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Malala Yousafzai honored at Harvard

MONITORING DESK MASSACHUSETTS: Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban has been honored as Harvard University\'s humanitarian of the year.

Malala, an outspoken proponent for girls\' education, was at Harvard on Friday to accept the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award.

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust said she was pleased to welcome Malala because of their shared interest in education.

Malala was shot in the head last October. Militants said she was attacked because she was critical of the Taliban, not because of her views on education.

The 16-year-old Malala said she hopes to become a politician because politicians can have influence on a broad scale.

She spoke nostalgically about her home region, the Swat Valley, and said she hopes to return someday. She called it a \'\'paradise\'\' but described a dangerous area where militants blew up dozens of schools and sought to discourage girls from going to school by snatching pens from their hands. Students, she said, reacted by hiding their books under their shawls so people wouldn\'t know they were going to school.

\'\'The so-called Taliban were afraid of women\'s power and were afraid of the power of education,\'\' she told hundreds of students, faculty members and well-wishers who packed Harvard\'s ornate Sanders Theater for the award ceremony.

Malala highlighted the fact that very few people spoke out against what was happening in her home region.

\'\'Although few people spoke, but the voice for peace and education was powerful,\'\' she said.

Malala also described waking up in a British hospital, where she was taken for emergency treatment following the assassination attempt in Pakistan.

\'\'And when I was in Birmingham, I didn\'t know where I was, I didn\'t know where my parents are, I didn\'t know who has shot me and I had no idea what was happening,\'\' she said. \'\'But I thank God that I\'m alive.\'\'

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, paid a special tribute to Malala in a message read publicly during her award ceremony.

\'\'Your courage,\'\' Jagland said in the tribute, \'\'is sending a strong message to women to stand up for their rights, which constitutes a precondition for peace.\'\' (Local TV)

 

The FP

Law and order, energy crisis govt’s top priorities: Pervez

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid here on Friday has said that resolving energy crisis and improving law and order situation in the country were the two top most priorities of the government.
Speaking at a function in connection with biomass energy project the minister said that the government is striving to exploit the vast potential of renewable energy to meet the growing energy requirements of the country. The project will be completed in four years with the cooperation of United Nations Industrial Development Organization. He said Pakistan is an agriculture country and has abundant resources of biomass‚ which could be utilized to significantly meet the requirements of industrial sector hit hard by the energy crisis. He said that the financial budget for next year would be pro poor and people friendly.
Pervez Rashid said that several wind energy projects are in the pipeline and 2500 megawatt of electricity will be generated through this source by 2015. He further said that attention is also being given to exploit the potential of solar energy.
The minister said that the present government will ensure financial discipline to achieve self reliance. He said that the country was facing shortfall of five thousand megawatt when the present government assumed the power. He further said that the government retired circular debt of about four hundred and eighty billion rupees‚ which increased the power generation to the record 17000 megawatt.
Pervez Rashid said that the government is also taking long term measures to ensure energy including coal based Gaddani power project which will add 6600 megawatt of electricity to the system. He further said that work on Neelum Jhelum hydel power project has also been expedited and this project is now expected to be completed by 2016. He said that steps have also been taken to remove inefficiency in the transmission system and a campaign is also continuing against those involved in gas and power theft.
About raise in salaries of government employees the minister said that that ninety percent of the employees serve in the provinces adding that it is the responsibility of the provinces to decide about their salaries. He said the government will consider increasing the minimum wage from next year. He said that the present government has got an empty exchequer and credit goes to the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar‚ who has ensured that the employees continue to get salaries on time.

Breaking new ground: WAPDA sets up police station to prevent power theft

CHARSADDA: The first ever Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) police station opened in Charsadda on Tuesday. The station will be manned by a police inspector, two sub-inspectors, two ASIs and 30 other police personnel.

According to Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) Charsadda Executive Engineer Tahir Khan, the police station was set up under the directives of the federal government but would be staffed by the district.

The police station is meant to help overcome power theft and line losses, and provide relief to consumers in the district, added Khan. He advised consumers to help Pesco officials do their job or else face legal consequences. A magistrate will hear cases on a daily basis at the Wapda police station.

Pesco has suffered from line losses and stolen electricity without much help from local police in the past. These problems, combined with issues of infrastructure and investment, led to power blackouts spanning as long as 20 hours in the province earlier in the summer.

In a last-ditch effort, Pesco started an anti-theft drive in Ramazan, plying consumers with billboards advertising the benefits of 'Shariah compliant' usage instead of 'offering prayers under stolen electricity'.

Even though the centre has paid off part of the government-owned power companies' Rs5 billion debt, Pesco needs help in collecting dues. Deteriorating law and order in the province has stretched the local police force thin, resulting in the federal and provincial governments' decision to establish a Wapda police station.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2013.

 

Quake kills 55, topples homes in Balochistan

* Hundreds injured as 7.8-magnitude quake centred in Awaran district demolishes scores of houses; prompts a new island to rise from sea

* Tremors felt as far away as New Delhi, Dubai

* Emergency declared in Awaran

* Military mobilises soldiers for rescue

QUETTA: A huge earthquake hit Balochistan on Tuesday, killing at least 55 people, toppling scores of homes and sending people around the region rushing into the streets in panic.

The 7.8-magnitude quake centred in the province's Awaran District and was felt as far afield as New Delhi and Dubai, residents said. Officials said the quake, which struck at 4:29 pm, demolished dozens of houses in Awaran, 350 kilometres southwest of Quetta. Its epicentre was 20 kilometres below ground. The area is sparsely populated and most buildings are mud-built. But the US Geological Survey issued a red alert, warning that heavy casualties were likely based on past data.

Awaran Tehsildar Ilahi Bakhsh confirmed 55 people had died in Awaran Township alone. Meanwhile, Asad Gilani, one of the most senior officials in the Balochistan administration, told AFP that 100 people were injured in the quake. "A large number of houses have collapsed in the area and we fear the death toll may rise," said Rafiq Lassi, police chief for Awaran district. The provincial government declared an emergency in Awaran and the military mobilised medical teams as well as 200 soldiers and paramilitary troops to help with the immediate relief effort.

"We have received reports that many homes in Awaran district have collapsed. We fear many deaths," Jan Muhammad Baledi, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, said on a private news channel. "There are not many doctors in the area but we are trying to provide maximum facilities in the affected areas." Television footage showed collapsed houses, caved-in roofs and people sitting in the open air outside their homes, the rubble of mud and bricks scattered around them.

Balochistan Assembly Deputy Speaker Abdul Qudoos Bizinjo told a private news channel there were reports of "heavy losses" in Awaran. Damage to the mobile phone network was hampering communications in the area, he said. Awaran district has an estimated population of around 300,000, scattered over an area of more than 21,000 square kilometres. Tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital and even Dubai in the Gulf, while office workers in the Indian city of Ahmedabad near the border with Pakistan ran out of buildings and into the street in panic.

In April a 7.8-magnitude quake centred in southeast Iran, close to the border with Balochistan, killed 41 people and affected more than 12,000 on the Pakistan side of the border. Kalat Division Commissioner Dr Akbar confirmed 33 deaths and 28 injured, saying most of the deaths were reported from Mashkey. He said more than 15 people were killed in Mashkey. The commissioner said that two medical teams, one from Khuzdar and the other from Uthal, had been dispatched to Awaran. All the hospitals in the entire division had been placed on high alert so the injured could be treated within Balochistan. Dr Akbar said in case of overwhelming number of casualties the injured can be dispatched to Karachi for better treatment.

The quake also led to the emergence of an island off the coast of Gwadar. It is 100-feet high and lies at a distance of around one kilometre from the coast, and has re-emerged after a lapse of 67 years. It was last seen in 1947. The area where this island is located has been named as "Zalzala Koh" (Earthquake Mountain) by the local fishermen. staff report/agencies.

Daily Time