This was decided at a meeting held here on Friday. Col Niaz Ahmed, Swat DC Imtiaz Hussain Shah, and officials of concerned departments attended the meeting. It decided to extend the festival to Kalam and Maho Dhand this year.

The event includes jeep rally, paragliding, sports, cultural shows, music, handicraft stalls and other interesting competitions. —Correspondent 

This could be true for Awami National Party, which has learnt lessons in the May 11 elections and one important lesson it has learnt is that it needs to reorganise and strengthen its youth wing, Nangyalay Pukhtun (young Pakhtuns with pride), to attract young voters for the next elections.

The committee tasked with the difficult job of identifying the reasons or causes for the party’s massive defeat is to come up with its report and recommendations within two months, according to ANP provincial president Afrasiab Khattak.

He, however, said reforms in the party had already begun by reorganisation of youth wing.

According to another ANP leader Aqil Shah, who is the newly-appointed Salaar (chief) of Nangyalay Pukhtun, said 61 per cent of the country’s population consisted of youths, so his party was going to focus on those teenagers, who would be voters by the next elections. The recent elections in which youths for the first time seemed more involved and voted for a party, which promised change, showed that youths were emerging as a decisive element in politics.

Mr Shah feared that if youths did not find any positive change, they might be disappointed. “Our youth is dismayed and disoriented due to the present situation of the province,” he said.

He said his party would try to take youths into its fold for victory in the next elections. The ANP leader said his party would focus on teenagers, girls and boys alike. “It will try to develop understanding of their issues. I plan to visit the entire province to increase membership of Nangyalay Pukhtun,” he said.

Mr Shah said he being a former youth affairs minister was aware of the youth’s issues but terrorism had devastated infrastructure in the province and kept it backward resulting in limited job opportunities for youths.

According to him, unemployment, lack of opportunities and even basic facilities are major issues of young persons in the province and development and creation of investment opportunities for them in the province is the only solution.

He said the last ANP government had initiated the process to develop youth policy to address all these issues.

“Terrorism will end one day because even youths, who have become terrorists, will finally become sick of the situation. Development is the only solution of our problems,” he said.

ANP, according its leaders, has realised the power of young voters, so it is going to focus on addressing their problems and working for their development for its benefit in the next general elections. The ANP leaders insist their party may have lost the recent elections due to own
shortcomings, including bad governance, but rigging and terrorist threats also contributed to the defeat.

They proudly claim the party’s last government had to its credit initiatives like the change of the province’s name from North West Frontier Province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the securing of provincial autonomy under 18th Constitutional Amendment and the seventh
National Finance Commission Award.

They also make a mention of some schemes initiated by their party’s government like Stoori De Khyber Pakhtunkhwa scholarship and laptop schemes for bright students, loan schemes under Bacha Khan Rozgaar Scheme and establishment of universities in the province but admit they didn’t appeal to young voters like Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf did by massive media campaigns about change or Naya Pakistan.

A single bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan also dismissed bail petitions of already arrested three officials of health department – director general Dr Sharif Ahmad Khan, chief of Provincial Hepatitis Control Programme Dr Ghulam Subhani and a storekeeper Mubarak Shah.

The bench observed that these officials did not deserve to be given the concession of bail.

Dr Chauhan, a former director general of health services and presently working as chief executive of Maulvi Jee Hospital Peshawar, was soon taken into custody by the officials of Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and handcuffed.

The ACE had registered the case under Sections 409, 419, 420, 468, 471, 120-B, 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The chief justice had taken suo motu notice of the issue in February and issued directives to ACE director Fayyaz Ali Shah to conduct an inquiry in this regard. The court had observed that they had reports that despite having information that the said injection was substandard the accused persons went ahead with its purchase in bulk.

The lawyers appearing for the four accused contended that the ACE was not competent to deal with this case and it should be registered under the Drug Act. The lawyers stated about their respective clients that they had no concern with the purchase of the vaccine as they
were not member of the purchase committee at the relevant time.

The counsels contradicted the allegations of ACE that a large number of vaccines were not accounted for. They argued that the vials were in fact not missing and were stored with the concerned company, Pharmedics Laboratories at Lahore as the health department did not have proper storage capacity here.

Additional advocate general Ms Neelum Khan argued that the case fell in the domain of ACE as misappropriation of Rs260 million was involved.

She argued that the four suspects were involved in the case as they were members of the purchase committee. She stated that the purchase and disappearance of thousands of vaccines from government stores occurred from 2009 to 2013 and during that time the said officials remained on different posts.

Ms Neelum contended that in 2012 Mr Subhani as project director had issued a certificate concerning completion of the entire supply of the vaccines to the government.

SHO of Chamkani police station Hameed Khan told Dawn that Ashfaq Hussain, Roohullah, Irfanullah, Asadullah, Qadeer Gul and a woman were arrested when they were busy preparing an improvised explosive device.

“We had the information that a group of terrorists had stored explosives inside a building and were ready to attack on politicians and government officials but we foiled their plans and held them,” he said.

The SHO said the arrested terrorists were also involved in the bombing of Awami National Party leader Arbab Jan’s vehicle and attack on police in Maqsoodabad, Khazana area.

“One IED, which was ready for explosion, was seized before the bomb disposal unit personnel disposed it off. Fortunately, the accused lost remote control to detonate IED when the police raided their house,” he said.

He said Roohullah was the would-be suicide bomber, who was mentally prepared to target law-enforcement agencies or politicians.

“Four of the arrested men, including Roohullah, are brothers and the woman their mother. The fifth terrorist, Ashfaq Hussain, is a supplier of explosive material. They all have long been linked to an organised terrorist group,” he said.

The SHO said the arrested terrorists basically belonged to Nowshera district but had been living in Chamkani village for long and that they had stored explosive material in two rooms of the house.

Another police official, who was in the know, said the seized items included an eight kilogrammes, remote-controlled IED, one suicide jacket, 65 kilogrammes explosive material, cables, batteries, three hand grenades, one kilogramme ball bearings, nine pieces of receivers and other related items.

He said a box carrying material for making bombs had also been seized.

The official said it was not clear yet if the terrorists had links with banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or Lashkar-e-Islam outfits.

He also referred to the recent killing of a woman by militant brothers in Adezai.

It is learnt that the woman was the sister of TTP, Adezai chapter chief Jangriz Khan.

When contacted, head of Adezai Qaumi Lashkar Fazal Malik confirmed the killing and said the woman was opposed to her brothers’ militant activities.

He said the woman was killed by her brothers at her house.

“Brothers wanted to rope in the woman’s only son for terrorist activities but his mother always kept him away from them,” Mr Malik said.

SHO ESCAPED BID ON LIFE: A station house officer on Friday narrowly escaped bid on his life but three policemen, including an ASI, were injured in roadside blast near Pir Qilla area of Shabqadar tehsil here.

SHO of Saro Kalley police station Gul Shaid Khan told Dawn that he along with other policemen were on patrol when miscreants exploded a planted bomb near their mobile van by remote control.

He said the blast left ASI Amjad and constables Zubair and Khadim Shah sitting in the rear of the van injured, while he and the driver remained unhurt for being in the front.

The bomb disposal unit officials said explosive material and ball bearings used in the blast weighed around five kilogrammes.

Police said they had registered a case before beginning investigation.

However, no arrest could be made until night.

ONE KILLED IN NATO CONVOY ATTACK: Militants on Friday opened fire on a convoy of Nato trailers/containers in Shagai area of Khyber Agency’s Jamrud tehsil, killing the helper and critically injuring the driver.

Officials said a convoy of 10 containers carrying Nato supplies was on the way to Karachi after crossing Torkham border checkpost into Pakistan from Afghanistan when it came under attack.

They said bother helper Habibullah and driver Hamidullah belonged to Zakhakhel tribe of Landi Kotal.

The attacks on Nato containers have registered a surge in the recent time. The Friday attack was the third during the last seven days.

In a message, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf leader and nominee for the chief minister’s slot Pervez Khan Khattak expressed grief over the blast and sympathised with the affected families.

He said though his party had yet not come to power, it was taking terrorist activities seriously. He said the PTI government would leave no stone unturned to stop violence.“The caretaker provincial government should ensure security of the people at all costs and carry out all necessary measures in this respect,” he said.

Mr Khattak asked the administration of Lady Reading Hospital to ensure provision of the best possible medical care to the injured.

He said the PTI government would take suitable measures for peace in the province and work for creation of a social welfare society.

The nominee for the chief minister’s office said they would introduce such a system in which all the people would respect each other.

He said the next government would consult all stakeholders on restoration of peace, which was direly needed for progress.

Mr Khattak said dialogue was the only option to check terrorism.

In a statement, Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, too, condemned the Peshawar blast and expressed concern over deaths in it.

He prayed that Almighty Allah rest the departed souls in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved families to cope with tragedy.

Provincial caretaker information minister Musarrat Qadeem said Islam was a religion of peace and didn’t allow its followers to kill innocent
people.

She said those playing with the lives of the people would not succeed in their nefarious designs.

The minister directed the administration of Lady Reading Hospital to provide the best possible treatment cover to the injured.

Also, PTI provincial general secretary Shaukat Ali Yousafzai condemned the attack and said after coming to power in the province, PTI would resolve the problem of terrorism to a great extent. — Bureau Report

The love of the alma mater attracted a good crowd of old timers from far and wide including among whom there was a gentleman, sporting a thick crop of shining white beard, who had graduated from the college in the late nineteen forties. He occupied the centre stage lending an aura of biblical magnificence to the proceedings which began with recitations from the Quran and Bible. The general secretary of ECOSA read out from a report pinpointing some achievements coupled with a long list of proposals and demands that he placed before the assemblage for approval through voice vote.

It was only after the general secretary had turned his attention to money matters that one got an inkling of what was in store for the rest of the long evening. It indeed was a jump down from the sublime to the ridiculous when he started conducting the proceedings in a grotesque parody of the decades old television show titled ‘Neelam Ghar.’ Whether he realised it or not, the gentleman made a hash of his prolonged stay at the dais when he wondered quite seriously if the gathering would agree to a proposal whereby moneyed old timers would pay for some room or a block in the college to be named after them in lieu of a considerable sum of money. He then pointed to the staff room on his left and informed his bewildered audience that the teachers’ retiring room had been named after the late English teacher Major (retd) Zahinuddin paid for by the late teacher’s son.

It was henceforth quite an effort to endure it any longer, but the sanctity of the occasion had the desired restraining effect. Although in retrospect one thinks it would not have been an unforgivable breach of decorum if someone had stood up and pointed out that honour can never be purchased; it can only be bestowed on the most deserving of it. The gentleman thus continued to betray his incapability of differentiating between the reverent and the profane. Perhaps unknowingly, and one would hope it were so, he was disrespecting the soul of one of the most respected teachers of yesteryears. The old major’s son is a philanthropist living abroad who had donated a substantial sum to the college as a token of his love for his father’s beloved abode. To refer to the gesture in such a manner reflected poorly on the evening that one had been looking forward to for quite some time. Just a couple of days ago one had seen the brass plate installed in memory of the old major on the centre wall in the staff room, and even on that occasion our teacher of statistics had narrated an exceedingly witty anecdote relating to Mr Zahinuddin.

One had positively hoped Canon Titus Presler, the principal of the college, would do all in his powers to rectify the damage down to the collective conscious of the invitees. But all that the respected gentleman did was to talk money, money and money in his long stay at the podium raising many eyebrows and inviting no fewer frowns from an increasingly restless audience. It was an evening that presented Mr Presler as the true image of a parish priest asking for money from wherever possible that would enable him to transform and replicate Edwardes College into an establishment similar to perhaps Oxford or Cambridge or at least the LUMS University Lahore that had touched his imagination very profoundly.

One did went over to the otherwise reticent looking principal after the long awaited dinner had finally been served only to correct some glaring misperceptions since he could be allowed an allowance for being new on the campus. He was asked if he thought it prudent asking the old teachers to start paying back handsomely to the college if they wished to be remembered on its rolls?

The ECOSA dinner is steeped in traditions, and the next event must reflect those traditions in words and spirit. The dinner was served just moments before the clock struck the zero hour forcing all to gulp down their food in a hurry and let the musicians take over the charge. The nature of the things having gone awry, owing solely due to long soporific speeches laced with praises of money, was such that the luckless musicians had hardly chewed the last taken morsel of bread before they were forced into playing some popular numbers leading to frantically executed dancing performances by the young and old alike.

It is not that the college is not getting money. While presenting the list of notable old Edwardians making it big in their practical lives, the principal recalled the former chief minister Haider Hoti whose government augmented the college’s coffers by a A dinner in praise of money
handsome fund of Rs300 million. Mr Hoti who recently led his party to a humiliating defeat in the elections was widely respected for his genial nature, if not for his gifts of vision and leadership. One of his former teachers recall him being a habitual latecomer to his English class and then asking for permission in his characteristic soft tone. ‘Come in, dear Haider, if you insist,’ the elderly but unfailingly vivacious Ziaul Qamar recalls him from his days as his student.

But Haider did not delay his entry to the all powerful sprawling chief Minister’s house. In fact he gate crashed his entry on the centre stage, and ensured to be there for his allotted full term of five years. At something like 39, he was the youngest chief minister of what was until then called the North West Frontier Province. He was a cub in a province where his predecessors loved comparing themselves with lions.
But his subsequent performance left much to be desired, and one would regretfully wonder if his growth had been stunted by his lifestyle portraying him as a dandy youth.

If one were to go by the official news bulletins only two things dominated his routine: official notifications regarding cancellations of his weekly meetings with the members of the assembly and frequent tours of his home district Mardan. The regularity of his second mentioned activity brought him up as though he was a farmer in the countryside keen on visiting at sunset and checking for himself that the water supply to his fields had not been stolen by the encroachers.

One would have wished the former Edwardian Haider Hoti to be a keen reader if not a man of letters. Nothing that Mr Hoti did in his stint as the all powerful chief executive showed that he even read the newspapers with any amount of seriousness. But now with a lot of time at his command, he should at least read Lord Curzon’s ‘On the Indian Frontier.’ Curzon though like Hoti was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had to travel on foot and horseback for six months from Gilgit Baltistan to what is these days called the Wakhan Corridor in extreme hostile conditions in order to be able to be appointed as the Viceroy Of India many years later. Mr Presler, the kind principal of Edwardes College, must instil this spirit in his students, and for that he needs no money.

Muhkam Ayuni, a development worker in Kalash valley, told Dawn here that the daily wage labourers and jobless youth of the valleys were now spending almost the whole day in forests in search of morel mushrooms.Morels grow in large number in deodar forests of the valleys with the advent of spring season and frequent rainfall provides them with congenial atmosphere, he said.

Mr Ayuni said that a person could pick half a kilogramme of morels during daylong struggle, which earned him over Rs1,500 as the fresh morel was being sold in the local market at over Rs3,000 a kilogramme.

Locally called Qochhi, morels grow in the deodar forests of southern part of the district while Chitral is believed to be the country’s third largest producer of morels after Swat and Hazara regions.

Shapir Khan of Birir valley said that he was jobless, but the season of mushrooms provided him with an opportunity to earn money and support his family.

“I go to the forests along with my sons, wife and daughter and forage morels there till the evening,” he said and added that the same was the case with other families of the valleys. A school teacher in Bumburate valley said that attendance in his school dropped during the season as a large number of students were sent to the forests by their families for collecting morels.

A shopkeeper in Bumburate valley, Ajmal Khan, said that they had been selling the dried up morels to non-local traders at around Rs19,000 per kilogramme.

The demand was raised by the president of the union Muslim Khan Afridi while talking to reporters at Peshawar Press Club on Friday.

He said only nine people had polled votes in the polling stations 44 and 55, but the election staff had showed 109 votes polled. He also demanded probe into the alleged rigging and action against those involved.

Mr Afridi blamed the political administration of Khyber Agency for supporting an independent candidate Hameedullah Jan Afridi. He said Khasadar and levies personnel also influenced the election process on May 11. He alleged that the government machinery was being used for ensuring success of Hamidullah Jan Afridi.

“To ensure free, fair and transparent elections the government should replace the administration officials, especially the political agent,” he demanded. He said as the political agent was also the district returning officer he should be impartial.

“We appreciate the decision taken by the ECP for extending date for re-polling from May 25 to June 5,” he said.

Khyber Students’ Union general secretary Neakmat Shah, Zahidullah and others were also present on the occasion.

Mr Afridi called for sufficient security steps to ensure free, fair and transparent re-polling. —Bureau Report

SWABI, May 24: Two persons were suffocated to death while repairing a water pump in Topi city on Friday.

Mohammad Tufail and Rafiq were irrigating sugarcane crop in Gadoon Amazai area when the water pump stopped functioning. They went
into the well to repair the pump, but died after inhaling poisonous gas.

Meanwhile, a shepherd was killed by unidentified assailants while grazing sheep in Tarakai village. The motive behind the killing of the shepherd, Ghaffar Ali, was yet to be ascertained. An FIR was registered against the unidentified killers in the Kalu Khan police station. —Correspondent

Low literacy rate

GHALANAI, May 24: All the stakeholders should play role in helping to improve literacy rate in the militancy-hit area, says Mohmand Agency education officer Said Mohammad Khan.

He was addressing a prize distribution ceremony at higher secondary school Ghalanai the other day.

Mr Khan said that most schools were badly affected by bombings and insurgency, causing high dropout rate. He said donors and government departments should help revive the education infrastructure in the agency.

The education department is trying its best to enroll all the school age children in schools, said Mr Khan.

The education official announced Rs10,000 each for position holder students. —Correspondent  

Protests against outages

SWABI, May 24: Protest rallies were held against loadshedding in the district on Friday.

Residents of Chota Lahor tehsil marched from the city to the main bus stop where they blocked the Swabi-Jehangira road over three hours.
They chanted slogans against Pesco and the caretaker government for carrying out the prolonged loadshedding.

They demanded of the coming governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and centre to tackle the power crisis on priority basis. They threatened to come on roads if the government failed to end outages.

The protesters said they were suffering 18 to 20 hours load-shedding in hot and humid weather. They after Pesco and police officials assured them of cooperation. Protests against loadshedding were also held in Shewa Adda. —Correspondent  

Eradicating corruption

ABBOTTABAD, May 24: Educational institutions and students should come forward to help eradicate corruption from the society which is the root cause of all evils.

This was stated by Hazara Commissioner Khalid Khan Umerzai while addressing parents day function of the Roots School System at Jalal Baba Auditorium on Friday.

Mr Umerzai said corruption was the major problem of today and that an educated society could wipe it out, putting country on the path of development.

The commissioner said the youth needed to be equipped with the latest knowledge to achieve best results.

Roots campus manager Aliya Zia Mufti said during the current year seven branches of the school had been opened, including one at Peshawar. He said land had been acquired for the construction of Abbottabad campus. Students of the school presented songs and speeches. —Correspondent  

‘N’ asked to develop Bajaur

PESHAWAR, May 24: Youth wing of PML-N, Bajaur Agency has demanded of the central leadership to give due attention to development of the region.

Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Friday, the PML-N’s Bajaur youth wing president Mehmood Shah said people of Bajaur were loyal to the party and voted its candidate, Shahabuddin Khan, to power.

“Now it is time that the party leadership should induct the MNA-elect into the federal cabinet so that he could serve the people in a befitting manner,” said Mr Shah.The tribesmen, he said, had expressed confidence in the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif.Youth wing’s general
secretary Said Mohammad, senior vice president Abdul Aziz and secretary information Fazl Amin were also present. —Bureau Report  

Hospital short of doctors

KARAK, May 24: The residents of Banda Daud Shah tehsil on Friday blocked the Kohat-Bannu road against shortage of staff in the tehsil headquarters hospital. The protesters warned of launching a mass protest campaign if the staff was not provided to the hospital in 24 hours.

People from Ahmadi Banda, Jatta Ismael Khel, Makori, Teri and other localities gathered outside the hospital and blocked the road. The protesters said there were no specialist doctors since long while the available staff also remained absent from duties in the hospital. They said two young boys from Makori succumbed to injuries at the hospital recently due to non-availability of doctors and medicines.

The speakers demanded inquiry into the deaths of the boys and punishment to the guilty staff. —Correspondent  

Seized artefacts are original

PESHAWAR, May 24: Archaeologists have confirmed that the artefacts seized in Peshawar on Thursday were original and belonged to the Buddhist era.

This was stated by Director Archeology Nidaullah Sehrai while talking to Dawn on Friday. He said these antiquities had been brought from Swat which would be handed over to the archeology department after due investigation by the concerned police. “We took photographs of all these 29 items and confirmed that they are original. Basically it is property of the archeology department,” he added. —Bureau Report

Farmers from Dera Ismail Khan told Dawn that small growers were selling their produce to local wheat agents at Rs2,800 per 100kg against the officially fixed wheat support price of Rs3,000.

“It (selling wheat locally) is cost effective, saves time, and helps avoid physical hardship one faces in selling wheat to the government,” said Mohammad Iqbal, a small wheat grower from Gandi Umer Khan, Dera Ismail Khan district.

Umer Khan, another farmer from the district’s Koolachi tehsil said he sold his produce to a middleman because the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Food’s wheat procurement centre at the district became operational very late.

Farmers said that the official wheat procurement centre started wheat procurement more than 10 days after the wheat harvesting seasons commenced in the district.

Wheat growers, particularly small farmers, could not have waited for the official procurement centre to become functional so they started selling their produce to local wheat agents at whatever price they were offered, said Muhammad Moazzam Kamran, vice president of Aiwan-i-Zaraat (chamber of agriculture), Dera Ismail Khan.

Dera Ismail Khan has recorded a bumper wheat crop this season due to above seasonal rains in the rain-fed (barrani) areas. Dera Ismail Khan is among the top three wheat producing districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Out of around one million tons wheat produced locally in the province, more than 75,000 tons are produced in Dera Ismail Khan.

The delay in opening the wheat procurement centre, said Mr Kamran, put pressure on the wheat growers, forcing them to sell their yield without waiting for the official procurement centre to become operational.

“Small farmers cannot withhold their produce because a good number of them have to repay the money they borrow at the cultivation time,” said Kamran.”

Farmer Iqbal said he sold his produce on the spot at his land where a local wheat agent sealed a deal with him at Rs2,800 per 100kg.

“Farmers in our area always prefer local wheat dealers over the official wheat procurement centres,” said Mr Iqbal.

He said that small wheat growers found it difficult to meet the official wheat procurement standards.

“We keep waiting our produce outside the official centres for two to three days only to find out that the quality of our wheat does not meet the official standards,” said Mr Iqbal, adding that the rejection of their produce resulted into huge losses to farmers as they incurred transport charges.

After years of ‘bad experience’ with the official wheat procurement centres, small farmers had stopped taking their produce to the official warehouses. “What use of bothering yourself when you come to know after a wait of two days that your wheat does not fulfil the official standards,” said Umer. By selling their produce to local wheat agents, farmers might receive low price, but they save Rs4,000 to Rs6,000 transport charges incurred by taking the wheat bags to the official wheat procurement centre, according to Mr Umer.

He said most of the farmers were poor and could not afford to withhold their crop for a longer period so they preferred to sell it instantly after the harvest.

“They hardly meet their production costs and save money to take care of their next one year’s expenditure, that is why they prefer to sell their harvest at the earliest,” said Mr Kamran.

A Peshawar-based deputy director of the directorate of food, when contacted, said that the wheat procurement centre at Dera Ismail Khan had so far procured 14,000 tons of wheat.

He said the directorate preferred to purchase wheat from local farmers. Several businessmen from Punjab, he added, too, brought large quantities of wheat from Bhakkar, so the official procurement centre at Dera Ismail Khan made purchases from them as well.

Farmers said a ‘strong clique’ of wheat suppliers from Punjab and certain officials of the provincial government deprived local farmers from an opportunity to get due price of their produce, compelling them to sell the commodity at a lower price.