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4<br />

Wednesday, <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 3, <strong>2016</strong><br />

National<br />

Renowned Urdu fiction writer<br />

Intizar Hussain passes away at 92<br />

KARACHI: Head office: 509, Land Mark Plaza, I.I Chundrigar Road, Karachi, Pakistan.<br />

Ph: +9221-32214988- 32214990, Fax: +9221-32214989<br />

messengerdaily@yahoo.com, editor@dailymessenger.com.pk<br />

Chief Editor: Muhammad Taqi Alvi<br />

Associate Editor: Ali Razavi - Hyderabad Bureau Chief: Abbas Kassar<br />

ISLAMABAD –– LAHORE –– RAWALPINDI –– KARACHI<br />

EDITORIAL<br />

BAN SENSELESS VIOLENCE INSTIGATORS:<br />

Kids firing and missiling at videogames today<br />

More likely to become terrorists tomorrow!<br />

(III)<br />

LIKELY angle here may be that those who<br />

indulge in violence at video games have<br />

already let out their pent up frustrations on<br />

machines, and may not indulge in real life violence!<br />

Unlike those who did not play! Although more<br />

study is needed, there is some evidence to suggest<br />

that violent video games might allow players to get<br />

aggressive feelings out of their system (i.e., video<br />

game play might have a cathartic effect), in a scenario<br />

that does not harm anyone else.<br />

WHILST it might be agreed that violent video<br />

games in the hands of a person who is old and<br />

mature enough to see them and be able to understand<br />

the context in which the violence is being<br />

wrought is acceptable, this may not be true of<br />

younger people or kids who acquire and play<br />

games.<br />

Games with violent content are often easily<br />

acquired by players too young to purchase them. In<br />

past several decades, poverty ridden localities in<br />

backward regions or developing countries like<br />

Pakistan put up video games machines with affordable<br />

one to five rupees for use as rental and promoted<br />

violence amid areas and children bred out of<br />

extreme poverty. There is a need to stop it. The<br />

authorities have not done enough in this respect.<br />

They can and must as soon as possible. The more<br />

affluent younger ones may also gain access to video<br />

games at home from older siblings and relatives.<br />

Because children do nott have fully developed mental<br />

faculties yet, and may not clearly separate fantasy<br />

from reality, exposure to violent games can have<br />

a large impact upon children. Media reports on kids<br />

shooting and killing the other kids or their siblings<br />

were quite alarming for parents and guardians. This<br />

has a greater impact than children seeing films that<br />

feature realistic violence because whilst a child<br />

might get bored with films owing to the lack of<br />

interaction with the medium, this is much less likely<br />

to be the case with, for example, a violent shooting<br />

game, which a child might play over and over.<br />

Many advocate that as such, all violent video games<br />

should be banned to prevent their acquisition by<br />

young children either by accident, or owing to<br />

parental ignorance.<br />

OTHERS however may believe that this is<br />

empirically false. It's said that in US, underage<br />

shoppers purchased R-rated movies 38% of the<br />

time, and unrated movies 47% of the time. it's contended<br />

by opponents that given that children are<br />

able to easily access violent content in other visual<br />

media -- and there is no evidence that video games<br />

are more harmful than other media -- this argument<br />

falls. Further, there is a long tradition of exposing<br />

children to extremely violent content in the form of<br />

children's tales. Further, with greater education<br />

regarding the harms of video games to parents (and<br />

with more parents having played video games themselves)<br />

many are becoming savvier about appropriate<br />

restrictions on their children’s video game play.<br />

Given the lack of evidence that video games are<br />

clearly or uniquely harmful, but acknowledging<br />

society’s interest in protecting vulnerable children,<br />

investing in additional parent education is a more<br />

logical response than attempting to ban all violent<br />

games, it's suggested! It does hold some truth.<br />

Negative minded kids prone to violence breed their<br />

children to become like themselves.<br />

OF COURSE, some facts may not prove some<br />

premises to be right. Some do point out that a part<br />

of research does not support the idea that young<br />

By: Saima Adeel (Shehri-CBE)<br />

Sindh RTI scored highest ranking and became the<br />

top in the world,” don’t you feel excited after<br />

reading this sentence? Everyone does. We all<br />

like winning and if it is top in the world it really is a<br />

“Big Achievement” yes it is possible and Sindh is only<br />

an “if” away from clutching the top global ranking as it<br />

can proudly claim to have the best Right to Information<br />

(RTI) legislation in the world to promote transparency<br />

‘If’ the civil society prepared Sindh RTI bill 2015 is<br />

passed into law. ‘If’ the Government of Sindh will take<br />

it seriously, ‘if’ this law is enacted in the province, and<br />

if it is enacted it will empower the citizens.<br />

Toby Mendel is the Executive Director of Center<br />

for Law and Democracy (CLD) a Canada-based<br />

organization that does international ranking of the RTI<br />

laws in different countries has examined the Sindh<br />

draft and concluded that it will be one of the best laws<br />

in the world. Currently, the top 3 RTI laws of the<br />

world are Serbia, Slovenia and India, and their respective<br />

scores are 135, 130 and 130.While the Sindh RTI<br />

draft prepared by the “Coalition for Transparency &<br />

Access to Information” (C-TAI) scores an excellent<br />

139 points, which is remarkable and something to be<br />

proud of. C-TAI is a coalition of 26 Sindh based<br />

people who play violent video games have<br />

decreased social ability. This is refuted most<br />

notably in studies by Anderson and Ford (1986),<br />

Winkel et al. (1987), Scott (1995), Ballard and<br />

Lineberger (1999), and Jonathan Freedman (2002).<br />

Block and Crain (2007) claim that in a critical paper<br />

by Anderson (and his co-author, Bushman), data<br />

was improperly calculated and produced fallacious<br />

results. Additional meta-analyses (reviews of<br />

research that attempt to statistically combine data<br />

from multiple studies for more powerful results) by<br />

other researchers, such as by Ferguson and Kilburn<br />

(2009) and Sherry (2007) have failed to find any<br />

causal link between video game violence and<br />

aggression, as have reviews by the Australian<br />

Government (2010) and the US Supreme Court<br />

(June, 2011). The question of whether violent<br />

games that only allow violence as a solution to<br />

problems could negatively affect young people in<br />

subtle ways deserves further study. However, there<br />

are many aspects of video games, such as puzzle<br />

solving, that are intrinsic parts of even the basest<br />

first person shooters. Many first-person shooters<br />

themselves require tactical deployment and thinking—all<br />

of which are able to stimulate thought in<br />

people, albeit in a different manner than negotiation<br />

might do. Further, newer military games are more<br />

sophisticated, often requiring the player to take one<br />

side of a conflict and then the other in different levels<br />

of the game, or forcing the player to face moral<br />

dilemmas that affect the game’s script, decisions or<br />

outcome, suggestive or initiated.<br />

ANTI-SOCIAL behavior, however, can also be<br />

caused by violent video games and it's a big problem<br />

for society to overcome. Video games of a violent<br />

nature tend to fail to offer many solutions to a<br />

problem. Also, even on positive side, most goodcause<br />

shooters have no form of negotiation with<br />

enemies for peace, except with more violence; players<br />

are asked to simply kill as many nameless terrorists<br />

as possible, for scoring, and more war, not<br />

for end to war and to restore peace. Given this,<br />

social interaction problems can be caused because<br />

people are presented with problems and then told<br />

that they must be solved with violence instead of<br />

other more viable, more humane and peaceful methods.<br />

In other words, physical violence is portrayed<br />

as the first-choice (and often only-choice) solution<br />

to a conflict. This lack of portrayal of alternate<br />

solutions can stifle growth of other skills, especially<br />

among children and adolescents, specifically<br />

skills important to making friends and engaging in<br />

negotiation in times of conflict or pressure. Further,<br />

it encourages children to see people who oppose<br />

them as “others,” and thus presents them psychologically<br />

as enemies instead of as people who are<br />

simply different to the player and thus might have<br />

other grievances. This can lead to increases in<br />

aggression among players. This is especially true<br />

given the relatively simplistic portrayal of conflicts<br />

within areas such as the states in conflict and civil<br />

war, especially the Middle East and other Muslim<br />

countries invaded or engaged at war.<br />

RIGHT thinking, story-line, presentation in<br />

video games are more important at any rate before<br />

any suggestive decisions or determinant actions. To<br />

that end, leaders and enforcers in governments and<br />

nations can institute compulsory reforms in the<br />

manufacturing, distributing and corporate world<br />

throughout the globe and in this respect can definitely<br />

do more.<br />

OPINION<br />

RTI ranking the best penalty corner waiting for the<br />

government to convert it into a meaningful goal…<br />

NGOs and CSOs.<br />

It is very encouraging that the C-TAI draft version<br />

of the Sindh RTI bill has achieved top ranking in the<br />

world, with 139/150 points. If this law is enacted in<br />

the province, it would be one of the best RTI laws in<br />

the world.<br />

Now it is in the hands of the Sindh governments to<br />

replace their defunct Freedom of Information Act<br />

2006 with this effective RTI bill.<br />

The principles underpinning solid RTI legislation<br />

include maximum disclosure, limited scope of exemption,<br />

a process to facilitate access to information, and<br />

protection of whistle-blowers.<br />

“This ranking is the best penalty corner; now the<br />

government should convert it into meaningful goal,”<br />

once said by Zafrullah Khan (executive director of<br />

Civic Education) about an effective RTI bill.<br />

Endless efforts of the coalition went into preparing<br />

this draft, and it has culminated in this draft as being<br />

declared one of the best in the world. It is hoped that<br />

the Sindh government reciprocates the struggle and<br />

efforts made by the civil society, by adopting and<br />

enacting this draft. Only the practical implementation<br />

of the new and effective RTI bill can eliminate corruption<br />

and bring much needed good governance.<br />

LAHORE, <strong>Feb</strong> 2:<br />

Renowned Pakistani fiction<br />

writer Intizar Hussain died<br />

at a local hospital here<br />

Tuesday. He was 92.<br />

Hospital sources have<br />

confirmed death of Intizar<br />

Hussain.<br />

Intizar Hussain was born<br />

on December 7, 1923 in<br />

Dibai, Bulandshahr, India,<br />

and migrated to Pakistan in<br />

1947.<br />

He gained a master's<br />

degree in Urdu. He wrote<br />

short stories and novels in<br />

Urdu, and also columns for<br />

newspapers in English.<br />

He has received many<br />

awards in Pakistan, India<br />

Matter for compensating time<br />

wasted: says Acting CJP<br />

ISLAMABAD, <strong>Feb</strong> 2:<br />

Acting Chief Justice of<br />

Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib<br />

Nisar has remarked the matter<br />

for compensating the<br />

time wasted due to resorting<br />

to wrong forum by the petitioners<br />

in connection with<br />

hearing of the cases has been<br />

referred to Chief Justice of<br />

RAWALPINDI, <strong>Feb</strong> 2: A man<br />

has been booked for allegedly<br />

hurling life-threats and abusing<br />

a woman within the Pir<br />

Wadhai police jurisdiction.<br />

Asima bibi, a resident of<br />

Pakistan for constitution of<br />

larger bench.<br />

He further remarked “<br />

larger bench will review all<br />

these matters and give decision.<br />

He gave these remarks<br />

while presiding over a 3-<br />

member bench during the<br />

hearing of the case Tuesday.<br />

Pir Wadhai, lodged a complaint<br />

with the local police that<br />

she was returning to a local<br />

hotel where she was living<br />

with her husband after shopping<br />

when Gulzar intercepted<br />

The court remarked “ the<br />

time of the petitioners is<br />

wasted due to resorting to<br />

improper forum. We want to<br />

see this matter is redressed<br />

to what extent. The matter<br />

has been sent to chief justice<br />

of Pakistan. Larger bench<br />

will review these matters<br />

and will give decision.<br />

Man booked for allegedly hurling<br />

life-threats, abusing woman<br />

27 cops promoted<br />

to next rank in<br />

Islamabad<br />

ISLAMABAD, <strong>Feb</strong> 2:<br />

Islamabad police have promoted<br />

11 Sub-Inspectors<br />

and 16 Assistant Sub-<br />

Inspectors to next rank, a<br />

notifications have been<br />

issued in this regard.<br />

According to details, SSP<br />

Operations Sajid Kayani has<br />

pinned the badges to the<br />

promoted officers in a ceremony<br />

held at Rescue-15<br />

office.<br />

Those who promoted to<br />

the rank of Inspectors<br />

include Muhammad Abbass,<br />

Nazeer Ahmed Sipra, Mehar<br />

Mukhtar Ahmed,<br />

Muhammad Yaseen Bhutta,<br />

Muneer Hussain Jafferi,<br />

Falak Sher, Dilawar<br />

Hussain, Siraj Wali, Qasim<br />

Ali and Abbas Khan.<br />

Those elevated to the status<br />

of Sub-Inspectors<br />

include Muhammad<br />

Saleem, Javed Alam, Feroz<br />

Khan, Sajid Mehmud, Tariq<br />

Mehmud, Muhammad<br />

Feroz, Muhammad Sharif,<br />

Iftikhar Hussain, Azam<br />

Khan, Muhammad Shafi,<br />

Liaqat Ali, Ghulam<br />

Muhammad, Muhammad<br />

Arshad, Gulfaraz Khan,<br />

Tariq Saeed and<br />

Muhammad Naseem.<br />

While speaking to the<br />

ceremony, Kayani said that<br />

all the officers should work<br />

honestly to ensure the<br />

security of the citizens so<br />

that moral of police officers<br />

and the department<br />

may be booted up.<br />

House<br />

burgled<br />

ISLAMABAD, <strong>Feb</strong> 2:<br />

Burglars have burgled a<br />

house within the Golra<br />

police jurisdiction.<br />

Razia Behram, a resident<br />

of Sector E-11, lodged a<br />

complaint with the local<br />

police that thieves made<br />

their way into his house ransacked<br />

it and made off with<br />

Rs0.15 million, 2200 Euros,<br />

and 6.5 carets of gold worth<br />

Rs0.7 million while the family<br />

was outside the house.<br />

The police have registered<br />

a case and started<br />

investigation.<br />

RAWALPINDI, <strong>Feb</strong> 2: A<br />

teen was allegedly molested<br />

within Sadiqabad police<br />

jurisdiction.<br />

Muneeb Farooq a resident<br />

of Sadiqabad lodged a<br />

complaint with the local<br />

police stating that Arsalan<br />

alias Lakho a resident of<br />

and teased her and he also<br />

hurled life threats on her over<br />

petty matters.<br />

The police have registered<br />

a case and started<br />

investigation.<br />

Teen allegedly molested<br />

PESHAWAR, <strong>Feb</strong> 2: A Joint<br />

declaration of Doctor’s /<br />

Health community of<br />

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has<br />

appreciated the government’s<br />

efforts for investment<br />

in health care services,<br />

Human Resource<br />

Development and provision<br />

of incentives for the health<br />

care providers.<br />

same locality abducted his<br />

son Arsam from a local<br />

market and took him to a<br />

deserted place where he<br />

and his accomplices<br />

molested him umpteenth<br />

time. The police have registered<br />

a case and started<br />

investigation .<br />

The declaration also<br />

lauded govt for the promulgation<br />

of MTI Act 2015, and<br />

hoped that the step would<br />

enhance Human Resource<br />

development and health care<br />

services. The joint declaration<br />

demanded improved<br />

pay package for Trainee<br />

Medical Officers, House<br />

Officers and teaching cadres<br />

and the Middle East.<br />

His writings include<br />

"Basti", "Hindustan Se<br />

Aakhri Khat", "Agay<br />

Samander hai", "Shehr-e-<br />

Afsos", "Jataka Tales",<br />

"Janam Kahanian" and "Wo<br />

Jo Kho Gaye".<br />

He received the Lifetime<br />

Achievement award at the<br />

Lahore Literary Festival in<br />

2012.<br />

In 2013, Hussain became<br />

the first and only Pakistani<br />

to be nominated for the<br />

international Man Booker<br />

Prize, and was awarded the<br />

French civil award Ordre<br />

des Arts et des Lettres in<br />

September 2014.<br />

Grand jirga in<br />

Jacobabad to<br />

decide old dispute<br />

LARKANA, <strong>Feb</strong> 2: A grand<br />

jirga will be held on<br />

Wednesday in Jacobabad to<br />

decide the old dispute<br />

between Prof Akbar Haider<br />

Soomro, former Vice<br />

Chancellor, Benazir Bhutto<br />

Medical University,<br />

Larkana and Prof Saeed<br />

Sangi, Chairman,<br />

Department of Cardiology,<br />

BBMU, who now has<br />

retired. It will be presided<br />

over by Sardar Manzoor<br />

Khan Panhwar.<br />

The dispute continued<br />

for three years and both of<br />

them dragged each other to<br />

the courts during which<br />

Sangi was arrested by FIA<br />

for allegedly possessing<br />

illegal passport. He<br />

remained behind bars for<br />

three days for which he also<br />

blamed Soomro.<br />

The dispute started outside<br />

a mosque after Juma<br />

prayers when Prof Sangi<br />

was reversing his vehicle<br />

which Prof Soomro alleged<br />

that Prof Sangi wanted to<br />

overrun him.<br />

The security guards of<br />

Prof Soomro took out their<br />

weapons and pointed them<br />

at Prof Sangi and this was<br />

the begininning of the quarrel<br />

as both sides lodged<br />

reports against each other.<br />

Prof Sangi told reporters<br />

on Tuesday that he had<br />

appointed former taluka<br />

Nazim Qurban Abbasi as<br />

his Masheer because during<br />

the last hearing of the dispute<br />

case the court had<br />

directed for deciding the<br />

matter privately whereas<br />

Prof Soomro said that no<br />

jirga is to be held to decide<br />

the matter.<br />

Doctors, health community appreciate<br />

govt efforts in the health sector<br />

and improvement of service<br />

structure for general cadre<br />

doctors as well.<br />

Declaration endorsed the<br />

efforts of current provincial<br />

govt. Declaration was<br />

signed by the representatives<br />

of PDA, YDA, MOs,<br />

KTH doctors union and<br />

Union of Teaching Staff in<br />

Peshawar today.<br />

PESHAWAR: Security forces are taking part in mock exercises as a practice to defend in perception<br />

of any terrorist’ attack on educational institutions.

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