DINA for the issue of January 19, 2014

	January 19, 2014 | Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1435
The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news service from Pakistan’s largest English language newspaper, the Daily DAWN.
Stampede kills 18 mourners of Bohra leader MUMBAI: With a massive crowd gathering to pay last respects to Dawoodi Bohra community’s spiritual leader Syedna Burhanuddin, a stampede killed at least 18 people when the gates to the residence were shut shortly after midnight here on Saturday.	For suggestions and comments: Email: webmaster@dawn.com Website: http://dawn.com Fax: +92(21) 35693995
Learning levels in rural areas tumbling By Mansoor Malik LAHORE: Learning levels of students across rural Pakistan are tumbling despite rhetoric and massive investment and interventions in school education system by respective provincial governments as almost 57 per cent Grade 5 students cannot read Grade 2 English sentences and cannot do two-digit division. More alarmingly almost half of such students have been found unable to read simple Class-II level story text in Urdu/Sindhi/Pashto. Since last year, the competency of reading English sentences by Class-V students has gone down by 5 per cent and in arithmetic skills have fallen by 1 per cent. The students’ ability to read Urdu/Sindhi/Pashto story text remained static at around 50 per cent.
Three ASWJ men shot dead By Our Correspondent SARGODHA: Three people said to be members of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) were shot dead and five others, including a district leader of the religious organisation, were injured in an attack here on Saturday. Maulana Abdul Hameed Khalid, Bhakkar district chief of the ASWJ, was going to an anti-terrorism court in a vehicle, along with some others, to seek pre-arrest bail in a case.
Access for all Indian products offered By Mubarak Zeb Khan and Jawed Naqvi ISLAMABAD / NEW DELHI: Pakistan has agreed to open its border for all Indian products by the end of next month provided New Delhi provides a meaningful market access to Pakistani products. The deadline was mooted during a meeting on Saturday between Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma on the sidelines of a Saarc business conclave in New Delhi.
Internal security policy ready By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD: The country’s first internal security policy is ready and will be placed before the federal cabinet soon. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said here on Saturday the policy would be fully implemented in one year and Rs28 billion would be spent to augment the capacity of law enforcement agencies.
Dar faces the heat By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD: It’s not just the people; members of the federal cabinet are also un-happy with the state of the national economy, and thus the role of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has come under scrutiny. Some senior members of government raised the issue with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and sought a no-holds-barred briefing from the finance minister.
RAVI: FROM RIVER TO SEWER By Salman Rashid THERE are folks in the walled city of Lahore who remember the time when most of the rahu they purchased in the nearby fish market came from the Ravi. They remember, too, the refreshing swim one could take in the brown waters of the river always associated with their city. And they remember the annual ‘paar vala mela’ — the carnival on the far bank, held at Shahdara. Just for the fun of it, Lahoris would ride boats across rather than take the tonga over the bridge. Around the early 1970s, the fish began to dwindle. Then the dip in the river was no longer what it used to be: every time they indulged themselves, folks experienced skin rashes, even eczema. By the early 1980s, the carnival failed to attract Lahori visitors. The river had effectively turned into a sewer. Several channels — some natural, others created by the municipality — were dumping thousands of cusecs of untreated effluent, domestic and industrial, into a once pristine, living river.
Musharraf’s presence inconveniences patients at AFIC By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD: Qaisar Naqvi, 45, breathed his last in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) while his family was kept outside the health facility due to security measures taken to protect former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf, who has been undergoing treatment at the hospital. His wife, children and other family members requested the AFIC administration to let them proceed to the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) of the military-run hospital to meet him in his last moments, but no heed was paid to their request.
Obama signs bill with restrictions on Pak aid By Anwar Iqbal WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that eases his budget conflicts with Congress but also puts conditions on the continuation of US aid to Pakistan. “Goodness gracious, that is a big piece of business. That is a big bill,” Mr Obama said as he signed the bill on Friday afternoon. “I’m always interested in, like, where do they have the boxes for the really big ones.”
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