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3 commit suicide; boy clubbed to death; 15 vehicles taken
7 fishermen feared drowned
2 nuclear power plants to be set up
Hajj policy on website
Clashes claim 16 lives in North Waziristan
SC validates graduation condition
101 former legislators face disqualification
US expands hunt for al-Qaeda, Taliban fighters
US drone crashes in Pakistan
3 commit suicide; boy clubbed to death; 15 vehicles taken
KARACHI: Three people committed suicide in
different parts of the city while a boys killed in a clash on
Thursday. Pervez Maseeh (35) hanged himself with ceiling fan at his
house near Rahbar School, Adam Town area in the limits of Mahmoodabad
Police Station. The body was taken to the JPMC. Police said the
deceased was married four years back and was sole bread earner for his
two kids, wife and parents. He was sick and mentally upset due to
joblessness.
Sheikh M Zaki (50) hanged himself with ceiling fan
at his house in Al-Hilal Society near Chandni Chowk in the limits of
New Town Police Station. In the morning his family found his body and
informed police. The body was shifted to the JPMC. Police said he was
unmarried and psychiatric patient.
Noman (20) jumped from Jinnah Bridge in a park near
Native Jetty in the limits of TPX Police Station. He was seriously
injured and was taken to Civil Hospital where he breathed his last.
Reason behind the suicide could not be known till the filing of this
report.
KILLED: Muhammad (20) was killed in a scuffle
between two parties in Khamosh Colony in Gulbahar police limits.
Police said rival groups of boys clashed over some petty issue and
used sticks and stones. Muhammad sustained serious injuries and was
rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he died. Police had made no
arrest till late in the night.
BURNS VICTIM DIES: A girl Razia Rukhsana (22)
received burn injuries at her house in Ghousia Colony, Punjabi Para
limits of PIB Police Station. She was taken to the JPMC where she
died.
ACCIDENT: A truck (JK-3011) hit a donkey cart
driven by Shahnawaz Gul (32) in Baldia Town-4 seriously injuring him
and his donkey, which died on the spot. Shahnawaz was taken to Civil
Hospital where doctors declared him dead. The driver lost control over
the truck after hitting the cart and the vehicle plunged into a
nullah. The driver left his vehicle and fled.
DROWNED: Body of a youth Abdul Karim (18), who had
drowned in Hub River, was recovered by Edhi volunteers and was taken
to Civil Hospital.
HEROIN RECOVERED: Pakistan Coast Guards posted at
Uthal Kiosk, recovered one-kilogram of heroin from secret compartment
of a Karachi-bound Azad Dashat Coach (LSB-9801) at RCD Highway. They
nabbed the bus driver, co-driver and two others.
ROBBERIES: Bandits barged into Sabir Husain'S house
in North Nazimabad and looted cash, jewellery and other valuables; M
Imran and M Ghulam were deprived of cash in Mobina Town and TPX police
limits while armed men took away cash and jewellery from Mansoor Ali's
house in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
VEHICLES: Carjackers took away 15 vehicles,
including five cars and 10 motorcycles from different parts of the
city.
Seven fishermen feared drowned
KARACHI: July 11: Seven fishermen are feared drowned as their trawler was found floating rudderless in the sea on Thursday night. Police sources said they found a 44-foot-long trawler adrift near the Lighthouse.
It was identified as 'Al-Ashrafi' which had left Manora in the morning.
The sources believed it had capsized because of rough currents.
Seven fishermen were on board the trawler, including Saleem, Hameed, Ibrahim, Aslam, Addoo, Haji and Abbas. Saleem owned the boat and was a resident of Khadda Market. Others lived in Baba Bhitshah island.
The police feared the missing fishermen may have died. Divers were making efforts to fish out the bodies.
Two nuclear power plants to be set up
KARACHI, July 11: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is working on a plan to set up one unit each at its nuclear power plants at Karachi and Mianwali.
PAEC Chairman Pervez Butt disclosed this during his speech at the 7th convocation of KANUPP Institute of Nuclear Power Engineering (KINPOE) on Thursday. He said that in order to keep up with the global trend of using nuclear power and to increase the country's power generating capacity, the PAEC was working on a plan to establish a second unit at CHASNUPP and another at the KANUPP site, which would be called K2.
Referring to the 16 per cent share of nuclear power in the world electric power generation, he said that 432 nuclear power plants were operating successfully and safely in the world.
Pakistan's nuclear plants were generating only three per cent of the electricity production, he said. He mentioned that KANUPP was nearing the end of its design life, but there were plans to extend its life by 12 to 15 years.
He said the PAEC wanted to build a plant bigger than the combined capacity of KANUPP and CHASNUPP soon. Highlighting the significance of freshwater for the safety of plants, he said that in order to meet the deficiency in water supply, a reverse osmosis desalination plant with a capacity of 100,000 gallons per day had been set up at the KANUPP complex.
Hajj policy on website
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs has
uploaded Hajj Policy 2003 on Ministry's website. Salient features of
the policy can be seen and downloaded from the following
website:www.mra.gov.pk. The date of submission of applications for
Hajj under the regular scheme is July 15 to August 15, while the date
for submission of applications under the sponsorship scheme is July 15
to August 22. Applications under the Open Hajj scheme may be submitted
from July 15 to September 21.
Clashes claim 16 lives in North Waziristan
PESHAWAR: As many as 16 tribesmen were feared
killed in two tribal feuds at Mirali and Miranshah of North Waziristan
Agency, tribal sources informed The News here Thursday.
The sources from Mirali said that rival tribesmen
on Wednesday night attacked the mosque of Khushal Wazir tribe of
Kekakhel village during Isha prayers.
The attackers opened indiscriminate fire on the
worshipers killing six persons on the spot including the Pesh Imam of
the mosque. The six slain worshipers included five belonged to the
family of Haq Nawaz who were reportedly in dispute over property with
Eid Muhammad Wazir of the same village.
Those killed have been identified as Mir Khatam,
Pesh Imam, Haq Nawaz chieftain of his Khushal Wazir tribe and his
three sons Muhammad Nawaz, Noorey and ten years old Ikramullah and his
minor grandson Noor Wali. Enraged over these killings the tribesmen of
Khushal Wazir reportedly raided houses of their rival group and
demolished various houses.
Tribal sources from Miranshah, agency headquarters
of North Waziristan, said that 10 tribesmen died in shootout between
two rival groups Darpakhel and Tabiwal Durdani tribes on Thursday but
the names of the victims could not be ascertained.
Using heavy weaponry against each other the warring
tribes reportedly rejected appeals from 15 local Jirgas to stop
fighting and resolve their disputes through dialogue. "They
refused to accept ceasefire plan of the political administration as
well as of the tribal elders comprising prominent tribal elders",
sources in the political administration said.
The sources also said that both the warring tribes
started firing on the Qaumi Lashkar killing an Afghan tribal elder
Maroof Khan when he along with other members of the Lashkar tried to
approach the armed rivals who had taken positions against each others
in the nearby mountain bunkers.
The tribesmen have been fighting over ownership of
the land at Dandey Darpakhel in Tehsil Ghulam Khan road. On July 5
eight Afghan refugees died and 10 others injured in a cross fire when
these two rival tribes started firing on each others at Dandey
Darpakhel area.
They said five persons died from each tribe i.e.
Darpakhel and Durdani. Besides that the sources added seven persons
got bullet injuries when a rocket missed its target and hit a passing
passenger vehicle.
However, when approached political authorities
confirmed that fresh clashes had taken place but said that four
tribesmen had died and seven injuried. An administration official
said; "We are trying to sort out the dispute between the warring
tribes".
SC validates graduation condition
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on
Thursday validated the graduation condition for parliamentarians as
laid down by the government in its constitutional package.
While giving its verdict, the five-member bench
headed by Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad dismissed all the petitions
challenging the graduation condition, thus upholding the government's
decision of making graduation qualification compulsory for all
contestants of the general election throughout the country.
Pakistan Muslim League (Q), Awami National Party,
Pakistan Awami Party, former MNA Chaudhry Muhammad Ilyas and Jamhoori
Watan Party had filed petitions challenging the graduation condition
as unconstitutional and a violation of basic human rights.
"All petitions on this issue have been
dismissed so the condition of B.A. will continue for the
parliamentarians," said Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad while
announcing the short order after three days of hearing. The court
started hearing of the case on July 9.
Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad said the detailed order
would explain reasons for validating the graduation condition. Besides
Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, the other four members of the bench
included, Justice Munir A. Sheikh, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui,
Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq.
Soon after the completion of the hearing, the
Supreme Court bench left the courtroom for their chambers, leaving the
petitioners and the other people present there in suspense. From the
very mood of the proceedings, some of the lawyers and politicians had
started congratulating each other.
The short order came as a surprise for many
lawyers. Through the morning session of the court proceedings,
Advocate General of Punjab, Maqbool Ilahi Malik, Additional Advocate
General of Sindh, Serwar Khan, Advocate General NWFP Jehanzab Khan,
Additional Advocate General Balochistan, Akhtar Zaman respectively
gave their arguments in support of the condition.
The advocate generals maintained that it would be
unreasonable to have no limit for the election of parliamentarians
while the Nazims had to fulfil the eligibility clause of being at
least a matriculate. They also observed that laying down a minimum
educational qualification for parliamentarians and provincial assembly
members was not a violation of fundamental rights.
They believed it was a statutory right, which could
be changed by the government. "It is purely meant to raise the
level of performance of members of the parliament," said AG
Punjab. The official lawyers also rejected the figures quoted by the
petitioners regarding the presence of schools, colleges and graduates
in the country.
They submitted documents containing facts and
figures about the existence of degree colleges in the rural areas of
the four units of the country. Later concluding his remarks, Pakistan
Muslim League (Q) lawyer Syed Iftikhar Hussain Gillani rejected the
defence lawyers' argument that the figures given by the petitioners
were not correct and did not correspond with the ground realities.
Quoting from Census 1998, Gillani said, only 1.32
per cent of the total population possess BA degrees." Thus, it
will be very difficult for the parties to find candidates fulfilling
the condition," he told the court.
On one occasion, Justice Munir observed that the
general elections were meant to choose the public representatives and
not merely fill certain number of seats. "Let the educated lot
contest the elections," he remarked.
Gillani said out of 132.352 million population of
the country only 43.035 million live in urban areas while the rest
live in the rural areas. Some 43.5 per cent (40.43 million) are
educated of which only 1.38 per cent are graduates. Gillani explained
that 0.78 per cent of the total rural population is graduate while
gradation ratio in rural womenfolk is only 0.50 per cent.
At one point, the Chief Justice asked whether all
the party members could seek party tickets. The CJ also inquired from
the PML (Q) counsel about the parties' consideration while awarding a
ticket. Gillani replied: "The first and foremost consideration of
the parties is popularity of the person." Sheikh Riaz also
observed what if the political parties are asked to follow an
eligibility criterion while awarding tickets for contesting general
elections.
Gillani also brought to the notice of the court
that under the new amendments a party office-bearer in villages and
towns should possess a BA degree otherwise he would not be eligible
for the slot. At this a PML (Q) leader referred to the famous Cake vs
Bread story.
Soon after the decision was announced, despair
could be seen on the faces of politicians whose political careers had
suddenly ended. During the break after completion of the arguments,
some of the female political workers jubilantly called Syed Iftikhar
Gillani as a 'Dulha (Bridegroom)of PML (Q).
101 former legislators face disqualification
ISLAMABAD, July 11: In the defunct parliament, 79 MNAs and 22 senators, including leader of the opposition Benazir Bhutto, did not possess a Bachelor's degree, a threshold of qualification for contesting the October elections
, which was upheld by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
There are conflicting claims on the issue whether Benazir Bhutto, the twice elected prime minister and life-chairperson of a leading political party, has a qualification equivalent to Bachelor's degree.
"Let the regime find it out and make itself a laughing-stock in the process," Deputy Secretary General of PPP Mian Raza Rabbani had told Dawn on a question regarding Benazir's educational qualification.
"Educated at Redcliffe Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Completed Oxford's diploma course in International Law and Diplomacy, 1977," was written in a column against the name of Benazir Bhutto, in a list prepared by the government about the educational qualification of the former MNAs.
The list, according to the official sources, was based on the information provided by the members. The list showed that 79 MNAs, including 53 ex-MNAs of ruling PML (N) would not qualify for filing nomination papers to contest the October elections. Prominent among them are former speaker Gohar Ayub Khan, deputy chairman Senate Mir Humanyun Khan Mari, Lt-Gen Majeed Malik, Chaudhry Sher Ali, Secretary General of PML (N) Saranjam Khan and Ghulam Dastagir Khan.
Apart from the 53 MNAs of PML (N), four of its senators out of a total of 26 were also under-graduate.
According to the list, Mian Muhammad Azhar, who now heads PML (Quaid-i-Azam) group, possessed a Bachelor's degree in commerce.
Interestingly, Begum Abida Hussain, who reportedly has recently appeared in BA exams from Bahauddin Zakaria University, Multan, was shown as graduate. In the qualification column against her name was written: "B.A., Diploma in Fine Arts from Academy of Florence, Italy, and Diploma in French."
Only five MNAs and none of the 19 former senators of PPP, who had been occupying opposition seats in the parliament - dissolved in October, 1999, military coup - were under-graduate.
Besides Benazir Bhutto and her mother Nusrat Bhutto, the other two members who were below the mark set for October elections were Shabir Chandio, Haji Bux Jamali, Waja Karim Dad, and Shafqat Hussain Sheerazi.
The Awami National Party had eight senators and 10 MNAs in the parliament, of whom four MNAs and three senators, including Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, were not graduate.Among the four senators and 12 MNAs of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, only one MNA was not holding the Bachelor's degree. However, the majority of senators and MNAs from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were non-graduate.
Following are the names of MNAs likely to be hit by the condition of educational qualification:
Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Arbab Saadullah Khan (ANP), Wali Muhammad Khan (ANP), Haji Rehmanullah (ANP), Sardar Fida Muhammad Khan PML(N), Gohar Ayub Khan PML(N), Aurangzeb (IND), Haji Muhammad Kabir Khan PML(N), Haji Inayat Khan PML(N), Al-Haji Muhammad Khan PML(N), Haji Behroz Khan (IND), Haji Zarin Khan Mengal (IND), Syed Munir Sayed (IND), Maulana Muhammad Dindar (IND), Haji Bazgul Afridi (IND), Malik Lal Khan PML(N), Lt-Gen Malik Abdul Majeed PML(N), Raja Muhammad Afzal Khan PML(N), Nawabzada Iqbal Medhi Khan PML(N), Malik Adnan Hayat Khan Noon PML(N), Ch. Abdul Hameed PML(N), Inamullah Khan Niazi PML(N), Khan Muhammad Asghar Khan (IND), Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla PML(N), Rana Zahid Tauseef PML(N), Chaudhry Safdar Rehman PML(N), Mian Muhammad Farooq PML(N), Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari PML(N), Chaudhry Sher Ali PML(N), Mian Abdul Mannan PML(N), Maulana Muhammad Rehmatullah PML(N), Nawab Amanullah Khan Sial PML(N), Sahibzada Muhammad Tahir Sultan PML(N), Ch. Abdul Sattar PML(N), Afzal Hussain Tarrar PML(N), Ghulam Dastgir Khan PML(N), Ch. Ahmed Raza, Mr Mubasher Hussain PML(N), Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah PML(N), Ch. Muhammad Iqbal Bosal PML(N), Syed Iftikhar-ul-Hassan Shah PML(N), Tariq Aziz PML(N), Mualana Moin-ud-Din Lakhvi PML(N), Mian Muhammad Zaman PML(N), Mian Muhammad Zaman PML(N), Rao Qaiser Ali Khan PML(N), Haji Muhammad Boota PML(N), Sh Tahir Rashid PML(N), Ghulam Qasim Khan PML(N), Begum Majida Wayne PML(N), Muhammad Nawaz Khan PML(N), Mian Atta Muhammad Qureshi PML(N), Malik Ghulam Muhammad Noor PML(N), Sahibzada Faiz-ul-Hassan PML(N), Sahibzada Farooq Anwer Abbasi PML(N), Muhammad Aqeel-ur-Rehman PML(N), Makhdum Syed Ahmad Mahmood PML(N), Makhdoom Immad-ud-Din PML(N), Ch. Muhammad Jaffar Iqbal PML(N), Asghar Ali Shah PML(N), Syed Shabbir Ahmad Shah PML(N), Begum Nusrat Bhutto PPP, Benazir Bhutto PPP, Shabir Ahmed Khan Chandio PPP, Pir Bux Khaskheli (IND), Haji Muhammad Bux Jamali PPP, Abdul Hamid Jatoi PML(N), Jam Mashooq Ali (IND), Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah Sheerazi PPP, Mian Ejaz Ahmed Shafi PML(N), Muhammad Farooq Ahmad HPG, Ahmed Karim Dad Baloch PPP, Sardar Atif Ali Sanjarani PML(N), Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind JWP, Nawab Muhammad Akber Khan Bugti JWP, Faridullah Khan Jamali (IND), Jam Muhammad Yousaf PML(N), Tariq C. Qaiser (IND), Simon Jacob (IND), Rana Chandar Singh (IND), Bashiruddin Khalid (IND).
Among the former senators are:
Pervaiz Rashid PML(N), Muhammad Zahid Khan ANP, Haji Javed Iqbal Abbasi PML(N), Sar Anjam Khan PML(N), Maj. Mukhtar Ahmed Khan PML(N), Syed Muhammad Jawad (IND), Muhammad Javed Mengal BNP, Subedar Khan Mandokhel PML(N), Mir Nabi Bux Domki JWP, Khudai Noor JWP, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Zarif Khan Mandokhel PML(N), Mir Hummanyun Khan Mari JWP, Haji Gul Sher Khan (IND), Haji Gul Afridi (IND), Haji Sakhi Jan (IND), Molvi Sayed Ameer Khan (IND), Haji Muhammad Shah Afridi (IND), Haji Dilawar Khan (IDP) and Raja Aurangzeb PML(N).
US expands hunt for al-Qaeda, Taliban fighters
PESHAWAR: United States has expanded its hunt for
wanted al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters to the northeastern Kunar
province of Afghanistan by sending troops and shifting heavy military
arsenal to launch a major operation in the areas bordering Pakistan.
Eyewitnesses reaching Peshawar from different parts
of the troubled province told "The News" that the US tanks
had been shifted to Chagharserai and Asadababd, the provincial capital
of Kunar, while personnel from the Special Forces had set up several
bases and enhanced patrolling on the roads.
According to the locals, the operation is likely to
be expanded to the neighbouring Nooristan province in order to search
the arms depots and the suspected members of al-Qaeda and Taliban.
Nooristan was never under the direct control of the Taliban, but had
reached a working relationship with the provincial Shoora to impose
strict Islamic laws and ensure peace and security.
The US forces seem to have learnt from the Dehrawod
tragedy, as the US military officers for the first time felt the need
to hold meetings with the local elders and commanders before launching
the much-awaited operations, the locals informed.
Afghan informers, the sources said, had provided
information to the US forces about the presence of Arabs, Taliban,
former Afghan prime minister Gulbadin Hikmatyar and other top leaders
of Hezb-i-Islami in Kunar and Nooristan.
"The main concentration of the US forces is on
Topchi and Shigal, where they suspect presence of arms depots and the
wanted Arabs and Afghans," said Abdul Hai from Nooristan. The
people in Kunar and Nooristan, eyewitnesses said, were concerned about
the arrival of the US forces at a time when the provincial
administration in both the provinces was not stable, and power
struggle was going on among several contenders to become governors and
occupy other important posts. Kunar had a sizeable number of Arabs in
the past due to their close links with late Maulavi Jamil-ur-Rehman,
but they shifted to other cities of Afghanistan after finding new
friends in Taliban.
"The US and Afghan officials informed us in a
meeting held at Topchi that future operations would be carried out in
consultation with the local Shoora and tribal elders," said Haji
Said Amin, a member of the ruling Shoora of Kunar.
The Afghan elder said US military personnel and
their Afghan helpers believe Gulbadin Hikmatyar and some remnants of
al-Qaeda and Taliban are hiding in Kunar, but the claim has still not
been proved. He said that the US forces had even reached the mouth of
Nooristan and established a military base at Kadak-i-Se. it is
believed that at Kadak-i-Se, arms depots have been stored since the
Afghan Jihad and could fall into wrong hands, a reference to al-Qaeda
and Taliban, once again.
Hezb-i-Islami (Hikmatyar), according to the
sources, own several arms stores in the area. The claim could not be
confirmed from Hezb-i-Islami. Locals said that the Arab families
living in Kunar even after the defeat of Taliban had moved from the
area following the arrest of some women by forces loyal to the
Governor, Jehandad Khan.
The relatives of late Maulavi Jamil-ur-Rehman,
sources said, were in close liaison with the US forces in order to
crush political opponents like Hezb-i-Islami (Hikmatyar), which has
tremendous support and influence in Kunar.
US drone crashes in Pakistan
WASHINGTON: A high-flying unmanned surveillance
plane crashed in Pakistan on Wednesday on a routine mission in support
of US forces in Afghanistan, US defence officials said. "There's
an investigation into the cause but they don't suspect hostile
fire," said Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
He said the aircraft crashed just after midnight in the area around
Afghanistan, but declined to be more specific. A defence official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said the aircraft went down in
Pakistan. It was the second crash of an RQ-4A Global Hawk since
December when another of the experimental spy planes crashed near
Afghanistan because of a mechanical failure. The high-flying drone,
one of only a handful built for the air force, was first deployed for
the Afghan campaign last fall.