USE OF ILLEGAL AFGHAN SIMs--------------EXTORTION INCREASED IN PESHAWAR

PESHAWAR - Despite repeated incidents of extortion using Afghan roaming Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM), the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led provincial government and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority have failed to block these unregistered SIMs to avert the mounting cases of extortion in Peshawar. 
In the last one year several innocent people were targeted by unidentified extortionists and their houses in the city blown up either by criminals or terrorists belonging to banned outfits. But, the incidents involving these illegal SIMs are increasing with each passing day and traders and businessmen are feeling a sense of insecurity. They say their lives and business are at risk. It is a new technique to use Afghan roaming service for committing any crime by just threatening anybody using an unknown number. 
It is not difficult for Pakistan government to block signals of these SIMs as it has already been done near Indian border on the East. Despite the clear directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the PTA officials have not taken effective measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to block use of these illegal roaming service of Afghan SIMs. 
The rising rate of violence related to extortion in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has triggered an exodus of businessmen and industrialists who are fleeing Peshawar to safer places thus rendering thousands of other people related to their business jobless. According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry around 150 professionals have left the province due to the fear of extortionists and threatening calls demanding for money by using these unregistered SIMs. 
Talking to The Nation Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Najeebur Rahman Baghwe said 171 cases of extortion had been registered in the province out of which 125 cases were traced out and 90 of them were resolved while rest of the cases are still under investigation. He said police had also arrested 125 offenders in this connection. He said members of defunct organisations were found involved in 65 percent of extortion cases who carried out their activities through these SIMs. 
Najeeb said the arrested people have been identified as Afghan refugees and other low level criminals while several of their other accomplices would soon be arrested. 
Najeeb added that police department had contacted the government for taking steps to block Afghan SIMs in Pakistani limits but so far no action had been taken.
He said they had also contacted federal government through home department but they were not willing to interfere in the affairs of KP police. He said it was PTA’s responsibility to follow directives of interior ministry and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for blocking these unregistered Afghan SIMs which had become a tool of committing crime in the province. He said the PTA was just using delaying tactics in this regard. 
He made it clear that Pakistan had no agreement with Afghanistan regarding roaming service while certain companies were illegally operating in the province which needed strict action. 
It is pertinent to mention here that in previous year, police and FIA had recovered around 17,000 Afghan SIMs after a raid on an illegal telecom center run by Afghan refugees in Peshawar. The confiscated SIMs belonged to Multinational Telecommunication Group and Roshan cellular networks which had roaming facility agreements with Ufone and Zong without permission of the government. 
These people had been living in Pakistan for a long time and were involved in the business of illegal Afghan SIMs for the past two years and they had created an international gateway for phone calls inflicting millions of rupees losses on the national exchequer, besides posing serious security threats. 
Certain groups are still engaged in this illegal business and operating it secretly in the provincial metropolis as Afghan refugees have sufficient stock of these SIMs. It is, however, responsibility of the police to trace out such elements and hold them accountable for their deeds in the court of law.

Due to suspension of night operation passengers at Peshawar Airport facing multifarious problems

NADER BUNERI

PESHAWAR, OCT-16: Owing to suspension of night time operation at Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar, the pilgrims and other passengers traveling from various countries facing severe difficulties as the airport lounge and car parking lacks facilities to accommodate passengers of several airlines coming simultaneously during day time operation. 

The pilgrims traveling from Saudi Arabia has complained that due to suspension of night time operation hundred of passengers who reached Karachi were forced to stay at night in Karachi airport as operation at Peshawar Airport have been suspended for night time due to security concern.

The recipients of passengers who coming to Peshawar Airport from the far flung areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa parking their cars at Mall road and main Bara road as several airlines take off at a time as the day service starts at the Airport.

The pilgrims who have families and children badly suffering along with their luggages  as they coming by feet from the Airport building to Mall road and Bara road to hire taxi and or get access to their relatives recipients. 

Moreover the closure of old Airport road which is linked with Sir Syed road and Khyber road is also causing great rush in front of Peshawar Airport and Bara road as all people using this one rout of Bara road for entry to the airport. If traffic on main airport road gets resume, it will resolve 80 percent problems for the passengers and they will easily make their way to get access to their recipients. 

In this connection when Duty Manager Civil Aviation authority was contacted, he said that this situation will continue until resumption of night services and closure of main airport roads. He said that if high ups of army allow the opening of main airport road, then it will ease the traffic on Bara road.

He added that earlier government had managed buses for pilgrims to travel Haji camp Hayatabad but passengers had avoided that service in the previous year that is why no conveyance facilities have been arranged this time.

When asked about the resumption of night operation he said that it will take several weeks as the situation is not satisfactory in the surrounding areas of Peshawar.

When this correspondent himself visited the heavy traffic point at Bara road it was presenting a disappointing looks as neither provincial nor the federal government is ready to take interest and smoothly manage the situation. The suspension of night time operation is not the solution of stopping the attacks on airlines but strict security measures and collecting of weapons from the nearby population would minimize the risk.

Until full proof security arrangement and vigilant performance security agencies no one could guarantee peace in the city and even militants can attack Airlines even at day time. Restoration of night time operation may reduce this rush of passengers as 18 flights of night shift now have been diverted to day time which causing severe inconvenience to the masses.

It is mandatory upon the government to restore this night time operation and ensure security of the airlines at all cost as it is further tarnishing the image of Pakistan at international level.

Due to limited area and dense population, Peshawar Airport is not in the position to fulfill the needs of this province and it is direly needed that civil aviation authority and federal government should approve a new site to shift and reconstruct Bacha Khan International Airport.  

END 

NADER BUNERI 

PESHAWAR - The residents of Peshawar and Khyber Agency demanded the Federal Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafiq restart Safari Train Service from Peshawar to Torkham via Khyber Pass.
The train service to Landi Kotal was suspended in 2006 after devastating flood badly damaged the British era railway track.
Talking to The Nation, Gul Saed a local businessman and resident of Khyber Agency said that Safari Train was the best alternate transport facility for the residents of Khyber Agency and Landi Kotal.
He said the train was also carrying trade goods to Afghan border and contributing handsome revenue to national exchequer. "Our elders are recalling those days when they were travelling to their area in Safari train," he wished.
He maintained that they are quite optimistic regarding restoration of this service and reconstruction of the damaged railway track. He said the railway track is already existed but it needs repairing and maintenance in some localities. 
Ahmad Nabi, a local journalist, also expressed the hope that the incumbent government would resume this the Safari Service to Landi Kotal as it is the need of time and long awaited demands of the people of this area.
He said that once there was a time that people were enjoying travelling to Khyber Agency via train but unfortunately the disconnection of railway track due to flood and poor law and order situation hindered the restoration of service. 
He said that now law and order situation is improved in Khyber Agency and the routes are safe for travelling if the government is serious in its restoration. He suggested that this service would also cut burden on Pak-Afghan route, which is frequently damaging due to load of heavy containers.
Wajidullah, resident of Peshawar, said that restoration of train service to Torkham border will not only boost the trade activities but will also reduce the pollution and road traffic on main Pak-Afghan highway.
He said that they were expecting improvement in Railways Department when Haji Ghulam Bilour took the charge but unfortunately he demonstrated zero performance. He instead of restoring this vital route had focused to recruit their well-wishers in the department, which further plunged the railways into deep crisis. He appealed to Federal Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq to take emergency steps for its restoration, as this service will prove a panacea for Railways Department.
When this scribe contacted Khawaja Saad Raif via telephone, he was not responding despite continues attempts.
It may be recalled here that this railway track was officially opened on November 03, 1925 during the British rule in India. The wife of Victor Bailey, the engineer who was assigned the construction of the line, had previously driven the first train to Landi Kotal. After independence of Pakistan in 1947 a weekly train was started between Peshawar and Landi Kotal, running every Sunday. Train operations were stopped in 1982, as the railway was not commercially viable.
However, in the 1990s, a tourist train, the Khyber train safari, was launched by a private enterprise in collaboration with Pakistan Railways. It was later closed in 2006 after a flood washed away railway track and bridges.

KP MEDICAL FACULTY LACKS STAFF AND FACILITIES

KP Medical Faculty needs more staff

 

July 25, 2014

NADER BUNERI

 

 

PESHAWAR - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Faculty, an institute responsible for holding examinations of paramedical courses, lacks proper staff and arrangements to keep close watch on examination centres of all affiliated institutes running across the province.
The faculty has the responsibility to scrutinise papers of various courses, including laboratory technician diploma, dental diploma, health technicians, anesthesia and emergency. The board is currently working under a secretary and a few clerical staff who sometime are unable to manage the overall responsibility to hold examinations, deputing examiners at various centres and inspecting institutes.
During an interview, Medical Faculty Secretary Jawad Habib told The Nation that the process of certification and roll numbers allotment was made flawless in his era and the records had been made computerised, which greatly facilitated the students as well staff of the medical board. Saying that it was difficult for him to run such important faculty alone, Jawad said that he needed assistant secretaries and subordinate staff to further streamline the affairs of the examination and secrecy.
He mentioned that due to lack of staff they had to hire some retired professors, who could not regularly visit far-flung areas of the province checking the standards of affiliated institutes and examination centres. He said that such important task needed regular inspection teams to keep close watch on examination centres where the students sometime resort to cheating and other unfair means.
"There is a huge demand of paramedical diploma holders in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and other countries and it provides golden opportunities for youth," he informed.
About students' complaints of frequent failure in the examinations, he termed the complaints baseless, saying that the talented students could easily pass the examinations.
Jawad also demanded regularisation of the staff, saying that the faculty was working on notification of Health Department and their employees were not regular. He said that the faculty needed more staff to further improve the system of examination and marking.
He also appealed to the health minister and health secretary to take personal interest in the matter and increase the staff of medical faculty to further improve the standard of education and checking process.

Overseas Pakistani in Malaysia accuse High Commissioner for ill treatment

PESHAWAR - Overseas Pakistanis in Malaysia have complained against the ill-treatment of the Pakistan high commissioner and demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint honest and dedicated officer in the Pakistani Embassy to serve expatriates.
Pakistanis in Malaysia live in miserable conditions where the embassy staff does not cooperate with them in issuing passports and providing other facilities.
These Pakistan is doing various jobs in plantation, marketing and construction sectors and receiving low salaries ranging from 600 t0 700 Malaysian Ringgit. Some of the Pakistani settlers who have business visas are engaged in their own businesses. A large number of Pakistani citizens have complained against the ill-treatment of the embassy staff and Pakistani high commissioner in Malaysia. They said that instead of providing facilities to overseas Pakistanis, the embassy staff and its high-ups are creating problems for them.
Talking to The Nation, a Pakistan citizen in Malaysia Johar Ali said that whenever their passports got damaged or went missing then the embassy staff adopt delaying tactics and instead of passport they were given out-passes which resulted in their ouster from Malaysia.  He said that passport staff is charging heavy fees from the Pakistani citizens and sometime they are taking bribe from them for completion of their work. He said that mostly duration of their visas get expired due to delaying tactics in the provision of passport.
He alleged that Embassy of Bangladish is better than Pakistan in Malaysia, who are providing all facilities to their citizen. In most cases, Pakistani citizen wait on main road to get appointment for their work while the embassy staff do not allow them to enter the premises. He said that Pakistani citizen wait in long queue outside the boundary wall and there is no facility for them to have a seat.  Another Pakistani citizen informed that treatment of Malaysian with Pakistani citizen is laudable but the treatment of our own embassy staff is not good.
They do not consider themselves as civil servants but consider themselves, as kings.
He said on one hand Pakistani government could not provide them employments in home country and in abroad, the poor Pakistanis are being ignored entirely and no proper respect is given to them by the embassy staff.
They demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to terminate services of the Pakistani high commissioner in Malaysia and appoint honest and dedicated officer to serve the Pakistani citizens. 
They also demanded the prime minister to further strengthen bilateral relation with Malaysia to facilitate million of Pakistani citizens.