ISLAMABAD // A top Pakistani policeman renowned for his tough stance on criminals and militants was killed by a Taliban car bomb in Karachi on Thursday.
The Taliban described Superintendent Chaudhry Aslam’s death as a “huge victory”. The prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, condemned the bombing.
Three other officers were killed alongside Aslam, said the senior police officer Raja Umar Khattab, after a car packed with explosives rammed his vehicle.
The chain-smoking Aslam, dubbed “Pakistan’s toughest cop” by Pakistani media and a celebrated figure in a country where citizens decry authorities’ failure to crack down on criminals and militants, has been targeted by the Taliban before.
In 2011, the militant group rammed his house with a huge car bomb, killing eight people but leaving his family unscathed.
“I will not be cowed. I will teach a lesson to generations of militants,” he said at the time, adding that he had already survived eight other attempts on his life.
Shahid Hayat, the Karachi police chief, praised Aslam’s courage, adding: “We have given hundreds of lives in the line of duty to save this city.”
Police regularly pick up a dozen bodies a day in Karachi, home to 18 million people and one of the world’s most violent cities. About 200 policemen were killed there in 2013.
In recent years, the Taliban have expanded its influence in the city, especially in areas dominated by ethnic Pashtuns fleeing fighting along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Last year, Aslam helped conduct a bloody but ultimately failed operation to arrest a man wanted for 63 murders in one of Karachi’s most notorious slums. Five police and 20 civilians died, but the suspect was giving press interviews at his home shortly afterwards.
Aslam, whose bathroom was filled with rocket propelled grenades, rejected criticism of his police force when he in an interview in 2012.
But human-rights advocates said police, frustrated by low conviction rates, were involved in extra-judicial executions, allegations also made by the Taliban.
“We were working for a long time to eliminate him as he killed and tortured many of our people in Karachi,” said the Taliban spokesman Sajjad Mohmand from Mohmand Agency in the tribal areas.
“We trained this [suicide bomber] especially to eliminate him. It’s a huge success for our people.”
He said the Taliban would continue to target other officers on a hit list.
Karachi police said Aslam’s unit had killed three suspected Taliban on Thursday morning.
Aslam often complained about the lack of funding, training and equipment for Pakistan’s police, contributing to conviction rates of less than 10 per cent of those apprehended. Judges often throw out cases where evidence has not been properly gathered.
This year’s federal budget gave the military about US$6 billion (Dh22bn) and the police $686 million. Many officers do not have enough bullets for their weapons, have no training in evidence gathering and do not earn enough to support their families.
* Reuters
Quick%20facts
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The%20specs
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Company%20Profile
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The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
The%20specs%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
UAE squad
Rohan Mustafa (captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
