PESHAWAR — The death toll from three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 430 on Friday, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.

Pakistani TV showed striking images of people clinging to fences and other stationary items as water gushed over their heads. Helicopters were also shown winching people to safety.

The rising toll from the monsoon rains underscores the poor infrastructure in impoverished Pakistan, where under-equipped rescue workers struggled to reach people stranded in far-flung villages. The weather forecast was mixed, with some areas expected to see reduced rainfall and others likely to see an intensification.

The northwest was the hardest hit and Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the region, said it was the deadliest and most destructive flooding there since 1929 when 408 people died.

The highway connecting Peshawar to the federal capital, Islamabad, was shut down. At least 60 bridges were destroyed, Hussain said.

In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, at least 22 people were confirmed dead as of Thursday evening, the area’s prime minister, Sardar Attique Khan, told reporters.

The floods cap a deadly week in Pakistan. On Wednesday, a passenger jet slammed into hills close to Islamabad killing all 152 people on board.

In the Swat Valley, residents were forced to trudge through knee-deep water in some streets.

A newly constructed part of a dam in the Charsadda district collapsed, while the U.N. said it had reports 5,000 homes were underwater in that area. Hussain estimated 400,000 people were stranded in various northwest villages.

Southwest Baluchistan province has also been hit hard by recent rains. Last week flash floods in that region killed at least 41 people and swept away thousands of homes. The U.N. statement Thursday said 150,000 people were affected there.

The U.N. said Punjab province in Pakistan’s east was also hit by flooding. www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/30/floods-kill-least-430-pakistan/print/

2.Civil administration crumbles in face of calamity

PESHAWAR, July 30: The civil administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appears to be crumbling to cope with the natural calamity as thousands of homeless people remained stranded in different flood-affected districts of the province on Friday.

Provincial government had made the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) as a focal agency to handle the crisis; however its role was more of a coordinating body as the crucial task of relief and evacuation had been left to the incapacitated district administrations.

Officials of the PDMA told Dawn that the agency had disbursed Rs40 million among the flood-hit districts so far, saying it was the responsibility of the local administration to utilise this money for providing relief to the affected people.

In addition to the money, tents and food items had also been provided to the districts according to their demands which would enable them deal with this sudden disaster, they added.

But other than providing funds and few thousands tents, the PDMA found itself handicapped to deal with the situation as there was no sufficient number of rescuers, boats and helicopters in the field, leaving thousands of people trapped in different parts of the province even on the third day of the floods.

It was the responsibility of the district disaster management authorities (DDMAs) to rescue people and provide them relief in disaster situations. However, the officials said, so far there was no such body in any district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, despite promulgation of Provincial Disaster Management Ordinance some three years ago.

Till Friday morning, provincial government had only five boats and four army helicopters for rescue activities, they said, adding “how it can manage the situation on ground when thousands of people are stranded.”

www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/civil-administration-crumbles-in-face-of-calamity-170

3. ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha calls off London visit

By Baqir Sajjad Syed in Dawn, July 31

ISLAMABAD: Revealing the division within its ranks, the government struggled all day on Friday to come up with a unified response to British Prime Minister David Cameron’s disparaging terror remarks.

For once the PPP leaders were not just at odds with the military leadership, but also the Foreign Office, led by their party man. The army conveyed its displeasure after the ISI chief cancelled his upcoming visit to UK. After hectic day-long consultations, sources said the final decision was on these lines – President Zardari will go ahead with his visit to UK; ISI chief to call off the trip; and the Foreign Office, which is torn between the political and military cross-currents, to summon a British High Commission official. British Prime Minister Cameron’s remarks in India earlier in the week accusing Pakistan of exporting terror created uproar here with demands for a strong response to the statement.

Mr Cameron, despite protests from Islamabad which described the comments as saddening, and criticism back home, stood by his statement. Diplomatic observers say ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha’s decision to cancel the visit conveyed the disquiet in Pakistan on the issue, even though the president desired to downplay the diplomatic row by sticking to his plan.

Both Mr Zardari and Gen Pasha were to visit UK separately. Mr Zardari is going there on a five-day state visit, while the ISI chief was to visit London for consultations with intelligence counterparts.

The Foreign Office’s failure to announce President’s Zardari’s UK visit along with his visit to France, which are taking place back to back, fuelled speculations that the visit might be cancelled.

However, shortly afterwards it was clear that Mr Zardari was adamant to go ahead in view of what his aides described as “strategic partnership and broader bilateral relations”.

The Foreign Office, which had earlier indicated that British High Commissioner Adam Thomson would be summoned for receiving a demarche, came under intense pressure from the presidency to avoid the course. As a compromise between the FO and the presidency, sources said, the British charge d’affaires is likely to be summoned on Monday, when the high commissioner would be away to UK for President Zardari’s visit.

www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-isi-chief-calls-off-london-visit-170-hh-01

4. No plans to send combat troops to Pakistan: US

WASHINGTON: The US has brushed aside an Afghan demand to strike at Taliban safe havens across the border, saying it has no plans to send combat troops to Pakistan.

 “We have no plans to send US combat forces to Pakistan,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters on Thursday.

The spokesman said the US was working with the Pakistanis to eliminate the safe havens which are a threat to Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States.

Stating that the elimination of safe havens was central to US President Barack Obama’s strategy unveiled last December, Crowley said, “You have the United States and the international community working with Afghanistan on one side of the border, and you do have Pakistan taking aggressive action on the other side of the border. And our message to Pakistan is that that offensive, if you will, needs to continue.”

The Obama administration on Wednesday expressed satisfaction over the “aggressive action” taken by the Pakistan Army in the Tribal Areas.

About the negative image of the US in Pakistan, Crowley said the Obama administration had worked hard in recent months to try to strengthen bilateral relations. www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010731story_31-7-2010_pg7_2

5. SC declares degrees of two PML-N legislators fake

ISLAMABAD: Two PML-N lawmakers and one independent legislator lost their seats after the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that their academic degrees were fake.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday issued the judgment after hearing separate appeals against Mir Zahoor Hussain Khan Khoso, a Balochistan assembly member elected from PB-26, Jaffarabad-II; and upholding earlier disqualification by the election tribunal of PML-N member of National Assembly from NA-100, Gujranwala, Haji Mudassar Qayyum Nehra, and Punjab Assembly member from PP-13, Rawalpindi, Malik Yasir Raza.

In reference to the Mir Khoso case, the apex court held that he was not a graduate and, therefore, not qualified to contest elections.

Earlier, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) had informed the court that it did not recognise the institution from where Mir Khoso had secured his degree.

The court also ordered initiation of proceedings against Mir Khoso under the law laid down in the cases of Rizwan Gill and Mian Najeebuddin.

In both the cases, the Supreme Court had asked the ECP to deal with the matter under Section 78 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1976, which defines corrupt practices and includes false statements by a person in respect of his educational qualification.

PML-Q member Haji Abdul Rehman Jamali (brother of former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali) had challenged the nomination of Mir Khoso, an independent candidate, on the grounds that the member did not fulfil the requisite qualification to become a member of the provincial assembly since the Sanad-ul-Faragh issued by the Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, was not equivalent to bachelor’s degree and contrary to requirements laid down under Section 8(a) of the Election Order 2007-08 as well as the provisions of Section 99 (cc) of the Representation of Peoples Act 1976. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-sc-declares-degrees-of-two-pmln-legislators-fake-170-hh-09

6. Ministries have been unable to account for billions of rupees

By Zeeshan Javaid in The Daily Times, July 31

ISLAMABAD: The National Census Organisation has sent a summary to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani seeking approval to conduct national census from March 3, 2011. The formal approval for a national census would be obtained from the apex decision-making body, the Council of Common Interest, where all federating units are represented.

Statistics Division Secreatry Saeed Khan informed the special committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday that the procedure would take time.

The committee took a serious notice on the progress of the federal Statistics Division and directed to make the national census system more transparent for the year 2011.

The special committee of the PAC has directed the special education secretary to recover the amount of Rs 0.39 million from the former state minister for special education in the 1993 political regime.

The special committee meeting was held at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of MNA Riazuddin Pirzada to review the audit accounts of special education, statistics division and women’s development.

An audit official informed the committee that in 1993, the Ministry of Special Education had demanded the funds to purchase a mini bus for the transportation of special children, but the minister had spent the Rs.0.39 million granted to purchase a 1300cc car for his personal use.

The committee also expressed dissatisfaction on the progress of the Ministry for Women’s Development and Social Welfare and directed transparency in the disbursement of funds to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The ministry was also asked to submit a comprehensive report to the PAC secretariat regarding the NGOs’ projects on women’s development and social welfare.

The audit official informed the committee that the Women’s Development, Social Welfare and Special Education Division had received an original grant of Rs 585.825 million with an additional supplementary grant of Rs 992.560 million during financial year 1997-98 and actual expenditure of the division was only Rs 782.665 million and the remaining Rs 795.719 million are unaccounted for. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010731story_31-7-2010_pg7_13