KARACHI HOLDS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE IN REGION. MUSTAFA KAMAL

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that the city government has presented a successful model of good governance in Karachi which has been appreciated all over the world. During last four years a total of Rs250billion worth development works had been carried out in this city which also holds strategic importance in the region.

He expressed these views while addressing the participants of National Defence Course at a local hotel on Saturday. The 77 member delegation comprising senior army officers from Pakistan, France, Australia, Malysia, Nigeria and other countries was on its study tour to Karachi. The Commandant of National Security College Rear Admiral Khan Hasham representing the delegation thanked City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal and DCO Karachi for arranging their visit. He said that they have been much impressed by the rapid progress made by Karachi during last few years and this tour has provided them with a good opportunity to observe this unusual phenomenon closely. Admiral Hasham also appreciated the provision of basic facilities to citizens of Karachi. The documentary “Karachi-The Kohinoor” depicting the four year’s performance of City District Government Karachi was also screened on this occasion.

Nazim Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal in his address said that we have developed Karachi due to its strategic importance in the region and also due to the fact that the city contributes 68 percent share in the national exchequer. From our first day in office, we set up our strategy with regard to development works and formed a hard working and dedicated team.

He said that in order to ensure transparency in city government works, services of consultants were hired for every important project and a comprehensive system was adopted for accountability at each level besides the arrangement of annual audit. City Nazim said that most of the funds of Rs250billion have been arranged by the city government through better use of its resources, recovery of long standing dues and under public private partnership policy.

Nazim Karachi said that the war on terror can not be won through use of the hard forces alone as this could only be done with the implementation of good governance both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said that this war can only get succeed by providing basic amenities of life to people such as clean drinking water, proper sewerage system, education and health facilities.

City Nazim said that in the current scenario Karachi hold importance also due to the reason that the 95 percent of NATO supplies goes through this city. Drinking water for The NATO forces also goes from here and if this supply line cuts off than the NATO forces would have to drink contaminated Afghan water that would create stomach problems for them.

In the end City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal and Commandant National Security College Rear Admiral Khan Hasham exchanged mementoes of CDGK and NSC.

Democrats wins Karachi Press Club elections for 2010

“The Democrats” panel won majority of posts in the elections of Karachi Press Club for 2010 held on saturday. The Democrats won eight seats out of total 12 including president-elect Muhammad Imtiaz Khan Faran with 429 votes against Khursheed Tanveer (320 votes), vice-president-elect Amir Latif with 431 votes against Abdul Majid Bhatti (315 votes), secretary-elect A.H. Khanzada with 459 votes against Ashraf Khan (293 votes), joint-secretary-elect Abid Hussain with 362 votes against Arbab Ali Chandio (318 votes) and treasurer-elect Shaikh Mahmood Mian with 411 votes against Syed Hassan Abbas with 315 votes.
The four members of the elected KPC Governing Body belong to “The Panel” as its candidate Ahmed Khan Malik was elected with 328 votes, Ajiz Jamali with 363 votes, Kamran Razi with 319 votes and Zeb Azkar Hussain with 318 votes.
Three elected members of the Governing Body belong to “The Democrats” including Asif Jiaja with 367 votes, Hina Mahgul with 414 votes and Shams Keerio with 365 votes.

Well deserved ICC recognition for Ahmed Mustafa

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Ahmed Mustafa is one of the very few persons to richly deserve the ICC centenary medal awarded upon the recommendation of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He happens to be one of the winners of the medal to be presented by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to 1000 special volunteers from all over the world in recognition for their contribution to the sport.

Ahmed Mustafa is certainly one of those people having dedicated their lifetime to develop the game at the grassroots and nurture the stars of the future. He’s credited to have produced three Test cricketers, Azam Khan, Faisal Iqbal and Owais Shah, who had not even entered their teens at the time of joining his Cricket Coaching Centre (CCC).

The CCC, his labour of love, has helped many other kids fulfill their ambition of playing first-class cricket. The likes of Ali Hussain Rizvi, Mohammad Masroor, Saad Wasim, Mohammad Javed, Maisam Hasnain and Fahad Iqbal had to be grateful to the training they received at the CCC to build their career.

Ahmed Mustafa himself was an aggressive top-order batsman who was not afraid to attack the bowling in an era when the occupation of crease used to be the name of the game. He was one of the contemporaries of the great Hanif Mohammad, whose batting technique was second to none.

Having played for Karachi and made quite an impression, he narrowly missed getting the Pakistan cap because of a tragic road accident. He was in contention for a slot in the national squad when the motorcycle he was riding crashed into a heavy vehicle that caused serious damage to his legs.

He remained associated with the game all along and created a sensation by founding the first-ever cricket academy of the country by the name of Cricket Coaching Centre (CCC) in July 1987.

What a great service to the game he did by having established the CCC! The boys from all over Karachi rushed in to avail the opportunity. Ahmed Mustafa set tough guidelines for selecting the boys for grooming and training. He didn’t believe in doing it for the purpose of public relations. Neither did he approve the idea of making money from coaching as all the services at the CCC were provided free of cost to the trainees.

The CCC has completed two decades of its existence. In fact it has been there for more than 22 years now. Its silver jubilee is not very far away. Ahmed Mustafa has managed to keep the institution afloat, with the support of his like-minded friends, despite the heaviest of odds.

Although laid low by his deteriorating health during the last couple of years, he has still been working with missionary zeal to contribute his bit in the cricket development by running the CCC with limited resources at his disposal.

Quite a few coaching academies have come into prominence in the recent past but it’s the CCC, founded by Ahmed Mustafa, meriting special mention for having pioneered the idea.

Dr. Aafia, children abduction case registered at Gulshan-e-Iqbal PS

Gulshan-e-Iqbal police claimed to have lodged, in their respective police station, the case of abduction of Dr. Aafia Siddiqi and her children against the former present Pervez Musharraf on Monday morning, Geo news reported.

According to sources, Dr. Aafia Siddiqi was abducted with her children from Karachi in 2003 while she was on her way to Quaid-e-Azam International Airport to catch an Islamabad-bound flight.

She remained missing for five years until reports of her detainment in US-based Bagram prison in Afghanistan, were reached here.

Subsequently, upon pressing form Pakistan, US authorities shifted her from Bagram prison to United State for legal trial over charges of carrying out assault on US-allied troops in Afghanistan.

Malaysia Triumphed at the Inaugural ASEAN Karachi Bowling Tournament

KARACHI: Malaysia had a field day in the Inaugural ASEAN Karachi Bowling Tournament winning all three titles of the tournament held on Sunday, 6 December 2009 at a well reputed Bowling Alley in Karachi. The first ever bowling tournament initiated and organised by the Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi, H.E. Mohd Khalid Abdul Razak, saw the participation of all 4 ASEAN countries i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The four teams participated for team event consists of a mix team of 3 men and 2 women and for both men’s and women’s individuals. The ASEAN Consul General and spouses headed their respective teams for the challenge. After battling for more than two hours, Malaysia clinched the team event title by accumulating 1832 pins with Indonesia at the second spot with 1452 pins, followed by Vietnam and Thailand. The Malaysian also took the men’s and women’s individual titles with H.E. Mohd Khalid Abdul Razak clinched the men title and Mrs. Julia Lukman the women title. To make it a complete Malaysian victory, both the runners-up titles for men’s and women’s individuals also went to Malaysian i.e. Mr. Lukman Sayuti and Madam Aniza Khalid. Indonesia took the third spot in men’s individual with Vietnam securing the same position in women’s individual.

During the award giving ceremony, H.E. Consul General of Malaysia recorded his thanks and appreciation to all his ASEAN colleagues and families who had participated in the true spirit of sportsmanship and made the event a thrilling and memorable one. He stated that the sports event will further promote cooperation, understanding and relations among countries of ASEAN in Karachi. The organising of the event also is an ample proof that the metropolis is safe and peaceful for foreigners and portrays ASEAN friendship and solidarity with Pakistan. The Dean of ASEAN Karachi, H.E. Jomphool Manaschuang and Madame Patama from Thailand presented the prizes to the winners and followed by refreshments.

SOLUTION OF BASIC PROBLEMS PREVENTED PEOPLE FROM BECOMING SUICIDE BOMBERS. NAZIM KARACHI

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that we have prevented the citizens from becoming a suicide bomber as during the last four years we have not only worked but also waged jehad by providing basic civic facilities to them
He said this was addressing at a luncheon meeting given in his honor by senior journalist majeed Abbsasi here at a local hotel on Thursday. The program was also attended by the President APNS Qazi Aslam, Vice President APNS Qazi Asad Abid, Dr. Karim Rajpar, Director General NARA Tuaha Farooqi, Mehmood Sham, Columnist Agha Masood, Khalil Ahmed Nenitalwala, Abbas Mehkri, Khushnood Ali Khan, Mujahid Barelvi, Habib Khan Ghori, Faisal Aziz, Mudassir Mirza, Dr. Huma Mir, Dr. S.A Siddiqui, Javed Iqbal, Anwar Ahmed Zai and other prominent persons from print and electronic media.
Speaking on this occasion Nazim Karachi said that the peoples in this country were not provided basic facilities even after 62 years. People are entangles in various problems and facing a serious kind of frustration and due to this they prefer to become a suicide bomber and play with fire. In order to prevent them from becoming suicide bombers we will have to solve their basic problems without further delay. He warned that even if today we failed to take measures for providing citizens the basic civic facilities than 10 crore people out of 17 crore will become suicide bomber. He said today there was no hope for the citizens and citizens are without the health and education facilities and they are fed up now and only want to satisfy themselves from only self immolation.
City Nazim said that during the last four years we have worked for the development of Karachi with an objective that after providing them basic civic facilities some frustration among them would alienated and for this we have worked day and night to solve the problems of the citizens in Karachi and the peoples have fully supported and helped us in our endeavors.

Nazim Karachi said that we we did all these works with pure intentions and a vision to facilitate people. The basic theme was to provide maximum basic civic facilities to the citizens. He pointed out that in Gadap town Cadet College has been established and its 80 percent work has been completed and this area was chosen due to the presence of lot of Goths in this vicinity.
He explained in detail various problems he confronted during his four year tenure but said development of Karachi will ensure development of the country. He also recalled that there should be one chain of command of the city and if there were 13 agencies controlling the city development will always be hampered.
Vice President APNS Qazi Asad Abid, Senior journalist Mehmood Sham and Majeed Abbasi also spoke on this occasion and paid tribute to City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal for his outstanding service for the city of Karachi. City Nazim was also presented with traditional Sindhi Ajrak and Sindhi Cap on this occasion…

NED University’s Batool Haider wins first prize

Karachi Observer Report

Batool Arhamna Haider, a second year student of the Petroleum Engineering Department, of the NED University of Engineering & Technology, has clinched first position in the final year student’s paper contest at the SPE International Annual Technical Conference 2009 held recently at a five-star hotel in Islamabad.
The chairman of the department, Prof Dr Abid Murtaza Khan, has congratulated Batool Haider for having brought laurels for the university.
The Petroleum Engineering department of the NED University has been hitting headlines for its accomplishments. Earlier in an international essay competition organized by the NED Alumni Association of South California (NEDAASC) USA, three students of the department, Mohammad Turab Mehdi, Abdur Rafey Zafar and Sami Toor, had shared top positions while Iftikhar Hafeez, a third year student has been selected by IPTC for presentation in Education week being held in Doha, Qatar.

Army Chief visits Karachi

The Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Karachi today and attended a session of Army War Games organized to determine the operational preparedness of the formations. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman also attended the session.
Earlier, on arrival at Karachi, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was received by the Corps Commander Lieutenant General Shahid Iqbal.

KARACHI NAZIM CHANGE DISPOSAL OF OFFAL OPERATION INTO CLEANLINESS DRIVE.

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has directed concerned department of city government and all towns and union council’s administration to change the lifting and disposal of offal operation into cleanliness campaign in the city by using the same manpower, machinery and other resources so that the remaining effects of the insanitary conditions due sacrifice of millions of animals during Eid-ul-Azha could be removed completely. He said that the operation for the lifting of offal was still not completed and it will carry on till the full and thorough cleaning of the city.

He expressed satisfaction over the performance of all staff and officers of city government, towns & union council’s administration for taking part in the successful operation. He said that the concerned officials have played a dynamic role in the timely lifting and burial of offal and they did not go to their home till the disposal of all offal in the city.

Nazim Karachi said that this year none of the offal was dumped at the landfill sites because the city government had already managed for the burial of offal of all cantonments and areas controlled by other agencies. During the operation over 2 thousand complaints were received at 1339 which has been resolved within ten minutes.

He said that he himself with DCO Karachi spent all three days of Eid-ul-Azha on roads and streets while overseeing the whole operation. All town nazims, union nazims and elected representatives performed excellently which had given best of results this year too.

The City Nazim said that he also went to Lyari and other suburban and rural areas of the city during the operation and inspected the conditions in the katchi abadies. He said that special attention has been given to rural and backward areas, peoples are best judges, every town has been provided with necessary manpower, vehicles and machinery whenever it required.

He also thanked citizens of Karachi for providing help and cooperation in the swift lifting and disposal of offal during all three days of Eid-ul-Azha and said that operation was still not completed and will continue till the completion of cleaning work.

MUSTAFA KAMAL WARNS OFFICERS TO MEND THEIR WAYS.

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has warned the officers of city government to avoid unusual delay in the completion of development works or they will have to face strict disciplinary action.

During a review meeting held at the KWSB Chairman Office on Tuesday, City Nazim took serious notice of the slow pace of work on the ongoing projects and viewed that lack of interest of the concerned officers and bribes were the main reason behind unsatisfactory speed of work and the citizens were facing hardships despite of timely payments to contractors.

City Nazim further said that he had visited ongoing development projects in the city on Monday and Tuesday and found the speed of work unsatisfactory. Construction of over head pedestrian bridges was one such example of this sluggish pace of work.

He said that despite of financial problems City Government ensured provision of funds and resources for these projects specially construction of pedestrian bridges so that the citizens could be provided convenience in crossing roads but the concerned officers were not showing interest in the early completion of the projects causing unusual delay in the works.

Nazim Karachi said that construction of 23 pedestrian bridges has been going on since last three months. Despite of payment of Rs200 million, pace of work on these projects has not been accelerated.

He also said that due to the bargaining for commission at higher level, contractor firms were not receiving payments on time and that is why they were not taking interest in development works and the situation causing delay in the completion of works.

He again warned all those officers to mend their ways or be prepared to face the disciplinary action. Citing the example of EDO Iftikhar Qaim Khani who has been removed from his post for committing negligence in his duty, he said that more officers will be removed from their post in next few days.