CM promises agri revolution in Mardan

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti Tuesday said the Bezai Irrigation scheme would bring about agriculture revolution in the Mardan region.Addressing party activists here, he said the Awami National Party had fully implemented its election manifesto after coming into power.Dozens of political workers belonging to various political parties in Mardan announced to join the Awami National Party (ANP) on the occasion.He said the people were proud of the sacrifices the ANP leaders and activists had rendered for the peace of the motherland.

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Man kills brother in Kohat

KOHAT: A man was killed his brother over a domestic dispute in the limits of Janglekhel Police Station on Tuesday, official sources said.Muhammad Hanif reported to the police that his brother Naveed Gul entered into the house of his brother Abdul Hafiz and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.Taking promptly action, the police arrested the culprit with weapon.

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Flour price surges by 18 percent in Peshawar

Export, smuggling to Afghanistan

PESHAWAR: The flour export and smuggling to Afghanistan and wrangling between flourmills and authorities have led to 18 percent increase in the price of wheat flour in the local market.

It was observed during a market survey by The News on Tuesday that there was abundance of flour in the local Rampura Gate and Dilazak Road grain markets, but the price of the commodity has been rising for the last one month or so.

The wheat flour has increased Rs8 per kilogram and the 20 kilogram bag of super quality flour, which was selling at Rs650 a week ago, was priced at Rs780 on Tuesday registering an increase of Rs130.

Similarly, the mixed quality has also registered an increase of Rs130 per 20kg and the 20kg bag that was selling at Rs620 just 20 days ago was now selling at Rs770 at the wholesale market. The price of the 85kg gunnysack of flour has also recorded an increase of Rs350 and it is now being soled at Rs3,500 in place of its 20 days’ old rate of Rs3,150.

Wholesale and Grain Merchants Association Chairman Haji Rambel Khan said that the increase was not caused by any eventuality such a shortage of grain and added it was just caused by mismanagement and handiwork of some profiteers in the market, more particularly in the Punjab.

Another flour dealer requesting anonymity said that due to some elements in the federal government the flour supply and prices situation may get worse over the next few days.

He said the federal government issued permits for supply of flour to Afghanistan in the pretext of which some vested interests in the flour business have started smuggling of the item to Afghanistan.

However, he said that they were receiving reports that flour supplies had started to Afghanistan from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and it would help drop demand of Pakistani wheat flour in Afghanistan, which may help stabilise it price in the local market.

He said the country had harvested record wheat crop of about 22 million tonnes, but unfortunately it has yet to formulate a wheat export policy so that the surplus wheat is channelled in the export outlets profitability. “It is still smuggled out of the country that at times caused a kind of artificial crisis and increase in the flour prices,” he said.

Malik Iftikhar Awan, vice-president of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) and former chairman Flourmills Association also attributed the increase in the prices of flour to the wheat procured by the millers from the open market that is now around Rs3,300 per 100 kg.

It has atomically caused an increase in the prices, he said and added that mills were getting quota only 50 to 60 bag of 100kg and they have no role in the current increase in the price.

He said the government announcement about fixing the support price of Rs1,200 per 40kg for the next year was also a cause of the sharp increase in the wheat and flour prices.

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Kidnapped Sikh found dead in Bara

BARA: The body of an abducted Sikh community member was found in Chora area of the Khyber Agency on Tuesday, tribal and official sources said.

The sources said that Mohinder Singh, who was running a shop of herbal medicines in Tabia area of Bazaar valley in Khyber Agency, was kidnapped by unknown armed persons from his shop on November 20.

Talking to The News his brother Daswant Singh said that after the abduction of his brother, they approached the pro government Zakhakhel tribal militia named as Tauheedul Islam (TI) for recovery of his brother but they showed ignorance about the whereabouts of Mohinder Singh.

“After we tried and used all tribal channels and sources for the recovery of my brother we sent an application to Mutahir Zeb, Political Agent of the Khyber Agency, on December 13 to seek his support,” he said. He added the official assured them that Mohinder Singh would be recovered within a week time but to no avail.

Displaced by ongoing military operation against the militants from Kalanga area of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency, Daswant Singh a member of Kamerkhel Afridi tribe, said, “We are poor and loyal citizens of Pakistan and have no enmity with anyone. I don’t know the crime of my brother for which he was murdered.”

The body of Mohinder Singh had been mutilated and beyond recognition, he said. Mohinder Singh, who was diabetic, has left behind a wife and 9 children including a polio-affected son.Daswant Singh demanded the government to protect minorities and announce compensation for the bereaved family.

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Sono Baloch assumes charge

PESHAWAR: Sono Khan Baloch assumed charge of the Election Commissioner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, here on Tuesday.The newly appointed provincial election commissioner is a senior grade-21 officer. He had also served as joint provincial election commissioner of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.S M Tariq Qadri relinquished the charge as he has been posted as acting provincial election commissioner of Punjab.

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Sheikh Rashid defends long march

PESHAWAR: Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad Tuesday termed the long march call of Dr Tahirul Qaderi as representation of the sentiments of the masses. He said that the ruling coalition during their four-year rule had crossed all limits of corruption and the people were fed up with the flawed policies. The masses wanted to get rid of the rulers, he added.He lauded the services of Qazi Hussain Ahmad, saying that the country has lost a great politician and an honest person.

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Cold, fog continue to grip KP

PESHAWAR: Attendance at schools and offices remained thin as biting cold and fog continued to grip the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.

The cold and foggy weather broke the 10 years record in the provincial metropolis, confining residents to homes.While the Met office forecast continuation of the cold wave for a couple of days, foggy condition also caused traffic problems forcing Motorway Police to close the Motorway for all kinds of traffic in the evening.

Though schools in the provincial capital had to change the opening timing, some private schools in areas like Takh Bhai closed for four days.Our correspondent adds from Nowshera: Six persons sustained injuries in road accident on the Grand Trunk Road apparently due to fog on Tuesday.

Police said that a passenger bus collided with a tractor near Pabbi Station, leaving six persons injured.The injured were identified as Suhail, Ziad, Akhtar Ali, Nauman Khan, Gul Dad and Sarmad Nazir.Meanwhile, police asked the drivers to take extra care to avoid any mishap.The attendane in the schools was also affected due to persistent cold weather and fog in the district.

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Recommendation process for appointments raises concern

Public sector universities

PESHAWAR: The process and recommendations made by search committee for appointments in different public sector universities in the province have caused concerns among the teaching fraternity, academicians and applicants for the vacant positions.

Some candidates and senior academicians have already challenged in the Peshawar High Courts the process, particularly the eligibility criteria for the appointment of vice-chancellors, and others have demanded Governor Barrister Syed Masood Kauser and Peshawar High Court chief justice to take immediate notices of what they termed the serious anomalies being committed in the ongoing appointment process.

Eight universities including the University of Peshawar, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, University of Swabi, University of Haripur, Malakand University, Shiringal University Upper Dir, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Karak University and a degree awarding institute, IM|Sciences are currently being administered by acting heads, while no vice-chancellor could be appointed for the Fata University.

Islamia College University (ICU) Peshawar, too, is being headed by an acting vice-chancellor, but it is a bit different, as its full-time vice-chancellor, Ajmal Khan, is in the captivity of militants due to which it is being headed by an acting VC.

According to sources, the vacant positions were advertised in September 2012 by the search committee after a considerable delay. A large number of applicants submitted applications for the vacant positions. Some 135 were shortlisted for five universities only, whose panel interviews for the offices were held last week.

Some of the candidates even refused to appear before the search committee for interview in protest against the eligibility criteria. “The eligibility criteria is illegal and unethical. It has been specifically made [to pave the way] for appointment of desired candidates. We have already moved the court against it,” one such applicants told The News on the condition of anonymity.

He was of the opinion that according to the recently adopted Model Universities Act, the universities would have to make statutes for the institutions wherein criteria for the vice-chancellor should be mentioned. “Now that most of the universities are yet to form statutory bodies like syndicate and senate and then statutes so the entire process becomes illegal,” he argued.

The aspirant said the lone qualification given for the appointment of vice-chancellors in the advertisement is 10 years experience in teaching and administration, which is a standing jock with the seats of higher education. “This criteria has been made deliberately to accommodate the people, who have already been given acting charge,” he said.

The search committee headed by Minister for Higher Education Qazi Mohammad Asad, proposed the names of some junior most and Awami National Party (ANP) likeminded candidates for the positions.

According to sources, the search committee has recommended the name of Dr Johar Ali, who according to sources is the most junior among professors in the province, as vice-chancellor Malakand University. He is currently holding the office on acting basis. Dr Naser Ali Khan for Haripur University, Dr Noor Jehan, acting vice-chancellor ICU, for Swabi University, Dr Fazle Raheem Marwat for Bacha Khan University Charsadda and Ibraheem Khattak for the Karak University.

The two members of search committee, Prof Dr Qibla Ayaz, acting vice-chancellor University of Peshawar (UoP) and former vice-chancellor Prof (Retd) Said Khan Kalil have also been assured of appointment as vice-chancellors UoP and ICU on regular and acting basis respectively, the sources said.

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Forced marriage to entail up to 7 years jail, Rs0.5m fine

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passes bill

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday passed legislation against forced marriage of women under which the violators would face up to seven years imprisonment and Rs500,000 fine or both.

The bill aimed at the elimination of the tradition of ‘Ghag’ was moved by the Provincial Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development, Sitara Ayaz.

When the mover presented the bill containing a punishment of 14 years imprisonment for the convicted person, Law Minister Arshad Abdullah pointed out the original bill approved by the provincial cabinet contained seven years punishment, but now it had been fixed at 14 years, questioning who had included the hike in the jail term in bill.

The woman minister requested his cabinet colleague not to oppose the amendment and let punishment be fixed at 14 years for the crime. The minister for law replied that they were sincere to the abolition of theGhag custom and wanted protection to women. However, he said that seven years was sufficient punishment and it should not be 14 years as it was against the CrPC.

Israrullah Khan Gandapur also supported him while Musarrat Shafi, an Awami National Party woman MPA said the punishment should not be more than seven years, as it would become repugnant to relevant clauses. The arguments of the legislators persuaded Sitara Ayaz to withdraw the amendment and the bill was given a nod.

Under the law the convicted persons under the Ghag Act would face punishment from three to seven years and cash fine of Rs.0.5 million or both. Such cases will be tried by the sessions court and crime will be non-bailable.

During the Tuesday proceedings, the minister for law also presented a bill for the establishment of Provincial Services Academy that proposed the setting up of academy for the training of the public sector employees in the province. The academy will have its fund and a board of governors with chief minister as its chairman while its Director General (DG) will be at least BPS-20 civil servant.

Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan, who holds the portfolio of Energy and Power, presented Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hydel Organization (Amendment) Bill 2013, which besides the deleting of the world Khyber from the organization has also proposed the constitution of a separate Investment Committee to run the day-today affairs and executive committee headed by provincial minister concerned and investment of the funds.

The board of directors was expanded and two more ministers along experts would be included in it.Minister for Tourism, Archaeology, Museums, Youth Affairs and Sports Aqil Shah presented Travel Agencies Amendment, Hotel and Restaurants Amendment and Tourists’ Guide Amendment bills in the assembly. The legislation was necessitated under development of powers to the province under 18th Constitutional Amendment.

The reports of the standing committees on agriculture and health were also presented in the House.

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Locals wait for hours to have last glimpse of Qazi

NOWSHERA: A large number of people Sunday braved the cold weather to have a last glimpse of the late Qazi Hussain Ahmad whose coffin was shifted to his native village Ziarat Kaka Sahib after his well-attended funeral prayer was offered at a spacious ground at the Motorway Chowk in Peshawar.

Crowds of people were lining up the roads along Pabbi, Azakhel, Khat Killay, Nowshera Cantonment and Ziarat Kaka Sahib. The flow of traffic on the Grand Trunk Road was disrupted due to the rush of vehicles proceeding towards the village of the late JI leader who also served as the chief of the Milli Yakjehti Council and always tried to unite the religious forces on a single platform.

Gloom prevailed as the JI members and supporters wept when they saw the coffin which was being shifted in an ambulance of the Al-Khidmat Foundation, which ismanaged by the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Those present on the occasion recalled the religious and political services rendered by the late leader that earned him great respect. “Qazi sahib used to take great interest in getting the problems of Nowshera solved. In his death, not only Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Pakistan, but the entire Islamic world has lost a great leader,” said Ali Murad, a senior member of the JI who was present at Ziarat Kaka Sahib along with several others at the funeral rites of the leader.

“Leaders like him are born in centuries,” said an elder Gul Muhammad as he waited for Qazi’s body to be lowered in the grave.

Our Peshawar Bureau adds: The Taliban on Sunday expressed grief over the demise of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad.

In a statement available with the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), the Taliban said the deceased had assisted the Afghan nation in their fight for freedom.

“The Islamic Emirate offers condolence to the family, his party workers and the people of Pakistan on the death of Jamaat-e-Islami former chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad,” the communiqué added.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad was respected by the Afghan nation for his untiring support in their fight for independence, it added.

He also made efforts to bring peace among the organisations during fighting between organisations in Afghanistan, the statement said, adding he also condemned the US attack on Afghanistan.

“Qazi Sahib had condemned the US attack on Afghanistan and openly opposed the presence of western troops in the region. The Islamic Emirate respects his brave step,” the Taliban said in the statement.

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PHC releases terror suspect on bail, terms investigation defective

Orders unsealing of commercial plaza in another case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday observed that the standard of investigation had become so defective that the police defused the recovered explosive material on the spot instead of producing it as evidence against the terror suspects.

Justice Shahjehan Khan Akhunzada made this observation during hearing of bail petition of terror suspect, Rahmat, who was charged and arrested for possessing 50 kilograms of explosives.

He remarked that the police were not following the laws related to the criminal procedure code (CrPC) and were releasing the accused directly from prisons instead of producing them before the magistrate concerned for remand and recording of the statement.

Under the law, he said the police should first produce the accused person before the magistrate concerned for taking permission of remand. The court issued release order of the terror suspect on bail after the state lawyer failed to produce evidence against him.

The petitioner’s lawyer Syed Shakil Ahmad contended that the Khwajawas Police Station in the city on October 21, 2010 nominated the petitioner on terrorism charges claiming that the police had recovered 50 kilos explosives and six shells of rocket launchers on pointing of the accused person.

He submitted that the police had shown the explosive material in the FIR, but had not produced it as evidence against him in the case. Besides, he said on the date of FIR the petitioner was imprisoned in Peshawar Central Prison in another case and this showed that he was falsely implicated in the case.

He argued that the police had neither conducted Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) test of the explosives nor the case was investigated by the authorised investigation officer.

The state lawyer opposed the bail to the suspected militant. He submitted that the police with the help of the bomb disposal unit (BDU) officials had defused the explosives at the spot as it was dangerous to produce it in the court as evidence.

The same bench in another case ordered the Cantonment Board Peshawar to unseal the commercial plaza and issued show-cause notice to chief executive officer of the Cantonment Board to explain as to why contempt proceeding shall not be initiated against him for violating the court order.

The bench issued the directives in contempt of court petition seeking unsealing of a commercial plaza sealed by the Cantonment Board authorities.

Basit Ali and Co, a construction company had filed the contempt petition against the authorities of the Cantonment Board, claiming that despite the court direction restraining the authorities not to take any action against the petitioner the board had sealed his commercial plaza along with 15 parked vehicles.

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Three die in Takht Bhai road accidents

TAKHT BHAI: Three persons, including two schoolteachers, were killed in two separate road accidents here on Malakand Road on Tuesday, official sources said.

The sources said that Khan Afzal and Tehseenullah were on their way to Mardan when a speeding passenger van hit their motorcycle near Shah Zaman Qilla in the limits of Shergarh Police Station.

Khan Afzal died on the spot while Tehseenullah succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital. The slain persons were teachers of Government Middle School, Shamilaat village.Driver of the passenger van, whose name could not be confirmed, managed to escape from the scene. The police registered a case against the unknown driver.Meanwhile, another speeding van hit Luqman, 13, on Malakand Road near Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Takht Bhai. He sustained serious injuries and died on way to hospital.

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TTP commander handed over to political admin in Kurram

PARACHINAR: The elders of the Para Chamkani tribe handed over a militant’ commander to the political administration as six-day ultimatum had been given to the tribe to produce him or face military action.

Commander Noor Zaman alias Silab, belonging to the Tariq Afridi group of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was handed over to the officials of the political administration in Kurram Agency.

The political administration had given warning to the tribe to heed their collective responsibility under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and produce the militants’ commander wanted to the security forces in acts of militancy in Kurram tribal region.

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Blast in Jamrud damages house of anti-polio worker

BARA: The house of an anti-polio worker was partially damaged in a blast apparently carried out by militants at Vermando Mela in Jamrud tehsil in Khyber Agency early Tuesday, official sources said.

The sources said that militants placed explosives in the backyard of the newly- constructed house of one Ashfaq, who has been working as polio campaigner in the area for last several years, before triggering the explosion. Two rooms and a veranda were destroyed in the explosion, the sources said.

Talking to this scribe, Ashfaq said that his family members remained safe as they were sleeping in the old portion of the house. He said the blast was so huge that it shook the area and caused panic among the residents at around 1am. He said that it could be the reaction of Taliban to his job as polio worker.

He said the Jamrud tehsil tehsildar had called a meeting of polio workers in his hujra to look into security arrangements for them and dispatched polio teams under security cover of Khassadar force to different areas as part of the three-day anti polio campaign on Monday.

Following the recent threats and attacks by unknown armed men on polio teams in Karachi and Peshawar, around 30 government schoolteachers in Khyber Agency had refused to take part in the ongoing anti-polio vaccination campaign.

Talking to The News, one of the teachers, who wished not be named, said they were being threatened by assistant political agent Jamrud for taking disciplinary action against them if they did not vaccinate children in the polio campaign. “I can sacrifice my job but I cannot put my life at risk” he said.

Meanwhile the bomb disposal unit (BDU) officials on Tuesday defused an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing 70 kilograms and planted near the house of a tribesman in Achini Bala village near the provincial capital. The assistant inspector general of the BDU, Shafqat Malik, told The News that the police was informed about an IED planted near the house of one Ali Mohammad, a Zakhakhel Afridi tribesman from Khyber Agency, in the Achini Bala village. The BDU experts were called who defused the IED, weighing 70 kilograms, he added.

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PTI says no damaging effect on party after ‘opportunist politicians’ departure

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is confident that the departure of ‘a few opportunist politicians’ will have no damaging effect on the party’s prospect to win the upcoming general election.
It believes the desertion by politicians who had joined the party has a silver lining. The party looks to gain advantage if the political stalwarts, considered tested and corrupt by many, leave PTI.

People’s support apparently slowed or even declined when ‘tested and corrupt’ politicians joined the camp of Imran Khan, who has been championing change and pledging corruption-free governance.

“People had reservations that we would capitulate to newcomers, most of whom were dubbed as corrupt, but we didn’t,” argued Shah Farman, PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spokesman. “It is proof of what we have been saying. It is proof of our commitment that we will not compromise on our agenda,” he told The News.

Several politicians who had joined PTI were hoping to get party offices or tickets. However, the party apparently resisted such demands from these politicians despite the possibility that they would leave the party. Some politicians allege PTI backtracked on its commitments with them, but it denies the allegations.

Many people still wonder why politicians who had proudly joined PTI quit it within a year. Shah Farman sees three main reasons for it. “Some opportunists joined the party with a surge in PTI’s popularity. They did not support change or our ideology but sought party offices and tickets. None was promised and they had to leave,” he explained.

He said his party had been saying that everyone could join PTI but tickets would be awarded to only honest and clean people. It should be enough for people to believe his party, he added, that PTI was allowing politicians to quit the party instead of yielding to them.

“Second, status quo politicians have never been used to intra-party election. They consider themselves above everyone and feel it insulting to be made responsible to workers. They knew that postponement of intra-party election was not going to happen and so they also had to go,” he argued.

Two political stalwarts, Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti and Iftikhar Jhagra, left Tehreek-e-Insaf late last year just ahead of PTI’s intra-party election.

Discussing the third reason, he said PTI workers had been making efforts for change but some politicians wanted to maintain the status quo. “Traditional politicians are a network which is not ready to work for a change,” he alleged. So they had been uneasy with PTI’s ‘educated and wise workers’ and quit, he added. “We are allowing them to leave because we cannot compromise our ideology,” he said.

Shah Farman claimed they knew new entrants would be uneasy with ideological workers and expected they might leave the party at any stage. “But let me be very clear that some politicians who joined PTI truly believed in our party’s ideology and struggle for change. They thought the way we thought, but they did not have a proper platform to express their mind. Those likeminded politicians continue to be with us, and they feel at ease with our workers. We also have great respect for them,” he said.

Citing a recent survey by James Walter Thompson, he said PTI was the most popular party in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan and Quetta out of eight cities that were surveyed. “The departure of a couple of electable politicians, whom I even don’t consider electable, will have no adverse impact on PTI in elections,” he hoped.

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Blasts damage school in Lakki

LAKKI MARWAT: A government school was partially damaged in two explosions in Dallokhel village in the limits of Lakki Marwat Police Station on Monday, local sources said.

The sources said that explosive devices planted by unidentified persons close to the building of the Government Primary School in Mohallah Ghaibikhel went off at 8pm and destroyed the boundary wall of the school. Following the incident, the police reached the spot and collected pieces of evidence.

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New LG system in KP takes effect today

PESHAWAR: The provincial government in violation of its own cabinet’s decision retained its appointees in lower grade in about 16 districts to take over as deputy commissioners as the administrative setup under the new local government system is going to take effect from today in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The summaries approved by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti for the implementation of the cabinet decisions regarding the district and divisional setups after the promulgation of Local Government Act 2012 revealed that positions of the deputy commissioners would be grade-19 posts in at least 24 districts while the divisional commissioner would be a grade-21 official.

But later in its 54th (12-12-12) meeting the cabinet approved that the position of the divisional commissioner “shall” remain in BPS-20 with the provision of three floating positions of BPS-21.

The position of the additional commissioner will remain in BPS-19 while the commissioner would be assisted by a secretary in BPS-18, two assistant commissioners and secretary Regional Transport Authority (RTA), all in BPS-17.

Under the new system the cabinet approved that the positions of the district coordination officers and district officer for revenue and estate would stand abolished on January 1 and their functions would be integrated in the re-designated office of the deputy commissioner in BPS-19 with the provision of additional deputy commissioner in BPS-18 in each district.

However, the provincial government in violation of the cabinet’s decision re-designated its “preferred” district coordination officers in lower grade of BPS-18 to retain the positions of the deputy commissioners in at least 16 districts in their own pay and scale.

The officers who are in BPS-18 and are going to retain the BPS-19 posts of the deputy commissioners in their own pay and scale include Capt. (Retd) Mian Adil Iqbal, deputy commissioner Battagram, Muhammad Ayaz, deputy commissioner Buner, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, deputy commissioner Charsadda, Rehmatullah Wazir, deputy commissioner Chitral, Muhammad Ali Shah, deputy commissioner Upper Dir, Mahmood Aslam, deputy commissioner Lower Dir, Capt (Retd) Tahir Zafar Abbasi, deputy commissioner Hangu, Syed Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, deputy commissioner Haripur, Ali Anan Qamar, deputy commissioner Karak, Nisar Ahmad, deputy commissioner Lakki Marwat, Amjad Ali Khan, deputy commissioner Malakand, Zakaullah Khattak, deputy commissioner Mardan, Ghulam Muhammad, deputy commissioner Nowshera, Muhammad Ziaul Haq, deputy commissioner Shangla, Muhammad Abdul Aamer Khattak, deputy commissioner Tank and Fazlur Rahman, deputy commissioner Torghar.

Muhammad Javed Marwat, Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, deputy commissioner Abbottabad, Atif Rehman, deputy commissioner Bannu, Khan Bakhsh, deputy commissioner Dera Ismail Khan, Zakir Hussain Afridi deputy commissioner Kohat, Aqal Badshah, deputy commissioner Kohistan, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, deputy commissioner Mansehra, Syed Muhammad Shah, deputy commissioner Swabi, Flt Lt (Retd) Kamran Rehman deputy commissioner Swat are officers in BPS 19.

An official of the Established Department told The News that the provincial government was compelled by the dearth of the officers to post lower grade officers against higher positions as it could not revert the officers promoted during the Musharraf regime for serving as district coordination officers.

He said most of these officers were now in BPS-20 and above and serving as administrative secretaries. To accommodate these officers the cabinet approved the creation of five more posts of special secretaries, one each in Establishment, Higher Education, LG&RD, Agriculture and Health and Environment departments.

These special secretaries are also going to take charge of offices in the new local government system taking effect from today, he said.

It may be mentioned that the chief minister had approved a summary in September suggesting that to save the officers promoted from becoming surplus and ward off the adverse effects of the new arrangement, the posts of eight chairmen Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education (BISEs), chairman Text Book Board, solicitor Law Department, Director Rescue 1122, director general provincial ombudsman, chairman Health Regulatory Authority (HRA), secretary Worker Welfare Board and chairman Higher Education Authority (HERA) would be included in the schedule BS-20 posts so that these promoted officers could be posted there.

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Jamrud school blast kills one

JAMRUD: A man was killed in an explosion in a government school in Ghundi area in Jamrud tehsil in Khyber Agency on Monday, tribal sources said.

The sources said that explosive devices planted by unidentified persons at the Government Middle School in Ghundi went off early in the day and destroyed the building. Also, a man identified as Akhtar Munir was killed in the explosion. It could not be confirmed whether he was inside the building or was a passer-by.

Meanwhile, a mortar shell fired from an undisclosed location struck the house of Nawaz Afridi in Wazirdhand. The shell partially damaged the building. However, it caused no loss of life.

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Report says slain Levies soldiers were ill-equipped

PESHAWAR: Eight Levies men deployed at a checkpost in Frontier Region Peshawar had only three rifles to counter any militant attack in the troubled semi-tribal region, a source told The News.

The source said the soldiers had to vacate the Ghakhay Sar checkpost in Janakhor area on December 26 when it was stormed by the militants armed with automatic rifles and heavy weapons. The source said eight of the soldiers in the post had only three rifles and they had no other option but to save their lives.

Militants also attacked other checkposts as well as the poorly guarded residential barracks of the Levies men located in a telephone exchange and in the newly constructed technical college.

They killed two of them, wounded another one and abducted the remaining 23 personnel. Twenty-one of the kidnapped men were later killed on December 29.

The families of the kidnapped officials are critical of the federal and provincial governments and Peshawar district administration for failing to recover the kidnapped men. The slain soldiers were getting meagre salaries and were not entitled to get the “Shaheed Package” given to slain policemen and soldiers of the Pakistan Army.

Many were the only breadwinners for the families. Most of them security men belonged to Hassankhel, Janakhor and nearby towns of the semi-tribal Frontier Regon Peshawar, which is surrounded by Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Agency and Matani town in Peshawar.

Militants had shot dead the 21 Levies men in the Hassankhel area of Frontier Region Peshawar late Saturday night after they were blindfolded and lined up with their hands tied at their backs. Their bodies were dumped in the Jabba Hassankhel area of the same tribal region.

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Wish of ailing 12-year-old fulfilled

MINGORA: General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major-General Ghulam Qamar Monday ordered to induct 12-year-old Hassan Khan suffering from a fatal blood disease as honorary captain in the Pakistan Army.

He held a meeting with the Hassan’s father Javed Saeed and brother Shahzeb in Khwazakhela in Swat to grant the ailing boy his wish as he is suffering from life-threatening disease. On the occasion, Major General Ghulam Qamar also provided cash support of Rs0.1 million to the minor to help him in his medical treatment.

Hassan Khan in Swat would become the second kid to be provided the opportunity to the honorary captain in the Pakistan Army. The boy’s family members lauded the generosity of the security forces officials for granting the wishes of ailing children to provide then chances of celebrating happiness.

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