSP that theExecutive Committee in itsmeeting held on December4 last, considered the matterof postgradu-ate unregis-

CPSP to provide list ofinstitutions registration

tered programs/ sites, Hinasaid.

The Committee decidedthat the PMDC would not beable to register the fellows ofthe CPSP trained in theinstitu-tions which are notincluded by Govern-ment ofPakistan in the Third Sched-ule of PMDC ordinance.

She said as per IslamabadHigh Court order on Novem-ber 20 last the PMDC hasbeen declared as a Regula-tory Authority Undergradu-ate and postgraduate medi-cal and Dental qualificationand as per PM&DC ordi-nance, 1962 amendedthrough Act 2012.

The spokesperson toldthat the Secre-tary Healthhad directed the CPSP to getits training institutes in-cluded in the Third Sched-ule within six months. Shesaid that the PMDC hascategori-cally informed allregistered fellows and thoseinstitutes about their status,so that they may be regis-tered as per PMDC rules,Hina added.

The PMDC has also di-rected to provide the list of allthe unregistered training in-stitutes, list of fel-lows whohave been awarded FCPS(without undergoing into anyprerequisite training or with-out going through any exami-nation), she added.—APP

LAHORE—The police onFriday submitted finalchallan regarding Kot RadhaKishan incident to an AntiTerrorist Court (ATC) aftercompleting in-vestigation ofthe case.

In 225-pages finalchallan, the police declared59 persons guilty includingbrick kiln owner.

ATC Judge Rai AyubMarth adjourning the fur-ther hearing till December 24

Christian couple lynching

Police submits finalchallan in court

summoned the accused onnext date of hearing.

An enraged mob on No-vember 4 had beaten todeath Shama and herspouse Shehzad in a villagenear Kot Radha Kishan andlater burnt their bodies inthe furnace of a brick kiln,where the couple worked.The police had ar-rested all59 accused who were in jailon judicial remand atpresent.—APP

18 parks to berehabilitated atcost of Rs 52m

FAISALABAD—An amountof Rs. 52 million are beingspent for the rehabilitationand renovation of the 18 dif-ferent public parks in the cityunder the arrangements ofParks & Horticulture Au-thority (PHA).

It was informed during ameeting held under thechairmanship of DCO/DGFDA Noorul Amin Mengalhere on Friday. MNA HajiAkram Ansari and officers ofPHA were present in themeeting. The meeting wasinformed that the work ofjogging tracks, iron fencing,boundary walls and com-plete improving and renova-tion of the pub-lic parkswould be completed underthese schemes.

The parks in which thedevelopment projects are be-ing carried out included AliPak Madan Pura, GulshanPark Gulam Muhammadabad,Gousia Park GulamMuhammadabad, Madni ParkGulam Mu-hammadabad,Rizvi Park Saifabad,Gareebabad Park MuzaffarColony, New Nazmabad Park,Sam-nabad Park, Sir SyedTown Park, Bismillah ParkGulam Muhammadabad, Bag-e-Jinnah Park, Canal Park,Central Park Maina Town,Gousia Park Gulis-tan Colony,Hajri Park Jaranwala Road,Kashmir Park Fawara Chowkand Shahbaz Sharif Park Gu-lam Muhammadabad.

Reviewing the activities ofPHA, the DCO directed thatthe performance of PHAshould be seen prominentlyin the coming spring seasonand the preparation be startedforth-with under a compre-hensive plan.—Agencies

PESHAWAR—Deputy Com-missioner(D.C) Peshawar, Syed Zaheer-ul-Islamhas banned the riding of motorcyclesunder Section 144 on the occasion ofPolio immunization campaign for Sat-

1-day ban on bike riding on anti-polio dayurday.

The Deputy Commission has di-rected the police for taking actionagainst the violators under Section188. During the campaign 0.754 million

children would be administered poliodrops and for this purpose a total of4260 teams have been constitutedwhile 7000 police per-sonnel would bedeployed for their secu-rity.—APP

52 moregastro cases

MULTAN—Fifty two freshcases of gastroenteritis werereported from various publicsector hospitals in the city onFriday. As many as 11 gastrocases were re-ported fromNishtar Medical Institute, 35from Children Complex, fourcases from Civil Hospital andtwo cases from Fatima JinnahHospi-tal for Women, said anofficial source.—APP

Terror eliminationtop priority

I S L A M A B A D — F e d e r a lMinister for States andFrontier Regions(SAFRON), Lt.General (R),Abdul Qadir Baloch hassaid that present govern-ment will take all importantsteps to eliminate the men-ace of terrorism.

He said that civil soci-ety, media, lawyers, armedforces, political parties, lawenforcement agencies andreligious scholars will playrole in helping the govern-ment to wipe out terrorismfrom all parts of the coun-try.

Talking to a privatetelevision channel, he saidthat Peshawar school in-cident was very tragic andunforgettable, adding thatthe people belonging to allsegment of society wil lplay their role to flush outthe menace of terrorism.

He said that ActionPlan Committee will takethe decision after consul-tation with all importantsegment of society, politi-cal parties as well as me-dia for eliminating terror-ism from all parts of thecountry.—APP

Apna rozgarscheme

BAHAWALPUR—The PunjabGovernment will launch“Apna Rozgar Scheme” hereon December 21.

This was disclosed byCommissioner Capt (Retd)Javed Akbar. He said that firstcar of the scheme will behanded over to the selectedaspirant on January 26.

Total of 7500 cars will begiven in Bahawalpur divisionunder the scheme, headded.—APP

Deterrent punishmentis sure way out

TERRORISM and extremism took roots in Pakistan because of ahost of factors including internal and external ones. Gross injustices, discrimination, poverty and ignorance are just a few to name

and any long term strategy to address and tackle the menace must have totake into account all these factors.

It has, however, been observed that lacunae in laws and inability of theGovernment to implement deterrent punishments awarded to those whocommitted heinous crimes, have encouraged the terrorists to indulge inbeastly acts as they did in Peshawar. According to reports, there are thou-sands of hardcore criminals and terrorists in jails and we have witnessed inthe case of D.I. Khan and Bannu jails from where hundreds of hardenedcriminals were got released by their accomplices. Therefore, non-imple-mentation of the death sentence served as an incentive to continue indulg-ing in terrorist activities. The Peshawar tragedy ultimately jolted the Gov-ernment and the Prime Minister rightly decided to lift moratorium on ex-ecutions. That the Government means business was also confirmed fromrejection of 17 mercy petitions by the President of criminals convicted fordeath penalty and signing of death warrants of six terrorists by the ArmyChief. There are also reports that summaries of many others have also beenmoved to the Prime Minister to exhaust the legal formalities so as to con-vict the criminals as per judgements of the courts. The Federal and Provin-cial Governments are also preparing lists of all those convicts of death sen-tences and waiting for executions in jails and hopefully the entire processwould be completed within weeks sending a firm and clear message toterrorists and other hardened criminals that there is now no room for themto escape. It is also encouraging that the Chief Justice of Pakistan has alsoindicated to convene a meeting of the judges of anti-terrorism courts so asto discuss the issues relating to speedy trial of the terrorists. We firmlybelieve that implementation of the death penalty would have salutary im-pact on the overall security situation. In this backdrop, attempts by someelements and NGOs to block the way of executions on the flimsy pretextof human rights are condemnable. There should be no mercy and no con-sideration for those who indulge in beastly acts and massacre innocentpeople including women and children. The Government must not suc-cumb to the pressure being mounted by these vested interests at the in-stance of their foreign masters, who have their own agendas.

Why US doesn’tdrone Fazlullah?

PESHAWAR tragedy has once again exposed discriminatory natureof the US drone policy vis-à-vis terrorists. There is universal con-

sensus that terrorists are terrorists and should be treated as such but theUnited States has been droning only those who supposedly hurt Ameri-can interests and not those who carry out acts of terrorism against otherstates or nationalities.

Pakistan has also been demanding of the United States to transfer it thedrone technology and the country would itself target terrorists operatingfrom its territory. Pakistan has also taken firm action whenever the UnitedStates pointed out that Uzbek or other foreign nationals were carrying outacts of terrorism from Pakistani soil. Pakistani Armed forces killed hun-dreds of such terrorists, nabbed many more and handed over dozens ofthem to the US authorities. As against this, Islamabad has long been point-ing out both the United States and Afghanistan that fleeing terrorists aretaking refuge on Afghan soil and are planning and carrying out terroristattacks in Pakistan from there. There have been numerous incidents whenhundreds of militants crossed over border from Afghan side and attackedvillages and security posts on Pakistani side. Protests have been lodged andaction demanded but so far nothing has happened. It is also an open secretthat head of TTP Mullah Fazlullah is enjoying hospitality of Afghanistanin Kunar Province and is actively engaged in anti-Pakistan and terroristactivities. His involvement in school carnage in Peshawar is also con-firmed and it was because of this that the Army Chief, General RaheelSharif paid an emergent visit to Kabul to share vital intelligence about hisinvolvement in the dastardly act. Therefore, either he should be handedover to Pakistan or the United States should make him target of droneattack as he deserves no leniency after what he did in Peshawar. Pakistanhas been rendering great sacrifices in the war against terror as frontlinestate and inaction on the part of the United States would send highly nega-tive signal. There should be no selective war against terrorism and all thoseinvolved in heinous crimes must be taken to task wherever they are.

World needs to domore for Pakistan

PESHAWAR incident was a sort of tremor for Pakistan jolting everyPakistani and strengthening their unity and resolve to get rid of the

menace of terrorism at all costs. The entire civilian leadership and mili-tary as well as all segments of the civil society are unanimous in theirresolve to eliminate terrorism to secure future of our children.

It is also highly appreciable that the entire world community has ex-pressed complete solidarity with people and Government of Pakistan es-pecially the bereaved families. Messages of sympathy and solidarity arestill pouring in from different corners of the globe, which is surely a sourceof satisfaction and encouragement for people of Pakistan. However, inour view mere expression of verbal solidarity would not suffice and theworld needs to do more to help out Pakistan. There are no two opinionsthat Pakistan is not just fighting war of its survival but war for the sake ofregional and global peace and security. Pakistan is doing whatever pos-sible to address the challenge but it is understood that the country can-not accomplish the task with the required speed, urgency and effective-ness because of material and technological constraints. Our Armed forcesand people are fighting terrorists and rendering valuable sacrifices butthey need to be equipped with latest gadgetry, equipment and arms asterrorists are using latest techniques and technology to hit different tar-gets. Similarly, the war on terror has hugely impacted upon the economyof the country and the country badly needs financial and economic in-centives to sustain the fight to come out victoriously.

Time for action, not consultations

NarrowingIndia’s

horizons

WHEN Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of Indiaand the Bharatiya Janata

Party swept to power in May, manyhoped the new government wouldset aside the more troubling aspectsof Hindu nationalism and unite thecountry around the work to be doneto unleash India’s hobbled poten-tial. Unfortunately, there are signsthat the ideologues on the Hinduright believe the election victorywas theirs as well and are pursu-ing their agenda on multiple fronts.

Mr. Modi, who has appointedto his cabinet several individualswho, like himself, have a long as-sociation with the Hindu militantorganization RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ap-pears to condone these efforts —and even to believe some of themore fantastical assertions. OnOct. 25, he cited examples fromHindu mythology as proof thatplastic surgery and genetic scienceexisted in ancient India. On Dec.7, External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj announced that theBhagavad Gita, a passage from thegreat epic the Mahabharata, shouldbe declared the national sacredbook of India. While a majority ofIndians are Hindu, the nation isreligiously diverse. Muslims,Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists,Christians and Jews also have sa-cred texts, and there are many otherimportant Hindu texts — theUpanishads and the Vedas, for ex-ample. Ms. Swaraj’s proposalcaused such an uproar in the lowerhouse of Parliament that proceed-ings had to be briefly suspended.The first sentence of the nationalConstitution declares India to be asecular republic. Designating asingle Hindu text as the officialnational sacred book is a divisiveaffront to the country’s secular de-mocracy. Ancient India’s achieve-ments in mathematics and scienceare impressive enough without re-course to fictional interpretationsof Hindu mythology.— The New York Times

*****

Havana,Washington

thaw

FINALLY, after more thanfive decades, there is at lasta thaw in relations between

the United States and Cuba, a bas-tion of Communism just 120kilometres off the coast of Florida.In a startling development, Havanaand Washington jointly announcedthat both countries are to resumediplomatic relations while sometravel restrictions between the twonations are to be eased. Firstly, thebreakthrough seems to have beenbrokered by Pope Francis, who hasdelivered the biggest coup inVatican diplomacy in years by get-ting US President Barack Obamaand Cuban President Raul Castroto talk in a series of top-secretphone calls. In addition, Canada,which, ever since the days offormer prime minister PierreTrudeau, has enjoyed warm rela-tions with the Caribbean Commu-nist cadres, worked to facilitate thegroundwork that led to historicbreakthrough.

The first immediate sign ofthaw was a prisoner swap of anAmerican held in Havana for threeCuban spies held in the US. Rulesover Cuban-Americans visiting theisland are also to be relaxed,though whether many of the oldergeneration in Little Havana in Mi-ami will have any inclination tovisit their former homeland as longas the Castro brothers hold powerremains to be seen. Certainly, therapprochement will cause furywithin the community — there areno guarantees that political free-doms will follow, the Castros arestill in power and the assets andland nationalised by the Commu-nists when they came to power re-main firmly under state control.The reality is that this deal is a solidfirst step in normalising relations.It was inevitable. What is also in-evitable is that the economic block-ade on Cuba needs to be lifted.Fidel Castro and his brother havedealt with 10 separate US presi-dents. The embargo has failed toshake Cuban’s belief in the system,but more US money in Havana willcertainly undermine the island’sCommunism. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

THE nation observed three-daymourning over martyrdom of141people including more

than 130 students and as many injuredin a dastardly act by the terrorists. Al-though nation has suffered death anddestruction caused by the horrific actsof the terrorists, yet after dismember-ment of Pakistan this is the secondtime the nation has witnessed nationaltragedy. The entire world condemnedthe massacre at Peshawar school, andmessages from all over the world in-cluding Secretary General UnitedNations Ban Ki-moon poured in ex-tending sympathies and condo-lences for the grief-stricken fami-lies of the innocent children killedand injured. It is indeed a nationaltragedy, as hundreds of nation’schildren have been targeted by theterrorists who are not only enemiesof Pakistan but also enemies ofhumanity. Those who have beensympathetic with them consideringthem as misguided elements shouldreview their flawed thinking.

After the tragic event, all politi-cal parties and the nation standunited on one point i.e. to fight andeliminate terrorism. But they shouldnot have waited for a tragic event totake place to show this rare unity.Anyhow, Imran Khan has done wellto withdraw 18th December strikecall and ended dharna, which is ap-preciable. It is hoped the governmentwould expedite formation of judi-

Old tales die hard

AFTER a couple of weeks ofPakistani enthusiasm aboutthe newly found approach to

our country by the new Afghan gov-ernment we can easily see on thesmoke screen the old images re-emerging. Even after over a trilliondollars of US taxpayers money gonewaste on terror phobia andPakistan’s socio-economic infra-structure destroyed in the hope ofpromised re-imbursement of thiscolossal loss, we finally end up re-ceiving peanuts under the coalitionsupport programme in delayed in-stallments and not on actual basis.

Afghanistan is reported to haveagain asked Pakistan to play a more‘visible’ role in persuading the Af-ghan Taliban to come to the nego-tiation table in a move suggestingthat Kabul continues to believe thatIslamabad still holds the key for apeace deal, while Indians are al-lowed a free hand in Afghanistan tosettle its old scores with Pakistan. Atthe bottom of this request or evendemand for mediation is the beliefthat the Afghan Taliban are somehowrun by the Pakistani intelligenceagencies. This assumption as true asit may have been at one point in timeis surely not true anymore today – afact that has been voiced time andagain by the government, the armyand the intelligence agencies.

That the same demand is crop-ping up again after the much tootedvisit of President Ghani to Pakistanand other reconciliatory meetings inLondon is now showing two things:One, that the past can’t be overcomeeasily but it has to be surmounted

Plato is dear tome, but dearer stillis truth.

and two, that there are peopleand forces in Afghanistan thatare not cooperating. The con-sequence is that the relationsbetween our two countries arefar from out of the woods.Peace with the Taliban is a

necessary precondition for the newAfghan government to survive andfunction because as long as theTaliban – and the other insurgentsagainst allowing foreign boots onAfghan ground- don’t recognize thelegitimacy of the US backed Afghangovernment it has hardly a chance todeliver. The chances for such peacethough are slim to say the least giventhe way in which the government –or the president and his CEO havebeen installed into power- includingthe role that foreign occupants ofAfghanistan have played in the pro-cess. Secondly, US announcementthat some of their troops will not onlystay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 butalso perform combat missions is aclear sign that the war is not overwhich is a major obstacle to peace inAfghanistan. And thirdly, the latestpublication of the US SenateCommittee’s torture report –thoughit is not revealing anything basicallynew stories- is still giving such grue-some details that can’t make theTaliban or anybody else in Afghani-stan ready for peace.

Islamabad has not only expressedits readiness to facilitate the peaceprocess but has not been able to con-vey forcefully that it had to be an Af-ghan-led affair in the first place whichis only logical. It is in Pakistan’s in-terest to see an end to the war goingon in Afghanistan and have the mil-lions of Afghan refugees that havefound shelter in Pakistan repatriated,economic ties boosted. One couldeven venture to say that the solutionof Pakistan’s energy problem dependsat least partly on peace in Afghani-

stan. But any sober political analystwould admit that the chances for thatare not good. In case this failure inpeace talks comes true the responsi-bility for the failure of this endeavorshould not be put on Pakistan.

The central problem lies in Af-ghanistan itself and the legacy ofwestern occupation. It is the missingtrust between Afghan society at large– not only the Taliban who rejectwestern occupation and western ‘de-mocracy’ as a possible political sys-tem for the country and the western-ized elite who have invested in thatsystem and are depending on it. Thisfight will have to be fought by Af-ghans and not outsiders. The Afghanconstitution is a complete westerndraft and has been ‘sold ‘to the elitemanning the ‘loya jirga’ and Afghanparliament with millions of dollars inannual aid and investment. Only thefuture will show if that deal will holdafter the partial withdrawal of foreignforces and money; but Pakistan’s rolein it is minor to say the least, but it’sstakes are very high, which the USand West are not ready to understand.

Unfortunately, there is a slimchance that this will be acknowledgedby the western dominated internationalcommunity. Pakistan needs peace atleast as much as Afghanistan does; Therecent cruel attack on Army Publicschool in Peshawar killing hundredsof children has proven that much ifnothing else. That is why somethinghas to be done by all of us without anyparty agenda in the greater interest ofour national solidarity and unity. Thetragedy in Peshawar is a tragedy forthe whole of Pakistan. On the onehand, there appear to be some secu-rity lapse which needs looking into andresponsibility should be fixed andheads should roll otherwise cosmeticactions will lead to further chaos. Anumber of terrorists entered the schoolby climbing the back wall adjacent to

cial commission as de-manded by Imran Khan.Prime Minister NawazSharif had convened ameeting of the leaders ofparliamentary parties, inwhich it was decided toform a committee todraft a national plan ofaction against terrorists

and act upon it immediately. In fact,it is time for action and not consulta-tions and planning. The task of pre-paring a national plan of actionagainst terrorists should be left to theexperts i.e. Law Enforcing Agenciesand not politicians.

In the past, a lot of time had beenwasted in holding All Parties Confer-ences; and this was the reason thattimely action could not be takenagainst the terrorists who gained timeto reorganize. At the present juncture,the government should declare mea-sures it deems appropriate. It shouldrather declare national emergency in-stead of wasting time in committeemeetings, which has been given oneweek to finalize the plan of action.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s deci-sion to end moratorium on the execu-tion of death penalty has been well re-ceived by all strata of society. The gov-ernment should take up the matter ofAfghan refugees with the UN and Af-ghan government who are staying inPakistan for more than three decades.All Afghan refugees should be sentback immediately, which would lessenthe work of monitoring them by theprovincial administration.

Media should be sensitized toplay its due role in the fight againstterrorism. It should not glorify terror-ists’ acts, and avoid demoralizing thenation at this crucial juncture. Ex-tremists like Maulana Abdul Aziz andHafiz Saeed should not be given un-

due coverage. Whereas military hassuccessfully decimated the infrastruc-ture and network of militants, civiladministration should rise to the oc-casion and play its role. Provincialcivil administrations have to gird uptheir loins to fight terrorists in its do-main; it should start search operationsand identify terrorists as well as thoseelements that aid and abet them interror acts. Of course, it would requirerevamping of CID, special police andother intelligence networks under thecivil administration because it is theirresponsibility to take care of thestreets and bazaars of the city. How-ever, the police should be upgradedto make it an effective force.

There is a perception that priori-ties of the government have not beenright, as funds are available formotorway and but not for NECTA.The government has alreadyamended laws vis-à-vis Protection ofPakistan bill; and now the lawsshould be implemented in letter andspirit. It is true that many terroristswere nabbed by the intelligence agen-cies and handed over to the civil ad-ministration, but only a small frac-tion of those terrorists were indicted.Even those who were awarded deathsentences have not been executedbecause the death sentence was heldin abeyance. Unfortunately,fraternity’s extremist strands havegiven a handle to the compulsive de-tractors of our noble religion to de-pict it as a creed of violence andbloodletting. Extremists and terror-ists, who claim as true followers ofIslamic teachings but in fact negatethe very Islamic teachings of peace,love, humanity and kindness.

After every suicide attack orbomb blast killing innocent people,it is often said that Muslims cannotdo it. But when a Muslim militants

group or organization claims hav-ing perpetrated such an act, we haveto reconcile with the facts. What ahypocrisy that we claim as theUmmah of the last Prophet, but inour actions, we negate his Sunnahand the teachings of Islam. Againstthis backdrop, how can we claim tobe Muslims? According to injunc-tions of Islam, Muslims are not al-lowed to kill old people, childrenand women even when fighting withthe enemies of Islam. Anyhow, alland sundry have condemned the ter-rorist attack on Peshawar school.Business leaders in a meeting alsocondemned brutal attack on childrenin Peshawar terming it worst formof terrorism in history of Pakistan.

Those attending the meetingwere of the view that eradication ofterror should be the top priority ofthe government. Extending theirdeepest sympathies and condolencesto the bereaved families, they hadannounced cancellation of variousfunctions for three days organisedby different chambers of commerceand associations in their honor. “Westrongly condemn senseless and in-human attacks on innocent studentsand educators, and stand in solidar-ity with the Army and all who arefighting the menace of terrorism,”Iftikhar Ali Malik said in the meet-ing. The business leaders said thatthe inhuman attack on school shouldbe a wakeup call for those who con-tinue to support the terrorists con-sidering them good Muslims, whichis an erroneous perception. Ofcourse, the entire nation is behindPakistan’s armed forces, and sup-ports brave soldiers who savedmany children from being killedputting their own lives in danger.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

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— AristotleGreek philosopher

graveyard and indiscriminate firingat the school children.

And more importantly, unity incountry is needed to fight militantideas and ideologies that have beenengrained deeply in many heads;They are found in teaching materialsof schools, in the media and else-where. Cleaning our understandingof Islam from militancy will be amajor task that only is able to pro-vide for a stop to the development ofmore home-grown militants everyday. The fact that Tehrik TalibanPakistan’s leader Fazlullah hasclaimed responsibility for this cow-ardly act which shows again thatPakistan and Afghanistan are to-gether in the fight against terroristsbut Afghanistan’s territory is beingused for insurgency in Pakistan:Fazlullah is attacking Pakistan fromhis hide-out in Afghanistan. It wasthis group that had planned and ex-ecuted the attack on Malala and herclass mates at that time.

When negative publicity spreadas a result of this attack it seemed asif the Taliban would understand thatsuch attacks are detrimental to theirimage in the public and costs themsupport. But the Peshawar massa-cre showed that this was not the les-son they deducted and no crediblehope for any settlement with themis left. Zarb-e-Azb and not negotia-tions turns out to be the right deci-sion though we were not in its favourearlier. One good omen is that evenImran Khan understood the grav-ity of situation and called off hisagitation instead attending the APCconvened by the Prime Minister.There is also hope that in Afghani-stan the forces of cooperation withPakistan will finally win and notthe ones that call for ‘do more’.God bless Pakistan and humanity.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

Voice of the People

Unity, needof the hour

ANUM AFZAL

Recently we have faced the mostbarbaric attack of the nation’s his-tory in which we have lost 140 pre-cious lives including 132 children.This is the new wave of terrorismwe are facing in reaction of themilitary operations going on intribal areas. Success is not faraway; the whole nation must standunited to support the governmentand our Armed forces in their waragainst terrorism, which have in-flicted more damage in terms ofprecious human life, massive eco-nomic deficit, and loss of interna-tional credibility than any declaredwar against known external en-emies. This is a battle for Pakistanto eliminate all private armed mili-tias, who threaten the writ of state.

On this hard time we should alsoend the concept of good and badTaliban. We should not allow anygroup, be they backed by politicalparties or religious organizations, toenforce their writ through intimida-tion and use of force. It is time thatPakistan returns to its roots and oldbeliefs and diligently follow the vi-sion of our Quaid to make the coun-try a truly democratic welfare state,whose government is answerable toits people and where all institutionswork within the ambit of the 1973Constitution. To stand as one againstthe onslaught of enemies of the stateall around us, we must be strong asthis is the entire defence we have.—Rawalpindi

Peaceful protest?ONUSHA AHMAD

With Imran Khan was coming toKarachi on Friday, it was not ex-pected that ordinary life would cometo a halt. However that is exactlywhat happened. There were numer-ous sit-ins by the PTI supporters allover the city which caused incon-venience to the residents of Karachi.However, that was not the end of it.All the school and colleges wereshut down as a result of this. Add-ing to this, petrol pumps were shutdown, the flights were delayed andthe exams were postponed. Theirsit-ins also caused many of themain roads to be blocked whichcaused a huge amount of inconve-nience to the people as they wereblocking all the major roads.

It is about time these politicalparties and their so called “Lead-ers” realize that when they plan tocome to a certain city, they shouldmake sure that they should actuallydo peaceful sit-ins as they claimthey would or have their support-ers protest in a manner that doesnot create problems for normal lifeof the common people.—Karachi

Cell phonesand youth

AMNA JABEEN

In ancient times, when there was notechnology nor any means and waysto communicate. People used to sendtheir messages via pigeons. As timepassed, different ways and methodswere adopted to send messages andto be in touch with the loved ones.Today everyone is using this latestinvention without knowing theharms of this advanced little device.Students have lost interest in theirstudies almost completely. 85% ofyoung generation is having affairson phones. Easier ways to have SMSchats with anyone, anywhere todayare within reach. Anyone can havelot of sim cards, available on cheaprates with cheap packages.

Respect for parents, elders, fam-ily, moral values and culture are fastlosing their ground. Frustration andlust for more are now a part of ouryoung generation. One sees cellphones in the hands of street boys.It is not hard to imagine from whereand how they have acquired them.Even people, who cannot managetwo square meals a day, have a cellphone. Mobile phones are not onlyspoiling the youngsters, they are also

It could be me or youYUSRA KHAN

What if it was you or me on one of those desks or benches of the Army Public School, Peshawar; howdoes it feel? The school witnessed its walls chalked and corridors washed with blood of 134 inno-

cent students. Breathtaking it is. Switching on the news channels and seeing blood all over made melose myself. I wonder if anyone would even read this. Who am I or who were they? What will I be orwhat would have they been? Am I a human or were they human too? We all cry and are in grief. Nodoubt about that. But why? Will these tears make them stop? Think once. Why depend on our Gov-ernment why the people who rule us? We came alone we die alone. Why not fight alone? Why let ourlittle ones die? Why not stand before them? Those mothers who gave birth to the innocent ones diedyesterday. 134 killed. This didn’t happen the first time. Incidents happen, we cry, we upload statuses,light up candles and forget it after days and then something bad happens again. Let us all standunited now. Join hands and start our revenge. Being a girl I have no fears now. When they can kill a08 year old then why not me or you? Words have vanished. My heart has no feeling for myself now. Nofear and no love for life. Pakistan is no more safe. The only question that rises is, why those little souls?They had a life to live which was taken in less than 15 minutes. Pray for their souls and donate blood.Start working for a cause because we can be in their place too.—Karachi

DISCLAIMER

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

THE articles, columns andletters are published on thesepages in good faith. However,the contents of these writingsmay not necessarily match theviews of the newspaper.

—Editor

View From Abroad

RSS to ensure a ‘Hindu’ India only

THE trouble started a fewmonths ago, when membersof right-wing Hindu group

RSS swept into a small village whereseveral families had converted toChristianity more than a decade ear-lier. They held a fire purification cer-emony with the villagers, tore a crossoff the local church and put up aposter of the god Shiva. The spacewas now a temple, they declared.They announced a Christmas Dayceremony where they planned towelcome hundreds of Christians andMuslims into Hinduism. Afundraising flier solicited donationsfor volunteers to undergo conversion— about $3,200 for each Christianand about $8,000 for each Muslim.

After a nationwide furore,organisers postponed the ceremony.But one of them, Rajeshwar SinghSolanki, said in an interview Thurs-day that his group will demonstrateagainst any church baptisms per-formed on the holiday. He said hisgroup’s ultimate aim is to ensure thatIslam and Christianity “cease to ex-ist” in India. Christians in Aligarh say

they are afraid of what might happenon their holy day. “We just want se-curity from the government, particu-larly on Christmas,” said Ajay Jo-seph, 39, a lab technician.

His fears echo those of other re-ligious minorities in majority-HinduIndia, where some Christians andMuslims worry that incidents of reli-gious tolerance will rise with the ad-vent of a conservative government ledby Narendra Modi, himself a ferventHindu nationalist. In recent days, car-olers have been beaten in the south-ern city of Hyderabad, and a Catho-lic church in New Delhi burned in asuspected case of arson. A conserva-tive Hindu group said Wednesday thatanother mass “conversion” eventwould be held in February.

For several days this month,India’s secular Parliament repeatedlylapsed into chaos as members debatedreligious conversions and a plan thatwould have kept students in school onChristmas, normally a holiday, anddesignate Dec. 25 “Good GovernanceDay.” The country’s foreign ministeralso called for designating the sacredHindu text the Bhagavad Gita the “na-tional scripture.” “They are feelingnobody can do anything to them be-cause of Narendra Modi,” said Yusuf

Dass, a pastor at Central MethodistChurch in Aligarh. Dass, 32, grand-son of a minister, grew up in nearbyAgra and is from a family that has beenpart of India’s Christian minority forgenerations. He rides a motorcycle withthe words “Glory to God” on the wind-shield. “They were saying this countrybelongs to Hindus and India should be-long only to Hindus. I don’t know whois misguiding them,” Dass said.

India’s 64-year-old prime minis-ter has a troubling history of religiousintolerance, opponents say. In 2005,while he was chief minister in thestate of Gujarat, the United Statesrevoked Modi’s US visa on thegrounds that he had committed “se-vere violations of religious freedom”by not acting to stop Hindu-Muslimriots in Gujarat in 2002, killing morethan 2000 Muslims. John Dayal, aformer president of the All IndiaCatholic Union and a member of thegovernment’s National IntegrationCouncil, said that RSS volunteers,called pracharaks, now have an allyat the top of India’s government andfeel emboldened to act more freelythan in previous years.

On Wednesday and Thursday, pro-ceedings in India’s Parliament againground to a halt as members of the

Annie Gowen

The chappati lady..!

THEY called her thechappati lady! She walkedin the park, and as she

walked she threw warm, tenderchappatis to the stray dogs whowaited for her each morning.

This morning she’d wokenup, knowing her husband wascheating on her. She heard thedoor bang as he left for work, sheknew that after his banking hourswould be the overtime he spentwith the other woman, thenweary and tired he would returnafter his philandering sojourn.She took the chappatis from the

oven where she had made them softand walked outside.

It was a regular routine; shewalked in the park to clear her mind,and as she walked she threw thewarm, tender chappatis to the straydogs who waited for her each morn-ing. There were seven of them, andshe’d given all of them names; theone with a short tail, she called, ‘Eyes’because she believed he could see intoher soul. A little farther she saw ‘Sa-lute’; strange name for a dog, but hisears were always in a state of saluteand she’d nicknamed him so, andcalled out to him softly as she passedby and threw his chappati, Salute to-day seemed to be looking at her curi-ously, so also Eyes when she had en-tered the park. Eyes had looked at herwithout touching his chappati, and

she looked back, then turned away,so Eyes wouldn’t read farther. Heragony was not theirs to carry, shethought, they had enough worries oftheir own. She walked along the pathin the park throwing the other mor-sels of now nearly cold, yet softchappatis at the other five dogs.

She didn’t mind, not as long asthe dog’s stomachs were full. Shewondered though as she walked homewhy Eyes and Salute had not sprungat their chappatis as they always did,but had kept watching her, and shewondered what they were thinking.

Her husband came back early thatevening. She was surprised. Heseemed irritable. He came back earlythe next evening, still irritable but thistime instead of spending time in hisroom he watched a TV serial with her

then ran to his room to take a call.Must be her, she thought. He cameback and sat with her and even chat-ted about work. “No more over-time?” she asked softly.

He looked at her, “Damn dogs!”he said then laughed. “Dogs?” sheasked alarmed. “What dogs?” “Thosedogs near the park, seven of them,they’ve been chasing since last week,when I return late! But leave me alonewhen I come early! One of them withstraight ears, the other with eyes thatslice into you! And they have five oth-ers behind them. I’m sure they’ll fin-ish me off after dark!” She smiled asshe threw the chappatis at the dogs.Eyes looked at his chappati. Salutenibbled his, and she knew both pre-tended not to see her smile..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

upper house demanded that Modiappear and make a statement promot-ing religious harmony. He cameThursday, looking grim. No state-ment was made. Opposition mem-bers have expressed outrage over thenow-postponed conversion event inAligarh as well as one that happenedthis month in which 50 poor Muslimfamilies attended a ceremony wherethey were asked to chant and throwofferings into a holy fire, then weredeclared converted. The Muslimslater said that they were lured to theceremony with the promise of govtfood ration cards. Another mass con-version is planned for Feb. 6.

Ram Madhav, the general sec-retary of Modi’s Bharatiya JanataParty, said that the ongoing debateover religious conversions — andwhether the country needs a nationallaw to stop forced or coerced con-versions — is being fomented bypolitical opponents who are delib-erately trying to sabotage Modi’sefforts to reform the country’seconomy. “Why drag the prime min-ister into this?” he asked. “Modiwants to push through importanteconomic bills, and these people justwant to derail his agenda.”— Courtesy: The Washington Post

National resolve to eradicate terrorism

THE scars of the tragedy that unfolded at the Army PublicSchool in Peshawar on Tues-

day, may not heal for a long time tocome, bur like all such cataclysmicevents, it has produced a rare unityamong the nation and given it a newzeal and determination to take the fightagainst the terrorists to its logical end.The move by the Prime Minister toconvene the APC immediately was in-deed a very visionary step tochannelize the sentiments of the na-tion and the unity among the politicalforces towards evolving a concrete andunanimously backed plan of action todeal with the phenomenon of terror-ism. It has provided a much neededbreather to the government from thepolitical crisis in the country which hasbeen hampering government efforts tofocus on dealing with terrorist single-mindedly, with Imran showing theprudence and sense of proportion tocall off the sit-in and agitation againstthe government. The Prime Ministerexpressed his unflinching resolve to

continue Zarb-e-Azab andavenge every drop of thespilled blood. The COAS saidthat the armed forces wouldchase those beasts to their densand bring them to justice.The promptness with which

the civilian and military leadership re-sponded to this diabolical episodedeserves unqualified appreciation ofthe nation. Both dashed to Peshawarto assess the situation and to monitorthe operation against the terrorists.They lost no time in establishing con-tact with the Afghan government toshare intelligence which indicatedthat the terrorists attack was beingsupervised and directed from the Af-ghan soil and they sought coopera-tion of the Afghan government indealing with the scourge of terrorism.The COAS personally flew to Kabulto meet the Afghan President and theIsaf commander As a result bothpromised to help Pakistan in dealingwith the TTP terrorists based in Af-ghanistan. The Afghan President cat-egorically stated that Afghan soilwould not be allowed to used for at-tacks against Pakistan.

As a result of the deliberationsof the APC a parliamentary commit-tee which would also include repre-sentative of Army, security agencies

and law enforcing agencies has beenformed to draw up a plan of actionagainst terrorism, within a week sothat a decisive action against the ter-rorist could be initiated accordingly.The removing of moratorium on ex-ecution of death sentences by thePrime Minister in the wake of thedeliberations of the APC is anothermuch required initiative that wouldnot only pave the way for executingthe condemned terrorists but wouldalso act as a deterrent to some extentfor the would be terrorists.

There is no denying the fact thatterrorism in Pakistan cannot be tack-led without the cooperation of the Af-ghan government and the US forcesbased there. Now that there is a mu-tual resolve to eliminate the scourgeof terrorism and its inevitability forpeace and progress in the twoneighbouring countries and the re-gion, it could be hoped that Pakistanwould be spared of the threat posedby TTP elements using Afghan soil.Zarb-e-Azab has achieved tremen-dous success. The entire terrorist in-frastructure of the terrorists in NorthWaziristan has been dismantled andmore than ninety percent area clearedof the terrorists. Plans are alreadymade by the Army for the repatria-tion of the IDPs to their homes in the

areas which have been cleared. Therun-away elements of the terroristswho possibly have either crossedover to Afghanistan or have disap-peared among the masses through-out the country would surely behunted down as promised by theCOAS. While the security forcesand intelligence agencies are relent-lessly engaged in thwarting the de-signs of the terrorists, their completeelimination, particularly of thosewho are hiding in our cities, willrequire more vigilance on the partof the whole society.

The people will have to be ontheir guard and report the arrival ofany new person in their locality orany suspicious activity noticed bythem to the concerned authoritiesimmediately. Perhaps it is also anappropriate occasion to express ourgratitude and appreciation for therole that they are playing in fight-ing terrorism. The sacrifices of theIDPs must also be duly acknowl-edged and eulogized. At the sametime a loud and clear messageshould go out to the faithless beaststhat their machinations would notdent the resolve of the nation tothwart their designs.— The writer is Islamabad-basedfreelance columnist.

The alarming climate change

THE Earth’s climate haschanged throughout history.Just in the last 650,000 years

there have been seven cycles of gla-cial advance and retreat, with theabrupt end of the last ice age about7,000 years ago marking the begin-ning of the modern climate era — andof human civilization. Most of theseclimate changes are attributed to verysmall variations in Earth’s orbit thatchange the amount of solar energy ourplanet receives. With rapid climatechange, one-fourth of Earth’s speciescould be headed for extinction by2050. The United States GlobalChange Research Programme (whichincludes the Department of Defense,NASA, National Science Foundationand other government agencies) hassaid that “Global warming is un-equivocal and primarily human-in-duced and climate changes are un-derway in the United States and are

projected to grow”In addition to impacting our wa-

ter resources, energy supply, transpor-tation, agriculture, and ecosystems,the United States Global Change Re-search Program concludes that cli-mate change Carbon dioxide andother global warming pollutants arecollecting in the atmosphere like athickening blanket, trapping the sun’sheat and causing the planet to warmup. Earth-orbiting satellites and othertechnological advances have enabledscientists to see the big picture, col-lecting many different types of infor-mation about our planet and its cli-mate on a global scale. Studying theseclimate data collected over manyyears reveal the signals of a chang-ing climate. Although local tempera-tures fluctuate naturally, over the past50 years the average global tempera-ture has increased at the fastest ratein recorded history.

The heat-trapping nature of car-bon dioxide and other gases was dem-onstrated in the mid-19th century.Their ability to affect the transfer ofinfrared energy through the atmo-

sphere is the scientific basis of manyinstruments flown by NASA. Thereis no question that increased levels ofgreenhouse gases must cause the earthto warm in response. Ice cores drawnfrom Greenland, Antarctica, and tropi-cal mountain glaciers show that theearth’s climate responds to changes ingreenhouse gas levels. They also showthat in the past, large changes in cli-mate have happened very quickly, geo-logically-speaking: in tens of years, notin millions or even thousands. ·Glo-bal sea level rose about 17 centime-ters (6.7 inches) in the last century. Therate in the last decade, however, isnearly double that of the last century.

The major global surface tem-perature reconstructions show thatearth has warmed since 1880. Mostof this warming has occurred sincethe 1970s, with the 20 warmest yearshaving occurred since 1981 and withall 10 of the warmest years occurringin the past 12 years. Even though the2000s witnessed a solar output de-cline resulting in an unusually deepsolar minimum in 2007-2009, surfacetemperatures continue to increase.

Buildings worldwide contributearound one third of all greenhousegas emissions even though invest-ing in thicker insulation and othercost-effective, temperature-regulat-ing steps can save money in the longrun. Heating and cooling consumeabout 40 percent of energy in thehome. Sealing drafts and makingsure that your home has adequateinsulation are two easy ways to be-come more energy-efficient. Theeasiest way to cut back on green-house gas emissions is simply to buyless stuff. Whether by forgoing anautomobile or employing a reusablegrocery sack, cutting back on con-sumption results in fewer fossil fu-els being burned to extract, produceand ship products around the globe

Improved agricultural practicesalong with paper recycling and for-est management—balancing theamount of wood taken out with theamount of new trees growing—could quickly eliminate this signifi-cant chunk of emissions.— The writer is freelancecolumnist.

a health hazard. Research has shownthat electrical rays, which this tinydevice emits, cause brain tumours,cancers, paralysis and also damageto hearing. We, students, should takeserious steps to face the reality be-fore it’s too late and do something tochange this habit, as our first duty isto guide or generation before we to-tally fall prey to this menace.—Islamabad

Utility ofacademic societies

AQSA AFTAB AHMED

There are countless universities inPakistan which are giving an out-standing performance in providingtheir students with the best of knowl-edge. Although, education is the ma-jor and the only topic that comes tomind when we talk about such insti-tutions, but there are many otherthings that need to be done along withstudies so that the minds of the stu-dents stay calm and relaxed. Everyhuman being needs some extracur-ricular activity that enhances thatperson’s abilities and helps him/herexplore his/her own capabilities.

There is a trend of societies inuniversities. These societies arehandled and managed by studentsthemselves and these students areelected by the previous council of thatparticular society. Working in thesesocieties, helps a person understandthe corporate world. A person gets towork with many different people, getsdifferent tasks and has to work inteams. This helps a person to becomeprepared for the pragmatic world thathe/she has to face in his/her future.

Every student is working hard toget a degree and then finally a job.Everybody wants to work. These so-cieties then become a platform towork with different people, underdifferent ambiances, and under dis-tinct circumstances. Therefore, thesesocieties play a major role in polish-ing a person’s personality and helphim/her build his/her character in anappropriate manner that is ideal forthe practical scenarios.—Via email

Beggingin Pakistan

AREEBA IQBAL

When you stand at a traffic signal orat some religious place, at railway/bus stations or any other crowdedplace, you see a lot of familiar facescalled ‘beggars’. Begging in Paki-stan is not something new to oursociety. The elderly, disabled, kidsand women with babies, are fre-quently seen begging around whichhas now become a profession forthese people. When economists talkabout any activity related to moneythey always discuss the ‘Opportu-nity cost’ of the action.

Opportunity cost of an action iswhat you have to give up doing in or-der to do that action. When you give arupee to a beggar, the cost of opportu-nity is the charity and education of thepoor kids that could have been doneusing that rupee. So you should notgive, you should give effectively.People generally donate money to beg-gars because of a feeling of guilt onseeing the poor or a desire to help adisabled person but with that desirethey fail to realize that they, by givingmoney to beggars, are doing exactlythe opposite of what they intend to do.

Moreover, begging by children isa violation of the rights of children.Often the ones, who force the vul-nerable children in this business, lurethem with a lot of promises and thenthey literally have no escape fromthis. One rupee each a day to a childbeggar, they just give his parents orthe group for which he works, astrong incentive to keep him in thebegging business, rather than sendhim to school or at least make himlearn some sort of trade. Also a per-son, who could have earned fifty ru-pees a day, by labour, might give uphis work so that he can earn a hun-dred rupees a day by begging. Somesmall children and babies are rentedout to adult beggar women in orderto play on people’s emotions and earnmore money. Continuous rise in beg-ging may create various problems in

society and for the nation.It may lead to various other

crimes, like kidnapping of children,injuring and deforming people andincreasing the racket of beggary.There is also a need for public aware-ness as well as a platform of publicopinion on this issue. Our very ap-proach has to change; perhaps theconcerned authorities as well as thegeneral public should emphasize onproper counselling and rehabilitationof beggars and use the legislativemeans to attack the root of this racketand stop begging forcefully.—Islamabad

My heart bleedsSYEDA DANYA ZAIDI

Another 16 December proved to bethe darkest day in the history of Pa-kistan. There is no sign of humanityin this part of world now. Assassinat-ing children is the height of brutality.Who knew that their children willnever come back to their homes andfamilies. Small feet and big dreamsscattered and turned into the patheticsituation. We are living in those dayswhen even good deeds like educa-tion are a target. Terrorists want tostop our progress in the field of edu-cation because they are afraid thatthey will have no place in a literatenation. It means that they have nosound base, they are coward andafraid of the future. Unity is the ba-sic asset that is required to face thissituation. It is not the time to holdprotests or strikes for few days andthen go back to your homes.

It is the time to unite and fightfor peace and for our own survival.We all are equal and are equally re-sponsible for such cause whether itis a politician or a common man, weall stand in a same row. We all arefearful because our children could bethe next target; but don’t forget thatthe youg ones who have been bru-tally martyred in Peshawar were alsoour children. Remember one thingthat fear is for the powerless. Fear isfor the lonely but when you stand to-gether, you are none of those. To-gether, you can stand and make a dif-ference. My heart is bleeding but thatpain is meaningless as compared tothose mothers who have lost theirloved ones. Schools are to imparteducation not to make a bridge be-tween people. The least we can do isto speak about it and be together tosave our people, our future.—Karachi

Darkest day ofPakistan’s historyMUHAMMAD RIZWAN AFTAB

The beasts of terrorism gave the proofof their impotence by targeting thestudents of Army Public School inPeshawar resulting in the coldblooded murder of around 135 stu-dents without any sin. Every Paki-stani as well as peoples from abroadare grief-stricken and every eye iswetlands. Thareek e Talbian mightbe of the view that they have done abrilliant job by targeting the youngand innocent school children, butthey did a very shameful act. It wasthe reaction of Taliban against theoperation Zarb-e-Azb. 16th Decem-ber witnessed another most ghastlyact again in 2014 after the 1971 dis-memberment of Pakistan, thus be-coming the darkest day of the entirehistory of Pakistan.

Pak Army is doing well in NotrhWazristan. I earnestly request theGovernment, political parties and theArmed forces of Pakistan to take abig action against these pigs andeliminate their names and identifica-tion from the land of Pakistan.—Karachi

Malik M AshrafEmail:ashrafazim2000@yahoo.com

Afia BhattiEmail:afia.bhatty@yahoo.com

JACQUES DELORS

THE European authorities appointed in thewake of the elections in May 2014 havea historic, not to say overwhelming, task

ahead of them. Faced with the pressure beingbrought to bear by eurosceptics and europhobesalike, it falls to them to urgently impart a freshthrust to the construction of Europe – a pro-cess which may be the target of greater criti-cism than ever before but which continues tobe crucial in a world where globalisation isadvancing and Europe is shrinking and grow-ing old.

The Europeans will find the fuel to impartthis new boost to their construction process pri-marily by casting their gaze over the world atlarge far more than they have done during theendless and devastating crisis in the euro area.Seen from Beijing, from Brasilia or fromBamako, we are already united around the willto reconcile economic efficiency, social cohe-sion and environmental safeguards in a plural-istic framework. We must unite further in orderto promote this common will, along with ourinterests and our values, in an increasingly lesseurocentric world through the adoption of moreconsistent trade and external aid policies,through the creation of a genuine energy union,and through the patient bolstering of our com-mon foreign and defence policy, becausestrength lies in numbers! This Union naturallyneeds the United Kingdom – but only as long aa majority of its citizens still wish to be a part of

The EU Needs a Fresh Boost... Fast!it, because the Union is by no means a prison!It is going to expand after 2020 to embrace otherneighbouring countries, essentially in theBalkans, but its priority in the short term is forall 28 of its current member states to move for-ward simultaneously and in the context of theeuro area, in order to rediscover the kind ofgrowth and employment levels capable of re-viving both its dynamism on the internal leveland its credibility in the external arena.

Imparting a fresh thrust to the EU includesmaking better use of the opportunities that itoffers as a space for economic and human ex-change and as a public power. Even if the na-tion states continue to be the masters of theirmajor choices in the economic, educational andsocial spheres, emerging from the crisis alsoinvolves Europe! We must deepen the singlemarket in the sphere of the service industry, ofthe digital economy, of capital markets and ofmajor infrastructures in order to foster a morequality-based growth and more jobs. And wemust emerge once and for all from the lethalcompetition besetting the social and fiscalspheres. We must safeguard and promote thefree movement of workers and of people, onwhich millions of jobs depend, in compliancewith the principle of non-discrimination, andwe must complete this free movement systemwith a common, solidarity-based immigrationpolicy. We must spend and invest more to-gether, including by displaying vigorous sup-port for the plan proposed by the Juncker Com-mission, for all its limitations, and by calling

on the member states and on private players tomatch that plan with their own investments toa far greater degree. We must act together inthe struggle against youth unemployment andwe must avert the threat of a lost generation.We must complete the Economic and MonetaryUnion by complying with the major principlesand regulations on which that union is based,in particular with regard to monitoring exces-sive indebtment (rather than indebtment itself),while at the same time endowing it with thepolitical tools required to bolster its legitimacyand the financial tools needed for stabilisationand for aid with reforms, so as to avert anychance of a return to the IMF-Europe of thepast few years.

Many Europeans have experienced this“IMF-Europe” as a threat, because it has beena purveyor of aid pegged to painful and un-fair budget cuts and reforms. People too of-ten forget that it has had the merit oforganising that solidarity among memberstates that had been called into question onmore than one occasion. Imparting a freshthrust to the construction of Europe alsomeans allowing Europe to be perceived notas a threat but as an answer to the threats andchallenges fuelling people’s fears while at thesame time actually strengthening the benefitsto be gained from uniting. Those benefitsinclude: the showdown with Vladimir Putinand the instability besetting numerousneighbouring countries that we need to sup-port in their struggle (in Ukraine, but also in

Tunisia); the existence of terrorist hotbeds inthe Sahel and in the Near East; the ravages of“mad” finance and of unbridled taxoptimisation; the spectres of deflation and ofde-industrialisation; the risks occasioned bya changing climate and by our dependence onexternal energy sources... Europe’s newdecison-makers may give in to the easy temp-tation to restrict the production of misunder-stood and ridiculed environmental or healthmeasures whose technical virtue is frequentlyless than the political damage that they cause.But at the end of the day, it is on their abilityto respond effectively to the main threats andchallenges which the Europeans are havingto face that they are going to be judged at theend of their mandates.

The Community adventure was launchedover sixty years ago to stimulate our recon-struction and to forge a space for peace andfor mutual respect in the face of a dividedEurope. It needs to prove today, more thanever before in its history, that it has the dualability both to stimulate and to protect the citi-zens whom it is called on to serve over thecoming years – years which look set to be ofcrucial importance. Ladies and gentlemen incharge of the European institutions, time isof the essence!

—Courtesy: Finland Times[Jacques Delors, António Vitorino and themembers of the Notre Europe – JacquesDelors Institute European Steering Commit-tee for 2014]

JONATHAN POWER

IT is John McCain, a former Vietnam warrior and the Republican candidate for president when Barack Obama first wonthe presidency, who has conducted a long campaign against

the US using torture. Last week, when the US Senate’s study ofthe torture used during the administration of George W. Bushwas published, he was one of the very few voices of the right towelcome it. When the allies won World War II, the torture of theNazi regime’s top military commanders was not allowed, eventhough the detained had plenty of information on who did what.

Few argued that torture was necessary to elicit the informa-tion required in order to prosecute the Nazi leadership at theNuremberg war crimes trial (although Churchill had argued ear-lier that they did not deserve a trial and they should be put againsta wall and summarily shot). It was conventional interrogationthat produced the information needed.

In the Senate report — which runs to 6,000 pages — thereare any number of sadistic acts of torture recorded. And, saysthe report, no information elicited outclassed the same informa-tion squeezed from the same subjects by conventional interro-gation. Indeed, FBI officials were long critical of the CIA’s bru-tal approach to interrogation.

America’s image abroad will never be the same. A countrythat has long trumpeted the need for human rights and the ruleof law is now well and truly hoisted on its own petard. It shouldnot dare any longer to make its clarion calls for the values ofdemocracy. Its only hope for redemption is to keep its head downand turn inwards on righting its human rights abuses at home —the shooting of innocent people by the police, the unnecessaryand long incarceration of young black men for minor offences,the use of capital punishment, sometimes killing men later provedinnocent and, not least, a 35-year-long prison term for soldierChelsea Manning, who revealed secret government diplomaticcable traffic. Everyone who knows the awful history of the tor-ture drama will have his own bone to pick.

Mine is the speech given by Bush to the UN General Assemblyon Human Rights Day, when he called for the tougher application ofhuman rights the world over just at the time his subordinates, with hisauthority and knowledge, were waterboarding suspects (simulateddrowning), depriving them of sleep for well over 100 hours whilstsuspended from the ceiling, feeding them rectally, throwing themagainst walls and kicking them almost to the point of death. Obamastopped the use of torture immediately after he came into office. Yethe and the Department of Justice will not prosecute those who did itand those who authorised it. Unfortunately, the US has not signed upas a member of the International Criminal Court and so cannot beprosecuted there, except by order of the UN Security Council whereit has a veto.

But the ICC could exercise its jurisdiction in Afghanistan, whichis a signatory and where US torture occurred. Failing that, there is theUN Torture Convention to which the US is a state party. (In fact itsratification was carried out at the behest of the very conservative presi-dent Ronald Reagan.) Under the rules of the 1984 Convention, anyindividual (from Bush downwards) who travels to a country which isa signatory of the convention could be arrested, detained, tried andsentenced. When in 1998 former Chilean dictator, General AugustoPinochet, was visiting London, he was arrested by the British policewho were responding to a request by Spanish judges investigatingallegations of torture during his rule. The case went to the highestcourt in the UK where it was ruled that even though he had been headof state, he did not have sovereign immunity under the law of theAnti-Torture Convention.

I wonder how many European countries will have the courage todo this today with Bush and his officials? I wonder if the countries ofthe Middle East, Asia and Latin America will. Perhaps an Africancountry might, since many Africans feel Africa has been picked uponby the ICC. This would be sweet revenge.

Unless arrests and trials are carried out, American practitioners oftorture and those in authority over them will go on denying they brokethe law. It is time for the world’s courts to take over the US Senate’sgood and exhaustive work. As Senator McCain said on TV the otherday, we should recall that at the end of World War II, the US executedthose Japanese who had tortured captured American troops withwaterboarding. The greatest human rights abuses ever carried out bya Western country in modern times cannot go unpunished.

—Courtesy: Jordan Times

Time to prosecuteGeorge W. Bush

EUGENE ROBINSON

PRESIDENT Obama’s historic opening to Cuba is long overdue — and has a chance of hastening the Castrodictatorship’s demise. Critics of the accord should explain

why they believe a policy that has failed miserably for half acentury could ever work.What is it about Cuba that makes reasonable people take leaveof their senses? The United States maintained full diplomaticrelations with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. Rich-ard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, hardly a couple of peaceniks,opened the door to China. History argues powerfully for engage-ment as the best way to deal with repressive, adversarial regimes.Yet hard-liners insist Cuba must be treated differently.

Eugene Robinson writes a twice-a-week column on politics andculture, contributes to the PostPartisan blog, and hosts a weekly onlinechat with readers. In a three-decade career at The Post, Robinson hasbeen city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in BuenosAires and London, foreign editor, and assistant managing editor incharge of the paper’s Style section. Visiting the island might changesome minds. I went to Cuba 10 times between 2000 and 2004 whileresearching a book, “Last Dance in Havana.” Each trip gave me moreregard for the Cuban people — and less for the Castro regime.

The Cubans I met were energetic, ambitious, well educated andthoroughly stifled by a gerontocratic government that ruled through acombination of calibrated repression, impenetrable bureaucracy andtropical whimsy. What was permissible today might be outlawed to-morrow. I remember once reading a decree listing hundreds of occu-pations that citizens had briefly been permitted to practice as entrepre-neurs — working for themselves, not the state — but that were againbeing put off-limits. Among them was “birthday party clown.”

Cuba is much poorer than it should be, given its abundant humancapital. This is almost entirely due to abysmal economic theory andmanagement; communism, as the rest of the world has realized, is noway to create wealth. But antagonistic U.S. policy has provided theCastro brothers with a convenient scapegoat and a rationale for re-pression. The U.S. and Cuba are on course to reestablish diplomaticrelations, crucial to aiding the island nation’s economic and financialsituation, Cuban President Raul Castro said Wednesday. (Reuters)

One afternoon, back when Fidel Castro was still large and in charge,I heard the Bearded One speak to a Havana auditorium filled withyoung athletes. Amid what was basically an extemporaneous paean topatriotism and physical fitness, he worked in boilerplate references tothe bloqueo, or blockade — the U.S. trade embargo — and the relent-less “aggression” of the hegemonic great power to the north.

For more than 50 years, the Castro government has told Cubansthat such luxuries as freedom of expression and assembly unfortu-nately cannot be granted because of the constant threat from the UnitedStates, which sought to destroy the Cuban revolution and erase itsaccomplishments in areas such as education, medicine and sports.I’ve met few Cubans who swallowed this line uncritically. But I’vemet many, including bitter critics of the regime, who believed U.S.policy was counterproductive if only because it gave the Castros anominal reason for clinging to power. If he follows through onWednesday’s agreement to establish full diplomatic relations, Presi-dent Raúl Castro will essentially be abandoning this time-tested lineof argument. Which suggests he must be pretty desperate.

—Courtesy: Washington Post

A win for Cuba’speople

RIO DE JANEIRO—A federal investigation intoa kickback scheme at Brazil’s state oil companyhas, so far, ensnared 30 executives. In Sao Paulo,prosecutors accuse 33 businessmen of runninga “cartel” to profit from the city’s subway sys-tem. And in perhaps the most stunning turn ofall, the oil and mining tycoon who once wasBrazil’s richest billionaire is on trial for some-thing that, until recently, was not even seen as acrime: profiting from inside information. Theaggressive crackdown on corruption by Brazil’srich and powerful suddenly raises a once un-fathomable question: Is this the beginning of theend for the nation’s entrenched culture of impu-nity? Experts on Brazil’s governance and cor-ruption give a cautious “yes.”

Brazil is witnessing an unprecedented flurryof legal activity, provoked by a growing middleclass whose anger over corruption erupted inprotests last year, and independent agencies in-creasingly capable of handling complex probes.“This is all really amazing. We’re seeing ex-tremely interesting developments for checks andbalances,” said Carlos Pereira, a professor ofpublic administration at the Getulio VargasFoundation and one of Brazil’s foremost expertson corruption. Prosecutors, federal investigators

Brazil launches aggressivecrackdown on corruption

and government audit agencies, he said, “arenow the three accountability musketeers in Bra-zil.” The agencies’ efforts have been sweeping,with investigations hitting the nation’s mostpowerful political and business circles.

The kickback scheme at the oil companyPetrobras allegedly included executives fromBrazil’s powerful construction companies pay-ing bribes for inflated contracts, with some ofthe money being funneled into the campaigncoffers of the ruling Workers’ Party and theirallies. More arrests are expected, according toAttorney General Rodrigo Janot, who recentlytold an anti-corruption conference in Brasiliathat everyday Brazilians have made it clearthey’ll “no longer tolerate corruption and thegall of some bad public officials and privatebusinessmen.” Analysts have said tackling cor-ruption is a key part of making Brazil, the globe’sNo. 7 economy a true player on the internationalstage.

President Dilma Rousseff, who recently wona second term and is widely perceived by Bra-zilian voters as an honest politician, has vowedto take on the challenge. The charges levied inrecent weeks in the Petrobras case, she said,would “forever change the relations between

Brazilian society, the Brazilian state and privateenterprises. The fact that this is being investi-gated in an absolutely open manner is immenselydifferential.” The roots of the anti-corruptioncrusade date to 2005, when top aides ofRouseff’s predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula daSilva, were accused in a series of media articlesof paying lawmakers to support their legisla-tion. That opened a long investigation into thecash-for-votes scheme, which ended in 2012with convictions against more than two dozenpeople - the first time major political figures,including Silva’s chief of staff, were sent to jail.

The credit went to federal prosecutors, awidely trusted agency which has broad investi-gative powers. Congress was set to strip themof such authority until last year, when protest-ers across Brazil staged raucous anti-govern-ment marches, in part to denounce the corrup-tion stealing their woeful public services of taxmoney. A key rallying point for demonstratorswas protecting the ability of prosecutors to in-vestigate, a demand lawmakers quickly con-ceded. The victory has led prosecutors to digdeeper into corruption, causing the anti-graftmovement to snowball. The biggest fish put ontrial so far is Eike Batista, the flamboyant mo-

gul who once was the world’s seventh-richestman. His ongoing trial on insider trading chargesis the first to make it to court in Brazil.

In Sao Paulo, charges are expected any dayagainst 33 executives, mostly Brazilians work-ing for international firms who allegedly ran thecity’s subway system and its expansion projectlike a personal fiefdom. The anti-impunity trendalso has Brazilians reevaluating their past. Atruth commission last week released its findingfrom a nearly three-year investigation intoatrocities committed by the 1964-85 militaryregime, the first public accounting of that pain-ful period. It’s renewed a sharp debate over ablanket amnesty law that has protected mem-bers of the junta from facing justice for kill-ings, torture or disappearances.Paulo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute atthe Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars in Washington, said he thinks thePetrobras and Sao Paulo subway probes showBrazil’s anti-corruption tide is nearing a “criti-cal mass.” “I’m no `Pollyanna,’ but we’vereached the moment where action has to betaken. And action to combat corruption is tak-ing place - and we’re surprised by our own ca-pacity to do what we’re doing,” he said.—AP

BEIRUT—Nearly 30,000 Syrian children bornas refugees in Lebanon are in a legal limbo,not registered with any government, expos-ing them to the risk of a life of statelessnessdeprived of basic rights. It is a problem that isreplicated, to varying degrees, in nations acrossthe Middle East where more than 3.3 millionSyrians have found safe haven from the in-tractable civil war in their homeland.The life of a stateless person is a life without anationality, without citizenship, without thebasic documents that establish an individual’sidentity and give him the rights accorded ev-eryone else. Without a birth certificate, iden-tity papers or other documents, even basicthings like getting married, going to school orfinding a job can be next to impossible.

“If you can’t prove your nationality, itmeans you can’t get legal documentation, can’tcross borders legally, can’t enjoy any otherbasic rights that citizens of a country are en-titled too,” said Isabella Castrogiovanni, a se-nior child protection specialist with UNICEF.“So the consequences are obviously huge.”

30,000 newborn Syrian kidsface statelessness

The United Nations launched a major cam-paign last month to try to end statelessnessfor an estimated 10 million people around theworld within 10 years.

Syria’s civil war is one of the majortrouble spots, with more than 3 million peoplefleeing to neighboring countries to escape thebloodshed. For Syrian refugee women whogive birth, acquiring the legal documentationwith the local government is a chief concern.And yet, an estimated 70 percent of the 42,000children born to Syrian parents in Lebanonsince the uprising against President BasharAssad began in March 2011 remain off thebooks, according to the United Nations refu-gee agency. That figure only relates to the 1.1million refugees registered with UNHCR.Lebanese officials estimate there are another500,000 unregistered Syrians in the country.It is not known how many children have beenborn among that population, but whatever thenumber, they likely have an even lower rateof registration. The daily hardships of life as arefugee keep many Syrian parents from reg-

istering their newborns: no money, no docu-ments, little time off from work. The processis complicated, with multiple steps that requiretravel from one government office to another,money for fees and, most importantly, a slewof documents. Without the parents’ marriagelicense, for example, the birth of a child can-not be registered. But many Syrians had toflee their homeland on short notice and so leftlegal papers behind, or their papers were de-stroyed along with their homes.

At a natal clinic in a run-down neighbor-hood in south Beirut on a recent dreary De-cember morning, around a dozen Syrian moth-ers with children in tow sat on green plasticchairs waiting for a checkup with the residentmidwife. Most of the women said they wereaware of the need to register their newborn,but only around half of them had. Outside,one mother named Khawla from the city ofIdlib in northwestern Syria cradled her new-born son in her arms as her curly-haired two-year-old, Mohammed, stomped around thedamp pavement.—AP

SYDNEY—Eight dead childrenand a woman suffering fromstab wounds were found insidea home in a northern Austra-lian city on Friday, police said.Police believe the 34-year-oldwoman with wounds to the chestis the mother of seven of the chil-dren, and the eighth child is be-lieved to be one of her relatives,Detective Inspector BrunoAsnicar said. She was receivingtreatment for her injuries and wasin stable condition at a hospital.Queensland state police said theywere called to the home in theCairns suburb of Manoora onFriday morning after receiving areport of a woman with seriousinjuries. When police got to thehouse, they found the bodies ofthe children inside, ranging inage from 18 months to 15 years.

Asnicar declined to say howthe children died. Forensic teamswere still inside the home collect-ing evidence. “As it stands at themoment, there’s no need for thepublic to be concerned about thisother than the fact that it’s a tragic,tragic event,” Asnicar said. “Thesituation is well controlled at the

Eight children stabbed todeath, mother wounded

moment. There shouldn’t be anyconcern for anyone else out of thisenvironment.” Officials had notyet identified any suspects, butwere talking to a range of people,he said. “Everybody who’s hadany involvement at all in the pasttwo or three days is a person ofinterest,” Asnicar said. ActingChief Superintendent RussellMiller said officials believe it wasan isolated incident and there wasno threat to the rest of the com-munity. Lisa Thaiday, who saidshe was the injured woman’scousin, said one of the woman’sother sons, a 20-year-old, camehome and found his brothers andsisters dead inside the house. “I’mgoing to see him now, he needscomforting,” Thaiday said.“We’re a big family ... I just can’tbelieve it. We just found out(about) those poor babies.”Thestreet has been cordoned off anda crime scene will remain in placefor at least the next day, Asnicarsaid. Dozens of police descendedon the home, and crowds of lo-cals stood outside the police bar-ricades, some of them wipingaway tears.—AP

WASHINGTON—U.S. counter-terrorism officials backed nego-tiations with two prominentjihadi clerics in a failed attemptto save the life of an Americanhostage who was later beheadedby Islamic State militants, theGuardian newspaper reportedon Friday. Citing emails, theGuardian said talks with thespiritual leaders of IslamicState, also known as ISIS,aimed at releasing hostage Pe-ter Kassig began in mid-Octo-ber and ran for several weekswith the knowledge of the FBI.

U.S. officials were not im-mediately available to com-ment on the newspaper report.Islamic State militants be-headed Kassig, 26, in Novem-ber. U.S. President BarackObama said at the time that thekilling was “an act of pure evil

A student is detained during a demonstration near the Ministry of Education at Santiago, Chile Students were protestingagainst the increase in tariffs at their universities.

US backed talks withISIS failed to save Kassig

by a terrorist group that theworld rightly associates withinhumanity”.

The Guardian said the un-successful initiative to saveKassig, an aid worker, was thework of a New York lawyer,Stanley Cohen, who has rep-resented Osama bin Laden’sson-in-law and members ofHamas in U.S. courts.

Cohen persuaded seniorclerics aligned with al Qaedato intervene with ISIS on be-half of Kassig, the newspapersaid. FBI staff confirmed thatsenior officials at its headquar-ters were kept abreast ofCohen’s actions, the Guardiansaid.The bureau confirmed it wouldpay $24,000 of expenses in-curred by Cohen, the newspa-per said.—Reuters

touch with their militant lead-ers based in Afghanistanthrough mobile phones duringthe carnage,” the official said.The official said the Pakistanarmy chief called on the Af-ghan leadership to take imme-diate action against the Paki-stani Taliban leadership basedin Afghanistan, includingMullah Fazlullah who alleg-edly operated from Kunarprovince. The Afghan leader-ship reportedly assured the Pa-kistan army chief that Afghansoil would not be allowed to beused by Pakistani Talibangroup.

Afghanistan and Pakistanhave had rocky relationship inthe last few years with bothsides accusing each other ofpatronizing certain Talibangroups on their soil. However,relations improved recently fol-lowing the election of Ghani aspresident of Afghanistan.—Online

Pak, Afghanistan,US agreeFrom Page 1

power generation with dieseland furnace oil in Octoberstood at 3.25 billion units ofpower while in November itremained at 1.39 billion units.

In October, fuel cost forpower generation with furnaceoil was set at Rs15.64 per unit,while it remained at Rs13.85per unit.

Reduction in power genera-tion with expansive fuel playeda role in reducing the powergeneration cost. Available docu-ments also said that total 8.13billion units of electricity wereproduced, while in November itremained at 6.54 billion.

Nepra approvesFrom Page 1

Peshawar attackmastermind identified

From Page 1

The Taliban say the attack, in whichgunmen wearing suicide-bomb vests executedchildren, was retaliation for a military offensivecarried out by the Pakistani army.

Six Pakistani Taliban interviewed byReuters confirmed the mastermind wasMansoor. Four of them said he is close toMullah Fazlullah, the embattled leader of thefractious group who ordered assassins to killschoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.

Mansoor got a high school education inthe capital, Islamabad, two Taliban memberssaid, and later studied in a madrassa, a reli-gious school. “Umar Mansoor had a toughmind from a very young age, he was alwaysin fights with other boys,” said one Talibanmember.

Mansoor has two brothers and spent some

time working in the city of Karachi as a labourerbefore joining the Taliban soon after it wasformed, in late 2007, said one commander.

His nickname is “nary,” a word in the Pashtolanguage meaning “slim“, and he is the father oftwo daughters and a son, said another command-ers. “(Mansoor) likes to play volleyball,” said oneof the Taliban members.

“He is a good volleyball player. Wherever heshifts his office, he puts a volleyball net up.”TheTaliban video describes him as the “amir“, or leader,of Peshawar and nearby Darra Adam Khel.Mansoor deeply opposes talks with the govern-ment, the commanders said.

“He was very strict from the start when hejoined,” a commander said. “He left many com-manders behind if they had a soft corner (of theirheart) for the government.”—ReutersAltaf demands

arrest of LalMasjid cleric

From Page 1massacre.

Altaf said it is not the rallyof MQM but the National Soli-darity Rally of Pakistan.Peoplefrom minorities and all walks oflife attended the national solidar-ity rally from Numaish Chorangito Tibet Centre.

Terming the terrorists as‘beasts’, Altaf Hussain said; “ifwe want to save Pakistan, weshould get rid of Taliban.” Hecalled upon the Law Enforce-ment Agencies to extend thecircle of operation against ter-rorists to entire country.

Operation Zarb-e-Azbshould continue till eliminationof last terrorist from the coun-try, he maintained.—Online

PM, COAS pledge zero toleranceFrom Page 1

of Afghanistan, where Fazlullah is believed tobe taking sanctuary. They further said that Armywill provide the Afghan government and ISAFa ‘reasonable’ amount of time to fulfill theirpromise of action against Fazlullah. “At the sametime, Pakistan Army will continue with its op-eration and attacks in Tirah Valley, KhyberAgency and Mohmand Agency,” the sourcesadded. Prime Minister Nawaz was also informedthat if Fazlullah was not hit by a missile after acertain time period, the Army will consider otheroptions. It was also decided that security at thePak-Afghan border would be tightened in orderto restrain cross-border movement of militants.

The meeting also decided that the opera-tion being conducted in North Waziristan andKhyber would be expanded and militant hide-

outs would be targeted in Tirah valley ofKhyber as well as in other tribal areas in thenext stage of Zarb-e-Azb. Government assuredthe armed forces that all necessary resources,information and cooperation would be extendedfor the elimination of terrorists. The primeminister also assured the military leadershipthat required amendments would be made inanti-terror laws. It was also decided that intel-ligence-sharing between civilian and militaryintelligence agencies would be strengthened totrace militants and their hideouts in tribal ar-eas as well as in major cities.

The meeting, headed by the prime minister,came hours after General Sharif approved theexecution of six terrorists sentenced to death bymilitary courts.

Two terroristsFrom Page 1

team in Lahore in 2009.They were supposed to be

handed in 2013; however, thegovernment of Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif maintained amoratorium on death penalty.Former President Asif Zardarihad imposed the moratoriumon executions.As Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif approvedimplementation of the execu-tions in terrorism-related cases,the federal government has re-portedly asked all provincialgovernments to collect detailsof all convicts on death row.

Officials say that securityhas also been tightened for jailsacross Pakistan in view of thepossible hanging of the con-victed militants.

TTP Karachi chief killedFrom Page 1

Awami National Party (ANP) activists during 2013election campaign.

Pakistan Rangers Sindh launched an intel-ligence-driven targeted operation in MusharrafColony. A group of four including chief of a TTPsplinter group Abid Mucchar attacked the para-military force with the bullets and hand gre-nades.

A heavy contingent of paramilitary forceentered Musharraf Colony after receiving infor-mation regarding presence of militants in thetown. “As Rangers started house-to-housesearch operation, the militants attacked the para-military force with bullets and hand grenades,”the spokesman maintained.

“The force retaliated and killed four activ-ists of a banned outfit,” the spokesman said,adding that “huge cache of arms and ammuni-tion was recovered from their possession.”

“Abid Mucchar was expert in manufactur-

ing bombs and he was involved in many bombblasts in the city,” Rangers spokesman said, add-ing that “the identities of his three accomplices,who also died along with him in shoot out withRangers, could not be ascertained.”

Earlier, Mucchar managed to flee in injuredcondition along with his two accomplices in ajoint operation of police and Rangers inMianwali Colony, Manghopir in May this year.One of his companions, Muhammad Hussainwas also killed in that operation.

“Mucchar was part of TTP’s Wali-urRehman group and was commander in KunwariColony,” Special Investigation Unit (SIU) Se-nior Superintendent of Police (SSP) FarooqAwan said.

“He was also behind suicide attack on In-spector Shafique Tanoli and he was known asmaster in manufacturing of bombs,” the SSPmaintained.

70 terrorists deadFrom Page 1

Public Relations (ISPR), heavily pounded themiscreant’s positions in parts of Khyber agencyThursday late night killing as many as seven-teen terrorists. The military sources said thosekilled in the fresh blitz many Uzbek insurgentsincluding top Uzbek terrorists commandernamely Islam ud Din.

The reckless bombings on the miscreantspositions were followed by an extensive groundoperation in Coedon and search operation inTangi Sur and Kongana areas of the Khyberagency where in as many as 18 alleged terror-ists were killed on Friday wee hours. “Groundoperation early morning today in Coedon andsearch operation in Tangi Sur and Kongana ar-eas killed 18 terrorists”. An ISPR communiquéissued to media Friday said. Likewise the Armyled security forces also ambushed terrorists inTiraah valley of the Khyber agency the sameday and killed yet another 32 militants thus tak-ing the toll of those killed in military actionduring twenty four hours to almost seventy and130 during the last 3 days .

These militants as the Inter services PublicRelations communiqué said, was moving to-wards Pak Afghan border, believably to crossinto the other side of the border. “Security forcesambushed moving group at Wurmagai andSpurkot areas. 32 terrorists were killed in ex-change of fire.

Three security forces personals also receivedinjuries while the fleeing terrorist have left be-hind the dead bodies of their accomplices”. TheISPR said. Independent sources said those tar-geted in the ground operation include groups of

Afghan militants who were returning to Afghani-stan after conducting subversive activities on Pa-kistani soil. The Chief of Army General RaheelSharif Friday also visited Khyber Agency onFriday to review ongoing Khyber-One opera-tion.

The Army chief visited front line troops andalso met Pak-army Jawaans The OperationKhyber 1 the second leg of Military Operationtitled Zerb-e-Azb, it may be recalled was initi-ated exactly two months back on October 19against the insurgents challenging the officialwrit in volatile Khyber agency, specially thetrouble Tiraah valley for the last many years.The Tirah valley and some other pockets in theKhyber agency , in fact, been in the grip of vio-lence and bloodshed for the last many years in-cluding infighting between the defunct TehreekIslam and Lashker-e-Islam led by self –styledcleric Mangal Bagh thus turning the area into abattle field.

They have also been targeting the men inuniform and killing scores of them till date thatforced the security forces go for a decisive op-eration in the region. In the meanwhile at leasteight suspected militants were killed when theAmerican CID operated pilotless planes or dronestruck in the Nazyaan district of Afghanistan’sNangarhar province, on the zero line borderingKhyber Agency on Friday. Reports said thepredator planes targeted a militant compoundin Kort Village of Nazyaan, completely destroy-ing the building. Also scores of people report-edly sustained wounds on the zero line, the re-ports said.

NAPC discusses actionFrom Page 1

been started on possible stepsfor national security and inter-nal stability. The approval ofnew strategy against the terror-ism will be obtained in the nextjoint meeting of the politicaland military leaderships.

The first formal meeting ofthe national action plan com-mittee constituted by the AllParties Conference (APC) washeld at the parliament house onFriday. Federal Interior Minis-ter Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khanchaired the meeting.

Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) leaders Qamar Zaman

Kaira and Rehman Malik rep-resented the PPP in the meet-ing.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) leaders Dr ShireenMazari, Arif Alvi representedPTI in the meeting. MuthiddaQaumi Movement (MQM)’sleaders Dr Farooq Sattar, BabarGhouri , Jamat-e-Islami Paki-stan (JI)’s SahabzadaTariqullah, Afrasiyab khattakof Awami National Party(ANP) and leaders of the oth-ers parties also participated inthe meeting.

The decision to form the

Committee was taken at ameeting of the leaders of Par-liamentary parties in Peshawarand it will submit its recom-mendations to the political andmilitary leadership withinseven days.

The representatives of thepolitical parties were informedregarding details of the meet-ing held at the GHQ.

It is worth mentioning herethat Prime Minister NawazSharif arrived at Pakistan Armys General Headquarters (GHQ)on Friday to discuss overallsecurity situation.

The Prime Minister wasreceived by Army Chief Gen-eral Raheel Sharif on his arrivalat the GHQ. Interior MinisterChaudhry Nisar and FinanceMinister Ishaq Dar were ac-companying him.

The military leadershipbriefed the premier on progressin ongoing anti-terrorism op-erations in North Waziristanand Khyber Agency.

Overall security situationwas also reviewed during themeeting while briefing regard-ing operations on the basis ofintelligence reports was alsogiven.—SABAH

Lakhvi detainedunder MPO

From Page 1

Zaidi had set Lakhvi’s bail atRs1 million.

The decision drew a sharpreaction from India and surprisedmany with its unfortunate tim-ing, coming just days after oneof the deadliest terror attacks thecountry has ever seen. Lakhvi isamong the seven persons chargedwith planning and helping carryout the 2008 Mumbai attacks.The six other men facing trial inAdiala Jail for their alleged in-volvement in Mumbai attacks areHammad Amin Sadiq, ShahidJamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, JamilAhmed, Mazhar Iqbal and AbdulMajid. At the time of the attacks,Lakhvi was believed to be theoperational head of the bannedLaskhar-i-Taiba (LT) that hasbeen accused by India of carry-ing out the attacks in India’s fi-nancial capital. Lakhvi alongwith Zarar Shah was allegedlythe key planner of the attack thatkilled 166 people.

The acceptance of hisbail plea had come as Paki-s tan was mourning thedeaths of school childrenand other v ic t ims ofTuesday’s Taliban massacreand New Delhi had made avisible effort to show soli-darity with Islamabad.

Govt, PTI verynear to reach

agreement: DarFrom Page 1

ment on things… as well as theTerms of Reference,” he said.

“It is our resolve, in viewof greater national interest,to finalise an agreement onthe alleged electoral riggingand its investigation by a ju-dicial commission soon.”

Responding to a questionon electoral reforms, Qureshisaid the PTI was interestedin electoral reforms such thatthere be an independent elec-tion commission to ensurefree and fair elections, oncethere was a decision on theformation of a judicial com-mission to investigate 2013polls.

Tareen added that theirparty would decide on re-turning to the assemblies af-ter an agreement on the mat-ter of poll r igging wasreached.

Death warrantsof 10 more

terrorists issuedFrom Page 1

mercy of six convicts associ-ated with outlawed LeJ.

In first phase, six terroristsof banned outfit LeJ would beexecuted after rejection of theirmercy appeals by the PresidentMamnoon Hussain. Those whowould be executed in firstphase include Attaullah aliasQasim, Muhammad Azam aliasSharif, Bahram Khan, ShafqatHussain, Jalal Morejo andAbdul Razzaq Chauhan.

Security has been beefedup at consulate buildings andjails due to execution of con-victs from today in Central JailKarachi. Paramilitary person-nel, equipped with LMG andother modern weapons, havebeen put on high alert and theyhave been directed to shoot theaccused in any untoward situ-ation.

A heavy contingent of spe-cial commandos has been de-ployed at Central Jail Karachi,Malir and Sukkur Jails forsecurity.It is pertinent to men-tion here that there are 457 in-mates on death row acrossSindh. Out of them, 115 con-victs are in the central prisonof Karachi with appeals of 25of them pending in the Su-preme Court (SC) and mercypetition of nine of them stillawaiting presidential decision.

On the other hand, HomeDepartment Punjab has alsoissued death warrants of eightterrorists soon after the execu-tion of two terrorists inFaisalabad Friday night.

According to governmentofficials, execution could beoccurred anytime in jails at KotLakhpat, Adiala, Faisalabadand Bahawalpur. The presidenthad rejected mercy appeals ofall these terrorists.

Sultan Qaboosgrieved,

condoles withPresident

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Sultan QaboosBin Said has sent a cable ofcondolences to PresidentMamnoon Hussein over thePeshawar terrorist attack,which targeted the school stu-dents in Peshawar city.

In his cable, the Sultan ex-pressed his sincere condolencesand sympathy to PresidentHussein and the friendly peopleof Pakistan, praying to Allahthe Almighty to rest the vic-tims’ souls in peace grant theirfamilies patience and speedyrecovery of the injured.

Egyptexpresses grief

From Back Page

school. The Spokespersonconveyed Egypt’s condo-lences to the Governmentand the people of Pakistan aswell as to the relatives of thevictims of such horrific andpainful act, wishing fast re-covery for the injuredones.—INP

Proposalsto beimplementedISLAMABAD —InformationMinister Pervaiz Rashidsays the government willvigorously implementrecommendations to beworked out by the Parlia-mentary Committee onNational Action Planagainst Terrorism. Speakinghere, he said the entirepolitical leadership hasrenewed its pledge to wipeout terrorism at all costs. Hesaid fresh legislation is alsobeing planned to ensurerooting out the menace ofterrorism. The Minister saidthe ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb by the security forceswill continue till eliminationof all terrorists. —Online

SoniahospitalisedNEW DELHI—India’s majoroppositionCongress partyPresident Sonia Gandhi, whohas been hospitalised forlower respiratory tractinfection, is stable andrecovering well, Indian mediareported on Friday. “Hercondition is stable and she isrecovering well,” said DrAjay Swaroop, Chairman ofthe Board of Management,Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. The68-year-old CongressPresident was admitted tothe hospital yesterday withlower respiratory tractinfection and some breathingdifficulties. Mrs Gandhi isadmitted under the care of DrArup Kumar Basu, seniorconsultant with the respira-tory medicine department ofthe hospital.—Online

Kenyasecurity lawsignedNAIROBI—Kenya’sPresident Uhuru Kenyattaon Friday signed into law acontroversial security billwhich saw MPs tradeblows in parliament. It waspassed during a chaoticparliamentary session, withopposition MPs warningthat Kenya was becoming a“police state”. Thegovernment has said itneeds more powers to fightmilitant Islamists threaten-ing Kenya’s security.Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linkedal-Shabab group hasstepped up attacks inKenya. The new anti-terrorlegislation gives thesecurity and intelligenceagencies the right to tapcommunications withoutcourt consent and requiresjournalists to obtain policepermission before investi-gating or publishing storieson domestic terrorism andsecurity issues. “We mustall remember that we arestill at war and still vulner-able to terror attacks,” MrKenyatta said, defendingthe law. —Online

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The Supreme Court (SC) of Pa-kistan through an order has restrainedSindh government from procuring a heli-copter for the Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah and fire extinguishers.

A 3-member bench of the apex court atthe Karachi Registry comprising JusticeAnwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Ameer HaniMuslim and Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmaniheard the constitutional petition ofMehmood Akhtar Naqvi Friday.

The petitioner had in his CP nominatedthe Sindh CM, Sindh Chief SecretarySindh Secretary Finance, National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) Director Gen-eral and others as respondents, apprisedthe apex court that the Sindh governmentwas in violation of the PEPRA rules andwithout open international tender procur-ing a helicopter for the Sindh CM worthRs. 1.60 billion while the Sindh governmentalready had 2 choppers for emergencycalls. The procurement of the chopper wasfor a purpose of minting money throughthe kickback.The petitioner further apprised the SC thatthe procurement of the chopper was tofavour the influential while people weredying of starvation in district Tharparkarand hence the Sindh government shouldbe restricted from such procurement thatwould involve hefty money.

On the other hand, Naqvi also apprised

WASHINGTON—The USgovernment’s program to cap-ture and kill insurgent leaderscan backfire, a leaked CIA reportsaid Thursday, citing “limited”results in Afghanistan in particu-lar.

The July 2009 document re-leased by WikiLeaks tackles thepros and cons of “high value tar-geting” (HVT) operations con-ducted “against specific indi-viduals or networks.”

The 18-page report was madeunder former CIA director LeonPanetta just months before Presi-dent Barack Obama ordered a“surge” of troops in a bid to re-

Leaked CIA document reveals setbacks of targeted killingsverse the Taliban insurgency,defeat Al Qaeda and quicken anend to the war in Afghanistan.

The report categorised theprogram’s contribution tocounterinsurgency success inAfghanistan as “limited.”

“The Taliban has a high over-all ability to replace lost leaders,”it said. “The government’s lim-ited influence outside of Kabulhas impeded integration of high-value targeting (HVT) efforts” itconcluded, adding that Talibanleaders’ use of sanctuary in Pa-kistan had “also complicated theHVT effort.” But, it said, the tac-tics were successful in driving

Osama bin Laden into hiding,where he adopted a low-key pro-file “including his reliance onlow-technology communica-tions, his reluctance to meet withsubordinates, and his content-ment with leading from a seques-tered distance.”

The report suggests that thetendency of some insurgentgroups to adapt to attacks meansthat targeting logistics and fi-nances “can in some circum-stances be more effective thantargeting the group’s leadershipstructure.”In the fight against AlQaeda in Iraq (AQI), only whenHVT operations were combined

with “broader Coalition and IraqiSunni actions... such as effortsto cut AQI off from its supportbase,” did the movement beganlosing steam.

HVT tactics were effective inweakening insurgents by reduc-ing insurgent will, splitting thegroup, or strengthening govern-ment morale and support, the re-port said.

“HVT operations can play auseful role when they are part ofa broader counterinsurgencystrategy,” the document said.

The report, which details thesuccess and failure of themethod across a number of

groups worldwide, highlights the“decisive use” of HVT againstthe Shining Path in Peru, whosefounder and senior leadershipwere captured in 1992.

Shining Path “remnants havetried to regain traction since theearly 1990s but have been un-able to overcome the setbacksof a movement built around a cultof personality,” it said.

But the CIA document enu-merated a list of potentially nega-tive effects including “increas-ing insurgent support, causinga government to neglect otheraspects of its counterinsurgencystrategy, (and) provoking insur-

gents to alter strategy ororganisation in ways thatfavour the insurgents.” Alsoamong the attacks’ potentialpitfalls were “strengthening anarmed group’s popular supportwith the population, radicalisingan insurgent group’s remainingleaders, and creating a vacuuminto which more radical groupscan enter.”

In 2010, WikiLeaks beganpublishing 250,000 Americandiplomatic cables and 500,000classified military reports, cov-ering both American diplomacyand the US wars in Iraq and Af-ghanistan.—AFP

ISLAMABAD— KingMohammed VI of Moroccohas sent a message of con-dolences to Pakistani Presi-

dent Mamnoon Hussainover the Peshawar schoolattack.The King said : “I was ap-palled and deeply saddenedby the news of the horrificterrorist attack on a schoolin Peshawar which causeda large number of casualties,most of them innocent chil-dren.”

The King underlinedthat the Kingdom “stronglycondemns this barbaric

King of Moroccocondoles with President

criminal act which was per-petrated against childreninside their school”, ex-pressing His full solidaritywith the Pakistani people inthese testing circum-stances.” “In my capacityas Commander of the Faith-ful, and in keeping with myresponsibilities at the Orga-nization of Islamic Coopera-tion, I strongly condemn allforms of terrorism, which istotally incompatible withour pristine Islamic faith,the revealed religions andhuman principles anddemocratic values whichmake the right to life the fore-most human right on earth”,he said.

The King offered thePakistani President, the be-reaved families and the Pa-kistani people His most sin-cere condolences and deep-est sympathy.

“I wish the injured aspeedy recovery and praythat Almighty God acceptthe victims of this horren-dous act in His vast para-dise and comfort their rela-tives”, he said.

SC stays Sindh govt’snew copter buy bid

the apex court that the Sindh governmenthad approved the procurement of 139 fireextinguishers for Karachi and other citiesof the province without issuing open ten-ders.

The apex court had already restrictedthe Sindh government from procuring thefire extinguishers on Aug 29 but still theprocurement was not stopped and anagreement for the procurement was signed.The petitioner said that the Sindh govern-ment had already spent Rs. 230 million onrepair of the 2 choppers and had signed anagreement with an Italian company for thepurchase of the chopper. The Sindh gov-ernment would in addition to the chopperpurchase other goods worth $10.65 millionfrom the very Italian firm while no agree-ment could be signed without issuing opentenders. The Sindh government had alsoviolated the SEPRA rules for the purchaseof fire extinguishers worth Rs. 3.50 billion.The petitioner had stated that there was astrong likelihood of massive corruption inthe aforesaid deals for the purchase of thechopper and fire extinguishers and hencethe apex court should order the Sindh gov-ernment to present original documents be-fore the apex court in order to examine theterms of the deals and ascertain the trans-parency was ensured.

While issuing a stay order on the pro-curement of the chopper and fire extinguish-ers the Court ordered the Sindh governmentto present the required details in the court.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif witnessing the signing of an agreement by DG CERN(European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer and Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Com-mission, Dr. Ansar Parvez making Pakistan an Associate Member of CERN at the PM Office.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan hasformally become AssociateMember of the prestigiousEuropean organization fornuclear research, CERN.

A Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MoU) to this ef-fect was signed by Director-General CERN Dr. Rolf-DieterHeuer and Chairman PakistanAtomic Energy CommissionDr. Ansar Parvez here on Fri-day.

The ceremony was at-tended, among others, byPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif.Speaking on the occasion, thePrime Minister described it asthe landmark moment in thedevelopment of science in Pa-kistan. He thanked Director-General CERN for recognizingefforts, hard work and capa-bilities of scientists, engineersand technicians of PAEC andfor allowing Pakistan to be-come part of the unique andleading institution of scientificresearch.

The Prime Minister said itis testimony of the fact thatwhenever provided an oppor-tunity, people of Pakistan arecapable of standing upto anyinternational standard. NawazSharif reminded the scientificcommunity of Pakistan thatAssociate Membership ofCERN is not a goal but a meansto pursue, acquire and achievescientific and engineeringknowledge and expertise.

Our people must use thisopportunity to interact closelywith international communityand bring back ideas and ex-pertise and raise scientific andtechnological level of thecountry.

The Prime Minister saidthe membership also providesan opportunity to our indus-trialists and businessmenand companies can now par-ticipate in construction andengineering work carried outat CERN.—Online

Pakistan CERNAssociateMember

POLITICAL REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Vice Minister of the Inter-national Department of the Committee ofthe Communist Party of China ChenFengxiang, Friday, called on Prime Min-ister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif along witha six-member delegation at the PM’sHouse here today.

The delegation briefed the Prime Min-ister on recent political developments inChina, including the outcomes of the 4thPlenary Session of the 18th CPC CentralCommittee meeting, which focused onstrengthening the rule of law in China andincreasing accountability of the adminis-tration.

Since assuming office, President XiJinping has overseen a high-profile crack-down on corruption in Chinese governmentand Communist Party circles, Chen said.The delegation also extended condolenceson the tragic incident of terrorism that tookplace in Peshawar and said the Chinese lead-ership has expressed sympathy and fullsupport for the people of Pakistan in the

Terrorists being targeted,no exception: Nawaz

Discusses issues with Chinese Vice Minister

5-year Indianvisa to Pak,

Afghan, B’deshminorities

NEW DELHI—Members ofthe minority communitiesfrom neighbouring Paki-stan, Afghanistan andBangladesh will be grantedfive years visa instead ofone-year as part of thegovernment’s effort to ad-dress their grievances andaccording citizenship infuture.

This will be based onrecommendation of thestate government or UnionTerritory (UT) administra-tion. Besides, powers havebeen delegated to the For-eign Regional RegistrationOffice/ Foreigners Regis-tration Office (FRRO/ FRO)to extend a short-term visafor this category of foreignnationals for a period of sixmonths.

The statement said,“Children of minority na-tionals from neighbouringcountries staying on long-term visa can now take ad-mission in schools, col-leges, universities, techni-cal and professional insti-tutions without any spe-cific permission from thestate government or UnionTerritory administration.”

The sops promise tobring relief to minority na-tionals from neighbouringcountries; mostly Hindusand Sikhs, seeking refugein India on grounds of fearof religious persecution.

According to esti-mates, about one hundredthousand minority commu-nity refugees from Paki-stan, Bangladesh and Af-ghanistan live in India.—Reuters

aftermath of this dastardly act.The Prime Minister appreciated the

concern shown by Chinese leadership inthis regard. He said that Operation Zarb-e-Azb has produced very positive results andmany terrorists have been killed or cap-tured. We will continue to target all terror-ist organizations irrespective of theiragenda and affiliation, he said.

He said that friendship with China isthe cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policyand the solid foundation of our time-testedand all-weather friendship is based onstrong mutual trust, excellent cooperationand convergence of views on regionaland global issues. We owe it to our fu-ture generations to keep the rich narra-tive of Pakistan-China friendship alive byexpanding people-to-people linkages atall levels, he said.

The Prime Minister said that post-ponement of President Xi Jinping’s visitto Pakistan in September was unfortunateand the people of Pakistan are eagerlylooking forward to welcoming the Presi-dent soon.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Senate unanimously adopted the resolutioncondemning Peshawar attack on Friday, terming the at-tack as an attack on Pakistan’s future.

At the start of the session, headed by Chairman Sen-ate Naiyyer Hussain Bukhari, the routine activities were sus-pended for praying for the martyrs of Peshawar attack.

Later, Senator Raza Rabbani presented the resolution con-demning the attack. The resolution was unanimously adopted.Chairman Senate said on this occasion that the nation expectedpractical steps to be taken for eradication of terrorism. He saidthat the entire nation stood with the aggrieved families. Later,Senate session was adjourned till Monday evening.

Senate condemnsPeshawar attack

LAHORE—Security forcesmade a significant progressregarding investigations oflast month’s suicide attack atWagah Border in Lahore.

According to mediareprots, suicide bomber,which blew him up after pa-rade, was identified asHanifullah.

Wagah border bombingsuspect identified

The bomber, 23, was aresident of Mamond Townof Bajaur Agency. Someclose family members of thebomber have been taken intocustody.

At least 60 people, manywomen among them, werekilled in the deadly suicideblast on Nov 2.—Online

Peshawar tragedy

Egyptexpresses grief

ISLAMABAD—The spokes-person of the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the ArabRepublic of Egypt expressedEgypt’s strong condemna-tion against the terrorist at-tack on Army Public Schoolin Peshawar which causedthe death of 125 students at

Continued on Page 7

AN investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found thatbetween 1996 and 2008, the number of

leg and foot amputations among U.S. individu-als, aged 40+ with diagnosed diabetes, de-creased by 65%.

The study, entitled “De-clining Rates of Hospitaliza-tion for Non-traumaticLower-Extremity Amputa-tion in the Diabetic Popula-tion Aged 40 years or Older:U.S., 1988-2008,” is pub-lished online in the currentissue of Diabetes Care.

In 1996, the age-ad-justed rate of leg and footamputations was 11.2 per1,000 individuals with dia-betes. However, in 2008 thisrate fell to 3.9 per 1,000.

Non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations, refers toamputations caused by circu-latory problems, rather thanthose caused by injuries. Cir-culatory problems are a prevalent adverse ef-fect in individuals suffering with diabetes.

According to the researchers, the decreasein lower-limb amputations among individualswith diabetes may partially be due to factorssuch as: declines in heart disease, improve-ments in blood sugar control, as well as footcare and diabetes management.

Nilka Ríos Burrows, M.P.H., an epidemi-ologist with CDC’s Division of Diabetes Trans-lation, explained: “The significant drop in ratesof non-traumatic lower-limb amputationsamong U.S. adults with diagnosed diabetes iscertainly encouraging, but more work is neededto reduce the disparities among certain popu-

lations. We must continue to increase aware-ness of the devastating health complicationsof diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause oflower-limb amputations in the UnitedStates.”

After examining datafrom the National Hospital Dis-charge Survey on non-trau-matic lower-limb amputationsfrom the National Health Inter-view Survey on the prevalenceof diagnosed diabetes from1988-2008, the researchers dis-covered that the decrease inrates was higher among indi-viduals with diagnosed diabe-tes than people without the dis-ease. Although, in 2008, therate was still approximately 8times higher among those withthe disease than those withoutdiabetes.

Diabetes is the leadingcause of non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations, kidney fail-ure, and blindness among

adults. In addition, the disease is the 7th lead-ing cause of mortality in the U.S.. Diabetesalso increases the risk of strokes, hyperten-sion, and heart attacks.

CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translationsupports prevention and control programs inall 50 states, seven U.S. territories and is-land jurisdictions, and the District of Colum-bia. The National Diabetes Education Pro-gram provides education to enhance treat-ment for individuals with the disease, pro-mote early diagnosis and prevent or delaytype 2 diabetes from developing. The pro-gram is co-sponsored by CDC and the Na-tional Institutes of Health.

Lower limb amputation ratesassociated with diabetes drop

Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Abbasi speaking during the book launch-ing ceremony ‘Do Tok Baten’ written by Zulfiqar Ali Cheema Inspector General NationalHighway and Motorways Police at PNCA.

Chinese president’s book launched at Aiwan-e-Sadr

Xi Jinping’s ‘dream’shared with Pakistan

Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong presenting book of Chinese President Xi Jinping to President Mamnoon Hussainat the book launching ceremony. Chairman Pak China Institute Mushahid Hussain Syed is also seen in the pic-ture.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

RAZA UR REHMAN

I S L A M A B A D — N a t i o n a lAssembly’s Standing Committeeon Information, Broadcastingand National Heritage on Fridayissued directives to Ministry ofInformation to present list ofmedia related codes in terrorismrelated incidents. The meetingchaired by Marvi Memon, MNAwhile discussing role of mediain the aftermath of recent terror-ist attacks, decided that it wouldhold its next meeting on Mon-day and finalize its recommen-dations for multi-party NationalAction Plan Committee on Anti-Terrorism, which would finalizenational action plan within oneweek. Marvi Memon also saidthat telecast of gory scenes andextremists pictures were men-tally hurting the people of Paki-stan. She asked Chairman Paki-stan Electronic Media Regula-tory Authority (PEMRA) to take

steps so that airing anti-state andextremists interviews could bestopped immediately. PEMRAChairman Pervez Rathore saidthat the authority has the powerto refer the matter to Council ofComplaints and after its recom-mendations, the said channelscan be penalized. He suggestedthat the committee should hold ameeting with office-bearers ofPakistan Broadcasters Associa-tion (PBA) to discuss the matterwith them.

Earlier the committee was

given briefings on the role of in-formation officers in ministriesof Finance, revenue, economicaffairs, statistics andprivatization, commerce, petro-leum and natural resources, In-formation Technology and Tele-communication in creation ofconducive environment forsocio-economic development.

Principal Information Of-ficer (PIO) Rao Tehsin AliKhan informed the committeethat information officers’ man-date and job was only to project

the achievements of the minis-try. He said that the committeeshould issue directives to thesecretaries of all ministries tocooperate with IOs for dissemi-nation of information so thatthe masses should know aboutthe government’s achieve-ments. He said that his minis-try was pursuing the objectiveof image building of the gov-ernment and ministries pro-ac-tively and after taking chargeas PIO he wrote letters to allsecretaries of the ministries.

Telecast of gory scenes, extremistspictures mentally hurting people

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The book-launching ceremony of Inspec-tor General National Highway& Motorway Police (NHMP)Zulfiqar Ahmed Cheema Fridayturned into a united forumagainst terrorism as the IGPstopped the stage secretary fromproceeding further unless he getsa promise from the audience.

Cheema who is also knownas ‘Mr Clean of the Police de-partment’ deviated from thescheduled proceeding and cameto the mike and urged the peoplesitting in the PNCA hall to at-tend launch of his ‘Do TokBatain’ (Candid Conversation)to first pledge that they wouldsee the perpetrators, handlersand planners of Peshawar attackgo to the gallows and get exem-plary punishment. IGP Cheemain his inaugural speech remem-bered those little angels whosepromising life was cut short incold-blood and urged the gov-ernment to dismantle and de-stroy their network. His call wasapproved by everyone.

Chairman of the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Raja Zafarul Haqwas presiding over the launch-ing ceremony while GovernorKhyber Pakhtunkhwa SardarMehtab Abbasi was the chief

guest. State Minister UsmanIbrahim, former Information Min-ister and PPP leader QamarZaman Kaira, Gen (R) HameedGul, Registrar Supreme CourtSyed Tahir Shahbaz, ex-CabinetSecretary Ejaz Rahim, PEMRAchief Parvez Rathor journalistsIzhar-ul-Haq, Javed Chaudhry, DrMaria Sultan and Sania Nishtaralso spoke on the occasion. Gov-ernor KP, Mehtab Abbasi speak-ing high of the professional com-petence of Cheema said the 300-

page book reflected his convic-tion to do something for his coun-try. He remained an upright of-ficer throughout his career and itis not because of his office that hegot prominence but his office be-came prominent because of him.KP Governor also paid rich trib-utes to young victims of thePeshawar incident. We can elimi-nate crime from society onlywhen we give our officers a freehand, he said.

Senator Raja Zafrul Haq said

book is the best gift and he wouldkeep giving Do Tok Batain as giftto his friends. The book reflectsCheema Sb’s patriotism and hispassion for the country. State Min-ister Ibrahim suggested everySHO appointed in Punjab policeshould read this book. GenHameed Gul called Cheema aman of character. Qamar ZamanKaira was of the view the bookshows Cheema’s strong feelingsfor his motherland as well as hismother. The book starts with

“Ami Ji Ab Kon Hoga BayQarar” and ends with his lovefor the country. Sania Nishtarcalled the book a must read forour government officials fromthe lowest tier to top level.

Javed Chaudhry called hima bold courageous officer whowrote truth while remaining inthe service. Izharul Haq calledCheema a thorough professionalwho knew how to set thingsright and how to implement hisvision. Giving Passport officeexample, Izharul Haq saidCheema turned the departmentinto a transparent service-ori-ented public organization. He re-gretted the government had ‘cor-nered’ Cheema making him anIGP of the Motorways or his ser-vices could be utilized in elimi-nating Bhatta Mafia fromKarachi or Land Mafia and ex-tremists from Punjab.

Syed Tahir Shahbaz re-membering good old days whenCheema and he joined civil ser-vice on the same day sharedmany interesting aspects of hispersonality. Zulfiqar AhmedCheema is an extremist, he said.he extremely loves his country,people of his country and thevalues. On the other hand heextremely hates the enemies ofhis country, said Tahir Shahbaz.The book is divided into 55chapters and costs Rs750 only.

For crime-free society free bureaucracy, police

Cheema’s ‘Do Tok Batain’ launched

Ambassadors of Poland, Austria, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Bosnia, Egyptand Ukraine on the eve of a lunch hosted by Ambassador of Romania Emilion Ion fornewly arrived Ambassadors of Austria and Greece.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

ZUBAIR QURESHI

IS L A M A B A D—The deep-rooted bond that exists be-tween Pakistan and Chinawas further strengthened Fri-day when PresidentMamnoon Hussain formallylaunched Chinese PresidentXi Jinping’s book “The Gov-ernance of China” at theAiwan-e-Sadr in the presenceof dignitaries from both coun-tries. President Mamnoonlauding the book by his Chi-nese counterpart said Paki-stan and China were “ironbrothers” and the friendshipbetween the two is all-weather friendship.

The ceremony, which wasfirst official book launchingceremony in Asia, was jointlyorganized by the Pakistan-China Institute and the Em-bassy of China in Pakistan. Inhis welcome remarks, Sena-tor Mushahid Hussain Sayed,Chairman of the PakistanChina Institute, said that Pa-kistan could learn a lot fromthe Chinese model of gover-nance which has deliveredstability and prosperity toChina, raising 500 millionpeople out of poverty withina generation and China is nowthe world’s second biggesteconomy.

Referring to the book ofPresident Xi Jinping, Mushahidsaid that this book had intro-duced the notion of “ChineseDream” which meant workingfor a better tomorrow for theChinese people as well as aclose partnership withneighbouring countries like Pa-kistan through the CentralAsian Economic Belt and thePakistan-China Economic Cor-ridor. He also announced thatthe Urdu translation of the book

would soon be published in Pakistan. Inhis speech, Ambassador Sun Weidong ofChina said that this book had provided im-portant guidelines for China by the newleadership led by President Xi Jinping whohad introduced the concept of rule of law,accountability and reform. He also ex-pressed China’s grief and solidarity with

the families of the martyrs of Peshawerschool massacre.

The ceremony was also addressed byvisiting Chinese Vice-Minister of the In-ternational Department of the Commu-nist Party of China, Chen Fengxiang.The audience was also presented with alecture on the new comprehensive rule

of law enacted by the CPC to protect theChinese people in accordance with thelaw and constitution. Over 350 guestsattended book-launching ceremony atthe Pakistan China Friendship Centre.At the end, the Chinese Ambassador pre-sented the book by the Chinese Presi-dent to President Mamnoon Hussain.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad police have de-vised a new security and patrolling plan tocheck the dacoity incidents and snatchingitems from expatriates.

The formal approval to this plan was givenby IGP Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan in a meet-

Police devise plan for security of expatsing held here at Police Line Headquarters whichwas attended by officials of Capital police. Ac-cording to this plan, cops from Islamabad Op-erational Police and Islamabad Traffic Policewill conduct joint patrolling in various areas.

According to this plan, different boulevardsof Islamabad have been divided into 11 beats and13 police vehicles would patrol on these routes.

06:25 01:3003:45

07:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

December 21Christmas festivities

Christmas festivities wouldbe launched from Dec 21 atthe Holy Family CatholicChurch (HFCC) Rawalpindi.Arrangements are beingmade for Christmas festivi-ties which will include ar-rangements of prayers andentertainment. In this regardSpecial Christmas play willbe played on December 21.

December 22Seminar

A seminar on Women Entre-preneurship Developmentwill be held on Monday, 22nd

December, 2014 at 10 a.m to4 p.m, at Margalla Hotel,Kashmir Highway.

Activists of civil society protesting after a clash with Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat workers during a demonstrationoutside Laal Masjid.

Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq along with Chairman Senate Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari andothers, during the candle light vigil to express solidarity with the victims of Peshawar Terrorist Attack.

Special prayersoffered for rain

ISLAMABAD—The people oftwin-cities Islamabad andRawalpindi offered specialprayers seeking Baran-e-Rehmat (rain for good) fromAllah Almighty in Fridayprayer.

In some of the masques,people offered Namaz-e-Istisqa for the rain as theyhave been suffering fromcough, cold and sore throatdue to cold and dry weatherin most parts of the coun-try. However, the fresh rainwill provide relief to the pa-tients.

Keeping in view socio-economic well-being of farm-ers especially in rain-fed ar-eas of the country, a seniorscientist of Pakistan Agri-culture Research Council(PARC) said that timely rainis imperative for better yieldof wheat.—APP

WASA to makefunctional second

water pipelineRAWALPINDI—Water andSanitation (WASA)Rawalpindi has decided tomake operational second wa-ter pipeline from Rawal Damfiltration plant to ensure ad-equate water supply to thecitizens of Rawalpindi insummer season.

The work for repairingand making 10-kilometer longfaulty cemented water pipe-line will cost 9 million rupeesSources said WAPDA hadlaid a cemented water pipe-line of 54 inches diameter fromRawal dam filtration plant in1960.

Wapda had closed thispipeline permanently whenWASA laid 54 inches diam-eter water pipeline made ofsteel to fetch water fromRawal dam filtration plantduring 2003-4.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Due to chilly weathercoupled with increase in price of LiquefiedPetroleum Gas (LPG), the sale of firewoodhave increased manifold in twin cities ofIslamabad and Rawalpindi.

With the increase in prices of LPG, andextremely cold weather conditions, a num-ber of people including hotel owners, ven-dors have started using firewood to runtheir stoves.

Talking to APP, Mukhtar Ahmed a ven-dor complained that abrupt rise in LPG andfirewood price due to low temperature hadhit hard their business, who depend on itfor cooking. He said that firewood sellerswere also cashing the situation and charg-ing their own.

Due to the cold weather, the consump-tion of firewood and LPG registered upwardtrend which lead to price hike of these items,

he added.A resident of G-6/4, Abid Ali said that

LPG was being sold at higher rates as com-pared with the previous month, which isunaffordable.

The prices of dry wood had also reached1100 per 40 kg, he said.

He said that retailers were earning highprofit by overcharging the masses as theyare selling the commodity on higher prices.Zahid Khan, a citizen, said that theycouldn’t buy LPG and firewood due tohigher prices in absence of natural gas forstoves.

A firewood trader, Umair Ali, said thatthe jump in price of firewood was becauseof increasing demand in cold weather. Theresidents urged the authorities concernedto take action against the sudden increasein firewood prices.—APP

Sale of firewood rises owingto chilly weather

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Scientists and research-ers from Comsats member states havestressed the need for creating knowl-edge networks and working out cost-effective solutions in order to addressthe problems of the developing world.They also resolved to direct the ef-forts of Comsats’ International The-matic Research Group towards benefit-ing the masses in the developing coun-tries using modern ICTs.

These scientists and researchersgathered in Islamabad to collaboratefor a joint research project, titled ‘e-

Solutions for Community using Low-Cost Connectivity’. This researchproject, initiated in 2011 by ComsatsInternational Thematic ResearchGroup (ITRG) on ICTs, was reviewedduring the Group’s second meeting.

Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi, Execu-tive Director COMSATS was presenton the occasion. As many as 15 re-searchers from 8 developing countries,under the leadership of Prof. SajjadMohsin, Dean, Faculty of InformationSciences and Technology (FIST),COMSATS Institute of InformationTechnology (CIIT), attended the meet-ing.

In his inaugural address, Dr.Qureshi said the theme of the projectwas extremely important to the devel-oping countries, as it dealt with strongimplications for their socio-economicdevelopment.

Touching upon various aspects ofthe group collaboration, he urged theparticipants to create knowledge net-works and commit themselves forworking out cost-effective solutionsaddressing the problems of the devel-oping world, which he believed is thetrue spirit of South-South cooperation.Noting how some small start-ups basedon personal and institutional needs

have expanded so widely across theglobe, he opined that scientists of thedeveloping countries are capable ofjointly achieving much more than theyventure individually. He hoped that theresearch project being executed by theGroup would help address at leastsome of the problems of the develop-ing world populations.

Prof Sajjad Mohsin shared theprogress made by the group since itslaunching in 2011.

He particularly noted the progressmade in terms of the project compo-nents related to setting up Wi-Fi con-nectivity and developing e-Health so-

lutions. He noted that the Group hascompleted the prototype deploymentof Wi-Fi connectivity across the tar-geted region in Pakistan through sta-tions installed at an aerial distance of2.2 Kms.

He informed that such Wi-Fi con-nectivity solution, which is cost-effec-tive, can be replicated in the respec-tive countries of the collaborating in-stitutions. It was further informed thatthe e-Health component of the project,which is related to curing brain tumorin children through image/psychologi-cal therapy using video games hasalso been completed.

E-solutions through low-cost connectivity

Scientists call for ICT-basedworld research project

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A two-day international fes-tival is being be held at Pak-China Friend-ship Centre today (Saturday). The themeof the festival this year is ‘Family Matters’.

Renowned scholars and inspirationalspeakers from across the world will addressthe ‘Twins of Faith Family Festival’ which isbeing hosted by Mercy Mission, an interna-tional Muslim community development orga-nization founded by Dr Tawfique Chowdhury.

This kind of grand festival particularlyon family matters is being organized for thefirst time in Pakistan.

The focal elements of ‘Twins of Faith’are knowledge and action. For women au-dience special lectures have been orga-nized. Two halls, Sisters’ Hall and Moth-ers’ Hall will be hosting female audiencebesides the main auditorium.

Highlights of the event are the confer-

ence, the Kids Zone, Youth Activities andthe Bazaar. The panel of speakers and art-ists who will take the audience through ajourney of enrichment and empowermentinclude Sh Abu Abdissalam, Dr TawfiqueChowdhury, Wael Ibrahim, Sh AbdurRaheem Green, Dr. Farhat Hashmi, AdnanRasheed, Omar Esa and Muslim Belal.

The conference claims to help peoplemake a positive change by translatingknowledge into action! Another excitingfeature of the festival is the kids zone whichhas been especially designed with engag-ing activities for children including fun, ex-tracurricular activities, speech competition,audio/video area, documentaries, arts cor-ner, trampoline, jumping castle, soft playarea and story corner.

The Bazaar at the festival will featureproducts and services from different busi-nesses. Food stalls promise a fully recre-ational atmosphere to families.

Two-day non-stop recreation,joy for families begins today

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Women’s ParliamentaryCaucus of the Parliament strongly con-demns the tragic and barbaric attackby terrorists on Army Public School inPeshawar. We extend our condo-lences, grieve and stand with the be-reaved families of the children, the af-fected and killed in this cowardly andheinous act of terrorism.

Secretary Women’s ParliamentaryCaucus MNA Shaista Pervaiz said in astatement that the terrorists havekilled over 140 innocent children,women, teachers and staff in one ofthe most horrific and inhuman ways.That calls for an immediate action tofind and convict the culprits, their sup-porters and perpetrators involved inthe horrible act of terrorism.

In this time of great national trag-edy, we stand by the Government and

appreciate the efforts of Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif, COAS GeneralRaheel Sharif and leaders of all thepolitical parties and civil society forsetting aside all their personal andpolitical differences and joininghands to end this menace of terror-ism collectively.

We are confident of our Govern-ment and the Intelligence Agenciesthat they shall take timely and effec-tive measures to prevent acts of suchan atrocity in future. We also demandthat security of all the sensitive areasbe increased so as to ensure safety ofall children and citizens of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Special prayers wereoffered after Juma congregationsacross the country for the Martyrs ofPeshawar terrorist attack. At largegatherings, Ulema strongly con-demned the dastardly act of terror-ism in army public school Peshawar

in which 132 students, teachers andsecurity personnel laid down theirlives.

They said that Islam is against tak-ing lives of innocent people and thosewho committed the heinous crime werenot even human beings what to talk ofMuslims. They asked the people tostand united and confront the enemiesof Pakistan and the humanity.

They prayed that Allah Almightyrest the departed soils in eternal peaceand expressed their solidarity with thebereaved families. The Ulema andpeople at large expressed their fullsupport to the army and demandedthat they should continue their opera-tion Zarb-e-Azb till the elimination oflast terrorist on Pakistani soil.

They said the entire nation is behindthe armed forces and ready to give everysacrifice so that incidents like Peshawarare never repeated in the future.

WPC condemns barbaric attack on SchoolSpecial prayers offered

RAZA UR REHMAN

ISLAMABAD—President InternationalIslamic University Islamabad (IIUI)Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh hassaid peace is the core message of Is-lam and Aimas are key persons whocan disseminate the message of mod-eration, patience and contentment inthe society and they are to play theirrole to snub those miscreants whoattempted to distort the true messageof Islam.

He expressed these views on theoccasion of inaugural ceremony of85th Aima Training Course byDawah Academy IIUI. The course,

which will last three month, is beingattended by more than thirty Aimasfrom across the country. DeputyDirector General Dawah Academy,Dr. Imtiaz Zafar including officersand staffers also attended. Dr. Al-Draiweesh said carnage of APSPeshawar is a tragic and sad inci-dent, which has saddened our heartswith sorrow and grief.

He further said Islam does dis-courage behaviours of violence anddeviance and the ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) was sent as amercy to whole mankind. Dr. Al-Draiweesh urged Aima to call peopleto follow the footsteps of the

Prophet (PBUH) and they shouldavoid the contradiction betweenwords and deeds. President IIUIsaid, university keeps playing itsrole and contributing in the devel-opment of the society. He said, inview of current sad incident, the roleof institutions like Dawah Academyhas become more important.

President also admired the effortsof administration of Dawah Academyand hoped the staff will be more effi-cient in future to contribute for thecause of Islam. Meanwhile, funeralprayer in absentia was also offered inFaisal Mosque for APS Peshawar ter-rorist attack victims.

Islam, religion of peace, Aimas to play key role in this regard

Funeral prayer in absentiaoffered at Faisal Mosque

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (ICCI) held a condolencereference to remember the Army Public SchoolPeshawar victims here on Monday.

President,Islamabad Chamber of Commerceand Industry(ICCI) Muzammil HussainSabri,Muhammad Shakeel Munir Senior VicePresident and Muhammad Ashfaq HussainChatha Vice President ICCI, Abdul Rauf Chair-man Founder Group, Munawar Mughal VicePresident FPCCI, former Presidents ICCI TariqSadiq, Zubair Ahmed Malik, Ejaz Abbasi, ZahidMaqbool, Khalid Iqbal Malik, Baser Daud anda large number of business community at-tended the reference,according to press releaseissued.

Speaking at the occasion,President,ICCIMuzammil Hussain Sabri stressed that the stateshould show zero tolerance towards terrorists

for establishing sustainable peace in the coun-try. ‘ He said the country was already passingthrough a tough phase and the Peshawar inci-dent has left the whole nation in a state ofshock. He called upon all the political leadersand stakeholders to sit together and deliberateon how we can purge the country of thescourge of terrorism.

Abdul Rauf, Chairman Founder Group saidthe terrorists committed a barbaric act whichhas no example in the world.

He said we as a nation has to fight againstthis menace. He urged the government tostrengthen the intelligence agencies and pro-vide them best resources to overcome this is-sue. Mughal, Vice President, FPCCI said someinternational forces were working to destabi-lize Pakistan and we should expose such forcesin the national interest.—APP

Condolence Reference forPeshawar victims

President International Islamic University Islamabad Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh and others, offering prayers ofthe victims of Peshawar incident.

SHAHZAD CHAUDHRY

THE Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan offers four possible solutions. For oneeither side gives up their part of the Kash-

mir as a means of resolving the dispute and get-ting on in life; or it could happen as a consequenceof a promised plebiscite under the UNSC Reso-lutions of 1949 where the Kashmiris choose oneover the other.

Such recourse would be legally correct andas per the existing conventions. It will also con-form to the principles of independence in 1947;and it will qualify the oft-repeated policy held byofficials on both sides. Such a course will alsopose the least political risk to either side on thedomestic front. It is this safety of a kosher politi-cal stance that a talk of a ‘third option’ toofficialdom on either side becomes akin to wav-ing a red flag at a bull. There are other reasonstoo of such revulsion.

The difficulty though is that time has marchedon since 1947, and the Kashmiris have proven tobe an irrepressible lot. They have also developeda home-grown sentiment of azaadi (independence)of their own during the course, and have sacri-ficed at least some 100,000 men and women inthe cause. And, though no one has asked them toelaborate on their philosophy of independence –for fear of discovering an unpalatable truth –chances are their independence doesn’t only meanbeing away from the Indians who occupy the more

Kashmir: four possibilities?substantive part of Kashmir; their call for inde-pendence into a separate state of their own meanskeeping away from both India and Pakistan. Theyare also unlikely to give it up as their most pre-ferred option because of the blood and sufferinginvested into their cause. The problems with thisapproach are also multifarious and will need elabo-ration.

Since neither Pakistan nor India are likely togive up the part of Kashmir under them, and anindependent Kashmir in the midst of South Asiamay become a destabilising tectonic tumult withserious strategic reverberations – geopoliticallyunsustainable for an already tenuous region – thethird option is to find a via-media to the two/threestark choices above.

The chance of an agreed solution betweenIndia and Pakistan is more likely to developaround the creation of an autonomous Kashmirregion which satisfies the strategic sensitivitiesof the two principals and ‘somewhat’ gives mean-ing to the aspirations of the Kashmiris. Such anautonomous region will consist of the ‘separable’parts of the larger territories of Jammu and Kash-mir that may not constitute the dream boundariesof the Kashmiris but will be sufficient to give thema sense of self rule under the joint protection ofboth India and Pakistan. This too needs elabora-tion.

A proposal on the above lines has been toyedaround under various formulations between Indiaand Pakistan, including the more recent four-point

formula by Musharraf, but clearly a lot will needto be done politically before such consensus canbe achieved between the two. The two sides willneed to paradigmatically move from a confronta-tional to a cooperative approach in dispute reso-lution; that seems hugely impossible in prevalentcircumstances. The extended advantage for tak-ing this route to the resolution of the dispute isfor both sides to continue to retain their strategiccontrol of the resources like the water and powerheads that lie in these territories.

Can both countries breach that barrier of dis-trust to begin to jointly own and preserve and sharewhat in time will become critical resource for theirsustenance? Though such a solution seems to bethe most practical way forward out of a complexand intricate political legacy, India will resort tosuch recourse only as a last option. This emergesfrom a recently acquired belief system that sug-gests that India may have other options to exer-cise before acceding to such fait accompli.

The fourth possible solution is what is fa-mously touted as the ‘status quo’ option –formalising the LoC as a permanent border. Thismay appear the easiest but is the unlikeliest forthe political cost it may bring to the leadership onboth sides. Just a few years back the Indians wouldhave jumped onto any such mention. But not now;under Modi their designs are different, and with adifferent set of tools they hope to romp home withthe same results without the feared cost. A moredetailed analysis of each option beckons.

Despite the acute divergence in the rela-tive power potentials of both India and Paki-stan, neither is likely to give up on their partof the Kashmir to the other. The three-and-a-half wars fought between the two have failedto resolve the dispute militarily – and there islittle by way of a significant operational gainthat can be made in the more difficult reachesof the Kashmir region that can give either sidea roll-over momentum of physical occupation.Incremental gains are of little significance toyield a military solution. Also, under a nuclearoverhang, conventional military applicationlies in the bygone era. Use of the military isthus neither an option, nor can it deliver a so-lution on Kashmir. A political process then re-mains the only option to seek a resolution ofthe dispute.

Autonomy, more than independence, is a re-alistic and workable goal. Over the years, bothsides have fragmented their respective parts ofKashmir to suit their own strategic, political andadministrative ends. India holds an acute sensi-tivity to Ladakh in the north-east for its proxim-ity to Tibet, a disputed region between China andIndia over which the two fought a war in 1962,and will hold on to it for strategic relevance inany final solution on Kashmir.

Jammu in the south of Kashmir is not only anadministrative division of the larger Jammu andKashmir region, it also has a unique demographicidentity with a Hindu majority. Its separation from

any arrangement for a territorially autonomousKashmir is a likely possibility. Thus what will beavailable for a territorial concession will only bethe larger Valley region of J&K. What theKashmiris will lose in a compromised territorialconcession must be compensated to them withassured, legally constituted and fully supportedautonomy.

Similarly, the Pakistani part of Kashmir hasalso seen an administrative division, with Gilgit-Baltistan a separate entity. For its contiguity withChina in the north-east and the routes joining thetwo neighbours that run through the G-B region,for Pakistan the sensitivity of G-B is high. Paki-stan too will, therefore, only put up a truncatedKashmir for a territorial solution.

When formalisation of the status quo firstbegan to be mentioned by some Pakistani com-mentators as a possible option, given that otherchoices on the table were either unattainable orneeded resolute political will – difficult to comeby under weak political dispensations – the In-dian strategic community quickly moved to a tac-tical rebuff from an initially excited disbelief onthe offer (which had always been India’s dreamoption towards the resolution). Instead, they nowsay all of Kashmir is an inalienable part of India.Without such tactical game-playing South Asiawould not be the ‘tinderbox’ that it is.

But why doesn’t India move forward on theprobable solutions to the problem?

—Courtesy: Kashmir Observer

SRINAGAR—Was the letter informingMohammad Afzal Guru’s family about his ex-ecution deliberately sent late so that they receiveit after his death? A man who believes so saysTihar Jail authorities are not providing him thedetails of the letter as entered in jail records.

Two months after Afzal’s hanging on Feb-ruary 9, 2013, Aligarh resident Paras Nath Singhhad through a Right to Information applicationsought the number and date of the letter sent toAfzal’s family through speed post.

The jail authorities rejected his plea sayingit will “endanger national security”. He movedthe office of the Central Information Commis-sioner, the highest appellate body for RTI griev-ances.

The CIC asked the jail authorities to pro-vide him the information he was seeking. “Af-ter CIC’s intervention in October this year, theyhave given me the copies of Guru’s death war-rant, the letter sent to his family and the jailmanual. They have not given me the dispatchdetails of the letter for reasons they did not dis-close,” Singh told Kashmir Reader.

‘Tihar officials withhold Afzal hanging details’

“Despite CIC’s directions they also didn’tinform me whether the execution was videotapedor not,” he said. The letter addressed to Afzal’swife Tabassum Guru, according to the copy pro-vided to Singh, was written on February 6, threedays before the execution. She received the let-ter on February 11, two days after the hanging.

The information given to Singh confirms theletter was sent through speed post but it throwsno light on whether it was dispatched the sameday. “My appeal before the CIC was based onmy belief that the family was provided less timeto respond in this case. The CIC had ruled inmy favour. Yet the jail authorities didn’t pro-vide me details,” Singh said. Singh said he willsoon be filing a non-compliance appeal beforethe CIC to again demand dispatch details andinformation about the video recording.Tihar jail’s assistant public information officerZoravar Singh they have shared all the infor-mation sought by the applicant. “There is nopending issue related to the application of ParasNath Singh,” Singh told Kashmir Reader overphone.—KR

DR GHULAM NABI FAI

THE article “SAARC summit and theKashmir problem” (Dec. 3) written by Dr.Ali Al-Ghamdi, a seasoned diplomat, washighly enlightening and informative. How-ever, it needs some observations from aKashmiri perspective. I totally agree withDr. Al-Ghamdi that “it is high time for theleaders of both countries (India and Paki-stan) to take bold and serious decisions toresolve this dispute. It is impossible forthe region to enjoy peace and security with-out solving the Kashmir problem.”

The Kashmir question is one of theoldest unresolved international problemsin the world. The experience of the pastsix decades has shown that it will not goaway and that an effort is urgently requiredto resolve it on a durable basis.

It is imperative, whatever be the rightsand wrongs in the equation as far as argu-ments go, that we realize that real popula-tions are involved with a pronounced senseof an identity of their own, with their suf-fering and their aspirations rather than justlegal title and merit.

Achieving peace,justice in Kashmir

SRINAGAR—Dukhtaran-e-Millat chairper-son Syedah Aasiyeh Andrabi while address-ing a women?s congregation regarding thePeshawar massacre said that this massacreis a direct attack on the ideology of Jihad.India is using this massacre to paint all thejihadist movements as rogue and the ulemaand moomin jihadis associated with jihadistmovement as terrorist.

She said that it is evident that India wasbehind this massacre. Therefore Pakistaniarmy chief visited Kabul to ask the Afghani-stan president not to allow its soil for antiPakistan activities. Since TTP is being pro-vided al l logist ics in Afghanistan todestabilise Pakistan.

Amid sobs she appealed the Pakistanarmy chief and the head of Jamaat islamimuhtaram Siraj ul Haq and ameer of Jamatud Dawah prof Hafiz Saeed to take steps forthe protection of Pakistan and impressedupon them that the protection of Pakistan is

Peshawar massacre directattack on jihad ideology: DeM

in the Basic principle of islam on which thiscountry was forces.

She said that India can be protected byits army but for Pakistan the role of protec-tion has to be played by religious organiza-tions along with the regular forces. She ap-pealed that the pakistani army should standfor the principles of Islam not non religioussecular system. She said that the Pakistanarmy should increase vigil on the afghanborder as india is using the porous border todestabilise Balochistan and other terroristactivities in Pakistan.

Therefore it is the need of the hour thatall sectarian rifts should be overlooked forthe protection of Pakistan and protection ofthose sacrifices which were given to estab-lish this country. She, while, addressing thePeople of Pakistan told them that every hu-man being in Kashmir is ready to sacrificehis life for the protection of Pakistan and itideology. —KW

Cold waveshivers

KashmirSRINAGAR—The night tem-peratures across Kashmir re-mained several notches belowthe freezing point Friday as theweather office said the presentcold wave conditions in the re-gion will continue till Sunday.

The minimum temperaturewas minus 4.2 degrees Celsiusin Srinagar Friday, while it wasminus 2.6 in Gulmarg and mi-nus 7.2 in Pahalgam, the MetOffice said. Leh town ofLadakh region recorded a mini-mum temperature of minus12.5, while Kargil town of thesame region recorded minus12.1 degrees Celsius Friday.The lowest night temperaturein Jammu city was 5.9 degreesCelsius Friday, while the maxi-mum temperature in Jammuwas 10.2 degrees CelsiusThursday, the lowest maximumtemperature recorded.—KD

SRINAGAR—Dar-ul-Khair Mirwaiz Manzilis continuing its efforts to distribute reliefgoods among the people who have been se-verely affected by the recent floods. On theinstruction of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, PatronDarul Khair, a delegation comprising ofMohammad Shafi Khan, Mushtaq AhmadSofi, Peer Ghulam Nabi, Farooq AhmadSaudagar, Mohammad Sidiq Hazari, visitedQamarqari area of Srinagar to distributewoolen blankets, clothes and eatables amongthe flood victims.

Expressing their sympathy and solidar-

Dar-ul-Khair distributes reliefity with the flood victims on behalf ofMirwaiz, the delegation told the victims thatit would be only through collective effortsof Kashmiris that they could extricate them-selves from the after effects of the ravagingflood which destroyed property worth mil-lions.The delegates assured the flood victims thatthey should not consider themselves alonein these times of crisis as Dar-ul-KhairMirwaiz manzil would continue its relief andrehabilitation efforts throughout the winterseason.—KO

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, the All PartiesHurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz UmarFarooq, and Hurriyet leaders, Muhammad YasinMalik and Aasiya Andrabi have said that the so-called elections in the territory can neither be asubstitute to the Kashmiris’ right to self-deter-mination nor can they affect the disputed statusof Jammu and Kashmir. Syed Ali Gilani in astatement in Srinagar said that the Kashmiriswould never give up their struggle for freedomfrom India. He pointed out that the Indian Elec-tion Commission had exaggerated the turnoutin the territory.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in his statement saidthat the sham polls had no bearing on the Kash-mir dispute and they could not undermine theKashmiris’ internationally recognized inalien-able right to self-determination. MuhammadYasin Malik deplored that India had always usedthe farcical elections to hoodwink the interna-tional opinion on the Kashmir dispute.

Aasiya Andrabi said that India had issuedmisleading figures of high turnout and the fact

Sham polls cannot affectKashmir’s disputed status

was that majority of the voters in Srinagar andIslamabad preferred poll-boycott. Hurriyet lead-ers including Shabbir Ahmed Shah, NayeemAhmed Khan and Farooq Ahmad Dar address-ing a gathering in Nowgam area of Srinagar saidthat the existence of draconian law, Armed ForceSpecial Powers Act, provided unbridled pow-ers to the troops and this law was the main causeof state terrorism in occupied Kashmir.

APHC leaders, Zafar Akbar Butt and JavedAhmed Mir, went to Arwani area of Bijbeharaand condoled with the family of a martyredyouth, Shahid-ul-Islam. The Jammu and Kash-mir Muslim Conference in a meeting chairedby its leader, Jehangeer Ghani Butt, in Srinagarsaid that settlement of the Kashmir dispute inaccordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations wasessential for ensuring durable peace and stabil-ity in South Asia.

On the other hand, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,Shabbir Ahmed Shah, and Abdul Qadeer, theExecutive Director of a local human rights fo-rum, Voice of Victims, strongly denounced theterror attack in Peshawar.—KMS

Kashmir settlementcan bring peace in

region: JKMCSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the Jammu and Kash-mir Muslim Conference(JKMC) has said that settle-ment of the Kashmir dispute inaccordance with the Kashmiris’aspirations is essential for en-suring durable peace, progressand prosperity in the SouthAsian region. The JKMC in ameeting chaired by its leader,Jehangir Ghani Butt, inSrinagar urged the Indian lead-ership to give up its unrealisticapproach towards the Kashmirdispute and take solid steps forits resolution. The participantsof the meeting said that thepeople of Kashmir wantedpeaceful resolution of the dis-pute that was also imperativefor cordial relations betweenPakistan and India.

The meeting also ex-pressed sympathy and solidar-ity with the bereaved familiesof the children, who weremartyred in a terrorist attack inPeshawar.The meeting was attendedamong others by AbdurRasheed Untoo, GhulamMuhammad Rathar and AbdurRehman Butt.—KMS

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK PPP District Wing Women workers led by Ms Shuguftah Naureen protesting Peshawar Schoolcarnage, here on Friday.

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK Information and Livestock Minister Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi opening a Bettliyan link road on Friday.

The mantra has been repeated too of-ten that the UN has no alternative to rely-ing on bilateral talks between India andPakistan to achieve a settlement.

The experience of more than 67 yearsis ignored. No bilateral talks between In-dia and Pakistan have yielded agreementswithout the active role of an external ele-ment. The missing element is to make theKashmiri leadership part of the negotia-tions with India and Pakistan.

It is not the inherent difficulties of asolution, but the lack of the will to imple-ment a solution that has caused the pro-longed deadlock over the Kashmir dispute.The deadlock has meant indescribableagony for the people of Kashmir and in-calculable loss for both India and Pakistan.The persistence of this problem has beena source of weakness for both of theseneighboring countries.

It is time to recognize that there can-not be a military solution to the problem;any such solution is bound to invite chal-lenge. There has to be a cease-fire fromall sides during negotiations. Negotiationscannot be carried out at a time when par-

ties are trying to kill each other. Therecannot be and should not be any conditionfrom any party, other than commitment tonon-violence and to negotiations.

Our objective should be not to answerwhat is the correct or best solution for theKashmir problem but how that solution canbe arrived at. In other words, it should byitself neither promote nor preclude anyrational settlement of the dispute, be it ac-cession to India or Pakistan or indepen-dence.

I believe that peace and justice inKashmir are achievable if all parties con-cerned – India, Pakistan and Kashmiris –show some flexibility and make sacrifices.Each party will have to modify its posi-tion so that common ground can be found.

It will be impossible to find a solutionthat respects all the sensitivities of Indianauthorities, values all the sentiments of Pa-kistan, keeps intact the unity of the Stateof Jammu and Kashmir, and safeguards therights and interests of the people of all thedifferent zones of the state. Yet this doesnot mean that we cannot find an imagina-tive solution. Email.

In the comingyears, if not

sooner, socialmedia will becomea powerful tool that

consumers willaggressively useto influence busi-ness attitudes andforce companies

into greater socialresponsibility -and, I suggest,

move us towards amore sustainable

practice of capital-ism.

—Simon Mainwaring

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—The EconomicCoordination Committee ofthe Cabinet (ECC) Friday ac-corded approval for the pro-vision of $ 65 million freshfunds to National Bank ofPakistan (NBP) Bangladeshbranch to rectify its capitalshortfall.

The ECC meeting waschaired by the Finance Minis-ter, Senator Mohammad IshaqDar here Friday. The amountin two tranches is to be remit-ted to NBP, Bangladesh till31st January 2015.

The State Bank of Paki-stan (SBP) had evaluated theproposal and recommendedthat NBP may be allowed toremit $ 65 million to NBP,Bangladesh branch from in-terbank market against itsregulatory capital shortfalldue to operating losses. SBPhad recommended that pro-vision of funds may be ap-

ECC approves $ 65m forNBP Bangladesh branch

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance SenatorMuhammad Ishaq Dar talking to media after ECC meeting.

proved in two trancheswhich ECC decided accord-ingly. The ECC on a proposalby the Ministry of Water andPower also approved the ex-emption from tax on profits/gains to Hubco PowerCompany’s Hubco NarowalPower Plant after itsdemerger as a new whollyowned subsidiary whereinall assets and liabilities re-lated to the Narowal plantwill be transferred to the newcompany under sections284-287 of the Companies’ordinance 1984.

The Finance Minis-ter directed Secretary Cabinetto form a monitoring cell topursue the status of imple-mentation of all ECC deci-sions. He said that it was inline with the policy of thePML-N government to expe-dite the process of economicdevelopment and that couldonly be possible if we imple-ment what we approved.

40 profiteers finedKARACHI—City adminis-tration has fined 40shopkeepers of Rs.81,500 for violating theofficially approved pricelist for edible items, saidCommissioner ofKarachi, Shoaib AhmadSiddiqui on Friday.Sharing details with themedia, of the ongoingcampaign againstprofiteers, adulteratorsand hoarders in themetropolis he said this isbeing conducted ondaily basis for pastseveral months and hashelped people providedwith great relief in termsof cost, quality and easyavailability of foodgoods. During the mostrecent episode onThursday, the Karachicommissioner said thecrackdown resulted inimposing fine on 18 milksellers, four greengrocers, 16 grocers, onefruit vendor and onechicken seller. The areascovered during theexercise, he said includedLiaqutabad, Gulberg,Nazimabad, NorthNazimabad, New Karachi,Saddar, SITE, OrangiTown, Baldia,Manghopir, Civil Lines,Firozabad,, Gulzar e Hijri,Malir and certain areas ofdistrict east.—APP

Pak forex figure$14.04204bKARACHI—Total liquidforeign reserves of thecountry stand at$14.04204 billion, saidState Bank of Pakistan(SBP). According toSBP’s weekly statementthe foreign reserves heldby State Bank on Dec.12, amounted $9.34605billion and the netforeign reserves held byother banks were of$4.69509 billion. Duringthe week ending Dec. 12,SBP’s liquid foreignreserves increased by$144 million to $9.347billion compared to$9.203 billion in theprevious week. Duringthe week, SBP received$73 million from multilat-eral, bilateral and othersources.—APP

Port Qasimshipping activityKARACHI—Four shipsC.V APL Oman, C.V LilySchulte, M.T AlpineLayality and M.T SeaAmbition schooled toload/offload containers,crude oil and chemicalswere allotted berths atQasim InternationalContainer Terminal,FOTCO Oil Terminal andEngro Vopak Terminalrespectively at Port Qasimduring last 24 hours.Meanwhile two moreships containers andproject cargo also arrivedat outer anchorage of PortQasim during the sameperiod. Berth occupancywas managed at the Portat forty three percent onThursday, where six shipsnamely ships C.V APLOman, C.V Lily Schulte,M.T Alpine Layality, M.VYasa Unsal Sunar, M.TJipro Neftis and M.T SeaAmbition are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The country’s large scalemanufacturing (LSM) sector has wit-nessed growth of 1.95 percent during thefirst four months of current fiscal year ascompared to the corresponding period oflast year. The provisional Quantum IndexNumbers (QIM) of large scale manufac-turing industries was recorded at 149.22points during July-October (2014-15)against 143.82 points during July-Octo-ber (2013-14), according the data of Paki-stan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The highest growth of 4.86 percentwas witnessed in the indices of Oil Com-panies Advisory Committee (OCAC) fol-lowed by Provincial Bureaus of Statistics(PBOS), which increased by 3.76 and theindices of ministry of Industries witnesseda growth of 0.87 percent. On year-to-yearbasis, the industrial growth increased by1.82 percent during October 2014 as com-pared to October 2013 while on month-to-month basis,the industrial growth de-creased by 1.57 percent during October2014 when compared to growth of Sep-tember 2014, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, the major sectors thatshowed growth during July-October(2014-15) included textile (0.79 percent),food beverages and tobacco (1.32 per-

Industrial output grows over1.95pc in 4 months

cent), coke and petroleum products (6.06percent), electronics (8.86 percent), cokeand petroleum products (6.06 percent),iron and steel products (16.68 percent),chemicals (6.15 percent), non metallic min-eral products (1.23 percent), engineeringproducts (4.69 percent), pharmaceuticals(2.88 percent), rubber products (4.74 per-cent), automobile (12.10 percent) andleather products (2.30 percent).

On the other hand, the LSM industriesthat witnessed negative growth, includedwood products, production of which de-creased by 79.84 percent during the periodunder review while the output of engineer-ing products decreased by 4.22 percent andgrowth of paper and board also decreasedby 0.65 percent. The provisional QIM isbeing computed on the basis of the latestproduction data of 112 items received fromsources including Oil Companies AdvisoryCommittee (OCAC), Ministry of Industriesand Production (MoIP) and Provincial Bu-reaus of Statistics (PBoS). OCAC pro-vides data of 11 items, MoIP of 36 itemswhile PBoS proved data of remaining 65items. Tax collection, GDP growth rate andforeign exchange reserves and industrialgrowth were moving up, while the infla-tion was going down.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Deputy High Commissioner ofBangladesh, Ruhul Alam Siddique has said thatPakistan’s abundant resources coupled with ex-ceptional talent can certainly do a lot for the eco-nomic progress and prosperity of this country.Speaking at a meeting during his visit to KarachiChamber of Commerce and Industry, Ruhul Alampointed out that Bangladesh and Pakistan havebeen enjoying strong relations and both the neigh-boring countries should enhance economic coop-eration and interaction at different levels.

President KCCI, Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Se-nior Vice President KCCI, Muhammad IbrahimKasumbi, Vice President KCCI, Agha ShahabAhmed Khan, Chairman of Diplomatic Missions& Embassies Liaison, Mohammad Naeem Sharif,Chairman of Special Committee for My KarachiExhibition, Muhammad Idrees, Former PresidentKCCI, Majyd Aziz and KCCI Managing Com-mittee members were present at the meeting.Commenting on economic performance of hiscountry, the Bangladeshi envoy stated thatBangladesh has recorded a strong growth rateof more than 6 percent and was the 2nd largest

Pakistan has stupendous resources, talent for economic growth: Ruhul Alammanufacturer of ready-made garments. Cur-rently, the literacy rate of Bangladesh wasaround 78 percent while efforts were underwayto attain 100 percent literacy rate by the end of2015, he added. Ruhul Alam Siddique, who hasbeen discharging his duties as BangladeshiDeputy High Commissioner since August 2010,termed his stay in Karachi as ‘most pleasant’and appreciated the support and cooperationextended by the Karachi Chamber of Commerceand Industry from time to time.

“I really enjoyed my stay in Karachi and I ampersonally, emotionally and officially attached tothe people of Karachi”, he added. While extend-ing sincere gratitude to Karachi Chamber for itspersistent cooperation, the Bangladeshi Envoysaid that although some visa applicants might havefaced some problems in obtaining tourist and othervisas but they have been striving hard to facilitatetimely issuance of business visas to genuine ap-plicants particularly those being recommended byKCCI. He informed the meeting that during hisfour-and-a-half years long stay, he never receiveda single complaint pertaining to trade dispute as ithas been observed that any such dispute betweenbusinessmen were directly being settled by them-

selves which clearly indicates the strong bondsbetween people of the two countries. He informedthat subsidiaries of the two biggest BangladeshiNGOs, ASA Pakistan Ltd. and BRAC Pakistan Ltd.have been working in Pakistan in the micro-financeand other social development sectors coveringmajority of Pakistan’s micro credit.

Earlier, while welcoming the BangladeshiDeputy High Commissioner, President KCCI,Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra said that Pakistan andBangladesh have been enjoying cordial relationswhereas the Karachi Chamber has been has beenfocusing on furthering brotherly relations andtrade ties with Bangladesh as they strongly be-lieve that only collective efforts can lead to en-hanced trade volume between the two countries.

Commenting on existing trade volume, Presi-dent KCCI pointed out that Pakistan’s exports toBangladesh stood at $724 million while importswere $53 million, which requires special attentionand must be improved through collective effortsby the business communities of the two coun-tries. Iftikhar Vohra opined that both Pakistan andBangladesh have great potential to boost theirmulti-dimensional relations as there are many sec-tors which are still unexplored. “The Free Trade

Agreement between the two countries will paveway for opening more trade opportunities and helpexpansion of trade between the two countries”,he opined.

Senior Vice President KCCI, MohammadIbrahim Kasumbi, in his remarks, stated that thePakistani business community was keen to en-hance two-way trade between the two countrieswhich would prove to be beneficial for both theeconomies of this region. Emphasizing the needto improve people-to-people contact between thetwo countries, Ibrahim Kasumbi hoped to seeflourishing Pak-Bangladesh trade in the days tocome. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of Spe-cial Committee for My Karachi Exhibition,Muhammad Idrees sought Bangladeshi DeputyHigh Commissioner’s assistance in effectively pro-moting KCCI’s 12th My Karachi - Oasis of Har-mony which is scheduled to be staged at theKarachi Expo Center on April 10th, 11th & 12th,2015. He said that this mega event would providean excellent opportunity to Bangladeshi business-men and investors to showcase their products andcreate strong linkages with the business commu-nity of Karachi by holding B2B meetings in a cor-dial atmosphere.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Govern-ment of Pakistan has re-leased another Rs. 500 mil-lion as equity in the FirstWomen Bank Ltd. (FWBL)to meet the minimum Capi-tal requirement (MCR) of theBank and reinforces commit-ment/ trust in FWBL.

The MCR for FWBLwas reset in January thisyear by the State Bank ofPakistan, upon recommen-dation from the Governmentof Pakistan. Under the re-

Govt injects Rs 500mequity in FWBL

vised requirements, theBank needs to maintain paid-up capital of PKR 3 billion.This new injection after capi-talization process will in-

crease the Governmentshare in the bank by 72%.The remaining shares areheld by the five big commer-cial banks – NBP, HBL, MCB,UBL and ABL.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The German Ambassador Dr.Cyrill Nunn, along with Dr. Tilo Klinner, CG

of Germany called on Chief Executive TDAPwhere the Chief Executive briefed the hon-orable guests about TDAP and its work-ing. The German delegates were informedabout the trade volume of Pakistan and Ger-many and exhibitions being organized byTDAP in Germany. The Chief Executive in-

German ambassador visits TDAPCOMMERCE REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—December 19:Leading business leaders ofPakistan has announcedunconditional support toGovernment and Army toeradicate menace of terror-ism from Pakistan. Awardingcapital punishment to theterrorists is a great movewhich must not be delayedunder any circumstances,they said.

Speaking to the busi-ness community, Vice Presi-dent of Saarc Chamber andChairman United BusinessGroup of the FPCCI IftikharAli Malik, Chairman TDAPSM Muneer, UBG candidatefor FPCCI’s presidencyMian Idrees said that we cansacrifice everything for thesecurity and integrity of Pa-kistan. All political parties,Army and nation is on onepage to combat terror there-fore an operation must belaunched at earliest withoutconsidering any pressure,they said.

Government should not

Business leaders announcesupport to govt, Army

consider any impact of thedecision on GSP Plus statusor diplomatic or image prob-lems as national interests arealways supreme than thebusiness interests. Theysaid that Army is the centreof our hopes and we areready to sacrifice our livesfor them. Terrorists must beheld accountable for everydrop of blood spilled merci-lessly.

Iftikhar Ali Malik saidthat we cannot have peaceunless cordial relations withneighbouring countries areensured which will relievewhole region of terror. Hesaid that defensive policieshave inflicted great miserieson common people there-fore offence is the only work-able solution in the currentset of circumstances.

Afghan leadership mustwalk their talk as they wouldnever get such a chanceagain to get rid of terrorists.

Government should alsotry economic stability whichis a great weapon to defeatterrorism.

EngroFertilizers

wins ‘GreenOffice Award’

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Engro Corpo-ration & Engro Fertilizerswas conferred with the bestGreen Office coordinatoraward at a ceremony heldat WWF Headquarters inHelsinki, Finland. Theaward was presented bythe CEO of WWF FinlandLiisa Rohweder and theHead of Green Office Pro-gram Helka Julkunen toWajid Hussain Junejo ofEngro at a graceful cer-emony attended by se-lected companies acrossthe globe in addition to theGreen Office employeesposted across the globe. Itrecognized and appreciatedthe initiatives taken by theCompany with respect tothe Green Office Initiativeand undertaking other con-cerns to follow such prac-tices, to reduce the envi-ronmental burden.

Speaking at the occa-sion, Liisa Rohweder laudedthe role of Pakistani Compa-nies in joining the GreenOffice network and said “Iappreciate the role of thePakistani companies, forworking hard and voluntar-ily working towards savingthe planet.’’ She stressed onthe need to move forwardand progress in this direc-tion and motivate others toplay their part in reducingthe environmental burden inaddition to reducing costsof their businesses.

Engro was appreciatedfor their novel efforts inconverting the head officelighting to LED, placing du-plex central printing and re-ducing the waste genera-tion, hence beating thetough targets assigned byWWF continuously for thepast 3 years.

Weekly inflationdown by 0.04pc

ISLAMABAD—The SensitivePrice Indicator (SPI) for theweek ended on December 18for the lowest income groupup to Rs. 8,000 registereddecrease of 0.04 percent ascompared to the previousweek. The SPI for the weekunder review in the abovementioned group was re-corded at 203.45 pointsagainst 203.37 points regis-tered in the previous week,according to data of PakistanBureau of Statistics (PBS).

The weekly SPI has beencomputed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urbancenters and 53 essential itemsfor all income groups andcombined. The SPI for thecombined group decreasedby 0.22 per cent and was re-corded at 211.25 points inthe previous week to 211.71points in the week under re-view. As compared to thecorresponding week of lastyear, the SPI for the com-bined group in the week un-der review decreased by 0.94percent.

As compared to the lastweek, the SPI for the incomegroups from Rs.8001-12,000,Rs.12,001-18,000, Rs.18001-35,000 and above Rs.35,000decreased by 0.12 percent,0.17 percent, 0.23 percentand 0.29 percent respec-tively. During the week un-der review average prices of16 items registered de-crease, while that of 05 itemsincrease with the remaining32 items’ prices unchanged.The items which registereddecrease in their prices dur-ing the week under reviewincluded potatoes, onions,sugar, pulse moong(washed), rice basmati (bro-ken), wheat, cooking oil (tin),vegetable ghee (loose),wheat flour (bag),garlic, riceirri-6, pulse gram (washed),pulse masoor (washed),mustard oil, pulse mash(washed) and vegetableghee (tin).—APP

formed that he is trying his level best tomake TDAP a best TPO in the world andhas introduced corporate culture in the or-ganization. The guests were informed of the

support which TDAP is providing to theexporters and trade bodies. The role of ourEmbassies and Commercial sections was alsodiscussed and the Chief Executive informedthe guests that the commercial Counsellorsare appointed by Ministry of Commerce butthey are responsible to TDAP.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan’s largest wirelessbroadband internet service provider wi-tribe has become the only internet serviceprovider company in Pakistan to have de-ployed state of the art video optimizationsolution for its customers.

Through this solution, wi-tribe custom-ers will now be able to enjoy even fastervideo streaming and experience much fasterweb surfing on their unlimited packages.In order to further enhance the customerexperience, wi-tribe has also announced65% more volume absolutely free on its

Wi-tribe deploys videooptimization solution

15

1Mbps basic package as a celebratory to-ken.

Wasim Ahmed CEO WI tribe said “wi-tribe understands how powerful it is to makebroadband in-stantly avail-able, and haveinvested in thet e c h n o l o g yn e t w o r k sneeded to maintain strong growth and reli-able service for all of our customers. WiTribe has always put the customer first,ensuring all products and services are builtentirely on what the market demands”.

Gold pricecloses flat

KARACHI—The yellowmetal price in global mar-ket closed flat and do-mestic markets closedslightly higher on backof some internationalbuying and anticipatedoutput level. The goldprice would remain undercorrection by the Christ-mas, experts opined. Goldclosed at $1,203 anounce with no variationin value an ounce ascompared to previoustrading session.

Domestic bullionprice witnessed upwardtrend. Gold in tola term upby Rs 531 per tola to stayat Rs 45,275 per tola whilein grammage value, goldup by Rs 455 per tengrams to close at Rs38,857 per ten grams, deal-ers said. The gold priceremained on changingpattern while buying inIndia, Pakistan and othermajor gold buying coun-tries remained steady;however leading tradersin international and do-mestic markets were keep-ing eye on future outputwhile potential buyers inIndia and Pakistan re-mained busy in hedg-ing.—Agencies

Mobile phoneimports upby 3.23pc

ISLAMABAD—The mobilephone imports into thecountry increased by 3.23percent during first fourmonths of the year 2014-15 over the same period oflast year. The imports ofmobile phones into thecountry during July-Octo-ber (2014-15) were re-corded at $224.594 millionagainst the imports of$217.568 million duringJuly-October (2013-14),according to the data ofPakistan Bureau of Statis-tics (PBS).

On month on monthbasis the mobile phoneimports into the countryduring the month of Oc-tober 2014 decreased by3.37 percent and increasedby 15.26 percent whencompared to the importsin October 2013 and Sep-tember 2014 respectively.The mobile phone importsduring October 2014stood at $58.596 millionagainst the imports of$60.641 million in October2013 and $50.839 million inSeptember 2014, the datarevealed.

Similarly, the overalltelecom imports also in-creased by 25.37 percentduring the period underreview over the same pe-riod of last year. The im-ports of telecom into thecountry during first fourmonths of current fiscalyear, were recorded at$524.81 million againstthe imports of $418.611million in July-October2014-15.

On month on monthbasis, the telecom importsduring October 2014 in-creased by 9.16 per centand decreased by 7.53percent when comparedto that of October 2013and September 2014 re-spectively. Overalltelecom imports duringOctober 2014 stood at$117.99 million againstthe imports of $108.087million in October 2013and $127.601 million inSeptember 2014.—APP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 100.30 100.10

UK 157.05 156.74

Euro 123.17 122.92

Canada 86.63 86.46

Switzerland 102.23 102.02

Australia 82.02 81.85

Sweden 13.04 13.02

Japan 0.8412 0.8396

Norway 13.56 13.53

Singapore 76.34 76.19

Denmark 16.55 16.52

Saudi Arabia 26.72 26.67

Hong Kong 12.94 12.91

Kuwait 342.86 342.18

Malaysia 28.85 28.79

Newzealand 78.05 77.89

Qatar 27.54 27.49

UAE 27.31 27.25

Kr Won 0.0909 0.0908

Thailand 3.054 3.048

Daily opening& closing ratesPMEX Index 2,605Total Volume (Lots): 19,954Traded Value (Rs): 4,083,822,446

Commodity -------------------- Price Quotation --------------- Open ----------- CloseCRUDE OIL ------------------- $ Per Barrel --------------------- 56.24 ----------- 54.58SILVER ------------------------- $ Per Ounce -------------------- 15.722 ---------- 15.898GOLD --------------------------- $ Per Ounce -------------------- 1,188.9 --------- 1,199.1GOLD --------------------------- Rs Per 10 gms ------------------ 38,658 ---------- 38,924MTOLAGOLD --------------- Rs Per Tola --------------------- 46,406 ---------- 46,810GOLD --------------------------- Rs Per Tola --------------------- 46,406 ---------- 46,810RICEIRRI6 --------------------- Rs Per 100 kg ------------------- 3,225 ----------- 3,224PALMOLEIN ----------------- Rs Per Maund ----------------- 3,507 ----------- 3,507SUGAR ------------------------- Rs Per kg ------------------------ 45.65 ----------- 46.07ICOTTON --------------------- US Cents per pound --------- 60.81 ----------- 60.79WHEAT ------------------------ Rs Per 100 kg ------------------- 3,400 ----------- 3,431

The total value traded was PKR 4.084 billion and number of lots traded was 19,954.PMEX Commodity Index closed at 2,605. Major business was contributed by crudeoil amounting to PKR 2.848 billion followed by gold (PKR 1.204 billion) and silver(PKR 32 million).

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan address-ing the press conference regarding increase in trade duet to GSP Plus.

KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Iftikhar AhmedVohra presenting Chamber’s crest to Deputy High Commissioner of the People’s Re-public of Bangladesh, Ruhul Alam Siddiqu during his visit to KCCI.

Muzammil Sabri, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, MunwarMughal Vice President FPCCI and Abudl Rauf, Chairman Founder Group are address-ing the condolence reference held for Peshawar victims.

MobilinkFoundationorganizes

corporate bloodcollection driveLAHORE—Mobilink Founda-tion has organized Pakistan’slargest corporate blood collec-tion drive. The nationwideblood donation drive orga-nized by Mobilink’s CSR teamin collaboration with SundusFoundation and The IndusHospital, resulted in collectionof over 1100 pints of bloodover the course of 10 days. Thedrive was organized across 15Mobilink offices nationwidewhere the employees pro-vided blood donations. Con-tributing further to the cause,Mobilink in partnership withSundus Foundation andIndus Hospital Karachibrought onboard country’sleading educational institutes,Hamdard University Karachi,Punjab Group of Colleges,Lead University Lahore, Gov-ernment College for BoysShalimar Campus and SubmitCollege Faisalabad to helpover 3,500 young Thalassemiapatients across Pakistan.

Omar Manzur, Head ofCorporate CommunicationsMobilink said, “Employeevolunteerism is a core driverof the Mobilink Foundationand our employees arestrongly encouraged to pro-mote a humanitarian spirit. Iam very glad to see that ourTorchbearers have taken thelead in making such a lastingimpact on so many younglives.” The drive was as ameans of collecting blood forchildren suffering from a rangeof chronic and life threateningillnesses including Thalas-semia. Thalassemia is a heredi-tary genetic blood disorder.Over 5,000 children are bornwith this disease in Pakistanevery year and their survivaldepends on regular bloodtransfusion for the rest of theirlives.—PR

Mitsubishidelegationmeets Dar

ISLAMABAD—MitsubishiCorporation expressed keeninterest in the export of LNGto Pakistan by its subsidiary,Diamond Gas International.In this regard, a 4-memberdelegation of the MitsubishiCorporation led by Chief Ex-ecutive for PakistanKimihide Ando here metwith Finance Minister IshaqDar and discussed matterspertaining to possible exportof LNG to Pakistan besidesenhanced Mitsubishi in-vestment in Pakistan.

Other members of thedelegation includedKunihiko Sakaki, HidekiMatsubara and KenzoLijima. MitsubishiIslamabad Assistant Gen-eral Manager Imran Mirzaand Mitsubishi KarachiManager Jawad Majeed ac-companied the delegation.The delegation at the out-set conveyed heartfelt griefand sorrow on behalf of theMitsubishi Corp Japan overthe tragic incident inPeshawar in which lives ofinnocent children were lost.The minister thanked thedelegation for the kind ges-ture saying the incident hadonly reinforced Pakistan’sresolve to eliminate terror-ism and the whole nationstands united to put an endto this menace. —Agencies

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (LCCI) Thursday de-manded of the Chairman Federal Board ofRevenue (FBR) to expedite stuck-up SalesTax and Income Tax refund claims. The LCCIPresident Ijaz A. Mumtaz said the FederalBoard of Revenue is hampering the growthof the most productive sectors by denyingthe exporters and manufacturers their rightof refund of Sales Tax and Income Tax. TheLCCI chief said that the delay in release ofhuge funds that runs into billions has trig-gered serious liquidity crunch for the ex-porters and manufacturers that might leadto closure of several industrial units.

Ijaz A. Mumtaz said the authorities con-cerned should take realistic view of thematter and allow the refunds of sales taxand Income Tax to exporters and Manufac-turers at the earliest, who were facing se-vere hardships. The LCCI President said

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan EconomyWatch (PEW) on Friday demanded imme-diate justice to the culprits of Peshawarcarnage. The death penalty should beimplemented as soon as possible as it woulddeter potential recruits from engaging inmilitancy while it will terrify many terroristswhile delay will be counter productive, itsaid. Those who imposed a ban of hang-ings in 2008 should also be held account-able as they helped embolden terrorists, saidDr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that ‘good Taliban, bad Taliban’policy should be abandoned ad it will re-sult in selective justice compromising gov-ernment hostile approach to all militants.Pakistan should not worry about riskingdiplomatic and economic gains includingGSP Plus Status as national security is moreimportant than interests of textile export-ers, he added. Dr. Murtaza Mughal saidthat EU should not interfere in the internalmatters of Pakistan while Islamabad should

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Former State Minister andpresent MNA Begum Tehmina Daultana haslauded the efforts of Punjab Industrial Es-tate Development & Management Com-pany (PIEDMC) role in rapidindustrialisation of Punjab. She was talk-ing to media on her visit to Vehari Indus-trial Estate. CEO PIEDMC General (Retd)Javed Iqbal welcomed her and other no-tables at the site. It is worth mentioningthat Begum Tehmina Daultana has been thedriving force behind the approval of VehariIndustrial Estate as well as release of initialfunds from the Punjab government.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharifhad announced Vehari Industrial Estate in

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Senate SyedNayyer Hussain Bokhari presided overmeeting of the committee. In his openingremarks, the Senate Chairman strongly con-demned the attack on School in Peshawarand observed that the government shouldtake stern action. “The leadership has toshow unity and maturity”, Nayyer Bokhariobserved. Parliamentary leaders and mem-bers of the Committee endorsed chairman’spoint of view and condemned the incidentin strong words.

The committee discussed the modalitiesand agenda of the current Senate session. Itwas informed that the current session would

PEW: National security importantthan EU trade relaxations

discount their concerns in the larger na-tional interest. Government can convincethe European Union that Pakistan has noother option but to hang the convicted ter-rorists as national security is at stake.

Almost 100 countries around the worldhave abolished this punishment but ma-jority including America continue to ex-ecute people involved in heinous crimes,he informed. European Union did notcancelled the GSP plus status of Indiawhen they hanged Ajmal Kasab and AfzalGuru and of Bangladesh when AbdulQadir Molla was hanged therefore theylacks justification to cancel the status ofPakistan if mass killers are hanged. Howcan a block force Pakistan to take a deci-sion which is violation the Islamic teach-ing and the constitution of Pakistan, hequestioned. Dr. Murtaza Mughal de-manded total ban on seminaries to paintTaliban as heroes of Islam otherwise wewill warrant more terror incidents.—INP

Senate Business AdvisoryCommittee condemns APS attack

continue for two weeks. Important legislativematters and other significant issues wouldbe debated besides a thorough discussionwould take place on Peshawar massacre inwhich innocent students and teachers werekilled by terrorists.The committee unani-mously sympathised with bereaved familiesand called it a national tragedy.

The meeting was attended among oth-ers by Senators Mushahid Ullah Khan, HajiMuhammad Adeel, Col (r) Syed TahirHussain Mashhadi, Farhatullah Babar,Kamal Ali Agha, Kalsoom Perveen, AbbasKhan Afridi , Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Abdul Raufand Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, Minister of theState for Parliamentary Affairs. was alsopresent on the occasion.

LCCI demands earlyrefund of ST, IT claims

that the process to get refunds is so lengthyand cumbersome that sometimes takesmonths for a manufacturer or an exporter toget his own money refunded. He said thatthe businessmen were bearing huge finan-cial cost on their own hard earned stuck-upmoney, therefore, the FBR Chairman shouldlook into the matter and ensure early re-lease of Sales Tax and Income Tax refunds.

The LCCI President said that the business-men have now started feeling the pinch as thebusinesses were already in deep troubles andexperiencing toughest times because of mul-tiple internal and external challenges includingan acute shortage of electricity and gas. Andnow the delay in release of their own moneywas adding to their miseries. Ijaz A. Mumtazsaid that it was a matter of concern that despiteclear instructions of Federal Finance MinisterIshaq Dar to release Sales Tax and Income Taxrefunds at the earliest, FBR machinery wasusing delaying tactics and creating hurdles forthe business doing people.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Northern RegionalCommittee of The Institute of Char-tered Accountant of Pakistan (ICAP)organized a seminar on “Understand-ing the Concepts of Islamic Finance”in Lahore. Saeed Ahmad, Deputy Gov-ernor, State Bank of Pakistan, who wasthe chief guest at a Seminar has saidthat the Chartered Accountants (Cas)have a huge role in promotion of Is-lamic banking & finance in Pakistanparticularly for Musharaka andMudaraba products, he continued bysaying that Islamic banking basedupon shariah principles plays an im-portant role in Islamic dealings and inorder to drive Islamic shariah, shariahscholars have to be at fore front andrecent success of Islamic Banking in

CAs playing vital role inpromotion of Islamic banking& finance: Dy Governor SBP

Pakistan is because of this exerciseundertaken by SBP.

Syed Samar Husnain, ExecutiveDirector, SBP expressed his views thatfundamentals of Islamic banking &conventional banking are different.The underlying transaction is a finan-cial transaction in Islamic banking; itis not a real sector economic activity.It is actually asset based financing.Ghulam Muhammad Abbasi, DirectorIslamic Banking and Ms. Fatima Khalidof SBP also attended the event. Ear-lier, Asad Feroze, Secretary NRC ICAPand Chairman CPD Committee Lahore,in his opening comments welcomedthe esteemed guests from SBP andlearned speakers and panelists.Mehmood Arshad Chairman FPCCIstanding committee on Islamic Fi-nance and Takaful in his opening com-

ments praised the organizers for hold-ing this event.

Mufti Mohammed Najeeb Khanspoke about Prohibition of Riba anddifference between conventional andIslamic banking in detail. MuftiMuhammad Hassaan Kaleem talkedabout concept of Takaful in Islam. Healso compared this concept with con-ventional concept of insurance. RizwanAta, Executive Incharge, Bank AlfalahIslamic Banking Division, briefed par-ticipants about Islamic Banking prod-ucts and also addressed the pertinentquestion that why Islamic Finance isIslamic. Mujeeb Beig. Senior Vice Presi-dent and Head Research & ProductDevelopment, Islamic Banking Group,MCB Bank Limited also emphasisedthe need for Islamic banking and direneed for evolving this concept.

PIEDMC role in rapidindustrialisation acknowledged

2013. It comprises of 277 acres of land andis becoming a fast attraction for local andnearby industrialists. CEO PIEDMC briefedthe visiting legislator and leading industri-alists of the area about development workin Vehari Industrial Estate. He said Chair-man PIEDMC S M Tanveer has directedPunjab Industrial Estates Development &Management Company management togear up development work and lay downinfrastructure within 12 to 18 months. Ac-cording to him, industrial projects will be-come operational within one year to pro-vide jobs to local workers.

Begum Tehmina Daultana expressedsatisfaction over development work inVehari Industrial Estate, on her visit toVehari Industrial Estate.

RAWALPINDI: Customers taking interest in fishes displayed at a vendor’s roadsidesetup.

BARNALA: Pakistan Women Kabaddi players tackle a Denmark opponent during World Cup 3rd position match onFriday.

ISLAMABAD—The eighth NationalTenpin Bowling Championship willexplode into action on December 25 atLeisure City Bowling Club F-7 MarkazIslamabad.

The event which carries a prizepurse of Rs 185000 is being organizedby Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federa-tion (PTBF).

“Five different categories includ-ing singles, doubles, team events,amateur and inter-college will be heldduring the four-day activity,” PTBFPresident Ijaz-ur-Rehman told APP onFriday.

He said the championship wouldprovide bowling lovers to showcasetheir skills alongside country’s top

National tenpin bowlingchampionship from Dec 25

bowlers.”The activity will also helpwould also help groom youngsters,”he said.

“We have also decided to providechance to students of different col-leges and will award the winners withmedals to encourage them participatein future events,” he added.

Ijaz said tenpin bowling was gain-ing popularity in the country with eachpassing day and a number of activi-ties were being held now on regularbasis.

“We are organizing differentevents throughout the year with theactive support of games well-wish-ers.”

He said the winner of singles event

of the championship would get a prizecash of Rs 50000 besides the goldmedal, while the runner-up would begiven Rs 25000 and silver medal. Thethird position holder will be awardedRs 15000 and bronze medal.

He said the winners of doublesevent would be given Rs 30000 alongwith gold medal, while the runner-upwould be given Rs 20000 along withsilver medal. The third position holderwill get bronze medal.

Similarly, the winner of team eventwill get Rs 30000 and gold medal, whilethe runner-up will be given Rs 15000and silver medal, while the third posi-tion holder will get bronze medal.—APP

BARNALA—Pakistan’s women de-feated Denmark on Friday to grab the3rd position in the 2014 Kabaddi WorldCup being played in India.

Skipper Madiha Lateef led from thefront and won several points throughher powerful raids. Nida, Sehrish andSaira Shah also supported their skip-per quite effectively in their last matchof the grand event.

Later talking to media, captainMadiha Lateef said that overall Paki-stan women team displayed good gamein the mega event. “There are a coupleof factors that played role if our teamcould not make a place in the final.Our team have to play all of theirleague matches on successive daysand this continuity left negative ef-

fect on the performance of our girls,”she explained.

“The tournament managementshould have given our team sufficientbreak between our matches. Had thisbeen done, the standing of our teamcould have been different in theevent”. Madiha said that her teamcould have won the third match againstNew Zealand but the workload of threeconsecutive matches left them tiredand consequently our team could nottop their pool.

Replying a query, Madiha told thatthe game of kabaddi has got greatpopularity in India and this factor re-flected in their women team’s perfor-mance. “We will try our best to removethe flaws in our game and technique

and insha-Allah our team will presenta satisfactory performance in the nextWorld Cup event,” she expressed herhope.

Taking the game away from Den-mark, Pakistani women dominatedthe match throughout the secondhalf and ended up with a decisivelead. The women’s team had earlierlost 19-47 to India in their last-fourclash.

On the other hand, the Pakistanmen’s team cruised into the summitclash of the Kabaddi World Cup. Themen’s team trounced Iran 56-28 inSangrur to set up a tantalising finalagainst India on Saturday with thehosts routing England 54-33 in theother semi-final.—Agencies

Pakistan women team winbronze in Kabaddi WC

CENTURION: Devon Smith gets under a bouncer during South Africa vs West Indies, 1st Test’s 3rd day on Friday.

SPORTS REPORTER

LAHORE—A rapid 87 off 62 balls andtwo wickets from Mukhtar Ahmed setup Pakistan A’s 118-run win againstKenya at the Gaddafi Stadium inLahore which took their series leadto 4-0 in the five-match series.

The morning began with densefog around the stadium leading to athree-hour delay after which Kenyaopted to bowl and the match was re-duced to 28-overs-a-side from 45.Pakistan openers Iftikhar Ahmedand Mukhtar provided a solid startwith a stand of 145 runs. The scor-ing rate at the end of the 10th overwas 6.80, but it was paced upquickly with Kenya conceding 98runs in next 10 overs.

Pakistan A lost two quick wicketsduring that period as Iftikhar fell soonafter completing his fifty, going for apull only to be caught at midwicket,followed by Umar Siddiq, who fell fora first-ball duck. A stunning runningcatch by Gurdeep Singh dismissedMukhtar, who struck 11 fours and twosixes. A late surge from Zohaib Ahmed(25 off 21) Mohammad Rizwan helpedthe hosts put up a daunting total of224 for 5.

Kenya were shaky in their reply asthey lost their first wicket in the firstover itself. They never looked strongenough to intimidate the hosts, de-spite some resistance shown by Mor-ris Ouma (21) and Nelson Odhiambo(22), and never came close to the ask-ing rate. Wickets fell at regular inter-vals and Kenya were dismissed for 106runs with a ball to spare.

Saeed Ajmal, who has been sus-pended from bowling in internationalcricket, played for Pakistan A. Hespent three months in remedial workon his illegal action and ended upwith two spells of three overs each,conceded 23 runs for one wicket. Hewas playing his first competitivegame in the last four months after hewas suspended. He went wicketlessin his first spell and struck in his sec-ond spell whenEmmanuel Bundiflicked a lengthball to be caught atsquare leg.

Ajmal returnedwith a significantimprovement in hisaction, stride andfollow through. Hisarm looked stifferand straighterwhile watchingwith the naked eye.He wasn’t mixingup the deliveries ashe was just bowl-ing his conven-tional offspin witha slower stride.

“I am veryhappy and feelingcomfortable com-ing back after along time,” Ajmalsaid after thematch. “I havedone a lot and I’mdoing whatever Ican do to getthings right. Iworked so hard and gave my 100%,

now I am hoping to get myselfcleared.

“This was my first match after along time and I have plenty of domes-tic games ahead of me to eventuallyregain my confidence, and I will comehard with my same old spirit and flow.

“There was no pressure at all play-ing against Kenya. In fact I never tookpressure ever as I am preparing andimproving myself for bigger targetslike the World Cup, so I am focusing

that.”

Pakistan A vs Kenya, 4th one-dayer

Mukhtar 87 sets up big victory

Pakistan A inningsIftikhar b Odhiambo ...... 50Mukhtar b Ringera ........ 87Umar b Odhiambo ........... 0Saad b Ringera .............. 19Fawad Alam* b Kamande . 0Zohaib not out .............. 25Rizwan not out .............. 12Extras (lb 7, w 22, nb 2) 31Total (5 wickets) 224Fall of wickets 1-145, 2-150,3-186, 4-186, 5-194Bowling ............ O-M-R-WE Otieno ................ 6-0-28-0E Ochieng ............. 4-0-50-0NM Odhiambo ..... 6-0-37-2EB Ringera ........... 4-0-37-2JK Kamande ......... 4-0-28-1SO Ngoche ........... 4-0-37-0Kenya inningsObanda lbw b Hamza ...... 4Owino b Jamal ............... 10Singh run out ................... 5

SCOREBOARDMalik b Zohaib Ahmed .. 6Ouma b Fawad Alam ..... 21Odhiambo b Fawad ......... 22

Ngoche* not out ........... 13Ringera b Saeed Ajmal . 10E Otieno b Mukhtar ........ 6E Ochieng b Mukhtar ..... 0Kamande absent hurtExtras (lb 2, w 7) 9Total (all out) 106Fall of wickets 1-4, 2-12, 3-28, 4-40, 5-73, 6-82, 7-97, 8-105, 9-106Bowling ............ O-M-R-W

Mir Hamza ............ 4-0-20-1Ahmed Jamal ....... 3-1-12-1Saeed Ajmal ......... 6-0-23-1Zohaib Ahmed ..... 4-0-14-1Zafar Gohar .......... 5-0-12-0Fawad Alam ......... 5-0-20-2Mukhtar ............... 0.5-0-3-2

CENTURION—West Indies’ resistancein the face of South Africa’s dauntingfirst-innings total could not be faultedfor determination but it went entirelyunrewarded as they were forced tofollow on still 351 runs behind withalmost a full session left on the thirdday of the first Test in Centurion.

South Africa’s protagonist wasVernon Philander, who bowled withgreat intelligence throughout, the onlyrider being that those qualities did notextend to his appetite for the reviewsystem. Twice his emphatic signalsrequested a review; twice his desirewent unrewarded, leaving him never-theless with 4 for 29 in 15 overs toshow for some insistent, pitched-upseam bowling.

An opening stand of 72 proved tobe West Indies’ high point. The firstfour batsmen all fell in the 30s - un-precedented in Test cricket was theexcited chatter among at least somecricket statisticians - and whenJermaine Blackwood fell on the strokeof tea, an excellent low catch by AlviroPetersen at second slip, legitimisedonly after numerous TV replays, WestIndies were six down and the follow-on figure was still 168 runs away.

West Indies, depleted andlacklustre in the field over the first twodays, lost two wickets on an extendedmorning as they fell foul of a debat-able third umpire decision.

Devon Smith would have been ag-grieved at the manner of his departure- adjudged to be caught at the wicketafter South Africa called for an umpir-

ing review - and, after breaking theopening stand of 72, South Africa fol-lowed up with the wicket of KraiggBrathwaite a run later to ensure thatWest Indies’ resilience was not fullyrewarded.

Philander was the successfulbowler on each occasion and he wasthe most impressive member of theSouth Africa attack as he maintaineda fullish length on a slow surfacewhich had become much calmer thanon the opening day.

Smith’s exit, for 35, will providemore fodder for DRS sceptics, but thedecision was notas off-beam assome immediatelysuggested. Theumpire BillyBowden had re-jected Philander’sappeal after theball passed be-tween Smith’s batand hip as hesought to work itthrough squareleg. Snicko,u n h e l p f u l l y ,showed a spikewhen the ball wasbetween bat andtrouser pocket. Su-perficially, therewas no evidenceto overturnBowden’s deci-sion but PaulReiffel, the TV um-

pire, did just that.Further replays, long after the deci-

sion had been made, muddied the wa-ters. A zoom-in camera, not available toReiffel, did not support his view. Incontrast, the fact that there were twospikes - the first perhaps from the bat -did give some credence to his conclu-sion that the ball had touched both batand hip on the way through to thestand-in wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.The ICC, too, has advised that soundspikes can potentially appear in thenext frame, just after contact has beenmade.—Agencies

1st Test: Philander leads way asWest Indies follow on

South Africa, first innings,552-5 decWest Indies 1st inningsBrathwaite b Philander ... 34Smith b Philander .......... 35Johnson b Abbott ......... 31Samuels b Morkel ......... 33Chanderpaul b Philander .......... 21Blackwood b Philander .. 12Ramdin b Elgar .............. 14Taylor b Morkel ............... 4Benn not out .................... 6SS Cottrell b Morkel ....... 2KAJ Roach absent hurtExtras (lb 6, w 3) 9Total (all out) 201Fall of wickets 1-72, 2-73, 3-117, 4-162, 5-169, 6-184, 7-193, 8-193, 9-201Bowling ............ O-M-R-W

SCOREBOARDDW Steyn .......... 14-3-53-0VD Philander ...... 15-6-29-4KJ Abbott ........... 14-3-50-1M Morkel ........ 15.2-4-55-3D Elgar .................... 2-0-8-1West Indies 2nd innings(following on)Brathwaite not out ........ 20Smith b Philander ............ 5LR Johnson not out ...... 17Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5Total (1 wicket) 47Fall of wickets 1-8

Bowling ............ O-M-R-WDW Steyn ........... 0.5-0-3-0M Morkel .......... 6.1-1-20-0VD Philander .......... 3-3-0-1KJ Abbott ............. 3-0-11-0S van Zyl ........... 5.5-2-11-0

BARCELONA—Atletico Madrid will faceholders Real Madrid in the last 16 of theKing’s Cup after a double from MarioMandzukic sealed a 5-2 aggregate victoryover lower league Hospitalet on Thursday.

Ruben Alcaraz got both goals forHospitalet who drew 2-2 at the Calderonagainst an Atletico side with most of theirregular players rested following a 3-0 firstleg victory. Mandzukic, who is suspendedfor the trip to Athletic Bilbao this weekend,pounced midway through the first half butAlcaraz brought the team from the Spanishthird tier back on level terms with a deflectedshot after 66 minutes.

The Croat restored Atletico’s lead with

a diving header from a Koke cross beforeAlcaraz hit a swerving shot into the roof ofthe net to give some joy for the visitors.Atletico now face Real, who beat them inthe semi-finals last season, in the last 16.“This year we have only lost one game athome at the Calderon and this shows thework of the players,” Simeone told a newsconference. “Hopefully we can keep goingthe same way. In terms of this game I amhappy with what I saw.

We started well and scored while in thesecond half the Hospitalet players re-sponded well. “They had a bit of luck withtheir first goal and the second was some-thing special.”—APP

Atletico win to set up King’sCup clash with Real

World Cupcorruption report tobe released - BlatterMARRAKECH, Morocco—FIFA president Sepp Blattersaid Friday a report into al-leged corruption surround-ing the bids for the 2018 and2022 World Cups would bereleased in “an appropriateform”. The report was drawnup by top US lawyerMichael Garcia who re-signed on Wednesday inprotest at the handling ofthe inquiry by FIFA’s lead-ership. The report will onlybe released once proceed-ings against individualsnamed in the report are fin-ished.—APP

I N Bhubaneswar, Pakistan rosefrom the ashes. From absolutelynowhere Mohammad Imran’s be-

leaguered men — showing flashes ofbrilliance — made it to the all-impor-tant final. Earlier this year, they faredimpressively in the Asian Games toograbbing silver medal.

Therefore, one strongly feels nowit is the time, both for the PakistanHockey Federation (PHF) and thegovernment, to play their due rolewith sincerity aimed at bringing backour lost glory in world hockey.

First, as defending champions,Pakistan met India in the Asian Gamesfinal in Incheon, South Korea in Sep-tember. Though Pakistan lost thetightly-contested decider in shootout,the green-shirts did stretch their In-dian opponents to the fullest. Not toforget the PHF had not been able toprovide the players with proper prepa-ration owing to financial constraints.

And now, a low-profile Pakistanoutfit again surprised many by mak-ing it to the eight-nation ChampionsTrophy final in Bhubaneswar, India.The progress must have been a pleas-ant surprise even for head coachShahnaz Sheikh, who had not ex-pected silver-medal finish at the po-dium by Mohammad Imran and com-

pany.In the process, Pakistan earned a

historic-cum-thrilling triumph againsttraditional rivals India in the semi-fi-nal. The victory also gave new life tootherwise wilting Pakistan hockey.

It is no end of contests, however.Pakistan will face many more suchchallenges in future, especially fromIndia, both in hockey and cricket asboth the countries hold internationalstanding in these two sports.

India in recent years has takengiant leap in promoting its sports, in-jecting heaps of money into cricket,hockey, badminton, tennis, footballand kabaddi. They have started stag-ing international leagues attractingworld-class players. No doubt, all thiswill help India raise itself in interna-tional sports in the time to come.

Contrarily, the situation in Paki-stan is exactly the opposite as thegovernment here it seems lacks therequired level of interest to involvethe nation in sporting activities.

When Pakistan hockey team re-corded stunning-cum-inspiring winsagainst Holland and India inBhubaneswar, the entire nation gotunited in jubilation — a clear sign ofpatriotic spirit among the massesamid several crises that have struck

them over the years.Sealing top-class wins against the

high-flying Netherlands (4-2) andthen hosts India (4-3) in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively afterstaying winless in the pool phase wasno ordinary comeback. Pool stagelosses to Belgium (1-2), England (2-8) and Australia (0-3) were indeeddemoralising, yet Imran and his bri-gade made a significant return, thankspartly to the soft format of the oncetoughest competition in the sport.

As regards the moral aspect, whathappened moments after Pakistan’svictory over India in the high-octaneclash could have certainly beenavoided by the visiting teammanagement’s timely intervention incontrolling some of their players fromcelebrating the victory objectionably.

Being ambassadors of a countrylike Pakistan where social norms areaccorded high esteem, the players —even if a section of the 7,000-strongIndian crowd had stooped too muchin their behaviour — were duly ex-pected to show restraint.

One hopes the sourness over theunwelcome incident at the KalingaStadium developed between the PHFand Hockey India is temporary andall would get back to normal soon.

Pakistan hockey needsgovernment support

India 1st innings 408Australia 1st innings(overnight 221-4)Rogers b Yadav ............ 55Warner b Yadav ............ 29Watson b Ashwin ........ 25Smith b I. Sharma ....... 133Marsh b Yadav ............. 32Marsh b I. Sharma ........ 11Haddin b Aaron .............. 6Johnson b I.Sharma ..... 88Starc b Ashwin ............. 52Lyon b Aaron ................. 23Hazlewood not out ...... 32Extras (lb4, w5, nb10) .. 19Total (all out; 109.4 overs)505Fall of wickets: Fall of wick-ets: 1-47, 2-98, 3-121, 4-208,5-232, 6-247, 7-395, 8-398,

9-454Bowling: .......... O-M-R-WSharma ............. 23-2-117-3Aaron ............... 26-1-145-2Yadav ............... 25-4-101-3Ashwin ............ 33-4-126-1R. Sharma ............ 2-0-10-0India 2nd inningsM. Vijay b Starc ............ 27S. Dhawan not out ....... 26C. Pujara not out .......... 15Extras (lb2, nb1) .............. 3Total (1 wicket; 23 overs)71Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Vijay)Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WJohnson ............... 8-3-29-0Hazlewood .......... 6-0-24-0Starc ..................... 4-1-10-1Watson .................. 5-3-6-0

BRISBANE—India were fighting backafter Australia gained a 97-run inningslead on the back of another centuryfrom new skipper Steve Smith and awagging tail in the second Gabba Teston Friday.

The tourists had cut the deficitback to 26 runs by the close on thethird day at 71 for one with ShikharDhawan on 26 and Cheteshwar Pujaranot out at 15.

The day belonged to the Austra-lians, trailing by 187 runs at the startbut piling on 258 runs for the last four

Aussies edge ahead of Indiawith Smith ton

wickets with Smith leading the way.Smith posted his second ton of the

series and Johnson a swashbuckling88 off 93 balls to give Australia theedge to win the Test over the closingtwo days and take a 2-0 lead in thefour-match series.

Smith and Johnson shared in aground record 148-run stand for theseventh wicket to take the steam outof the Indians.

Mitchell Starc chipped in with 52off 59 balls, Nathan Lyon hit 23 andTest debutant Josh Hazlewoodcracked an unbeaten 32 to frustrate

India’s attempts towrap up the in-nings.

S t a r cbounced back fromhis indifferentbowling in the firstinnings and strucka major blow withthe wicket ofMurali Vijay for 27in the 11th over ofIndia’s second in-nings.

Vijay, whohad scored threeconsecutive half-centuries including144 in the first in-nings in Brisbane,was in two mindswhether to playonly for the ball tostrike his bat and

hit the stumps.The day’s highlight was

Johnson’s game-changing innings,which finished tantalisingly short ofhis second Test century when he wascaught behind off Ishant Sharma for88 off 93 balls with 13 fours and a six.

Smith followed five balls later whenhe was finally dismissed in the seriesfor 133.

He inside-edged Sharma onto hisstumps to end a 303-minute vigil. Ithad taken India 704 minutes to fi-nally get Smith’s wicket over threeinnings.

Smith scored 162 and 52 in lastweek’s Adelaide Test win and contin-ued to be the bane of the tourists withanother consummate knock.

Smith, who took over the captaincyafter Michael Clarke injured his righthamstring in the first Adelaide Test,was the fifth Australian skipper toscore a century in his first Test as cap-tain.

Monty Noble, Clem Hill, LindsayHassett and Greg Chappell all scoredhundreds in the first innings of theirdebut Test as skipper with Chappellthe last against the West Indies at theGabba in 1975.

India began the third day well withtwo wickets inside the opening hourbut Johnson’s lusty hitting quicklyswung the game Australia’s way.

India’s tactics of sledging andbowling short to Johnson back-firedas it only served to energise him andattack the bowling.—AFP

ABU DHABI: Mohammad Irfan celebrates after dismissing Martin Guptill for 8 in Pakistan vs New Zealand, 5thODI.

BRISBANE: Steven Smith was dismissed for the first time in the series between Australia and India during 2ndTest’s 3rd day on Friday.

Amir Khandonates £30,000

shorts toPeshawar school

LONDON—Boxer AmirKhan will donate a pair of£30,000 ($47,007) shorts tothe Army Public School,

Peshawar, where 132 chil-dren were killed by theTaliban earlier this week.

Khan wore the shorts,featuring a waistband madefrom 24-carat gold thread, ina decisive victory overAmerican Devon Alexanderin Las Vegas which helpedhim retain the World BoxingCouncil (WBC) silver wel-terweight title at the week-end. “It was just very sadto see innocent kids beingkilled,” the Briton of Paki-stani descent told BBC ra-dio on Thursday.

“I can only imaginewhat the parents are goingthrough.

“I want to donate theshorts for the Peshawarcause, rebuild a school andstrengthen security aroundthe area.—AFP

New Zealand inningsGuptill b Mohammad Irfan ......... 8Brownlie lbw b Zulfiqar ............ 34Williamson* c Sarfraz b Afridi ... 97Taylor not out ............................ 88Ronchi c Afridi b Irfan .............. 16TWM Latham not out .............. 22Extras (lb 5, w 5) 10Total (4 wickets) 275Fall of wickets 1-20, 2-86, 3-202, 4-241Bowling .................... ....O-M-R-WMohammad Irfan ........... 10-0-62-2Zulfiqar Babar ................ 10-0-61-1Shahid Afridi .................. 10-0-33-1Anwar Ali ....................... 10-0-62-0Haris Sohail ...................... 8-0-38-0Ahmed Shehzad .............. 2-0-14-0

ISLAMABAD—Melbourne was Fridaynamed as the host of Australian openingceremony for the International CricketCouncil (ICC) World Cup 2015.

Two opening ceremonies for cricket’smarquee event will be held Feb 12, with co-hosts New Zealand to stage their openeron the same evening in Christchurch.

The Melbourne celebration at SidneyMyer Music Bowl will involve World Cupplayers and legends, cultural and music per-formances, a spectacular fireworks displayand a yet-to-be-revealed “special moment”.

Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sportand Major Events John Eren saidMelbourne would now be the scene of theopening event, the first match on Austra-lian soil when Australia play England Feb14, and the final at the Melbournbe CricketGround (MCG) March 29, cricket.com re-ported.

“We are delighted that Melburniansand visitors from all over the world will havea chance to attend this once-in-a-genera-tion event at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl,”said Eren.

John Harnden, World Cup 2015 chiefexecutive, said the event would get the tour-nament off to a “great start”.

The opening ceremony will be free toattend and tickets will be available to thepublic on a first-come, first-served basis.

Each applicant can request up to fourtickets and further details of the ceremonywill be revealed closer to the event.

Christchurch’s opening event will fea-ture some of New Zealand’s best knownperformers, cricket legends including Rich-ard Hadlee and Stephen Fleming and a spe-cial segment to recognise the rebuilding ofthe city following the disastrous earth-quakes.—APP

Melbourne to host World Cup2015 opening ceremony

LONDON—Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchezcan show Liverpool why he would have madethe perfect replacement for Luis Suarez whenthe Chilean travels to Anfield in the PremierLeague on Sunday.

Sanchez, who signed for the Gunners from

Barcelona for around 35 million pounds($54.70 million) in July, has scored 14 goalsthis season and has been the shining light inan Arsenal side that have lacked consistency.The Chilean’s creativity, finishing and workethic would have made him the perfect re-placement for Barcelona-bound striker Suarez,who scored 31 Premier League goals forLiverpool last season as the Reds challengedfor the title. However, the 26-year-old for-ward opted to sign for Arsenal.

Liverpool, languishing in 11th place in the

league, have been short of attacking optionswith summer recruits Mario Balotelli andRickie Lambert both misfiring and bossBrendan Rodgers has been left to rue miss-ing out on Sanchez. “All I know is that he(Sanchez) is a world class player,” Rodgerstold a news conference on Friday. “He was

someone who would havebeen perfect for us. “He is anintelligent player and he hasgreat work rate. We know hewill be a threat.”

Rodgers’s loss has beenArsenal manager ArseneWenger’s gain and the French-man been delighted with theway Sanchez has adapted tolife in the Premier League. “He(Sanchez) chose us and we’revery happy for that,” Wengersaid. “I tried, like every man-ager, to convince the playerthat you can help him to de-velop the quality of his game,and that the way we play foot-ball would suit him.

“That’s why I think he haschosen us in the end.” Having

been thrashed 5-1 at Anfield last season, Ar-senal boss Wenger does not expect Liverpoolto be the same attacking force on Sundayand has called on his sixth-placed side to con-tinue creeping up the table after a slow start.“Last year Liverpool scored over 100 goals.Now they’re not on the same trend,” he said.“We’ve won five of our last six games. Wewant to continue our strong run. Sunday’s agood game for us to show we can continue toattack well and defend well.” ($1 = 0.6399British Pounds).—APP

Arsenal hotshot Sanchezready to haunt Liverpool

ABU DHABI—Kane Williamson madehis eighth fifty-plus score in ten ODIinnings and Ross Taylor acceleratedto hit an unbeaten 88 as New Zealandposted 275 in the series decider. Thetotal was 24 short of what NewZealand had barely defended in thefourth ODI but the Abu Dhabi pitchalso played slower than it had twodays ago.

Shahid Afridi capped a fantasticseries with the ball for a return of 1for 33 but he may be required to con-

5th ODI: Williamson,Taylor take NZ to 275

tinue his productive run with the batas well after Pakistan conceded 85 inthe last ten overs. New Zealand fol-lowed the same policy they had onWednesday with Williamson leadingthe build-up through the middleovers.

Williamson first partnered withDean Brownlie for a 66-run stand afterMartin Guptill fell early to MohammadIrfan’s steep bounce. Brownlie endedthe series with a highest ODI score of47 despite getting starts in all the fourgames he played. He had batted sol-idly for his 34 before he missed anangled delivery from Zulfiqar Babar tobe trapped lbw.

The left-arm spinner Babarplayed in place of the medium-pacerSohail Tanvir on the used surfacebut he went for 61 in his ten overs. Itwas Afridi and Haris Sohail who keptWilliamson and Taylor in check, car-rying on from the initial discipline ofIrfan and Anwar Ali. Afridi especiallywas hard to get away with hisquickish deliveries on a tight linemixed up with flighted ones.

New Zealand went without aboundary for ten overs at the start andthen for 12 overs in the middle stages.Both times, Williamson broke thedrought. The lofted shot over extracover against the spinners came eas-ily to him again.

Taylor was not comfortable at thestart and took his time, his first bound-

ary coming only off his 47th delivery,a tickle to fine leg for four. He did notget stuck, though, and drove Irfandown the ground to reach his fifty off67 deliveries as New Zealand took 35off the batting Powerplay.

New Zealand were well placed go-ing into the slog with Williamson andTaylor having added 100-plus. Afridihad a couple of overs left, though, andhe removed Williamson in his last, theNew Zealand captain top-edging asweep to the wicketkeeper to departthree short of his hundred.

Taylor brought out his slog-sweepand connected a few boundaries offBabar to make sure New Zealand didnot falter. Luke Ronchi and TomLatham chipped in with some quickruns too and a 13-run last over pushedNew Zealand to 275.

Earlier, New Zealand have won thetoss and decided to bat first in the fi-nal and deciding ODI against Pakistanat Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan has made two changes.M.Hafeez is out with a hamstring in-jury and Asad Shafiq comes back in.Sohail Tanvir has been given a rest toinclude an extra spinner. Zulfiqar baberwill playing.

New Zealand have also made acouple of changes. McCullum andDevcich come back in for CorreyAnderson and Vettori who has flownback home for his brothers wed-ding.—Agencies

DUBAI—The United Arab Emirates’ AsianCup hopes were given a huge boost on Fri-day after Omar Abdulrahman, one of thecountry’s finest players, was declared fitfor next month’s tournament in Australia.

The playmaker injured his ankle in theUAE’s Gulf Cup semi-final loss to SaudiArabia last month and has not played forArabian Gulf League Al Ain since. But hewas named in the UAE’s 24-man prelimi-nary squad for the Jan 9-31 tournament af-ter showing enough signs of recovery.“Omar Abdulrahman is fine, his doctor re-ports he has started jogging,” UAE coachMahdi Ali told reporters in Dubai.

“He needs five to seven days to get backto full fitness.” The UAE have not pro-

Abdulrahman declared fit for Asian Cupgressed out of the group stage of the AsianCup since finishing as runners-up in theirhome tournament in 1996. They have beendrawn in Group C in Australia alongsidethree other West Asian sides, Iran, Bahrainand Qatar. “As I have said before, the ulti-mate target has always been getting to theWorld Cup in 2018 and our second target isto get to the last four in Australia,” Ali said.

To do this, Ali opted to recall controver-sial goalkeeper Majed Nasser. The 31-year-old Al Ahli stopper has had a chequered his-tory of discipline problems, including slap-ping an opposition coach and receiving a yearlong ban for headbutting an opponent. Ear-lier this year he was banned for six monthsand fined for spitting at a referee but had theverdict overturned last month.—APP

I’m waiting fora call: PietersenLONDON—Exiled Englandstar Kevin Pietersen onFriday said he would con-sider any offer to return asEngland selectors met todecide which players areset for World Cup duty.

Pietersen was droppedfrom the squad by the En-gland and Wales Cricketboard in February and thecontroversial batsman sub-sequently released an auto-biography claiming the En-gland dressing room hadbeen beset by a bullyingculture.

But, as selectors consid-ered their options Pietersenwrote on Twitter that his“phone is on” and, in re-sponse to a fellow user ask-ing if he would take a callfrom the England manage-ment, he replied: “Ofcourse!”

Pietersen top-scoredon Thursday with a rapid66 for Melbourne Stars inthe opening match of theBig Bash League, show-ing the 34-year-old canstill be a formidable per-former.

Whether or notPietersen’s name comes upat all, it seems certain he willnot be included inEngland’s 16-man squad forthe Tri-series in Australianext month, which also fea-tures the home side and In-dia.—AFP

An investigation by the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention,found that between 1996 and 2008,

the number of leg and foot amputationsamong U.S. individuals, aged 40+ withdiagnosed diabetes, decreased by 65%.The study, entitled “De-clining Rates of Hospi-talization for Non-trau-matic Lower-ExtremityAmputation in the Dia-betic Population Aged40 years or Older: U.S.,1988-2008,” is publishedonline in the current is-sue of Diabetes Care.

In 1996, the age-ad-justed rate of leg andfoot amputations was11.2 per 1,000 individu-als with diabetes. How-ever, in 2008 this rate fellto 3.9 per 1,000.

N o n - t r a u m a t i c ,lower-limb amputations,refers to amputationscaused by circulatoryproblems, rather than those caused byinjuries. Circulatory problems are a preva-lent adverse effect in individuals suffer-ing with diabetes.

According to the researchers, thedecrease in lower-limb amputationsamong individuals with diabetes maypartially be due to factors such as: de-clines in heart disease, improvements inblood sugar control, as well as foot careand diabetes management.

Nilka Ríos Burrows, M.P.H., an epi-demiologist with CDC’s Division of Dia-betes Translation, explained: “The sig-nificant drop in rates of non-traumatic

lower-limb amputations among U.S.adults with diagnosed diabetes is cer-tainly encouraging, but more work isneeded to reduce the disparities amongcertain populations.

We must continue to increase aware-ness of the devastatinghealth complications of dia-betes. Diabetes is the lead-ing cause of lower-limb am-putations in the UnitedStates.”

After examining datafrom the National HospitalDischarge Survey on non-traumatic lower-limb ampu-tations from the NationalHealth Interview Survey onthe prevalence of diagnoseddiabetes from 1988-2008, theresearchers discovered thatthe decrease in rates washigher among individualswith diagnosed diabetesthan people without the dis-ease.

Although, in 2008,the rate was still approximately 8 timeshigher among those with the diseasethan those without diabetes.

Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations, kid-ney failure, and blindness among adults.In addition, the disease is the 7th lead-ing cause of mortality in the U.S.. Dia-betes also increases the risk of strokes,hypertension, and heart attacks.

CDC’s Division of Diabetes Trans-lation supports prevention and controlprograms in all 50 states, seven U.S. ter-ritories and island jurisdictions, and theDistrict of Columbia.

Lower limb amputation ratesassociated with diabetes drop

Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Khan Durani and members lit candles during a ceremony to express solidarity with the victims of TTP’sbarbaric attack on the Army public school and college Peshawar.

Policemen arresting protestors during anti encroachment drive at Empress Market.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—POSCO Asia Fellow-ship, awarded meritorious studentsof the University of Karachi, in aspecial award ceremony organizedby the POSCO TJ Park Foundationand the University of Karachi Fri-day.

Yang, Jae-woon, Executive VicePresident, POSCO TJ Park Founda-tion, expressed his pleasure while

POSCO TJ park foundation scholarshipawarded to KU students

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat UlEbad Khan has assented the “Sindh Eye Sur-gery (Restriction) Act, 2014”, to be enforcedthroughout the province immediately.

The Act is aimed at preventing the sur-gery of eye by the persons other than regis-tered medical practitioners.

According to Act “Any person, not be-ing a registered medical practitioner, whoperforms eye surgery upon another, whetherwith or without the latter’s consent, shall bepunishable with imprisonment for a term

Governor signs Sindh EyeSurgery (Restriction) Act, 2014

which may extend to one year and with finewhich may extend to five hundred thousandrupees.” “The term of imprisonment may ex-tend to three years, if the offence results inpartial blindness; and seven years, if the of-fence results in complete blindness.”

“Any person not being a registered medi-cal practitioner, who practices, or holds him-self out, whether directly or by implication,as practicing, or being prepared to practice,eye surgery, shall be punishable with im-prisonment for a term which may extend tosix months and with fine which may extendto fifty thousand rupees.”

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Prime Minister ShinzoAbe in a letter to Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, on the Terrorist At-tack in the Islamic Republic of Paki-stan has said Japan condemns inthe strongest terms the devastatingterrorist attack in Peshawar. Such acowardly terror that took lives ofmany students and teachers atschool cannot be justified for anyreasons.

Japanese PM writes to Nawaz Sharif

Govt, people of Japan condemncowardly attack on School

“On behalf of the Governmentand people of Japan, I express mydeep condolences to those who losttheir lives and its bereaved families,and offer my heartfelt sympathy tothe wound in the attacks.”

Japan stands with Pakistan inthis difficult time. Japan will supportthe Government and people of Pa-kistan to fight against terrorism incooperation with the internationalcommunity.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs

of Japan while condemning the at-tack said that Japan is deeplyshocked and saddened by the ter-rorist attacks which caused numer-ous deaths and injuries includingmany children on December 16, atthe Army Public School in Peshawar(50km from the border with Afghani-stan), Pakistan.

Japan mourns the victims andexpresses its condolences to the be-reaved families. Japan also offers itsheartfelt sympathy to those

wounded in the attacks. J a p a nstrongly condemns such acts of ter-rorism which targets innocent peopleas inexcusable. Japan accuses terror-ism in all its forms and manifestations,committed for whatever purposes,and reiterates that no act of terror-ism can be justified.

Japan is determined to supportefforts by the Government of Paki-stan to fight against terrorism in co-operation with the international com-munity.

STAFF REPORTER

K A R A C H I — P a k i s t a nPeople’s Party (PPP) membersnational assembly EjazJakhrani, Ayaz Soomro andMir Shabbir Ali while express-ing their gratitude to theArmy Chief General RahilShareef for signing the deathwarrant of those convictedterrorist that attacked theGeneral Headquarters andgunned down Army officersand soldiers termed the deci-sion was a great manifest ofcourage, Those shortlistedfor pushing toward the gal-lows for their logic termina-tion for their heinous crime ofterrorism would prove a step

PPP salutes COAS for signing DeathWarrant of GHO attack convicts

ahead toward the eliminationof the terrorist from Pakistan.

They said the terrorismwould only be fully eliminatedfrom the country when thepatrons of the terrorist wouldalso be shortlisted andbrought to task because thelasting peace would not be areality unless the patronswould not be exposed andpunished, as well.

The PPP MNAs said theassassin of Punjab GovernorSalman Taseer, terroristMumtaz Qadri, who had alsobeen awarded the Capital Sen-tence from court of law,should be shortlisted on pri-ority in the second list of ter-rorists to be taken to the gal-lows.

They said it was a wrongperception that the PPP keptthe execution of death pen-alty suspended during its pre-vious regime while the factwas that the PPP had pro-tected the country from worsteconomic sanctions from theEuropean Union, which werelinked to the implementationon death penalty. However,the situation was quite differ-ent today as the whole na-tion and the Army was on asame page and hence thePPP’s key role regardingimplementation on death pen-alty during the All Party Con-ference was splendid and ob-viously candid.

They said the PPP’s

policy on terrorism was crys-tal clear and would supportany step to be taken for theelimination of radicalism, ex-

tremism and terrorism.They said the day when

the terrorist would be ex-ecuted would a test for their

patrons and they would befully exposed and if so, theyshould also be taken to taskfor patronizing the terrorist.

awarding the POSCO Asia Fellow-ship at the University of Karachi.Yang said, “It is our great honor andpleasure to award POSCO Asia Fel-lowship for the second consecutiveyear as well between the Universityof Karachi and the POSCO TJ ParkFoundation established by POSCOthat is an equity partner in TuwairqiSteel Mills Limited.” He further said,“I believe our efforts today will be amilestone to enhance mutual under-

standing and co-prosperity betweenPakistan and Korea.”

On this occasion, Chang-heeLEE, Consular General of the Repub-lic of Korea in Karachi, appreciatedthe efforts of outstanding studentsand said, “Pakistan is blessed withnatural resources and loaded withdexterous manpower; enough recipefor a nation to make it to the top.Pakistan and South Korea have alot in common, be it socio politics or

cultural aspects. The two countrieshave a long history and rich culturallegacy, a treasure of knowledge, ex-perience and acumen acquired overmillennia. Today Pakistan and Ko-rea enjoy a much deeply enrootedfriendly and mutually co-operativerelations since more than six de-cade.”

Prof. Dr Muhammad Qaiser, Vice-Chancellor, University of Karachialso spoke on the occasion.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The labour inspector with pro-vision of the surprise visits of the industriesand other workplaces should be revived in allthe provinces to ensure health and safety ofthe workers. When the labour inspection sys-tem was working properly in Sindh, no such abig factory incident happened, but since thesystem is not working properly so deadly in-cidents like Baldia factory fire happened in

2013 in which over 255 workers lost their lives.Unfortunately, after that incident no measurehas been taken to prevent such incidents.

Senior lawyer Fasial Siddiqi said this whilespeaking at launch ceremony of a documen-tary “Workplace Safety in Pakistan” and acomprehensive report of the “Roundtable onStrategies for Accountability and DecentWork Conditions in the Apparel and GarmentIndustry in South Asia” held at Kathmanduearly this year, at a local hotel Friday.

Labour leaders for new inspectors

An investigation by the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention,found that between 1996 and 2008,

the number of leg and foot amputationsamong U.S. individuals, aged 40+ withdiagnosed diabetes, decreased by 65%.

The study, entitled“Declining Rates ofHospitalization for Non-traumatic Lower-Extrem-ity Amputation in theDiabetic PopulationAged 40 years or Older:U.S., 1988-2008,” is pub-lished online in the cur-rent issue of DiabetesCare.

In 1996, the age-ad-justed rate of leg andfoot amputations was11.2 per 1,000 individu-als with diabetes. How-ever, in 2008 this rate fellto 3.9 per 1,000.

N o n - t r a u m a t i c ,lower-limb amputations,refers to amputationscaused by circulatory problems, ratherthan those caused by injuries. Circula-tory problems are a prevalent adverseeffect in individuals suffering with dia-betes.

According to the researchers, thedecrease in lower-limb amputationsamong individuals with diabetes maypartially be due to factors such as: de-clines in heart disease, improvements inblood sugar control, as well as foot careand diabetes management.

Nilka Ríos Burrows, M.P.H., an epi-demiologist with CDC’s Division of Dia-betes Translation, explained: “The sig-

nificant drop in rates of non-traumaticlower-limb amputations among U.S.adults with diagnosed diabetes is cer-tainly encouraging, but more work isneeded to reduce the disparities amongcertain populations.

We must continue toincrease awareness of thedevastating health compli-cations of diabetes. Diabe-tes is the leading cause oflower-limb amputations inthe United States.”

After examining datafrom the National HospitalDischarge Survey on non-traumatic lower-limb ampu-tations from the NationalHealth Interview Survey onthe prevalence of diagnoseddiabetes from 1988-2008, theresearchers discovered thatthe decrease in rates washigher among individualswith diagnosed diabetesthan people without the dis-ease. Although, in 2008, the

rate was still approximately 8 times higheramong those with the disease thanthose without diabetes.

Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations, kid-ney failure, and blindness among adults.In addition, the disease is the 7th lead-ing cause of mortality in the U.S.. Dia-betes also increases the risk of strokes,hypertension, and heart attacks.

CDC’s Division of Diabetes Trans-lation supports prevention and controlprograms in all 50 states, seven U.S. ter-ritories and island jurisdictions, and theDistrict of Columbia.

Lower limb amputation ratesassociated with diabetes drop

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—A 4-member delegationled by president MQM Punjab MianAtiq met Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif, here Fri-day.

The delegation also includedMember National Assembly of MQMSajid Ahmed, Member Markazi RabitaCommittee Gul Faraz Khattak andzonal head of North Punjab AtiqAbbasi. Speaking on the occasion,the Chief Minister said that the mur-der of two district office-bearers of

MQM in Chiniot and Sialkot is tragicand he is deeply grieved over theseincidents. He said that he had a talkwith Governor Sindh Ishrat-ul-Abadon telephone last night and assuredhim that the culprits will be arrestedas soon as possible.

He said that Punjab governmentexpresses its sympathies and condo-lences to MQM leadership over themurder of two district office-bearersin Chiniot and Sialkot and assure thatthe murderers will be arrested at theearliest and brought to justice. Hesaid that he will personally monitor

the progress of the cases. The ChiefMinister issued instructions to po-lice authorities that the arrest of theaccused involved in the incidentsshould be ensured as soon as pos-sible. He also issued directions toform a joint team headed by Provin-cial Home Minister Col. (R) ShujaKhanzada in this regard.

The committee will compriseMQM office-bearers, public repre-sentatives, heirs of the deceased andpolice officers of the concerned dis-tricts and ensure arrest of the crimi-nals involved as soon as possible.

Shahbaz Sharif also announced fi-nancial assistance of Rs. 10 lakh forthe heirs of the deceased AsgharAbbas. President MQM PunjabMian Atiq thanked the Chief Minis-ter for taking personal interest in thecases.

Provincial Home Minister Col. (R)Shuja Khanzada, Member NationalAssembly Ghulam Muhammad Lali,Members Provincial Assembly RanaSanaullah, Mansha Ullah Butt, ImtiazAhmed Lali, Saqlain Anwar Sipra andSecretary Home were also present onthe occasion.

CM announces Rs one million forheirs of deceased MQM leader

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Department ofTheriogenology of the Universityof Veterinary and Animal SciencesLahore organised on Friday thelaunching ceremony of Interna-tional Symposium on Dairy Ani-mal Reproduction to be held incollaboration with the Society ofAnimal Reproduction Pakistan(SARP).

Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat

International symposium ondairy animal reproduction

Naseer Pasha and SARP Patron/Chief Prof Dr Manzoor Ahmad co-chaired the launching ceremonywhile Director General L&DD De-partment (Extension) Dr NawazSaeed, Prof Dr Nasim Ahmadamong others were also present.

Speaking on the ocassion, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat NaseerPasha said that such symposium arevery important for genetic improve-ment and development of localbreeds. He said it will also bring in

local and foreign experts under thesame roof to share their expertiseand experiences and we shouldtake maximum benefit of the occa-sion. He said that the UVAS alwayssupported such sysposia/events.

Prof Nasim Ahmad describedthe objectives of the symposium tobe held on 30-31th, March 2015. Hesaid that the SARP established 1999always promoted education, re-search and extension activities inanimal reproduction and it within a

few years brought all stakeholdersclose to each other through con-ferences, seminars and trainingworkshops.

Prof Dr Manzoor Ahmad saidthat Pakistan has the largest popu-lation of dairy animals, “so theworld expects from us to be theleader in genetic improvement.”An open discussion was also heldon breeding act in which all the par-ticipants took part and forwardedvarious suggestions.

LAHORE—Snipers will be de-ployed at sensitive educational in-stitutions around the metropolis ,according to a decision made by

Snipers to be deployed at vital Lahore institutespolice high-ups. According toCCPO Captain (retd) MuhammadAmin Wains, security advisory hasbeen issued to administration of all

educational institutions of the me-tropolis following the brazen day-light attack by Taliban extremist onan army-run school in Peshawar on

December 16. It should be men-tioned here that the Peshawar trag-edy has thus far resulted in 148deaths.—INP

PU, LWMC Christianemployees expresses solidarity

with Peshawar victimsMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Punjab University’s Chris-tian community on Friday expressed solidar-ity with victims of Peshawar tragedy by or-ganizing Christmas celebration in a verysimple manner with no cake-cutting cer-emony.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr MujahidKamran, Dean Faculty of Law Prof Dr ShaziaNaureen Qureshi, Registrar Prof Dr LiaqatAli, Director IER Prof Dr Mumtaz Akhter,Christian community’s leaders Liaqat MQaiser, Paster Prof Dr Danyal Khokhar, PUsanitory supervisor Ch Mushtaq Masih, alarge number of Christian employees andtheir families were present on the occasion.

The participants lighted up candles inthe memory of martyrs of Army Public Schooland prayed for the departed souls, bereavedfamilies and prosperity of the country. Ad-

dressing the ceremony, Dr Mujahid Kamransaid that the Peshawar tragedy was the worstexample of barbarism and Islam does not al-low attack on children, women and oldpeople. He said that we must raise voiceagainst evil with unity following the teach-ings of Prophets sent by Allah. He said thatwe must not forget all those people who fellprey to terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Christian employees ofLahore Waste Management Company(LWMC) expressed profound grief and soli-darity with the victim families of PeshawarTragedy and held a prayer ceremony at NasirBagh.

Pervaiz Labha, Union Leader said thatChristian community is with the victim fami-lies of Peshawar tragedy in this hour of gloomand community has decided to cancel allChristmas ceremonies and hence to makecelebrations simply.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—The indigenoustraining program for assis-tant professors of variousdepartments of Punjab Uni-versity has concluded hereon Friday.

Training programmefor assistant professors

PU Vice Chancellor ProfDr Mujahid Kamran, Pro-gram Convener and DeanFaculty of Behavioral andSocial Sciences Prof DrMuhammad Zakria Zakar,Director Planning & Devel-opment Engr Tariq MajeedQureshi and a large numberof assistant professorswere present on the occa-sion.

Addressing the cer-emony, no change was pos-sible in the culture of the uni-versity without regular train-ing of teachers and employ-ees. He said that now theuniversity’s culture had beentransformed, research culturehad been promoted and ad-ministrative capacities ofemployees had improved.He said that assistant pro-fessors would perform ad-ministrative duties in futureand the training programwould help them improvetheir administrative skills.

Member of the civil society hold candle light vigil to express solidarity with the victim families of TTP’s barbaric attack on the army public schooland college Peshawar, at Liberty Roundabout.

People are sitting around fire to keep themselves warms as temperature has furtherdropped in provincial capital.