KARACHI: They are like heavy industrial machines but they are not in factories in the big industrial areas of Karachi such as Korangi or SITE. You can find them in little shops around Ramaswami, Garden, Saeed Manzil, Old Golimaar and even the back streets of Tariq Road.

Men in dark shops with hands and faces stained with grease work on them to manufacture small parts for motorcycle, car, truck or generator engines while taking care of other things such as cutting holes in metal, grinding to smoothen the rough edges in crankshafts, cylinder bores, pistons, etc. There are lathe machines, drilling press and boring machines, milling machines, chain pulley blocks for lifting heavy stuff, etc.

Being located in commercial areas and not proper industrial areas of the city, these small workshop owners deal with all kinds of issues faced by the other shops, the biggest of them being loadshedding. “We remain without power for three two-hour breaks. But the work has to go on, too. We try working around this issue. When there is no power, we use generators to run our machines or that time we utilise in doing other work where the hands are needed more than the machines,” says Rais Ahmed, who is in charge of one such workshop at Ramaswami.

A boring machine.

All such small workshops also don’t do the same kind of work. “Though we all fix moving parts in engines, we repair and make generator parts, they do the same for motorcycles and rickshaws,” explains Ahmed while pointing to a similar workshop right across his.

The workshops do as much work inside their shops as they do outside on the pavements. “It’s cooler outside, especially when we don’t have electricity,” he points out.

Heavy machine work under way in a small shop.

“We are not car garages, mind you,” explains Saeed Ahmed, owner of another such workshop near the Radio Pakistan building at Saeed Manzil.

“See, garages have mechanics, we are machinists,” he says. “Still the garages cannot survive without us and we look to them for business. The mechanics open up the engines coming to them for overhauling or repair or reconditioning. And when they need to replace a part or clean it up to make it as good as new, this is where they come,” he adds.

Engine pistons.

Asked why not just replace parts, Mohammad Khalid at Garden shakes his head and smiles. “Years of use may make crankshafts rough. You need a grinder to smoothen the opening in order to allow the oil to pass through easily and help the engine run smoothly. Now repairing and reconditioning from here may cost you something around Rs6,000 while a new one will be Rs15,000 or more,” he reasons.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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KARACHI: The world’s greatest footballer, Leo Messi, has an interesting way of signing autograph. He writes Messi in a swishy, slanting style whereas underneath that he pens Leo. There’s certain artistry to it.

On the other hand his arch rival Cristiano Ronaldo keeps his signature relatively more legible. So Messi scores high even on that count. What about the sports personality of the (20th) century Muhammad Ali’s autograph. Well, that and some top-notch international musicians’ signatures can be seen in Titans exclusive sport and music memorabilia that went on display at the Sanat Gallery on Saturday.

The two-day exhibition carries a decent, and dazzling, variety of collection-worthy memorabilia belonging to international superstars. There’s guitar genius Slash (of Guns ‘n Roses and Snakepit fame) whose signature on a Stedman Pro guitar is as convoluted as his hair, because it is difficult to know whether what he’s written is Slash or his real name Saul Hudson. To be honest, it’s not that difficult.

And yes, the Boss, one of the greatest vocalists ever, Bruce Springsteen’s name is there too, on the back of a pair of jeans, with an LP of his iconic 1984 album Born in the USA.

Perhaps the keepsakes related to boxer Muhammad Ali are the ones that will attract more viewers because not only is there a red boxing glove signed by him on view but another exhibit highlights his famous 1975 fight with Joe Frazier, alongside his picture on the cover of the magazine Boxing Illustrated. For all Ali fans, it’s a must-see.

It will make them happy to read ‘Ali won via 14th round TKO’.

Of course, with the good comes the bad. The reference is to Iron Mike Tyson. His signature on a pair of boxing shorts is accompanied by the claim ‘baddest man on the planet’. The way it’s written gives the indication as if he did that in less than 90 seconds, the time period he used to take to knock his opponent out.

Apart from these great personalities’ autographs, collectors and art lovers will find in the exhibition signed items of sporting giants Pele, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Michael Jordon, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Usain Bolt and our very own Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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KARACHI: With receding state role in planning and providing low-cost housing to workers, the city has been left to private and informal sectors to use its land for business and investment, causing an imbalance between low and high density residential areas.

These views were expressed at a seminar on ‘Planning and Rehabilitation for the City’, organised by the Social Sciences Department, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist), on Saturday.

Experts at the seminar looked at the civic issues in Karachi from the past to the present in the face of poor planning and mismanagement.

Dr Noman Ahmed, chairperson of the Architecture and Urban Planning Department of NED University, said there had been various attempts at planning Karachi as this major port, industrial and commercial city experienced several phases of rapid growth.

His paper ‘The Planning Dilemma’ besides throwing light on those plans also pointed out that Karachi provided 15 per cent of Pakistan’s total GDP, 25pc federal revenues, 50pc of total bank deposits and over 70pc of all the issued banking capital. And yet thanks to its image portrayed by the media that usually focused on negative things, it was seen as a troubled city, he said. In fact, he added, foreigners received cautious travel advice while visiting here. The city had an aware young population who mostly remained frustrated due to inadequate recreation, Dr Ahmed said, adding that the land and property in Karachi was mostly to invest as the city densified.

Meanwhile, the utilities did not keep pace with the development as storm drains became sewers and transport crisis worsened, he said. The administrative set-up saw the municipalities losing management strength as departments in the Sindh government were crippled by corruption, he added.

Tasneem Siddiqui, chairperson of SAIBAN, spoke about housing shortage, katchi abadis and housing projects. He said that things could have been managed at the Partition time when so many people migrated here from India, as then Karachi had a great mayor but he was bypassed when it came to city planning as was the provincial government. And the federal government that came in to run Karachi didn’t know what to do while city planning got neglected. “There are low density residential areas of Clifton, Defence and PECHS where the affluent live and then there are the densely populated areas where the low-income group resides. There is no balance between the two, which could have been avoided,” he said.

The federal government then also decided that instead of just being a port city, Karachi should also be the industrial hub of Pakistan. Thus came up the industrial areas such as the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE), Korangi, etc. And people moved from the agriculture areas to the industrial areas in search of employment. “When you set up industry, you also start a housing colony there first, like the Russains did for the Steel Mills here. But it didn’t happen [afterwards],” said Mr Siddiqui.

The government, too, wasn’t developing colonies but developing plots, which people could buy. “This plot development caters to the rich, not the poor who don’t have the resources to purchase plots. Therefore, while you have a densely populated city on one side, you also have some 200,000 plots along with 50,000 apartments lying vacant on the other.

“On one side there is a huge need for housing for workers and on the other there is the private sector not interested in housing for the poor. When the state isn’t interested in doing that either you have the informal sector as the biggest supplier of housing here,” he said.

“The katchi abadis are seen as breeding areas for criminals, vagabonds, pimps, etc. People want these ugly places to be bulldozed but they need them when they need low-income people as servants, as where else are they going to live?” he asked.

Arif Hasan, architect and town planner and chairperson of the Orangi Pilot Project, said there were no oases in Karachi this day due to hunger for land of the rich and need of land of the poor.

Since 1947, he said, around 72pc of the various katchi abadis coming up to house the poor had been regularised. “Earlier, housing for low-income people sprang near their places of work but now cheap land is faraway, on the city outskirts, but living on the periphery has serious problems,” Mr Hasan explained before showing images of clean Dubai with more images of their labour force sleeping in crowded rooms as there seems to be no room for them in the beautiful city where they work. The message that Karachi, too, was heading in that direction was scary.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has said that PML-N’s second wicket has fallen but it took the chief of a political party to struggle for two-and-a-half-years and spend millions of rupees to get justice. He said PML-N’s third and fourth wicket would fall soon.

He announced that the PTI would contest the NA-122 by-election with full force under “neutral umpires” only.

Mr Khan was speaking to the highly charged supporters at his Zaman Park residence here on Saturday after a tribunal set aside election of Ayaz Sadiq in NA-122 and that of Mohsin Latif in PP-147 and ordered re-polling. He congratulated the party leaders and workers whose struggle during the 126-day sit-in had materialised.

Mr Khan lambasted the Election Commission of Pakistan and returning officers for allegedly playing a fixed match in favour of PML-N and added that the judicial commission’s report had exposed them all by identifying 40 lapses and mismanagement on their part.

He also condemned the Nadra chairman for charging him Rs2.6m and still failing in verifying the voters’ thumb impressions on ballot papers.

He said the judicial commission had identified that four ECP provincial members were responsible for the lapses and mismanagement in the 2013 elections. “ECP offi­cials should be ashamed now and resign voluntarily, otherwise a sit-in would be staged against them,” he added.

The PTI chief said the tribunal’s decision had proved that he did not waste country’s two years and put the blame on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the same. “Now the people of Pakistan have come to know that why Nawaz Sharif was not opening the four constituencies for investigation,” he asserted. “Every constituency opened from now onwards will prove that rigging was committed in the general elections.”

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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KARACHI: The higher education budget has been increased from Rs43 billion to Rs78 billion showing the high priority status the government gives to this sector, said Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Dr Ahsan Iqbal in a speech at Karachi University International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) on Saturday.

The minister was delivering an address at the opening ceremony of the Centre for Bioequivalence Studies and Clinical Research at the ICCBS.

“The government is making efforts to make higher education accessible to every youth in the country. The National Curriculum Council (NCC) has been set up to reform the education sector. The centre’s prime aim is to encourage critical thinking among students,” he said.

The NCC would introduce standardised examination system in the country, a major initiative following the 18th constitutional amendment under which the subject of education had been devolved to provinces, he added.

He urged the youth to explore new avenues and develop positive thinking, while highlighting the importance of self-believe in the life of an individual.

He appreciated the university efforts in setting up a research facility of international standards and announced government support for the institution.

Linking the country’s prosperity with a durable peace in Karachi, he said that economic stability and prosperity was possible through knowledge-based and research-oriented society. He described Pakistan-China economic corridor as an initiative that would change Pakistan’s destiny.

“The government is focusing on the export goal of $150 billion by 2025 and plans to set up a US-Pakistan knowledge corridor that could help the country learn from US experiences and successes in the field of education, science and technology.”

Dr Iqbal Choudhary heading the ICCBS said that the centre for bioequivalence studies was the first certified reference laboratory in the country that would conduct bioequivalence evaluation and development of generic pharmaceutical products in full compliance with the regulatory authorities in Europe, the US and Japan.

“The centre has complete testing facilities that include clinical monitoring of patents, blood sample analysis, statistical analysis and evaluation of equivalence of products. It is initially being funded by the government of Pakistan and ultimately would become a profit-earning organisation.”

KU vice chancellor Prof Mohammed Qaiser said that the university had played a pivotal role in promoting higher education especially its centre for chemical and biological sciences.

Former minister of science and technology Prof Atta-ur-Rahman appreciated the government step to increase the higher education budget and shared some suggestions on improving the higher education standards.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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KHAIRPUR: Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Saturday observed that Khaipur has special economic, social, political and religious bonds with Iran, which has centuries-old relations with the region in which Pakistan is situated.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Iran-funded Mother & Child Care Hospital near Khairpur, Mr Shah said that it was one of the many such hospitals being established in different districts of the province including Larkana, Thatta, Shaheed Benazirabad and Badin.

The chief minister hoped that the 40-bed healthcare facility would provide quality service to women from across Sukkur and Khairpur districts, as well as the surrounding areas.

He noted that the Iranian government had also pledged provision of free-of-cost medicines for two years to the patients visiting the hospital.

He also laid the foundation of a girls primary school to be established near Khairpur with Iranian funding.

Speaking at the ceremony, Iranian Consul General Mehdi Subhani said the health and education projects were a gift for the people of Khairpur from his country. He said Iran and Pakistan were long-time friends and such projects would further strengthen the relationship. He said that the education and health projects being executed in Sindh with his country’s assistance were a gift from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The envoy also expressed the hope that the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project would open new avenues for people’s welfare in the region. He said the project would also help run power generation projects to end Pakistan’s energy woes.

Mr Subjani said that his country was providing a 74-megawatt power project to Pakistan, and work on the provision of another 3,000-megawatt project was under way.

Earlier, Sukkur Commission Mohammed Abbas Baloch welcomed the distinguished guests at the ceremony.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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LAHORE: Supporters of PTI celebrate the election tribunal’s decision here on Saturday.—Online

ISLAMABAD: Ayaz Sadiq may manage to get a stay order from the Supreme Court, but the decision of the Lahore election tribunal against him has definitely made him a ‘controversial figure’.

Political and legal experts believe that it will be difficult for Mr Sadiq to maintain the prestige and sanctity of the office of National Assembly speaker till the completion of the court’s proceedings and he could face tough times in the legislature.

“You can hide a small stain on coloured clothes, but it becomes visible even from a distance if it is on white clothes,” remarked Kamran Murtaza, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, when contacted for his comments on the future of the speaker after the tribunal’s decision in favour of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

He said the tribunal’s decision would not have had much impact had Mr Sadiq been a simple member of the assembly, “but since he is the custodian of the house it will have a great impact”.

In response to a question, Mr Murtaza said there seemed to be no legal or constitutional bar on Mr Sadiq to continue to perform his duties as speaker, provided he got a stay from the Supreme Court — the only forum available for challenging the tribunal’s decision.

PTI’s Asad Umar told Dawn that Mr Sadiq had a legal right to file an appeal before the apex court and seek a stay on the implementation of the tribunal’s decision, but he had lost “moral grounds” to occupy the speaker’s seat.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah said he did not see any political crisis in the near future after the election tribunal’s decision.

He said the speaker had a right to appeal in the apex court and political parties should wait till the outcome of the court’s proceedings. He, however, admitted that the election tribunal’s decision was a blow for the PML-N and it had rejuvenated the PTI which suffered a political setback after the judicial commission rejected its charges of rigging in the 2013 general elections.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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PESHAWAR: Former chief minister and Awami National Party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has said that there are ‘unhappy’ lobbies active outside the province which are trying to foil the devolution of powers to the provinces assured under the 18th amendment.

Speaking at a gathering held at the Bacha Khan Markaz, he said that ANP which fought for the provincial autonomy would continue its efforts till it translated the 18th amendment into action.

Without naming those lobbies, Mr Hoti said that it was a long and slow struggle to devolve powers to provinces in the true sense. It is still a challenge, he said.

“It is going to be a challenge for any political party active for Pakhtun rights in the province,” he said while explaining how the party’s slogan “Khpala Khwara, Khpal Ikhtiyar” (right to own one’s own land) still needed to be translated into action. He said that the party would continue to raise it as election slogan for the next general election.

Hoti says party to make a comeback in next general election

The ANP leader’s words met with applause as the crowded party secretariat also welcomed the announcement by Qaumi Watan Party’s district vice-president Manzoor Ali Khalil and a number of his young supporters to join ANP.

“I am joining ANP because whether it was terrorism, Kalabagh dam or China-Pakistan Economic Corridor issue this party always stood for our rights,” said Mr Khalil, a young politician who has influence in PK-4, PK-5 and PK-6 constituencies of Peshawar.

Mr Hoti welcomed Mr Khalil and his supporters into the party and claimed that ANP would emerge as a winner in the next general election. He said that his party had continued political struggle despite terrorist threats.

Comparing results of 2013 general elections with the recent local government elections, he said that ANP was on second position in the recent LG polls despite its limitations like being a part of an alliance and facing terrorism threats. He said that ANP had shown better results in Swabi, Buner, Swat and Malakand in LG polls.

Mr Hoti said that though ANP was pushed to the wall by terrorist organisations in the general elections, he was still engaged in strengthening it. He hoped that the party would make a comeback in the next general elections though threats to the party workers were still there.

Answering a question, the ANP leader said that if PML-N had accused the KP government of investing power generation funds in the stock exchange, the federal government should hold an inquiry into such allegations.

Earlier, Mr Hoti inaugurated Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council’s building in Peshawar and said on the occasion that all political parties should respect each other’s mandate. He said that ANP had accepted Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf mandate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so it should do the same in other provinces.

The ceremony was attended by the council’s vice-chairman Ahmad Farooq Khattak, its other members and senior lawyers. Mr Khattak said that the council was working for the welfare of lawyers and had started their medical insurance. He said that the council had computerised the lawyers’ record from 2009 onwards, which would keep fake degree holding lawyers away from practice.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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LAHORE: The Green Town police investigating an alleged girls’ abuse case involving a teacher at an academy confirmed that the suspect made more than 10 objectionable video clips and captured many such photos of the students.

Police said the medical reports, however, did not confirm the allegation of raping the girls at the academy.

Inquiries confirmed that the teacher, in his 50s, would make objectionable videos of his minor students at the academy through his mobile phone.

The scandal had surfaced a couple of days ago when father of a victim complained to police about this heinous crime. In a written complaint, he informed police that the teacher was involved in immoral activities and hurling threats of uploading video clips of his daughter on the internet to get money.

More than a dozen under-10 girls were getting education at the academy, where police conducted raid and arrested the suspect. Police also recovered from his home some video clips and seized his mobile phone.

Saddar Division SP Zahid Nawaz Marwat told Dawn that a majority of the girls attending the academy were from one to 10th class. “Police have recovered 10 video clips and some photographs from the custody of the suspect which confirmed the allegations of his involvement in immoral activities,” he said.

He said the scope of investigations had been widened now since police came to know that the suspect was running tuition centres in many areas of the city for the last six years.

SSP Investigation Rana Ayyaz Saleem said police acted promptly after receiving complaint of a local resident. He said the medial reports of the girls did not confirm the allegation of rape but initial investigations confirmed that he had captured objectionable photos of three girls at the academy.

The SSP said the teacher was unmarried and holding a BSc degree. During interrogation he claimed that he would film girls to impart sex education which showed that he needed psychological treatment, he added.

The Green Town SHO said the suspect had made suicide attempt but police foiled it.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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KARACHI: Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday defended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to not visit the Liaquat National Hospital to inquire after the health of Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Rashid Godil, saying he did not want to cause trouble for patients and visitors at the health facility.

While shutting the door of negotiations with the federal government on the issue of its lawmakers’ resignations from parliament and the Sindh Assembly, the MQM had late on Friday night also criticised the PM for not visiting the wounded MNA during his recent visit to Karachi.

Mr Iqbal visited the LNH to inquire after Mr Godil’s health. He told reporters that he visited Mr Godil on behalf of PM Sharif as the premier did not want to put thousands of patients and visitors in trouble in the hospital by visiting it with the mandatory protocol.

“We are ready to talk on all the issues,” he said, adding that the prime minister’s attitude towards the MQM was not hostile as had been reported in a section of the media and asked the MQM to review its decision of resigning from the legislatures.

Reiterating that the operation in Karachi was not against any political party, Mr Iqbal said his government was keen to see the MQM represent its constituents as the PML-N had desired for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on the same issue.

Special assistant to the chief minister of Sindh for culture and tourism Sharmila Faruqui also visited the MNA.

Meanwhile, doctors at the LNH said the condition of Mr Godil was stabilising well on the third day since he was taken off the ventilator. A spokesman for the hospital said Mr Godil was steadily making progress without the breathing apparatus for the third day running under ‘strict observation’.

“He is improving well, which is not short of a miracle for one who sustained five bullets,” said Anjum Rizvi, LNH spokesman.

He said Mr Godil was mentally alert and was responding positively. He was given tea and water and doctors observed that his body responded positively with no difficulty in the passage of food and satisfactory digestion.

However, he could not speak because of swelling in the neck and communicated through signs and gestures.

However, Mr Rizvi said, the MNA would remain to be considered in danger until he was shifted from the intensive care unit to the ward.

He said the MNA who was shot five times in a planned attack on Tuesday was mentally aware and had not lost his memory.

Doctors said Mr Godil had sustained five bullet wounds two in the neck and three in the chest and abdomen. One bullet which affected his right lung was still in the body and would stay there as he was not yet stable enough to be operated upon.

Meanwhile, investigators on Saturday received a forensic report which suggested that MQM lawmaker’s car was attacked from the left side.

The attackers fired eight shots and all bullets were fired from outside, said an investigator.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Following a dramatic midnight raid on the Madressah Haqqania that led to at least four arrests on Thursday night, the capital police on Saturday booked the seminary’s administrator under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Maintenance of Public Order, but no arrests were made, officials told Dawn.

Following the raid, Qari Ahsanullah – who is also the khateeb of the adjoining Masjid Qasmia – had delivered a Friday sermon that severely criticised the police action against the seminary. Police had taken at least four men into custody from the seminary. The suspects are said to be linked to the Attock bombing that claimed the life of Punjab home minister Col Shuja Khanzada.

After receiving information about the alleged use of hate speech by the cleric, the Special Branch were asked by the Central Police Office to investigate the issue.

They were also tasked with preparing a report on the khateeb’s more incendiary speeches and recommending legal action against him, sources said. “The Special Branch probe found that the khateeb targeted security forces and the government in the speech and declared them agents of foreign intelligence agencies,” an official told Dawn.

Qari Ahsanullah accused of inciting people against the government, riling up religious sentiments

During his speech, he incited the people against the government of the day and used religion to incite them towards violence, according to the FIR lodged against Qari Ahsanullah.

In response to the Special Branch report and their recommendations, a case was registered against Qari Ahsan under ATA 11EE (Proscription of persons) and 16 MPO (Dissemination of rumours). The complaint was lodged by the station house officer of Margalla police station.

Qari Ahsan was already included on a watchlist, under the Fourth Schedule of the ATA, since 2009.

Consequently, he was required to regularly submit surety bonds ensuring his good behaviour, officials said, adding that he had also made a commitment that he would not get involved in promoting sectarian hatred and would respect the state and it departments.

However, the speech on Friday violated his surety bond of good behaviour, which led to the registration of the case against him.

An police officer, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that although the case had been registered, he had not been arrested.

“We are waiting for directions from the concerned quarters before taking further legal action,” he added.

When Qari Ahsan was asked for comment, he claimed to be unaware that a case had been registred against him. “First I will see if an FIR has been lodged against me and what the charges are and then I will decide what to do,” he told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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LAHORE: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has issued a “show-cause notice” to Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) for failing to furnish audit reports for the last two years despite repeated promises, and threatened to take “penal action” if the company failed to comply within seven days.

According to the company insiders, the external auditors’ reports for 2013-14 and 2014-15 are missing from the Lesco’s own record, which the SECP is now demanding under Rule 25 of the Public Sector Companies (corporate governance) Rules 2013, and threatening to take punitive action against the company.

In its latest correspondences, the SECP reminded the Lesco that “the company was issued notice on May 13, and it assured (in its reply on May 26) that the report was with external auditors and would be produced as soon as it gets it back. However, the desired compliance is still awaited despite considerable delay. Now the company is advised to produce audit report within seven days or risk punitive action.”

SECP has issued show-cause notice and set deadline for compliance

As the Lesco was still dealing with the issues of its failure to comply with missing reports of 2013-14, the second notice by the SECP reminded it that the same report for the year 2014-15 is also overdue and may attract additional punitive measures.

According to the Lesco insiders, the company is facing twin problem: change of external auditor at the wrong time and failure of three of its directors to “declare that they don’t have any conflict of interest, while sitting on the Board of Directors – a prerequisite for external auditor to authenticate that the company was being run according to its rules.”

As per officials of the Lesco, the auditor for the said year was changed in the middle of the process. The previous one aborted the process in the middle and new one refused to certify conduct of the company saying that the period belonged to the previous auditor and he was not responsible for that particular time span. Thus audit report is missing for the entire year, which is a huge violation of corporate governance rules and the SECP has set a deadline (Aug 24) for the production of report, which the company does not have.

The second part is equally crucial, which contains declaration by the Board of Directors that they meet the criteria of “independent director,” as set by the SECP and don’t have any “conflict of interest.” The definition includes that the director should not be in the service of Pakistan or of any statutory body or any other body or institution owned or controlled by the government.” Here lies the problem; the chairman of the Board of Director, Musadik Malik, is in service of Pakistan – for being adviser to the prime minister, with a status of sate minister. Signing the declaration for him, which is the essential part of the “statement of compliance” that the Lesco is supposed to submit regularly. So, out of two essential components, one is missing and other is self-contradictory – holding the Lesco back to produce, what it is legally bound to submit every year to the SECP for being incorporated under it.

When asked about the developing situation and its complications for the company, Lesco Company Secretary Mian Afzal, who is legally bound to run the company according to SECP law, said: “We have sent declaration forms to board members and all of them still have not signed them. The company would submit reports as soon as they sign it and the external auditors certify audit report.”

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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NEW DELHI: Likening the history of India-Pakistan talks to a heavily potholed road, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday that regardless of the ups and downs along the way, the journey would have to be completed through talks, and that war had never solved anything in the world.

Ms Swaraj set near impossible preconditions for the (now cancelled) national security adviser-level talks at her press conference, which looked more designed to deter than to welcome the Pakistan delegation to New Delhi. However, she sounded sanguine that the current stalemate was of a piece with similar setbacks dotting their common path. The briefing preceded the announcement about cancellation of the New Delhi talks slated for Sunday.

The minister said India and Pakistan were signatories to the Shimla agreement, which prescribed a strictly bilateral dialogue to resolve their disputes, including Kashmir’s fate. As such, she contended, there was no room for a third party, be they Hurriyat Conference or anyone else to claim participatory rights in an India-Pakistan discussion.

The spirit of the Shimla pact, therefore, settled the issue of Mr Aziz’s desire to meet Kashmir’s resistance leaders during his abandoned Delhi visit. Ms Swaraj insisted that the Ufa mandate clearly stipulated that the NSA-level talks would be limited to terrorism and violence. She accused the Pakistan side of wrongly conflating the preamble of their joint understanding in Russia with the “operative” part of the Ufa mandate to the NSA talks.

“It is wrong of Mr Aziz to say that we are running away from discussing all the other issues with Pakistan. The Delhi meeting was proposed to create the right atmosphere for resumption of the normal dialogue.”

In reply to a question, she said New Delhi and Islamabad had been travelling a difficult road to peace. “It is a journey full of difficult potholes. Sometimes the vehicle would get a flat wheel. Sometimes the springs would collapse. Inevitably, we would get up and resume the journey.”

In contrast to the vitriol on Indian channels about the abandoned talks, Ms Swaraj sounded assuring, albeit firm or even occasionally terse. “The most intractable problems in the world can only be solved through dialogue. War has never solved anything,” she said.

The future lay with talks, and not militarist postures, between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, she observed.

MEDIA HEARSAY: A reporter from a channel known for screaming insults at Pakistan invited her to consider the evidence his channel had allegedly secured to pin Dawood Ibrahim’s hideout in Karachi. “Two governments don’t discuss issues on media hearsay. And whatever evidence we have on anything will not be discussed with you before we share it with our Pakistani interlocutors.”

Someone asked her if she found it wrong on the part of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to allow meetings between the Hurriyat leaders and Pakistani visitors, she snapped: “Let bygones be bygones.”

She chided Mr Aziz for showing three purported dossiers on an Indian agency’s subversive work in Pakistan during his press conference in Islamabad. “I consider Mr Aziz to be a person of serious deportment. So I was surprised to see him flashing the dossiers to press… These things are done in a structured way. Dossiers are supposed to be a serious piece of evidence.”

She blamed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the events leading to the cancellation of the Delhi talks, saying he had been put under severe pressure by hawks in Pakistan to abandon “the anti-terror talks he agreed to in Ufa”.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Amid intense bickering, the government decided on Saturday to cancel the planned meeting of national security advisers with India, citing New Delhi’s refusal to allow an expanded agenda and a meeting with Kashmiri leaders.

The Indian external affairs ministry immediately termed the decision “unfortunate” and tried to wash its hands of the controversy that led to the cancellation of the meeting by saying that it “did not set any preconditions”.

“The scheduled NSA-level talks cannot be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. A meeting held under conditions set by India “would not serve the purpose” of “reducing tensions and restoring trust as a first step towards normalisation”, it added.

Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz was to have travelled to the Indian capital on Sunday for the Aug 24 meeting with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

Aziz says agenda proposed by Pakistan was in line with Ufa understanding

The decision was announced after Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj virtually set a deadline for Pakistan to decide by midnight if it was ready to go ahead with the talks by agreeing not to meet the Kashmiri leaders and restricting the discussion to terrorism.

“If they don’t agree to this, there would be no talks,” Ms Swaraj said at a press conference in Delhi.

Foreign policy strategists went into a huddle after this statement for a final decision, although Mr Aziz had made it clear at a press conference earlier in the day that he could travel to Delhi only if India did not impose any conditions.

In its rejoinder to Ms Swaraj’s statement, the Foreign Office said that instead of talking only about terrorism, the matter needed to be discussed along with other issues marring the relationship between the two countries.

“If the only purpose of the NSA-level talks is to discuss terrorism, then instead of improving the prospects for peace it will only intensify the blame game and further vitiate the atmosphere,” it said.

Explaining the insistence on a broader agenda, Mr Aziz said Pakistan only wanted to discuss a future roadmap and modalities for discussion on other issues and was not seeking substantive negotiations on them.

Sushma Swaraj speaks at a press conference in New Delhi.—AP

The FO statement on the cancellation of the meeting said: “That is why Pakistan had suggested that apart from discussion on terrorism-related issues, the two sides should also discuss modalities and, if possible, a schedule for discussions on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek, in keeping with the understanding of the Ufa statement. That is the only way to improve the prospects for peace between the two countries.”

Mr Aziz said the three-point agenda proposed by Pakistan was in line with what had been agreed during a meeting between the prime ministers of both countries in the Russian city of Ufa last month.

Discord explained

He revealed the proposed agenda that had set off the row.

Besides a discussion on terrorism, Pakistan had sought inclusion of two additional points in the agenda -- a review of the progress on decisions taken in Ufa regarding release of fishermen, facilitating religious tourism and restoring peace along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary; and exploration of the modalities for discussions on other outstanding issues, including Kashmir, Sir Creek and Siachen.

Considering that many incidents of terrorism “blamed initially by India on Pakistan eventually turned out to be fake, it is not improbable that India can delay the resumed dialogue indefinitely by concocting one or two incidents and keeping the LoC hot,” the Foreign Office said.

Rejecting Indian pressure for cancelling Mr Aziz’s planned the meeting with Hurriyat leaders, the Foreign Office reiterated that it could not change the longstanding practice of holding meetings with the Kashmiri leadership during visits of Pakistani leaders to India.

Mr Aziz virtually suggested an alternative meeting of the NSAs in New York on the sidelines of the coming United Nations General Assembly Summit for handing over three dossiers on Indian intelligence agency RAW’s involvement in Pakistan.

“If I do not get this opportunity on Aug 24, I hope I will get a chance to hand them over to Mr Doval in New York next month, if he accompanies Prime Minister Modi for the UN General Assembly,” he said and added that later the dossiers would also be shared with the UN secretary general.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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KASUR: District Police Officer (DPO) Ali Nasir Rizvi on Saturday suspended five policemen in the child sex abuse scandal for allegedly granting favours to the suspects arrested in the scandal.

Suspended moharars include Muhammad Ahmed, Muhammad Aslam Bhala, Muhammad Nazir, Muhammad Ashraf and Muhammad Amir of A Division, B Division, Crimes Investigation Agency and Ganda Singh police, respectively.

The regional police officer had already suspended Ganda Singh Station House Officer Muhammad Akmal for providing information to the suspects about complainants in the scandal, while two inspectors were booked in murder case of a relative of the suspects.

The victims, on the other hand, continued their boycott of the joint investigation team for the sixth consecutive day and did not appear before the team’s panel to get their statements recorded.

So far, the JIT has completed investigations of seven cases and submitted a report to the Lahore High Court. The team also sent recovered video clips to a forensic lab.

Two fresh complainants surfaced in Hussain Khanwala village alleging abuse, and submitted their applications. Police were looking into the matter.

DPO Rizvi said police would register a case if it receives any application. He also said delinquent officials would be taken to task and justice would be done with the victims.

RAPE: Kanganpur police on Saturday booked three suspects for allegedly raping a minor boy.

According to the complainant, a main suspect and two of his accomplices took her eight-year-old son to a deserted place in Rukanpura and raped him.

Police registered a case, while no arrests had been made until the filing of this report.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Sup­reme Court office declined on Saturday to entertain a petition moved by the father of a convict believed to have been sentenced to death by a military court.

Zahir Shah, the father of Haider Ali who is said to have been convicted by a military court, had filed a petition before the Supreme Court on Aug 8. The petition sought orders for the authorities to provide the record of the trial court proceedings so that a proper appeal challenging the judgment of the military court could be filed either before the Supreme Court or the high court.

Advocate Zulfikar Ahmed Bhutta filed the petition before the Supreme Court on behalf of Mr Shah.

On Saturday, the Supreme Court registrar returned the plea to the petitioner on the grounds that he had not approached the high court concerned or any other appropriate forum available to him under the law for the same relief.

The office order also stated that the petitioner had failed to provide any justification why he approached the Supreme Court directly, instead of going to the lower courts first.

Moreover, the office order explained, the certificate provided by the petitioner does not fulfil the requirements of Rule 6 of Order 25 of Supreme Court Rules, 1980.

The rules state that an application for the enforcement of any other fundamental right under Article 184(3) of the Constitution will set out the name and description of the applicant, the relief sought, the grounds on which it is sought, and shall be accompanied by an affidavit verifying the facts relied on. The application will also state whether the applicant has moved the high court concerned for the same relief and, if so, with what result.

In his petition, Mr Shah pleaded that awarding a sentence and the non-provision of the case record was in sheer violation of Articles 4 (right of individuals to be dealt with in accordance with law) and 10A (right to fair trial) of the Constitution, which was not only against fundamental rights as guaranteed under the Constitution, but also against the natural law.

The denial of the right to appeal, revision or to seek any other legal remedy available to the accused against a conviction or capital punishment itself creates a cause of action against the authorities concerned, the petition pleaded.

The petition claimed that Haider Ali was arrested on Eidul Fitr, Sept 21, 2009, when he was 14 years old and a student in the 10th grade at the Malakand Public High School, Swat.

While dismissing petitions challenging the 21st amendments, a 17-judge full court of the Supreme Court, in a majority judgment, had reaffirmed that any order passed, decision taken or sentence awarded by the military courts will be subject to judicial review by the high courts and the Supreme Court on the grounds of being coram-non-judice, without jurisdiction or suffering from mala fides including malice in law.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2015

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QUETTA: Security officials recovered the bodies of three abducted labourers from Balochistan's Turbat district on Sunday.

A levies official said that bullet-riddled bodies of the three men were found in Dasht tehsil of Balochistan. The official added that all victims had received multiple bullet wounds, and were shot from a close range.

Locals in the area had spotted the bodies and had informed security forces. The corpses were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Turbat for postmortem.

Security personnel reached the site and cordoned off the area, and also started an initial investigation into the incident.

The bodies were identified as Juma Khan, Gul Khan and Yehya Khan by the security sources, the deceased labourers were involved in the construction of a road in the area.

Read: Four labourers abducted in Turbat

Suspected militants on Thursday had kidnapped the labourers from Balochistan’s Turbat area.

Security forces had launched a search operation in the area following the abduction to trace out the culprits.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the kidnappings, or the subsequent murders.

Earlier in April, gunmen killed 20 construction workers and injured three others in a pre-dawn attack on a labourers’ camp near Turbat, in Balochistan’s Kech district. The attack which was widely condemned across the country was claimed by Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will preside over a meeting of the federal cabinet on Monday to discuss the security situation in the country, it is learnt on Sunday.

Sources said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had been asked to give a comprehensive briefing to the cabinet on the implementation of the National Action Plan to counter terrorism.

The plan was launched by the government following a multi-party conference held in the wake of the last year’s Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar which left over 145 people, mostly children, dead.

The cabinet is expected to also discuss two important legislations — the Right to Information Bill and the Cyber Crime Prevention Bill.

Two similar private members’ bills are already at present under consideration of the parliamentary committees.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Intelligence agencies have rescued a Chinese tourist kidnapped last year in an area close to insurgency-prone regions, it was announced on Sunday.

The unidentified man was abducted in May last year from Daraban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the border with Baluchistan province and the South Waziristan tribal district, both of which are rife with insurgents.

“The Chinese tourist was recovered on Saturday night after a successful operation and is to be handed over to the Chinese embassy in Islamabad anytime soon,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a press conference in Islamabad, without giving details.

Officials said the man was apparently travelling through the area by bicycle when he was seized last year.

A faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had said it was behind the abduction.

But Khan did not disclose from where and under what circumstances the tourist was rescued.

Know more: Video purports to show kidnapped Chinese tourist

However, a video released by militants in May this year had purported to show a Chinese tourist kidnapped by Taliban-allied fighters a year ago asking for his government to help him be released.

A militant known to belong to a Taliban splinter group called Jaish al-Hadeed had released the video. While it could not be independently verified, the man in the video resembled other known photographs of Hong Xudong, kidnapped in May 2014.

In the video, the man identified as Hong asks for the Chinese government to fulfil his kidnappers’ ransom demands.

Hong went missing after entering Pakistan from India in April 2014. He was abducted on May 19 in the town of Daraban on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan.

Police only found his passport, bicycle and belongings. Following Mr Hong’s abduction, the leader of a Taliban splinter group called Shehryar Mehsud, Abdullah Bahar, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Bahar later was killed by a suspected US drone strike.

It’s unclear what relationship Shehryar Mehsud has with Jaish al-Hadeed, though Taliban splinter groups frequently cooperate with each other.

China is one of Pakistan's main allies, investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects including nuclear power plants, dams and roads.

China in April announced it would invest $46 billion in infrastructure, energy and transport projects as part of an ambitious project dubbed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has agreed to hold meeting with Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leaders to discuss party resignations and its return to the Parliament, DawnNews reported on Sunday.

Sources close to JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is mediating between the MQM and the government, said the meeting is expected to take place in the next two or three days.

The JUI-F chief is coordinating with government in this regard and will inform the MQM after deciding a meeting date with PML-N leaders, sources added.

Moreover, DawnNews further reported that a meeting of the MQM coordination committee will be held in London to discuss the matter.

Know more: Fazl, Dar, Khursheed Shah urge MQM to reconsider talks

MQM lawmakers had simultaneously submitted their resignations in the National Assembly, Senate and the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday August 12, 2015 due to reservations over the Rangers-led operation in Karachi.

The MQM legislators had accused the law enforcement agencies of discriminatory action against MQM, forced disappearances and extra judicial killings.

The prime minister had then requested the JUI-F head to hold talks with the MQM leadership in an attempt to convince them to withdraw their resignations.

Maulana visited the MQM headquarters earlier this week but the mission remained inconclusive in the wake of an attempt on the life of Muttahida MNA Rashid Godil. However the two sides had agreed to put the talks on hold for a while and start the process again in a couple of days in Islamabad.

But before the next round of talks could begin, MQM in a statement said its members’ resignations from all three legislative floors were final, adding that it would not partake in dialogue over the matter anymore.