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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 3 May 1997 Issue : 03/18
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Pakistan to get $1.5bn from IMF, Consortium
Rs410m to be given to Gulf war victims
Govt changes probe mode of corrupt elements
Tough foreclosure to salvage bad assets
Jobs against quotas to get legal cover
New law to shift onus of proof on to accused
Unscheduled loadshedding to cover up power crisis
---------------------------------
Millions lost in a day due to power shutdown
Are Hong Kong-based investors eyeing Karachi?
Corruption, drug-trafficking and their mainsprings
State enterprises: to lay off or not to lay off
When armed forces also own commercial undertakings
Paradox of education and development in Pakistan
Bulk of selling centred round current favourites
---------------------------------------
Academic fraud Ardeshir Cowasjee
Eid mubarak Omar Kureishi
Celebrating the Golden Jubilee M.H. Askari
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Saeed Anwar comes back for Indian tour
Pearl Island prospers as cricket jewel
Bangladesh marching ahead as a cricketing nation
Programme ready for National Games
Jansher wants coaching to produce talented stars
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970503
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Pakistan to get $1.5bn from IMF, Consortium
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, May 2: Pakistan has successfully concluded talks with the Aid-
to-Pakistan Consortium and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which are
expected to finalise 1.5 billion dollars new agreements on ESAF in
September this year.
The IMF had agreed to have a monitoring staff for Pakistans economy after
the budget in June and we hope to finalise 1.3 billion dollars to 1.5
billion dollars new Extended Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) in
September next, said the Minister for Finance Senator Sartaj Aziz.
Speaking at a news conference here on Friday after his 10-day visit to
Paris and the United States, he said that the Consortium and the IMF had
praised the governments efforts to have long term structural changes for
improving the economy, and assured all possible help to achieve various
targets.
The major donors like Consortium, World Bank and the IMF have not asked
for introducing new measures including the levy of new taxes in the next
budget, he said and added that they hoped that Pakistans own home grown
efforts would trigger a fundamental paradigm shift in the countrys policy
framework.
Giving the details, he said that the Paris Club whose name has been changed
as Pakistan Development Forum, was expected to offer 2.6 billion dollars
for 1997-98. Overall, Pakistan was likely to receive 2.8 billion dollars
for the next fiscal from these sources, he added.
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and Japan would alone be
providing 1.7 billion dollars which is more than the current years
commitments, Aziz said.
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970430
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Rs410m to be given to Gulf war victims
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, April 29: The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) will
distribute Rs410 million as compensation to the first batch of 4,126
Pakistanis who were affected in Kuwait during the Gulf war.
The first instalment of Rs410 million is part of a total compensation
package of $140.8 million approved by the United Nations Compensation
Commission (UNCC) for 34,422 Pakistanis whose claims were approved.
A total of 44,457 Pakistanis, who fled Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion, had
filed their claims in different categories announced by the UNCC.
The OPF spokesman, Tanveer Hussain, told Dawn that the distribution of
compensation would start from May 2 to those affectees whose claims under
categories A and C were approved by the UNCC.
He said the first instalment equivalent to Rs410 million for distribution
among 4,126 affectees was received by the OPF this week. Of these 3,025
claimants are in category A and 1,101 in category C.
He said those affectees who have already returned to Kuwait to take up
their jobs have been asked to contact the Pakistan embassy for seeking
details about the compensation plan. He said those who have sought jobs in
other countries should contact the OPF directly on phone 92-51-9202457 to
9202459 or fax 9211613.
Mr Hussain said the details of 4,126 beneficiaries had also been provided
at the OPF offices in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and in Mirpur, Azad
Kashmir.
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970429
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Govt changes probe mode of corrupt elements
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, April 28: The federal government has appointed 130 experts
lawyers, economists and senior police officers (DIG level)to investigate
white collar crimes and financial bungling in the country.
We have a team of 130 people whose integrity is above board and who will
investigate corruption charges against politicians and bureaucrats and get
them punished without being partisan, said Senator Saifur Rehman, chairman
Accountability Cell in the Prime Ministers Secretariat.
Talking to Dawn on Monday he disclosed that another list of corrupt
government officials had been finalised for prosecuting them in the court
of law. He said that the names contained in the list would be made public
shortly.
The modus operandi of the investigation has been changed and now the
members of our expert team would visit the organisation where a financial
crime had been committed so as to complete the investigation as quickly as
possible, he said.
Mr Rehman said that concrete cases were being prepared by the
accountability cell so that nobody could get bail from courts after having
been arrested.
Responding to a question he said that 91 government officials had been
suspended on corruption charges and many more were expected to lose their
jobs on similar charges. We are not afraid of anybody in preparing cases
against corrupt bureaucrats, he said adding that the prime minister had
instructed him not to care for the consequences and get hold of the black
sheep no matter how influential they were.
To another question he said that the team of experts would soon visit
several government corporations such as PTC, Steel Mills, PWDP etc. to
conduct initial accountability of the corrupt elements.
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970503
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Tough foreclosure to salvage bad assets
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 2: Commercial banks are seeking tough foreclosure laws to
salvage bad assets without any loss of precious time.
Sources said that they would not like to settle for anything less than
unfettered right of both sale and foreclosure of mortgaged property
without intervention of the court. They feel that a seven day notice to
the borrowers should suffice.
With a mountain of debt weighing on their viability, the sources added, the
nationalized commercial banks looked at the proposed law as part of their
struggle for survival.
Bankers point out that under Section 12 (2) of Banking Companies (Recovery
of Loans, Advances, Credits and Finances Ordinance) 1997, the right of
mortgagee bank to sell the mortgaged property without the intervention of
the court to any person or to purchase the property on its own account, has
been recognised. But the banks complain that this right can only be
exercised when the banks hold a decree.
Sources said Section 11 of the ordinance gives power of attachment of
property before the judgment and appointment of receivers for recovery of
defaulted loans.
Lawyers are now busy drafting the amendments in the ordinance under advice
of the ministry of finance and the State Bank.
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970430
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Jobs against quotas to get legal cover
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, April 29: The government is considering to amend the
Constitution to continue appointments based on regional quotas.
Sources told Dawn that following a recent judgment (announced on April 16)
of the Supreme Court preventing further appointments on the basis of
quotas, the Establishment Division has moved a summary for the Law Ministry
with a request to amend the Constitution so that such appointments may
continue.
The law division has been asked to get a constitutional amendment bill
passed from the parliament in this regard. The law ministry will now study
the different aspects of the proposal and will suggest an amendment for
final approval.
We believe that this constitutional amendment would be introduced and
passed in the forthcoming session of the National Assembly, a source said,
and added that the Supreme Courts judgment had tied the governments hands
in making appointments based on quotas.
The Supreme Court had observed that appointments on the basis of quota
could not be made any more as the period specified for such recruitment had
already expired. The apex court added that the quota system had not served
national interest; on the contrary it had generated parochial and class
feelings, resulting in disunity.
Appointments on the basis of quota were first provided for 10 years in the
1973 Constitution. Later, it was extended for another 10 years through a
presidential order by General Ziaul Haq. This period expired on September
14, 1993, but the federal and provincial governments continued making
appointments on quota basis.
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970427
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New law to shift onus of proof on to accused
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Rafaqat Ali
ISLAMABAD, April 26: The government has decided to amend the Ehtesab
Ordinance to shift the burden of proof on the accused in an effort to
recover the ill-gotten money from the corrupt government servants and
politicians.
Khalid Anwer, the PMs adviser on law, told Dawn on Saturday that changes
would be introduced in the banking laws to ensure immediate payment of the
principal amounts by the defaulters.
The amended law asking the accused to prove that the allegation against him
or her was not based on fact, would be a major shift in the countrys legal
concept. Shifting the onus of proof on to the accused is universally
considered a bad law but it has been introduced even in the United States
recently.
An accused in a drug trafficking case in the United States is now asked to
prove that the charges against him were not correct.
The proposed changes in the Ehtesab Ordinance and the banking companies
(recovery of loans, advances, credit and finance) Ordinance of 1997 would
be introduced in the next session of the National Assembly scheduled for
May 5.
The Ehtesab Ordinance, which would be made an act of parliament in the next
session of the parliament, would be applicable to all segments of society
except the armed forces.
Mr Anwer hinted that the recovery of all bad debts amounting to Rs123
billion, was next to impossible. The ministry of law has asked the State
Bank to classify these debts into the principal amount, interest or mark-
up, and the date from which it had been outstanding.
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970427
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Unscheduled loadshedding to cover up power crisis
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I H Raashed
LAHORE, April 26: With the atta crisis still persisting, Pakistan is
facing yet another serious crisis the acute power shortage forcing WAPDA
to resort of unscheduled loadshedding to the extent of 1,700 megawatt (MW).
WAPDA s present capacity is reduced by about 40 per cent from 11,000 MW to
6,300 MW due to a big drop in hydel power following depletion of two
reservoirs at Mangla and Tarbela and repairs being undertaken at some of
the thermal power plants.
As against generation capability of 6,300 MW, present summer demand has
soared up to over 8,000 MW in all WAPDA regions, excluding Karachi. To save
the system, WAPDA has started what it calls a load management programme and
loadshedding, both undeclared and unscheduled, to enable the WAPDA staff to
switch off power supply to any area at any time and for any duration of
period.
In Lahore, as in other urban areas, power supply is suspended for hours and
consumers are given the impression that the power had been switched off to
undertake repairs and renovation work. Situation in rural areas is all the
more alarming where power supply remains suspended from six hours to 12
hours adversely affecting the tube-well irrigation supplies which are
much needed for Kharif crops sowing, particularly cotton.
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970427
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Millions lost in a day due to power shutdown
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Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana
KARACHI, April 26: The unscheduled power shutdown by KESC on Friday,
lasting for over 9 hours, resulted in 1.3 million man-hour loss to the
industrial units of SITE.
The industry sources said this loss in terms of rupees could not be
precisely calculated but rough estimates put the production and revenue
loss in millions of rupees.
These sources said that the SITE area houses over 2,500 industrial concerns
employing around 0.5 million workers in three shifts per day. The general
shift starting from 9 am to 5 pm has the highest strength of 200,000
workforce, while the remaining two shifts known as b and c each have
150,000 workers. The spokesman of the SITE Association said that the
unscheduled loadshedding of Friday began at 4.15 pm and lasted till 12.10
past midnight. This resulted in 9 hours production loss or 1.3 million man-
hour loss to 150,000 workers of b shift which daily starts at 3 pm to 11
pm.
Responding to a question, he said we are in the process of calculating in
rupee terms the per hour production loss the industry had to suffer on
account of loadshedding.
Invariably all the five industrial areas of the city have to suffer huge
losses every summer when the KESC resorts to massive and unscheduled load
shedding, he added.
He claimed that SITE industrial area alone contributes in taxes around 30
per cent towards national exchequer, which comes to 50 per cent of the
total revenue, the city of Karachi contributes.
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970428
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Are Hong Kong-based investors eyeing Karachi?
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Muhammad Aslam
What relevance Karachi will have for the top world business after China
takesover Hong Kong on July 1, is pretty hard to predict at this stage but
initial signals received by their local counterparts are said to be fairly
encouraging.
The islands entire $50 billion export trade conducted by the leading
multinationals might not shift to Karachi but we hope to net a substantial
part of it before the year is out, an optimistic textile tycoon is of the
view and his assessment is apparently based on his close contacts with Hong
Kong-based big business for the last several decades.
Karachi, Pakistans financial nerve centre, offers many attractive baits
for the shaky foreign investors who have by now fully assessed the business
growth potential of other Asian port cities and it seemed to have a
distinct edge over the other potential safe havens.
Karachi has a sprawling export processing zone, having in its fold six
dozens industrial units and warehouses owned by multinationals.
Adjacent to it is port Qasim industrial estate housing among others,
Toyota, Nissan, Pak-Suzuki car plants, ICI Pakistan, massive PTA unit and
Fauji Fertilisers DAP production facilities. All these are connected with
the mainland by road-railway links ensuring a local market of 130 million
people.
Beyond it in the north-west 40-mile away from Karachi is Balochistan tax-
free Hub industrial estate, an eternal abode of Hubco, Pakistans largest
private sector power plant, now fully operational generating 1,292 MW of
power for the Hub and Karachi-based industry.
We want to make Karachi another business Hong Kong after the richest city
of Asia with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $158 billion and per capita
income of $25,000 rejoins its mother country after 150 years, said a
leading textile made-up producer who has massive export orders for various
products.
He, however, alleyed fears as the loud whispering suggest, that Karachi
could become another Hong Kong in the political sense after 2000 as the
exit of big Hong Kong-based business to the port city could altogether
change the realities of the location advantages.
The local industrial elite, which luckily now weilds a massive electoral
power and its chief exponents seem to have been playing a decisive role in
allaying fears of Hong Kong big business about the political stability and
legal protection to foreign investment and said to have convinced a good
number of them to be their partners or work independently in a sellers
market.
All investment might not come to this part of the world after the post-
July possible dispersal, there is a strong possibility of many opting for
Karachi, as they eye Central Asian and Eastern European markets, some of
the industrialists who are today sharing political power hope.
The 1984 agreement between China and Britain stipulates, among other
things, that the latter will not change the political status, trade policy
and business rules of Hong Kong for the next 50 years after the July 1
takeover but the foreign big business is a bit shaky despite a legal cover.
Most of them are upset and are in search of alternatives but quietly.
Long before the Hong Kong-based foreign business is in search of alternate
cities to shift their business and has conducted a number of pre-take-over
surveys for the possible shifting places. Manila, Singapore, Japan and
Karachi are said to be on the list for more than one reasons.
Karachi could well prove the safest as it ensures disciplined labour
force, lower cost of production and vast selling outlets, some of
visiting, foreign investors said. Singapore and Manila also offer the same
facilities and an additional benefit of political stability but production
cost there are too high.
We will not go to other Asian cities, including Bombay or other cities
where nationalism is perceived as a possible threat to business, he added.
High investment risk areas are India, Vietnam and South Korea, according to
recently conducted survey by a Hong Kong-based Economic Risk Consultancy.
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970428
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Corruption, drug-trafficking and their mainsprings
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R.M.U. Suleman
THE NEW PML government has decided to make corruption its first target in
its drive for reforming the society and the economy. With a solitary or a
few exceptions, politicians have, however, been spared to begin with, and
all attention concentrated on the civilian establishment.
While the government was still trying to establish itself on this front,
the seizure of a couple of kilogrammes of Pakistani heroin in New York
showed that it had to be quite vigilant in respect of the military
establishment also.
Mr Nawaz Sharif, soon after coming into power, had announced the start of
the accountability process. The PM had also announced a drive to recover
the looted money. For this purpose, the new government had decided to send
references against corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.
It is true that all types of corruption is indulged in by either
bureaucrats themselves or in connivance with them and the government
decided to start from the bureaucrats. Time alone will show whether this is
a correct and appropriate starting point.
So it was decided that lists of corrupt bureaucrats would be prepared. The
Establishment Division was told to prepare a list of corrupt officers
posted in the federal government and the provinces were directed to submit
lists of such officers to the Establishment Division. It was further
decided that in the first phase, a list of those officers who are facing
inquiries on corruption charges would be prepared and taken care of.
Besides, the provincial governments, most of the federal
ministries/divisions and other agencies have failed to furnish the required
list of corrupt and dishonest officers to the Establishment Division
within the prescribed time, viz March 20, for those facing disciplinary
action or inquiries on corruption charges.
A total of 50 institutions, as well as the four provincial governments,
were asked to furnish the required information, but till the end of March,
only a little over a dozen of them had responded to the prime ministers
call.
Those who failed to respond were the four provincial governments and a
number of federal agencies, including the Central Board of Revenue.
Earlier, the government had introduced amendments in the Ehtesab Ordinance
to bring officers of Grade 18 and 19 under the purview of the ordinances,
grant powers to the Chief Ehtesab Commissioner to pardon any accused and to
arrest the accused even without the direct orders of the Ehtesab
Commissioner. Officers of Grade 18 and 19 have also been brought under the
ambit of the law. Previously only officers of Grade 20 and above could be
tried under the Ehtesab Ordinance.
The Ordinance also does not provide for grant of pardon to an approver or a
person who offers to make a full and true disclosure of the whole
circumstances within his knowledge relating to an offence. The proposed
amendment empowers the Chief Ehtesab Commissioner to give conditional or
full pardon to a person who volunteers to give full information of the
circumstances relating to an offence.
Before the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution was suitably modified, the
anti-corruption work of the Nawaz Sharif government and the Ehtesab
Commissioner was somewhat restrained by occasional pontification from
President Leghari.
Every government thinks of reining in the bureaucracy, and then misuses it
to its own advantage, said the President. One of the major flaws with
successive governments has been their unnecessary intervention in the
affairs of the government. This practice, he concluded, had resulted in
corrupting the system as elected representatives use it for their political
motives.
President Leghari went to the extent of charging that the people had not
given the new government the mandate to misuse its powers. The political
clout is sometimes used to victimise the opponents through forced
postings, he added. The real corruption, he concluded started from the top
and if the people occupying the top offices were put on the right track,
the affairs of the country could be managed easily.
To begin with, a list of 554 corrupt officers was compiled and released by
the Prime Ministers Secretariat. Then there were 87 suspensions. It is no
joke suspending or dismissing a federal secretary or for that matter an
appraiser or inspector of customs or income tax department or the like.
The suspended bureaucrats include seven federal secretaries, many heads of
banks and financial institutions and other officers belonging to different
occupational groups and public organisations. Most of these officers got
patronage promotions to their present position during the previous regime.
If the new appointments to these slots are based on merit, nothing like it.
If one set of favourites is replaced by another set, there will be no
national gain. In any case, full opportunity should be provided to the
suspended officers to plead their case in a court of law so that justice is
not denied to any one.
Mr Nawaz Sharif has dismissed two officials of CBR Customs for causing
enormous loss to the national exchequer through fraudulent exports and
illegal sanctioning of export rebates thereon. Earlier, he had removed from
their jobs, two Commissioners of Income Tax who had been harassing
assessees in respect of their forex investments.
It is universally recognised that corruption always moves from the top.
Benazir Bhutto has been even more categorical in insisting that in Pakistan
in general, and during her regime in particular, there had been hardly any
corruption at the political level.
In support of her claim, the ousted PM presented the evidence that when the
list of top defaulters was presented in the National Assembly, 97 per cent
of them were not politicians, but businessmen. No bureaucrats were, of
course, identified in this rogues gallery of bank defaulters.
Once a class becomes dominant and retains its dominance, the autonomy of
the bureaucracy ceases to exist and it becomes an instrument in the hands
of the dominant class.
Since the Pakistan bourgeoisie is also now in the process of establishing
its dominance, the Pakistani bureaucracy will soon lose its autonomy and
power still further. Even when the position of dominant classes in a
society is fully crystallised, the need of the bureaucracy, civil and
military, as junior partners in the crime of corruption still remains.
If the quantum of defaults are considered, and added to the default of
surrogates, the politician will come out in a far worse light. What is
worse is that hardly any bank recovery officer ever worries them or their
surrogates. All their energies are concentrated on petty amounts of genuine
Qarze Hasna defaults as a proof of their being active.
While the government was busy grappling with the problem of civilian
corruption, it came face to face with some serious cases of individual
corruption. Such cases had also been narrated, promptly withdrawn, nearly a
year ago regarding the army involvement in movement of drugs, mostly
inland. This time the recent exposure of the PAF officers involvement in
heroin trafficking was the most glaring example of several such serious
cases of indiscipline and greed.
Shortly before the recent heroin case, PAF officers had been found involved
in smuggling computer parts, accessories and auto parts, the items high in
value and low in volume and weight. It has even been suggested that about
60 per cent of the computer market demand in Pakistan was channelled
through the safest operation ran by a bunch of PAF officials.
It will be utterly wrong, however, to blame a vital military service for
the failings of its personnel confronted with a dishonest situation. It
should also be noted that all these stories relate to a specialised non-
combatant transport command.
The US drug market also represents a very dishonest situation, where the
emphasis is entirely on the supply management. Opium demand management of
the type preached to China by opium suppliers over a century ago is totally
forgotten today. Nor is there any talk of reliance on free markets in
relation to drugs.
No duty on taxes are charged on the imports made by the defence services of
Pakistan. The majority of such imports are made through the usual official
channels, but some classified import consignments are made through front
companies and they are only cleared through verbal coded communications
made between the collector of customs and the respective military commander
in the area. Several instances had been reported in the past when the
customs officials or their counterparts in the military services misused
this facility for the smuggling of contraband items.
It is more than a century now that the worldly philosophers have had the
humankind in their grip. In an ever expanding circle and with rising
intensity, life is taken to mean matter, and matter life.
The depth of materialism and its concomitant corruption are, of course, not
the same in all the climes. This is why in terms of corruption some
countries are ranked first, some second and some in the immediate
neighbourhood seventh, tenth, fifteenth, etc.
The differences are mostly situational. There is a great deal of truth in
the trite saying that there are no dishonest persons. What we have are only
dishonest situations. We cannot have honest politicians and a dishonest
establishment and judiciary. Honesty or dishonesty characterises a whole
society and encompasses all its parts.
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970428
-------------------------------------------------------------------
State enterprises: to lay off or not to lay off
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Ihtasham ul Haque
THE PML government is fearing a big political fallout if it lays off about
223,000 employees and reducing the number of state-owned corporations from
102 to 55 to effectively implement its revival of economic reforms package.
The Committee on downsizing headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission, Dr Hafiz Pasha, is said to have completed its report,
recommending the sacking of over 200,000 employees or laying off
temporarily, until they are provided an alternative job. It also reportedly
called for reducing the number of public sector enterprises from 102 to 55
to run them efficiently and profitably. However, the government could not
take any final decision fearing a serious political fallout.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has already started claiming that the
Nawaz Sharif administration would render one million employees jobless to
implement what she termed an unworkable and inflation pronged economic
reform package.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it is learnt, is convinced that downsizing of
public sector corporations is inevitable and without it there was no hope
to cut the non-development expenditure and achieve the budget deficit
target of 4 per cent of GDP by the end of the current financial year.
Currently, this fiscal deficit stands at 6.2 per cent and is a point of
major concern for the donors specially the World Bank and the IMF.
Dr Pasha strongly supports the drastic cut in the number of employees in
government and state enterprises and by recommending so he did not consider
the political implications. Nevertheless, the government is in a fix.
Publicly, nobody is ready to admit this massive retrenchment.
We have no plan to go for massive retrenchment, said the Minister for
Water and Power and Petroleum, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. When pressed, he
told this correspondent there was no immediate plan to cut the number of
employees.
Nisar is one of the few ministers and PML leaders who reportedly enjoy
great access to, and the confidence of the prime minister.
Insiders said that he told the prime minister that the decision of
downsizing would create problems for the government and that the matter
should not be taken up at this early stage. He believed that if at all such
a decision was inevitable it should be taken later.
We are very much conscious of the fact that the without implementing the
revival of economic reforms package, things would not ease for the
government and that perhaps it was the only solution to get rid of the
current weak economic situation.
But then we can not ignore its implications, he said, hoping that the
matter will be resolved soon.
The Prime Minister, he said, was also worried about it but did not want to
take any hasty decision. Insiders said that the Privatisation Commission
had also advised the prime minister to reduce the number of employees as
well as the number of organisations.
However, when approached, the Chairman of the Privatisation Commission,
Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said that there was no such thing on the cards and
that he had not offered his opinion to the prime minister on the issue.
He said that he was given the assignment of privatising the remaining
state-owned units to harness at least one billion dollars during the next
financial year.
He was confident that after the privatisation of the Habib Credit and
Exchange Bank (HCEB), the remaining units of the ghee corporation and
fertiliser plants of the ministry of industries, along with a few other
units would yield over one billion dollars during 1997-98.
To implement the economic package, the prime minister has been presiding
over a number of meetings and the issue of downsizing was reportedly
discussed in the April 17 meeting.
He was told that the situation would further aggravate if some retrenchment
was not carried out immediately.
According to Dr Pashas committee, there was scope for retrenchment in
WAPDA, KESC, OGDC, Sui Southern and Sui Northern Gas companies and a couple
of other organisations.
There was also one suggestion reportedly given by Khawaja Asif, that
Pakistan Steel should be disbanded as it was only incurring huge losses for
the last many years and had no justification to continue.
However, his proposal was not accepted. The prime minister said that the
mills would be made viable and ruthless accountability of those who had
destroyed the mills would be undertaken.
Sources said that the prime minister was of the view, that all political
appointees of the previous government should be dismissed from service but
decided to delay implementation of the idea for some time.
The prime minister said that it would not be good to remove employees of
lower grades. However, people who have been hired with big salaries must be
removed to lessen the burden on the already depressed national kitty.
The caretaker adviser on finance, planning and economic affairs, Shahid
Javed Burki, had first recommended the retrenchment of public sector
employees. Now Dr Hafiz Pasha who had worked very closely with Mr Burki has
also endorsed his recommendation. All said and done, this will be a test
case for the government whether it takes any final decision over the issue
of downsizing or keeps it pending due to political considerations. The
Prime Minister has, however, said that it would be his priority to bring
down fiscal deficit to 4 per cent of GDP in 1997-98, if not in 1996-97.
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970428
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When armed forces also own commercial undertakings
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M. Ziauddin
PAKISTAN is probably the only country in the world whose defence forces
earn more than half of their keep on their own as the commercial
enterprises run by the charitable organisations of the army, navy and air
force together contribute more than two per cent to the countrys GNP
annually.
It is, therefore, a wonder why, so far the defenders of unrestricted and
unscrutinised budgetary allocation for defence have not used this argument
to win a billion or two more for the annual budget of our sentinels.
Stranger is it to see successive governments in the country, both military
and political, not making effective use of the argument in their
negotiations with the donors who have been consistently demanding a
reduction in the defence budget.
Not only are our defence forces making money but they are also involved in
massive social welfare activities as well. They run hospitals, schools,
colleges, grant scholarships, manage vocational institutions and many other
training centres. That they do all this exclusively for ex-service men and
their families should not in any way lessen the value of these social
welfare activities because if they were not doing it, the burden on the
civilian budget would then have been more severe than what it is now.
In the private sector, if you put all the military foundations together,
they become the single biggest industrial conglomerate. Ittefaq, owned by
the prime ministers family, would come second with declared assets of a
little less than Rs 9 billion.
Being a country severely short of resources and facing serious threats as
well from across the border probably it could not think of any better way
of making both ends meet and still live honourably.
Conceded that the fact that they are earning half of their keep does not
obviate the need to rationalise and scrutinise the defence budget. And it
also does not obviate the need to keep the defence forces out of politics
and far removed from the business of making money and social welfare
activities. But one cannot close ones eyes to a situation which amounts to
a reality of nearly Rs 9 billion (net assets) and annual earnings of nearly
Rs 2.5 billion.
The army has the Fauji Foundation (FF) and Army Welfare Trust (AWT), the
Navy, the Bharia Foundation (BF) and the Air Force, the Shaheen Foundation
(SF). The latter two are relatively new and therefore, relatively very
small compared to the army conglomerates, the FF and the AWT.
The FF was established as a charitable trust incorporated under the
Charitable Endowments Act 1890 in 1952 with an initial fund of Rs 18.2
million and is exclusively devoted to the welfare of ex-servicemen of the
armed forces of Pakistan and their families, whose estimated strength at
present is over 7.5 million. Most army officers retire at the ripe young
age of 45 while soldiers retire at the age of 35, so the need for an
organisation exclusively looking after their welfare.
The Foundations are entirely self-supporting welfare organisations which
operate in the private sector and receive no financial assistance from
either the federal, or provincial governments, instead all expenditures on
their diverse welfare activities are met from funds generated by their own
industrial and commercial projects.
The affairs of FF are controlled by an administrative committee composed of
the secretary defence as chairman with four senior officers of the army and
one each from navy and air force. They are ex-officio members of the
committee.
The executive body responsible for the efficient functioning of all the
industrial and welfare projects being run by the FF is a board of directors
which comprises six directors headed by a managing director.
The FF is run almost entirely by ex-service personnel. The chief executive
is traditionally a senior retired army officer of the rank of Lt. General
or Maj. General, appointed by the prime minister and nominated by the army
chief.
While the armys control of FF is indirect, the military directly controls
the other three foundations with the ministry of defence having no hand in
it.
The AWT is controlled by a committee which is headed by the armys adjutant
general and has the armys three principal staff officers as members. It
was set up in 1971.
At present the FF fully owns 10 industrial and commercial projects and has
shares in three other projects.
These include three sugar mills and one of the largest fertilizer plants in
Asia which gives it a near monopoly in urea in Pakistan.
It also makes breakfast cereals, jellies and custard powder and also runs
natural gas fields and a host of other small companies.
It employs nearly 10,000 people full-time and several thousand others as
casual employees in sugar mills during the season.
The Foundation runs 12 hospitals, 24 day health centres, 2 wards, 21
dispensaries, 46 mobile dispensaries, 2 mobile units, one artifical limbs
centre, one nursing school, one college each for boys and girls, 64 model
schools, one technical library, 4 leadership training projects, 9 technical
training centres, 66 vocational training centres, one institute of computer
sciences, one overseas employement service and a security service.
The groups sales for 1994/95 was over Rs 3.5 billion. The net worth of the
organisation in that year was nearly Rs 5.5 billion and its total assets
were nearly Rs 8 billion.
>From inception till September 30, 1995, the FF has spent nearly Rs 5.5
billion on its various welfare measures for ex- servicemen and their
dependents.
Welfare expenditure in 1992/93 was 87 per cent of its profits, the next
year it was 80 per cent and in the following two years 83 and 80 per cent
respectively.
Being run by charitable organisations, all the commercial enterprises fully
owned by FF, AWT, BF and SB do not pay corporate taxes and income taxes,
although all of them pay sales tax and Iqra tax. Listed companies with
outside shareholders, however, are subject to all the normal tax laws.
The AWT runs seven industrial projects, five large agricultural farms, five
travel agencies, one restaurant and has invested heavily in real estate.
These include a giant sugar mill, two cement factories, one pharmaceutial
unit, a rice mill and a plant making vegetable oil. It has its own
commercial bank and a commercial insurance company.
The Shaheen Foundation is much smaller in comparison. It employs about
1,000 people overall and has assets worth nearly a billion rupees. It runs
an advertising agency, a knitwear manufacturing plant, computer
organisation, and has about 25 per cent share in Shaheen-Cable TV.
It also owns some smaller companies including a duty-free shop. Shaheen
also owns Karachis poshest office block, the Shaheen Complex, which hosts
among others the local branches of the Bank of Yokyo, American Express and
the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.
Apart from AWT, the army runs a giant armament manufacturing industrial
complex at Wah. This complex manufactures small arms, all types of
ordinance as well as armoured vehicles including the countrys first
indigenously built main battle tank, the Al-Khalid.
These factories export nearly $50 million worth of weapons annually. These
industries are, however, not run on the lines of AWT and are mainly
strategic to reduce the dependency on overseas suppliers. The Wah factories
are always headed by a serving general.
No military commercial establishment has been known to have defaulted on
loans so far. But credits and loans come easily to these enterprises
because in Pakistan, all kinds of doors open for the uniformed without even
knocking.
It is natural that the military would be able to do business in a country
that has been ruled more often by generals than civilians. In the years of
martial law, the military and the entrenched civilian bureaucracy which are
the ruling elite and have a symbiotic relationship helped these businesses
to grow and may have crowded out private entrepreneurs.
But it is also a fact, that a disciplined work force and good
administration has made these units profitable concerns.
They compete in the open market with better products. In fact some of the
products coming out of military units are considered the best in the
country.
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970428
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Paradox of education and development in Pakistan
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Dr Mahnaz Fatima
INVESTMENT in human capital is now recognised as a factor that has
contributed significantly to economic growth and development in all
developed or rapidly developing parts of the world.
Needless to stress when we talk about economic development, we have growth
with equity and social justice in mind. In addition, to the health and
physical condition of the human resources and the environment in which they
are brought up, education is a component that has always been regarded as
critical to human resource development.
The level and nature of education and training that is required to give a
certain economic direction to a people, however, has now become a moot
point. For reasons of space, I will be focusing here only on the level of
education. Yet another controversy revolves around the role of the public
and the private sectors in imparting education that I will touch upon.
Earlier, the emphasis used to be on giving as high a level of education and
professional training as possible. For, the assumption was that rapid
economic growth and development necessitated inputs from professionally
qualified and university graduates. Also, since the state was considered
responsible for the provision of health, education, and infrastructural
facilities, government-subsidised educational facilities were made
available liberally up to the tertiary level of education.
In fact, until the mid-80s, it was the public sector that dominated the
tertiary level of education. At the primary and secondary levels, however,
schools proliferated in both the public and private sectors with a higher
fee structure prevailing in the private sector schools.
Consequently, the private sector schools were able to attract better
qualified teachers and were also better equipped administratively to impart
quality education. However, prior to the above-mentioned period, the fee
structure of private schools was still affordable by a large number of
middle-class and even some lower-middle class population segments of the
country. The lowest income groups had to rely mainly on government schools.
The upshot was that only the brightest with the highest IQs from the
government schools could compete with private school graduates for
admissions at the tertiary level of education. And, even the average IQs
from the relatively upper income groups could make it to the tertiary level
and better remunerating jobs by virtue of the better educational process
that they could buy in the market place.
At the same time, average students from government schools either dropped
out or could only be absorbed in those fields of tertiary education which
did not enjoy a high enough demand in the job market. Consequently, the
educational system was providing a headstart to those born in the
relatively more well- off segments of society who could access better
private sector primary/secondary education and then state-subsidised
tertiary education for placement in more lucrative jobs.
The educational system, despite a significant role of the state, was thus
contributing to a development of dualism in the society. So, subsidisation
of the tertiary education of students mainly from relatively upper income
groups appeared an anomaly and rightfully so.
A parallel development was that the quality of tertiary education
deteriorated as professional and liberal arts universities failed to
attract their best and brightest graduates for teaching purposes who were
rapidly absorbed in better paying jobs in the corporate sector.
A case for the enhancement of fees at the university level was thus taking
shape and more so in view of the fact that the government, due to a paucity
of resources, was unable to increase education funding significantly.
In the three decades after independence, the countrys economy ought to
have developed enough to not only service its debt obligations to foreign
financiers but to also fulfil a major portion of its project financing
needs itself.
As our foreign economic dependence increased with the aging of the country,
when the reverse should have been the case, we came under greater
domination of foreign funding agencies such as the ubiquitous World Bank
and the IMF.
The World Bank in particular, with its policy making and implementation
wings charged with the thinking of the neo- classical counter-revolution
that occurred in the west in late- 70s and early-80s, played a significant
role in the further introduction of the market- and price-mechanism in the
sector of education as well.
Users must pay was the slogan. The case for fee enhancement at the public
sector university level was thus given further impetus and directions. And,
users of education were expected to pay in proportion to the quality they
received. So, a case was also made for universities in the private sector,
giving quality education no doubt, but charging exorbitant fees that only
the upper-middle income or upper income groups could afford.
So, while groundwork for internationally competitive tertiary education was
laid within the country which is indeed commendable as it would serve to
set standards of higher education in the country providing a pull-effect on
the rest; the downside was that seeds were sown for making an already
growing dualistic societal structure even more dualistic.
This tendency, if it proliferates, will only serve to widen and deepen
class cleavages by providing a headstart to those from the most affluent
segments of society. Another danger is that the research and publication
agendas might be controlled to suit upper-class and foreign interests.
The two tendencies will lead to the reinforcement of a ruling class tied to
the west, as that is where the major sources of funding of these high class
private sector universities are centred, which might just end up promoting
even more of foreign interest than Pakistans.
However, the majority of the population and brains can then expect to
remain subservient to this class of educated elites in a country that can
only be described as territorially independent, at best. I will revert to
the dilemma of tertiary education in Pakistan later.
Arguments in favour of abdication of state responsibility at the tertiary
level education also emanate from yet another source in economic thought
which is indeed paradoxical when applied to the ground reality in Pakistan.
This tendency, in addition to having the World Banks support, received
further support from the directions in the literature of development
economies (DE).
The DE literature made a case for shifting government resources away from
tertiary level education to primary education for it is primary level
education that tends to be more redistributive in nature than the tertiary
level.
This thinking was internalised by policy makers especially in the light of
the tertiary level education scenario painted above. And, this case became
stronger for application in Pakistan in the light of a third parallel
development in the country when it failed to develop at a rapid enough pace
to absorb the tertiary level graduates.
The situation deteriorated to the extent that the job markets for even
medical doctors and engineers became virtually saturated. The
professionally qualified tertiary level graduates were thus not being able
to feed their expertise into an economic cycle that was beginning to
stagnate.
One would then like to know if the problem is with the tertiary level
education or economic mismanagement of the country. And, whether the
emphasis should be on clipping the tertiary level education or on rapid
economic growth and development in the formal sector.
However, the prescription from the DE literature would recommend shifting
government funds to primary level education instead and making tertiary
level education available to only those who could afford it.
If this is allowed in the case of Pakistan, then as argued above, it will
lead to even more dualism. Further, state emphasis on only primary
education can bring us to a similar dead end unless the formal legal
economy grows fast enough to absorb the primary graduates in the formal
urban sector. Otherwise, we will just be creating an urban underclass that
will serve as a source of cheap labour and products for an urban upper
class thriving more on a booming informal black economy rather than a legal
formal economy.
In the rural sector, primary education will serve to contribute
productively and equitably once the conventional strongholds of power are
broken, otherwise we will be providing cheap and better quality labour to
the traditional structures of economic and political power in the
countryside that might just end up strengthening them further.
The DE emphasis on primary education, if adopted in isolation, is a
paternalistic solution to the economic problems of LDCs unless the formal
economy grows and develops with equitable distribution of political and
social power too. And, this is where the twain meet.
That is, this is precisely where the approaches of the World Bank and the
DE prescriptions converge. As the DE approach helps in taking care of
poverty somewhat through primary education emphasis, the World Bank is
happy to see solutions to some poverty eradication with the structures of
power remaining intact for these power structures provide effective
linkages to the promotion of foreign economic and political interests.
The emphasis should, therefore, be on the growth of the formal economy and
restructuring power relationships in the country which will then be able to
make use of all levels of education. And, in this respect, the role of the
government is far from over.
However, despite shifting state emphasis towards primary education in
theory, the price-mechanism in Pakistan seems to be operating at this level
too and much more vigorously than ever before since the late General Zia
attempted to restrict the medium of instruction at the primary/secondary
levels.
Even primary/secondary education of a quality that would propel students
into better paying jobs is thus becoming more of a preserve of a narrow
middle- and mainly upper-middle classes because of exorbitantly high fees.
Here, there is a need for regulation of the fee structures that should be
charged after allowing a reasonable margin on costs. Otherwise, it will
lead to even more dualism. And, education will become an even more sought-
after means of wealth accumulation as is being done by private school
owners.
Also, there is a need to arrest the tendency towards restricting tertiary
level education to a select upper segment of the society through the price-
mechanism.
For, the benefits of tertiary education should diffuse through all segments
of the society if economic growth of the formal sector is to be attained
with equity and social justice. However, the dilemma of providing quality
tertiary education in the public sector remains.
The public sector universities are seized with the problems of sub-standard
teaching and research and are not being able to fulfil the objectives of
knowledge accumulation and dissemination satisfactorily which should be
their reason for being. In some professional universities, the high-calibre
of graduates is more a function of the high level of entrance standard that
they are able to maintain because of a higher derived demand for their
degrees rather than value addition within the university itself.
One of the constraints could be financial resource generation and
allocation problems. The resource generation constraint, if solved, through
across-the-board fee increases would serve to restrict education to a
select group as argued above.
Alternatives could be sought by developing a fee structure (two/three
slabs) that would be a function of the financial background of the students
selected only on the basis of merit.
Fee-discrimination, as also practised in the health sector by some, would
not only tend to be redistributive but would also help elevate the
prevailing academic standards of teaching and research through revenue
contribution.
Universities might also solicit funds from big business and industrial
groups with a sense of responsibility towards the society with a view to
developing a public-private sector partnership in tertiary education. Such
a partnership could go a long way in solving the twin problems of quality
and financial resource constraints that the public sector universities are
gripped with.
Inputs from the private sector can also help public sector universities
make better resource allocation decisions for research and teaching with a
view to improving their intensity and quality especially where they have
been guided by operating philosophies that have failed to improve upon the
same thus far.
At the same time, public sector participation will enable such universities
to retain freedom in setting academic agendas and making tertiary education
accessible to as wide a segment of the population as is possible by
moderating the private sector tendency to make quick commercial gains.
Towards this goal, the end of this article serves to provide some initial
thoughts only in the hope that it might lead to more constructive thinking
and solutions.
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970429
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Bulk of selling centred round current favourites
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 28: Stocks on Monday failed to extend the weekend rally as
investors moved in to take profits at the available margins but the selling
was largely prompted by technical factors. The squaring of positions was
said to be the chief inspiring force behind the sell-off but it was well-
absorbed at the dips, dealers said.
However, there were no signs of a sustained recovery as both foreign
investors and local institutional traders were not inclined to hold long
positions apparently fearing further devaluation of the rupee any time.
The near-term share market outlook appears to be uncertain as investors
are not inclined to make bigger commitments even at the current lower
levels, some analysts said.
They said the chief negative factors behind the current sluggishness and
volatile performance of the market appeared to be inconsistency in foreign
fund buying and until they made bigger showing there was no possibility of
a sustained run-up. The local leading institutional traders are terribly
short of liquid funds owing to various factors including expensive bank
credits and their absence from the rings has driven away jobbers and short-
term dealers out of the market at least for the near-term, they added.
Thus, there is not a single factor but a combination of them, which are
working against the underlying sentiment, some dealers said and added is
it not horrible state of affairs that investors are not inclined to trade
beyond half a dozen current favourites?
The 100-share index early was down by 10 points but mid-session speculative
buying on selected counters enabled it to recoup in part early losses. It
was last quoted at 1,533.02 as compared to 1,537.51 at the last weekend,
showing a modest decline of 4.49 points.
Instances of strong selective buying were not lacking but the broader
market performed terribly bad as all the index shares received fresh heavy
battering. Losers, therefore, held a strong lead over the gainers at 192 to
61, with 55 shares holding on the last levels.
Volume also fell to 33 million shares from the last weekends 42 million
shares as general investors kept to the sidelines awaiting apparently the
advent of the new account.
Bulk of the selling was centred around the current favourites, notably the
PTC vouchers, which was massively traded either-way but finally finished
reacted by 85 paisa on a volume of 16 million shares, about a half of the
total. News that its GDR rates on the London Stock market is terribly weak
on persistent selling was said to be the chief destabilizing factor behind
the local selling and lack of foreign fund buying. It could be a good-buy
slightly below Rs 23 and wait till that level is reached, brokerage houses
are telling to buyers.
Analysts said the near-term outlook for the market appeared to be a bit
bearish as investors were not coming in for various reasons including weak
economy, falling exports and fears of decline in industrial productivity.
But the markets chief worry appears to be strong rumours of fresh
devaluation of the rupee and until that happens, foreign investors might
stay out,they added.
Although minus signs dominated the list, all was not bad with the broader
market as some mega issues managed to put on fresh good gains under the
lead of PSO, which as quoted above Rs 300 on heavy buying triggered by the
news that the government might not disinvest its shares to the private
sector or any foreign investors. It rose by Rs 10 amid active trading.
Some of the MNCs followed it, finishing with an extended rally on active
short-covering at the lower levels. Shell Pakistan, Dawood Hercules, Engro
Chemical, Reckitt & Colman, Nestlepak and Lever Brothers were leading among
them.
Leading pharma shares, however, remained under pressure and ended further
lower under the lead of Knoll, Parke-Davis, and SK&F and so were Burshane
Pakistan and Siemens. Insurance shares, notably Muslim and Dadabhoy
Insurance were top losers among the locals.
Apart from PTC vouchers, the most active list was topped by ICI Pakistan,
off 35 paisa on 7.372m shares, followed by Hub-Power, lower 55 paisa on
4.675m shares, Dewan Salman, off 90 paisa on 1.817m shares and Platinum
Bank, up 75 paisa on 0.501m shares.
Other actively traded shares were led by D.G.Khan Cement, lower 30 paisa on
0.309m shares and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, easy 30 paisa on 0.129m shares.
There were some other notable deals also.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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970427
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Academic fraud
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Ardeshir Cowasjee
EVERY institution of this country has been well and truly mutilated,
subverted, or snuffed out. Can we not at least start cleaning up and curing
those institutions that educate and heal?
Willy-nilly, whether they be discredited politicians, seat-warmers,
favoured friends, army generals, strongmen or shrinking violets, our
governors are the chancellors of the universities of their provinces. They
dole out honorary doctorates to undeserving friends, and preside over the
ceremonies looking highly incongruous in gilded gowns and their
predecessors mortar boards. On the whole they are ineffective and do
little good.
The one right thing done by Chancellor Kamal Azfar was to appoint, entirely
on merit, Engineer Abul Kalam, as vice-chancellor of the Nadirshaw Eduljee
Dinshaw University of Engineering and Technology. On taking over in
December 1996, Kalam found on his table the case of 64 students who had
been fraudulently passed. He asked the chancellor to hold an enquiry. The
chancellor then did wrong in appointing me, a member of the NED Syndicate,
to inquire into the affair, later compounding it by having a message passed
to Kalam via another member of the Syndicate asking him to pour water over
the findings, whatever they be.
The Affair of the 64 Students:
First attempt: Sixty four third-year civil engineering students were
examined for the first time on the subject of Theory of structure on May
2, 1994. The papers were sent to an external examiner (a non-university
man) who marked them all at zero. On their return, the papers were then
sent, as is usual, to be marked by an internal examiner (an NED associate
professor of the civil engineering department) who too marked them all at
zero. Both examiners were satisfied by the answers given that the students
had all obviously cheated.
Second attempt: The 64 students were allowed to appear for the second time
on October 5, 1995. The same external examiner again gave them zero, as did
the same internal examiner.
Third attempt: They were allowed to appear for the third time on June 16,
1996, the same external examiner once more marking them all at zero, whilst
the same internal examiner, the NED associate professor, gave to each of
them 24 marks, though failing them as the pass mark is 40.
Fourth attempt: The results of the third attempt were to be announced on
December 12, 1996. Long before, the 64 found out that they had failed and
were allowed to retake the examination for the fourth time on September 16,
1996. They sat, along with 85 other regular students. The university,
however, appointed specially chosen external and internal examiners to
mark the papers of the to be passed 64. The external was a KDA man, and
the internal an NED man not specialised in the Theory of structure.
Hurrah, Hurrah, all 64 were passed by both examiners!
Exercising abundant caution, I asked the VC to have the papers of the 64
examined afresh by an independent reputable external examiner. This was
done, and he failed the lot.
What is there to enquire about? I asked Kalam. Who are the men involved?
With whose connivance was the passing of the 64 accomplished? Who aided and
abetted whom in this crime? Make a list of the guilty and sack the lot.
The list of aiders and abetters included (1) the previous vice chancellor
of the NED, (2) the professor chairman of the civil engineering department,
(3) the associate professor of the same department who as internal examiner
marked the papers on the first three attempts, (4) the acting controller of
examinations, (5) the registrar of the university, (6) the specially
appointed KDA external examiner who passed them on the fourth attempt, (7)
the special internal examiner who passed them on the fourth attempt.
Sack the lot, I said again, and ask KDA to sack their man. Kalam, being a
dyed-in-the-wool former bureaucrat, a high railway man used to travelling
on tracks, told me he would have to follow the rules of procedure, fully
question each man involved, issue show cause notices, submit his report
to the chancellor, etc. in other words, follow the drill.
My report was duly sent to Chancellor Azfar, who directed that appropriate
action be taken only against (3) downwards. The VC said no, he could not
take action against the underlings without any action being taken against
(1) and (2), the overlords.
Kalams predecessor in the NED, number one man on the list, had been
upgraded prior to Kalams appointment and made vice chancellor of Nawabshah
University. Number two man, the professor, resigned his chairmanship, but
had second thoughts and is now canvassing for reinstatement. Meantime, he
has also been elected a member of the Syndicate, Until these first two on
the list are punished, those lower down cannot be touched, so they remain
where they were.
One of the 64 students was wrongfully issued a pass certificate before
Kalams arrival which he has cancelled, and he has refused to issue
certificates to the other 63.
Now, the chancellor is our new governor, Lt. General Moinuddin Haider,
reputed to be a strong man. He is pondering over the matter.
*From an educational hazard we now move to a health hazard.
In 1992, the then Professor of ENT at the Dow Medical College attached to
the Civil Hospital, Karachi, (now retired) acting as the dean of the
Faculty of Medicine of the University of Karachi, gave a certificate to a
doctor, an MD, working as associate professor of medicine in the Jinnah
Postgraduate Medical Centre, incorrectly certifying that she has passed MD
Medicine with special subject Nephrology held in January 1992. She will be
issued certificate in due course of time.
On June 4, 1994, this doctor, a member of a powerful bureaucratic family,
who already had been promoted over the heads of others better qualified,
apparently misrepresenting facts, wrote to the joint secretary
(administration), ministry of health, Islamabad, claiming I am duly
qualified in this speciality having done MD (Medicine) with specialisation
in Nephrology... She applied for promotion to the post of Professor of
Nephrology, being the only senior departmental candidate possessing the
postgraduate major qualification in Nephrology and teaching experience in
the field.
The well-connected applicant was again promoted, disregarding seniority, to
head the Department of Nephrology, with the rank and status of a full-
fledged professor.
On March 21, 1995, she wrote to Karachi University, sending the ENT
professors letter and asking that a certificate be issued to her
certifying that she is an MD in Nephrology. The registrar wrote back on
March 28: ...The letter issued by the ex-Dean of Medicine... has no legal
effect. The dean has no authority to issue such a letter without the prior
approval of the Board of Advanced Studies, the Academic Council, and the
Syndicate. Your application for issuance of MD Degree in Nephrology is
being rejected for the following reasons. Five reasons were given.
With no postgraduate degree in Nephrology, in a postgraduate medical centre
the professor continues to treat kidney ailments, and inadequately tries to
teach the few students desperate to learn.
The new secretary of the ministry of health has just awoken and sent the
doctor a show-cause notice charging her with misrepresenting facts, holding
her prima facie guilty of misconduct and asking why, under the rules, she
should not be dismissed from service. Better late than never. But who is
responsible for the damage that may have been done to her patients through
her lack of qualifications and experience, and the damage to the careers of
those over whose heads she has leap-frogged?
Fraud is not a rare case in the JPMC. There now is a man who treats the
mentally ill. He went to the Free University of Berlin, stayed there for
three years, had no clinical training, no patient contact, wrote a research
paper on the subject of heroin addiction and AIDS, and obtained a research
degree in 1988. On his return to Pakistan, he presented to the Pakistan
Medical and Dental Council inaccurate translations of the German degrees
awarded to him claiming qualifications that he did not have. The PMDC in
their wisdom awarded him what they termed to be an equivalent degree FCPS
in Psychiatry, terming it the highest possible qualification in psychiatry.
The German consulate in 1993, had this to say about the translation of the
degree certificate: Apparently a certification given by this Consulate on
August 21, 1989, that the translation of said document conferring the
doctoral degree is true and correct has been given without proper
checking of all details.
This man, with his knowledge of heroin addiction and AIDS, has for years
been in charge of curing the mentally ill at the JPMC and of training
students of psychiatry. Complaints have been forwarded to the prime
minister and to others, but so far no one is bothered.
The education and health of the awam, literate or illiterate, sick or well,
count for nothing. The government, supposedly elected by the poor, seems
least concerned. According to the latest UNDP report, Pakistans literacy
rate is the sixth lowest in the world. Below us rank only Nepal,
Afghanistan, Somalia, Niger and Barkina Faso. To pull us out of this dismal
position all we need is 200 good men, appointed on merit alone, to head our
educational and health institutions.
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970428
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Eid mubarak
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Omar Kureishi
A FUNNY thing happened to a friend of mine on the eve of the Eid holidays,
four in all if Sunday is included. Actually my friend did not see the funny
side of it at all. He found that his telephone had mysteriously gone dead.
He complained, as any law abiding citizen would do, and he was given a
complaint number 73.
Predictably nothing happened, so he complained the following morning again.
This time he was given complaint number 103 and this struck him as odd. He
was making progress in the reverse direction. He was told also that nothing
could be done till after Eid. Thus he was stuck without a telephone for
four days.
On Eid day a linesman showed up, waving a piece of paper and said that he
has come to fix the phone. He pottered around, stretched a few wires and
blew into the phone and declared that the phone was now working. He said
that it was an instrument fault. My friend paid him Rs 100 which he
considered insufficient but took it all the same. Was there a genuine
fault? It could well be. My friend is prepared to give the benefit of the
doubt. But he found it exceedingly suspicious that there should be a
linesman who was so conscientious that he was prepared to work on Eid day.
It is entirely possible that there are people like that, the salt of the
earth.
The approach of Eid is also a dangerous time for motorists. There is
something about the holidays that bring out the civic best in our traffic
police. They become extra vigilant and even the tiniest infraction of the
law will be noted and the threat of a fine along with the hassle of having
your car papers and driving licence impounded, should, in theory be a
formidable deterrent for those who are inclined to be cavalier about
traffic rules. But it can sometimes happen that this extra vigilance can
result in a motorist being hauled up when, in fact, he has violated no
rules. Although this is a daily occurance, it seems to intensify with the
approach of Eid. It then becomes a subject of negotiation. The negotiations
tend to be one-sided because you find yourself in an either-or bind. A
challan or an out-of-court settlement. Then there is the postman. One
discovers that a few days before Eid, the postman does not ring, leave
alone twice, not even once. It is, as if, all postal mail has dried up.
Then on Eid day the postman arrives like Santa Claus, with a backlog of
your mail. The postman is usually a cheerful chap and there is no menace in
his demands. The menace is implicit as my late brother Sattoo discovered
when he gave the postman short shrift. He stopped receiving any mail and
when he made inquiries, he found that his letters had been piled up in the
posts office but there was no one to deliver them. He bought his peace with
the postman.
There is nothing new in this and this has been going on for years. I even
remember this practice in pre-independence India but the situation then was
worse for added to Eid was also Christmas and Diwali.
Does this constitute corruption? Strictly speaking if one was an inveterate
nit-picker, it would. But no one really considers it in that murky light.
It is a form of a mandatory baksheesh though the consequences of not
coughing up can be extremely inconvenient. There is, therefore, an element
of coercion but it is a sort of benign coercion. But whereas it cannot be
eliminated, it would be next to impossible to do so, this sort of shake-
down has a snowballing effect. Whether corruption should be tackled, with
the full majesty of self-righteousness, at this level is a different
matter. Personally I would be against it because it would divert attention
from the main thrust of accountability. But what has happened is that this
bakhsheesh has become a matter of right, like over-time in the big
corporations and companies. Whether anyone actually puts in overtime, it is
claimed all the same and has become an integral part of the pay packet.
If this level of corruption is seen as bakhseesh, the mega-deals involving
really big bucks is seen as high finance. What we consider to be corruption
is something in the middle. Which is why the big fish are not caught and we
tend to focus our attention on middling officials who are neither fish nor
fowl but make jolly good red herrings. That is why one feels that those who
are responsible for the atta crisis will go scot-free but some lower order
functionaries will be nabbed. If I was giving advice to a young man or
woman on the threshold of a career, I would suggest that they aim for the
top slot or a slot pretty low in the rung. Its the in-betweens that get
washed up in the tide.
While Im on the subject of Eid, I must make mention of the awful tragedy
at Mina. Ones heart goes out to the families of those who lost loved ones.
Haj is a massive operation and there can be accidents. But this does not
mitigate the grief. It should be possible to tighten safety standards and
there could be some kind of orientation of intending pilgrims, some
elementary dos and donts. The Mina tragedy took some of the gloss out of
the Eid celebrations. But thats not the only reason for a muted Eid. There
was the atta crisis. Each year one finds that it is costlier to celebrate
Eid. There is, unfortunately, no signs that there will be any let-up in the
cost of living. It should really be called the cost of subsistence.
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970430
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Celebrating the Golden Jubilee
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M.H. Askari
IN the general excitement of the celebration of the fifty years of
Pakistan, the fact that the year 1997 also marks the golden jubilee of the
end of the British Raj in the subcontinent appears to have been relegated
to the background. In the various programmes drawn up to mark the fiftieth
anniversary of the birth of Pakistan, the emphasis seems to be on the fact
of partition rather than on the end of foreign domination an event that
deserves to be celebrated with an equal if not perhaps, greater fervour.
If the establishment of Pakistan on August 14, 1947 was the glorious
culmination point of the long struggle of the Muslims to establish their
identity as a separate nation, the struggle itself grew out of the larger
freedom movement, to which the Muslims of the subcontinent contributed
quite as much as the other communities. Indeed, liberation from foreign
domination was of special significance for the Muslims as it was with the
dethronement of the last Moghul Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, that the
British succeeded in bringing the subcontinent under their colonial rule.
Although the process of disintegration of the Moghul empire had started
more than a century earlier, it was in 1857 that it met its formal demise.
This did not happen without a full-fledged revolt against the British in
which practically all sections of the society participated. The revolt was
suppressed with great ruthlessness and with Bahadur Shah Zafar and his
progeny being made prisoner and remorselessly persecuted. However, even
after the revolt was put down, the spirit behind it was never extinguished.
On the contrary, it continued to manifest itself in various forms with
greater or lesser intensity until 1947, when the British found themselves
confronted with no option but to withdraw. The creation of Pakistan in 1947
was the result of a chain of events that was set into motion with the
revolt in 1857.
Even though the Muslim leadership was prominent in the overall freedom
struggle from the outset, there is a tendency in Pakistan to look upon it
somewhat apologetically since the Congress played a dominant role in it.
The fact that for quite some time the Congress and the Muslim League
pursued their political objectives concurrently, almost as part of the same
mainstream, is often played down. It is also frequently not realised that
what eventually concertised in the end of the British Raj may not have at
all come about without the militant nature of some of the earliest
revolutionary movements launched by prominent Muslim religious leaders and
intellectuals. It was Saiyyid Ahmad Barelwi under whose leadership a jihad
was launched against the Sikh conquest of the Punjab and the Frontier
towards the latter part of the eighteenth century, and it was Shah Abdul
Aziz, the son of the great scholar Shah Waliullah, who about the same
period issued the fatwa that with the ascent of the British, India had come
under Christian domination and was virtually dar-ul-harb.
The origin of the two-nation theory is often traced to Sir Saiyyid (1817-
98) who emerged as the leading Muslim reformer and thinker after the revolt
of 1857 and who launched a crusade not only to salvage Muslims from their
strong sense of defeatism after the loss of the Moghul empire but also
against the religious obscurantists who were beginning to gain the
leadership of the Muslims. Prof Khalid Bin Sayeed strongly disputes that
Sir Saiyyid, even though he counselled Muslims against joining the Indian
National Congress should be regarded as anti-Hindu. He quotes Sir Saiyyid
as describing India as a beautiful bride whose two eyes were Hindu and
Muslim but also points out that Sir Saiyyid stressed that the beauty of
India depended upon the fact that the two eyes shone with equal lustre.
However, Sir Saiyyid was opposed to wholesale extension of representative
government to India as he believed that majority government was possible in
a society where the voters belonged to a homogeneous nation.
It is not without significance that when the Muslims came increasingly
under the influence of Western education and culture, the educated Muslim
elite felt that Hindus and Muslims should get together to evolve a common
nationality and serve their country by awakening public opinion in favour
of political reforms. Prof Khalid Bin Sayeed recalls that the Quaid-i-Azam
began his political career with such ideals, and believes that the liberal
sections of the Muslim League, led by the Quaid-i-Azam, succeeded in
persuading both the Congress and the Muslim League to hold their annual
sessions in Bombay in 1915. Again, in 1916 the two parties held their
annual sessions in Lucknow. presiding over the League session, Quaid-i-Azam
expressed the view that towards the Hindus our attitude should be of
goodwill and brotherly feelings (and) cooperation in the cause of our
motherland should be our guiding principle. He also brought about what
came to be known as the Lucknow Pact through which the Congress conceded
the principle of separate electorates to the Muslims and in return the
Muslims were guaranteed a share of seats in all provinces. However, it was
the infamous Nehru Report dealing with the communal problem which marked
the beginning of the divergence in the politics of Muslims and Hindus.
It is relevant to recall that Muslims took a leading part in several of the
revolutionary movements which were launched during the freedom struggle.
The Ghadar Party was part of the revolutionary movements. Prominent among
its leaders were Shaikh-ul-Hind, Maulana Mahmud Hasan, Maulvi Obaidullah
Sindhi, Maulvi Barkatullah, Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madni. During World War
I, a provisional government of (free) India was established in Kabul
which included Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi and Maulana Barkatullah, among
others. The provisional government sent missions to Russia, Turkey and
Japan for soliciting their aid in liberating India. Efforts were also made
to raise troops which included, among others, a large number of Punjabi
young men who had migrated to Kabul under the hijrat movement. Maulana
Obaidullah Sindhi was a witness to three revolutions one in Kabul,
another in Russia and a third in Turkey.
In his Our Freedom Fighters (first published in 1969), G. Allana has given
a graphic account of his meetings with Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi in Karachi
in the early forties. He recalls that the Maulana was a revolutionary whom
Jawaharlal Nehru had praised in his autobiography.
Allana says that the Maulana Sahib made no secret of his dis-agreement with
Gandhiji on many issues of fundamental importance, and quotes him as having
said: Gandhiji wrongly believes that he can take India back thousands of
years. He forgets that there lives in India another nation, with another
language, a new culture, a new way of thinking and this nation has as much
right in India as Gandhiji has... Allana also says that Maulana Obaidullah
had started a new political party known as Jumna, Narbada, Sindh, Sagar
Party with its offices in Karachi, Lahore and Delhi. The aim of his party
was that India should not be considered as one country, but, like Europe,
it should be divided on linguistic and cultural lines.
Fifty years after the end of the British Raj, it seems important to
remember that in the struggle for independence the people who now belong to
three separate countries, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, were inspired by
one and the same motivating ideal freedom. A befitting way to commemorate
the momentous struggle would perhaps be by having at least one joint
programme for celebrating the golden jubilee.
===================================================================
970503
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Saeed Anwar comes back for Indian tour
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ilyas Beg
LAHORE, May 2: The experienced Test opener Ramiz Raja has been retained as
captain, the dashing left-hand opener Saeed Anwar (making a comeback after
regaining fitness and missing Sharjah Cup and the tour of Sri Lanka) as
vice-captain and the former Test all-rounder Nasim-ul-Ghani as tour manager
of the Pakistan cricket team named for the Independence Cup Cricket
Tournament to be held in India from May 9 to .
The 14 cricketers picked for the team include young middle-order batsman
Hasan Raza, who made history by playing his first Test at the youngest age
(eclipsing Mushtaq Muhammads record), Lahores young international paceman
Abdul Razzaq and the Test left-arm spinner Muhammad Hussain. The last-
mentioned two players had been sent to Sri Lanka on a request from the tour
management to substitute the injured world-class speed-merchants Wasim
Akram and Waqar Younis but could not get a chance to play in the second
Test at Kandy.
The experienced Test fast-medium bowler Aaqib Javed, who has always bowled
splendidly in one-day internationals, but had fallen favour of the
selectors, has also been recalled along with the dashing young all-rounder
Shahid Afridi. In fact, both Aaqib Javed and Shahid Afridi forced their way
into the team by exhibiting flabbergasting form and fitness while grabbing
the first International Floodlit Double Wicket Cricket Championship at the
Qadhafi Stadium on April 25, beating all the foreign pairs fairly and
squarely. Along with Nasim-ul-Ghani as the tour manager, Mushtaq Muhammad
has been retained as the coach and Dr Dan Kiesel as the physiotherapist.
The Pakistan team will face stiff challenge in the forthcoming four-nation
Independence Cup from the World Cup champion Sri Lanka side, the former
World Cup champion and the host Indian team and the fast-improving New
Zealand side (which had recently defeated Sri Lankans both in the Test and
one-day international home series). The Pakistan team will also sadly miss
the incomparable attack bowlers Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. The in-form
toe-crusher Waqar Younis had informed about his non-availability to the
Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) due to contractual obligation with the English
county Glamorgan before also getting unfortunately unfit due to hairline
fracture in his foot. The left-arm all-rounder Wasim Akram was keen to lead
the Pakistan team in the Independence Cup in India and had showed
willingness to seek his release from his county Lancashire but sadly
developed pain in his functional shoulder and had to rush to Britain from
Sri Lanka to get himself treated and be fit before the beginning of the
English cricket season.
The experienced right-arm leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmad will also be sorely
missed as he could have proved effective on the turning pitches of India.
The PCB secretary Waqar Ahmad told this reporter on Friday afternoon that
Mushtaq Ahmad had recovered from the knee-trouble he recurred in Sri Lanka
but informed that his county Somerset was not willing to release him even
temporarily.
Batting seems to be a strong point of the Pakistan team and could prove
match-winning during the Independence Cup. Besides the experienced captain
Ramiz Raja, the Pakistani batting has been re-furbished by the comeback of
the reliable left-hand opener Saeed Anwar, who had to miss the Sharjah Cup
and tour of Sri Lanka due to sickness. It has strong middle-order in
presence of the experienced and in-form brothers-in-law Salim Malik and
Ejaz Ahmad Senior, youngsters Hasan Raza and Muhammad Wasim, a far-
improved wicketkeeper/batsman Moin Khan (now recovered from foot injury)
and the dashing stroke-player Inzimam-ul-Haq, who has the ability to tear
apart any bowling on any type of pitch on his day.
The Pakistan team, in pace-bowling, will have to rely heavily on Aaqib
Javed. Young Abdul Razzaq is very promising medium-pacer (having proved his
worth in the junior series in Pakistan against England A side and in
South Africa) and also a more-than-useful batsman. Young Azhar Mahmood,
although has not been able to perform to his potential up till now, yet he
is a good medium-pacer and fast-hitting batsman.
The team consists of the following:
Captain Ramiz Raja, vice-captain Saeed Anwar, Ejaz Ahmad Senior, Salim
Malik, Inzimam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Wasim, Hasan Raza, Azhar Mahmood, Shahid
Afridi, Moin Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Muhammad Hussain, Aaqib Javed and Abdul
Razzaq. Tour Manager: Nasim-ul-Ghani. Cricket manager: Mushtaq Muhammad.
Physiotherapist: Dr Dan Kiesel.
Following is the full programme of the Independence Cup Cricket Tournament:
May 9: Pakistan vs. New Zealand at Mohali; May 12: Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka
at Gwalior; May 14: India vs. New Zealand at Hyderabad; May 17: India vs.
Sri Lanka at Mumbai (Bombay); May 20: Sri Lanka vs. New Zealand at
Hyderabad; May 21: Pakistan vs. India at Chennai (Madras); May 24: First
Final at Mohali or Chandigarh; May 27: Second Final at Eden Gardens,
Calcutta; May 28: Third Final (if need arose) at Calcutta.
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970428
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Pearl Island prospers as cricket jewel
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Qamar Ahmed
COLOMBO: The pearl of the Indian Ocean, as Sri Lanka is known is not much
different from the Islands in the Paradise in the Caribbean. Except that
the West Indies is made of many patches of land in the sea and Sri Lanka is
just one country.
The similarity with the islands in the West Indies is striking. Beaches
abound, lush green parks and the tropical jangles with its fauna and flora
present very much the same panoramic setting.
Sadly however this beautiful island of nearly 18 million habitants has been
in recent times politically disturbed particularly in the Jaffna area in
the north of island where the Tamil separatists have been active.
New Zealand had to abandon their tour once midway because of a bomb
explosion in front of their hotel in the city centre of Colombo and only
last January when 90 people lost their lives after another bomb in the
crowded city centre, the Australians and the West Indies refused to play
their World Cup matches here and had to forfeit their points in the Cup
Kenya and Zimbabwe did come and fulfill their commitments. Enthuasims has
not diminished though.
Cricket like in the West Indian islands is the legacy of the British
Colonial rule and its following as strong as the belief of the majority of
population who worship the great Buddha. Other religions also flourish as
much as does the game of cricket which has brought them into limelight
after the 1996 World Cup was won by Arjuna Ranatungas team at the Gaddafi
Stadium Lahore.
Fifty years ago the British declared Sri Lanka an independent state and
left behind their much loved language and cricket behind. Not a bare patch
of land in major cities is now without a field of cricket amongst school
boys. The tea planters from Britain had introduced the game to the island
and the teams from England and Australia while anchored here they played
cricket as well to create interest.
First as Ceylon and later as Sri Lanka gradually earned a feather in their
cap with Test status awarded to them after Pakistan had proposed to ICC and
India had seconded it.
That they were not able to get to the top earlier was because cricket was
not as organised as is now. The game is played since 1832 and in Colombo it
was introduced 150 years ago by one Dr Bailey, Archdeacon of Colombo at the
Colombo Academy which came to be known are Royal College later on.
His son George toured England with Australia in 1878. Many Sri Lankans
hooked on the game on their visits to England to Oxford and Cambridge and
played with as much fervour, the most famous being Dr Churchill Hector who
played for Middlesex after the first war.
One of the countrys Prime Minister Dudley Senanayaka played for Indian
Gymkhana at Osterley against the touring Indians in 1932 and the first
player to earn a Blue in England was F.C.De Saram for Oxford in 1934-35 as
did the leg spinner Gamini Goonesena who captained Cambridge and also
visited Pakistan in early years of Pakistans coming into being.
Now having gained Test status in 1981, Sri Lanka is one of the most
attractive teams around. Club cricket competitions have now become first
class cricket and nearly 31 teams from all over the country participate for
the Sara Cup since 1988-89 and Inter-provincial matches are played between
provinces of which Western Province had teams like North, South and City.
They compete for the Singer Cup.
Sinhalese Sports Club, Nondescript Cricket Club, Tamil Union Colombo
Cricket Club have produce such illustrious cricketers as Dulip Mendis,
Arjuna Ranatunga, Sidath wettimuny, the first century maker in Test for the
country and the stalwarts of the past such as De Saram and Goonesena, all
products of the SSc where the second Test is in progress.
Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Michael Tessera of old and Ranjit
Fernando played for the Nondescript Cricket Club, another famous club of
the country.
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970428
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Bangladesh marching ahead as a cricketing nation
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Latef Jafri
FOOTBALL had been the peoples game in what was previously the eastern wing
of this country. Crowds thronged the venues to see the artistry, the foot
wizardry and mobility of the players; quite a large number of them were
imported from Balochistan and Sindh. As the independence heralded in 1947
cricket had a back seat. Even in the streets and alleys of Dhaka,
Chittagong, Mymensingh, Barisal and Faridpur the boys played and practised
football.
However, from the winter of 1955 when the beautiful and spacious Dhaka
Stadium was built and the city was included in the itinerary of the Indian
cricketers the fans filled the galleries to show their keenness and
interest in this new phenomenon. They applauded the ethical grandeur in the
two half-centuries scored by Waqar Hasan and the splendour in the late cuts
and hooks of Imtiaz Ahmad, though still not knowing the finer points of the
game. The Dhaka onlookers, still not understanding the meaning of howzat
enjoyed the second century in Test of Hanif Mohammad made against New
Zealanders at a packed house in a thoroughly competent and sound mode and
manner.
Bengal had struggled against the British colonialists; so the assemblage at
the cricket stadium admired and cheered Hanifs polished century in January
1962 against England.
The crowds danced with the team members when the mighty West Indies were
brought down to earth in the second Test of the 1958-59 series.
In all seven Tests were staged at Dhaka, with the stadium packed like
sardines. The matches were destined to make an impact on the general
public, the youth especially. However, it look more than three decades for
the enthusiasm and interest in the game to spiral when Bangladesh lifted
its cricket from immaturity to an organised level. The country tried hard;
they requisitioned the services of foreign coaches, Pakistanis and Indians
in particular. Though they had fared poorly in the 1994 ICC Trophy, a
qualification competition for the World Cup co-hosted by the South Asian
countries, they later showed their advance by playing in the final of the
SAARC Gold Cup against India in December of 1994 in their own capital; Sri
Lanka and Pakistan having fallen behind the finalists because of inferior
run-rate. There was a definite tilt towards the game; cricket had come of
age in the country.
Late last year the previously minnows topped 10 regional countries to
qualify for the Asia Cup to be held in Colombo the coming August. The world
champions, Sri Lanka, and the two former World Cup holders, Pakistan and
India, are among the participants in the contest.
The test of trial and progression for Bangladesh came in Kuala Lumpur,
their venue of success for the ACC Trophy. The Dhaka warriors had missed
the 1992 World Cup by the proverbial whisker when Zimbabwe pipped them in
the final in the 1990 ICC Trophy, played in Holland.
Gordon Greenidge, the famed opening batsman of the West Indies, booked as a
coach, had prepared the Bangladesh team well. But still they were not among
the favourites. Kenya, UAE, winners of the last championship, and Holland,
a competitor in the last World Cup, were tipped to gain the berth for the
1999 nascent cricket extravaganza in England.
Holland did reach the knockout stage of the Kuala Lumpur tournament but
Untied Arab Emirate fell by the wayside. The Dutch later had a shock defeat
against Ireland and the ultimate winners, Bangladesh.
Both Kenya and the Dhaka cricketers had a spotless record in the round-
robin stage of the competition as well as in the knockout round.
Bangladesh opened with an emphatic victory over Argentina. Later they not
only lowered the colours of Denmark but settled the pretensions of UAE,
winners of last ICC Trophy, who collapsed for a paltry 95 in the 35th over.
Bangladesh removed Holland from their way to earn a berth for the
penultimate round of the trophy, where Scotland were no match to their
vigour, skill and alacrity on the field. The Bangladeshis came out in
thousands in the streets of Dhaka to celebrate their success in the semi-
final which gave them a passage to England for the next World Cup, a
tremendous onward march from the days when their youngsters only watched
the game from the sidelines and enclosures of the Dhaka Stadium, now known
as the National Stadium. People blasting crackers, firing in the air and
beating drums poured into the roads to wildly celebrate the cricket success
which left many injured and reportedly a few dead.
Still the country had to wait for five more days for the ultimate accolade
when they humbled Kenya, a surprise winner over the redoubtable West Indies
in the last World Cup at Pune.
Rain intervened to extend the final to two days. Kenya knocked up 241 in 50
overs, quite a challenging aggregate, which the critics thought was beyond
the Bangladesh capacity to attain. The umpires cut the overs and gave the
Dhaka side 166 to make in 25 overs, quite a daunting task to be performed
for the batting had to be done at the crashing speed of 6.64 per over. The
outfield was slow and handling of the spinners on the astroturf wicket was
problematical.
However, as fortune favours the brave the Bangladeshis, with proper
guidance from the legendary Greenidge, went on batting valiantly and
courageously. With a leg-bye in the last ball they sauntered home in what
turned out to be a thrilling and dramatic final. Bangladesh were the
champions among 22 associate members and had qualified for the World Cup.
They were now being euphemistically called the Bengal Tigers.
Dhaka again exploded with joy as traffic came to a standstill and shops and
offices were shut with millions marching onto the roads singing hyms in
praise of the cricketers. There was a big mass reception on the teams
return and Prime Minister Hasina Wajed was herself at the airport to
receive and acclaim the cricketers. Cash prizes were announced and even the
coach, Gordon Greenidge, was given an honorary citizenship.
It was Bangladeshs new year and Prime Minister Hasina Wajed said: There
could not have been a better gift for the new year than what our golden
boys have given. She ordered construction of a new stadium, specifically
for cricket. Certainly more facilities will be needed to boost cricket. But
if at all the cricketers of the country have to meet the challenge of the
region and also the world turf strips will be required. Cricketing
skill cannot be honed on the artificial wickets, particularly on the
astroturf on which a new technology has to be developed both for batting
and bowling.
Could Bangladesh have beaten Kenya in normal conditions with a score of 241
for seven wickets? It was a difficult target with the Kenyans more
experienced and skilful. However, the Bangaldeshis were bold enough to
canter home and beat Kenya by a head.
One finds that whatever may be their strength in batting they have to
produce a more penetrating pace attack in the tussle for supremacy in the
one-day internationals.
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970427
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Programme ready for National Games
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A. Majid Khan
KARACHI, April 26: Dr Nishat Mallick, MNA from Karachi and Patron of the
26th National Games Organising Committee, said here today that though the
great sports extravaganza is hardly six-week away it is a matter of immense
satisfaction that we have almost finalised the programme for making the
coming games in a success.
Dr Nishat Mallick, who chaired today's NGOC meeting at a local hotel, later
addressing a Press conference, stated the committee reviewed the progress
made, so far and thoroughly debated and discussed the reports of various
sub-committees before their approval.
However he informed the mediamen that kabaddi has also been included as the
21st discipline while snooker will be an exhibition event, carrying no
points for the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, the symbol of supremacy, awarded to a
team securing the highest points in the five-day National Games, starting
in the city from June 8.
The Patron said in all 21 disciplines would be held and the list is final.
When questioned first it was 16 disciplines and later four more were
included and now kabbadi has been added which would certainly increase the
expenditure.
Dr Nishat Mallick further stated that we would curtail the expenditures and
hold those disciplines whcih come into our estimated expenditure of Rs one
crore and 20 lakhs. We are yet to get Rs 15 lakhs from the PSB, which it
routes through the Pakistan Olympic Association, and Rs 30 lakhs from the
provincial government, stated the Patron, expressing full confidence in
getting the promised amount in the near future.
There is also strong indication that the opening and closing ceremonies
would be held at the National Cricket Stadium, said the Patron.
About holding of random doping test in all the disciplines , Dr Nishat
Mallick stated it involves a huge expenditure as one doping test alone
costs over US 200 dollars plus other required facilities in carrying out
the test. However in weightlifting the drug abuse has earned a bad name to
the country and the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation Secretary Muzaffar
Qureshi is insisting on the test, the NGOC has now decided to hold token
test in weightlifting.
It is beyond our financial resources to carry out doping test in other
disciplines, he emphasised.
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970430
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Jansher wants coaching to produce talented stars
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Ilyas Beg
LAHORE, April 29: After participation in the Al-Ahram Squash Tournament in
Egypt from June 11 to 17, Jansher Khan will go to London on June 20 and get
his troubling left foot operated upon.
Jansher Khan was the guest of honour during a luncheon reception held in
his honour by his sponsoring company. He was presented a shield and a
cheque of Rs 1,50,000 by the Servis Industries chairman Chaudhry Shahid
Hussain for winning the British Open Squash Championship sixth consecutive
time and also claiming the French Open squash title. His brother and coach
Mohibullah Junior was given an award of Rs 15,000 which was received by
Atlas Khan on his behalf.
Chaudhry Shahid Hussain assured Jansher Khan that his organisation will
continue to honour him just as it had been doing for the last ten years
since he was a teenager. He expressed the desire to sponsor a coaching
scheme for youngsters and promised to continue sponsoring the international
squash tournaments and promote games like cricket, golf and tennis.
Jansher Khan thanked the organisers for honouring him. He said that he
would make maximum effort to continue winning laurels for Pakistan for many
more years. He eulogised the role of sponsors in promoting sports in the
country.
During his Press conference shortly after the reception, Jansher Khan said
that he intends to continue playing the game for four or six years more and
create a record of winning the world title for ten or twelve years. Jansher
Khan said that he wants to retire after creating a record which should be
extremely difficult to beat. He said that young players like Peter Nicol
have been challenging Pakistans supremacy but he hoped to keep that
intact. Jansher Khan said that he would defend his World Championship title
in Malaysia in November.
Participation in Al-Ahram ranking tournament was necessary because that
would give me a good lead of points over the number two player, explained
the world number one.
Jansher said that in 1996, he had missed the German Open, Swiss Open,
Mohindra Open and French Open squash tournaments. That had narrowed the gap
of points so much that at one stage he was leading Rodney Eyles by only one
point. He had 1007 points as against 1006 collected by Rodney.
The world champion said that he had been facing stiff challenge from
youngsters like Peter Nicol and Den Johnson of Australia (21-year-old).
They were more fit but he managed to beat them with his controlled volleys
and drops and the ability to pick or drop the ball wherever he liked.
Replying to a question, Jansher said that Pakistan had many youngsters like
Mansoor Zaman, Amjad Khan and Muhammad Hussain, who could be groomed into
world-class players. He suggested that senior players like Mohibullah Khan,
Qamar Zaman and Gogi Alauddin should be given two players, each, under
their wings, provided all necessary facilities and asked to groom them into
high-class players within one year. Jansher said that a system must be
evolved for a systematic grooming of youngsters.
There is no Pakistani after me, who can gain top position in international
tournaments by beating the Australian and British challengers. If younger
lot was not prepared within a few years, Pakistans supremacy in squash
will be in danger. Once Pakistan lost stronghold over the game, then it
will become very difficult to regain supremacy, said the grim-looking
Jansher Khan.
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