Want justice not compensation, accused should be hanged publicly: Father of Badaun gangrape victims

Badaun: Family members of the two teenage cousins who were gang-raped and hanged, on Saturday termed the incident as more gruesome than the December 16 gangrape case and demanded that the accused should be hanged publicly. Father of a victim, who was gangraped in Ushait area on May 27 night, said that the incident was "more gruesome than Delhi rape case which rocked the nation." He also demanded a CBI probe adding that there should be nothing less than capital punishment. Earlier in the day, Congress vice presdient Rahul Gandhi also visited the kins of victims. "The manner in which the entire world saw our innocent girls hanging, we want that in the same manner it should watch the accused hanging. They should be hanged publicly," decased girl's father said. The father said that he did not believe in the promises and announcements of the state government.The victim's father said that they don't want any compensation. "We want justice and not compensation," he said. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had yesterday came down heavily on police officers warning them that such incidents should not be repeated any cost. He had said that family of victims should be given and also sanctioned financial assistance of rupees five lakh each to the family members of the two cousin sisters. However, the victim's father said that they don't want any compensation. "We want justice and not compensation," he said. Earlier all the five main accused, including two policemen, have been arrested in connection with the gangrape and murder of two Dalit sisters here, police said today. Constable Chhatrapal Yadav was arrested late last night and Urvesh Yadav was detained in the wee hours today, Superintendent of Police A K Saxena told PTI. All the five accused named in the FIR, including constables Sarvesh Yadav, Chhatrapal and three brothers Pappu Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav and Urvesh Yadav have been arrested. The FIR was registered against seven persons including two unnamed men after outrage over the incident. Taking note of the incident, Katra Sadatganj police outpost in-charge Ram Vilas Yadav was been suspended and two constables -- Sarvesh and Chhatrapal -- were terminated from services yesterday, Saxena said. While the two constables have been booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, the three brothers have been booked under Section 302 (murder) and 376 (rape). The two girls, who were cousins and aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree in the village in Ushait area on May 28. The postmortem report of the two girls confirmed that they were raped before murder. A lot of hue and cry has been created by the opposition, with BSP supremo demanding a CBI probe into the matter. The family of the two victims had also demanded a CBI probe, saying they had no faith in local police which was "hand in gloves" with the accused. The father of one of the girls had yesterday called for transferring the case to the agency alleging that the role of police was "suspicious". "The role of police in the entire incident is suspicious. Had the cops acted timely and did not showed laxity, lives of the girls would have been saved. They were hand in gloves with the accused," father of one of the victim had told PTI here. The Uttar Pradesh government has also sanctioned financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh each to the family members of the victims while directing officials to provide security to them.

Bangladesh, Myanmar troops clash over missing soldier

DHAKA: Gunfire erupted on Friday between troops along the Myanmar-Bangladeshi border over a soldier Bangladesh alleges was shot by its neighbour’s security forces and dragged over the frontier. The clash broke out on Friday afternoon after the man’s body was not delivered back to Bangladesh’s border police as expected, said Devdash Bhattacharya, police chief in the southeastern district of Bandarban. “The Myanmar Border Police was supposed to return the body today (Friday), but we’ve just received reports that gunfire has erupted at the border,” he said. Bhattacharya alleged the Myanmar Border Police took away the Bangladeshi soldier’s bullet-riddled body after they opened fire on his patrol team along the border on May 28. Bangladesh shares a short stretch of land with Myanmar in the Bandarban district, which sees periodic tension, while the rest of its land borders are with India. Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2014

Police arrest 13 over gang-rape in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police have arrested at least 13 people, including a father and his two sons, over the alleged gang-rape of two teenage girls, an officer said on Friday. The girls — aged 15 and 17 — were raped on May 20 for hours by a group of men in an abandoned hut in the northern state of Kelantan, Lai Yong Heng, the state’s director of crime investigation, said. Police have arrested 13 men, aged from 15 to 38, and are looking for “a few more” in connection with the gang-rape, he added. Lai dismissed early reports that almost 40 people took turns in the rape, saying the number was fewer. Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2014

Another European team goes missing in eastern Ukraine

KIEV: A second team of European monitors was reported missing in restive eastern Ukraine on Friday despite army claims it had regained control over much of the separatist rust belt. The United States meanwhile voiced growing concern over the sudden appearance of fighters from Russia’s war-ravaged Chechnya among rebels who have been waging a seven-week insurgency against Kiev’s rule. The rebels for their part dismissed speculation of a rift in their ranks after a dozen local militants were evicted from their seat of power in Donetsk by a brigade comprising largely of Chechens and other Russians from the violence-plagued North Caucasus. The increasingly volatile conflict — growing more complex as rivalries emerge among rebel commanders — has ensnared a steadily climbing number of Europeans tasked with helping to resolve a crisis that has threatened the very survival of Ukraine. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said on Friday that it had been unable to establish contact with four of its monitors and their local translator since the group was stopped by “armed men” at a roadblock in the eastern region of Lugansk. The Vienna-based organisation — formed in the 1970s as a forum for dialogue during the Cold War and now a principal player in the worst East-West standoff since that era — added that another four members detained by rebels in the neighbouring Donetsk region on Monday were still missing. The self-proclaimed “people’s mayor” of the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk confirmed on Thursday that the OSCE team that went missing on Monday was being held on suspicions of spying. Another pro-Russian commander from the little-known Southeastern Front claimed in a statement issued to the Interfax news agency earlier on Friday that his men had detained the team in Lugansk. But a spokesman for the self-proclaimed “Lugansk People’s Republic” denied that the group was being held against its will. “Nobody arrested the four OSCE observers,” Volodymyr Inogorodskiy said. “They finished their work late (on Thursday) night in Severodonetsk and we advised them not to leave the city because of the (security) situation,” said the spokesman. Western leaders have long accused the Kremlin of choreographing the insurgency in order to upset the rule of the European-aligned team that rose to power in Kiev in February — a charge Russian President Vladimir Putin denies. The defence ministry said on Friday that the insurgency has thus far claimed the lives of 49 Ukrainian servicemen and 128 civilians and separatists. But the recent appearance among the rebels of trained gunmen from Chechnya — a mostly Muslim region that fell under Kremlin control following two post-Soviet wars for independence — has fuelled fears of the conflict being transformed into a proxy war involving elements from other unstable regions of the former USSR. Ukraine’s acting defence minister said his forces were in high spirits despite the downing of a military helicopter on Thursday by the rebels that killed at least 11 soldiers and a general. “Our armed forces have completed their assigned missions and completely cleared the southern and western parts of the Donetsk region and the northern part of the Lugansk region from the separatists,” Mykhailo Koval told reporters. Rebels in control of the Lugansk and Donetsk government buildings have declared independence and are seeking a merger with Russia similar to that accomplished by Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea following its seizure by pro-Kremlin troops in March. Ukraine’s acting president Petro Poroshenko also vowed to punish those who used a sophisticated surface-to-air missile to shoot the MI-8 helicopter out of the Lugansk sky. Poroshenko — a 48-year-old confectionery tycoon who backs closer ties with Europe but once enjoyed good relations with top Russian officials — won nearly 55 per cent of Sunday’s presidential ballot thanks to a message focused on bringing a quick end to the separatist drive. He has since reached out to Putin and promised to hold his first talks with the Russian leader when they both attend D-Day commemorations in Normandy on June 6. But Putin has yet to confirm the meeting and Washington has once again called on Moscow to take a more constructive approach. Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2014

China releases $49 million more for N-J project

LAHORE: The Chinese government on Friday released $49 million through Exim Bank of China for Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project in a bid to help Pakistan accelerate the pace of work on the mega hydel scheme. As the government was facing financial issues for timely completion of the project, senior officials concerned termed funds from China a major development that would help them accomplish various tasks on time. The Exim Bank of China is among five major funding agencies besides Saudi Fund, Islamic Development Bank, Opec Fund for International Development, Kuwait Funds contributing millions of dollars to the $2.74 billion project, according to a revised PC-1. “The Exim Bank alone has committed to contribute about $450 million to the project under a soft loan. The bank had earlier released over $17 million to our government,” a senior official told Dawn. He said keeping in view the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s interest in the early completion of the project’s first unit by December 2015 and power generation by January or February 2016 after a test run, authorities had increased the pace of work. “The project, which requires Rs2 billion per month for its completion on time, is very important for the government for adding 969MW to the national grid. It will considerably help the government reduce loadshedding by at least two hours a day,” the official explained. He said 61pc work on the project had been completed. Approximately 70pc digging for 67km tunnels and 100pc digging of underground powerhouse and transformer halls had been completed. Published in Dawn, May 31th, 2014

PML-N MPA kidnapped

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Rana Jamil Hasan was abducted on Saturday from an area in the country's central Punjab province, DawnNews reported. Police said Hasan was kidnapped from an area near Pindi Bhattian in Punjab. Police has launched an investigation into the abduction of Hasan who was elected to the Punjab Assembly from PP-174. The MPA was on his way to Islamabad along with members of his family when the kidnapping took place. The kidnappers have demanded five crore rupees as ransom for Hasan’s recovery. They have also threatened the MPA’s family with serious consequences in case the payment is not made to the group within two days’ time. It was not clear who was behind the kidnapping of the PML-N MPA who was not flanked by any security detail at the time of the abduction.

Five suspects in custody over India cousins gang-rape

KATRA SHAHADATGUNJ, India: Five men have been arrested over the gang-rape and deaths of two girls found hanging from a mango tree in a northern Indian village, police said Saturday. The discovery of the two cousins, aged 14 and 12, in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday is the latest sexual violence case to have stirred national outrage. “Rape on both the girls has been confirmed. The cause of their death was asphyxia,” Budaun district police superintendent Atul Saxena told AFP. Saxena said preliminary cases had been filed against five men who were all being held in custody. Three are accused of rape while two policemen face charges of conniving with criminals and neglecting their duties. Two other men were also named in a police complaint filed by the victims' families but their whereabouts were unknown, Saxena added. The farming family of the two cousins from the lowest Dalit caste told AFP police could have “saved” the girls but claimed they refused to help when they found they were from a lower caste. “She was my everything, my world — and now my world has come to an end,” the grief-stricken father of one victim said. The alleged attackers were also from a higher caste. There is a long history of women and girls from India's lower castes — especially those who belong to the Dalit caste who were previously known as “untouchables” — of being sexually abused by people from higher castes. Uttar Pradesh is deeply divided along caste lines. “These policemen didn't act for hours when they could have saved two young lives. Why is caste everything?” said the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Medical tests showed the victims had been sexually assaulted multiple times. India toughened its laws on sex attacks in the wake of the Dec 2012 gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi which triggered nationwide protests, but the move has done little to stem the tide of sex attacks. The father said his daughter and her cousin were attacked when they went to the fields to relieve themselves as there was no toilet in their house. The father told AFP his brother heard screams from the field where the girls had gone. The brother got into a scuffle with five men, trying “to get them to leave the daughters who were being molested”, but fled when they threatened to shoot him, the father said. The family reported the crime to police who told villagers the girls were with an upper caste village man and would be back “in a couple of hours”, the father said. Then they got a call from a woman saying their daughters' bodies were hanging from a tree. “This was nothing but plain murder and (caste) conspiracy,” he said. Indian families forbid naming of the victims or their families. “The cops were totally hand-in-glove in getting our daughters killed,” said the father of the other victim. Rights activists said the crimes highlighted Uttar Pradesh authorities were “not serious” about tackling sexual crime. Amnesty International said a lack of toilets across India forced women to answer the call of nature outside, “making them more vulnerable to violence”

Farzana Parveen's father sent on week-long physical remand

LAHORE: An anti-terrorist court in Lahore sent Mohammad Azeem, father of Farzana Parveen, who was bludgeoned to death outside the Lahore High Court, on a seven-day-long physical remand, DawnNews reported. Twenty-five-year-old Farzana was beaten to death with bricks on Tuesday outside the high court building by over a dozen attackers, including her own father and brother, because she had married a man against her family’s wishes. The union was unacceptable to the family, who had filed an abduction case against her husband Mohammad Iqbal. Farzana was attacked when she went to the court to record a statement in favour of her husband. Azeem was produced before the ATC today, following which he was sent into physical remand for a period of one week. During today’s proceedings, the court had stated that the judiciary was tasked with the administration of justice, adding that no one could be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Iqbal, who was at the ATC’s premises today, said he hoped that the court would administer justice in the case, adding that his wife was “unfairly murdered”. Earlier on Friday, police teams in Lahore investigating the murder took another four suspects into custody — Mohammad Atta, Nasir (driver), Alam Sher and Jahan Khan (brother). However, four nominated accused — her two brothers, former husband and a sister-in-law — are yet to be arrested. There are six nominated and over 20 unidentified accused in the case. The brutal incident drew sharp criticism and widespread condemnation from inside and outside the country.

Pakistan's wronged daughters

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Dark tale of love and murder in Pakistan's rural heartland

Muhammed Iqbal, 45, shows a picture of his late wife Farzana Iqbal, at his residence in a village in Moza Sial, west of Lahore, May 30, 2014. — ************************************************************************************* Muhammed Iqbal, 45, shows a picture of his late wife Farzana Iqbal, at his residence in a village in Moza Sial, west of Lahore, May 30, 2014. — Photo by Reuters MOZA SIAL, Pakistan: A Pakistani man whose pregnant wife was bludgeoned to death by angry family members who did not approve of the marriage fondly recalled a brief life together with the woman he fell in love with at first sight. Farzana Iqbal, 25, was murdered by a group of assailants including her father on Tuesday, witnesses and police said, because she fell in love with and married Muhammed Iqbal in January instead of a cousin they had selected for her. "She was a very happy person. And she was the best wife anyone could ask for," Iqbal, 45, told Reuters in his mud-brick home in the village of Moza Sial in central Pakistan, 240 kilometres west of Lahore. "She never lied. She never broke her promises. That's what I loved and respected the most about her. She never let me down. But I let her down. It was my duty to save her and I let her down." The dark tale of love, betrayal and murder has stunned people around the world, with the United Nations condemning Farzana's killing and a major international newspaper running a photograph of the grisly aftermath of the attack on its front page. In Pakistan, a Muslim country of some 180 million people, the reaction has been more muted. Many conservative families consider it shameful for a woman to fall in love and choose her own husband. Refusal to accept arranged marriages frequently results in "honour killings". In 2013, 869 such cases were reported in the media, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and the true figure is probably higher since many cases go unreported. News travelled further afield in this case partly because it took place in broad daylight outside the High Court in the city of Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital. Murder, marriage, murder The couple's relationship was itself born of a shockingly violent act, one perpetrated by Iqbal himself. In a blunt admission, he said he killed his first wife in a fight over Farzana in 2009. "I got angry. We were fighting, the kind of fights husband and wife often have. But I held her by the neck and just meant to push her but she died," he said. "I was going to see Farzana and she stood in my way and said she wouldn't let me go. So I pushed her. There was a murder case against me for three to four years but then my sons forgave me, so I went free. Then I married Farzana." Under Islamic law, which is accepted by Pakistani courts, victims' families can decide the fate of convicted criminals. On Tuesday, Farzana, her husband and other family members were attacked on their way to Lahore High Court, where they had planned to argue that their marriage was genuine in response to a charge of kidnapping brought by Farzana's family. "During the scuffle, one unknown accused brought out a pistol and fired a shot which reportedly ... hit Farzana near the ankle," said a Lahore police source. "At the same time, the father, Muhammad Azeem, hit Farzana with a brick taken from the roadside, while Zahid, the brother, and Mazhar Iqbal, the cousin, also joined in. Farzana died on the spot." Umer Cheema, a police official in Lahore, told Reuters her autopsy showed that Farzana was shot in the shin, adding that police had arrested four people including her uncle Attaullah and her father. A police source said Farzana had actually been married at the time of her wedding to Iqbal, but told the families she was engaged. Iqbal denied the previous marriage, saying his late wife's family used the accusation to build a case against him. Wedded bliss Iqbal, a farmer, cried as he prayed at the freshly dug grave of his wife. Leaves and rose petals were strewn over the earth, and the petals stained the back of his white shirt red. He said he and his wife had been threatened by her family several times after he told the father he was unable to pay more than $800 to win approval for the relationship. Attempts in Lahore to contact representatives of the four arrested people were not immediately successful, and it was not clear whether they had lawyers. Iqbal described his friendship and short-lived marriage with Farzana as blissful. "Our lands are side-by-side and I used to see her when she came to her lands," he said. "I found her very beautiful and I fell in love with her. I asked for her hand in marriage and her family agreed at first." "She used to love singing this song to me: 'Don't talk ill of the lover who is gone, Don't think bad of the one you love'. She would always sing this to me," Iqbal added, fighting back tears. "When I took a shower, she would wait outside with my clothes. And she would sit me in front of the mirror and comb my hair. When I went to work on the fields, she often came along. I would tell her to go back home but she said she wanted to stay there with me." Her stepchildren from Iqbal's previous marriage said they loved her as their own mother. "She was my mother," said stepson Aurangzeb, 22, sitting alongside his father. "She would do anything for me. She was a beautiful person." Farzana lived in the mud-brick home with Iqbal and his three sons. On the day she was murdered, she kissed the children good-bye before leaving for Lahore. "We had to leave for the hearing. I can still see her walking around this room, getting ready. She changed her clothes, put on some cream, combed her hair in front of the mirror," Iqbal said. "Then she sat down and put on her shoes. She kissed her stepsons and told them: 'I'm going away. If life remains, I will see you again'."

PM inaugurates Nandipur power project

GUJRANWALA: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday inaugurated the first phase of the Rs 58 billion Nandipur power project and called upon certain opposition parties to shun their protesting agenda for the sake of national interests and lend support to the federal government's efforts aimed at attaining fast track progress and prosperity. The first turbine of the 425 megawatt power project has started producing 95 megawatts of power in the initial stage. The four-unit project would be completed by the end of this year in cooperation with Dongfang Electric Corporation China. The prime minister told the gathering that it was a matter of great joy that the first power unit of the project had started functioning in the record period of about seven months. He said that he had already laid down foundation stones of two projects in Port Qasim with power capacity of 1320 MW, besides another coal-fired power project in Sahiwal with the same power generating capacity. The rapid speed with which the foundation stones of such projects were being laid down and completed had never been witnessed in Pakistan's history, he added. Agreeing with Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif's views over the gross negligence and corruption of the past which made the machinery of Nandipur project rust at the Karachi port for three years, the prime minister maintained that a notice in this regard should be taken. He regretted that due to such delay and corruption, loss of billions of rupees was incurred upon the national kitty. The premier lamented that for completion of national projects loans were acquired and frittered away recklessly. Prime Minister Sharif vowed to come up to the expectations of the masses which had expressed their complete confidence in the leadership of PML-N. “We are not only completing projects in the areas where we got massive votes, but also in those areas where others got the mandate,” he said, adding that those who were a raising hue and cry should also know that the PML-N government would continue with the network of development projects throughout the country. “We will work throughout the length and breadth of the country. We shall work to complete the Lahore-Karachi motorway in the current tenure for which Rs 55 billion have been earmarked for land acquisition,” he resolved. Calling upon his critics, the prime minister said elements that were protesting should also consider that the government was working for the progress and prosperity of the country through a string of unprecedented projects. They should support the government in its endeavours for national progress and prosperity and realise whether the country might be left in the darkness or lit up with hope and prosperity, he added. The premier also referred to the Karachi operation which was initiated to restore the country’s financial capital’s image of a city of lights and said the crime rate there had been brought down. He said they were on daily basis consulting on how to root out the scourge of terrorism and extremism from the country. Prime Minister Sharif said his government was working for good governance and stability of democracy in Pakistan but a set of people were bent upon protests, questioning the set-up. “For God's sake, let the country head on the path of progress,” he added. He said the government was working upon the Diamer Bhasha dam with a power capacity of 4,500 megawatt for which an amount of Rs40 billion had been allocated four days back for land acquisition. Work on the Dasu dam located on the Indus River would also generate about 4,500 megawatt of power and both these projects in the northern areas would add 9,000 megawatt altogether to the national grid, he added. The prime minister also said that during the last 65 years, a total of 23,000 megawatt power had been generated in Pakistan, but a number among the generating units had been closed due to obsolete technology. He said the government would add 21,000 megawatt to the national grid to overcome the power issue. Appreciating the fast track progress in Punjab province, the prime minister said that various uplift projects were being completed within few months instead of years. He said the upgradation of railways was underway whereas a railway line would be laid down from Islamabad to Muzaffarabad.

Lawlessness in UP: Rape victim’s mother brutally assaulted

Etawah: An incident that sent shock waves across the region, mother of a rape victim was brutally assaulted by some goons for lodging an FIR against the accused in Uttar Pradesh. The woman is presently under intensive care at a hospital and struggling with injuries. As per IBN 7 report, "the woman was allegedly attacked by Basant Yadav and four other people. Her condition has been critical and the family is being forced to withdraw the case." Reportedly, Sunny, son of Basant Lal Yadav, who lives in the neighbourhood, stormed into the house of the victim and raped her daughter on May 11. The state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also hails from the same district. Already, the UP government is under fire for its shoddy handling of Badaun gang-rape case.

In another shocking gang-rape case that was reported from Badaun four men were arrested yesterday for raping two minor Dalit sisters and later hanging them form a tree in Katra village after murdering them on May 28. The police constable was identified as Sarvesh Yadav. National Commission for Women (NCW) had also taken a suo moto cognizance over the issue and decided to send a team to investigate the whole incident. Reportedly, the minors aged 14 and 15 years went missing from their home on May 27 night. It was the other morning that their relatives traced their dead bodies hanging from a mango tree in Ushait area. There were also reports about local police showing unwillingness to register an FIR in the case following which the villagers blocked traffic with dead bodies on Ushait-Lilawan Road.

SHOCKER: Woman passenger dies after TC pushes her out of moving train, angry mob thrashes culprit

Jalgaon: In a shocking incident that sent shock waves in the region, a Ticket Checker (TC) pushed a woman out of moving train in Jalgaon resulting in her death. The woman was boarding train to reach her in-laws place ay indoor at around 4 in the morning on Thursday. As per media reports, the woman Ujjwala Nilesh Pandya (35) was trying to board an AC coach of Janata Express along with her 10-year old daughter. This anguished the TC who pushed her off the train while she was trying to board it. The TC naemd Sampat Salunkhe, who is a Mumbai resident, has been taken into custody by the police. Despite police arriving on the site of incident on time, the TC was badly thrashed by the angry mob on the platform. The TC was under influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. However, the other reports suggest the TC was trying to help the woman climb the moving train but she lost balance in the whole process and slipped only to be run over by the train. It was after the woman's nephew Rahul Purohit, who had come to see her off at station, raised alarm that the train was brough to halt. Reportedly, Salunkhe is a wrestler who has been bestowed with Chhatrapati Shivaji award for sports by the Maharashtra government.

SHOCKING: Children raped and forced to excreta in Maharashtra's shelter-home

Alibaug: Shocking tales of rape and torture have emerged from an illegally-run shelter for tribal and poor children in Maharashtra's Raigad district following which two of its officials were arrested, police said today. Chairman of Chandraprabha Charitable Trust Ajit Dabholkar and manager Lalita Tonde were arrested on Tuesday after the children, some as young as 11 years old, complained about being forced to have sex among each other and with the accused. The offence came to light when one of the inmates informed her mother who approached the Raigad Child Helpline, which complained to the police. Pune-based social worker Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe of Pune Childline, who is a complainant in the case, said the children were forced to have sex with each other and with the accused and the act was even "filmed". "The victims were forced to eat dog excreta if they resisted and locked up. If they threw up, they had to eat the vomit," she alleged. The Karjat police have found during preliminary investigation that at least five inmates aged between 11 and 15 years, had been sexually abused. The shelter at Takve village in Karjat taluka, barely around 60KM from Mumbai, had 32 inmates in the age group of 4 to 15 years. Senior Inspector of Karjat Police Station R R Patil said the Trust was running the establishment as a residential school without necessary permission. "They don't have any document to show that they have necessary clearances to run the establishment. It was being run illegally," he told PTI. According to reports, the duo targeted poor families in the area and persuaded them to send their children to the shelter for better education. The unsuspecting and impoverished parents sent their children to the shelter where they stayed for 10 months in a year and spent two months of summer vacation at home. It was during the vacation that one of the victims mustered courage and told his mother about the sordid happenings at the shelter. The accused were booked under IPC sections 377 (unnatural offences), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 342 (wrongful confinement) and under sections 3, 5 and 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The duo was produced before a magisterial court at Karjat which remanded them in police custody till June 5.

No more a VVIP : Robert Vadra may be stripped off Z+ security cover

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra may be stripped off his VVIP status and even the Z+ security cover, if the latest media reports are to be believed. The newly formed Modi government at centre has hinted towards the same. Vadra has been provided with a special status and high profile security cover even though he doesn’t hold any kind of constitutional post in the country. There are reports that the Home Ministry will scrutinize the security cover provided to the 25 VVIPs, which also includes the name of Vadra. He also enjoys freedom from frisking at all the airports in the country. His name is duly mentioned along with other VVIPs in the list of dignitaries inlcuding PM and President at airports. A controversy had raked up about two years back regarding the same issue. Everyone should undergo regular frisking at airports: Centre Civil Aviation minister Ganapati Raju said on Thursday that every Indian citizen should undergo regular frisking at the airports for their own safety. Speaking on the issue BJP spokesperson MJ Akbar said that it’s strange to learn that Vadra was allowed to escape frisking at airport s during the last 10 year rule of the UPA. Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh has said that it’s the ruling government’s prerogative to scrutinize security status of the VVIPs.

Medieval lawlessness, medieval thinking: Badaun gang rapes and murders still just MISTAKES

Badaun: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav only recently in Moradabad said the death penalty in rape cases was "unfair" as boys make "mistakes". "Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jaati hain to iska ye matlab nahin ki phaansi de di jaye (Boys do make such mistakes but that does not mean that they should be sent to the gallows)," he said. Perhaps, this speaks about the medieval lawlessness that exists in Uttar Pradesh, and Mulaym's Ladka (son) Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has not able to manage law and order in the state. When top leaders of Samajwadi Party consider rape and murders just mistakes of boys, then criminals are bound to smile. In Badaun, four accused including a constable are alleged to have raped two minor Dalit sisters. Later they hanged them from a tree in Katra village after murdering them on May 28. The minors aged 14 and 15 years went missing from their home on May 27 night. It was the other morning that their relatives traced their dead bodies hanging from a mango tree in Ushait area. According to reports, when the family members of the victims approached the police, they were shooed away by the police. All four accused have been arrested after media campaign against Uttar Pradesh government. National Commission for Women has decided to send a team to investigate the case. This incident highlights Akhilesh Singh government's failure to put a lid on the high crime rate in the state. Akhilesh and Mulayam have failed to crack down on crime against women. Law and order situation is the state is unlikely to show sign of improvement until father-sun-duo change their frame of mind and realise that rape is not just a small mistake but a heinous crime.

Nadra unveils landmark policy for registration of orphans

ISLAMABAD: In a landmark move, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) unveiled on Thursday a new policy to deal with the registration of parentless or abandoned children. Under the new policy, the head of an orphanage where such a child lives is eligible to become that child’s legal guardian by providing an affidavit. This replaces the old practice of going to the relevant court to seek guardianship certificates for each such child. Before this, a child could only be legally adopted if a guardian court issued a decree to the person claiming guardianship under the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890. Without a court decree, no-one could claim to be the legal guardian of a parentless or orphaned child. In the past, orphans could not be registered with Nadra because they had no legally appointed guardian, which kept them from obtaining national identity cards, the primary proof of citizenship. The policy was disclosed before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, who ordered the chief secretaries of the four provinces to ensure that all relevant provincial departments were aware of the new policy and extended their complete assistance to the authority to ensure its implementation. The matter was first brought to the notice of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by philanthropist and social worker Abdus Sattar Edhi in 2011. In a letter to the then-CJ, Mr Edhi complained that Nadra was not issuing ‘Form B’ to children whose parentage was unknown or those who had been abandoned by their parents and were now living in Edhi shelters. Heads of orphanages eligible to become legal guardians When Mr Edhi’s daughter, who runs the shelters, tried to adopt and register such children, her requests would be denied by Nadra in the absence of a formal certificate of guardianship. The court had earlier framed key questions regarding the adoption of abandoned children that required interpretation from both religious scholars and legal minds. It had also appointed former high court judge Tariq Mehmood and Karachi-based legal expert Makhdoom Ali Khan amici curiae (friends of the court) in the matter. Afnan Kundi, who represented Nadra during Thursday’s proceedings, told the court that the authority had so far registered 610 destitute children who were living in orphanages. A total of 3,087 children remained unregistered. But with the implementation of the new policy, most of the hurdles to the registration of abandoned children had been tackled, he said. Under section 9(1) of the Nadra Ordinance 2000, the authority is bound to register every citizen of Pakistan, inside or outside the country, who has attained the age of 18 years. The birth of a child must also be registered by a parent or a guardian not later than one month after the birth. Under the new policy, it is mandatory that the orphanage in question is registered with Nadra, a complete record of all children previously residing there is available and all documents of the relevant authority of the orphanage are in order. In case a child’s parentage was unknown, whatever name was recorded by the orphanage in its records would be registered with Nadra. The orphanage would be responsible for providing these details and could assign any name to the child’s parents, as long it wasn’t a generic or placeholder name, such as Edhi, Abdullah, Adam or Eve. For each new registration, it would be mandatory for the orphanage to report each new birth to Nadra and pre-empting any future claims of parenthood, DNA tests should be conducted by the orphanage if possible. The chairman had also decided to issue identity cards to such orphans free-of-cost, the Nadra counsel told the court. The court held that with the promulgation of the policy, Mr Edhi’s grievance appeared to have been addressed. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

IHC voids PPP govt’s job regularisation

ISLAMABAD: A decision made by the cabinet sub-committee during the last PPP government regularising the services of contractual employees was declared as null and void by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday. Headed by Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the then cabinet sub-committee had regularised the services of thousands of contractual and daily wage employees in various ministries, corporations and autonomous bodies. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC in his short order observed that the employees were appointed without following rules and competitive process. He directed all institutions/organisations of the federal government to examine and verify the record of the regularised employees and endorse regularisation of services of only those employees who fulfilled the criteria in respect of educational qualification, experience, age and domicile. The decision was announced on a petition filed by senior employees of the National Highways Authority (NHA) against regularisation of contractual and daily wage employees. Counsel for the petitioners Tariq Mehmood Jehangiri told the court that all these employees had been appointed in disregard of educational qualification, age, experience, domicile, etc. These employees were inducted without any test or interview and later the cabinet sub-committee recommended regularisation of their services. He said the committee’s decision had been affecting the seniority of old employees. Mr Jehangiri said that around 350 employees were first inducted into the NHA allegedly in an illegal manner and later their services were regularised in an arbitrary manner. He produced the list of around 350 employees before the court and informed the court that around 90 people of them were from the constituency of former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Multan, 60 from the constituency of Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah in Sukkur and the rest from electoral constituencies of some other lawmakers of the then PPP government. He informed the court that the NHA had been paying Rs12 billion per annum in salaries of these people from funds meant for road development projects. Referring to a recent Supreme Court judgment, Mr Jehangiri said that the apex court in the case of Employee Old Age Benefits Institution on March 17 had already declared the appointments of 238 employees as null and void. For the recently regularised employees, no posts were created before induction of these employees. The defence counsel said that if the cabinet sub-committee’s recommendations would be declared null and void, thousands of workers would lose their jobs. Upon which Justice Siddiqui remarked that “we have buried the doctrine of necessity”. He said everything should be done on merit. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

SC to hear matter of multiple Eids

ISLAMABAD: With Eidul Fitr just two months away, the Supreme Court on Thursday resurrected a petition first moved in 2006, in anticipation of the uncertainty regarding moon-sighting that plagues the country nearly every year. A three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, restored Dr Aslam Khaki’s petition, which was filed when the sighting of the moon for Ramazan and Shawal became quite a controversy, bringing the KP government at loggerheads with the federal Ruet-i-Hilal Committee. In his petition, Dr Khaki, a jurist consultant to the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), had named the religious affairs secretary, the federal and and provincial Ruet-i-Hilal committees, the KP chief secretary, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the Met Office as respondents. The petition maintained that despite the existence of Ruet-i-Hilal committees, there was still discord regarding Eid dates and the religious holiday was celebrated on different days in different provinces. The petition also states that such disagreements were very rare in the past, when these committees did not exist. Now, the petition maintains, the nation was forced to celebrate at least two or even three Eids. In the petition, Dr Khaki cites the example of 2006, when the KP chief minister and the people of Bannu, Mardan, Karak, Charsadda and some parts of Peshawar celebrated Eid on Oct 23 in line with the decision of the provincial moon sighting committee. However, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and his followers in Dera Ismail Khan, Mansehra and Peshawar celebrated the auspicious day on Oct 24. The same year, the Markazi Ruet-i-Hilal committee decided that Eid would be celebrated on Oct 25. The petition asks whether the people of KP are bound by the declaration of the central moon-sighting committee or the provincial one. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Tahirul Qadri, PML-Q leaders meet in London today in bid to form anti-govt alliance

LAHORE: London has become the hub of Pakistan’s political activities as the Chaudhrys of Gujrat and Dr Tahirul Qadri meet there on Friday to kick off efforts to forge a ‘grand anti-government alliance’. The chief of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, Dr Tahirul Qadri, has arrived in London from Canada and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis Elahi of the PML-Q from Pakistan to discuss the framework for the proposed alliance with regard to electoral reforms, allegations of rigging in last year’s general elections and demonstrations in Pakistan to press the PML-N government to accept their demands. In the next stage, they will hold meetings with the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Jamaat-i-Islami, the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek and Sheikh Rashid’s Pakistan Awami League. PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Secretary General Jahangir Tarin have also gone to London. But the PTI has not yet officially declared that its leaders will meet the PML-Q leadership or Dr Qadri during their stay there for about a week. “We are going to meet Qadri Sahib on Friday to discuss formation of a major anti-government alliance. Electoral reforms and rigging in last year’s elections are common grounds of agreement between us,” Moonis Elahi, the parliamentary leader of PML-Q in the Punjab Assembly, told Dawn on phone from London. He said the meeting would be a ‘first step’ towards formation of an alliance. “There has been consensus among almost all opposition parties that last year’s elections were massively rigged and the electoral system requires fundamental reforms. This will serve as a common ground for forming the anti-government alliance,” Moonis Elahi said. Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Khalid Ranjha, Basharat Raja, Tariq Cheema and PML-Q’s Sindh president Halim Adil Sheikh will accompany the Chaudhrys at the meeting. Dr Qadri, who has announced his plan to return to Pakistan in July, would finalise the schedule of launching ‘massive’ anti-government rallies in different parts of the country before giving a ‘final call’ to march on Islamabad. Through a video link from Canada, Dr Qadri recently announced that a ‘council of democrats’ would be formed to work for ‘a revolution’ in the country. He rejected the present democratic system, calling it ‘the rule of corruption and rigging’. “I am coming to Pakistan in July and will launch the movement to bring about change through revolution,” Dr Qadri said. While the PML-N circles see the ongoing protest campaign by Imran Khan’s party and efforts to forge an anti-government alliance as ‘pressure tactics”, sources in the PTI said the alliance would press for mid-term polls once its rigging claim gets credence. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Bureaucracy resists SRO withdrawal

ISLAMABAD: Top officials in bureaucracy are opposing withdrawal of a discretionary statutory regulatory order (SRO) which allows them immunity from higher taxation on their monetised transport allowance. The immunity was given to officials in Grade 20-22 by the PML-N government through an SRO issued on June 10, 2013, just two days ahead of the announcement of its first budget. These government officials are paying just 5 per cent tax on their monetised transport allowance. As per the normal income tax law, this amount should be clubbed with the total salary income of these officials, which may attract higher tax rates. Contrary to this, for salary people below the grade 20, the transport allowance is part of the total salary and subject to standard income tax slabs which resulted into higher tax collection. Dr Ikramul Haq, a tax expert, said bureaucracy bestowed on itself this benefit of reduced rate taxation, blatantly bypassing the Parliament. He said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar despite being aware of it has done nothing against it, which confirms that politicians and bureaucrats work hand in hand to cause the exchequer stupendous loss through SROs. “This SRO is against the spirit of equity because it gives immunity to the higher income people”, a tax official said, adding these officials were getting higher transport allowance and opposing its abolishment. The FBR has already finalised the plan for phasing out discriminatory SROs in three years and some of them would withdrawn in budget 2014-15. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Gold losing glitter since March

KARACHI: Domestic gold prices have plunged by Rs4,000 per tola since March this year on the back of falling world prices and rupee’s appreciation against the dollar. On Wednesday prices dropped by Rs600, to Rs47,900 per tola compared to Tuesday’s rate, and by Rs517, to Rs41,054 per 10 grams. International price dropped by $13 an ounce to $1,252 from Tuesday. Karachi Saraf and Jewellers Group’s president, Haji Haroon Rashid Chand, said gold price shed by Rs900 per tola in the last two days. He recalled that the highest rate of yellow metal this year was Rs52,000 per tola recorded in March. The fall of Rs4,000 per tola since March this year may have proved a sigh of relief for many families who have been purchasing on spot finished jewellery sets in the ongoing marriage season or placing advance orders. Mr Chand said people are coming to buy jewellery sets but sales are not very impressive because of shrinking purchasing power and high food inflation. Many families still bring their old jewellery sets and gold bars for making new gold ornaments of low weight and new designs. The trend of investing in gold remained usually mixed depending on the rates, but big investors definitely lift five to 10 tola fine gold bar, he added. He said gold was costlier by Rs400-500 per tola in Karachi as compared to Dubai. All Pakistan Gem Merchants and Jewellers Association (APGMJA) chairman Habibur Rahman recalled that on March 7 last year the international price of gold was $1,350 an ounce and since then it has been falling persistently due mainly to profit-taking by investors, slight recovery in US economic indicators and easing of tension between Iran and the US. Sales of jewellery sets and other related items are much better as low prices were luring buyers, he said. Gold imports have resumed from this month as its import was banned by the government from January to April, 2014. According to figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), gold imports in the first 10 months (July-April) of this fiscal year stood at 4,177 kg ($173 million) compared to 4,482 kg ($236.5m) a year ago. Jewellery exports fell sharply during the period, fetching only $319m compared to $1.142 billion in the same period last fiscal. Mr Rahman of the APGMJA said jewellery exports still lacked the high pace which it witnessed in the previous fiscal year. On Pakistan’s gold consumption, he said it ranges between 20 and 22 tonnes a year. Since gold has always been imported for jewellery exports, domestic consumption is also met through smuggling coupled with arrival of old jewellery sets and gold bars in the market for selling and re-making of jewellery as per new designs and weight. He said cumulative duties impact on import of gold comes to around five per cent but the association has urged the government to fix Rs3,000 per kg as duty on import of gold for commercial basis. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Filing of returns must for FBR officials

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to make income tax return filing mandatory for officials of the board. The direction came at a time, when the tax directory revealed that 1,200 FBR officials out of 1,743 did not file their returns for the tax year 2013. Dar directed FBR to direct the defaulting tax officers to file their returns by June 10 subject to existing rules. A similar concession of waiving penalty for not filing tax returns within the due time was given to parliamentarians who did not file their returns. “Punitive action will be taken against those who fail to comply with the direction and their performance allowance shall be stopped,” said an official announcement of the FBR. Dar said the government would not allow evasion of tax declaration by government officials, who ought to set an example for ordinary citizens. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Karachi Chamber slams poor security

KARACHI: The business community has expressed grave concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the city and alleged that the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) are not doing enough to restore peace. Businessmen Group leader Siraj Kassam Teli and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Abdullah Zaki expressed sheer discontent over various measures adopted by the LEAs to deal with rising lawlessness in Karachi. The strategies adopted by the Federal and Sindh governments to restore peace in Karachi have failed to yield positive results, they said. “Businessmen and industrialists provide jobs to millions of people besides contributing 67 per cent revenue from Karachi but sadly they are not taken on board with regards to the law and order situation and are not even invited in the review meetings of the Karachi operation,” the businessmen said. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Dastgir seeks trade with India despite ‘reservations’

HYDERABAD: Regional markets including India offer huge opportunities and can help Pakistan boost its exports, said Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Thursday. Addressing a gathering of growers arranged by Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), the minister said there was no need to be fearful of Indian market’s size as Pakistan has huge export potential. “We shouldn’t be apprehensive of India’s products and markets. Positive list has been replaced with negative list in PPP government and barring a few things all kind of trade with India is open since 2012. “Besides India, countries like Iran, Afghanistan and gulf region are attractive markets waiting our products. We can make better returns but we must first organise ourselves,” he said. Referring to North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean), he said Pakistan’s economy would struggle to grow if it remains confined to its borders. On the occasion, SAB President Abdul Majeed Nizamani said Pakistan must increase its research budget from 0.5 per cent to 1.5pc of the gross domestic product (GDP) like India so that researchers should come up with pest resistant, short duration and higher yield crops. Separately, talking to journalists after addressing members of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), the commerce minister said that India would be granted the status of Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA). “It is not MFN [most favoured nation] but we call it NDMA which calls for non-discriminatory and parallel market access,” he told a questioner when asked whether some quarters oppose it. He described Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India as positive and said Mr Sharif did not indulge in reactionary diplomacy. He said although Pakistan has certain reservations with India like Kashmir, Siachen, Afghanistan, Sir Creek and water issues, “mere handing over list of reservations is not diplomacy”. Addressing HCCI members, he said energy crisis would be overcome to a great extent by 2016. Government is planning to take energy production to 40,000 megawatts and it is trying to switch over to coal-based power from furnace oil. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Huge foreign buying tosses index to record high

KARACHI: A scintillating rally at the stock market on Thursday tossed the KSE-100 index up by 556.26 points or 1.92pc to the highest ever level at 29,543.58. The sudden jump in the stock prices surprised many investors. With no new significant trigger or an excitingly positive news, the outbreak in the index after several days of lacklustre trade raised suspicions of some kind of manipulation of the market by major players. However, the mystery was solved as the figures released by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan showed huge foreign inflow of $16.30m in the equity market on Thursday. The overseas investors entered into buying spree in index heavyweight stocks. According to a break-up, foreign inflows was heaviest, amounting to $7.6 million in oil and gas sector followed by $3.1m in electricity sector; $2.7m in cement and $1.7m in banks. Most of the heavyweight stocks in the index made tremendous gains. Engro was up by 4.6pc; MCB Bank up 3.3pc; D.G. Khan Cement rose by 4.4pc and Lucky Cement gained 3.3pc.

On the oil and gas sector, PSO and Hascol shot up by 4.64 and 4.9pc while Mari hit the ‘upper circuit’ with gain of 5pc. OGDC recouped the earlier losses and finished up by2.4pc on Thursday. Analyst Ovais Ahsan observed that the stocks rallied on pre-budget optimism as market participants anticipated a pro-business budget by the government. The market finally broke a spell of directionless activity and low volumes with the blue chips leading the charge. Volumes on Thursday surged by 60pc to 351m shares and 78pc in terms of trading value. While the foreigners picked up equity at the current prices, the local participants, both individuals and institutions seized the opportunity to take profit at high levels. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Ponting calls for swift action on corruption

SYDNEY: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has called for swift action on cricket’s corruption crisis, saying there is nothing worse for the game than the shadow hanging over it. Ponting said match-fixing and other rumours had circulated for years and he pleaded with the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption watchdog and individual boards to act quickly so players and fans could have full faith that what happens on the field was legitimate. “We’ve all been aware of a certain amount of corruption in the game for a long time now and there’s always just been a bit of smoke, there hasn’t been much fire around it,” he said late Wednesday. “But like a lot of other big issues in our games, whether it’s drugs or whatever, the sooner the governing bodies can get to the bottom of these issues and actually start making an example of some of the people they know are in the wrong and they know are guilty, the better off we’re all going to be. “There is nothing worse than having that (corruption) tag around, the worry about the integrity of cricket and that is what every governing body would be fearing and a lot of the players. It takes away a bit from the game they love,” he added. Ponting said he doubts Australian players were involved in match-fixing. “I have no worries at all,” he told Australian Associated Press. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Karachi records sixth polio case

KARACHI: With travel restrictions imposed by the World Health Organisation on Pakistan to check the spread of the poliovirus just a day away from being implemented, another polio case was detected in the city on Thursday. A 30-month-old girl, Malala, daughter of Nazeeruddin, is the sixth victim of the crippling viral disease the health authorities have confirmed in the city this year. Sources in the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) said her stool samples had been sent to the National Institute of Health in the beginning of this month. The Prime Minister’s Polio Cell has corroborated the fact. Like many other children inflicted with the polio virus in the past, the girl, too, missed out on the past polio campaigns because of refusals by her family. Officials said the victim belonged to a family that lived in union council-9, Kunwari Colony of the SITE Town. “Her family did not allow her to be administered a single booster during our frequent campaigns, like a 20-month-old girl of Sultanabad (Gadap) who had the same fate two weeks ago,” said a senior official. Officials in the city and provincial health departments were extremely disturbed by the frequency polio cases surfaced in a city which had remained polio free in 2012. “This is extremely frightening. Here we are taking every measure and risks to save our children, but sadly their own parents are hosting the lethal virus,” said an official. Of the six polio cases detected so far in the city, three were reported in Gadap alone, while one each belonged to Baldia, Orangi and SITE. Officials said the family had relocated to Karachi from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) some years ago and the girl was born in Karachi. Investigations are on whether the family had visited the tribal badlands in the recent past. Officials, however, shared past records that the family was among those who turned down the volunteers’ request for inoculating their children. The fact that four out of six children detected with the polio virus so far are female raises the question whether the girls are discriminated against in vaccination. However, an official said: “Perhaps, this is not the issue. The families who refuse to immunise their children for polio do it for every child irrespective of their gender. A higher ratio of girl child is just coincidental.” The vaccination has attained even more importance in the wake of the travel restrictions imposed by the World Health Organisation on the country for its staggeringly high contribution to the polio cases recorded globally this year. The expanded programme on immunisation is engaged in administering oral polio vaccine (OPV) to international passengers at airports and said the strategy was already put in place in the province for June 1 when the rest of the world will require travellers from Pakistan to be duly immunised before stepping onto its soil. But as the provincial authorities have stocks of vaccine just for children aged less than five years, they have asked the centre to supply at least 150,000 vials of OPV. Each vial contains 20 doses. The Sindh government has also authorised all district hospitals and senior district officials to administer vaccine and issue vaccination certificates to the people scheduled to go out of the country.The city, which has recorded six cases in the first half of 2014, had seen eight victims last year. Pakistan now carries a huge burden of 70 polio cases out of less than 100 worldwide. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Turkish court rules YouTube ban violates rights

ANKARA: Turkey’s top court ruled on Thursday that a blanket ban on YouTube violated individual rights and freedom, clearing the way for the popular video-sharing site to come back. YouTube was banned in Turkey on March 27 after the site was used to spread audio recordings where senior government, military and intelligence officials are allegedly heard weighing possible military action inside Syria. The decision was in response to individual complaints to the constitutional court on the grounds of a breach of rights, an official from the prime minister’s office said. Turkey’s transportation ministry, which is also in charge of communication services, was due to be informed of the verdict, added the official. The court’s decision is “binding” and access to YouTube could be granted in the coming hours, the private NTV television channel reported. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

PM performs ground breaking of Punjab's first coal power plant

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Friday performed the ground breaking of Punjab's first coal-fired power plant that will generate 1320 MW and help the country meet its chronic energy shortage. The project comprising two units of 660 MW each will be operational in two years time and start adding electricity to the national grid by 2016. The prime minister said the project will not only help meet the electricity shortage, but also create employment for the people of the Sahiwal District and contribute in national Gross Domestic Product. Prime Minister recalled the love and emotions of the people of the Sahiwal and said “you are being duly rewarded for standing by the PML-N,” and added he was grateful to the people of the Sahiwal for their support. He said the people of Sahiwal will again benefit from the soon to be inaugurated Lahore to Karachi motorway that will touch the area and bring in more economic opportunities for its people. He said Rs 55 billion have been allocated for acquisition of the land for building the Lahore Karachi motorway. Prime Minister Nawaz Sahrif particularly mentioned the tireless efforts and commitment of Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif for making the dream of a developed Pakistan come true. He said he met the two investors who were now building the Sahiwal power plant at the Economic Summit in Boao China two months back and within a short time the initial work for the ground breaking of the project was accomplished. He said if a project can start in only two months time then there could be no hurdle in its completion in two years time. He hoped the project would bring 30 per cent returns to the investors. Prime Minister Sharif said the government was toiling day and night to meet the energy shortfall. He regretted that despite 23,000 MW installed capacity in the country, the operational capacity was only around 13,000 MW and vowed that in next eight to ten years his government would double the power generation. He recalled the inauguration of a similar power project to generate 1320 MW electricity at Port Qasim a few weeks back and would be inaugurating the Nandipur power project on Saturday. He mentioned the Pakistan-China trade corridor project and termed it a “game changer” for both the countries as the 2700 km long link from Kashgar to Gwadar. He said the highway passing through all the provinces of the country would open up new vistas of development and progress. He said Rs 35 billion have been allocated for acquisition of land for the Bhasha Dam and the money has already been released. He said the project would generate 4500 MW, while the Dasu dam would also generate an equal amount of electricity and added that with the completion of the Neelum Jhelum project the total installed capacity would almost double from the current generation. Prime Minister Sharif said he has a dream of turning the Gwadar Port into a Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong and said it will have a modern shipping port and an international airport. The Prime Minister mentioned that ten power units will be set up at Gadani, six in Punjab, ten at Thar and hoped the country's energy needs will be fulfilled. Prime Minister said the economic indicators of the country were positive and GDP has risen to 4.1%, manufacturing up by 5.5% while foreign exchange reserves gone up enormously. Earlier the Prime Minister performed the ground breaking of the project.

Shah warns PML-N against revenge politics

KARACHI: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah on Friday said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was being targeted and the politics of revenge was at play, DawnNews reported. He added that if the government continued on this path, the opposition would have to seriously reconsider its stance in supporting the democratic set-up existing in its current form. The senior PPP leader, who was speaking to media personnel in Sukkur, was visibly upset over the issuance of non-bailable warrants against party leaders Makhdoom Amin Faheem and Yousaf Raza Gilani. The PPP leader’s comments came a day after an anti-corruption court issued arrest warrants for former prime minister Gilani and former commerce minister Faheem in a multi-billion trade subsidy scam. Shah said his party was trying to save the democratic process but it appeared that the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) was adamant on engaging in the politics of revenge. Commenting on the recent split of the Khan Said Sajna group from the central set-up of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Shah said the government should capitalise on the opportunity and improve the country's law and order situation. The opposition leader, elected to the National Assembly from NA-199 (Sukkur-II), moreover said that Sindh forked out one and half times as much in electricity bill payments than Punjab did and therefore it should not be subjected to power outages.

Whose property is Pakistan Cricket Board anyway?

While the battle for the custody of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) still has to reach a legitimate solution as to who should be calling the shots in the Najam Sethi v Zaka Ashraf battle for supremacy, the ugly confrontation may not yet meet the end it yearns for. Both gentlemen should remember that the PCB is not theirs, or for that matter, anyone else’s property. It is an independent entity meant to oversee cricket both within and outside the country. The imbroglio created by the two is simply too much to tolerate. Zaka’s claim that he is the chairman is very much open for debate following last year’s controversial election which made him the first ‘elected’ boss of PCB. The judiciary, of course, see that in different light; otherwise the ex-president of ZTBL wouldn’t have vacated the Gaddafi Stadium. Twice he was reinstated through a court ruling and twice he was asked to leave to leave the PCB headquarters. Sethi, on the other hand, claims that he has been assigned a role, in his capacity as the interim PCB chief, by the board’s patron - the honourable Prime Minister. That responsibility is to hold the chairman’s election in the stipulated time frame given in the first half of June and concentrate full time on his media career thereafter. Zaka’s second reinstatement lasted just a few days during which he managed to rope in Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, the erstwhile administrator of Pakistan cricket. But Abbasi’s reconnection with the board, which astounded many in the first place given the man’s stature, was very much short-lived — a matter of some 15 hours, all told — when the Supreme Court upheld an appeal from the Sethi camp. Sethi chose his latest homecoming to proudly announce to the cricketing fraternity that Pakistan has extended an invitation to Sri Lanka to play the first series in the country since that dastardly terror attack on the Sri Lankan team during the Lahore Test on March 3, 2009. Some might consider it a good move in PCB’s bid to revive international cricket on Pakistan soil, but most see that invitation differently. The law and order situation, certainly, has not improved dramatically to think of having a full-fledged Test team visiting our shores. Sethi says the federal government will back the PCB move to host a series later in the year, but this appears to be a wishful thinking if nothing more. The most surprising aspect of Sethi presser in Lahore last week was that the Sri Lankans would be promised ‘maximum’ security with the help of the Punjab government, a clear indication that if the tour miraculously materialises, the matches won’t be held elsewhere other than Lahore! This obviously smacks of a biased attitude on part of the PCB. If ever international cricket makes a welcome return to Pakistan the national cricket board should be supportive of other major venues — such as Karachi, Rawalpindi and Multan etc — as well and not propagate a campaign in favour of just one city. They shouldn’t overlook the simple fact that unless the security concerns of all — be it the teams, officials or other dignitaries — are allayed, no team would risk touring Pakistan. It is one thing to guarantee stringent security measures to lure a sporting team playing here but totally different when those rituals are put into practice. The security afforded to the Mahela Jayawardene-led Sri Lankans on the ill-fated tour five years ago was same as given to presidents, prime ministers and other VVIPs and yet tragedy befell upon perhaps the most humble bunch of international cricketers. One fears that Sethi’s rather over-confident assertion could be premature there still is a lot to go on the PCB front in the next couple of weeks. Despite his assurances that India would be bilaterally playing Pakistan, one can’t feel over the moon on that declaration either. A common Pakistan cricket supporter doesn’t have enough time to pay any attention to the war of attrition between Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf because he already has a lot more important things to do than take interest in the personal vendettas of two people who are themselves to blame for the unnecessary chaos! Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Six children drown saving one another

LARKANA: Six children, among them two sisters and two brothers, drowned in the Rice Canal and a pond in separate incidents on Thursday when they slipped into deep waters while taking a dip in a bid to take a respite from the extreme heat. Three children identified as Alisha, 7, Rimsha Jiskani, 6, (sisters) and their cousin Saima Jiskani, 8, drowned saving one another when they slipped into deep waters while taking a bath in the Rice Canal near Bazigar Bridge, said eyewitnesses. The children lived in nearby New Nazar Mohalla on the bank of the canal. Their bodies were taken out by neighbours and shifted to their homes. In another tragic incident, three small children identified as Sardar Ali Magsi, 6, Sheraz Ali Magsi, 7 (brothers), and Baggan Magsi, 8, drowned while taking a bath in a pond in Sharif Magsi village in Qambar-Shahdadkot district late on Wednesday evening. They had gone to attend a wedding ceremony in Buthi village, 40 kilometres from their village, without informing their parents and decided to take a bath in the pond while returning to the village, said villagers. The villagers later took out the children’s bodies. Qambar-Shahdadkot Deputy Commissioner Asad Abro and PPP leader Ghulam Haidar Khokhar visited the bereaved family and offered condolences. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

The dirty secret about Obama’s Afghan plan

WASHINGTON: News coverage of President Barack Obama’s speech at West Point this week focused on one seemingly hard and fast statement: the United States will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan next year, ensuring that the nation’s longest war continues a little longer. The 9,800 troop figure has been repeated so often, that it actually obscures a key point: an invisible army of American diplomats, intelligence personnel, civilian government officials and contractors will remain in Afghanistan well in the future, likely outnumbering the 9,800 troops that will be there next year and the smaller numbers of troops that will be there in the years to come. The size, scope, composition and duration of that civilian mission to Afghanistan will hinge on the way the Obama administration answers four questions: (1) what does Washington plan to do in Afghanistan; (2) how will the White House divide those missions among military, civilian and contractor personnel; (3) what level of risk should the United States be willing to accept for our missions and our personnel; and (4) how much will Washington rely on allies, both Afghan and international, to shoulder the burden going forward. Depending on how the administration answers those questions, and what mixture of civilians and contractors it chooses to field, the US civilian presence in Afghanistan could grow to be two or three times as large as the military mission there — or more. The US diplomatic presence in Kabul has mushroomed to include nearly 300 foreign service officers. These diplomats work alongside scores more from USAID, the Justice Department, the Department of Agriculture, and other civilian agencies, as well as civilian contractors, short-term government employees, and workers from NGOs. Alongside these personnel, a clandestine force reportedly including hundreds of personnel from the CIA and other agencies also serves in Afghanistan. The embassy will need at least this many personnel to do its job as the locus of leadership in Afghanistan passes from the military’s headquarters to the US Embassy in Kabul. And if the US chooses to continue its massive Afghan development programme, this supersized diplomatic footprint will likely include scores or hundreds of personnel across the Afghan countryside as well, responsible for oversight of the billions of dollars in projects the US is funding there. And therein lies the crux of the second and third questions: who will do these missions, and how much risk will we be willing to accept in accomplishing them? US Ambassador James Cunningham recently said there’s “no way” his civilians from State and other agencies could continue the fieldwork they do in the absence of US military support. He’s right, to a point. No troops equals no forward operating bases to work from, no ground troops to provide convoy security, and no medevac helicopters to call on when casualties occur. After the military withdrawal, our diplomatic footprint will likely rely even more on contractors than the military. However, US officials have floated at least two plausible options for continuing the countrywide diplomacy and development mission in Afghanistan. The first is to contract for a sizeable security and movement support network, similar to what was contemplated for the US mission in Iraq after our troops left there in 2010. To safely move US personnel around Afghanistan without military support would require hundreds or thousands of civilian contractors with their own air support, ground vehicles, supply lines, and communications networks. By the Pentagon’s latest count, there are 61,452 contractor personnel supporting the Defence Department in Afghanistan, including 20,865 civilians. After the military withdrawal, our diplomatic footprint will likely rely even more on contractors than the military, because the State Department and other civilian agencies don’t have the same logistics, communications, and security force structure as the military. Although contractors represent the State Department’s preferred option for security in places like Afghanistan, this option won’t come cheap, nor without some potential problems. And even if the US chose to hire private contractors to effectively supplant the military, it’s not clear it could work because the Afghan government has increasingly clamped down on private security contractors, directing that all operate under Afghan law and work in concert with an Afghan guard force called the Afghan Public Protection Force. The second option is to rely increasingly on a mixture of remote-observation technology and Afghan employees to be the eyes and ears of the US mission outside the walls of the diplomatic fortress in Kabul. Although this minimizes risk to US personnel, it asks a great deal of the Afghans who will instead monitor and evaluate US projects around the country, putting many in the cross-hairs of the Taliban and other armed factions who will have the ability to influence, intimidate, and block their activities with near impunity after our troops depart. Which leads to the fourth and final question: if the US no longer runs these missions with military personnel, and decides not to do them with US civilian personnel, can the US rely instead on its allies to carry the torch? It’s unclear that our allies will be willing to invest the billions or tens of billions of dollars necessary to continue large infrastructure projects throughout Afghanistan, pay the costs of running the country’s impoverished central government, or pick up the tab for Afghanistan’s growing security forces. For 13 years, our troops have largely led the effort in Afghanistan, shouldering the bulk of the burden and the majority of the casualties as well. The president’s announcements this week signal an end to US military involvement in Afghanistan, but leave many unanswered questions about the extent of our total involvement there, and the size of the civilian mission that will remain after the last combat troops come home. —By arrangement with Foreign Policy-Washington Post Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014

Woman's murder outside LHC: Four more suspects arrested

LAHORE: Police on Friday arrested four more suspects in the case related to the killing of Farzana Parveen outside Lahore High Court (LHC). The arrested suspects included the deceased woman’s uncle, two cousins and a man named Nasir. Parveen was attacked on Tuesday outside the LHC building in Lahore by more than two dozen brick-wielding attackers, including her brother and father, for marrying against the wishes of her family. CM Punjab gives 24 hour deadline for arresting suspects Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif gave a deadline of 24 hours to the Inspector General Punjab Police Khan Baig and directed him to arrest the suspects immediately. The provincial chief minister chaired a meeting on the murder of Parveen, who was bludgeoned to death with bricks outside the LHC while police stood by. The meeting was attended by IG Police Baig, the province's Home Secretary Azam Suleman, and Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Chaudhry Shafique Ahmad. During the meeting, IG Punjab Baig presented an initial report on the incident. Chief Minister Sharif while strongly condemning the brutal murder, said that the occurrence of such incidents despite the presence of police on the spot was a matter of great humiliation. The chief minister has directed that the case should be tried in an anti-terrorism court. He has also formed a high-level committee which is tasked with analysing the progress in the case on a daily basis and then reporting to him. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had directed the Punjab chief minister, who is also his brother, to act over the “brutal killing of the lady in the premises of the high court in the presence of police”. The LHC had also taken notice of the incident and has summoned a report on the matter from the district and sessions judge.

Disturbing pics: This suicide note explains why MBBS student Priyanka committed suicide

Jalgaon: In this suicide note (see picture), the victim Priyanka Mukherjee has blamed "harassment" by her three roommates for pushing her to take this extreme step. Priyanka, 19-year-old female medical student committed suicide at a girl's hostel in the Jalgaon district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. It is being alleged that her three roommates indulged in ragging as she could not perform well in her studies. Priyanka, in her suicide note, said she was “frustrated” and her roommates had “destroyed everything,” her “happiness, career and reputation”. The incident took place in the girls’ hostel of Dr Ulhas Patil Medical College & Hospital at Jalgaon-Bhusawal Road. Her body was found hanging on her ground floor room. During the police investigation, it came to light that Priyanka had failed in her last exams and was weak in studies. Her roommates, on the other hand, passed with good marks. Priyanka, a Purulia girl had come to Maharashtra's Jalgaon to study MBBS. Her father is a surgeon in Purulia town. According to reports, Priyanka never indicated she was unhappy with the behaviour of her roomates. Priyanka’s roommates had gone out in the evening and found the door of their room bolted from inside on their return. When repeated knocks on the door failed to get any response, the girls called the matron and fellow students. The police were informed and they broke open the door to find Priyanka hanging from the ceiling fan.

What is Article 370 of Indian Constitution?

New Delhi: Just few hours after Narendra Modi officially took charge as the Prime Minister of the country, the first cabinet meeting of the new government was held. The Minister of State of Modi government, Jitendra Singh, made a controversial statement as soon as the meeting was concluded. He said "The process of repealing Article 370 has started. We are speaking to the stakeholders." The Article 370 of Indian Constitution grants special autonomous status to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Under Article 370, except for Defense, Foreign Affairs, Communications and ancillary matters (matters specified in the instrument of accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's concurrence for applying all other laws. So, a separate set of laws is made for the people residing in the state which includes all those related to ownership of property, citizenship as well as fundamental rights. The 1947 accord between then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and politician of kashmir Sheikh Abdullah stated "The State of Jammu and Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution of India." The principal drafter of Article 370 was Gopalaswami Ayyangar. He argued that Kashmir, for many reasons, was not ready for the integration unlike other states. It was because the time the Article 370 was imposed, India and Pakistan had been at war over the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Due to constant ceasefires, the situation was critical and abnormal in Kashmir as a part of state's territory was still in charge of enemies. The law did not discriminate between the male and female permanent residents of the state. But the females were considered the PRs only until they got married. Thereafter, they had to seek for fresh PR. In 2004, the state high court, in the case of State of J&K Vs Sheela Sawhney, declared that there was no provision in the existing law dealing with the status of a female PR who married a non-resident. The provision of women losing their PR status after marrying outside the state, therefore, did not have any legal basis. It brought relief to women marrying outside the state. Thereafter, People's Democratic Party led by Mehbooba Mufti passed a law to overturn the court judgment by introducing a Bill styled “Permanent Residents (Disqualification) Bill, 2004 which was further backed up by Omar Abdullah's political party. Dr BR Ambedkar was against Article 370 in Kashmir as he wanted the state to equally progress. Thus, he exchanged words with Abdullah. Thereafter, Abdullah approached Nehru who directed him to Ayyangar, the drafter of Article 370. Ayyangar then went to Sardar Patel asking him to advise something over the matter concerning Nehru's prestige. Thus, Patel got it passed when Nehru was on foreign tour. On the day this article came up for discussion, Dr. Ambedkar did not reply to questions on it though he did participate on other articles. All arguments were done by Krishna Swami Ayyangar. However, Article 1 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir states that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India.