U.S. construction projects in Afghanistan challenged by inspector general’s report

A U.S. initiative to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on construction projects in Afghanistan, originally pitched as a vital tool in the military campaign against the Taliban, is running so far behind schedule that it will not yield benefits until most U.S. combat forces have departed the country, according to a government inspection report to be released Monday. The report, by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, also concludes that the Afghan government will not have the money or skill to maintain many of the projects, creating an “expectations gap” among the population that could harm overall stabilization efforts. “Implementing projects that the Afghan government is unable to sustain may be counter­productive” to the U.S. counterinsurgency mission, the inspector general wrote. “If goals are set and not achieved, both the U.S. and Afghan governments can lose the populace’s support.” The study calls into question a fundamental premise of the U.S. strategy to counter the Taliban insurgency — that expensive new roads and power plants can be funded and constructed quickly enough to help turn the tide of war — and it poses a sobering, counterintuitive question for policymakers in Washington: whether the massive influx of American spending in Afghanistan is actually making problems worse. Many U.S. military commanders, diplomats and reconstruction experts have long believed that large infrastructure projects were essential to fixing Iraq and Afghanistan. Now-retired Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former top commander in both wars who is now director of the CIA, used to say that cash was one of his most important weapons. But the latest report adds new weight to the argument — voiced by independent development specialists and even a few government officials — that the United States attempted to build too much in a country with limited means to assume responsibility for those projects. All U.S. combat forces are expected to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Until now, most critiques have asserted only that the massive U.S. foreign assistance program has led to waste and fueled corruption. The new report goes further by suggesting that some projects may ultimately prove detrimental. In a written response to the report, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said it was “speculative” for the inspector general to conclude that some of the projects would have adverse effects. The top Pentagon official responsible for Afghanistan called the report premature and insisted that the announcement of the projects, even though they have not been completed, has generated goodwill and excitement among the Afghan people. The inspector general’s examination focuses on the Afghan Infrastructure Fund, which was authorized by Congress in 2010 in part to prevent the Defense Department from dipping into a discretionary account for military commanders to bankroll large projects. The infrastructure fund was supposed to allow the Defense and State departments to collaboratively plan and pool money for large infrastructure improvements aimed at supporting the U.S. counter­insurgency campaign. Since then, Congress has poured $800 million into the fund and the State Department has committed about $1 billion of its funds to related infrastructure programs. Among the projects criticized by the inspector general is a plan to use costly diesel generators to provide electricity to residents of Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city, until the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers install a new hydropower turbine at a dam in the violence-plagued hills of neighboring Helmand province. Purchasing diesel to run the generators, which produce about 25 megawatts of electricity each — enough to power about 2,500 Afghan homes or small businesses — is projected to cost U.S. taxpayers about $220 million through 2013. Senior U.S. commanders argued that increasing electricity through the “Kandahar Bridging Solution” would be an important part of the overall American military effort to beat back the Taliban in Kandahar province. Those commanders asserted that more power to operate lights, television sets and fans would please residents and lead many of them to throw their support behind the Afghan government. But other civilian and military officials have questioned that logic. When U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl was the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Kandahar last year, he said he could not find any evidence that the additional electricity was yielding greater employment, stability or support for the government. “This is a bridge to nowhere,” he declared to his staff in 2011. Back then, Dahl also noticed a disturbing disparity: The installation of the turbine at the dam, which will not occur for at least two more years, will produce significantly less power than the city receives from the generators. Since the Afghan government will not have the financial ability to buy diesel for the generators, that means the city’s power supply will inevitably ebb once the turbine is operational and U.S. funding for diesel ends. That gap was seized upon by the inspector general. “While the Kandahar Bridging Solution may achieve some immediate [counter­insurgency] benefits because — as stated by USAID officials — ‘people like having their lights on,’ the U.S. government may be building an expectations gap that cannot be met in a timely manner,” the report states. The inspector general’s report also questions whether a new $23 million road in Helmand province will have adverse effects because the Afghan government has not compensated landowners for the destruction of their property. In addition, the report reveals that four electricity projects — costing a total of more than $300 million from the infrastructure fund — have not yet been awarded to contractors, despite claims from the military and USAID that they will have important counterinsurgency benefits. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a frequent critic of Afghan reconstruction efforts, said the report raises fundamental questions about the strategic rationale of U.S. development programs in the war-torn nation. “There’s no data that shows these major projects have changed the security environment in the country,” she said. “We cannot just throw money at a country like this and expect it to have a good ending.” In its response to the report, the U.S. Embassy defended the importance of large-scale development initiatives. “These critical infrastructure projects have signaled to Afghan populations the U.S. government’s long term commitment to Afghanistan.” Although the United States has spent almost $90 billion on Afghan reconstruction and development over the past decade, such examinations traditionally had not been conducted by the special inspector general’s office, which was more interested in contracting waste and fraud. This report was approved by a new inspector, former federal prosecutor John F. Sopko, who took charge of the office this month. He has vowed to scrutinize how projects are conceptualized and designed, not just how they are implemented.

Computer analysis predicted rises, ebbs in Afghanistan violence

In August 2010, shortly after WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of classified documents that cataloged the harsh realities of the war in Afghanistan, a group of friends — all computer experts — gathered at the New York City headquarters of the Internet company Bitly Inc. to try and make sense of the data. The programmers used simple code to extract dates and locations from about 77,000 incident reports that detailed everything from simple stop-and-search operations to full-fledged battles. The resulting map revealed the outlines of the country's ongoing violence: hot spots near the Pakistani border but not near the Iranian border, and extensive bloodshed along the country's main highway. They did it all in just one night. Now one member of that group has teamed up with mathematicians and computer scientists and taken the project one major step further: They have used the WikiLeaks data to predict the future. Based solely on written reports of violence from 2004 to 2009, the researchers built a model that was able to foresee which provinces would experience more violence in 2010 and which would have less. They could also anticipate how much the level of violence went up or down. The project, whose results were published online Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is part of a growing movement to understand and predict episodes of political and military conflict using automated computational techniques. The availability of huge amounts of data combined with steady increases in computing power has prompted experts to bring the rigor of objective quantitative analysis to realms that were once considered fundamentally subjective, including literature and the study of social groups. "For the first time, we have large data sets from places like Facebook and Twitter that we can analyze with high-powered computers and get meaningful results," said Paulo Shakarian, a computer scientist at the United States Military Academy at West Point, who is working on an algorithm to predict the location of insurgent weapons caches. "Iraq and Afghanistan are the very first conflicts where we have been collecting as much data as we possibly can." In the case of the WikiLeaks data, the researchers sought to find a general pattern to the violence in Afghanistan and use it to predict how violence would change in each province in 2010 — the year President Obama increased the number of U.S. troops in the country. "The model we employed is both complex and simple," said Guido Sanguinetti, an expert in computational sciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the study's senior author. "It doesn't take in any knowledge of military operations or political events, and it treats all types of violence exactly the same, whether it's a stop-and-search or a big battle." Even with these ostensibly key details missing, the researchers found that they could predict 2010's events with striking accuracy. And the model wasn't tripped up by Obama's decision to send 30,000 additional troops, which introduced a new dimension to the Afghanistan conflict. "Our findings seem to prove that the insurgency is self-sustaining," Sanguinetti said. "You may throw a large military offensive, but this doesn't seem to disturb the system." The study authors said they were most surprised that the model could predict activity even in Afghanistan's relatively quiet northern provinces, where there were fewer data points available to analyze. "This shows that the escalation we see isn't just attributed to the noise in the data," said study leader Andrew Zammit Mangion, a computational sciences researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Instead, he said, patterns existed nearly everywhere. Michael Ward, a political scientist at Duke University who has shown that location data can improve predictions of conflicts, said the study pointed the way to future research. "Suppose you could say, 'This is the effect on violence if you build different types of infrastructure,' " he said. "They don't do that, but they've set up the framework to do it." The study also shows why it's important to make as much data public as possible, Ward said. Without WikiLeaks, he said, a study like this would have been far more difficult to carry out. Clionadh Raleigh of Trinity College Dublin, who uses data to predict violence in Africa based on factors such as the outcomes of local elections, said the Afghanistan model could be made even better by including variables such as the political party in power. "Violence, in general, is a really good predictor of future violence," she said. But even better would be "to figure out what stops the cycle of conflict." Quantitative rigor is making its way into some surprising fields of study. In 2010, just a few months after the WikiLeaks data dump, Google released a database of every single word contained in thousands of books published between 1800 and 2000 — about 4% of all books ever printed. That has enabled some intrepid researchers to close in on the final frontier: Studying literature with advanced math. In a study published last year in Science, experts from Harvard University and Google were able to detect evidence of censorship regarding controversial historical figures and events, such as early Soviet official and Stalin foe Leon Trotsky and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China. "That's what this digital humanities focus is being driven toward: uncovering trends in data that have just never been available before," Raleigh said.

Saudi woman converted to Christianity

Didn’t expect this but then, it seems to be the first time it’s come up in Saudi Arabia… Saudi Gazette/Okaz report that a Saudi woman has repudiated Islam, converted to Christianity, and then fled the country (although she may have converted after leaving the country). I cannot recall any earlier, similar cases. Nor was I at all expecting Saudi media to cover the story. Not at all surprising, though, is that the woman’s family is claiming that she was forced to convert and was spirited out of the country by miscreants. Who are now under arrest in the Kingdom. Somewhat surprisingly, the accused – a Saudi and a Lebanese – were granted bail. It will be interesting to see how this case plays out, both for the woman and in Saudi media, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see the story disappear, either.

A Saudi girl who recently embraced Christianity and fled the country for refuge in Lebanon, told the host of a religious program on an Arabic TV channel that she was tired of performing prayers and fasting during Ramadan. The girl, who said her name was Maryam, said praying and fasting did not bring her any benefits. She also criticized the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) and claimed that she was raised to hate Judaism and Christianity but fell in love with the religions after she found peace in Christianity. She said she became a Christian after she had a dream one night. In it, she climbed to the skies and heard God telling her that Jesus is His son. She said that she had been living in the Kingdom since she was 17. … Maryam’s father filed a complaint against her two former co-workers, a Saudi and a Lebanese, accusing them of helping his daughter illegally flee the Kingdom and embrace Christianity. The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) in Al-Khobar accused the men of forcing the girl to convert and arrested them. However, both men were later released on bail while their case has been referred to a court in Al-Khobar. … The Saudi Embassy in Beirut is coordinating with the concerned authorities in the country to convince the girl to return to the Kingdom. It is expected that the Al-Khobar District Court will look into the case, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, soon.

Saudi Arabia continues its suppression policy against peaceful demonstrations

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemns the continuity of the Saudi regime to use, Thursday night of July 26, 2012, excessive violence and power against the peaceful demonstrations, which organized by the people of “Qatif” that calls for the release of the detainees in violation of the law. They were arrested as they expressed their opinions and peaceful activity. The use of violence resulted in several injures and arrests. The Saudi security forces used the excessive powers against the peaceful protesters during a peaceful demonstrations that calls for the release of some detainees. In Qatif and fter a long time of non-existence of the security, the security forces and armed vehicles started to surrounding the protesters and used the tear gas bombs to dispense a hundreds of protesters. They also use rubber and live bullets, which resulted in several deep injuries among youth as well as a large number of arrest, among them was the “Mohamed El-Shakhowry”, the rights activist, who was shot then sent to the military hospital. Previously, The Saudi regime accused him and 22 persons, known as the “23” group, arbitrary accused them due to their participation in peaceful demonstrations in the eastern side. Such accusations include inciting riots, demagoguery assemble, obstruction of traffic within neighborhoods, the destruction of public and private property, possession of firearms illegally, and opened fire against citizens and security men, covered by innocent citizens and try to drag them into absurd confrontations with security forces in implementation of foreign agendas as well as the security services raided a number of houses and unlawfully searched them claiming that they search for wanted people and the arrest of a number of young people in their homes without press any charges. It is worthy to be noted that the Eastern side, Qatif in particular, “Shiite Majority”, witness continued protest since a long time. The protest increased after the arrest of “Nemr Baqer Nemr” the clergyman. The protests calls for social and political reforms and to stop the sectarian assault against the Shiite in “Saudi Arabia” and the to allow them to perform their rituals freely and to release the political detainees of “Qatif” ANHRI said “the use of excessive power against the demonstrators proves that the suppressive and abusive policy that has been adopted for long by the Saudi regime against all the opposition, which call for freedoms in the light of complicity and silence of the Arab and International community in order to preserve the interests of some governments with Saudi Arabia”. ANHRI added “the suppressive policy adopted by the Saudi regime will not succeed to infanticide the peoples movement in the country but will increase it to reach the people’s hope of the Arab Spring”. ANHRI called all those who are interested in human rights in the middle east and the world to press the Saudi regime and expose its crimes and violations against human rights, in order to the immediate release of the political detainees, guarantee their safety, respect the freedom of opinion and expression as well as the peaceful demonstrations.

Bahrainis will continue revolution despite crackdown

Bahrainis will continue their revolution against the repressive regime of Al Khalifa despite the incessant crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. Press TV has conducted an interview with Ibrahim Mousawi, political analyst, Beirut about the cover up or lack of international concern on the human rights abuses toward the peoples’ revolution in Bahrain. The other guest to this news analysis includes Bahraini political activist in London, Jaffar al-Hesabi. The following is an approximate transcription of the interview. Press TV: Mainstream media are not pointing their camera lens in the direction of Bahrain, but on the other hand we see that they’re in full zoom focus when it comes to Syria. What is the difference - why do we see a vast difference in the way that various countries are being covered? Mousawi: It’s very evident for everyone who watches what is really going on in the region that there is evident and clear double standards led by the Western governments and the so-called international community. I would urge everybody to make reservation while using this abbreviation or this terminology ‘the international community’ because it does not represent those who we consider the international community, they do not represent the international community. Now what is happening is that they are focusing or zooming in on Syria and not on Bahrain simply because the western governments i.e. the USA, Britain, the powerful capitals in the West they support the Bahraini regime and the Bahraini regime is their ally. That’s why they are turning a blind eye. It’s not that they are turning a blind eye; I would say that the Western government along with the USA are responsible; they are equally responsible and they share the responsibility for all the suffering, the brutality and the torturing that is happening to the Bahrainis. This is a very vivid and clear historical example about the inconsistency, the double standards and the hypocrisy of the Western governments. Just to notify about what my colleague said from London, Mr. Jaffar Hesabi... It’s not true that the Bahraini government is misleading the international community. This so-called international community - and we mean by it the USA, Britain and France and other western governments, all those who follow the same axis - they know in detail what is happening there. They have their embassies there; they can send any envoy or delegation to see what is really happening there; they know for sure what is really going on, but it is very evident that petroleum and oil is more important to them than the blood of the Bahraini people. Press TV: When we look at what is referred to as the so-called international community and the inundation by the Western media on the airwaves and how lots of times even the images are created in dealing with certain countries and then images are never shown on others... and so many people seem to be influenced by what you called the so-called international community… What is the answer then? What is the answer in order to get the truth to be shown that people all over the world realize the suffering that is taking place on the ground in Bahrain? Mousawi: I would urge that we have to find a way in order to inform the public opinion, the international community, when we mean the government, the governments have their tools, their embassies, consulates and delegations and they know very well what is happening. May be the public, the people - the ordinary people don’t know much about what is happening, they are being spoon fed by the bombardment of the media misleading them on Syria, Bahrain, on Palestine and different other place, we know about that very well. We have to be creative as to form our own alternative media. Our people who are outside, the ambassadors who have sympathy towards the cause i.e. the cause of the Bahrainis, the journalists the students, we have to go to the internet and to the alternative media in order to make this word spread all over. I want to say that when we are strong enough as people, as people who are fighting the repressive regimes, we will be able one way or another to find a way in order to make the message reach. Otherwise, if we are going to depend on the media we know that they are hostile, these are communities and governments who have put themselves in the shoes of our enemies and they deal with us as if we are their enemies. That’s why they want to gag our mouths; they don’t want the word to get out in any way. We have to find a way in order to reach… Press TV: On the same line I was asking our guest in London and talking about Saudi Arabia’s role, how responsible do you think the Saudi regime is for what is happening in general right now in Bahrain? Mousawi: They know they have taken the decision to interfere and to go into Bahrain. This is a turning point actually. They share full responsibility with the Bahraini regime about all the actions taken against the Bahraini people. I will tell you one simple thing - when we have this kind of genuine steadfastness by the Bahraini people; when we have this resolve, this determination, this continuation of the struggle against the repressive coercive regime of Bahrain; when they are continuing their peaceful demonstrations and they insist to be peaceful; and when the system itself, the government, tries to depict it as un-peaceful and they want to distort the image of the Bahraini revolution, this is something that will tell you exactly how afraid they are of the kind of fear the extent of fear they suffer from the Bahraini revolution. I believe it’s a matter of time only when they all will subdue and they all will surrender to the resolve and the determination. The people in Bahrain have to continue their patience, continue their perseverance and I’m sure their victory and triumph will be their fate and their destiny no matter how much brutality the government of Bahrain would exercise against them. Press TV: What exactly does it mean as our guest in London has talked about that John Yates (former UK head of counter terrorism), he was accused of corruption back in the UK, but then seemed rewarded by the Bahraini regime, brought to Manama and now spearheading, it seems, this crackdown. What type of respect does that say that the West in general has for the Bahraini people when someone was accused of such negative actions in their own country and yet now is heading the security force in Bahrain? Mousawi: Again and again we are revolving over the same point. We have not to pin any hope, not to bank on any positive engagement with the Western governments. We’re talking about hypocrites, we’re talking about double standards policies, we’re talking about inconsistency and we’re talking about insecurity. What do we expect from them? It’s the same that applies to Israel for example, I mean we all know when we talk about the judiciary for example in Britain they said they are trying to make certain amendments for judiciary rules so they will not go after the Israeli leaders. It’s the same everywhere and when it comes to their interests, their interests are number one, and the people and their blood and their rights... If we believe this so-called western democracy that they care for the human rights and care for the people, then we are misled. Press TV: Mr. Hesabi said that perhaps they will lose, the US will lose Bahrain as they lost Iran, but in the meantime what will it take for the Bahraini human rights protesters to reach their goal, which is basically human rights; one person one vote; and to have a say in the direction of their country? Mousawi: They have to continue their determination, they have to be as determined and have the same resolve as they did since the beginning of this revolution. I have an unshaken conviction that things are going to end and boil down to the interests of the Bahraini people. It is something that Allah has promised all the believers that if they continue to persevere on the path of Allah they are going to get their victory. It’s a matter of patience and perseverance and determination and all things are going to come to their interests. They have only to continue and to continue relying on Allah and their own fists and their own patience and their own determination.

Syrian army clears two Aleppo districts of armed gangs

Syrian security forces have cleared the Salahuddin and Hamdaniya neighborhoods in the northwestern city of Aleppo of foreign-sponsored armed gangs. The Syrian army said on Monday that most of the city is now under its control. Meanwhile, fighting continues in the southern district of Sokari and the central neighborhood of Bab al-Hadid. Clashes have continued between Syrian troops and armed rebels in Aleppo over the past few days. The Syrian army began a major operation on Saturday from the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo to clear the city of armed groups. On Sunday, the security forces killed a large number of terrorists attempting to enter the country from neighboring Turkey. Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil in Syria that began in March 2011. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on July 29, “We believe that all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight the government… and they will definitely be defeated.” Muallem made the remarks in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran. Over the past few days, Syrian troops have reportedly inflicted heavy losses on the rebels in the southwestern city of Dara’a, about 114 kilometers (70 miles) south of the capital, Damascus. The anti-Syria Western regimes have been calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but Russia and China remain strongly opposed to the Western drive to oust Assad. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on July 28, “Our Western partners… together with some of Syria’s neighbors are essentially encouraging, supporting and directing an armed struggle against [the Syrian government].”

THIEF MINISTER SHABAZ:Don't do politics on load shedding issue

Don't do politics on load shedding issue, Kaira tells Shahbaz

The minister said that windstorm damaged main lines of 500 KV and 220 KVs in Muzaffargarh. Talking to media in Muzzaffargarh on Monday, Minister for Information and Broadcasting asked the Punjab Chief Minister to avoid doing politics on the issue of load shedding. He said under the 18th amendment‚ the provinces are empowered to generate electricity on their own. To a question‚ Kaira said the government has started short‚ medium and long term measures to overcome the electricity crisis. He also said that no power plant running on fuel is closed due to the shortage of oil, adding that supply of oil to the plants have been increased to twenty five thousand metric tonne from twelve thousand metric tonne to operate the power plants in maximum capacity. The Information Minister said windstorm damaged main lines of 500 KV and 220 KVs in Muzaffargarh‚ causing loss of 1800 megawatt. He said two lines have been restored which have added 1100 megawatt of electricity to the national grid. By this evening‚ 350 power plant of Lal Peer will also be restored. Besides two power plants of Chasma have also resumed production due to which power generation capacity has improved and stabilized.

Being Young and Baloch

The Baloch Hal

By Malik Siraj Akbar

In a chapter focusing on the Pakistani youth in the newly published book The Future of Pakistan, Moeed W. Yusuf, the South Asia Advisor at the Washington-based United States Institute for Peace (USIP), says 79 per cent of the youth in Pakistan “feels proud to be a Pakistani”. The response of the youth from Pakistan’s largest province of Balochistan, nonetheless, stands strikingly different from the rest of the country. “The figures from Balochistan [about being proud to be a Pakistani] were the bleakest,” he concluded, after analysing three recent major youth surveys. According to Mr Yusuf, the findings of these surveys conducted by the British Council, Centre for Civic Education and Herald magazine do not collectively bode well for the Pakistani federation in the coming years. “Baloch youth stand out as most distraught with the federation. Except for a minority, they are least enthusiastic about being part of Pakistan and are least proud to be Pakistanis,” he wrote. “They are the keenest to leave Pakistan and they oppose the military and state institutions more staunchly than youth in other provinces.” Parveen Naz, a social activist in Quetta, says the Baloch generally see a “very bleak” future for themselves in Pakistan. While no access to quality education or employment opportunities is one thing, she says, the “kill and dump” policies have further poisoned the minds of a new generation of the Baloch. “The security apparatus in the country has made life miserable for the Baloch. They cannot enter in any walk of life, nor can they undertake entrepreneurial initiatives because the federal government has waged a war against the Baloch. The youth is punished whether it is politically involved or totally indifferent. Islamabad sees no difference and treats all the Baloch with the same stick.” According to Abdullah Jan, a youth development expert based in Quetta, there is a “huge cultural and political difference” between the Baloch youth and their compatriots in the rest of Pakistan. The Baloch youth does not see any opportunity in the state institutions. They are disappointed and ever disparate against the state policies. According to him, a “communication gap” between the Baloch youth and the state policymakers at the official level has remarkably widened the gulf. Since the inception of the current military operation, desperation, alienation and frustration among the Baloch youth has dramatically increased. While economic marginalisation, inadequate health and education opportunities and underrepresentation in the mainstream state institutions have remained some of the key factors for the disillusionment of the Baloch youth, the military operation in the province has generated new alarming trends. Mr Jan estimates that nearly 60 per cent of Baloch students have become “psychologically ill,” alluding to depression caused by increasing incidents of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and killing of hundreds of Baloch youths allegedly by security forces. “These kids see their peers, friends getting killed or disappeared every day. They see the bullet-riddled dead bodies of their class fellows on a regular basis. Depression and anxiety are a natural byproduct of such a situation,” he says. Mr Jan, who has worked with several non-governmental organisations for more than two decades, argues that the Baloch youth is deeply involved in politics and political discussions. Yet, the youth politics in Balochistan is different from the rest of the country because most of the Baloch have a Leftist approach and their political heroes are Che Guevera and Baloch guerillas, such as Dr Allah Nazar and Balach Marri who support an independent Balochistan. A lecturer of sociology at the University of Balochistan, who did not wish to be named, says it was not possible to discuss the economic marginalisation of the Baloch youth by keeping aside the country’s politics. For instance, he says, there is no proper mechanism in the Pakistan army and other security forces to hire and accommodate Baloch youths in the country’s security forces. “Most of the vacancies in Balochistan in the army, the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Coast Guards are filled by non-natives coming from other parts of the country. The Baloch youth sees no opportunity in the armed forces,” he says. According to him, some young Baloch had joined the Pakistan army but eventually quit their jobs and returned home. They complained about the use of abusive language by senior army officers about Baloch leaders like Nawab Akbar Bugti, Bramadagh Bugti and Hairbayar Marri. “The people the Baloch youth see as their heroes are generally depicted as the enemies of Pakistan by the army,” he said. “Religiosity is another issue that often compels Baloch youths to quit the military because the former are secular in nature. Some of them even do not pray five times a day or fast in the month of Ramzan which does not position them in the good books of their senior officers. Frankly, most Baloch are not anti-India either.” The youth in Balochistan complain about the scarcity of opportunities and avenues to present and promote their talent. Qaisar Roonjha, a young trainer who comes from a village in Lasbela District but offers services to highly reputable organisations such as the British Council as a Global Change maker, says the youth in Balochistan is full of talent but they face lack of encouragement. While the absence of official encouragement prevents some from taking initiatives, Mr Roonjha says he still knows many young people who are embracing the challenge to pursue their personal and professional dreams. “Instead of waiting for the right time, everyone should play their role towards a fairer society,” he suggests, referring to a quote by Mother Teresa: “Don’t wait for leaders; do it person to person.’’ In Quetta, when Eeman Sahal Baloch, a young talk show host, started Subh-e-Bolan, a Balochi language morning show on Pakistan Television (PTV-Bolan), to explore the hidden talent among the youth in Balochistan, she was amazed at the extraordinary wealth of talent. “Five months into the show, I had hosted around 1,000 talented boys and girls from across Balochistan. We found talented youth from remote towns of Panjgur, Turbat, Awaran, Gwadar, Mund, Hub, Quetta, Sibi, Mastung, Lasbela and other places,” she said. “They were all smart and talented people who offer much promise if empowered and trusted. The youth in these rural areas urgently need help and government attention for a better future.” These are indeed defining times for the youth in Balochistan. Youth development and empowerment do not seem to be a priority of the governments in Islamabad and Quetta. The provincial assembly in Balochistan rarely debates the issues of the youth. Thus, the Baloch youth is easily available to be exploited either by the government with job offers and scholarships or the nationalists to avenge the killings of their peers and seek an independent Balochistan. The government’s timely response, not with military operations but with respect and abundant opportunities for the Baloch, will decide who the young Baloch will support and join in near future. Islamabad must act swiftly because Balochistan does not seem to have much time left.

Pakistan:REVITALIZING RAILWAYS; CONNECTING CAR

Railways system suffered a lot over a period of time and naïve rulers and decision-makers should be blamed for the collapse of railways in Pakistan. The rulers preferred to launch the National Logistic Cell, a subsidiary of the Pakistan Army, to deny Pakistan commercial cargo for the railways making it sustainable financially. It was a disservice to the people and the country by plunging the Pakistan Railways into a serious financial crisis. As a result of this crisis, Pakistan railways viability had been risked and no major efforts are being made to revitalize the Pakistan railways in the service of poor people and the country as a whole. Railways all over the world earn profit from commercial cargo service as a single engine drag 70 bogies loaded with cargo making it a cheap mode to goods transport in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world. The naïve rulers and decision-makers had deliberately tried to wind it up the Railways for the benefits of thugs and dishonest transporters. Years ago, the Muslim League Government had tried to close the railways system to benefit its corrupt constituents in transport business. But the Muslim League Government was afraid of the public backlash and thus Railways had been saved from the final and deadly attack. The Government had virtually patronized rampant corruption in the Pakistan Railways and the railway engines were sold as scrap to dubious foundries in Lahore. There were reports of stealing diesel, pilferage in railway revenue and spare parts. Some former generals had sold the land of Pakistan Railways to private people at throw away prices only to inflict maximum harm to the Railways and its system working for over 150 years. There is massive corruption in railways and maximum efforts should be made to curb corruption so that it should earn profit and revitalize the railways in the interest of the poor people. The National Logistic Cell should be confined to take the cargo of the defence forces only disallowing it from picking up commercial cargo from any part of Pakistan. Pakistan Railways had served the Pakistan Army as a national institution by providing all possible facilities and concessions in travel and transporting defence cargo at nominal charges in the past. There was no need of launching the NLC to harm the interest of Pakistan Railways and the poor people. There should be one time major investment to improve and revitalize Pakistan Railways in the service of the nation and the people by inducting new railway engines, new bogies, both passengers and cargo, and double track of railway line by constructed to make its operations more efficient. Since poor people are in need the service of Pakistan Railways as the cheapest mode of public transport, it service should be improved by running and operating trains on time. New train service should be launched in all directions. In Balochistan, the Quetta-Zahedan Section should be rebuilt on international standards so that it match the railway system of neighbouring Iran and trains, both for passenger and cargo, should operate between Balochistan and Iran boosting trade and commerce. Similarly, Gwadar Port city should be linked with the Pakistan National Railway network at Kuchaki near Naushki and also with Afghanistan via Nimroz Province catering the future needs of land locked countries of Central Asia. The Government of Pakistan should seek financial and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank. The ADB had offered an investment of over 11 billion dollars for development of railroad infrastructure linking Central Asian countries with the Gwadar Port. The old offer should be revived so that Gwadar is used as the major hub of economic activities in the whole region. There should be two-way construction of railway lines one to connect the national railway system within Pakistan and secondly connecting with rail and road the central Asian countries, mainly Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

Pakistan: Lesson from Passco's losses

The doctrine in contemporary economics that government should not be in the business of doing business fits perfectly well in the instant case. According to a report compiled by the Auditor General as revealed by the "Business Recorder" on 27th July, 2012, the procurement of substandard rice and its late disposal by Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) had inflicted a loss of over Rs 11 billion to the national exchequer. The details of the story indicated that Passco had arranged to purchase Basmati Rice (Super) at Rs 75,000 per ton and the Corporation suffered huge losses because the paddy, particularly purchased in Sindh, was of poor quality, wet and substandard. As if this oversight was not enough, the sale of the commodity was delayed for a considerable time. Passco was required to sell its rice stocks in March or April, 2009 but the management stocked the rice for about two years and then sold it slowly without realising that Passco/government was bearing heavy interest charges. The last batch of rice stock was disposed of as late as in October last year. The Audit was of the view that the management should have investigated the procurement and disposal process itself which had caused huge losses. The matter was reported to the Passco management on 28th November, 2011 but it rejected allegations on the ground that losses sustained by Passco had been picked up by the Federal Government because "wet rice" was procured and disposed of in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The above report as published in the "Business Recorder" is a classic example of the working of the Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) in Pakistan where inefficiency and mismanagement is the order of the day and huge financial losses suffered due to ineptitude, negligence or corrupt practices of their managements are picked up routinely by the national exchequer. To make the matters worse or more complicated, there is a general tendency of buck-passing to save one's own skin and blame the other party for omissions and failures at various stages. In the instant case, a highly substandard commodity, inferior to the actual specifications, was procured; its sale was delayed for an unduly long period without realising that interest charges had to be paid to the banks for stocking the commodity and then Passco had the cheek to say that such an unwise decision was taken in accordance with the instructions from the relevant ministry of the government. All of this seems unbelievable and obviously a lot of people are involved in such dubious practices, making a lot of money and bleeding the government exchequer profusely and mercilessly. If the government was made to suffer a loss of over Rs 11 billion in only one transaction, it is not surprising that managements of the PSEs in Pakistan were bleeding the country's budget like a pig every year. Since structural fiscal deficit is already quite substantial, added burden due to the mismanagement in the PSEs is usually financed through bank borrowings, which are highly inflationary and make the lives of ordinary people more miserable, who had no role in stealing the money from government exchequer. Although there is a lot of criticism on the working of the PSEs, no bold efforts have so far been made to set the things right and save the nation from this crooked game. There could be certain merit in the argument that certain PSEs providing essential services to the public at large need to be restructured and retained in the public sector, but organisations like Passco which are primarily engaged in trading and ordinary business do not qualify for such treatment. They need to be disbanded because their functions could easily be taken over by the private sector without the involvement of the government. The sooner it is done, the better to alleviate the heavy burden now carried by the government/ordinary tax payers. No private trader would buy wet and substandard paddy without a huge discount in price and as a rational agent would sell it at the appropriate time to economise on bank charges. Above all, he will not blame anybody else but only himself if there is a loss by the end of the day. Our fiscal position is so precarious that we cannot afford to feed endlessly white elephants like Passco. It is time to say farewell to such animals and lighten the burden on the nation's fragile back. Certain landlords or vested interests may not be happy with such an approach but this is now the accepted norm in almost all the countries of the world.

Pakistan:Women’s protection and empowerment

EDITORIAL:Daily Times

The government has shown, once again, its unwavering support for the elevation of women’s stature in society. The PPP has a good record of inclusion of women even on high-level posts. President Asif Ali Zardari the other day signed on the One Million Signatures campaign undertaken to create awareness about violence against women. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Zardari, expressing his acceptance and endorsement, stated that his party and government would take all necessary steps to put an end to discrimination against women. Already, legislation for the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2010, adoption of the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act 2011, Acid Control and Acid Crime Act and Criminal Law (Third Amendment) Act 2011 and the Prevention of Anti-women Practices Act have been passed, to the credit of the government. Albeit the bill against domestic violence is still hanging fire, its presentation marks the need to provide security to millions of women who become victims of everyday abuse in their homes. The stereotype of the woman as the victim and the man as the aggressor has not changed considerably for a vast majority of females, who owing to their family background, educational status, financial dependence and lack of options remain chained in a cul-de-sac for life. In large segments of society, in a pre-modern state, where patriarchy is alive and kicking, it is of utmost importance that women have the education, wherewithal and means to break free of an offensive and discriminatory system, with the full knowledge that the law is on their side and effective to provide justice to them. Despite the difficulties and challenges the government faces to pass all bills in favour of women’s rights and empowerment, the ongoing efforts must be appreciated. The need to have women as members of the superior courts is also being considered. The absence of female judges in the superior judiciary reflects the unspoken discrimination against women in a male-controlled domain. Commemorating the legacy of the former prime minister and co-chairperson of the PPP, the late Ms Benazir Bhutto, whose government was a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the promulgation of the Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act 2011 and establishment of 26 Benazir Bhutto Centres for Women are positive signs of the PPP’s stance to provide opportunities for women in terms of security and employment. While all these initiatives are of great significance, it is the duty of the lawmakers to ensure implementation of these laws favouring womenfolk. Without implementation in practice, these protections would remain mere words, and ultimately redundant.

USAID provides solar energy system to 115 households

Speakers Sunday highlighted the need to promote alternate energy sources to combat growing energy crisis in the country. Speaking at a project launching ceremony under which 115 household solar systems would be provided in villages of union council Jhimpir district Thatta, CEAD Chief Executive Prof Qalander Shah said that alternate energy is the need of the hour. He said that Pakistan is among the sunniest countries and solar energy is highly localisable. This can benefit rural areas in the country, where access to central power grid is sparse. He hoped that household solar system would be more beneficial for rural women who are engaged in multiple chores and they can give more time to traditional handicraft making to improve their livelihood. The project is implemented by Centre for Environment & Development with the support of USAID. Executive Director of CEAD Nasir Ali Panhwar said that power crisis can be managed through exploiting indigenous resources including natural resources like solar and wind. The solution would be long lasting and sustainable as it is based on our own resources. He said that till today thousands of villages are not electrified and the routines activities of villagers are limited up to sunlight. He said that solar energy is not only cost effective but also environmental friendly and is without any operation and maintenance cost. He said that provision of solar systems at household level would certainly bring far reaching benefits to communities, who do not have any source of electricity and spend major source of income on purchasing kerosene oil for lighting purpose. Zahid Hussain Jalbani said that use of kerosene oil for lighting brings many health problems and as a result poor people in rural areas are afflicted with many diseases. He said that solar energy is efficient and farmers as well as fishermen can spend more time on enhancing their livelihood opportunities. Dr Ali Murtaza Dharejo said that all economic activities are directly dependent on energy. He hoped that with provision of 115 household solar systems, life of 115 families would be changed. Ghazala Panhwar said that community participation is imperative for success of the initiative. She urged the need for women participation. Rasool Bux Dars said that Jhimpir is neglected area and many development schemes have not been implemented and as a result funds have been lapsed. He said that provision of solar system is unique initiative and would be highly beneficial at local community. Raza Mohammad Palari said that due to non-availability of light, children cannot study after sunset. But after provision of solar lights, they would be in better position to give time to their studies. He appreciated the support of American people through USAID. Qadir Palari, Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Fateh Mohammad Behrani, Kamal Palari and other also spoke at the occasion

Punjab THIEF MINISTER on police culture

Punjab CM on police culture

BY:SYED TASADUQ

PUNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has once again spoken about further improving the thana culture. May I ask the chief minister about how he will change the thana culture when the police force already stands politicised and has ceased to work as an independent institution that protects the people and their properties without any interference from the political government? When a posting or transfer of a police officer depends on the discretion of the chief minister, it is unlikely that a police officer will perform his duties according to the prescribed rules. When hundreds of policemen are for the personal security of the chief minister and other officials, expecting the police force to serve the citizens is a contradiction. Is the life of an ordinary citizen not as precious as that of a political leader who is a representative of the people? Why are politicians afraid of the people who elected them and entrusted them with the power of ruling them? In order to change the thana culture it is imperative to change the present system of police recruitment, training, responsibilities and service structure. The rules of the system date back to the colonial era, though the need of the day is an independent police institution where recruitment of officers is based on qualifications and merit. In my opinion, a police officer should be at least a graduate, and a policeman should have at least completed his high school. Police officers should study and be trained for a minimum of two years before being made in charge of a police station. Similarly, policemen should undergo at least one year’s training. The service structure should follow the model of the army. Only then can police performance change, followed by a change in the thana culture. The other important factor missing is the participation of the community in police working and performance evaluations. Those new residential colonies which have their own security arrangements must be made part of police functions such as protecting the property and maintaining law and order. Why are people afraid of seeking help from the police? Why does each police station have a price when SHOs are willing to pay for their transfers? Developing and encouraging community policing and revamping the whole police system are the need of the hour. Unfortunately, our political leaders are so busy in political scoring with each other that they do not have time to think and implement those policies which contribute to the welfare of the people and which can really make a difference in the performance of the government. Lastly, I suggest that the chief minister should also establish women police stations that are managed by women alone so that 50 per cent of the population is given its due importance and equal rights. SYED TASADUQ Lahore

ISAF Calls Criticism From Pakistan 'Incorrect'

http://www.rferl.org

The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) has denied a claim by Pakistan's military that ISAF is failing to help stop militants from crossing the Afghan-Pakistan border. Pakistan's military says it has notified the NATO-led force in Afghanistan 52 times about crossborder movement from Pakistan into Afghanistan by militants, without any response from the ISAF. In a statement, ISAF said that claim is "incorrect." The NATO-led force says it immediately dispatches troops to deal with crossborder militants whenever Pakistan's military requests assistance. The statement says ISAF has a mutual interest to coordinate action with Pakistan against crossborder attacks from North Waziristan by members of the Haqqani network. It says ISAF is "committed to working together with Pakistan" for security, stability and efforts toward reconciliation.

President Zardari takes strict notice of loadshedding

DAWN.COM

President Asif Ali Zardari, taking strict notice of the electricity loadshedding during Sehri and Iftari timings, called for a high level meeting at the presidency to discuss the issue on Monday, DawnNews reported. The meeting would b attended by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Finance MinisterDrAbdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain and the secretaries of the departments.

Major power outage hits northern Indian cities

The electricity grid across northern India failed Monday, leaving hundreds of millions of people without electricity in one of the worst power failures of the past decade, officials said. Hundreds of trains, including New Delhi's massive Metro, were forced to a halt and hospitals shifted to generator power when the country's northern grid crashed about 2:30 a.m. because it could no longer keep up with the huge demand for power in the hot summer. Residents woken from sleep when their fans and air conditioners stopped, came out of their homes in New Delhi's sweltering heat as the entire city turned dark. By late morning, 60 percent of the power had been restored in the eight northern states affected by the outage, said Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. The rest should be back to normal by the late afternoon, he said, adding that he was forming a committee to investigate the outage. The failure was the first time since 2001 that the northern grid had collapsed. But India's demand for electricity has soared since then as its economy has grown sharply. In addition, a weak monsoon has kept temperatures higher this year, further increasing electricity usage as people seek to cool off. Shivpal Singh Yadav, the power minister in the state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 200 million people, said that while demand during peak hours hits 11,000 megawatts, the state can only provide 9,000 megawatts. The grid collapsed because some states apparently drew more power than they were authorized to take to meet the summer demand, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation chief Avnish Awasthi said. Blackouts are a frequent occurrence in many Indian cities because of a shortage of power and an antiquated electricity grid. At the same time, tens of millions of people living in villages in northern India have no access to the electricity grid at all. Earlier this month, angry crowds blocked traffic and clashed with police after blackouts in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon that houses many high-rise apartment blocks and offices. With no power in some neighborhoods for more than 24 hours, people erected blockades that paralyzed traffic for several hours. Transmission and distribution losses in some states are as much as 50 percent because of theft and connivance of employees in the power industry.

Ansar Burney to sue Maya Khan for “conversion” stint on live show

Former Expert Advisor to the United Nations on Human Rights, Ansar Burney, has recently stated that he would file a legal suit against Maya Khan for creating a drama and using his worker Sunil without his permission for her Television show. Mr. Burney tweeted this statement on his official Twitter account on Friday. “Anchor Maya Khan again created dirty drama by inviting my office worker Sunil to her show without my permission to convert him Muslim,” tweeted Mr. Burney. Mr. Burney also tweeted that he would send a legal notice to Maya Khan and TV owners of 10 million sterling pounds. “The ‘Burney Legal Solicitors’ London is going to send legal Notice to Anchor Maya Khan and TV owners of 10 million sterling pounds,” further tweeted the former Federal Minister for Human Rights. Ansar Burney termed the entire “Hindu to Muslim” conversion as a “drama” by tweeting, “my worker has full right of freedom but what Sunil told me is a painful story of Drama so I have to take action.” According to Ansar Burney, Sunil is a worker within Ansar Burney Trust and who was deliberately used by anchor Maya Khan for a recent Ramzan transmission whereby Sunil was seen converting as a Muslim.

Popular uprising gets out of control across Saudi Arabia: Analyst

Saudi anti-regime protesters have held fresh demonstrations across Riyadh as well as the holy city of Mecca to protest against the arrest of political prisoners. Chanting anti-regime slogans on Saturday, the angry protesters demanded the release of political prisoners and the downfall of the US-backed monarchy. Similar demonstrations were also held against the regime in the village of Awamiyah and the city of Buraydah. Tensions have been running high in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province over the past weeks following the detention of Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr. Press TV has conducted an interview with Kamel Wazni, political analyst, to further discuss the issue. The following is an approximate transcript of the interview. Press TV: Mr. Wazni, how significant is that these protests have now moved into Riyadh and now Mecca as well? Wazni: Well obviously the legality of the issue and the merit of the issues indicate it is not the issue of the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, it is actually the issue of the kingdom itself. The policy of the royal family for very long time did not address the needs of the people and the needs of the people now surface with what is taking place around the region. I think there is widespread corruption within the Saudi monarchy. We know those royal family, the prince and the princess, they receive all the allocation of money out of the sales of oil at the expense of the Saudi population. I think this movement is resonated very well with real demand and real movement within the Saudi community and the beginning started in the eastern part with the arrest of Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr which should be called on the international community to release him immediately because he was expressing his civil rights which is allowed under the international norm. But I think the problem, it is getting out of hand for the Saudis and I think it is going to be problematic for the royal family which for very long time tried to dodge the situation. The level of discrimination that exists in the eastern part actually is spreading to other civil rights issues that actually giving the movement a spirit and I think the Saudis should not crackdown on these demonstrators, that Saudis should look very carefully, the Saudi government, the Saudi monarchy look very careful at what is taking place and to start addressing what is needed-- release all the political prisoners, stop the inhumane treatment of those prisoners especially Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr which has been beaten rapidly according to his family while he is in abduction because this level of hostility should not be exerted in this holy month of Ramadan or any months of the year. Press TV: Do you see any signs that the Saudi monarchy will honor many of the things that US has spoken about i.e. giving the rights to political prisoners and also to free Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr? Wazni: I think not any time soon but I think there is kind of dodging for the reality, the Saudis still live in denial, still have the backing of the United States. I think the order from the United States is to continue the crackdown against the peaceful demonstrators as it is the order from the United States to crackdown against the demonstrators in Bahrain. I think the Saudis while they are pushing their luck in Syria, supporting what is taking [place] in Syria, I think they should address what is taking place inside the Saudi Arabia. I think the monarchy have to look at the political issue, the economic issue, the social issues of the country but I think the level of demonstrations probably will escalate and I said before that this is a real movement and has a lot of legs and the Saudis will be surprised how magnificent this will be if they do not address the real issue. Here [is] a situation which requires the attention of the free world and I think the Saudis, they shortened the process by thinking that they can crackdown and this will end. I am looking at the picture actually and I was looking just like two weeks at the pictures, now there is a huge crowd actually starting to be entering the scene and demanding the change that is required in the Saudi Arabia.

Bilawal awarded BA Honours degree at Oxford

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's son

Bilawal has been awarded a BA Honours degree at a convocation of the Oxford University. The degree was awarded to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, at the convocation held yesterday, the PPP said in a statement on Sunday.He was accompanied to the event by his aunt Sanam Bhutto and sister Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari. Bilawal graduated with BA Honours in modern history and politics. Though he had completed the course two years ago, he was unable to formally receive the degree until now due to his busy schedule, the statement said. The son of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto will turn 24 in September. He can contest Parliamentary Elections only in 2013.

US drone kills seven militants in North Waziristan

Pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has killed four people near the Afghan border. The officials say the missiles hit a car in Khushali village near Mir Ali in North Waziristan. They spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. They say the identity of the four dead is not yet clear. North Waziristan is home to several Afghan and Pakistani militant groups, as well as foreign al-Qaida fighters. Pakistan says the strikes help militants attract new recruits and hit civilians, and demands that the U.S. halt them. In the past, there has been evidence suggesting Pakistan has given tacit approval to the strikes. The U.S. uses unmanned drones to hit militants in the absence of Pakistani moves against them.

PML-N formed govt in Punjab due to my favour: Zardari

President Zardari says Shahbaz Sharif was in power in Punjab only due to his kindness. Speaking to a public gathering in Khairpur on Sunday Asif Zardari said that general elections will be held on time which will be transparent and free. The president expressed the confidence PPP will sweep the upcoming elections as it has served masses following the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. He said opponents of PPP were unnerved but they will continue the policy of reconciliation. President Zardari said Shahbaz Sharif is in power in Punjab only due to his kindness. He vowed to sit in Punjab on permanent basis soon to solve the problems of the people. He said PPP government following the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto is making sincere efforts to overcome all problems being faced by the people. Zardari said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto laid her life for the cause of poor people but never compromised on principles. He said the PPP is determined to overcome challenges being faced by the country with the support of the people. President Zardari said concrete measures are being taken to reduce power load-shedding through implementing long and short terms plans. He directed provincial ministers and elected representatives to concentrate on resolution of problems of the people. He also asked the people to have close eyes on the development activities in their areas. Earlier, President Zardari also held meetings with the people belonging to various segments of the society and listened to their problems.

Afghan truckers a forgotten front in a war growing deadlier by the day

In the cabins of their "jingle" trucks flamboyant with tinsel baubles and painted tiger patterns as they move NATO's war supplies,

Habibullah thinks he and other drivers are becoming a forgotten front in an Afghan war growing more vicious. From a dusty truck park midway between Kabul and the Pakistan border, and under the constant thump of helicopters from Jalalabad airbase over the road, Habibullah moves food and military materiel across the Taliban's eastern heartland, from Nuristan to the former al Qaeda cave stronghold of Tora Bora.

"We worry about our fate when NATO leaves, because the Taliban also call us the infidels. For them, we are not just the enemy, but also traitors," said the soft spoken 23-year-old, who contributes seven trucks to a cooperative with five owners. It is a thankless and increasingly deadly job, and one so mired in graft that the drivers see a fraction of the cash paid by U.S. military paymasters, with the rest skimmed by middlemen or even going into the hands of insurgents for "protection". Only this week, three of Habibullah's trucks were attacked and burned by Taliban amid the rugged mountains of Nuristan, a virtual no-go zone for NATO soldiers after heavy past losses and now garrisoned by a handful of Afghan troops and police. A truck belonging to another company was torched and the driver shot dead across the border in Pakistan, while 22 fuel tankers were blown up in the north by insurgents there as they moved fuel and equipment. "One of our drivers was killed. We brought his body back to Jalalabad," Habibullah said. "His wife came and grabbed me by my collar, tearing my shirt and shouting 'you killed my husband'. I had to give her some money. The Americans don't help with that." Another driver, Lalajan, sits on a crimson carpet in a container filled with the rattle of an ageing fan against the oppressive heat and says Taliban raids are mounting this summer, as foreign combat troops look to leave the country by 2014. The NATO-led coalition this week acknowledged that insurgent attacks had risen 11 percent in the past three months compared to last year, with a spokesman blaming a severe winter and crop failures driving poor farmers into paid Taliban ranks. "We have between us lost 15 trucks this year so far. We had one truck break down and we sent others to help. Then out of the blue the Taliban appeared," said Lalajan, his heavily bearded face furrowing as he sits cross legged with his 4-year-old son crawling over his lap. "I asked them, I will give you money not to attack my trucks, but they said my money was haram (forbidden). The leader burned them," he said. No less disruptive are the frequent border closures on the Pakistan side, including a seven-month shutdown enforced on NATO traffic last November after 24 Pakistani soldiers were mistakenly killed in a U.S. airstrike. The main Torkham border crossing only reopened in July, but Lalajan said there was still an immense backlog and some days only a few trucks could pass a border gateway which last year averaged around 160 each day. POCKETING THE DIFFERENCE Adding to security fragility, Lalajan said, was that Afghan drivers working from distribution hubs in Afghanistan like Bagram airbase north of Kabul could not obtain insurance, as drivers coming from Pakistan were able to. Local drivers, except for those working for the largest transport companies, were also forced to rely on brokers who sold on contracts to smaller firms and pocketed the difference, often as much as half the job's entire worth. For the majority of contracts paid by the military, worth around $8,000 on average, middlemen pocketed $4,000 for doing nothing other than having good connections. Drivers then received around $300 per month in salary, but pocketed $1,000 extra in danger money for each 10- to 15-day delivery to military bases in the riskiest areas. "The middlemen often hold our money for sometimes months, investing it in other things. Sometimes when we go to claim, the company has disappeared and we get nothing. The Americans don't care about that," Lalajan said. Laghman province, which is home to the truckers, is one of Afghanistan's poorest, with 67 percent of people living in poverty and 78 percent underemployment, while seven in 10 people do not get adequate food each day, according to World Bank data. Asked which road he feared most, 40-year-old driver Mohammad Qayum said the valley route to the most far-flung U.S. base in the northeast, Forward Operating Base Bostick near the Pakistan border in north Kunar, was the most dangerous. Bostick, in a natural mountain amphitheatre visited by Reuters in June, is a frequent target for Taliban rockets aimed down at the first battalion of the U.S. 12th Infantry Regiment. "Last year, two of my trucks were attacked going to Kunar. My nephew was inside and was burned to death," said Lalajan, nodding agreement with his friend. Smaller cooperatives like his with 70 trucks say margins are so tight they cannot make the security payments to protect convoys and which critics say often end up in the hands of the Taliban, helping fund the insurgent war effort. "For bigger companies that get first-hand contracts, for them it's possible. They can have 60 trucks in a convoy and can pay some money to avoid attack," he said. "But for us there are lots of Taliban groups. Which one would we pay? The attacks have been mounting." Habibullah said the only thing keeping drivers in jobs vital to the NATO war effort currently were danger bonus payments, but even they were losing their lure as the Taliban intensified their fight and foreign troops wound back their presence. "We don't have any faith that the government will reach any deal with the Taliban. If they reach a deal, these attacks on us will still continue, because in the eyes of the Taliban we are kaffirs (infidels)," he said. "We think for drivers like us, as has happened with some translators, foreign borders should be opened to us. We should be allowed to leave Afghanistan."

Accountability Court summons Sharif family on August 6

The Accountability Court IV headed by Chaudhry Abdul Haq on Saturday once again issued notices to the former twice-elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and eight other members of their family and friends in three corruption references pending against them. The notices were issued to them on the application of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the reopening of the corruption references and the court directed NAB to ensure that the notices are served. The court adjourned the reference of the state vs Hudaibia Paper Mills till September 15 while two other references, the Ittefaq Foundries and state vs Mian Muhammad Sharif references, commonly known as the Raiwind assets case, were adjourned till August 6. Advocate Akram Sheikh represented the Sharif family in the Hudaibia Paper Mills reference while no one appeared in the two other references. The court directed the accused members of the Sharif family to file their representation in the two references by August 6. In the State vs Hudaibia Paper Mills Ltd reference, Akram Sheikh Advocate argued that he has not been provided with the NAB’s application for the reopening of these references. The court then directed NAB to provide him with the copy of the application and the copy was then provided. The AC judge asked advocate Akram Sheikh to assist the court regarding the stay order issued by a bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi. Forwarding arguments in the state vs Hudaibia Papers Mills, Akram Sheikh said that these cases, after they were formed some 12 years ago, have continued to be adjourned sine die. So they lost their validity and effectiveness. There is not a single precedent in a criminal case for sine die adjournment, he argued. The court has also to see if it could summon the accused at the request of the prosecutor whereas an LHC bench has already issued stay order in these cases stopping the federation to proceed. As per law there is 30 days time for initiating trial proceedings in a corruption reference. Akram Sheikh further argued before the court that these cases were formed on political basis for vengeance. On previous orders of the court, notices were served on the two accused only and those too were incomplete. We appeared before the court after receiving information through media. Akram Sheikh requested the court to dismiss NAB’s application. NAB’s prosecutor Chaudhry Riaz argued before the court that the LHC issued stay orders stopping federation to proceed in these cases. The stay orders were not applicable to the NAB. The AC judge inquired the prosecutor if NAB was not an institution under the federation? The NAB prosecutor replied that the institution of NAB was formed to investigate corruption. He said that the Sharif family has been in exile after these cases were formed and then in 2007 there was National Reconciliation Ordinance. The sine die adjournment was granted to save the time of court. The NAB prosecutor said that Sharif brothers on one hand say that their cases were facing inordinate delay to decide and on the other hand want to close these cases. “Previously it was said that the references were not signed by the chairman NAB and now we got signatures of the chairman NAB on these cases,” the prosecutor added. After that the court put off hearing. There were three corruption references pending against Nawaz Sharif and his other family members. In one corruption reference by the title of State versus Hudaibia Paper Mills (Pvt) Ltd, nine members of the Sharif family were accused of committing corruption amounting to Rs642.743 million. As per NAB allegations the accused deposited ill-gotten money in the accounts opened in other persons’ names and used the money from these accounts to pay off loans of the “Sharif companies.” Mian Muhammad Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Mian Abbas Sharif, Hussain Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Mrs Shamim Akhtar (mother of Nawaz Sharif), Mrs Sabiha Abbas, Mrs Maryam Safdar and former federal minister M Ishaq Dar were the accused in this reference. It is worth mentioning here that the accountability court IV had abated this reference to the extent of Mian Muhammad Sharif after his death. Second corruption reference by the title of State versus Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif etc is of the Raiwind assets. Main allegation in this reference has been that the accused had acquired vast tracts of land upon which a number of palatial houses and mansions were constructed thereupon with pecuniary resources which appeared to be grossly disproportionate to their known sources of income. As per NAB allegations there involves an amount of Rs247.352 million. Apart from Mian Nawaz Sharif, his mother Shamim Akhtar was also an accused in this case. In third corruption reference by the title of State versus Ittefaq Foundries etc Nawaz Sharif, his brother Abbas Sharif and Kamal Qureshi were allegedly involved in corruption amounting to Rs1,063 million. The main allegation against the accused in this case was that M/s Ittefaq Foundries Ltd obtained cash finance from National Bank. As per NAB allegations the company wilfully defaulted to pay back the amount in 1994. All these references were either filed or investigated in 1999-2000 at the Accountability Court at Attock at that time. The cases later on were shifted to Rawalpindi after the establishment of accountability courts at Rawalpindi.

PPP warns Shahbaz against using abusive language for President

Adviser to the PM and senior PPP leader Chaudhry Aslam Gill has warned Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to avoid using abusive and derogatory language against President Asif Ali Zardari. Addressing a party workers’ meeting, he said: “PML-N has lost the support of the people of Punjab. The PPP will sweep the general elections and form its governments not only at the Centre but also in Punjab.” Aslam Gill said National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza has given her ruling regarding the reference against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, keeping in view the constitution and the parliamentary traditions, but the hooliganism of the PML-N members in the parliament was tantamount to humiliating the parliament. The speaker, in her ruling, had declared that the prime minister had not ridiculed the Supreme Court, so no question of his disqualification arises and that no reference for his disqualification can be sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Lawlessness in Balochistan: Three Hindu traders kidnapped in Kalat

The Express Tribune

Three traders belonging to the Hindu community in Balochistan were kidnapped some 140 kilometres from the provincial capital Friday night. The incident has sparked off protests against the government’s continued inability to provide any sort of safety to residents of the restive province. The minority group’s representative body’s protest was supported widely by local political parties and business associations. Denesh Kumar, Retesh Kumar and Rathan Kumar were on their way back from attending a family function when they were intercepted by unidentified men at the Jiwa intersection of the RCD Highway in Surab tehsil, Kalat district. Their van was pulled over by armed men who took the traders hostage at gunpoint, an official of the Balochistan Levies, Abdul Rahim, told The Express Tribune. “The kidnappers came in two black four-wheel-drive vehicles and a white sedan,” he said. Though no one has approached the relatives of the abducted men, who all belong to one family, it is believed the men were being held for monetary gains. “It could be a case of kidnapping for ransom,” Abdul Rahim added. Mukesh Kumar, the brother of one of the abducted men, Rathan, is convinced the men have been kidnapped for ransom and said the Hindu community is an easy target for criminals. He, however, added that, “no one had called to make any demands yet.” Kumar said the traders had left Khuzdar at about five in the evening on Friday and were picked up an hour later. “The kidnappers coerced the driver of the van to get out of the vehicle, which they then drove away with.” Kumar said the wagon was later found in the Surab area with flat tyres. He added that the women of the family were still in the vehicle, but the kidnappers had whisked the three men away. Protests Following the incident, a complete shutter-down strike was observed in Kalat on Saturday. The call was made by the Hindu Panchayat and supported by the Shaheri Action Committee, Traders Union, Kalat, along with all major political parties. All commercial activity remained suspended as shops and markets were closed throughout the day. Traders and members of the Hindu community also blocked main roads in protest and chanted slogans against the government and police for failing to protect citizens. Demanding the government to employ all available resources for the safe recovery of the abducted men, protesters threatened to prolong their demonstrations otherwise. The Quetta-Karachi RCD Highway was blocked for nearly five hours in Kalat with a large number of vehicles stranded for the same reason. As a result, Nato supplies were also disrupted. There has been a marked increase in kidnapping for ransom cases in Surab Tehsil, the hometown of a provincial home minister, in recent years. Hindus are seen as easy targets. The Mahraj of Kali Mandir, the historic Hindu temple, was also kidnapped from the same region earlier, but was released after a ransom of Rs8 million was paid for his return.

Pakistan:Investors terrorized -Pakistan lost around $18 billion

Pakistan has lost around $18 billion foreign and domestic investments in last three years due to terrorism and chronic energy crises, an official of Board of Investment said. The official told “Online” Saturday that the expected investment of about $18 billion of last 3 years did not come in Pakistan after investors cited the problems of terrorism and energy shortages. “Now government is making all-out efforts to build the confidence of foreign investors by removing the barriers that discourage investment in the country,” said the official, adding that terrorism and energy shortages have put long-off term investors. The official told that unstable law and order situation, political instability, corruption and inconsistent policies on part of government were also major impediments in way of promoting investment in the country. The official further told that the Board of Investment will now move ahead more rapidly for motivating local and foreign investors to invest in the country and through recently passed Special Economic Zones (SEZ) bill some of the investor countries like Korea, China and Japan were expecting to benefit from the scheme as soon as it became operational. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign investment into Pakistan fell 65.6 percent to $680.4 million during financial year 2011-12 and foreign direct investment fell 50.3 percent to $812.6 million.

56%Pakistanis apprehensive of further difficulties in next six months Only 33 per cent feel otherwise: Survey

THE FRONTIER POST

According to a Gilani Research Foundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, 56% of Pakistanis are apprehensive about further difficulties for their country over the next six months.Meanwhile, 33% feel it will get no worse; 10% believe things might improve.A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked “Kindly tell for the next six months, will the difficulties faced by Pakistan decrease, increase or will there be no difference?” Responding to this, 10% believe that their difficulties will decrease, 56% believe difficulties will increase whereas 33% believe difficulties will remain the same. However, 1% did not give a view.The study was released by Gilani foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International. The recent survey was carried out among a sample of 2638 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country.Meanwhile, according to another Gilani Research Foundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, 57% say there is a no chance at all that this government can resolve the electricity crisis. Despair more than doubles during last 3 years.A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked “In your opinion, what are the chances that the current government will be successful to deal with energy crisis?” Responding to this, 7% there is a high chance that government will be successfully deal with energy crisis, 27% believe there is a little chance whereas 57% believe that there is absolutely no chance that the current government will be able to deal with energy crisis. However, 9% did not give a view.

The drastic decline of Pakistani minorities

Faiza Mirza

It is fairly true that some people just do not learn the lessons. Maya Khan, the unprecedented queen of controversial morning shows, quite evidently remains one of them. Whether we talk about her endless stream of crocodile tears shed during the live transmission of her shows or her posse of women running after young couples, Khan certainly knows how to stir up sensation and ratchet ratings. Khan, popularly known for running after people in the parks, was sacked after a social media campaign was launched against her. However, she was hired by another private TV channel soon for her sensationalism and controversies. Her recent escapade, which involved converting a Hindu boy on live television, has angered many people. The show revolved around the ritual of conversion and people calling in to congratulate Khan, her team and Sunil, who was later, renamed Muhammad Abdullah. When asked what motivated him to accept Islam, Sunil responded incoherently about his intentions. Most of his responses revolved around praising Sarim Burney Trust, where he works and supposedly received the courage to change his religion. I am truly ashamed to have witnessed such a hideous mockery of the two religions. I am appalled to be a part of a society which hails such unjust and unethical practises and deeply saddened to know that minorities are blatantly marginalised on live television while the silent majority lives in denial. It was ironical to see that not a single caller objected to this ridiculing of religions or safeguarding the rights of minorities living in Pakistan. I am positively sure that at this rate minorities will cease to exist in Pakistan. It is rather disappointing to see that people such as Khan and Shahid Masood who are best known for gaining popularity through such shoddy tactics are being followed around like deities. Amazingly, most of us fail to understand that spirituality and religion are matters of personal choices. Advertising and exhibiting religion is neither permissible in Islam nor is recommended by the ethical parameters of any progressive society. The bombardment of Ramazan transmissions featuring religious clerics, public and pseudo-religious scholars-cum-hosts that aim to question and reinforce the concept of faith, are nothing but promotional stunts to fool the public. When will we learn? Why cannot we see that the only chance of our survival lies in tolerance and coexistence? Why cannot we respect other religions the way we honour Islam? How can a person who disrespects one religion, honour another? The forced conversions and abductions of non-Muslims living in Pakistan are hushed-up whereas ‘victories’ such as the one we witnessed this week are publicised on national television, further intimidating and isolating minorities. We talk about atrocities carried out in Indian Kashmir and the Gujrat riots but forget about the minorities who are living in constant fear of their lives, legacies and children. Khan’s show depicted the true picture of people because of whom the non-Muslims population in Pakistan is declining drastically. Whether the conversion was forced or willful remains arguable, however, we all know how Pakistanis would have responded if a Muslim would have been converted on live television. The ensuing catharsis would have engulfed the entire country in a raging fire; however, the minimal reaction this episode has received just proves that we are a failed society. Equally if not more, Pakistan’s media ethics are also to be questioned. The code of conduct which is found missing in most of the cases is one of the main reasons why such grotesque shows are approved for broadcast. Who has given electronic media the right to disseminate such negative propaganda about religion? Is it not more important to address issues related to the suppressed minorities of Pakistan and broadcast messages of peace in harmony during Ramazan? It is important to understand that unless we learn to live in mutual harmony, we will continue to suffer. The silent majority must rise and reprimand such media houses, producers and anchorpersons who entice masses to laud such medieval practises. We saw a revolution on social media after Khan’s “chasing couples in park” fiasco and we must continue to raise our voice. The change will take time; however, it will also only be brought about by you.

PPP committed to making South Punjab a province: Zardari

President Asif Ali Zardari has said that making South Punjab a separate province was part of PPP’s nation building process and the party would endeavor to honour its commitment made with the people of South Punjab. “The creation of a Janoobi Punjab province would help provide the people of South Punjab with the needed openings and opportunities for their socio-economic development,” the president said while talking to a delegation of office bearers of PPP South Punjab led by Makhdoom Shahab-ud-Din, Federal Minister for Textile Industries, which called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr late Friday night. The delegation included among others Haider Zaman Qureshi, Senior Vice President PPP South Punjab, Shaukat Basra and Khawaja Rizwan Alam. The participants congratulated the president on the success of a PPP candidate, Abdul Qadir Gilani, in by-election in NA 151 Multan and also apprised him about the aspirations of the people of South Punjab about the creation of a new province for them. The president stressed the need to increase mass contact with the people to better understand their problems with a view to resolving them.