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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 05 July 1997 Issue : 03/27
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Opposition asks govt. why Kansi was extradited
OPF fails to publicize list of Gulf war claimants
Pakistan nuclear units put on export ban list
Landslide kills 24 in Mansehra
2 die in North Karachi housing complex collapse
Govt seeks review of FSC judgment on riba
Drug case: Saudi govt. gives no response
US admits it has no proof of Chinese N-sale to Pakistan
---------------------------------
Software exports may swell to $50 million
Karachi can lure Hongkong hot money
Private power tariff in Pakistan lowest in Asia
Third KSE default shakes investors' confidence
Budget targets within reach if business pays taxes
Economic indicators confirm failure of reform
Local and foreign investors to be protected
Proposal to convert Modarabas into Leasing Companies
Massive tax evasion detected
Trading volume soars to record 136 million shares
---------------------------------------
Talking to talk Ardeshir Cowasjee
Terrorism should be defined Omar Kureishi
Is US above law and morality? Ghani Eirabie
Chinese lessons Mazdak
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Sohail, Hasan Raza reportedly picked for Asia Cup
Sohail pays fine; appears before PCB panel
Why Kenya & Bangladesh were not given Test status?
Squash stars must coach promising youngsters
Jansher keeps No 1 rating; Nicol is 2nd
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970703
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Opposition asks govt. why Kansi was extradited
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Staff Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, July 2: After a prolonged wait, the Senate finally reverberated
with strong exposition from the opposition leadership on the debate on
adjournment motion how the law of the land and fundamental rights as
enshrined in the Constitution were violated in the arrest and extradition
from Pakistani soil of Aimal Kansi without fulfilling the due course of law.
Chairman Wasim Sajjad allowed the PPP to move adjournment motion on
Wednesday on extradition of Aimal Kansi. The motion was moved by all the
PPP Senators. The Chairman fixed half an hour for debate on the matter.
Moving the motion, Senator Raza Rabbani made a forceful speech on the
matter and said that the international conventions and treaties were not
followed in toto in extradition of Kansi to the United States. He showed
through the help of reported interview of Interior Minister Chaudhry
Shujaat Hussain with Pakistani and international media that the government
of Pakistan was not aware of the operation employed for the arrest of
Kansi. He quoted the statement of interior minister who has stated that
Kansi was caught somewhere from Afghanistan and was delivered by some
people from there. He said that on the contrary the Taliban held that Kansi
was not caught from Afghanistan. He stated that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain
had repeatedly maintained that the government of Pakistan was not aware of
the circumstances of the arrest of Kansi nor was the ministry of interior
involved in the arrest of Kansi.
Rabbani said that it was clear that the government of Pakistan did not
receive any request for extradition of Kansi from Washington. He also
referred to the statement issued by the foreign office showing that it was
totally unaware of the arrest and extradition of Kansi.
Raza Rabbani concluded from the whole affair involving Kansi that (1) the
government of Pakistan was not associated in any way in the kidnapping of
Kansi from Shalimar Hotel in DG Khan as reported extensively by
international and national media, (2) sensitive government agencies were
not asked for the arrest of Aimal Kansi though arrest should have been made
by Pakistan's state agencies (3) treaty of extradition if there was any
should have been given effect, (4) the accused should have been produced
before a magistrate, (5) the accused should have been allowed to move writ
before the superior judiciary if he had so desired.
Senator Rabbani summed up his party's case by taking up the position that
the due process of law was not implemented in the arrest and extradition of
Kansi and violating the fundamental rights as enshrined in the
Constitution. He held that the government of Pakistan was not aware to the
procedure of the arrest of Kansi and other points relating to why and where
the violation of Constitution was committed. He posed the question as to
who committed aberrations of the Constitution of Pakistan. He wanted the
replies to the questions posed by him from the interior minister. The
questions posed by Senator Rabbani were (1) From where was Kansi arrested
and by whom ? (2) Was a formal request for the arrest made and on what
ground was it granted? (3) Who gave permission for the arrest? If he was
arrested by the government of Pakistan ? (4) Was the procedure laid down by
the process of law followed?
Earlier Senator Rabbani had said that even four days after the arrest of
Kansi, no official statement came. He said that on Pakistani soil, the law
is to shield any Pakistani under the law. He emphasized that his party
stands against all forms of terrorism.
Speaking next Opposition Leader Aitzaz Ahsan made it abundantly clear that
nobody supported or condoned terrorism. He said that what the opposition
was concerned about was the question of the implementation of constitution
and law of the land. He said that under the constitution and law every
person arrested should be produced before the magistrate within 36 hours of
his arrest. He said that the government had not denied reports published in
Pakistani and international media that Aimal Kansi had been arrested from
Pakistani soil that is Dera Ghazi Khan and all the processes of the law
were required to be fulfilled in his arrest and subsequent extradition.
He made a reference to Press reports according to which US Secretary of
State Albright spoke to the President of Pakistan on the matter. While
speaking on the issue, Aitzaz Ahsan narrated the case of the arrest of a
well-known drug mafia man and the request of then American Ambassador to
him for the arrest of the wanted man. He said that the US Ambassador wanted
logistics support and he told the envoy that due process of the law will be
followed in the matter. Aitzaz Ahsan said that all the processes of law
were followed and the man was handed over to the Americans until his appeal
to the Supreme Court was rejected. He said that the Americans understood
and appreciated the government's position.
Later Senator Qaim Ali Shah also spoke on the issue saying that in the
arrest and extradition of Aimal Kansi, the Constitution was violated.
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970702
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OPF fails to publicize list of Gulf war claimants
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Staff Correspondent
KUWAIT CITY, July 1: Three months after the UN Compensation Commission
transferred $ 10 million to the government of Pakistan to be paid to 4,126
Pakistani claimants who were affected by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, most
of the claimants in Kuwait remained unpaid.
According to a survey conducted by this correspondent among the successful
claimants here, they have not been paid yet because the Overseas Pakistanis
Foundation which has been appointed by the government to disburse the
money, has adopted a lengthy and complicated procedure. At the same time,
many of the 4126 successful claimants do not know if their name is in the
payment list because the OPF has not publicized it. The OPF insists that
the successful claimants will be informed by the OPF through mail or all
the claimants should visit the OPF offices in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore,
Quetta, Peshawar and Mirpur to know if their name is in the list.
In Kuwait, the embassy of Pakistan which received a copy of the successful
claimants, has also refused to publish the list in local newspapers. It may
be pointed out that the lists of Egyptian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi
and other nationalities had been published in their respective countries as
well as in the Kuwaiti press. This attitude of the OPF and the Embassy has
caused great difficulty and confusion among the Pakistani claimants most of
whom live in Kuwait. They have to take leave from their jobs to visit the
embassy, and stand in long queues to find out if their names are in the list.
On the other hand, the OPF has adopted a contradictory and ambiguous policy
since it received payment from the UN Compensation Commission in March.
Some claimants in Kuwait received a letter in the first week of April from
the OPF saying that "your claim has been approved and payment is expected
soon and you should send attested copies of your identify card and passport
to the OPF."
Few weeks later, the OPF sent another letter saying that "your cheque for
Rs. 988,660 is ready and you should visit the OPF office in Islamabad to
collect the payment." The letter also said "you want that the cheque should
be mailed to your address then the OPF will not be responsible for any
mistake in the cheque or its loss in the mail."
A number of claimants sent a paper issued by the Pakistan Embassy here,
confirming all their particulars required by the OPF with the request that
the OPF should send their cheque to their account number in Pakistan but
the OPF did not respond to such request.
It may be pointed out that in anticipation of a payment by the UN
Compensation Commission, Egyptian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi
governments had asked, long back, all the claimants to open an account in
their country and provide the government with their account number. Now
when the payment is received the claimants were asked to send a paper from
their embassy which should confirm their particulars and bank account
number. On the receipt of this paper the money was directly transferred to
their account.
The Pakistani community leaders here have urged the government of Pakistan
to adopt a similar simplified method to transfer the compensation money.
They pointed out that it is pathetic while other countries have already
made payments to all their claimants, the Pakistani expatriates even do not
know if their claim has been approved by the UN Commission because of the
secretive method adopted by the OPF and the Embassy of Pakistan in Kuwait.
The community leaders said that the UN Compensation Commission was expected
to make payment of a second installment in August, but the government of
Pakistan has not yet competed payment of the first installment. They
pointed out that the government of Kuwait completed payment to its
claimants in the first week of April.
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970701
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Pakistan nuclear units put on export ban list
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, June 30: Three key Pakistani nuclear establishments were put on
an exports ban list by the US Commerce Department, it was officially
announced.
Kahuta Labs of Dr. A Q Khan, PINSTECH and National Development Centre were
put on the Enhanced Proliferation Control Initiative (EPCI) list along with
three similar organizations from India.
The inclusion of these organizations on the banned list means exporters
have been put on notice that any product sold to these end users may
present a problem and will require a license from the Bureau of Export
Administration (BEA). Officials said for some time these organizations were
under a close watch and were not being sold any items by the US
manufacturers and exporters.
The US Commerce Department put the three organizations on its exports ban
list following allegations that they were involved in non-proliferation
activities.
The 'Federal Register' of the US Commerce Department, publishes the names
of foreign end-users who are allegedly determined to be involved in
proliferation activities.
Exports to these entities of concern "will now require more careful
scrutiny" before shipments will be permitted, it says. Certain institutions
of China, Russia and Israel are also included in the EPCI List apart from
Pakistani and Indian organizations.
The Indian institutions include Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay;
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Khalpakham; and Indian Rare
Earths Ltd.
Fifteen Chinese companies will face the ban while Israel's Nuclear Research
Centre at Negev has also been added to the list in addition to the Ben
Gurion University of Israel which was accused of smuggling nuclear
technology items from the United States.
The Commerce Department maintained that these end-users have been
determined to be involved in developing weapons of mass destruction or the
missiles used to deliver those weapons. The department officials said this
list is not comprehensive and does not relieve exporters of the
responsibility to determine the nature and activities of their potential
customers.
Inter-agency groups involved in the export control process reviewed the
activities of the new list and determined that exports to these entities
would create "an unacceptable risk" of use or diversion to prohibited
proliferation-related activities. The list allows the government to
identify for US businesses some of the organizations and companies that may
be involved in proliferation activities.
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970629
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Landslide kills 24 in Mansehra
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Rashid Javed
ABBOTTABAD, June 28: At least 24 people were buried alive in a massive
landslide caused by heavy rains and thunderstorm which hit Jabar Kund
village in Mansehra district. Rescue workers have recovered 22 bodies and
search for the remaining two is on.
The landslide buried three houses killing all the occupants, except one,
who escaped miraculously. The victims belonged to two families who were
residing in the three houses.
The tragedy occurred at about 2am when the members of the families were
asleep. Lightning struck a hill near the village which triggered a
landslide that hit the three houses.
Rescue workers reached the spot after some time and by 5.30pm on Saturday
recovered 22 bodies. The victims have been identified as Noorun Nisa, wife
of Fazlur Rehman, Shah Zaman, Banaras, Mushtaq and Altaf, sons of Fazlur
Rehman, Guddo, daughter of Fazlur Rehman, Durr-i-Marjan, wife of Noor Alam,
Sunehri, wife of Noor Hussain, Saima, Faiza and Shazia, daughters of Noor
Hussain, Irfan son of Said Khan, Zaibun Nisa, wife of Mohammad Irfan,
Sultan Mohammad, Sadaqat, Ghulam Nabi and Mohammad Karim, sons of Mohammad
Irfan, Najmun Nisa and Rubina daughters of Mohammad Irfan, Mehrun Nisa,
wife of Ghulam Qadir, Abdul Qadir, son of Ghulam Qadir and Khalid Iqbal,
son of Ahmad. Noor Hussain, son of Noor Alam was the only person who
survived the tragedy.
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970703
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2 die in North Karachi housing complex collapse
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 2: Two construction workers were killed and more than 35
others trapped when a completed five-storey building, Faiza Heights,
collapsed in North Karachi.
The construction of the complex was almost complete and intimation letters
had been sent to the allottees to get possession of their apartments after
a month. Eight of the wounded, recovered from the debris were rushed to
Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
The rangers, fire-brigade and other people, mostly the youth of the area,
were striving to rescue the workers caught in the caved-in structure till
the filing of this report. Khaista Mohammad son of Piho Khan, 23, from Teh
Samozai, Kohat, succumbed to his injuries at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
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970702
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Govt seeks review of FSC judgment on riba
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, July 1: The Federal Shariat Court admitted for hearing a
petition filed by the federal government requesting the court to review its
judgment on riba (interest), Dawn learnt from FSC officials.
The government had also filed an application in the SC for the withdrawal
of an appeal against the FSC judgment. However, the press secretary to the
prime minister announced at a news conference that the government had
withdrawn its application filed in the Supreme court.
It may be mentioned here that it was not the government alone which had
challenged the FSC judgment in the Supreme Court; 69 more appeals were
filed by banks and DFIs. No other appellant had approached the Supreme
Court for the withdrawal of appeal, an official confirmed.
The government, in its appeal under Article 203-D of the Constitution , has
requested the FSC to allow a time period of two years for the introduction
of a truly Islamic system in accordance with the guidelines laid down by
the court. The FSC had announced it judgment on November 14, 1991, and
declared riba contrary to Islamic injunctions. In its application the
government has requested the FSC to constitute a larger bench for an
"authoritative pronouncement."
The government has further told the court that Pakistan would face economic
isolation if the interest-based banking is not allowed. It has pointed out
a number of serious issues having a close and intimate bearing on the
country's obligations both to foreign lenders, and as well as in relation
to the functioning of the banking system in the country.
The government submitted that Pakistan's obligations to foreign governments
and international agencies ran into billions of dollars. The obligations
have to be serviced by periodical repayments on a continuing basis. It
stated that since the present condition of the national economy was not
such that these repayments could be made out of the government's own
resources, further assistance was sought internationally for the discharge
of its contractual and legal obligations. "Every year, further loans are
taken from foreign governments and international agencies to enable the
government to repay loans which were taken in the past", the government
informed the court.
It further stated that in case the government defaulted in the discharge of
its obligations, the results would be:
First, Pakistan would be declared a defaulter in international markets.
Secondly, Pakistan would not be able to obtain any further foreign loans
or credits.
Thirdly, not merely would foreign governments and international lending
agencies refuse to extend credit facilities to the government, but even
foreign commercial banks would refuse to advance any money to the government.
Fourthly, letters of credit which were opened by Pakistani banks to
enable import of goods, would no longer be acceptable abroad. In
consequence, the import of goods into the country would be drastically,
and perhaps critically, reduced. In particular, it would have a direct
impact and bearing on the import of wheat, edible oil, petroleum and oil as
well as other commodities.
Fifthly, quite apart from the adverse impact on the government, commercial
and industrial companies operating in Pakistan would find it almost
impossible to import capital goods and machinery for further
industrialization of the country.
Similarly, the import of raw materials to allow the continued functioning
of plants and factories in the country would be adversely affected. The
government stated that it intended to mould and recast the various laws in
the country to bring them in conformity with the principles laid down in
the Holy Quran and the Sunnah.
It stated that it had come to the conclusion that allowing its appeal to
remain pending in the Supreme Court would merely delay the Islamisation of
the laws relating to riba for an indefinite period, which would not be in
consonance with its declared aims and objectives.
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970704
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Drug case: Saudi govt. gives no response
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, July 3: Saudi authorities have not responded to an appeal made
by Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to show leniency to the women
and children of two families arrested on the charge of drug smuggling.
He wrote a letter to his Saudi counterpart last month appealing for
clemency for the women and children allegedly involved in the case.
The Saudi authorities had arrested last December and January two Pakistani
families comprising three women, five children and a man, and seized some
drug concealed in the embroidery on the clothes of the women.
The government has reports that the families had been trapped by an
organized gang of drug traffickers. The information collected so far by the
government, establishes that those were not professional carriers. The
families had been offered free Umra by some drug traffickers posing as
philanthropists. Shortly before their departure, the traffickers gave them
clothes to wear.
The interior minister told the National Assembly last week that hundreds of
Pakistanis were imprisoned in Saudi jails on narcotics related charges.
Meanwhile, members of an NGO, Advocacy and Development Network, have
expressed concern that a number of Pakistanis, including children and
women, are under the threat of being beheaded on charge of drug trafficking.
In a statement the minister said that according to the principles of
justice, every one has the right to be heard, to be legally represented,
and to a fair trial to prove his or her innocence. They said due
consideration must also be given to the circumstances of each case,
particularly the vulnerability of the persons involved.
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970705
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US admits it has no proof of Chinese N-sale to Pakistan
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 4: The US state department on Thursday discounted CIA
reports about Chinese sale of nuclear arms to Pakistan and Iran, saying the
US had no concrete evidence in the current realm to impose sanctions.
"We are willing to and we are obligated to implement our law, but we can't
do it based on suppositions or appearances. We must do it on concrete
evidence, and we are pursuing that concrete evidence right now," state
department spokesman Nick Burns told the regular briefing on Thursday.
Burns was asked to comment on the CIA report and why the CIA and the state
department did not see eye to eye on these matters.
He responded: "I really have very little to say about that. That is a CIA
report that is public. The CIA is giving it out to journalists. It's
available to the Congress, as well. I think it's self-evident. But I really
refer you to the CIA... The CIA has said that China exports arms around the
world; that's a fact. Now it's a matter of law to determine if China has
violated either US sanctions law or its obligations under the Missile
Technology Control Regime (MTCR). While the United States continues to be
concerned about many actions of the government of China regarding
proliferation, and while we discuss this - in fact, Secretary Albright
discussed it just the other day in Hong Kong with Vice Premier Qian Qichen
- we cannot find a country guilty of violating a law without evidence,
without concrete evidence. We don't have that evidence in the current realm.
===================================================================
970629
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Software exports may swell to $50 million
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Aamir Shafaat Khan
KARACHI, June 28: Pakistan's software exports are expected to swell up to
$50 million by the end of the year following the exemptions of sales tax
and customs duty on the import of computer equipment's, mainly used in
software development.
A software exporter told Dawn his company had negotiations with a Korean
software giant who have shown keen interest in developing software houses
in Karachi and Islamabad besides entering into joint ventures. The South
Korean investor was happy over the incentive package on computer industry.
'The export of software will boost up to $400 million by the year 2001, if
there is no change in the existing policy guidelines and incentives given
to this industry, an exporter anticipated.
The industry at present produces roughly around 20 million dollars of
products per year which is a peanut compared to the global software market
of around $300 billion in which India's share is estimated at two billion
dollars, he said.
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970630
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Karachi can lure Hongkong hot money
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Jafar Wafa
AT ZERO hour tonight (June 30), the British anthem: "God save the
Queen...," will be played by the Imperial Band for the last time in
Hongkong's Exhibition and Convention Centre and the People's Army
Liberation band will commence playing the Chinese anthem: "Arise ye who
refuse to be slaves..."
The question being widely asked in financial and industrial quarters in the
United Kingdom is whether it would be possible for British and American
expatriates in Hongkong to do business as usual after when it reverts to
Chinese rule.
The Americans are more worried than the British. The former on monetary
grounds and the latter with an additional cause - the loss of governing
status. The British, had developed Hongkong and Singapore, their prized
possessions, during their 150-year rule.
The hoisting of the Red flag and hauling down of the Union Jack will not
merely signify transfer of sovereignty over the world's busiest and richest
port city but also a change of attitudes of those who steer the ship of
this port's booming economy.
The Americans started flocking to Hongkong only after 1990, when US
commercial banks that matter and multinationals worth the name made
Hongkong the regional headquarters for trade with a burgeoning China which
is now the third largest economy in the world.
According to Time Magazine, by 1996, the number of Anglo- American
expatriates in Hongkong increased by 70 per cent during a period of five
years. But, as recent reports reach Washington and London, the trend of
paying fancy salaries and perks to their nationals, who still monopolise
tiny Hongkong's vast financial industry, has become out-of-date and is
likely to be reversed completely.
The Japanese having already stepped in to the West's shoes, when the
Chinese administrators relieve Britain's of the proverbial 'Whiteman's
burden.'
Foreign companies are preferring Asians in executive positions with
qualifications matching those of the Caucasians. Just as the Chinese
government's official policy, in respect of Hongkong is said to be 'one
country, two systems,' the MNCs that once employed only English-speaking
sales personnel and have begun recruiting locals now, retort that their
policy will be 'one company, two systems.'
In the city administration, the Chinese are being preferred and government
employees of foreign origin are being either eased out or demoted to make
room for the former. Another major concern in the West about China's
future policy vis-a-vis Hongkong arises from the Chinese buyers' preference
of their own cheaper products, particularly electronics, over foreign-made
goods.
The oriental habit of bargain-hunting, which was unknown in the
Westernized, prosperous environment of Hongkong, is another recent
irritant. Even McDonalds' are meekly complaining of the change in the
behavior of customers who are becoming choosy and critical instead of being
silent approvers of what was being dished out with the prestigious American
label.
The Chinese economy, though booming, is based on an unusual blend of
'capitalism' (or free enterprise in today's parlance) and 'socialism' (or
state ownership and authoritarian rule in Western jargon).
It is feared that the Chinese authority will dismantle the 'market reforms'
(that suited the foreign entrepreneurs) under pressure from Party cadres,
because a strong stalwart like Deng Xiaoping is not there to keep the Party
officials in check.
In February this year, during what may be his last official visit to
Hongkong, British foreign secretary. Malcolm Rifkind, could not persuade
Tung Chee Hwa, the Chinese governor-designate of Hongkong, to give any kind
of assurance, let alone written guarantee, that the present 'freedoms'
would be continued.
President Clinton's address in the Congress on June 13, is very significant
insofar as it contained an appeal to the US business leaders "to help him
pressure the Congress to renew China's MFN trading status to prevent
devastating effects on Hongkong on the eve of its reversion."
The foregoing resume gives the background information to make the readers
appreciate the basis of what is going to be discussed now: whether the
momentous event of change in suzerainty over Hongkong matters for our
sagging economy or not.
It was being speculated in Pakistan, particularly by upcountry think-tanks,
that the Americans and the British were secretly and clandestinely working
towards turning Karachi into the required haven for the 'hot money' owned
by their traders and tycoons when they would find the environment of
Hongkong too hostile and inhospitable for further investment and continued
business activity, after its takeover by the Chinese.
There is nothing harmful and dangerous in letting Karachi be turned into
the kind of haven the Anglo-American conglomerate wants. If Karachi, with
its pot-holed roads and open man holes, managed by pot-bellied, inefficient
and corrupt administrators is selected by foreign investors as the ideal
place for them to transfer a part of their business activity, it would be
like manna from heaven, not for the Karachiites alone but for the entire
country, as this port city is a mini-Pakistan and not the preserve of a
particular ethnic group.
The question arises: why should Karachi be so selected as an alternative to
Hongkong.
The answer is not far to seek. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta could have
been, perhaps, a better choice. But they are in countries which are
called Asian Tigers and are engaged in snatching from Hongkong and
Singapore a part, if not the whole, of the economic importance the latter
enjoys. So, they will not fit into the scheme of things the Anglo- American
interests want.
Why not Bombay? The answer is that in India, foreigners are afraid of what
they call Nehruvian 'idealistic socialism,' Gandhian 'Swadeshi
(self-sufficiency)', Bal Thakerey's Hindu chauvinism, and lastly, volatile
labour and the government's stringent labour laws. Also, they want a place
where there is very little competition from locally-manufactured goods.
In Karachi, they have a docile government, both at the Centre and in the
province to deal with, where there is no question of competition with
indigenous manufacture. Along with these advantages, all the required
physical and human resources are available. Only with a small financial
input, which the tycoons can well- afford, the physical infrastructure can
be improved to the required level in no time. Human resources are available.
Engineers, accountants, computer programmers, technicians, banking
personnel, clearing forwarding and shipping experts, lawyers, auditors, all
can be hired at far little cost than in Hongkong. Fluency in English,
availability of office and residential accommodation at reasonable rent,
free market in practice, are additional plus points.
Last, but not least. The location of Karachi in 'warm waters' an unrealized
Russian dream, and its proximity to the oil-rich Sheikhdoms, on the one
hand, and the sprawling continent of Africa, on the other, makes it stand
out. Karachi is also the port for Afghan-in-transit goods and the nearest
outlet to the sea for the Central Asian Republics. All that is required is
ethnic harmony and peace in this city.
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970630
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Private power tariff in Pakistan lowest in Asia
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Javed Bashir
CRITICISM of private power tariff structure continues to be marked by pleas
for renegotiating agreements with foreign companies. Although the
government has assured that the deals would be honored, fears prevail that
attempts are being made to wriggle out of the commitment of purchasing
power generated by these plants at the rate of 6.1 US cents per unit.
The issue of price has assumed piquancy in the light of reports about
reduction in costs of setting up thermal power plants. It was addressed at
the first boiler fire celebration of an AES power station being set up with
an estimated cost of $700 million near Multan.
The Project Director, Mr. Steve C. Dahm, claimed that the company would
supply electricity at much cheaper rates in Pakistan. For the first 10
years, 6.1 cent per unit would be charged. For the next 11 to 20 years,
4.67 cents would be charged and for 21 to 30 years only 3 cents.
That the tariff offered by Pakistan to IPPs is compatible in the
international market is highlighted by rates in other Asian countries. In
India, AES was selling power at the rate of 6.5 cents to 7 cents per unit
per hour. The rate was also higher than that of Pakistan in Turkey,
Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The US ambassador, presiding over the boiler fire celebration, said that it
was a good augury that the present government had honored the agreements of
the previous rulers with the AES for establishing the thermal power
station. This is heart-warming. It follows assurances by Finance Minister
Sartaj Aziz, that the government would honor the commitment of purchasing
60 per cent of the electricity generated by private power plants.
Projects of companies which have not reached financial closure will however
be reviewed and renegotiated by the committee set up for the purpose. The
power needs of the country seem to be a major consideration in this regard,
but there have been indications to suggest that reopening of agreements
would include companies which defaulted on contractual obligations or cases
in which gross irregularities had been committed at the time of the award
of contract.
Representatives of foreign power companies say that the tariff was fair and
reduced the risk to enable people to invest. They say they decided to come
in when a policy had developed regarding private electricity generation.
Reports suggest that the Junejo government had issued as many as 14 letters
of intent, but there was no response from foreign investors because
government policy was vague, with power tariff ranging from five to eleven
cents per unit.
Although the current price policy of power seemed good from the investor's
point of view, the perception seems to have gained ground that not only was
the electricity costly, but the target for private power - 4,000 megawatts
- was highly overestimated by last government.
Since growth was going down when the policy was evolved, the power had
become surplus. The prevailing inefficiencies of WAPDA and the economic
recession added to the concerns.
Currently, WAPDA needs only 30 percent of the power generated by the
private sector. The organization buys thermal power at Rs 2.60 per kilowatt
and sells it at Rs 1 per kilowatt.
The dilemma of the government has been sharpened in view of the fact that
private power will multiply WAPDA's current annual deficit of Rs 10 billion
if pilferage, 20 percent transmission losses and over staffing in the
authority are not checked.
With opinion divided on the question of renegotiating the power tariff,
many experts, including a former WAPDA chairman, criticize the energy
policy as disastrous for the economy. The 6.5 cents fixed for the private
sector, they said, was too high and the consumer could not afford it. Not
only had WAPDA been restricted from participating with the private sector
to set up thermal power plants, but the energy policy of the previous
government had allowed the private sector to install thermal plants at the
rate of $1,060 per kilowatt, whereas the cost of production has fallen by
half in the international market.
The pinch seems to have increased because WAPDA was called upon not just to
make payments to the private sector at the rate of over 6.5 cents, but also
subsidize the general and agricultural consumer and provide electricity to
a large number of villages which have been connected to the national grid.
The impact on the consumer is underscored by assessments that rates have
increased by 75 percent during the three years preceding 1995. Now,
according to one expert, the rates would double every three years and
triple in five years.
WAPDA is said to have to have paid Hubco Rs 6.5 billion or $164 million on
return of equity. During the next year, it would pay $222 million under the
same head. Hubco, it is estimated, would receive $386 million on return of
equity, whereas the entire amount of its equity was $374 million.
WAPDA was said to be at a loss in its deal with Hubco and KAOCO. A major
loophole cited is that the tariff is deliberately divided into two parts,
capacity charges (4.3 cents per kwh) and energy charges (2.2 cent per kwh)
to ensure earning even if WAPDA does not purchase electricity from them.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that when the decision about the power
policy was taken, Pakistan was facing annual loadshedding of 2,400 MW (24
per cent of the capacity) which meant 14 hours of loadshedding a day during
the peak demand period.
Required to undertake development projects only when it could raise 40 per
cent of the required funds from internal cash generation and bound to
maintain a debt service coverage of 1.5 times to qualify for assistance
from international donors for some of its critical development plans, it
faced major constraints in expanding generating capacity in the public sector.
In this context, a World Bank report has been quoted as showing that "if
WAPDA was to add power stations of 3,000 MW, tariff would have to increase
by 18.3 percent per annum between 1994 to 2000, while the same amount of
power if added through the private sector would have caused an increase of
14.3 percent per annum during 1994-2000."
It suggested that on a comparable basis the organization had a more
expensive proposition to tackle the problem of loadshedding. There seems no
immediate space to absorb more private power but with an eye to the future,
it must be ensured that no harm is caused to investor confidence.
AES was the single biggest investment in Pakistan's history. Bulk power
tariff is 4.7 kwh over the project life at 60 percent utilization. The
tariff is independent of project construction cost. Investor interest was
enhanced by the consistency of policy through leadership changes.
Currently, Pakistan's per capita power consumption was one of the lowest in
the world.
Having the ninth largest population in the world and seeking to develop
industrial capacity, besides trying to extend electricity coverage, growth
levels could increase in future.
Sustaining the interest of investors in a difficult economic situation,
especially to meet the immediate goals of the privatization program, is
important. While demonstrating the commitment to honor agreements, the
government should take steps to meet the liquidity crunch.
The current slow economic growth rate can show improvement through
deliberate efforts to revive the economy. What has to be avoided is the
possibility of electricity shortage when the recession ends.
The government had earlier expressed the view that if India agreed to buy
power from Pakistan, private plants could operate at 80 percent capacity.
Such options should be explored along with efforts to develop less
expensive options, particularly hydel energy, and curtail line losses which
are alarmingly high at around 30 percent.
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970630
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Third KSE default shakes investors' confidence
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Aslam
THE third default of a Karachi Stock Exchange member within the last four
months for a massive amount of Rs.100 million has raised many questions in
the minds of investors but the relevant quarters have so far failed to
specify real causes leading to the unpleasant situation.
Whether the protracted bearish spell on the stock market is the real cause
behind the successive failures of the members to square their positions or
the manipulative tendencies, which have crept into the share business in
the recent past ,are the chief villains of the numbers game. Someone must
pinpoint for the advantage of prospective investors.
The default might not have created crisis-like conditions on Pakistan's
premier capital market but its undercurrent was terribly shocking notably
among the foreign fund managers and foreign investors ,notably in the Gulf
but has certainly sent wrong signals the world over through the Reuter's
cable network through which it is connected with 122 countries.
" Default of any member and that too of financially sound one in the
electronic trading era is not a small an event as it speaks of the
financial credibility of the members and their future perceptions about the
share business", said a leading financial analyst.
M.Rashid Jamal one of the financially sound members of the Karachi Stock
Exhange who had reportedly made massive blank sales in the Shares of the
Pakistan Telecommunications(PTCL), prior to the federal budget around Rs.25
to 26 per share failed to settle his outstanding dues with the others
within the stipulated time limit as its price had soared to Rs.31 per share
and was declared defaulter.
According to market sources the defaulted amount is Rs.100 million but the
Karachi Stock Exchange put it around Rs.80 million and its president claims
that the interest of the concerned parties is fully secured and there is no
cause for worry. But Rashid Jamal of the MRJ securities is silent on the
default issue and did not allow any one to peep through his privacy." One
day his is sure to speak and will tell the real story behind the game". But
the removal of Zafar S. Moti, another leading Karachi- based member of the
Karachi and Lahore Stock Exchanges from the membership of both the
exchanges by the Corporate Law Authority (CLA) for violation of securities
rules appears to be a long- drawn out case giving enough time to the victim
to meet the official demand but he failed and his consequent removal.
This is the fourth major default during the last about a decade the first
one was of a lady and the most recent one was of Muhammad Ali Nagaria who
defaulted on Feb. 28,this year. Both have to sell their membership cards
and office premises to clear the dues, which they owed to others but the
amount was much less than the present one. But the defaults, notably the
latest one has sent shock waves in the ministry of finance and the
Corporate Law Authority as their impact on the already weak economy could
be disastrous and" the foreign money might not come according to official
projections".
That is perhaps why the Corporate Law Authority(CLA) appeared to be at odds
with the bosses of the Karachi Stock Exchange over the handling of the last
week's default issue of one of its members and has sought further details
on the developments leading to the second default just in four months.
The CLA, apex regulatory body controlling the affairs of the corporate
sector and the stock exchanges seemed to have intervened following
complaints by investors and some brokerage houses what they called
mishandling of the default issue", which could have been avoided by some
timely pre-emptive steps, said a leading broker. But the Karachi Stock
Exchange bosses claim to have taken timely steps to solve the default case
to save the market from an impending crisis of confidence just in the wake
of a good budget and its impact is visible on the underlying sentiment,
which is uppishly inclined. " The interests of investors are fully secured
as the KSE acted according to the set rules and there is no cause for worry
for any one who has a stake in the PTCL deals", a leading member said.
According to KSE sources the clearing house figures showed a default of
Rs.75 million alone in PTCL shares and details from others are not coming
as yet. "Against the claims, the value of the tangible assets of the
defaulter vested in the KSE is Rs.33 million, and shares of an identical
amount are also deposited with the exchange under the member's exposure
limit", sources said.
They said the board of directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange has also
decided to contribute Rs.12.5 million from the Protection fund to settle
more claims if any. But the CLA apparently having some" inside information"
form its own sources seemed to be not satisfied by with the reports sent to
it by the KSE and set new guidelines to probe the issue to forestall such
unpleasant situations in the most sensitive trading forum.
The KSE has already set up a four-member committee comprising of its
directors to identify causes of the mishaps and to suggest steps to prevent
recurrence of such incidents. But the second default just in four months
has badly shaken the investor confidence in a market, which is facing
crisis of confidence and failed to respond to a number of tax relief's and
waivers in the budget and before.
The KSE sources said the CLA has taken a very serious view of the current
default and might announce some steps at its own to correct the situation.
Already, it has decided to reduce the number of board of directors of the
stock exchange from the current 14 to 12 and intends to nominate four
directors from the trade and industry to make their affairs more
transparent. It also plans by July 1 to appoint chief executives on each
stock exchange after abolishing the post of an elected president.
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970630
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Budget targets within reach if business pays taxes
-------------------------------------------------------------------
M. Ziauddin
THE BUDGETMAKERS admit that the success of the 1997-98 budget would depend
very much on four factors:
1. A positive and immediate response of the business community;
2. An efficient and honest collection of revenues by the collectors;
3. The ability of the government to keep a tight leash on current
expenditure and;
4. A stable law and order situation.
The government, however, is not worried about the collection targets fixed
in the budget because tax revenue target fixed at Rs 327 billion is just
about 14 per cent more than what was actually collected this year (Rs 286
billion). This is just a little over the inflation rate of 13 per cent
which is not unachievable despite the reductions effected in the rates and
slabs of taxes and tariffs.
Also, the fact that the withholding taxes ensure a collection of as much as
67 percent of the tax target at source in normal circumstances, makes the
increase of 14 percent in the collection target an easy goal to attain.
Non-tax revenues, however, are expected to increase by about 31 percent
from Rs 77.72 billion to Rs 102.25 billion. At first glance, this target
appears too ambitious but if one went deeper into the figures it transpires
that more than 50 percent of this increase, or about Rs 15 billion is
expected from a steep increase in the profits of State Bank of Pakistan
which does not appear as much ambitious.
Due to frequent devaluation of the rupee during the outgoing year, the SBP
which had allowed three kinds of foreign exchange risk covers to traders
and foreign currency holders, had to suffer a loss of Rs 10 billion instead
of a profit of Rs 2 billion as estimated in the original 1996-97 budget.
This year, the government does not expect any devaluation's. Therefore, it
hopes that the SBP would net a profit of Rs 15 billion. Already the budget
has withdrawn the facility of at least two kinds of foreign exchange risk
covers to doubly ensure that the SBP does not lose money this year even if
a devaluation or two becomes necessary. The financial year 1996-97, was a
very difficult year. In the first quarter, a settled government was
unsettled on the advise of economists such as Shahid Javed Burki and Shahid
Hussain.
In the second and third quarters, the caretakers and elections plus Shahid
Javed Burki messed up the economy further. Nawaz Sharif saved the economy
just in the nick of time when he withdrew from the constitution the powers
conferred on the president to dismiss a government in his discretion.
The economy during the year, understandably, therefore, performed very
badly and the targets fixed in the original budget as well as in the
October 22, 1996 mini-budget simply failed as a consequence.
The success of next year's budget is assured by the failure of the outgoing
year's budget as most of the revenue and income targets fixed in the
1997-98 budget are almost the same as in the outgoing budget, which means
the targets fixed to be achieved in 12 months would now be attempted to be
achieved in 24 months. This should make it easier all around. And this has
also probably provided the budget makers enough room to attempt the
long-awaited but seemingly difficult tariff and tax reforms.
The expectations of an improvement of nearly 7 percent (negative growth in
real terms) in the inflow of external sources also appears to be attainable
if one were to take into consideration the pledges that have already been
made for SAP and the national drainage program. And by the way, it is wrong
to call the 1997-98 budget a tax- free budget because the Finance Bill
which was duly passed by the National Assembly the other day contains the
measure of three per cent sales tax on retail level, which is a new tax.
And if this three per cent sales tax is imposed in the next three months
after due consultation with the business community, there is a distinct
possibility that the revenue income would increase by an additional Rs 5
billion.
The attempt to increase the tax base by issuing notices to those who
possess telephones and cars does make a lot of sense, but it would be
interesting to know how many of the telephone connections and cars plying
in the country are owned by the federal and provincial governments,
corporations, autonomous bodies etc. Still, even if a few thousand are
added to the abysmally short list of 800,000 taxpayers in a population of
135 million, it should be regarded as a great achievement.
The government has clarified that while the budgetary measures contained in
the balance sheet for 1997-98 are aimed at providing a supply stimulus, a
tight hold has been kept on expenditures to manage the demand.
In this regard the reduction in real terms in the budgets of defence,
development and general administration are quoted as a firm expression of
intent. In order to ensure that the expenditures remain within the budgeted
limits the government has already prepared a detailed program for downsizing.
The reduction in tariffs and taxes and the hoped for reduction of mark up
rates in the course of the year would surely bring down the cost of
industrial and agricultural production. On the other hand, the tight budget
expected to be made tighter, by the anticipated downsizing will certainly
curb demand. As a result, a lot of exportable surpluses should be generated
and by the end of the calendar year, Pakistan as a consequence should be
able to push up its exports by at least 15 per cent covering in the process
nearly 90 per cent of the import bill for the year by end June 1998.
This optimistic scenario is totally dependent on not only the cooperation
of the business community and law and order but also on the cooperation of
the nature and the quality of the domestic manufacturing sector.
Pakistan's manufacturing sector is overwhelmingly dependent on cotton. This
so-called large scale sector makes nothing more than yarn, coarse cloth and
other such simple value added in leather, etc. So even if the exportable
surpluses expand to record levels during the year in the wake of reforms,
the income from them would be no more than peanuts. More so because so far
only 24 Pakistani units have received the ISO 9000 certificate. Most,
however, face the threat of anti- dumping charges in the Japanese, European
and North American markets.
A cotton crop of 10-11 million bales next year would certainly give the
large scale manufacturing sector enough boost to grow at the anticipated
rate of over 8 per cent. However, a crop of 9-9.5 million bales would mean
a growth rate of no more than 4-5 per cent for the manufacturing sector.
And this kind of cotton crop would also keep the growth rates in the
agricultural sector depressed.
Untimely rains and non-availability of quality seeds are said to have
already adversely affected the next cotton crop. Meanwhile, the high prices
being registered by the newly harvested wheat crop in the open market
indicate a smaller wheat crop this year.
Officials have already indicated that the country would need at least about
four million tons of wheat to cover the domestic shortages which would mean
an expenditure of around a billion dollars on the import of wheat.
Similarly, sugar shortages are expected to be to the tune of 30-35 per cent
which would mean expenditure of another $500 million.
This additional burden of $1.5 billion on the import bill would not leave
enough foreign exchange in the hands of the government to finance the
liberal imports that would be needed following the expected accelerated
investment activity in the wake of reduction in tariff and tax rates and
slabs.
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970630
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Economic indicators confirm failure of reform
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Jassim Taqui
The Economic Survey 1996-1997, has contained for the first time since 1990
some shocking indicators about the state of economy.
Several governments in the past attempted to doctor figures in the Survey
to show artificial economic progress. Every government in the past tried to
suppress its economic performance and the manner in which it observed
deregulation, privatization and structural adjustment.
This time, with a new government in power, genuine figures are produced in
the Survey to show the failing of the previous government. Implicit in the
Survey, however, is the failure of all governments during the period
1990-1997 in managing the economy.
Economically, one cannot look at figures in isolation. It is only fair to
compare them with the 'doctored' figures and statistics of previous years.
And it so happens that the previous government conceded doctoring of
economic figures and - even establish a committee to look into the matter
and report to the prime minister. However, due to the corruption within the
government and bureaucracy, nothing has come out in the public.
The Survey shows that all major economic indicators dropped alarmingly. The
GDP growth rate was recorded at 3.1 percent, agriculture at 0.7 percent,
and the manufacturing sector at 1.8 percent. Due to financial indiscipline
and rampant corruption, the budget deficit stood at 6.2 percent while it
should have been 4 percent as per the accord, the previous government
signed with the IMF.
Inflation stood at 12.11 percent and the trade gap climbed to $3.1 billion.
These figures, however, are further challenged by independent sources,
which put the budget deficit at 7.2 percent of the GDP, inflation at over
20 percent and the trade gap at $3.5 billion.
Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz has attempted to put the blame squarely on the
PPP government. But the fact remains that all previous governments should
bear equal responsibility for two major reasons.
First, the economic policies of the PPP government were the continuation of
previous governments. The PPP might be responsible for the deteriorated
economic conditions, but the economic mess was there even when the PPP
government took over.
Second, the Survey included only three months of the PPP government. How
can Mr. Sartaj Aziz then put the blame squarely on the PPP ? Other factors
have to be taken into consideration in analyzing the miserable economic
indicators. The growth rate dropped mainly due to a considerable fall in
the output of major crops, which went down by 4.6 percent from a strong of
7.2 percent in 1995- 1996.
The main problem was the agricultural sector, which registered a marginal
growth of 0.7 percent. This rather surprising decline has been the result
of a sharp fall in the cotton production (- 11.5 percent), sugarcane (-7.1
percent) and wheat (-3.1 percent).
Cotton production declined from 10.6 million bales to 9.4 million bales.
This poor yield is attributed to leaf curl virus and white fly. For this,
the research section in the Ministry of Agriculture should be hold
responsible since it failed to take concrete efforts to fight these deadly
pest. Similarly, sugarcane declined from 45.2 million tons to 42 million
tons and wheat from 16.9 million tons to 16.4 million tons.
While the agricultural sector deteriorated due to lack of planning,
research and drought, the manufacturing sector was relatively better
placed. Ironically, the reforms were supposed to enhance the production of
agriculture as per IMF conditionalities.
The manufacturing sector showed a relatively better growth of 1.8 percent
as per the Survey. This clearly shows the failure of the reform policies
dictated by the IMF.
Since the projected structural adjustment was too hard to follow, previous
government resorted to other tactics to cope with rising challenges. For
example, the Survey shows that domestic credit expansion was 13.9 percent
against a target of 12.2 percent. The report has unfortunately showed part
of the facts regarding borrowing for budgetary support.
According to the Survey the same stood at Rs 81.52 billion during the first
nine months of 1996-1997. The last three months have been deliberately
omitted. It is estimated that borrowing for budgetary support has escalated
during the remaining three months to Rs 112 billion.
Economic reform has also failed to enhance revenue and reduce the
expenditure of the government. Revenue fell short of the revised target by
Rs 10.8 billion due to lower tax revenue collected by the federal
government and the share of indirect taxes in total revenue declined by 3.4
percent.
It was hoped that the economic reform would reduce expenditure especially
when the government is pursuing the privatization policy. Ironically, the
economic reform has worked in opposite directions when the expenditure
exceeded the budget by Rs 14 billion.
Conditionalities of economic reform, mainly reduction of tariffs, have
contributed to worsening trade balances as also services, which markedly
deteriorated. Receipts from trade in services have stagnated, while
payments have gone up by 16 percent.
The only hope to overcome economic crisis is to implement the new economic
package deal of Nawaz Sharif's government. The package deal attempts to
introduce a new economic reform. This needs political stability since a
more stable political environment should enhance economic performance. This
mission should be relatively easy since the present government has received
the biggest mandate in the chequered political history of Pakistan.
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970701
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Local and foreign investors to be protected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, June 30: The Corporate Law Authority (CLA) has proposed the
appointment of the chief executives of the stock exchanges from the private
sector to ensure transparency and the protection of the interests of the
local and foreign investors as was the standard practice in the whole
world, including in the neighboring countries.
"The government has not proposed, and does not plan to induct any
bureaucrat on the boards of a stock exchanges. The new scheme provides for
1/4 outside directors on a stock exchange board and they would be taken
from the private sector, representing chartered accountants and investment
banking", said an official of the CLA.
When approached, he said the idea was to strengthen the self regulatory
role of the stock exchanges since more professional management's and a few
directors representing the interest of the investing public would lead to
delegation of greater regulatory authority from the CLA to the stock
exchanges.
The decision has been taken to satisfy the foreign investors who often
complain about the transparency in running the stock exchanges. A senior
official of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) stationed in the
capital endorsed the decision of the government to protect the interest of
the investors by having the chief executive of the stock exchanges from the
private sector.
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970701
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposal to convert Modarabas into Leasing Companies
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, June 30: The government is actively considering a proposal to
allow the Modarabas to be converted into leasing companies and Mutual Funds.
Informed sources said that the government wanted to help out the Modarabas
which were facing lot of restrictions, one of which was that their members
were making late payments. They also avoid paying even a very minor
increases in the interest payment. It was said that the Modarabas needed
lot of documentation which was not possible due to which a proposal was
being considered to allow them to convert into leasing companies and Mutual
Funds.
Sources said that a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice
(Retd) Shafi ur Rehman was expected to look into the issue shortly as has
been requested by the CLA. Moreover sources said that ever since the
government introduced tax on Modarabas in 1992, they became unviable to
some extent. They also lacked transparency laws.
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970703
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Massive tax evasion detected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ikram Hoti
ISLAMABAD, July 2: The Central Board of Revenue has detected a tax fraud
which might turn out to be one of the biggest in the history of tax
collection in Pakistan. Involving more than 500 industrial units, the money
attempted to be evaded is estimated to be more than Rs 5 billion.
Sources told Dawn that the simplest of the tricks has been applied by the
industrialists to evade Sales Tax during the assessment year 1996-97. The
percentage of tax chargeable on sales declared has been applied in a way
that the assessed tax payable is shown far below the amounts due. This way,
more than 400 industrial units are reported to have attempted evasion of
amounts of tax money in the range of one to five million rupees a month,
each. This kind of evasion has come to light after an exercise conducted by
CBR to collect reports on functioning of industrial units countrywide.
Following cuts announced in the tax rates by Nawaz Sharif government in the
months of May and June, it was reportedly being computed by the CBR to
determine the number of industrial units that closed down, or functioned
strikingly below their declared capacity. This exercise was deemed
necessary after finding out that the shortfall in collection of revenues
was far greater than the amounts of tax money that could not be collected
due to poor sales during the financial year 1996-97. This computation was
carried out on the basis of the data on functioning units available with
the CBR.
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970705
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Trading volume soars to record 136 million shares
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 4: Stocks finished the weekend session with an extended gain
as follow-up support figured prominently on selected counters at the lower
levels amid brisk trading.
The KSE 100-share index recovered another 25.22 points at 1,674.05 amid a
largest-ever single session volume of 136 million shares.
It was perhaps for the first time in the recent past that the volume figure
has touched the high mark of 58 million shares just in a short Friday
session. The buying interest,however, remained largely selective as
investors were not inclined to move away from the safe havens.
The credit for sustaining the smart rebound, not warranted by objective
conditions both on the political and economic fronts, largely goes to
massive foreign buying in PTCL and Hub-Power, which generated active
sympathetic support at the lower levels on other blue chips counters.
"It might not be the capital inflow from the Hong Kong stock market after
it joined its mother country on July 1, some brokers make it look like
that," some analysts said and added "There is no denying the fact that a
massive foreign support has just crept into the rings."
"Over 100 million shares have changed hands in it and it reflects quick
gains might not be only motive behind this buying spree," said an analyst.
He said Hub-Power could also turn massive activities in sympathy but it
could rise by fractions and there could be a brake too around Rs 45.
"But as the unfolding scenario tells, the current pace of foreign buying
could lift prices of blue chips substantially higher in the coming sessions
irrespective of the background news," he added.
Plus signs, therefore, again dominated list with PSO, General Tyre,
Pak-Suzuki Motors, Engro Chemicals and Lever Brothers being among the top
gainers, rising by Rs 2 to 5.
Crescent Bank, Prime Bank, Al-Faysal Bank, IGI, Nishat Mills, Burshane
Pakistan, Pak Slag Cement and Suraj Cotton followed them and posted gains
ranging from one rupee to Rs 4.50.
Losses on the other hand were fractional and reflected lack of support
rather large selling from any quarter. Third ICP and PIC fell by Rs 1.25 to
1.50 while others showed decline from 50 to 95 paisa.
The KSE 100-share index was last quoted at 1,674.05 from the previous
1,648.85, showing a rise of 26.20 points.
Volume soared to a new peak level of 136 million shares despite a short
Friday session totalling 68 million shares as compared to 65 million shares
a day earlier.
The most active list was topped by PTCL, up Rs 1.15 on 22.385 million
shares, followed by Hub-Power, higher 65 paisa on 12.210 million shares,
ICI Pakistan, easy 10 paisa on 8.512 million, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, steady
five paisa on 6 million shares, and Dewan Salman, lower 20 paisa on 3
million shares.
The sudden burst into activity of the FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, apparently by
some positive background news, provided the day's feature as it was
actively traded all through the session, accounting far about 7 million
shares. The extent of a fractional gain of only five paisa showed that no
one is inclined to sell it for obvious reasons.
The other actively traded shares were led by Dhan Fibre, lower 25 paisa on
1 million shares, KESC, off 85 paisa on 0.429 million shares, Askari Bank,
up 60 paisa on 0.461 million shares, D. G. Khan Cement, steady 10 paisa on
0.296 million shares, and Faysal Bank, easy 35 paisa on 0.180 million
shares. There were several other notable deals also.
There 297 actives, which came in for trading, out of which 136 shares rose
while 104 fell with 57 holding on to the last levels.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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970629
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Talking to talk
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
BEFORE our spooks come crawling round my house again, asking "Kya baat
hu'a?" as they normally do each time an Indian High Commissioner and I
meet, let me tell them what happened when I had breakfast this week with
Satish Chandra and his Foreign Secretary, Salman Haider.
Normally on being questioned, my answer is that I greet the Indian by
calling him a son of a seasick sea-cook, to which he retorts that I am a
son of Big Bertha, and from there we carry on blaming each other's
governments for the woes we bring upon ourselves. That is how our
conversation goes. The scouts depart, seemingly puzzled, but satisfied, and
I often wonder what they write in their reports.
This time round, I opened up by warning Satish and his FS, in no uncertain
terms, that the Prithvi's do not frighten us, that we have our Qadeers,
capable not only of razing each and every Indian city to the ground, but of
doing so over and over again. I informed them that the Pakistani soldier is
now taller and stronger than he was a quarter of a century ago, and that
one of ours can now be equated, at the very least, with six of theirs. They
both, of course, were petrified and duly shivered and shuddered.
Foreign Secretary Salman Haider is calm and laid-back, close to ground
realities, an enlightened man with whom one can deal. His service record is
impressive, his postings including: Second Secretary, London, 1963-66;
First Secretary, Kabul, 1970-72 (he is as convinced as I that the Afghans
are only at peace when they are at war); Director, Prime Minister's office,
New Delhi, 1974-77; Deputy Permanent Representative, United Nations, New
York, 1977-80; Deputy High Commissioner, London, 1987-91; Ambassador,
Beijing, 1991-92; Foreign secretary since 1995.
Haider expressed his happiness with the way he had been treated here and
the manner in which we talked to (a good step). He knows that we know that
they are not going to part with an inch of territory they hold, and we know
that they know that we consider Azad Kashmir to be an integral part of
Pakistan, that it is not held in trust for the Kashmiris on their side.
What else did we talk about? We agreed that we should treat each other as
normal human beings inhabiting the same planet. When a Pakistani meets an
Indian, they should not behave as if it was a case of ET-x meeting ET-y.
For instance, whenever Helmut Kohl nips across the border into France to
have a dozen pieds de porc with Jacques Chirac, or Chirac crosses the Rhine
for a dish of Saumagen mit Sauerkraut with the Chancellor, is it publicised
as a summit? Why can't Gujral and Nawaz, both 'asi tusi', sharing the same
mother tongue, not spend a few weekends together, alternating between Simla
and Murree. Has Nawaz ever viewed the Taj Mahal by moonlight?
In Europe, border crossings from one country to another have seldom posed
problems (even less now in the days of Europass). I remember an incident
years ago, in the sixties, when my wife, my daughter, my son and I drove
from Geneva one afternoon to have dinner in France, as do daily many
residents of and visitors to Geneva without any formalities. There were no
border barriers, we drove out unchecked. On the way back, out of the blue
and at a spot with no border markings, a Swiss policeman suddenly popped
out of a small shack and flagged us down - ours was perhaps the sole car of
the day he stopped, just to remind himself that he was a border guard. In
Gujerati I told my wife to forget her French and say nothing.
He asked me in French for my passport, I answered in English saying I did
not have it on me. He asked me for my driving license. My answer was the
same. He asked for the car papers. Likewise. He expressed his regrets that
all this being so he had no option but to detain us for further
questioning. Where? I wondered. In his two-room cottage? At that point I
thought it judicious to tell my wife to open up and explain. We were
Pakistanis, visiting Geneva, staying in an hotel. We had driven over to
France to dine, as we had done countless times before without being checked
at the border. Our passports, my driving license and the car papers were
all at the hotel. He could perhaps telephone and have the Hall Porter
identify us and confirm our story.
He went into his cottage, returned after a while and told us all was well.
Exasperated, yet not angry, he told us never again to be so lax. You are in
a car with German number plates, he said, you look like a goddamned Greek,
your wife speaks French like a Frenchwoman and dresses like an Indian, your
son is in a suit and looks like an Englishman, and your daughter has the
air of an Italian. He threw up his hands and waved us on.
Why cannot both Pakistanis and Indians open up their borders, reduce the
visa restrictions, do away with the rules that confine visits to specified
cities and require reporting at respective police stations? Why cannot
multiple-entry visas be given? Why are we suspect in each other's
countries, two countries that at one time were one country? Gujral has said
that no man who appears at the Indian embassy at Islamabad should be turned
away and not given a visa. Satish Chandra says this is all very well, but
he can do it only if he has additional staff. Our man in Delhi must have
the same problem.
Why can the people of India not buy and read Pakistani newspapers and
publications, and why are we denied access to the Indian Press? Salman
Haider saw no reason, as presumably does our foreign secretary.
Satish, Haider and I shared the same lament about politicians. On both
sides they have everything in common. There are bigots in both countries,
uneducated, as their calling would suggest. We did not argue over the
numbers. Every second man in the assemblies on both sides is intent on
depriving the people of normal contact merely for his own good. There are
no longer Jinnahs and Jawaharlals, Nazimuddins and Shastris, men of
integrity and honour who even paid for the ink that went into their
fountain pens. Both Salman and Satish genuinely felt sorry about how their
government had dealt with Jinnah's house on Malabar Hill. A bit of goodwill
on both sides would have gone a long way.
Kashmir has become a habit, a bad habit. Like the weather, bad or good,
there now seems nothing we can do about this half-century deadlock that is
getting no one anywhere, that is pushing us both back and down.
Were Chanakya (a Machiavellian long before Machiavelli came on the world
scene) around at this stage he would advise his Master, to allow the
Kashmiris to choose for themselves. He would see to it that they opted for
independence from either state, for self-rule. He would ensure that they
would then ask the Indians (at Kashmir's expense, of course) to guard their
borders for them against Pakistani or Chinese interference, the troops
poised and guarding rather than killing Kashmiri Muslims (which would also
suit our army). It would leave the Kashmiris free to concentrate on growing
and exporting saffron, developing tourism, importing Swiss bankers and
opening up a Swiss-style banking industry (attracting Pakistani and Central
Asian money), and gaining acceptance into the United Nations to lobby for
the return of Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas of Gilgit and Skardu. He
would even get Saddam to recognize the Taliban throwing the State
Department Pinkies into a nose-spin. This would take us all well into the
21st century and perhaps a total change of mind-set. But there is no
Chanakya today. There is no Chandragupta, there is no Ashoka. We have no
wise men, who think for themselves, who think ahead, who care and know what
is best for their people, who are not afraid of doing the right thing, who
can stand up against their opponents and act.
I asked Shri Salman Haider whether I could write about our earth-shaking
discussion. He said, go ahead, but don't take my pants down. Not to fear,
said I, I'll leave them on for your bigots to take them off when you get
home. Gujral, too, has to put up with a leader of the opposition who
formulates his protests and objections and decries Gujral's doings the day
before they are done.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
970630
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Terrorism should be defined
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Omar Kureishi
WE have every right to feel outraged at the abduction of Aimal Kansi though
there would be more reason to feel humiliated. That he was snatched with
the collusion of our own agencies does not make it legal or less palatable.
That most of the government functionaries including those who should have
been, at least, in the picture, knew nothing of the high drama that was
enacted in the waking hours at the Shalimar Hotel in Dera Ghazi Khan is not
entirely surprising.
The list of those who "need to know" is an extremely restricted one,
national security not being deemed to be everyone's cup of tea, and
sometimes it is felt that the elected representatives of a sovereign
parliament don't have to have their repose disturbed on matters that
impinge on the self-respect of a nation. With due respect to the democratic
process, the cause of democracy is best advanced by the use of undemocratic
methods which include disregarding the laws of the land.
After all look at the number of attempts that were made to assassinate
Fidel Castro, starting with Eisenhower. The idea of bumping off the Cuban
leader was not just to get rid of an inconvenient thorn in the side but
pursue a higher ideal: restoring democracy and its manifest virtues of the
ennobling kind that was represented by Batista so splendidly. The attempted
assassination of the leader of a sovereign nation by another sovereign
nation should be considered a highly criminal pursuit but the end justifies
the means and it's all a part of a day's work in the murky world of real
politik. It's strategy not murder. There's a difference.
But Aimal Kansi's particular case opens up a new line of questioning. What
is the definition of a terrorist? On January 25, 1993, during the morning
rush hour, a gunman acting alone, opened fire on commuters outside the
headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virgina killing two CIA employees and
wounding three other people. Aimal Kansi was identified as that lone gunman
on the evidence of his prints found on the spent shell casings.
Let us assume that Aimal Kansi was the man who killed the two CIA employees
and wounded three others. Why should this be considered an act of terrorism
rather than pure and simple homicide? There is no evidence, none that has
surfaced in the four years since the killings, that Aimal Kansi was acting
on behalf of a group that was at "war" with the United States. There has to
be a difference between a murderer and a terrorist. Every act of homicide
that occurs is not an act of terrorism. Timothy McVeigh can be described as
a terrorist. The young man who murdered the son of the television comedian
Cosby cannot.
Before judgment is passed on Aimal Kansi, and I don't mean legal judgment,
we will need to know (apart from whether he was that gunman) what his
motives were. Were his motives personal or were they ideological? Did Aimal
Kansi have something specific against the CIA per se or did the CIA, in his
mind, symbolize the United States? If it was something personal, then we
are in the area of homicide and all the self-righteousness that goes in
condemning international terrorism does not apply in his case.
Terrorism has replaced communism as the bogey-man. In the witch-hunts of
the late forties and fifties when Senator Joseph McCarthy (a drunken sailor
out on the town on a Saturday night) was on the rampage, wrecking the
ideals that made the United States a land of the free, the definition of a
communist was so flexible that even those who believed in the stirring
opening lines of the United States Constitution... all men are created
equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights among them life,
liberty and pursuit of happiness, were considered, if not agents of the
Kremlin, fellow-traveler's at the very least.
We not only had card-carrying communists but commies and pinkos and
crypto-communists and pseudo-socialists. I happened to be in the United
States in those days, studying at the University of Southern California and
even at that young age I was appalled at the intensity of the hysteria and
I would tell my friends that communism posed no danger to the ideological
foundations of the United States, and the best way to fight it was with
openness rather than fear. Today, international terrorism is perceived to
be a threat. That it is, cannot be denied and there is no doubt that
international terrorism cuts across national frontiers. It needs
international co-operation. But we must safeguard against chasing shadows
and considering all acts of violence as terrorist acts. We may end up in a
new version of McCarthyism.
It is most unfortunate that Aimal Kansi is being considered as some kind of
a trophy which the FBI and the CIA have won. The FBI agents who kidnapped
Aimal Kansi in a cloak and dagger operation were treated as heroes. When
they went to meet with CIA's employees, they were given a standing ovation.
This is something out of Hollywood, something of John Wayneism. In this
super-charged atmosphere, does Kansi have a prayer of getting a fair trial?
That the FBI agents, prima facie, acted unlawfully will not count for
anything. But there is a moral question: can governments themselves act
unlawfully in the pursuit of justice? Obviously they can, if it is
perceived to be in the greater good and who is to decide what is the
greater good? The governments themselves! Is this a case of the wrong deed
for the right reason, a reversal of T.S. Elliot's last judgment?
I will say nothing about the violation of due process and of national
sovereignty. It has already been said, forcefully by some and in a
roundabout way by others.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
970701
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Is US above law and morality?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ghani Eirabie
ALARMED at flagrant contradictions in the US moral code, many of us wonder
if these are to blame on arrogance of power, or lack of maturity that
distorts a superpower's global perspective, or a measure of
short-sightedness that reduces its perception to tunnel vision.
Suspicion is aroused by three recent developments: one, Washington's
betrayal of democracy in Algeria; two, the USA's pursuit of a blatantly
partisan policy-line in the Israeli-Arab dispute; and three, the United
States riding rough-shod over sovereignty of smaller states like Pakistan,
and plunging an entire nation into the throes of deep anguish.
In Algeria, the way America sponsored a military coup against the popularly
elected nationalist government, exposed, for all time to come, the
hollowness of its much vaunted commitment to democracy. In the Middle East,
skipping over the historical evidence of its anti-Arab prejudices,
resulting in the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel, even current
incidents testify to America's continuing animosity - as shown by
Washington's bid to save Israel from the political and financial
consequences of its wanton killing of Arab refugees in a U.N.-maintained
Lebanese camp, or by the U.S. Congress gratuitously passing a resolution
declaring Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel, or by President
Clinton's calculated failure to block the Israeli Prime Minister's bid to
wriggle out of solemn commitments - made through the US President himself -
to restore Palestinian sovereignty to West Bank.
The latest evidence of Washington's crude exercise of power is the manner
in which it has tampered with the sovereignty of an old ally by reaching
out and grabbing a Pakistani citizen without showing the slightest respect
for Pakistani law or constitution. He was entitled to a court hearing and
it was denied him. The USA's deployment of its own agencies, the CIA and
FBI, to seize Aimal Kansi in Pakistan territory and whisk him away to the
United States without what American proudly call "due process of law"
amounts to a grievous beach of civilized behavior.
True, Aimal Kansi is no hero; even on his own showing, he is guilty of
committing a heinous crime, of murdering two innocent persons, picked up at
random who were neither personal nor tribal foes deserving to die under the
Baloch or Pakhtun code of honor. Therefore anybody here viewing him as some
sort of a hero is displaying the same type of warped mind as Kansi seems to
be possessed of. Level-headedness demands that we make a clear distinction
between two things: Kansi, a fugitive from justice who perhaps deserves to
die for destroying two American lives and the American "super-cop" acting
to destroy the self-respect of an entire nation. The "equation" is grossly
unfair.
Newspaper reports suggest that the Americans did not restrict themselves to
persuasion alone but resorted to pressure to make Pakistan comply with
their improper demand, namely: deny Kansi his constitutional right to a
court hearing in Pakistan and hand him over to the US authorities to face
the murder charge in America. A New York dispatch in Dawn of June 23
reveals the stakes: "Ultimately it was the threat of broad-based
international sanctions against Pakistan by the United States which forced
the Pakistan government ... circumventing the extradition treaty between
the two countries. These sanctions would have affected, among other things,
all trade with Pakistan and the loans of the donor agencies like the IMF
and World Bank etc., under the stipulation of International Terrorism Act
signed by President Clinton in 1995. If this Act were invoked against
Pakistan, it would have ended up putting the country on the State
Department's list of states sponsoring terrorism".
Faced with Hobson's choice, the Pakistan leadership took the correct
decision; but what the Americans do not seem to realize is that they have
paid a heavy price for their pig-headedness. They have alienated the
country's public opinion; they need only scan through the columns of
Pakistani newspapers to gauge the depth of popular resentment.
We, on our part, need to recognize the harsh reality that as a fallout from
our involvement in the Afghan liberation movement and as a consequence of
proximity to the battle-ground, we have, however reluctantly, become the
last refuge of not only political activists of several Middle East
countries but also international terrorists; and this reputation has begun
to hurt us. At one time, we almost lost Egypt as a friend, so bitter was
Cairo at our alleged harboring of its foes.
We have also received complaints from Russia, some Central Asian republics
and the Philippines; and Iraqi terrorist Yusuf Ramzi, accused of
master-minding the blowing up of the Word Trade Centre in New York, was
actually seized from our soil. True, we are not to blame for creating a
situation that breeds political activists, freedom-fighters or terrorists,
call them what you may but Pakistan, rightly or wrongly, has come to
attract the charge that we host them or let them hide away in our
territory. We need clean our act quickly; we have already forced many such
groups to leave our country; some have gone home but most have moved into
Afghanistan, which is not good enough, because of the ease of
border-crossing and the inevitable use of Pakistan as the normal
travel-route. The point is we have to be perpetually on the alert to escape
being tainted with uncommitted sins.
Our grouse is that the Americans, who used Pakistan to fight their last war
with the "evil empire" on the Afghan soil, and created all the problems we
are faced with today, should know better and act more wisely. It is
difficult to accept their argument that the United States is, in fact,
motivated by a desire to help Pakistan and strengthen it economically and
politically. We find nothing on the ground to back this claim. Illustrative
of this "double talk" is Washington' stance on missiles. Even while seeing
India develop several types of missiles which from point of view of their
range and capability, can be used against Pakistan alone, Washington has
made no tangible move to underwrite our security.
The American Press in particular the" Washington Post" and the "Washington
Times", have highlighted the moving of the Pakistan-specific Prithvi from
the factory in Central India to Jallundhar in East Punjab for deployment on
the Indo-Pakistan border. Prithvi can carry either a 1000 kg warhead over
150 km or 500 kg over 250 km' and missile specialist Timothy McCarthy
writes in "India, an Emerging Missile Power" that it may also be nuclear
capable". However, US officials, while conceding the gravity of the threat
posed to Pakistan security by the deployment of Prithvi and holding India
responsible for accentuating tension in the region, have refused to miss
the opportunity of warning Pakistan that if it draws upon Chinese-made M-11
missiles, it would attract U.S. punitive action.
The American logic is impossible to understand. What makes it presume that
India's home-made missiles are less lethal than any Pakistan may draw upon
in self-defence. Further, if it is only the use of imported components that
is objectionable from the American point of view, then we only need quote
Indian columnist Atul Aneja as disclosing in "The Hindu" of February 27,
1994:" Indian missiles are still dependent on sophisticated American
components." According to a 1995 Risk Report by a Washington-based
institute the "Wisconsin Project": "India has consistently used foreign
help to convert its space rockets to nuclear-capable missiles. Imports,
some overt, some clandestine, have nourished India's nuclear and missile
efforts from the start - and the Report lists the countries, U.S., France,
Germany and Russia, and the nature of assistance provided by each over
three decades of mutual collaboration.
Given the position that indigenous missiles are not less lethal than
imported ones and that India's missiles in any case are also made up of
imported components, what moral code would the United States now invoke to
justify the duplicity of its missile policy in the indo-Pakistan
Subcontinent. Even duplicity cannot long sustain intellectual dishonesty.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
970705
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese lessons
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mazdak
IN the wake of the spectacularly joyous celebrations in Hong Kong and
Beijing over the British colony's reunification with China, there are
certain lessons to be learned by us in Pakistan.
China, an ancient and proud civilisation, suffered 150 years of humiliation
over the sight of Hong Kong being in foreign hands. Even after the
Communist revolution fifty year ago, Mao Zedong and his successors remained
patient, continuing to deal with the West at different levels, while
steadfastly keeping their claim on Hong Kong alive until they finally
negotiated its return with Mrs Margaret Thatcher. During the last few
decades, they have continued to develop their economy, steadily expanding
their exports to the West. Despite the irritation they must have felt over
British posturing in their backyard, they did not sulk or let their
territorial claim affect their broad range of interests in other areas.
Macau is due to follow shortly, and I am willing to bet that before too
long, Taiwan will opt for the "one country, two systems" formula and agree
to some kind of face-saving reunification deal.
This pragmatic, patient and measured approach contrasts starkly with
Pakistan's one-dimensional Kashmir policy. Granted that we have a pretty
solid legal case, but in international relations, being right is not as
important as being strong. And more and more, strength is measured in GDP
per capita, not in the number of tanks a country can field. This is
something even the ideologically-motivated Communist leadership in Beijing
recognised long ago; unfortunately this simple fact of life has long eluded
our leaders.
For the first time in nearly fifty years, we have a government that is
gingerly attempting to break free of the rigid mindset of a lifetime. It
has taken a businessman prime minister to finally grasp that we cannot hope
to compete with the rest of the world if we continue to sink the bulk of
our resources into the black hole of bloated defence budgets. And quite
apart from the hundreds of billions sunk into this unproductive enterprise
every year, there is the high cost involved in basing our policies and
relationships exclusively on the basis of their bearing on Kashmir.
Delegates at the UN and officials and journalists in foreign capitals duck
for cover when they see our relentless diplomats approaching to buttonhole
them yet again over Kashmir. As an issue, it has been flogged to death and
is now an embarrassment to our few remaining friends when it is trotted out
with monotonous regularity at international forums. From a sense of tired
resignation and habit, some of them make diplomatically soothing noises,
but active international support has been steadily declining over the
years, no matter what successive governments in Islamabad have chosen to
believe. Even in Pakistan, the reality is that the further south you get
from Kashmir, the less strident people are about it. Ordinary citizens
across Pakistan have come to terms with the reality that we cannot gain
Kashmir by force of arms. Many people also do not consider the Valley a
life-or-death issue for Pakistan.
Britain sat down at the negotiating table with China over the Hong Kong
issue not because the latter had a strong legal case, but because they
decided that they had to do business with the Chinese out of their own
self-interest. Had China not achieved the kind of startling economic
success that it has, I doubt if we would have seen the spectacular display
of fireworks over Hong Kong harbour a few days ago. Over the years,
Taiwanese businessmen have been the biggest investors in mainland China:
obviously, they have seen the trend, and have placed themselves
strategically for the time the two countries are reunited.
Basically, the Chinese leadership has succeeded where we have failed
because it did not make Hong Kong the end-all and be-all of all their
dealings abroad. Mao, Zhou en lai, Lin Piao, Deng and the others realised
early that to be respected in the community of nations, and to win their
colonised territories back, they had to be strong, not just right. And they
have consistently channelled their nation's energies towards that goal. We
have taken the opposite path by draining our resources and virtually
forcing our friends to choose between us and India. Obviously, given our
neighbour's size and economic potential, this has not been a difficult
choice for most countries. The result of these misguided policies is that
we have grown progressively weaker and more isolated while India and the
rest of the world spurt further and further ahead. Meanwhile, our dream of
getting Indian-occupied Kashmir remains as distant as ever, but, of course,
we can always draw solace from the assumption that we are in the right.
The problem with taking ideological positions is that one loses a sense of
where one's self-interest truly lies. Clearly, there was and is a strong
case for maintaining our position on Kashmir while getting on with life.
And this implies normalizing relations with India, developing our economy,
and seeking a more balanced and normal foreign policy. This, presumably, is
what Nawaz Sharif is attempting to achieve. But more than a football
between India and Pakistan, Kashmir has long been a stick politicians in
both countries have used to beat their opponents with. So both Gujral and
Sharif have been drawing flak from every direction over the recent
secretary-level talks.
Ideally, we would all do well to refrain from hysterical outbursts if the
working group on Kashmir makes slower progress than the others. But knowing
the thought processes of our home-grown hawks, it would not come as a
surprise if they shrieked in protest over what they will perceive as a
sell-out on Kashmir. When it comes, the government would do well to ignore
this chorus and press ahead with the important task of normalizing ties
with our neighbour.
Inevitably, powerful forces in the foreign offices, the defence
establishments and the intelligence communities on both sides of the border
have come to acquire a stake in the continuation of the status quo. For
them, peace between the two countries will mean a cut in jobs, a
diminishing of their importance and poorer career prospects. Of course, all
these very human ambitions and aspirations are couched in the garb of
national security and patriotism, but at the end of the day, the
bottom-line is that Kashmir has come to be a bread-and-butter issue for
millions in both India and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the poor Kashmiris themselves are gradually coming to terms with
hard realities. Unfortunately, their wishes count for very little in
Islamabad and New Delhi where nothing has been learned, and nothing
forgotten in half a century.
===================================================================
970705
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Sohail, Hasan Raza reportedly picked for Asia Cup
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Samiul Hasan
KARACHI, July 4: Aamir Sohail returned from his odyssey to the mainstream
squad when the selectors reportedly recalled him apparently in a bid to
boost the batting and bowling of a 14-member lineup for the Asia Cup on
Friday. The selection committee meeting was held at the cricket
headquarters in Lahore.
The selectors, however, have submitted the team to the Chief Executive of
the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Majid Khan, who will forward it to the
Executive Council for its approval.
The Executive Council is meeting on Saturday afternoon to deliberate on a
nine-item agenda with the approval of the team and Talat Ali's report on
Aamir Sohail's hearing topping the list.
The team will, however, be officially released on Saturday evening.
Besides Aamir Sohail, a former captain, the selectors have included the
name of 15-year-old Hasan Raza who is expected to return from England in
the coming week. If he fails to join the team in Pakistan, he will
accompany Saqlain Mushtaq who arrives in Colombo on July 13-a day before
the tournament kicks off with Pakistan playing the opener against Bangladesh.
The 14-member team, finalised by the selectors and subject to Council's
approval, according to sources close to the board, is:
Ramiz Raja (captain), Saeed Anwar (vice-captain), Aamir Sohail, Shahid
Afridi, Salim Malik, Inzamamul Haq, Hasan Raza, Moin Khan (wicketkeeper),
Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Husain, Arshad Khan, Aqib Javed, Kabir Khan and
Shahid Nazir.
Haroon Rasheed is cricket manager of the team while Zaheer Abbas is
expected to be named tour manager on Saturday.
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970704
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sohail pays fine; appears before PCB panel
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ilyas Beg
LAHORE, July 3: Aamir Sohail paid the fine of Rs 50,000 imposed on him and
also appeared before the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) disciplinary
committee at the Qadhafi Stadium.
The committee chairman Talat Ali and a member Ashraf Qureshi heard the
cricketer for one hour and also put questions to Aamir Sohail, which he
answered.
Talking to reporters after the hearing, Talat Ali said that he would be
submitting "findings" of the case to the PCB which was expected to hand the
report over to the Council scheduled to meet at the Qadhafi Stadium on July
5 (Saturday) at 11 am. Only that body was authorized to take a final
decision about the whole issue. The chairman parried a question saying: "I
am not authorized to divulge the details of the hearing or decision of the
committee to newsmen. The PCB can make the decision public only after its
consideration by the Council".
While talking to this reporter on Thursday evening, the PCB chief executive
Majid Khan said that any further decision about Aamir Sohail and his
selection or non-selection in the Pakistan senior team for the fourth Asia
Cup being played in Sri Lanka would be taken by the PCB Council.
"On my inquiring from the PCB staff, I was told that Aamir Sohail has paid
the fine of Rs 50,000 imposed on him by the Council for violating Code of
Conduct and leveling charges of betting and match-fixing against some
teammates. It indicates that Aamir Sohail is available for selection. I do
not have any more details about the hearing of Aamir Sohail by the
disciplinary committee, which will be submitting its report to the board
for placing that before the Council on Saturday", said Majid Khan while
replying to a question.
When the waiting journalists approached Aamir Sohail for his point of view
about the whole episode and the hearing by the disciplinary committee, he
said that all he could tell was that he was fully fit. He had been training
hard and practicing to keep himself interim for any future responsibilities.
"Yes! I have paid the fine of Rs 50,000. As for my selection in the
Pakistan team or future course of events, better ask the disciplinary
committee or the PCB, " said Aamir Sohail while replying to a volley of
questions from the journalists hovering around him as he came out of the
room where the meeting was held.
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970630
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Why Kenya & Bangladesh were not given Test status?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
THE recent decision at the annual caucus of the International Cricket
Council to recognize the progress of the game in Kenya and Bangladesh and
give them a special one-day status cannot but be welcomed but many critics
and observers are surprised as to why the global representatives of cricket
went halfway and did not include them in the category of Test-playing nations?
According to media reports all the limited-overs international fixtures of
the two countries will be given official one-day status. Similarly, three-
or four-day games there against touring squads will be treated as first
class matches. Certainly the game's popularity in the two nations, its
progress and the countries' own records in international competitions have
been given due cognizance. But still one cannot understand the test and
trials to which they have to go through for attaining full membership of
the ICC.
Bangladesh has been asked to engage in 'A' team duels. They have to arrange
tours inside their land as also undertake visits abroad. Then their success
will be assessed in yearly meetings of the ICC. The monitoring process
would continue for a minimum of two years. The country will be in a queue
along with Kenya, for some more years. This is discriminatory to say the
least, considering that in the cases of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe no such
conditionally was imposed nor there were hurdles in the way of the
enlargement of the comity of cricketing nations.
Kenya is an economically rich State; plenty of marketing and sponsorship
opportunities are there. Perhaps the media too will not lag behind in
providing the needed boost to the game. There are adequate number of venues
with modern strips. Their cricketers have the vigor, dash and the
resilience as in hockey, athletics and boxing. In the sixth World Cup,
co-hosted by the South Asian nations, the underdog African country stunned
the mighty West Indies at the Indian city of Pune. Kenya had made what
apparently was a modest score of 166. The Caribbeans were supposed to reach
the target at a canter. But the tight bowling and sprightly fielding of
Kenya clipped the wings of the West Indies and they were shot out for a
paltry 93 to lose by 73 runs. It was one of the big surprises of the global
one-day tournament as was the triumph in the final of the Sri Lankans. Was
more proof needed of the Kenyan advance in cricket?
Bangladesh initially upset the calculations of the UAE in the Asian Cricket
Council Trophy late last year in the Malaysian capital. Their convincing
victory earned them a slot in the Asia Cup to be held in Colombo in the
middle of next month. This was a regional success - a supremacy over
lightweights or developing countries of the continent.
Then Gordon Greenidge, the celebrated West Indies opener of not very long
ago, gave the Dhaka players the needed cricket education and training and
they again gave proof of their fighting capacity at Kuala Lumpur in April
in the ICC Trophy, a competition instituted in 1979 as a qualifier for the
World Cup proper. Some of the favorites fell by the way in a heap.
Bangladesh were unbeatable in the tournament matches and thrashed the
defending champions, UAE, Denmark, Scotland and Holland while reaching the
final. Here too they recorded a memorable and thrilling success over Kenya
on the last ball of the match. They deservingly qualified for the 1999
World Cup by virtue of their ICC Trophy triumph. Perhaps they should have
got full membership of the ICC. But as they prospered in cricket they
suffered frustration at the annual Lord's meeting. They have yet to go
through further ordeal. One does hope that under the training of Greenidge
the Dhaka cricketers will pass all tests and graduate as a Test nation.
However, cricket lovers in this country would like to know the role of
Pakistan's representatives at the ICC meeting, especially in relation to
the demand for justice by Kenya and Bangladesh. It was an expanded session.
It was not enough that Ehsan Mani, a Pakistani based in London, should head
the finance and marketing committee and Majid Khan will be on the
development panel of ICC the two should have strongly pleaded the cases of
Bangladesh and Kenya. Even in his recent Press briefing the cricket Chief
Executive did not throw any light on his or Mani's efforts towards gaining
Test classification for Bangladesh and Kenya.
As cricket is expanding and it has been included as a discipline in the
next Commonwealth Games in 1998 and a youth World Cup is to be staged in
South Africa as the new year heralds perhaps interest is growing in the
game in America as well. Their efforts at the April competition in Kuala
Lumpur were not successful, despite preparations and warm-up games in
Pakistan, ICC expects to hold triangular one-day contests in what hitherto
was an out-of bound area for cricket, the Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The administrators of Disney world intend to build a modern stadium with
full facilities for cricket. The one-dayers will be organized every
September for three years with the participation of all the nine-Test
playing countries. Certainly the ICC will gain handsomely monetarily but it
is possible cricket will be taken as a great fun by the Americans. They and
Canada were the first initiators of the game in 1844, and not the English
and Australians as the chroniclers have gone on repeating their mistakes.
They may yet produce another pacer like the famed J.B. King of Philadelphia
of the Golden Age.
Cricket would have been a great attraction in the United States had Kerry
Packer been allowed the freedom to help expand the game. A tiff with
Australian board and the Canberra officials brought his plans to nought.
Perhaps Disney World would take the steps to popularize the game in the
States. This will be ICC's attempt to globalise cricket and take it to
every corner of the world.
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970630
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Squash stars must coach promising youngsters
-------------------------------------------------------------------
World squash champion Jansher Khan, after suffering his recent first defeat
at the 1997 PSA super series against Scotland's Peter Nicol, the world No
three, in the second Al-Ahram International at Cairo, again expressed his
deep concern as to who would be Pakistan's flag bearer after him in world
squash.
Jansher's concern had always been shared and would continue to be shared by
the perceptive observers of the game in the country. But the big question
that remained unanswered was what positive contribution Jansher Khan and
other make for grooming the talented youngsters of the country at various
centres, expressing concern about the gap that exists between the standard
of Pakistani youth and their counterparts elsewhere.
Thanks to the Pakistan Squash Federation, which without any significant
support from its 15 affiliated units and for that matter from former world
renowned squash players embarked on the juniors development program
launched over five years ago by holding, coaching camps and competition.
The outcome of this effort is that Pakistan today has in its fold over a
dozen highly promising and talented youngsters. Several of them are on a
contract with the banks and the PIA. The Pakistan international Airlines
provides free tickets to the young contracted players who had been taken on
the basis of their performance and also on the recommendation of the PSF.
Never before in Pakistan squash history so many youngsters have been given
such incentives because air ticket involves huge expenses.
Those who are not even in the PIA contracted list are given air tickets
facilities just to help talented youngsters gain experience in the
international circuit. No squash playing country of the world provides such
facilities even to its world renowned players, what to say of youngsters.
Even Australia's past and present heroes do not get free ticket facilities.
The same is with players in England, Scotland, New Zealand, Germany. The
players have to seek sponsors for meeting their tour expenses.
At the moment we have no less than 10 talented youngsters in the PSA
professional Squash Association (PSA) circuit, besides world champion
Jansher Khan, (world number one), Zubair Jahan Khan (No 9), Zarak Jahan
Khan (No 24) Mir Saman Gul (No 29). Of the four world renowned Pakistanis,
Jansher Khan alone is carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders to bring
honor and glory for the country. Zarak Jahan in a year's time has gone up
further in the world ranking and in the latest May ranking he has gone up
from number ten to nine. Seasoned players like Zarak and Mir Zaman Gul,
however, have gone down in the rankings.
Heading the list of Pakistani youths in the PSA ranks is Kumail Mahmood
(present ranking 62, previous 64), Amjad Khan (64-113) Kashif Shuja
(79-70), Shamsul Islam Kakar (86-79), Mansoor Zaman (103-94), Mohammad
Hussain (113-154), Faisal Yaqoob Mesiya (134-88), Imtiaz Khan (152-130),
Humayun Khan (153-186), Mohammad Ilyas (194-181), Ejaz Azmat (152-130)
others in the PS circuit are Mohammad Idrees, Ejaz Akhtar, Nasir Mumtaz,
Mohammad Munir, Farhan Moeen, Zubair Ali Khan and Zafar Khan.
Also in the list are included former world junior champion Sohail Qaisar,
Umar Zaman, Raees Ahmed and Mohammad Waseemul Haq. Amjad has made
significant and appreciable improvement in his ranking. The reigning Asian
juniors champion Mansoor Zaman, after an impressive start in the PSA
ranking, surprisingly gone down but he is fully capable of bettering his
ranking through more strenuous training as he is a talented youngster.
Amjad Khan, Mohammad Hussain, Humayun Khan, Shamusul Islam Kakar, Mohammad
Ilyas, Kashif Shuja, Kumail Mahmood, Ejaz Azmat, Mansoor Zaman are all
potential youngsters and through hard work can make their way among the
40-50 players of the world by the end of the 1997 season. But the biggest
obstacle in their way is who would provide them the required coaching and
training as the former world renowned players and also our present stars
have no time to spare to harness the skill of talented youths, needing
their attention.
Even at PIA Jahangir Khan Squash Complex, no former international and
seasoned player is prepared to train the talented youngsters with the
result that they play among themselves. The youngsters cannot afford to pay
the fee demanded by the ex-internationals. This is the plight of the highly
promising youths here at the squash complex. One does not know about
Peshawar, Lahore, and Rawalpindi centres. However the Quetta players have
to come all the way to Karachi to have their practice and among them is
highly talented Humayun Khan, a Quetta college student who now intends to
get admission in any Karachi college to pursue his squash. This is how the
youngsters are struggling to improve their game without much support from
their elders who usually are in the habit of criticizing instead of making
any positive contribution to help the youngsters.
It is high time that our world renowned squash players, and coaches
realized their national responsibilities to spare their time to train the
youngsters by offering their honorary services for coaching in their
respective areas where they live, instead of making hue and cry about the
future of national squash.
The Pakistan Squash Federation and its affiliated units should work out a
more comprehensive program for the development of junior squash as without
new blood Pakistan squash cannot withstand the emerging challenges. It is
good that the PSF has instituted its first national juniors squash
championship, recently held at Wah Cantt in three different age groups of
under-18, under-16 and under-14 with a total cash prize of Rs one Lakh.
The PSF President Air Chief Marshal Mohammed Abbas Khattak and senior
vice-president Air Marshal Aliuddin have set the ball rolling. The PSF
should make it mandatory for its affiliated units to organize the juniors
championship and the provincial associations of Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and
Balochistan should follow suit. Pakistan possesses enormous talent, needing
coaching training and competitions. All the affiliated units must bestir
themselves in the interest of Pakistan squash to fill the dreaded void.
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970702
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jansher keeps No 1 rating; Nicol is 2nd
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Reporter
KARACHI July 1; Pakistan s world champion Jansher Khan maintained his world
number one ranking and Zubair Jahan Khan also retained his place at No 9
while Scotland's Peter Nicol, dislodged Australia's Rodney Eyles to move
his career-best No two in the July World squash ranking announced yesterday.
However 24-year old left-handed Peter Nicol, ranked No 3 in the previous
rankings, took a giant step forward in the July ranking when he triumphed
over world number one Jansher Khan in the 126-minute five games battle in
the final of the richest Super Series event of Al-Ahram International at
Cairo last month. Jansher was the defending champion.
Walesh Alex Gouch has gone up from 28 to 15, a spectacular rise of 13 paces
in the latest ranking.
The following is the July rankings (previous ranking in the bracket). 1.
(1) Jansher Khan (Pakistan), 2. (3) Peter Nicol (Scotland), 3. (2) Rodney
Eyles (Australia), 4. (4) Jonathan Power (Canada), 5. (7) Simon Parke
(England) 6. (5) Ahmed Barada (Egypt), 7. (6) Chris Walker (England), 8.
(8) Del Harris (England), 9.(9) Zubair Jahan Khan (Pakistan), 10. (10)
Brett Martin (Australia), 11. (15) Dan Jenson (Australia), 12. (12) Anthony
Hill (Australia) 13. (11) Mark Cairns (England), 14. (13) Mark Chaloner
(England) 15. (28) Alex Gough (Wales), 16. (17) Julien Bonetat (France),
17. (14) Craig Rowland (Australia), 18. (16) Derek Ryan (Ireland) 19. (22)
Amir Wagih (Egypt), 20. (18) Martin Heath (Scotland).
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