Depression may cause heavy rain in coastal areas

By Intikhab Hanif and Mukhtar Alam Khan

LAHORE / KARACHI, June 9: A depression in the Arabian Sea moved in a north-westerly direction towards Pakistan on Thursday, raising a strong possibility of widespread rain along the Sindh-Makran coast on Friday or Saturday.
The possibility of depression turning into a tropical cyclone over the next 24 to 36 hours also increased because of weather conditions and surface sea temperature. The Pakistan Meteorological Department said the cyclone would initially move in the north-westerly direction after it intensified on Saturday or Sunday.

“The sea surface temperature and other meteorological parameters indicate that expected tropical cyclone may further intensify on Saturday/Sunday,” said an advisory issued by the department’s tropical cyclone warning centre on Thursday.

If this happens, widespread heavy rains along with duststorms are expected along the Sindh-Makran coast from Friday night or Saturday to Monday. The rain may also cause urban/flash flooding in southern Balochistan and lower Sindh.

The centre said that sea conditions along the Sindh-Makran coast were expected to become rough to very rough on Friday. It again advised fishermen who are in the open sea to immediately return to the coast and refrain from going there till the clearance of the rough weather system.

Chief Meteorologist Mohammad Riaz Ahmad told Dawn that if the depression intensified further it would generate strong winds with rains in south-eastern parts along the Sindh-Makran coast, including Karachi, on Saturday.

“The weather threat (depression) is still 600km away from Pakistan’s coast, but there are chances that it may get favourable conditions to intensify and cause heavy rains if it reaches the Sindh coast,” he said, adding that the anticipated weather variability could last till June 14.

Meanwhile, maximum temperatures dropped by three to four degrees centigrade in Sindh on Thursday because of incursion of moisture from the Arabian Sea.

The highest maximum temperature of 47.5 degrees centigrade was recorded in Turbat.

The Karachi city district government has declared a state of emergency for its staff and offices. “Emergency has been declared in the city government and all organisations concerned as a preventive measure because of forecast of heavy rains and tropical cyclone in Karachi. Leave of officers and staff has been cancelled and they have been directed to remain on duty,” said a CDGK handout issued on Thursday after a meeting held to discuss the effects of a possible cyclone.

The meeting, presided over by Karachi Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed, was attended by officials of the KPT, Port Qasim Authority, KESC, SSGC, PTCL, livestock and fisheries departments, PDMA, Meteorological Department, SBCA, Corps-V, Rangers, Coast Guards, police department, Karachi Fish Harbour Authority, KW&SB and Cantonment Board and EDOs and town administrators.

An emergency control and information centre has been set up at the DCO camp office.

The meeting was informed that necessary arrangements were being made for shifting the affected people to safe places and providing food and medicines and other necessary goods in the event of emergency.

ISLAMABAD: A five member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, on Friday directed the government to transfer both DG Rangers and IG Sindh over the killing of Sarfaraz Shah by Rangers personnel on Friday, DawnNews reported.

Chief Justice Iftikhar, after hearing a suo motu notice over Shah’s killing, directed the government to remove from their posts DG Rangers and Sindh inspector general of police Fayyaz Leghari.

It was in Karachi, in the southern province, where Shah was killed on Wednesday.

The court warned that if the two officials were not transferred within the next three days, their salaries will be stopped.

“Their salaries will be stopped and official benefits also withdrawn,” a court official quoted Chief Justice Iftikhar as saying.

If the government did not do so within three days, “the court itself will take action against them”, he added.

Chief Justice Iftikhar had ordered the attorney general and other senior government officials to appear in court on Friday.

“Two days have passed, people have not slept out of grief and shock and you did nothing,” the court official quoted the judge as telling them.

Chief Justice Iftikhar appointed top police official Sultan Khawaja to investigate the matter and submit his report to the court in seven days.

In a letter, the court registrar described the shooting “in cold blood” as “tantamount to extrajudicial killing by the law enforcing agency” and a “brazen violation of most essential fundamental right”.

The court also directed Secretary Interior to present a report on the incident.

Chief Justice Iftikhar also directed Karachi police and Rangers to determine if there was any criminal record against Shah.

SC gives three-day deadline to transfer DG Rangers, IG Sindh | Pakistan | DAWN.COM

If history is a benchmark, govt may again flout SC order

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has granted three days to the government for rolling the heads of Rangers and police in Sindh following the barbaric killing of a youth at the hands of Rangers personnel, but Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is unlikely to follow the advice.
If a history of the present government is any guide, the government will remain unmoved by the court’s order, said one observer. “The government has been found at every step standing behind criminals even if they are killers, corrupt and callous, turning the country into a land of vultures. From court directives to the FIA, NAB and others, the government has spared no time to respond to judicial authority through defiance.”
Another observer said the PPP government had the record of doing exactly the opposite of what the court decreed, sending a loud and clear message that Pakistan, under the PPP government, was a state that had no respect either for the rule of law or protection of lives and property of citizens.
The latest order by the Supreme Court utterly disregarded by the authorities concerns the reappointment of Director FIA Zafar Qureshi to the NICL scam inquiry. DG FIA Iqbal Malik, likewise, has also been indicted for contempt of court but the development goes unnoticed by the authorities that apparently had him appointed on the special request of new allies in the PML-Q. It is no coincidence that the son of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Moonis Elahi, is under investigation in the NICL scam.
The FIA has become rotten in a period of three years. Officers desired by the apex court to investigate scandals involving big names have been sent marching one by one and replaced with tainted bureaucrats.
Tariq Khosa was the first in firing line after the apex court admired him for integrity and dutifulness as DG FIA. Zafrullah Khan, an officer who previously faced corruption inquiries, was later appointed in Khosa’s place, followed by another controversial officer Waseem Ahmad and now Malik Iqbal. Similarly, as the apex court appreciated the good work of Zafar Qureshi, he was sidelined from the NICL inquiry. The FIA officers who earned the court’s admiration for brilliant inquiries into the Haj scam, involving a federal minister and the prime minister’s son, were also removed and posted elsewhere.
The story of NAB’s degeneration is no different. Its former chairman Naveed Ahsan was axed after he dared to implement a court order and was replaced with Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah, again in defiance of a court order. When Shah was removed by the court, the PPP created a storm and pointed its guns at the apex court. A new appointment is still awaited despite the clear directive of the court in this respect.
In addition to the abhorrence shown to the highest court, the government has proved it has learned nothing from catastrophes, terrorism and extra-judicial killings of ordinary citizens on a daily basis.
After the history’s worst-ever floods last year, a call for setting up a commission of honest people was made to oversee the rehabilitation work being carried out using foreign aid hesitantly granted, given the notoriety Pakistan has earned for its corrupt ruling elite. The idea died a quiet death as the government didn’t oblige it. Also, instead of improving its tarnished image for corruption, the government stopped celebrating the anti-corruption day as is done throughout the world on December 9.
Likewise, NAB, which was set up to eradicate corruption, had its budget significantly slashed together with massive lay-offs through the repatriation of officers to their parent departments, which led to the slowing or closing down of most inquires.
Also, Pakistan has been fighting terrorism for the last 10 years but without any national policy on how to counter it. Promises for forming a comprehensive policy through broad-based consensus have turned out to be hollow.
Similarly, the Abbottabad incident and PNS Mehran attack not only brought unprecedented shame to the country but also raised serious questions about the capability of our armed forces to defend it. But these opportunities for reform have passed without the authorities learning anything from them.
Next, a journalist Saleem Shahzad, who had reported on al-Qaeda’s penetration in the ranks and files of Pakistan Navy, was tortured to death. Calls for an inquiry into his murder have made no headway.
The killing of five Chechens at Kharotabad at the hands of FC personnel and now the latest brutal murder by Rangers of a Karachi youth have failed to give any message to the government. Instead of initiating credible action to prevent such happenings, the apex court’s efforts are being foiled.
The whole nation noted with disbelief that the prime minister couldn’t spare time on Friday to pay heed to the court’s advice vis-i-vis the removal of top heads of Rangers and Police in Sindh before initiating an inquiry into the youth’s murder.
Pakistan has become a country of the elite, for the elite. Pakistan had suffered a loss of more than Rs170 billion in Karachi only after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto when crowds set public buildings and transport on fire. Another Rs425 million was spent on the UN Commission set up to look into Bhutto’s murder.
Now Sarafraz Shah, an ordinary Pakistani, has been killed in cold blood by Rangers’ personnel. He left the world crying over the brutality meted out to him. But the government has remained indifferent and is busy sabotaging the apex court’s efforts to bring the culprits to justice.

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LAHORE: Seven people were sent to jail on 14-day judicial on Wednesday for allegedly beating a traffic warden on stopping a van which resulted in death of a patient. On Wednesday, Old Anarkali police produced seven accused Shahid Masih, Shahid Mehmood, Khurram Masih, Norab Khan, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Farooq and Moon Javed before Judicial Magistrate Shahid Ali.
Police sought 10-day physical remand of the accused as police yet had to recover a wireless-set, challan book, umbrella and mobile phones from them.
However, the judge sent the accused on 14-day judicial remand and fixed June 22 as the next date of hearing of the case.
The After Asif had stopped the van to issue a ticket, the van’s occupants requested the warden to let them go as they were carrying a man in a critical medical condition but the warden did not permit them to go. A quarrel ensued which lasted for thirty minutes. Meanwhile the patient died.
Later, people who had gathered there and the family of the deceased started beating the warden. The traffic warden registered an FIR against 10 people under sections 382/427, 186/353, 147/149, 290/291 and 506 of Pakistan Penal Code.

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Twin bomb blasts kill 32 in Peshawar

Updated at: 0141 PST, Sunday, June 12, 2011

PESHAWAR: Twin bomb blasts at a crowded Khyber supermarket killed at least 32 people and injured more than 80 late on Saturday, Geo News reported.

The explosions took place in the Khyber Super Market, which is surrounded by residential flats for students, shops, a fruit juices kiosk and a hotel.

According to reports, at least 32 people were killed and more than 80 injured in the twin bomb blasts. The condition of several injured is said to be critical.

The blasts were just four minutes apart. The first blast was quite small but as people gathered close to the site of the explosion, the second one, which was real big one, went off. The building of super market caught fire after the blasts.

Rescue teams reached the spot soon after the incident and kicked off relief activities. The injured are being rushed to nearby hospitals. Emergency has been declared in the city hospitals.

Twin bomb blasts kill 32 in Peshawar - GEO.tv

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Police hold four more in Sarfaraz Shah’s killing

KARACHI: Pakistan’s paramilitary rangers on Saturday handed over to police four of their personnel over the killing of an unarmed man in a public park that shocked the nation.

Two other soldiers from the paramilitary force, Shahid Zafar and Mohammed Afzal, were on Friday remanded into police custody for five days over the killing, which was captured on camera and broadcast repeatedly on television.

“We have handed over four more rangers personnel to the police investigating into the young boy’s killing,” rangers spokesman Farooq Bilal told AFP.

He said the names of the four would be released to the media later.

“The four personnel were handed over as soon as we received the request from the police,” said Bilal.

Security forces shot dead Sarfaraz Shah, 22, in Karachi on Wednesday, accusing him of robbery, but his family has demanded justice, insisting he was an innocent student passing the time of day.

The widely viewed footage showed a clean-shaven man wearing black trousers and a navy shirt crying and pleading for his life as a soldier cocks his rifle at his neck, then shoots him twice in the hand and thigh in a local park.

As his blood pours onto the ground, the man begs for help from soldiers – who appear to do nothing but watch – until he falls unconscious.

Police said earlier they had also taken custody of Afsar Khan, a man in plainclothes who dragged the victim over to the paramilitary soldiers and later filed a criminal case accusing the victim Shah of robbery.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Friday directed the government to remove from their posts Major General Aijaz Chaudhry, head of the paramilitary in Sindh province, and Sindh police chief Fayyaz Leghari.

The victim’s brother Salik Shah, a local TV reporter, said the family wanted to see everyone involved face justice.

The incident mirrored the killings last month in the southwestern Baluchistan province of five unarmed Chechens, one of them a pregnant woman, that are also under investigation.

Local journalists and other activists held a demonstration Saturday in front of Karachi press club and hanged an effigy in rangers’ uniform, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

“We want justice! Hang the killers! We want security and not bullets!” they shouted.

“The incidents like the one we witnessed three days ago in Karachi creates a sense of insecurity among the people,” former supreme court judge Fakhruddin Ebrahim said in his brief address to the 80 or so protesters.

“Pakistan is passing through very difficult times and the situation will worsen to a great extent if the government fails to provide security and safety to the people,” he said.

Police hold four more in Sarfaraz Shah’s killing | Pakistan | DAWN.COM

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Youth killing: No review petition against SC order

ISLAMABAD: Federation would not file the review petition against the order of Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) in Rangers youth killing case, Geo News reported.

While talking to Geo News, Attorney General Pakistan (AGP) Maulvi Anwarul Haq said that the order of the SC would be implemented in letter and spirit.

The young man Sarfaraz Shah was killed in broad daylight by Rangers in the Clifton locality of Karachi on Wednesday. The entire incident was recorded and shown on news channels.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Friday directed the government to remove Inspector General of Police Fayyaz Leghari and Sindh Rangers' Director General Maj-Gen Ejaz Chaudhry from their posts.

Source: The News International: Latest, Breaking, Pakistan, Sports & Video News

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A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him. (David Brinkley)

Heat wave persists, Sindh likely to receive shower

KARACHI: After receiving rain, the intensity of hot weather has decreased in many areas across Pakistan including Azad Kashmir, while Sindh and Balochistan are still battling high temperature along with prolonged power cuts, Geo News reported Monday.

Different areas of Punjab including Bahawalpur, Bahawal Nagar and Multan have received rains that has reduced temperature but increased loadshedding has made life miserable.

It is reported that loadshedding duration has stretched up to ten hours in some areas of Punjab.

Different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Dera Ismail Khan, Laki Marwat, Swat and Mansehra also received rain due to which weather turned pleasant.

On the other hand, Sindh and Balochistan provinces are still facing intense weather while unannounced power cuts have made life tough for people.

Upper Punjab including Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, upper part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit, Baltistan and some areas of Kashmir are likely to receive rain in next 24 hours.

According to met office, hot weather is persistent in several areas including Balochistan province whereas Sindh is likely to receive rain tonight.

Source: Heat wave persists, Sindh likely to receive shower

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A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him. (David Brinkley)

Police surgeon for Kharotabad incident beaten up

QUETTA: A police surgeon who had conducted the post-mortem of five foreigners killed last month in Kharotabad area by security forces was beaten up and injured by unknown assailants here late on Monday night.

When Dr Baqir Shah was attacked he was taking dinner at a hotel. He alleged that he was beaten up by policemen.

“I was punished by police for telling the truth about the killing of five foreigners,” he told Dawn on telephone.

He was admitted to the Balochistan Medical College Hospital.

Earlier on Monday the tribunal investigating the killing of five foreigners by security forces at the Kharotabad checkpost on May 17 was informed by Dr Shah that the victims had been hit by 56 bullets.

Dr Baqir Shah of Bolan Medical Complex said the bullets had damaged vital organs of the foreigners and that was the main cause of their death.

Dr Baqir Shah also said that hospital had removed 21 bullets. A piece of metal was also found in one of the bodies.

Justice Mohammad Hashin Khan Kakar of Balochistan High Court is heading the tribunal.

Van driver Ata Mohammad, a key witness, retracted his earlier statement recorded in the tribunal and said it was false and he had given it under police pressure.

He said he changed his mind because a committee headed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar had asked him on Sunday to swear by the Holy Quran and tell the truth.

The driver further said his previous statement recorded under police pressure was untrue and the five foreigners did not possess any hand grenade or other subversive material.

He said that policemen who searched the bags of the foreigners found only books and three bottles of shampoo.

The proceedings were adjourned till Tuesday.


Source: DAWN.COM | Latest news, Breaking news, Pakistan News, world news, business, sport and multimedia.

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A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him. (David Brinkley)