11 killed in south China bridge collapse

BEIJING: A stone arch bridge under illegal construction in a village in southern China collapsed, killing 11 people and injuring several others, state media and an official said Sunday.

Rescuers pulled out 26 people, mostly construction workers, after the bridge came down Saturday afternoon in Liangkengkou village in Guangdong province, according to an official at the information office of Maoming city government.

Five of them were confirmed dead at the scene. Eight others were seriously injured, six of whom died later in the hospital, said the man, who refused to give his name, as is common with Chinese officials. One person managed to escape the bridge collapse, he said.

He said that the village committee had arranged to build a new bridge over a waterless ditch, but failed to get permission. The local government ordered construction to stop several times, but villagers took advantage of the three-day May Day holiday from Thursday to Saturday to restart the work.

The Maoming government official said three people responsible for the project were in police custody. The village committee could not be reached Sunday. Photos on state media showed a steep slope with dozens of tumbled stones and planks of fallen wood, which had been used as scaffolding.

Two Sharifs ought to bridge the gap

ISLAMABAD: Though interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has done some sober firefighting to resolve irritants between the civilian and the military leadership, much depends on the overtures of the two Sharifs - Nawaz and Raheel - leading the two sides to normalise their relationship.

Since General Raheel Sharif’s disputed public rejoinder to the contentious statements of two federal ministers - Kh Asif and Kh Saad Rafiq — matters have turned quite bad. Certain vested interests, including the overt and covert supporters of General Musharraf, are doing their devious best to exploit the situation in their favour no matter how it hurts Pakistan and its institutions.

Background interactions reveal that in view of the recent rise in tensions, both sides do not want to aggravate the situation. However, there is no hint how the present gap between the two would be bridged.According to one source, informal contacts between the two sides have already been made but such interactions are not being made public.

According to one of the most relevant federal ministers in this dispute, things can be settled even without the involvement of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It is said that some ministers might contact the military leadership to remove the misunderstandings.

However, it is suspected that besides Musharraf’s men there are elements dubbed as “ISI within ISI”, who are crossing the limits and misusing their official positions in their support for Musharraf.

The challenge for Prime Minister Nawaz and Army Chief General Raheel is to identify such elements within the intelligence agencies to ensure that anyone representing these institutions, which are set-up as the first defence against any attack on country’s sovereignty and security, does not use the agency’s official muscles to serve and secure the vested interest of any individual.

In order to avoid misunderstandings in the future, the Prime Minister and the Army would have to resolve their complete support to rule of law, upholding of the constitution and respect for institutions.

Musharraf’s case is a test of rule of law in Pakistan and here the Army chief would have to make his ranks and file understand that the dictator’s case is before the independent judiciary and it is the court that has to decide his fate.

Prime Minister Nawaz would have to bound his party leaders and ministers not to say anything that may be interpreted by the soldiers as an attack on the institution of Pakistan Army. Kh Asif and Kh Saad Rafique though did not say anything against the Army many believe their tone and tenor even against Musharraf was un-called for.

Since Musharraf’s case is before the Special Court, it is inappropriate on the part of the government ministers’ to try the dictator publicly. Both the government and military have to leave Musharraf’s case to the courts to decide without entertaining any request for a deal.

Musharraf’s lawyers before and during the case and after the indictment of their client have named military many a time in their remarks. They should not have used the name of military.

More importantly, despite the past or even the present wrongs of the institutions whether it is army, ISI or any other agency, parliament, government or the judiciary, the institutions should be protected by drawing a clear line between the institutions and individuals.

Instead of targeting the institutions, rouge elements who use their state given resources to impact events without any accountability or check and balance or oversight, should be identified and corrected.

These people may be doing it for their “right intentions” or maybe they are confused between their loyalty to individuals like Musharraf and to institution and to country and to rule of law and constitution.

On the one hand strengthening of democratic norms within the limits as envisaged by the Islamic constitution of Pakistan is the need of the hour and, on the other, Pakistan requires a strong but apolitical Army for the defence and security of the country. Things could move smoothly for a better future of Pakistan only if all institutions remain within their constitutional limits and this is what the two Sharifs have to realise and ensure.

President for pragmatic approach to bridge doctors-patients gap

KARACHI: President Mamnoon Hussain has sought pragmatic approach to bridge the present gap between the number of patients and their accessibility to qualified doctors in the country.
Addressing the first convocation of Bahria University Medical and Dental College on Monday, he referred to the existent dilemma whereby Pakistani doctors have earned laurels across the world while a large number of Pakistanis themselves, especially in the remote areas, have little or no access to health care.
President Mamnoon Hussain acknowledged that many of the medical graduates and other qualified professionals, who are best of the country's minds, opt for abroad, due to limited opportunities and insufficient infrastructure.
"We need to reverse the trend," he said and sought coordinated efforts to address the situation at both individual and collective levels".
He said the government is aware of the issues that the doctors and other medical practitioners face in discharge of their duties and is undertaking every possible measure to address the problems.
President of Pakistan recommended, as a panacea, a strong and a robust partnership of public and private sector to meet the health care requirements of the people.
He said the present government also attaches top priority to health sector and supports all endeavours aimed at improving the quality of health care available to the people.
The President on the occasion advised fresh medical graduates in the country to focus on attaining post graduate degree in specialties relevant to the country's need.
"Attaining the fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons should be your next milestone, after completing house jobs," he said.
He reminded these graduates of their responsibilities towards their country-men and women who still have little or no access to quality health care facilities.
"Let us all work to improve health care facilities in the private and public sectors with the help of government, philanthropists and private investment, especially for poor and needy patients," he said.
Vice Admiral (retd) Shahid Iqbal, Rector of Bahria University Medical and Dental College (BUMDC) in his welcome address said illiteracy and low education rates are among major challenges country is exposed to.
"And therefore in realization of its responsibilities Pakistan Navy besides defending and safeguarding sea frontiers of the country has established educational institutions of very high standards," he said.
These institutions, the BUMDC said, range from schools to universities providing primary to tertiary and basic to professional education.
The BUMDC Principal, Dr. Shaheen Moin referred to series of measures adopted for turning the institution into one of the country's top level medical college.
President Mamnoon Hussain conferred gold medals upon Dr. Sana Khalid and Dr Samreen Kausar for clinching 12 and 11 distinctions respectively in their MBBS degree programme.