July 8, 1947: Constituent Assemblyof Pakistan approves the design ofPakistan.July 9, 1948: Pakistan's first postagestamp is issued.July 11, 1950: Pakistan joins theInternational Monetary Fund andWorld Bank.July 14, 1953: Wazir MansionKarachi, the birthplace of Quaid-e-Azam, is declared protected nationalmonument.July 17, 1958: First Nigar FilmAwards held.July 12, 1959: Shukriya Niaz Alibecomes first woman pilot ofPakistan.July 31, 1690: Foundation stone ofMazar-i-Quaid (Mausoleum ofM.A. Jinnah) is laid.July 15, 1961: Jasmine is chosen asthe national flower of Pakistan.July 31, 1964: Pakistan, Iran andTurkey agree to establish RCD July 2, 1972: Simla Agreement issigned between President Bhuttoand Prime Minister Indra Gandhi.July 24, 1976: Lahore-Amritsartrain service, Samjhota Express starts.July 31, 1976: A.Q. Khan researchlaboratories established.July 8, 1986: Peshawar Dry Port isinaugurated.July 17, 1991: Pakistan unveils firstbattle tank Al-Khalid manufacturedjointly by Pakistan and China.July 15, 2001: Agra Summit starts.President Pervez Musharraf andIndian Prime Minister Vajpayeeholds talks over long-standing issues.July 11, 2003: Lahore-Delhi busservice resumed after suspension of18 months.July 14, 2005: NWFP Assemblypasses the Hasba bill with a majorityvote.

July in History

Positive Post is published to project positivity all around Pakistan amongst our youth and the entire nation. Our efforts are to inculcate patriotism and a sense of ownership in them. It is a compilation of news extracted

by the students of Mass Communications and Media Studies of Greenwich University.

Volume VIII, Issue-7, July 2018

The Balochistan High Court(BHC) may have its first womanchief justice following theretirement of incumbent BHCChief Justice Mohammad NoorMuskanzai, who is reachingsuperannuation on August 31.

The Dawn Newspaper has learnedthat the Judicial Commission,which is expected to meet on July30 under the chairmanship ofChief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar,may consider the elevation ofJustice Syeda Tahira Safdar asBHC chief justice.

Justice Tahira Safdar, born onOctober 5, 1957 in Quetta, is thedaughter of renowned lawyer SyedImtiaz Hussain Baqri Hanafi. Shemade history in 1982 when shebecame the first woman civil judgein Balochistan.

If elevated to the top post ofthe provincial high court, shewill make it to the history books

for the second time.

Justice Tahira Safdar is also amember of the three-judge specialcourt which is conducting a trial offormer president retired Gen Per-vez Musharraf for committingtreason by proclaiming the state ofemergency on Nov 3, 2007. Thespecial court was constitutedunder Section 4 Criminal LawAmendment (Special Court) Act1976 for trial of offence of hightreason.

She received her basic educationfrom Cantonment Public School,Quetta, and went on to completeher Bachelors’ Degree from theGovernment Girls College,Quetta.

Justice Tahira Safdar did herMasters in Urdu Literature fromthe University of Balochistan andcompleted her degree in Law fromthe University Law College,Quetta, in 1980.

Justice Safdar was successful in thecompetitive examination held byBalochistan Public ServiceCommission. Subsequently, shewas promoted to the rank ofSenior Civil Judge on June 29,1987, and as Additional Districtand Sessions Judge on February27, 1991.

On March 1, 1996, she waspromoted as District and SessionsJudge. Justice Tahira Safdar alsoworked as a presiding officer in theLabour Court. She was appointedas a member of the BalochistanServices Tribunal on Oct 22, 1998,and worked as such until she wasappointed the chairperson of theBalochistan Services Tribunal onJuly 10, 2009.

While working as chairperson,Justice Tahira Safdar was elevatedto the position of AdditionalJudge of the high court on Sept 7,2009, and confirmed as BHCjudge on May 11, 2011.

Courtesy: Dawn

Justice Tahira Safdar likely to become first woman chief justice of Balochistan High Court

F Rescued mountaineers ............

F Pakistan beat Zimbabwe ..........

F Hog deer gives birth to a .........

F Lahore’s Fort and Shalamar ....

F Turkey to sell four ships ..........

F Pakistani table tennis star ........

F Clutch Fakhar Zaman soars ....

F NICVD records country’s .......

What’s inside:

The Lahore Arts Council (LAC)took measures to turn classes intodiploma and degree courses.

The LAC took measures on the syl-labus of Alhamra Academy of Per-forming Arts and faculty hiring onWednesday.

The meeting, headed by LAC Ex-ecutive Director Atta MuhammadKhan, decided that teachers ofmusic, dance, singing and otherclasses would submit their courseoutlines to the executive director in15 days while the council wouldprepare a summary on the facultyneeds.

Performing arts students will wearidentity cards on the premises of Al-

hamra. Mr Khan said the classes,usually taken as a hobby, would beturned into diploma and degreecourses and the council had signedan accord with the Punjab UniversityMusicology Department and moresuch agreements would be signedwith other cultural organisations.

A second such meeting will be heldwhere artistes, educationists, teach-ers and the administrative staff ofAlhamra will discuss the measures.

The executive director said therewas an immense talent in both vi-sual and performing art fields in thecountry, which the academy wouldtap through streamlining the acad-emy courses.

Courtesy: Dawn

2

Two British mountaineers wererescued early on Sunday andtransported to Skardu along withthe body of their teammate whowas killed the previous day.

Timothy Miller and Bruce Nor-mand were stranded in Camp II(5,900 metres) on the Ultar Peakin Hunza Valley after a largepiece of a glacier fell on their tent,killing their expedition memberChristian Huber from Austria.

The two British climbers werelucky to have escaped unhurt, saidtour operator Abdul Karim, whowas managing the three-memberexpedition on the 7,338 metrehigh Ultar Peak.

Abdul Karim told Dawn on Sun-day that two army helicoptersflew in at 6.45am to airlift theclimbers.

“The body of the deceased wasbrought to the military hospital inGilgit. The surviving climbers re-turned to Skardu to pick up theirgear to head home,” said MrKarim.

The aerial rescue cost $15, 000,according to the Alpine Club ofPakistan (ACP).

ACP secretary Karrar Haidri toldDawn that Ultar Sar was not oneof the highest peaks in theKarakoram Range, yet it wasknown for its dramatic rise overthe famous Altit and Baltit fortsin Karimabad, Hunza. “It is alsorecognised by the striking risingneedle like spire called the LadyFinger,” he said.

“The perception that Utlar is un-conquerable has added to the ap-peal of this peak and climbersfrom around the world seldomtake on the challenge,” Mr Haidrisaid, adding that the Ultar Peakhad seen few successful summitsbut claimed a number of livesover the years.

After three South Koreans werehit and severely injured by an av-alanche last month while climb-ing Latok One, this is the secondaccident where an avalancheclaimed the life of a mountaineer.

Courtesy: Dawn

Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts willnow offer diploma and degree courses Rescued mountaineers ready to head home

The Pakistan Academy of Letters(PAL) on Tuesday launched a bookon renowned writer MustansarHussain Tarar. The book has beenprepared and launched by PAL.

Speaking at the event, PAL Chair-man Syed Junaid Ikhlaq said MrTarar has a very unique way of writ-ing and that it is difficult to findsimilarities in his books.

He said nature has gifted Mr Tararwith a great sense of observationand creation due to which his liter-ary work will always be remem-

bered.

Mr Tarar is an author, travel enthu-siast, columnist and TV host andhas been given a number of nationaland international awards. MrIkhlaq said this is the 134th bookPAL has produced regarding a lit-erary figure.

The book has been written by DrGhafoor Shah Qasim, was reviewedby Dr Amjad Tufail and consists of240 pages.

Courtesy: Dawn

Ustad Mehdi Hassan Khanwould've turned 91 today and tomark the maestro's birthdayGoogle honoured him with a

doodle.

Wearing what the world remem-bers him in; a dark waist coat over

Contd... on Pg.6

PAL launches book on Mustansar Hussain Tarar

Google Doodle honours Mehdi Hassan on his 91st birthday

A hog deer gave birth to a fawn atthe Lahore Zoo. After this addi-tion, the number of hog deer at thezoo has risen to 18 three femalesand 15 males.

Zoo Director Hassan Ali Sukheratold Dawn the fawn and its motherare under strict observation. Hesaid if the mother wouldn’t feed thefawn then zoo staff would makesome other arrangement.

When asked about the sick giraffesuffering from acute diarrhea, thedirector said he was improving fast,adding that both the male giraffeswere fine now.

“With the addition of a fawn to thehog deer family, we have now 18 hogdeer at the zoo”, added Mr Sukhera.

He said though the zoo had not yetreceived the postmortem report ofthe female giraffe who had died onFriday night, doctors had told himthat she suffered from inflamma-tion in her intestine, that was themajor caused of her death.

Zoo, he said, was taking all possiblemeasures to improve the standardof captive breeding, which includebetter enclosures and other suchfacilities.

Courtesy: Dawn

3

Pakistan knocked Zimbabwe out ofthe Zim-Pak-Aus Twenty20 tri-se-ries in Harare on Wednesday, beat-ing the hosts by seven wickets withfive deliveries to spare.

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed saw hisside home with an unbeaten 38,meaning that Zimbabwean all-rounder Solomon Mire's effortsearlier in the game went in vain.

Mire struck 94, the highest score bya Zimbabwean in a T20I, but Zim-babwe's 162 for 4 was not enoughto overcome the world's top rankedT20I side.

Pakistan's chase was given a rapidstart by the openers. Haris Sohailand Fakhar Zaman took 56 fromthe powerplay, but Sohail holed outsoon afterwards.

When Zaman skied Mire to departfor 47, Pakistan needed more than

eight runs an over from the lasteight overs, but Sarfraz's innings ofcalm precision kept them up withthe asking rate.

Executing his attacking strokesperfectly, Sarfraz found the gapsand the boundaries whenever theywere needed.

He displayed a particularly defttouch with his late cut, takingboundaries off left-arm spinnersTendai Chisoro and WellingtonMasakadza with the stroke.

With four runs needed from thefinal over, it was also the shot heused to end the game, glidingseamer Chris Mpofu to the thirdman boundary.

Pakistan will face fellow-finalistsAustralia on Thursday in a deadrubber before the final of the seriesis played on Sunday.

Courtesy: Dawn

The Government College Univer-sity (GCU) Lahore awarded AzizaSaeed and Kausar Inyat with PhDsin philosophy after they completedtheir research on Urdu literaturedespite facing physical challenges.

Saeed is the first visually impairedstudent to receive a PhD from thevarsity, while Inyat was diagnosedwith a brain tumour.

Talking to media, Saeed said thatshe had never allowed her visual in-ability to stand in the way of herpursuit for knowledge.

“Urdu Literature is perhaps themost challenging subject for a visu-ally impaired person as the readingmaterials for this subject are notavailable in audio or digital forms,”she maintained

I used to pay people to record booksfor me, she added. Saeed also de-manded that the government set upa special digital library for UrduLiterature in the country to assistvisually impaired students.

Meanwhile, Inyat said that she hadcompleted a major chunk of her re-search work while lying in a hospi-tal bed. However, she did not let thebrain tumour stop her from achiev-ing her dreams.

GCUF to hold 8th annual convo-cation

GCU Registrar Saboor Ahmedsaid these two women served as aninspiration for other students. “Mayall our students be able to materi-

alise their dreams and make usproud,” he expressed.

Physicist Dr G Murtaza was thechief guest at the opening session atthe varsity’s 16th annual convoca-tion. Alongside, Vice ChancellorDr Hassan Amir Shah, he awardeddegrees to students.

A total of 2,349 degrees will beawarded this year at the varsity’stwo day convocation.

In his address, the vice chancellorexpressed that it had become in-creasingly difficult for the commonman to afford quality education.Therefore, GCU awarded scholar-ships worth Rs62 million to stu-dents from its own budget andendowment fund, he revealed.

He also had a few words of advicefor the students. In the pursuit ofglory, you must retain the funda-mental norms of creativity, farsight-edness and persistence which arequalities that have always beencherished at GCU, he expressed.

He also counselled students tobridge the gap between their idealsand the harsh reality of life. “Yoursuccess lies in the patience and de-termination that you can musterup,” he said.

During his address, G Murtaza ap-pealed to students to never forgetthe contributions of their parents;your parents compromise a lot justso that you can be successful, hestated.

Courtesy: The Express Tribune

Hog deer gives birth to a fawn at Lahore zoo

Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets toknock the hosts out of tri-nation series

Students overcome physical challenges to get PHDs

4

In a first, Navy inducts 32 religious,motivation officers

The 109th midshipmen and 18thSSC course commissioning parade,comprising 45 Pakistani and 43midshipmen from friendly countriesas well as 54 cadets of short servicecommission (SSC) course, was heldat Pakistan Naval Academy PNSRahbar on Saturday.

Chief of the Naval Staff AdmiralZafar Mahmood Abbasi, who wasthe chief guest on the occasion, con-gratulated and extended felicitationsto the graduating officers on achiev-ing this milestone. He highlightedthat in order to enhance spiritualcombat power of the men, for thefirst time, 32 religious and motiva-tion officers (RMOs) had beencommissioned as part of the SSCcourse, according to an official state-

ment.

The statement, however, does notelaborate what spiritual combatpower is and why the need was feltto induct religious and motivationofficers to enhance it.

While taking stock of the prevailinggeo-strategic situation, Admiral Ab-basi said that Pakistan stands forpeace and amity in the region andseeks harmonious and peaceful co-existence in the comity of nations. “However, it will be a mistake if ourdesire for peace is construed as ourweakness. We are fully capable ofgiving a befitting response in case ofany aggression against our country,”he said.

The naval chief reiterated the firmresolve of the Pakistan ArmedForces and underscored that theywere at the forefront of the nationalresolve of cleansing Pakistan fromthe scourge of terrorism.

The naval chief also mentioned thestrategic shift from erstwhile partic-ipation of Pakistan Navy in theCombined Task Forces 150 and 151

under the auspices of the CombinedMaritime Forces to Regional Mar-itime Security Patrols. “In order topursue our national interests withstrategic autonomy, we have now de-cided to institute regional maritimesecurity patrols in the Indian Oceanregion in line with the UN Resolu-tions and UN Convention on law ofthe sea,” he said.

Courtesy: Dawn

"The sidesaddle took hold in the14th century to protect the virginityof a teenaged princess travelingacross Europe to wed the youngKing of England,” writes Americanjournalist and author Jana Bom-mersbach of the policing of howwomen were to sit on a horse duringthe Middle Ages. According to her,Princess Anne of Bohemia (now theCzech Republic) was traveling toEngland to marry King Richard IIwhen she was instructed to rideaside rather than astride.

Ancient Greek sculptures also showwomen riding aside; by the turn ofthe 16th century, it was believed tobe the only ‘ladylike’ way to sit on ahorse in Europe. “The woman doesnot live who can throw her leg overthe back of a horse without profan-ing the grace of femininity,” a malecolumnist elaborated in the LosAngeles Times in 1905. A similarmindset has kept women in Pak-istan from choosing motorcycles –the most affordable mode of privatetransport – for their commutes.

While one can find many womenin neighbouring India donninghelmets and manoeuvring throughthe congested streets of Mumbaiand New Delhi, a woman on a mo-torcycle is a rare sight even in

Karachi, a city of 7.6 millionwomen, according to the latestcensus. Thankfully, the Punjabgovernment has taken a commend-able step to shatter this entirelyunreasonable pretension.

Earlier this year, the provincial gov-ernment launched a motorbike sub-sidy scheme as part of its ‘Womenon Wheels’ initiative. Under thescheme, it aims to provide 3,000customised motorcycles at sub-sidised rates along with free drivinglessons. On May 13, the Punjabgovernment handed the keys of 700motorcycles at an event in Lahoreas part of the initiative. After theevent, the women participated in amotorcycle rally. Hundreds ofwomen riding in tandem — just asthey did two years ago in January

2016 for another ‘Women onWheels’ rally, with the late humanrights activist Asma Jahangir ridingpillion on The Mall.

It is not just that these women nowhave the freedom of mobility; it is afitting response to jeering men likethe American columnist who be-lieve femininity must be governedby rules set by men. A casual glanceat reactions to the third annual bikerally organised by Girls at Dhabas,a small group fighting to reclaimpublic space for women in Pakistan,is enough evidence of the hatesomething as elementary as awoman riding a bicycle can elicit.When the group held concurrentbike rallies in Karachi, Lahore andIslamabad on April 1 this year andposted photos on social media, alarge number of men sent support-

ive messages. But an equal numberof men were livid. For them, awoman on a bicycle was the pinna-cle of depravity. In an environmentthis hostile, the Punjab govern-ment’s initiative carries even moresignificance.

There are over 100 million womenin Pakistan, nearly half the popula-tion. They are doctors, artists, stay-at-home mothers; they arebreadwinners and heads of house-holds. They are second to none.Their contribution to the economyis massive, and yet the potential formore is greater. Gulaban, 25, ahousewife and mother of three fromThar’s Hindu community, drives animposing 60-tonne truck. ZenithIrfan, a student from Lahore, is thefirst Pakistani woman to driveacross the country on her motorcy-cle — the subject of a recent biopicdirected by Adnan Sarwar. Thenthere are countless other womencompelled to get behind the wheelto make ends meet. Will we denythem? No country can possiblyprogress by inhibiting one half of itspopulation and depriving it of equalopportunity. And for that, we do notneed to reinvent the wheel; we onlyneed to ensure there is just one di-rection it moves: forward.

Courtesy: Dawn

Motorcycle diaries: The ‘Women on Wheels’ initiative

5

The World Heritage Committee atits meeting which concluded inManama on Wednesday decided tonot place the Shalamar Gardensand Fort, Lahore, on the list ofWorld Heritage in Danger.

This was confirmed by an official ofUnesco from Paris to this corre-spondent. Three sites in Kenya,Pakistan and Nepal were slated tobe put on the list by the 21-mem-ber committee headed by Ambas-sador Sheikha Haya Al-Khalifa ofBahrain.

A Pakistan delegation, headed bypermanent delegate to Unesco inParis Ambassador Moinul Haque,defended its case. The delegationincluded managing director of thePunjab Mass Transit AuthoritySibtain Fazal Halim and officialsfrom Punjab’s archaeology depart-ment as well as engineering depart-ment of the Lahore DevelopmentAuthority.

The committee considered a reportof the joint world heritage centrereactive monitoring mission to theFort and Shalamar Gardens. Thereport felt that the ‘Orange LineMetro’ was already a reality andthere was no alternative. It becameclear to the mission that the provi-sion of a metro for Lahore did notmean that it had to pass directly infront of the Shalamar Gardens.Two alternative schemes that couldhave provided a solution to a metroalignment were not taken forwardby the provincial government, it

observed.

The fact that these were not con-sidered, the report added, and thatthe World Heritage Committeewas not appropriately informed ofdetails of this major infrastructureproject highlighted fundamentalweaknesses in the protection andplanning of the property, whichmust be urgently addressed.

The mission stressed the need toadequately manage and effectivelycontrol the encroachment andurban development in and aroundthe two places, and in that regardthe Punjab government should im-mediately undertake setting studiesand implement procedures whenproposing an enlargement of theShalamar Gardens’ buffer zone.

In a set of recommendations, themission asked the Punjab govern-ment to rehabilitate the land im-mediately to the west of theShalamar Gardens, which com-prises historical buildings, and in-corporate services for the sitevisitors. The area’s main front sideon the pedestrian GT Road shouldbe treated accordingly, it added.

It was recommended to introduceenvironmental instruments in thebuffer zone; implement control forheight and construction regulationsand remove all inappropriate struc-tures; and install underground in-frastructure.

Courtesy: Dawn

Lahore’s Fort and Shalamar Gardens escape Unesco danger list

The Dubai-based Emirates Air-lines will operate one of the world’slargest double-deck passenger air-planes – A380 – to the new Islam-abad International Airport (IIA)on July 8, the airlines announced.

A press release issued by the air-lines said the one-off A380 flightEK-2524 would depart fromDubai on July 8 at 8am and arriveat the IIA at 1210pm.

The flight EK-2525 will departfrom Islamabad at 3:40pm.

Emirates currently has 104 widebody double-deck airplanes A380sin service and 58 pending delivery,more than any airline globally, theairlines press release said, addingthat it also recently announced a$16 billion deal for 36 additionalAirbus A380 aircraft.

The aircraft on this one-off servicewill be in a two-class configuration– economy and business

“We are proud to bring our flag-ship A380 aircraft to Islamabad,and we look forward to showcasingour innovative products on-boardthis iconic aircraft with the signa-ture Emirates service.

“While this is a special flight; we

are very keen to launch a scheduledA380 service to Pakistan and willcontinue to work with authoritiesto realise these plans,” said, Divi-sional Senior Vice President Com-mercial Operations Centre of theairlines Sheikh Majid Al Mualla.

The Emirates A380 aircraft on thisspecial one-off service will be in atwo-class configuration offeringspacious seats in economy class andfully flatbed seats in business classas well as Emirates’ on-boardlounge.

Emirates and Pakistan have ashared history tracing back to over30 years when the airlines’ flightlanded in Karachi on October 25,1985.

In the last three decades, Emirateshas progressively expanded its op-erations and offering global con-nectivity and world-class servicesto Pakistan’s major cities, includingKarachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Pe-shawar, Sialkot and Multan.

The Islamabad International Air-port, which was made operationalon May 3, has upgraded facilities toaccommodate wide-body double-deck jet airliners with two specialparking bays and latest jet bridges.

Courtesy: Dawn

Turkey will sell four corvette shipsto Pakistan Navy, Defence MinisterNurettin Canikli was quoted as say-ing by state-run Anadolu agency.

Turkey said last year it had signed amemorandum of understanding forthe sale, and Mr Canikli said thetender was now finalised.

He described it as Turkey’s biggestsingle military export deal and “a

very important day” for the defenceindustry.

Courtesy: Dawn

Turkey to sell four ships to Pakistan

Emirates’ A380 special flight lands at IIA

“When I first started playing I didn’thave my own racket; my sister and Ishared one,” shares the 19-year-old

The table tennis camp at the Pe-shawar Table Tennis Club is in fullswing.

Some 15 schoolgirls in green jerseysare busy working on their grip, stance,footwork, forehand and backhanddrive, push, serves and return servesas a few senior players coach them.The enthusiasm of girls as they prac-tice makes Pakistan junior table ten-nis champion Iqra Rehman veryhappy.

It wasn’t that long ago when the 19-year-old first discovered the game,which besides bringing her acclaimalso posed so many challenges in herway to the top.

“It isn’t like things are easier for menow. Each day brings up a new chal-lenge. I have just taught myself totake things in my stride now,” shesmiles.

Iqra’s table tennis journey is both in-spiring and motivating. “When I firststarted playing I didn’t even have myown racket. My sister and I sharedone racket,” she says glancing at theplastic tubs lying next to the tableswith extra rackets and lots and lots ofping pong balls.

Pakistan’s table tennis star IqraRehman, who hails from Chitral, isnow helping other girls take up thegame.

“I am originally from Chitral,” thechampion begins her story. “I startedtaking table tennis seriously when Iwas 15 years old, after passing myMatric exams. But I was introducedto the game in class six when myfamily moved to Peshawar and meand my sister, Nimra, who is only ayear younger, were admitted to theGovernment Comprehensive HigherSecondary School for Girls,” she says.“It was there that one day, when bothof us had gone to the water coolerdownstairs to fill up our water bottles,that we were met by a sports teacher,who casually asked us, judging fromour skin colour and features perhaps,if we hailed from Chitral. Seeing usnod she smiled and said that some of

her best table tennis players had alsobeen from Chitral, but they hadpassed out from school now. Then sheinvited us to her table tennis class.Nimra obediently followed her but Imade up some excuse and ran away,”Iqra laughs at the memory. “I wasmore into volleyball and footballthen, but that teacher didn’t give upon me.”

Two years passed like this. Then therewas a table tennis camp being organ-ised by the Khyber PakhtunkhwaTable Tennis Association in which,somehow, because of her sister whohad started playing well by then Irqa,too found herself getting roped in.“But there were four girls and threerackets between us. I only got to playwhen my sister was free and when Icould borrow her racket. Quitefrankly, I was fine with the arrange-ment because not having a racket wasmy excuse for not playing,” shelaughs.

“Another two years passed, I wasplaying off and on. It was our ninthand 10th years in school and ourmother also wanted us to concentratemore on our studies rather thansports. I must mention here thatNimra, who had received a doublepromotion in school, was studying inthe same year as me. Then after ma-triculation, she announced that shewanted to take up table tennis moreseriously. Our father said that hergoing to practice and play at the clubwas out of the question if she planneddoing it alone. I had to accompanyher. Again there was only one racket.Hers. I never tried getting one formyself. So she would play with it firstand then I would also swing it arounda bit,” Iqra says.

It was going on like this when one

day her sister’s coach at the club no-ticed that the girls were sharing oneracket. He then presented Iqra with aracket of her own. “That was whensomething changed. It was just amedium-level Chinese racket but itinspired me to play table tennis withall my heart. That’s when I also over-took Nimra in her game,” she says.

“The coach said to me that despite myplaying so little he had noticed thatmy style was different from the otherspracticing at the club. He said that Ihad learnt shots when the others werelearning footwork and stance. He saidI played like a professional,” she says.RIVALRY

Working on improving her game fur-ther, Iqra started getting more praisefrom everyone who happened towatch her in action. But while a fanfollowing grew around her she alsocreated some enemies. “Another girlthere, also a good player, became jeal-ous. First she called me a showoff andthen she started badmouthing me tothe coach who used to encourage me.I used to go play at any table beingsupervised by any coach or senior andshe would tell him that I did it be-cause I had no faith in his coaching,”she says.

“At first it got to my coach, too. Butthen he asked me himself why Iplayed at other tables to which I sim-ply explained that I did it to not wastetime since I didn’t like waiting for theothers to finish at the table assignedto him. It was also a good warm-up,not to mention the extra practice, andhe got my point,” she says.

“Then when that didn’t work my rivalstarted pointing fingers at my charac-ter, saying I didn’t care about the tabletennis game but liked indulging inother games women play to trap men.

This time her allegations really got tome. Things became so bad after awhile that my thoughts turned to my-self and how I carried myself. I startedexperiencing anxiety,” she says.

Iqra feels no embarrassment in sayingthat after a while she had to resort totherapy. “It wasn’t just what this girlwas going around saying about me inour circles. It raised eyebrows even inmy family when they got to hearabout it. My father, his sister and mycousins all wanted me to give up play-ing, but it was too late for that. I haddeveloped a love for the sport by thenand couldn’t imagine giving it up,” shesays.

“To satisfy them I would don a burqaand tell them I was going out to studybut I would be wearing my practicekit underneath that garb. I got thecourage to do this from my motherwho has always been on my and mysister’s side. She would tell us, espe-cially me, to not worry about any-thing the relatives said and follow myheart. And I did,” Iqra says.

“Not giving up I kept playing,” shesays. Appearing for trials, getting se-lected for camps, getting selected inprovincial and national squads andproving her mettle and winning atchampionships improved her rankingto make her the national junior fe-male champion of Pakistan.

PARALLEL BODIESDue to infighting within the tabletennis circles in Pakistan the sport it-self has been badly affected and is ata standstill now. Iqra says that she is19 and can no longer come under thecategory of a junior player, which isan under-18 category.

“But there is hardly any table tennisactivity in the form of tournaments orchampionships going on here for usto compete in now. For internationaltournaments, too, you need to have ano objection certificate from the gov-ernment or the Pakistan Sports Board[PSB] in order for the Federal Inves-tigation Agency to let you travel andtake part in any event abroad, whichthe players do not get because of theparallel table tennis bodies function-ing here after the Pakistan Table Ten-nis Federation elections of last year,”Iqra explains.

Courtesy: Dawn

6

Pakistani table tennis star Iqra Rehman is helping other girls take up the sport

The National Institute of Cardio-vascular Diseases (NICVD) onMonday announced that a team ofits surgeons had successfully im-planted the Left Ventricular AssistDevice (LVAD), commonly knownas a ‘mechanical pump’, in the chestof an elderly woman patient whoseheart desperately needed mechan-ical support to properly pumpblood into her body.

NICVD executive director ProfNadeem Qamar and US-returnedtransplant surgeon Dr PervaizChaudhry, who led the surgery,claimed they had slotted in an ar-tificial heart into the chest of thepatient.

“Dr Pervaiz Chaudhry led a teamof our surgeons today and success-fully implanted an artificial heart,technically known as LVAD, to afemale patient,” Prof Qamar toldreporters at the facility after thesurgery concluded.

He said the patient was doing fineafter the surgery and would be ableto breathe without support and talkto her family from Tuesday (today).

Procedure costs over Rs10m; it wasperformed for free at the hospitalThe NICVD officials said the sur-gery was the first of its kind in Pak-istan both in public and privatesector hospitals.

The LVAD is a supportive devicethat helps in pumping of bloodfrom the left ventricle of a patientwhose heart’s left ventricle has be-come weak while it does not re-place the heart of the patient withthe mechanical device.

Caretaker Sindh Health MinisterDr Sadia Rizvi was also present atthe briefing.

Prof Qamar said the facility’s ulti-mate goal was to achieve the targetof heart transplant, which, he said,would be a reality within next twoyears.

“LVAD implants would continuein the days to come and we aregoing to perform another LVADtransplant in a couple of days atNICVD. We have identified somefour to five patients who qualify forthe LVAD insertion and these pa-tients would get LVAD implants,”said Prof Qamar.

He said an LVAD implant costsmore than Rs10 million, while “nota single penny was received fromthe patient’s family for the expen-sive surgery”.

Earlier, NICVD had identified for-mer hockey goalkeeper MansoorAhmed as its first patient to receiveLVAD, but he died before the sur-gery could be performed on him. Prof Qamar said an Americannurse, Abigail Boultinghouse, as-sisted the team of surgeons in thesurgery, while doctors, postgraduatestudents, nurses and technicianswere there to learn. He added thatthe US nurse would train localnurses in dealing with these pa-tients after surgeries.

Dr Chaudhry said he had beenperforming implant surgeries for adecade. He said the surgery atNICVD was successful.

He said LVAD implant was a “des-tination therapy” for the patient,who would not require any hearttransplant throughout her life as“this device would help her heartpump blood from seven to 10years”.

Courtesy: Dawn

7

NICVD records country’s first LVAD implantsurgery on a female patient

Fakhar Zaman, who cemented hisreputation as a clutch former onSunday, has deservedly soared tonumber two in the InternationalCricket Council's (ICC) T20Iplayer rankings for batsmen.

The Man from Mardan, who madehis name with a scintillating cen-tury in the ICC Champions Trophyfinal against India last year, was atit again in the Tri-nation T20 seriesdecided against Australia.

Unfazed by wickets tumblingaround him, Fakhar smashed a 46-ball 91 that paved way for Pakistanto track down the Aussies' 188-runtarget with four balls and six wick-ets to spare.

In all, Zaman scored a staggering278 run in five outings in the Zim-babwe-hosted tournament at an av-erage of 55-6 — almost unheard-offigures for the game's shortest in-ternational formats.

His incredible production was dulyrewarded as the latest rankings pub-lished by the ICC has seen him soar

to the number two spot, behind justAustralia captain Aaron Finch.Zaman now has 842 rating pointsjust 49 less than Finch's tally.

Zaman's ascension sees India'sLokesh Rahul, previously numbertwo, deteriorate to number three.Also among the casualties ofZaman's rise is his teammate BabarAzam, who is currently inactiveowing to a forearm injury he suf-fered in March during the tour ofEngland.

Meanwhile, spin starlet ShadabKhan continues to occupy the sec-ond spot in the corresponding T20Iratings for bowlers.

Elsewhere, Azam is number two inthe ODI rankings for batsmen,trailing Indian captain Virat Kohlionly. Hasan Ali is number three inthe 50-over rankings for bowlers,whereas Mohammad Hafeez isnumber two in the all-rounder lists.No Pakistani player ranks amongthe top five in any of the Testcricket rankings.

Courtesy: Dawn

Clutch Fakhar Zaman soars to number 2spot in ICC T20I rankings

cream coloured shalwar kameez,Mehdi Hassan's doodle sits withhis harmonium, surrounded by can-dles and his music.

Mehdi Hassan's contribution toPakistani film music was second tonone. He lent his voice to morethan 300 films and it is said that inall he sang more than 5,000 songs

Proof, if proof be needed, is that hewon as many as eight Best PlaybackSinger Nigar Award trophies, a fig-ure even Noor Jehan could notmatch. His solos include such im-

mortal numbers as 'Mujhe tumnazar se gira to rahe ho', 'Ik nayemod per le ayen hai halat mujhe','Yoon zindagi ki rah pe takra gayakoi' and 'Pyar bharay do sharmeelaynain'.

He belonged to the golden era offilm music in the subcontinent. Topmusic directors of Pakistan’s filmindustry felt honoured and privi-leged on getting their compositionssung by Mehdi Hassan.

The Pakistani singer passed away inJune 2012 after battling a decade-long illness.

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Teefa in Trouble has racked upearnings of Rs14.26 crores in itsfirst week of running, confirms thefilm's distributor Nadeem Mandvi-walla. Rs9.86 crores were earneddomestically and Rs4.4 crores in-ternationally.

This is the "highest and unprece-dented figure for Pakistani films on

a non holiday week", according toMandviwala who attributes thefilm's box office success to excellentmarketing.

"In my opinion, Teefa is the bestpromoted film of the last 10 years.With a great teaser followed by avery exciting trailer and then fol-lowed by beautiful songs. The digi-

tal campaign of the film has beenexcellent. Proper time was given toall the promotional material to cre-ate the excitement in the public."

He added, "We can't ignore thefact in this that it was Ali Zafar'sfirst production in Pakistan andgenerally everyone was waiting tosee its outcome."

Mandviwala doesn't believe thatprotests against the film or its mainstar affected its earnings in any way,but it's had other challenges.

"The biggest challenge was to openthe film in the most troubled weekof the year, i.e., the election week,"says Mandviwala.

In its upcoming second week, Teefawill clash with Mission Impossible:Fallout and Sanjay Dutt-starrerSaheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3, but heisn't worried."[The new releases] is only going to

complement the already successfulfilm rather than compromise itsbusiness. They will give an addedreason for people to come to thecinemas as they have greater choiceof films to see. That can't become adeterrent [to Teefa]. It can onlycomplement it."

Courtesy: Dawn

Teefa in Trouble has made over 14 crores in its first week