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Week Ending : 15 November 1997 Issue : 03/46
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PM decides to appear in person
Nawaz to give gold medals to Overseas Pakistanis
Albright to arrive on schedule
CEC asks PPP to provide evidence of poll rigging
Benazir scoffs at charges of corruption
Quota to be extended for another 20 years
Draft bill to curb piracy being prepared
US can help resolve Kashmir issue: FO
Political considerations override safety needs
Defence, PIA officials to attend Dubai air show
---------------------------------
Economy continues on lackadaisical note
Let us follow Bangladesh
Devaluation elicits scathing criticism
Environmental issue in true perspective
First Women Bank's 10.2m shares sold for Rs285 million
Inflation increases by 11.88pc
250pc rise in non-traditional exports
Forex reserves up by $117m
Real GDP expected to grow by 5.5pc
PTCL to sign MoU with multinational
Investors avoid new positions owing to negative news
---------------------------------------
Dishonesty � from Day One Ardeshir Cowasjee
The poor traffic cops! Hafizur Rahman
For the sake of the party Irfan Husain
Why hasn't the PM responded? Eqbal Ahmad
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Era of Jahangir & Jansher sustains Pakistan's supremacy
President decorates Pakistani captains
Cricket stadium to be built at Bhurban
All-rounders were our main asset, says Bacher
Wasim to lead team against West Indies
Waqar Younis dropped from first Test squad
PCB earns Rs 9.1m from one-dayers against India
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971115
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PM decides to appear in person
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided on Friday to
appear in the Supreme Court on Nov 17 to face contempt charges
against him.
Addressing a Press conference, Information Minister Mushahid Hussain
said the appearance of a prime minister in court was "nothing
unusual".
"The Caliphs used to appear in Qazi courts and it is nothing unusual
in Islamic traditions," Mr Mushahid said.
The decision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in keeping with the
traditions of Islam and "our commitment as democratic and political
force", he said.
The Information Minister parried a question whether the prime
minister would tender an apology to the court. He defended the Anti-
terrorist Act, against which several petitions were being heard by
the Supreme Court.
The government had brought in the law as a deterrent to arrest
rising incidents of sectarian violence in Punjab. Since January, 179
people have been killed in 89 different incidents of sectarian
violence in Punjab alone.
The government, he said, enacted the law in August and since then
only 14 people had been killed in five incidents of sectarian
violence.
He also declined to comment on a question whether he felt sectarian
violence would increase if the Supreme Court suspended the law.
The law enacted by the government had attracted widespread criticism
as it gave sweeping powers to the police to shoot to kill any
suspect on the spot. The anti-terrorist law had been compared by the
critics with TADA imposed by the Indian government in occupied
Kashmir.
Besides Mr Nawaz Sharif, six other parliamentarians, editors of
three newspapers and the Pakistan Television chief were summoned by
the Chief Justice on contempt charges on Monday.
The contempt charges were levelled over criticism of a decision of
the Supreme Court regarding the suspension of a certain portion of
the anti-defection law brought in to check floor-crossing.
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971114
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Nawaz to give gold medals to Overseas Pakistanis
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will award gold
medals to 30 people who had donated 100,000 dollars in the prime
minister's debt retirement scheme at the Overseas Pakistanis
Convention being held here on Nov 27.
Besides gold medals the Prime Minister would also give away silver
medals and green certificates to people who had contributed 100,000
dollars in Qarz-i-Hasna and 100,000 dollar to one million dollars in
profit-bearing accounts respectively.
There were 32 people who had given 100,000 dollars in Qarz-i-Hasna
who would receive silver medals at the ceremony, Khawaja Haroon,
Secretary Debt Retirement Cell, told a press conference.
He said under the scheme the government had received over Rs13
billion (313.7 million dollars) up to September 30.
"The government is still receiving Rs1 million per day," said
Khawaja. He said the tremendous response the government received
under the scheme was unprecedented.
He said the government would also mail certificates to over 400
people who had contributed substantially in the scheme.
Giving the break-up of the amounts received in donations, Qarz-i-
Hasna and profit-bearing accounts, he said out of the total of Rs13
billion, 15 per cent amount was received as donations, 4 per cent
under Qarz-i-Hasna account and 81 per cent in profit-bearing
account.
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971113
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Albright to arrive on schedule
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Nov 12: There is no change so far in the plans of the
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to visit Pakistan in view of
the terrorist attack that killed four Americans in Karachi on
Wednesday morning.
A State Department official told Dawn the US was working closely
with Pakistani authorities to nab the culprits of the killings. The
official would not say anything more at this stage.
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971111
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CEC asks PPP to provide evidence of poll rigging
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Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, Mr
Justice (retd) Sardar Fakhre Alam, said if anybody had any doubt
about the fairness of the 1997 elections,he could prove his
contention by providing solid evidence.
In his press briefing on Monday, he reiterated that 1997 general
elections were free, fair and impartial, and that the allegations of
tampering with the results during Iftar and Sehar, were baseless.
He called upon the Pakistan Peoples Party to provide solid evidence
to substantiate its allegation that 1997 elections were rigged.
The Chief Election Commissioner unequivocally said that he was not
in favour of granting right of franchise to the overseas Pakistanis
as it would divide the Pakistani community residing abroad into
different groups.
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971111
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Benazir scoffs at charges of corruption
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By Our Correspondent
NEW YORK, Nov 10: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto did not deny
the validity of Swiss accounts but scoffed at the charges of
corruption against her, saying that her family was always rich and
"privileged".
During a question-answer session at the Arco Public Forum at the
Harvard University last Friday, Ms Bhutto said she came from a
privileged and rich family. To underscore that she pointed out that
she and her two siblings had been educated abroad and she herself
spent four years at Harvard without any scholarship, which showed
that money was no problem for the Bhuttos.
Ms Bhutto, according to reports, lost her cool when one student
asked her about the charges of corruption and the Swiss accounts. At
first she tried to laugh away the question, saying the students at
Harvard had more knowledge about her accounts than "even myself and
my accountant."
But then, not conceding directly the validity of Swiss accounts, she
embarked upon detailing her family's wealth, and said: "Right now I
am perhaps making more money giving lectures, than what I earned all
of last year since leaving office."
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971111
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Quota to be extended for another 20 years
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Bureau report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The government on Monday announced that it was in
favour of extending the quota system in civil services for another
20 years and said a constitutional amendment to the effect would
soon be discussed in the federal cabinet.
The announcement came in the National Assembly when the opposition
called the attention of the House to the abolition of quota system
for successful candidates in the CSS examinations and asked the
government to explain its position.
"I assure the smaller provinces that we will be able to have the
quota system extended for another 20 years because we feel if it's
abolished, the smaller provinces are going to suffer," the Minister
for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Yaseen Wattoo, said.
Mr Wattoo recalled that the Supreme Court had given a judgment on
the quota system that the 20-year period stipulated in the
Constitution had expired.
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971111
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Draft bill to curb piracy being prepared
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Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: A comprehensive draft bill to amend the Patent
and Design Act, 1911 is being prepared by the ministry of industries
to bring it in conformity with the Trade Related Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) under the World Trade Organization (WTO)
agreements, according to an official source.
Expected to be ready by the end of this year or early next year, the
proposed legislation would also curb the growing menace of piracy
which robs the inventors, innovators and creative artists of the
fruits of their labour.
Rejuvenation of the law, the source stressed, is also important for
the protection of our own writers, scientists, musicians,
technologists from the predatory practices of pirates, who have
grown rich by publishing books without their authors' permission and
copying their original designs and innovations without having spent
a penny on their creation. This state of affairs was a major
disincentive to creativity in Pakistan, he further remarked.
By way of suggesting a solution to this problem, the source referred
to the advanced countries where artists' guilds keep watch and
collect royalty fees on behalf of their members. Given the absence
of any precedents of such organizations working successfully in
Pakistan, the efficacy of this solution is anybody's guess, the
source conceded.
WTO agreements require the member governments to amend their patent
law by 2000.
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971109
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US can help resolve Kashmir issue: FO
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Hasan Akhtar
ISLAMABAD Nov 8: Pakistan looks forward to discussing important
issues with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when she
arrives here on a day-long visit on Nov 16.
Foreign Office spokesman Tariq Altaf told a weekly news briefing
here on Saturday Pakistan believed the United States or any other
country which is a common friend to both India and Pakistan could
play an important role in settling disputes between the two
countries. He said this when asked to comment on a news report that
the US secretary of state would avoid discussing Kashmir issue with
Pakistan officials during her visit here.
The spokesman said Pakistan had always been stressing the importance
of Kashmir in such discussions with foreign officials whoever they
might be and added that since India and Pakistan had so far failed
to sort out the issue, Islamabad would welcome mediation from any
country.
The spokesman recalled statements from US officials that their
attention was now focussed on South Asia and observed Islamabad
would welcome developments which should concern the Kashmir issue.
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971115
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Political considerations override safety needs
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Mahmood Zaman
LAHORE, Nov 14: Political considerations rather than safety of
aircraft and passengers or skill of flight crew seem to have been,
so far, the main criterion in awarding aviation licence to the
private sector airlines since the first of them was launched in
1991.
By now six companies have been allowed to operate private airlines
and aviation licences have been issued to them ignoring the
regulations framed in 1978.
Incidentally, all such aviation certificates were issued by the
first Nawaz Sharif government during 1991-92 period, apparently out
of its enthusiasm to bring in the private sector in all spheres of
business activities. The affair goes on even even now and the
present Sharif government renewed an aviation licence, issued to the
Javed Aviation Services, about three months ago.
Of the private operators, three have gone out of business, probably
for good. Two of them ceased operations because they were unable to
honour their financial commitments to foreign aircraft leasing
companies.
A third one used to claim that its crew had the highest operational
skill but failed because its managers were unable to ensure required
standards of aircraft maintenance.
Most of these companies came into flying business with one or two
aircraft secured on lease from former Soviet republics. Usually the
lease money for one aircraft ranges between $75,000 and $80,000 a
month. In terms of hours, it costs about $2,200 to $2,400 and
airlines are under obligation to complete a certain number of flying
hours in a day determined under the lease agreement.
Almost all the private airlines lack expertise, particularly in
engineering. Their staff is at the best qualified in refuelling and
general examination of safety devices. In case of a technical fault,
the aircraft is generally sent to the leasing company's country. For
an airline depending on two aircraft, it is always a high-risk
business.
What the future has in store for all these companies, the
responsibility will squarely lie on the Civil Aviation Authority
which is predominantly managed by retired PAF officials. The PAF has
excellent traditions of high-skill management of the national air
force. But under what pressures the CAA had to compromise on
standards in the case of private operators is open to question.
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971115
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Defence, PIA officials to attend Dubai air show
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Our Correspondent
DUBAI, Nov 14: A high-level delegation comprising senior officials
of ministry of defence and PIA will arrive here on the invitation of
the government of Dubai to attend Dubai Air Show from 16-20 November
1997, informed sources said.
Pakistani missions in the UAE and PIA Gulf office here were unable
to provide the list of names of the members but said high ranking
officials are due on Saturday on the eve of the Dubai 97, the
international aerospace exhibition scheduled to be inaugurated by
UAE Defence Minister Gen Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum.
With 500 exhibitors from 31 nations and eight national pavilions,
the show is the largest ever in the Dubai air show series.
"This includes a substantial number of small-medium-sized suppliers
of a broad scope of aviation-related equipment", said Virginia Kern,
managing director, fairs and exhibitions, the official organizers of
the show.
Around 60 per cent of Dubai 97 is given over to the civil aviation
and 40 per cent to the military aviation.
The Czech Republic, Ireland and Germany will be officially
represented for the first time at a Dubai air show. Other national
pavilions will represent Canada, France, Italy, USA and UK.
Similarly, high-level delegations from Russia, Iran, USA, Germany
and France will also be present at Dubai 97. More than 70 aircraft
will be at the show.
Some insiders say Pakistan International Airlines is considering to
replace its ageing fleet of aircraft, but the project has hit snag
due to financial constraints.
"The airline is striving to arrange finances from foreign sources to
meet the requirement of its new aircraft", the source said.
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971114
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PA wants NWFP renamed
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Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Nov 13: A resolution calling for renaming of the North
West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Pakhtoonkhwah was adopted by
majority vote in the provincial assembly on Thursday. Only two
members out of the 74 present in the House of 83 opposed the
resolution.
The resolution said:" This assembly recommends to the provincial
government to recommend to the federal government that the NWFP be
renamed as Pakhtoonkhwah so as to identify it with their
inhabitants, like Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan."
It was a day of deliverance for the ANP which had pledged to get the
resolution passed and it used all methods for the purpose, including
persuasion of members belonging other parties. The Leaguers,
however, termed it " bulldozing".
A large number of ANP supporters thronged the visitors' and the
press galleries. The PML-N, which tried to stall the resolution by
any means, appeared to be a" loser" in the end when the House rose
for next morning without registering its abstention.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan who remained
in the House for sometime during the debate on resolution left
moments before it was put to vote. The staffers at his chamber said
he had a pressing engagement outside.
Most interesting was the suggestion by independent member Pir
Mohammad Khan who said that the best name for the province would
have been Pakhtoonistan which was first proposed by late Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan in a meeting in Bannu in 1940. He said the word
Pakhtoonkhwah had no meaning as its second part "Khwah" was taken as
abuse in some areas.
Speaking on his resolution, Najmuddin Khan of PPP said the PML and
ANP had an agreement on renaming of the province but regrettably
they had failed to fulfil the same and give this nameless province a
name. He also stressed the need of taking up the issue in the
National Assembly where the ruling coalition has a two thirds
majority.
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971111
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Economy continues on lackadaisical note
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M. Ziauddin
THE FIRST month of the second quarter of the current financial year
passed off without any sign of an imminent turnaround in the
economy. The sluggishness of the first quarter has continued
unabated into the second quarter.
Despite a massive devaluation of nearly 9 per cent in the middle of
the month, the revenue collection for October remained largely
stagnant. Foreign trade continued to be afflicted by inactivity.
The trade balance is shrinking not due to increases in exports but
because of declines in investment related imports. Inflation has
also remained in the vicinity of 12 per cent.
The joy of the ratification of the three-year $1.6 billion ESAF/EFF
agreement and the subsequent release of the first tranche of $208
million was marred by the reports that the Fund executive board
would have refused to ratify the assistance had it not been for the
political nudging from the right political quarters at the right
time.
The IMF executive board had found that the slippages in the first
quarter were too great to be acceptable. Therefore, their reluctance
to ratify the agreement.
In any case, the intense political activity which had brought the
government to an almost standstill for the whole month has denied
the country a good opportunity to take immediate advantage of the
IMF ratification by borrowing at reduced rates to take care of
costly commercial debts amounting to $2 billion acquired in the last
12 months. Already it has postponed the proposed road show in
America for the launching of US dollar bonds.
The continuing currency and stock market crises in East Asian
countries has also reduced greatly the chances of fast-paced
privatisation in the country.
While launching its far-reaching economic reforms soon after coming
into power, the government had estimated that it would take at least
about 18 months for these reforms to start yielding results in the
shape of an accelerated growth all around.
Meanwhile, the intervening hardships were to have been taken care of
through incomes from privatisation, the assistance from the IMF and
the associated advantage of the cheaper commercial credit and
savings through downsizing of the government and the public sector.
This is not happening. And as a result it has become almost
impossible for the government to take in hand the second phase of
reforms which is almost due.
The decision of the government to postpone the downsizing of the
government in the meanwhile is not likely to go well with the IMF.
In the first place, this condition should not have been accepted,
and in the second, if at all, this scheme should have been launched
after the full revival of the economy so that those who would get
the golden handshake would have some reliable avenues to invest
their pay packets to ensure a regular income for rainy days.
In countries like Pakistan, where there is no social security scheme
or unemployment benefits, an expanded public sector and a large
government are the only protection against the menace of
uncontrollable middle class educated unemployement.
In the countries where regular restructuring of the economy is
taking place in line with the changes in industrial practices,
technologies and capital availability, it is not uncommon to see
massive retrenchments going on regularly. But this does not increase
unemployment because while old jobs are becoming obsolete, new jobs
in greater numbers if not in equal numbers are being generated
constantly keeping the rate of unemployment almost constant. This
also is not happening in Pakistan.
Of course, over-staffing in the government adds to the budgetary
burdens while large public sector units become economically
unviable.
But in countries like Pakistan such practices yield unquantifiable
social profits by taking care of the problem of unemployment to an
extent, at least among the educated middle classes.
This is probably the reason why the Indian government has so far
refrained from touching the public sector or the size of the
government, though it has launched massive reforms in the economy,
the benefits of which the country has been reaping since 1991.
According to one estimate the Indian government is just about to
enter the 'debt trap' because of the colossal borrowings it has had
to resort to in order to keep financing the over- staffing. But so
far there is no indication that it has decided to embark upon this
socio-political misadventure though the reform related new
investment activity in that country has started generating new jobs.
In Pakistan even the recent devalutation made no difference to the
sluggish investment activity though it has added further to the
liquidity with the banks.
The reasons for the slump in the bank advances are many. One, the
bankers are playing it extra safe. They do not want to be hauled up
later for approving a presumably defective loan.
So, not only are they not going out prospecting clients but they are
not looking even at the trickle of the applications coming in on
their own.
Second, the loanees who in the past would know whom to approach and
how much to spend for obtaining an investment loan, are still in the
process of learning the new rules of the game. Thirdly, the double
digit domestic inflation and falling demand have caused the
investors to continue with their wait-and-see approach.
ABN AMRO's latest economic bulletin (Dawn Oct 23, 1997) finds the
continuing weak demand for credit from the private sector as "source
of concern, since the private sector's investment response is at the
heart of the government supply side strategy."
The bulletin goes on to say: "If this response is to be realised in
the first half of 1997-98, the recent devaluation may result in one
of two, diametrically opposed, reactions. It may discourage domestic
investors by increasing the rupee cost of investments (which are
based on imported raw materials or physical capital), or it may
encourage investment by credibly removing the possibility of another
devaluation in the next 6 to 9 months."
The first scenario of ABN Amro says that investments based on
imports of raw material and/or physical capital, are vulnerable to
devaluations.
A large devaluation (or even credible expectations of one) will
discourage domestic investment by increasing cost and squeezing
profit margins. Hence, fewer investments are likely to be realized
with a large devaluation.
If these investments projects are export-oriented, investors will
have to evaluate whether the increase in domestic costs will be
compensated by an increase in export demand because of the
devaluation.
The second scenario: Investors expect a devaluation in October, but
given the lack of macroeconomic urgency for this action, are not
sure how large the devaluation is likely to be. Opening unhedged
import L/Cs forces them to cary the risk that the rupee may be
devalued before the physical capital arrives in Pakistan.
After a large devaluation, investors would be assured that a further
devaluation is unlikely, which implies that opening unhedged L/Cs is
less risky. Hence, this may encourage certain investors to proceed
with their investment plans. However, it is important to realize
that those investors who respond positively to the devaluation, will
still pay a higher rupee cost for their import needs.
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971111
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Let us follow Bangladesh
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Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
AFTER A LONG time, the authorities in Islamabad are now considering
to follow the example set by Bangladesh in ameliorating the economic
and social conditions of the poorest sections of their population.
They have the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh in mind as a model.
The bank was started on an experimental basis in 1976 when the
famine and the perennial floods had destroyed the economy of
Bangladesh. Particularly badly hit were the rural areas.
It was the University of Chittagong where the miseries of the
womenfolk were discussed at a seminar. It was decided to conduct
survey about the socio-economic conditions of village women.
The survey concluded that if propertyless poor women and men were
given small amounts of money to just start ordinary economic
activities it might begin to pay them as well as the country.
The survey was conducted with a view to finding how some loans could
be given to people who had no collateral to offer.
An attempt was also made to find out how to recover these loans.
What sort of job or work would suit those who had been forced into
beggary. There was perhaps no precedent to follow.
The survey was conducted under the supervision of Dr Mohammad Yunus
who was a teacher at the University of Chittagong.
The village selected was Jabira and the aim was to know the living
conditions of women who sought alms during Ramazan or begged for
sacrificial meat on Eidul Azha.
These miserable women and the children that they carried while
begging had moved into doing something positive for them.
Dr Mohammad Yunus who is now a very successful man and known
throughout the Third World came to the conclusion that a financial
body should be raised which could arrange very small loans for those
who could not get credit from any bank.
The survey was made the basis of the next step when a small private
financial organisation (Gramin Bank) was set up to give financial
help to poor, illiterate and resourceless people.
It was first established only in Tangail district in 1976. After
some time the State Bank of Bangladesh evaluated the job done by
Gramin Bank and it came to the conclusion that if it was financially
helped, it could work miracles.
And miracles did indeed take place. The major part now in the export
of Bangladesh is due to the effort of this bank which has
revolutionised the cottage garment industry which is rapidly
capturing the world market.
But this had happened in urban areas. The miracles in the rural life
of the Bangladeshis particularly in the life of women are
spectacular and Dr Yunus has compiled the stories of many poor women
who were forced to go about with a begging bowl.
Dr Yunus has compiled the stories of about 16 women; married,
divorced and widowed but running their homes.
The book "Jorimon and others," was published in Bengali and English
in 1987, just after 11 years of the establishment of the bank which
is not meant for women only. It also gives credit to poor males but
women are the first preference because, according to the findings of
the bank, they are more needy, more responsible, more hardworking
and are not defaulters. Another reason which, in Dr Yunus' view was
more important was that if women were given more economic
independence it would help change the traditional male-female
relationship which was hindering social development.
The stories of Razia, Bakhtawar, Sakeena, Maya Rani, Phool Jan,
Mehfil, Zulekha, Haleema, Shumari, Maria, Jamna, Raabia, Tara and
Aasia are identical to those of poor women in Pakistan's rural areas
and the slums of big cities like Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad and
Faisalabad.
They are our daughters, sisters, and mothers but they have not been
helped to improve their conditions. Rather, they have been victims
of male chauvinism for generations.
The male dominated society of ours refuses to recognise women as an
equal partner to man. The woman in our society has also a productive
role to play and she has been playing it in the lower classes for
many centuries.
However ,her role has not been recognised because if it were, she
would become entitled to an equal social status which the male-
dominated society is not ready to give her. The same was the case
with the Bangladesh. According to Dr Yunus, petty religious leaders,
elders and the majority of the male population was bitterly opposed
to the Gramin loans for women.
The scheme was opposed on all grounds particularly on religious
ground. But the determination of the women living much below the
poverty line overcame all opposition It is a pity that no such
experiment has been done in Pakistan. Even the book written in 1987
was translated into Urdu ten years later by a foreign-funded NGO,
Mashal.
If the government is seriously thinking in terms of introducing
Gramin banking pattern then it must propagate it through the
electronic media, especially to the rural areas. It must be kept in
mind that some original ideas are suited only to those areas from
where they spring.
But the Bangladesh idea is such that it can be transplanted in any
poor country. But it must not be controlled by the affluent. The
Gramin banking system is only for the poor and only they can make it
a success.
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971111
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Devaluation elicits scathing criticism
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Zafar Samdani
THE FINANCE Minister's faith in devaluation proving a high speed
vehicle for enhancing exports has attracted widespread scepticism
instead of causing a stampede for conversions to his ideas.
But even if his argument was accepted, devaluation would be, at
best, a factor among many for boosting exports. Not a basic one at
that.
Some prerequisites of the export sector like value added products,
improvement of quality and consistence of supply and reliability of
supply are constantly stressed.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) follows these targets with
considerable diligence. It also tries to explore new markets, a task
often undertaken jointly by men of initiative in the exports
business and EPB.
There is more to the exports scene than this. What is ignored is
that exports can not be promoted beyond a certain limit in
isolation. Linking them with other policies of the government can
enhance exports possibly more rewardingly than any other measure.
The most vital connection is sources of imports. All the way barter
arrangements are not being proposed. Linking all imports with
exports is neither possible nor desirable.
Ends can nevertheless be tied in many cases. The government should
look at countries from the viewpoint of exports to them and re-draw
the imports map accordingly.
The focus of imports is usually reverted on profitability; quality
is often disregarded, indeed it is of little consequence in the
unqualified commitment to instant and massive margins.
The result is a flooding of the local market with goods of suspect
standard.
Nor do many of the imports serve a purpose other than sustaining
individuals who have either access to right places or are quick on
the uptake.
Import from countries which have the potential to be a destination
for some of the export items from Pakistan can prove worthwhile
undertaking.
This would require a thorough study of the import needs and export
strength of the country. Considering that the bulk of Pakistan's
exports does not cover a vast area, the latter should not pose much
of a problem; the picture is in fact clear.
But the sources of imports as also their contents are scattered. The
scene is a free for all, the principle is the lowest price which can
bring in maximum dividends. This exploitative trends needs to be
arrested in any case; tying imports with exports to the extent
possible should prove positive. However, this would imply taking an
assertive stance, in many cases, of a political nature. Pakistan can
not afford to ignore this factor if her economy is to be put on the
recovery path.
There is need to scuttle imports too. A certain drop in the import
bill in recent weeks is a welcome trend but the impression is
negated on two counts. One export oriented imports, such as updating
machinery, its maintenances and installing new equipment have gone
down; the food bill has gone up. This is most regrettable for a
country with an agricultural economy. But this does inform that
dependence on imports can be negotiated and brought down.
Pakistan is also faced with numerous pressures which are likely to
turn heavier, given the lay of the international political land.
Child labour involved or alleged to be involved in the production of
certain items, specially carpets and sports goods, has already cut
into their exports.
Often it is merely a charge drummed up to undermine Pakistan's
interests by competitors or an arms twisting tactic deployed by
countries to promote their own ends or endorse those of their
allies.
Wherever correct, it does not take in to account the country's
social, political and economic conditions in to account. The impact
of such charges is negative on Pakistan's exports.
That children merit a better, fairer deal goes without saying. They
should be working for their future rather than the maintenance of
large families and augmenting the subsistence level resources of the
impoverished segment.
For Pakistan and many countries similarly placed, a change is easier
proposed than accomplished. Transforming ground realities into an
equitable dispensation is a long haul job not to be completed in a
short period of time and unattainable without a significant
improvement in the economy.
While children should be cared for better and efforts for
alleviating poverty intensified, Pakistan would do itself no harm by
looking towards countries caught in socio-economic quicksands of the
same proportions rather than catering for the requirements of
affluent nations on preferential basis who keep re-writing rules of
the game to suit them.
Many of the nations leading the human rights crusade today have
grave crimes against humanity blackening their history; small and
economically deprived nations are being punished for their guilt.
Child labour should be done away with - but not to please the
protagonists of human rights with a shameful record of rights
suppression and their support for such practices even today when
they fit their design, but as commitment to the downtrodden in
Pakistan.
The picture is really not as bleak as painted. Facts should be
presented to the world through an aggressive media campaign
highlighting the children's plight, the governments concern and
efforts to ameliorating their lot and the backdrop � inheritance of
the colonial period, which institutionalised exploitative practices
as well as positive aspects of children's involvement in traditional
arts and crafts in which families take pride and to sustain
themselves. Children, it should be underlined, are not invariably
engaged in work as a matter of exploitation.
Secondly, children's work which does not impair their innocence or
their future, needs to be differentiated from child labour.
Dissemination of authentic information on this theme, a child as a
carpet weaving artist instead of bonded labour for instance, should
help clear many of the cobwebs woven around Pakistan and other such
allegations against the country. It is time Pakistan took an
aggressive stand, backing it with positive policies at home, than
remaining on the defensive and apologetic without reason.
A dire need of many of a number of the relatively minor exports,
specifically perishable items, is more efficient services in terms
of air cargo facilities, production points/markets to export point
transportation and packaging.
The EPB has worked hard to persuade relevant agencies to provide
assistance but the response has been negligible. It is here that the
federal government has a role to play which is more vital than
devaluing the rupee or, in the words of the finance minister,
readjusting it.
An area certain to benefit from better performance is packaging. It
has become essential to effective marketing, particularly for
exports for western countries. Better quality packaging would make
exports from Pakistan more attractive in many markets cases.
These are some of the needs of the export sector on which the
government must concentrate on an urgent basis.
Devaluing rupee and siting back in the hope that it would boost
exports is akin to obtaining residence in a private paradise.
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971111
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Environmental issue in true perspective
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Jafar Wafa
"PURIFY Present ... Fortify Future. Tune your car", screamed the
advertisement carried prominently by newspapers on the closing days
of the previous months. These were paid for by the Ministry of
Environ-ment (Islamabad) reminding the newspaper readers that this
Ministry, which was allegedly established to provide a berth in the
federal cabinet to the ex-Prime Minister's husband, is still alive
and kicking.
Obviously, it has enough funds in its kitty to issue such
advertisements. What other activity this Ministry is indulging in is
not known to the public.
The continued existence of such a Ministry, while every leader from
the treasury benches, Prime Minister downwards, is loudly talking of
'downsizing' (or 'right-sizing') the government, is an anomaly.
However, there is more to it than meets the eye.
Developing countries, whose combined GDP was assessed as $3.4
trillion by the World Bank in 1990 and which is projected to swell
to $4.5 trillion by the turn of the century, are the quarry of the
industrialized nations even for environmental goods and services,
particularly services of experts in this virgin field.
It is an undeniable fact that the developed countries leave no
avenue of exploitation of the poor, but over-populated, Third World
untapped.
The new fad of environmental protection, which should be the main
concern of the highly industrialized states that have despoiled the
environment, and are doing so, is now being used as a ploy to
squeeze more money from the developing countries on the stipulation
that sine all development projects should be environment - friendly,
no financial assistance or loan will be available unless the
environmental aspect has been thoroughly examined by, naturally,
experts recommended by the multilateral funding agency or by the
country which is arranging plant and machinery for the project.
It would be worth recalled that the protracted study carried out at
enormous cost by the World Bank consultants for the feasibility of
elevated light rail in Karachi had ultimately to be cleared by
another team of consultants who examined the project's effect on
environment for which additional charges were realised, which were
quite a few thousand US dollars, though the project is still on the
drawing board awaiting funds for execution on the ground.
Thus, one consultancy service after another has consumed many years,
in terms of time, and many thousands of dollars, in terms of money.
the representatives of the Third World countries, including our
Finance Minister, voiced their dissatisfaction with the way the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were promoting
the economic interests of the industrialised countries at the
expense of the developing ones, the venue being Hong Kong and the
occasion the annual meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions held
in the concluding week of September last.
The deliberations ended without agreeing on an appropriate mode of
assistance for ailing economies. In fact, instead of accepting the
developing countries' legitimate demand that the developed
countries, instead of targeting markets in the poor, but densely
populated, countries of the Third World, should pool some portion of
their huge financial resources for uplifting the letters' economy,
the proposal was side-tracked for consideration in the next annual
meeting.
It is being pontificated that "good environmental policies bring
good economic returns".
It may be theoretically true. No controversy on this slogan. But the
questions that arise are, firstly: to what extent are the developing
countries responsible for environmental pollution when they are
nominally and minimally releasing pollutant when they are nominally
and minimally releasing pollutant emissions from the few factories,
non coal- fired power stations and transport vehicles that they
have, as compared to the industrialised countries headed by the
United States of America?
Secondly, can the poor countries bear the crippling costs of
controlling environmental degradation? They can hardly meet the cost
of lead-free fuel for their motor vehicles and their tuning and
servicing at regular intervals.
This newspaper has, of late, been printing pictures of small towns,
including military cantonments, in upcountry regions of Pakistan,
which suffer so badly from want of effluent drainage facilities and
solid waste disposal arrangements that they look like virtual
cesspools.
Local Administrations can do nothing to improve the situation for
lack of financial resources.
So, the grandiose schemes of environmental improvement conceived by
the rich countries which are prescribed by foreign consultants for
adoption in, say, Gujrat or Gujranwala urban centres are absolutely
irrelevant and out of place.
Viewing things from that above perspective, it is apparent that the
assumption that the previous government had created an Environment
Ministry only to accommodate a particularly person in the cabinet or
provide well-paid cushy jobs to the cronies for doing precious
little was ill-founded. Had it been so, the present government would
have been the last one to let this Ministry continue, unless one
presumes that some blue-eyed bureaucrats have to be retained in
their sinecure jobs.
So far as this writer is aware, an environment Ministry is one of
the strings attached to foreign loans, as environmental goods and
services, for which there is no ready market in the developing
world, have to be sold to the seekers of loan.
It is on record that the World Bank and the IMF exert pressure on
developing countries to create public awareness of environmental
issues and establish environmental protection institutions. In fact,
the International Finance Corporation (IFC) had undertaken studies
in many Third World countries, including Pakistan, a few years ago,
to explore potential and opportunities for private investment by
multinational corporations who have a fortune at their disposal for
gainful investment.
These studies had identified "more than 200 potential opportunities
of this kind".
The problem, however, that should stir up some resentment in
countries like Pakistan and make them resist such outside pressure
is that the cost of environmental protection in poor countries
should, at least party, be borne by those who have, in the first
place, brought about global degradation of the environment by
reckless and thoughtless industrialisation and commercialisation of
earth's natural resources-oil, forests and minerals-and, in the
second place, by those who will benefit from sale of goods, like
modern plant and equipment for drainage system and solid waste
disposal, safety valves in factories to control emission of
pollutants and so on, and for the inevitable consultancy services
involved in each project.
The industrialised countries should, therefore, contribute to a
special fund for environmental works and public awareness in the
developing countries. Such a fund should be with the United Nations
not IBRD/IMF.
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971111
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First Women Bank's 10.2m shares sold for Rs285 million
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The Privatization Commission sold 10.2 million
shares of the First Women Bank at a total cost of Rs 285 million in
an open bidding to a consortium led by a UAE- based Bin HAM Group
here on Monday.
The bidding, shown live on television, witnessed a long rally
between the Bin HAM and the Overseas Pakistani Group which started
at a price of Rs20.60 per share quoted by Bin HAM group in the
sealed bids earlier submitted to the commission.
The Privatization Commission, which met soon after the bidding
accepted the offer of Rs28 per share. "The members expressed their
satisfaction over the smooth and transparent process of
privatization of the FWBL and recommended the highest bid of Rs28
per share," said a press release later issued by the commission.
The final approval of the sale of 51 per cent shares of the bank at
Rs285 million would be given by the Cabinet Committee on
Privatization.
Four bidders had been qualified for the final bidding, including the
Prime Bank and the Alsa Group. Prime group, however, could not
qualify for the final round of open bidding as its sealed bid was
the lowest among the four contenders. Whereas the Alsa group
withdrew when it was asked to improve its bid of Rs12.88.
Nusrat Ali of Bin HAM group, after wining the bidding, announced 5
per cent increase in the salary of the staff of the First Women Bank
and held out an assurance not to lay off any employee.
The group, he said, had plans to expand the operations of the bank
without altering the unique character of the bank, as obligated in
the sale agreement.
The First Women Bank has 38 branches with deposits at Rs2.32 billion
and current advances at Rs437 million.
The chairman of Privatization Commission, Khawaja Asif, who presided
over the bidding, hoped that the new buyers would maintain the
character of the bank and the poor and needy women would be given
priority while extending loan facilities.
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971112
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Inflation increases by 11.88pc
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By Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: Prices registered increasing trend during
October, 1997 as the inflation rate rose by 11.88 per cent during
October, 1997 over the past one year, Federal Bureau of Statistics
stated here on Tuesday.
When compared with September, 1997, CPI increased by 0.40 per cent.
The SPI, CPI and WPI for the running 12 months i.e. November 1996-
October 1997 showed an increase of 12.59%, 11.88% and 12.40%
respectively over the corresponding 12 months of last year, November
1995-October, 1996.
The SPI, CPI and WPI for the running quarter August-October 1997
increased by 0.62%, 1.52% and 0.59% respectively over the previous
quarter May-July 1997. When compared with the corresponding period
of last year, the increase has been measured as 10.03%, 10.19% and
9.18% respectively.
The CPI increased during October, 1997 by 0.40% and 9.43%,
respectively, over the previous month and corresponding month of
1996.
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971113
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250pc rise in non-traditional exports
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Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: Pakistan increased its exports of non-traditional
items to $151.8 million during October 1997, which was more than 250
per cent as compared to the corresponding month of last year as well
as September, 1997.
This contrasts with the other categories of merchandize that
continued their downhill slide.
According to monthly statement of the Federal Bureau of Statistics
made available to newsmen here on Wednesday, "others" increased
their share in overall exports from a little over 6 per cent to 21.8
per cent last month. This is the only group which has recorded
positive growth.
Cumulative figures for the period July-October 1997 show that the
non-traditional goods totalled $280.0 million, 70.4% more than in
the corresponding period of last year.
After negative growth of 1.84% in September, 1997, exports at $693.9
million indicated a turnaround last month but further analysis
unveils the continuation of a disturbing trend in the fourth month
of current financial year. For example, the share of manufactures in
overall exports shows a substantial decline from 85.5 per cent
during October 1996 and from 82.3% in September 1996, according to
the FBS statistics.
The deterioration is matched by the textile manufactures. Their
exports totalled $393.1 million during the month under report,
representing 56.6 per cent of the total exports. This denotes a
striking fall from $457.8 million (67.0% of the total) during the
previous month as well as from $446.641 million (68.7% of the total)
in October, 1996. The overall manufactures exports amounted to
$479.6 million.
Cotton yarn, a semi-manufacture with value addition of only 8 per
cent, accounted for 12.7% of total exports of textile manufactures.
The quantity of cotton yarn exported in October 1997 was 36,288
tons, down from 40,402 tons in September 1997 and from 42,938 tons
in corresponding month of last year. The unit value of cotton yarn
also declined, as evident from the fact that the drop in quantity
(14.39%) was exceeded by drop in value (23.91%), when compared with
October 1996.
Knitwear and waste material of textile fibres/fabrics were the only
items in textile manufactures sectors which registered a positive
growth in quantitative terms. But not so in terms of dollars. Having
increased by 4.22% and 41.0%, respectively, in quantity over October
1996, the dollar value fetched by these shows a decline of 7.2% and
24.3%, respectively.
Among non-textile manufactures, the items whose exports increased
were carpets & carpeting, onyx manufactures and molasses. Carpets
stand out as the item whose exports declined by 6.6% quantitatively;
its proceeds in dollar terms increased by about 60% over October
1996. But their share in total exports of manufactures is still
rather negligible � just 3.2%.
Pakistan exported 63,213 tons in October, 1997, as against 59,345
tons in September and 73,543 tons in October 1996. The export of
rice during the first four months of 1997-98 totalled 261,199 tons,
fetching $91.3 million. But this is lower than the corresponding
period of last year when Pakistan earned $106.7 million by the
export of 316,191 tons.
The export of raw cotton, however, shows a dramatic increase from
only 451 tons in July-October, 1996, to 19,281 tons during the
corresponding period of current year. However, the increase in value
in dollars yielded by cotton export was lower than last year, due
probably to slump in the world market.
Exports during the first four months leave Pakistan lagging behind
its exports target of $9.5 billion for 1997-98 by about $45 million.
Imports: The import bill for last month totalled $1.0 billion,
showing a 5.93% decrease over the corresponding month of last year.
It, however, shows 11.12% increase over September 1997. Viewed in
the perspective of first four months of current financial year,
import bill at $3.69 billion is lower by 2.0% over the corresponding
period of last year.
The import of un-milled wheat totalled 1.85 million tons during the
first four months of 1997-98, as against 0.529 million tons during
the corresponding period of last year. Overall, the food group
imports show an increase of 34.1% in dollar terms during this
period. Imports of this group amounted to $684.7 million, out of the
total import bill of $3.69 billion, raising its share in overall
imports from 13.47% last year to 18.5% in the current financial
year.
The figures about import of machinery group and industrial raw
materials show a mixed trend in the month under review. Its imports
amounted to $252.4 million, showing an increase of 4.43% over the
previous month but down by 16.0%, when compared with October, 1996.
The statistics show increase only in import of power generating
machines, office machines, textile machinery and aircraft, ship &
boats.
The imports of synthetic fibre, synthetic & artificial silk yarn and
worn clothing dropped by over one-third, when compared with the
corresponding month of last year.
In the agricultural and other chemicals group, imports of
fertilizer, insecticides and plastic materials went up appreciably.
But the entire metals group has declined by 29.4%. All the
industrial raw materials included in the miscellaneous group showed
substantially lower imports; the only exception were rubber crude
and wood & cork.
A sharp drop is also indicated in the import of petroleum crude last
month. The country imported 324,861 tons of petroleum crude as
against 416,468 tons in September 1997 and 336,466 tons in October
1996.
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971114
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Forex reserves up by $117m
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 13: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves totalled
$1.631 billion on November 8 against $1.514 billion on November 1
showing a build-up of $117 million.
A State Bank report released here on Thursday showed approved forex
reserves at $1.272 billion on November 8 up $127 million over $1.145
billion on November 1. It showed the balances held outside the
country around $359 billion against $369 million on November 1.
Senior bankers link the modest increase in the forex reserves to the
release of $157 million by the IMF during the week under review as
part of $208 million worth of first transche of a $1.6 billion loan
to Pakistan. The IMF had debited $51 million to the SBP account by
the end of October.
They also attribute it to increased export bills of October that
were realised in the first week of November. The bankers cite a draw
down on cash and short term securities placed in the international
markets for a nominal draw down on the reserves held abroad.
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971115
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Real GDP expected to grow by 5.5pc
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: International Monetary Fund expects the real GDP
growth rate to increase by 5.5 per cent during 1997-98 as a result
of implementation of medium-term adjustment and reform programme
under the financing package amounting to SDR 1.1 billion ($1.6
billion), says the latest issue of IMF Survey.
The first tranche of this package amounting to SDR 151.6 million
(about $208 million) under ESAF (Enhanced Structural Adjustment
Facility) and EFF (Extended Fund Facility) was made available to
Pakistan a couple of weeks ago.
Major economic indicators projected under the programme to be
carried out by the Government of Pakistan included raising the GDP
growth rate to 5.8% in 1998-99 and to 6.0% in 1999-2000. It was
recorded as 3.1% in 1996-97, down from 4.6% in 1995-96.
Other macroeconomic objectives for the three-year programme, as
outlined in the Survey report, are: to progressively reduce annual
inflation to about 7% (from 11.8% in 1996-97); and to reduce the
external current account deficit (excluding official transfers) to
the range of 4.0-4.5% of GDP (from 6.4% in 1996-97).
The policy actions in the key fiscal area are designed to cut the
overall budget deficit to 4.0% of GDP by the third year of the
programme (from 6.1% in 1996-97).
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971115
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PTCL to sign MoU with multinational
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed
between ICO Global Telecommunications Ltd, London and Pakistan
Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL) for provision of Global Mobile
Personal Satellite Communication Services (GMPCS) in the country,
the PTCL announced here on Friday.
According to a Press release, the memorandum will be signed by Olof
Lundberg, Chief Executive Officer ICO and by Naseem S.Mirza,
Chairman PTCL. Under the MOU, the ICO Global Communications Company
will provide the state of art mobile telecommunications services in
Pakistan connecting the country with the entire world.
The system will complement the existing mobile cellular and fixed
satellite services both for domestic and international consumers.
ICO services will become operational by June 2000.
The ICO Global Communications was established in 1989 to explore the
evolution of mobile satellite communications towards hand-held
services.
The project was undertaken by INMARSAT, the 79-member-country
organization to provide mobile communications for Maritime, Aviation
and a variety of land based applications and ultimately with the
expansion of services of INMARSAT, the formation of ICO Global
Telecommunication Company and has decided to acquire the exclusive
status for ICO's business in Pakistan by investing $20 million.
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971115
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Investors avoid new positions owing to negative news
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 14: Stocks finished the weekend session on an easy note
as investors were not inclined to take new positions owing to
negative news from the political fronts.
Market rumours that a major political change is imminent added to
the already prevailing confusion, after the killing of four
Americans appears to be the chief destabilizing factor behind the
current uncertainty.
"The government might not fall as widely speculated by some quarters
but the planned destabilization process is inhibiting fresh support
from leading bulls," some dealers said.
Unlike previous sessions, there was no nervous selling as some of
the foreign funds were back in the rings and made active covering
purchases on selected counters, they added.
However, there was some optimism in the rings on news that Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif has talked to President Clinton on telephone
and assured him to nab the killers, said a leading broker.
"What seems to have halted foreign selling is the apparent full
weight thrown by the US president behind Nawaz Sharif and his
perceptions in regard to developing political situation in
Pakistan," some analysts said. The market should have finished in
the plus column after the Nawaz-Clinton talks but proceeding in the
contempt case against the prime minister in the apex court on Monday
kept local investors out of the rings and added to it were weekend
considerations, they maintained.
They said the market might not rebound with a bang keeping in view
the global slump on the stock markets but panic selling will
certainly be halted.
"Some of the foreign investors are already back in the rings and
covered positions at the lower levels in most of the pivotals," they
added.
After opening more than 20 points lower, the KSE 100-share index
finally managed to finish recovered at 1,784.95 as compared to
1,798.30 a day earlier and in a way reflected the return of
investors. The net decline being 13.35 points.
The total market capitalization, however, suffered a fresh setback
of Rs 3.242 billion owing to fall in the pivotals at Rs 542.128
billion as compared to Rs 545.371 billion a day earlier.
"The market is struggling to find support at the lower levels, but
the near-term outlook appears bearish", said an analyst.
Most of the alternate bouts of buying were again centred around the
leading banks shares, notably Bank of Punjab, MCB, Faysal Bank and
some others.
Massive activity was witnessed in the energy sector where the
current favourites, notably Hub-Power, Southern Electric, Sui
Southern and Sui Northern followed by Japan Power and Kohinoor
Energy, were actively traded, both ways.
They were followed by FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, ICI Pakistan, Engro
Chemicals and Fauji Fertilizer, which came in for renewed selling.
PTCL fell modestly but attracted strong support around the current
level on the perception that it could rise during the next week.
Dividend news from Dilon, Habib Bank Modaraba and Lease Pakistan
were on the higher side of the market and evoked good interest on
their respective counters.
Trading activity fell further to 45 million shares from the previous
54 million shares as leading sellers kept to the sidelines.
There 175 actives, which came in for trading, out of which 86 shares
suffered fall, mostly fractional, while 44 rose with 45 holding on
to the last levels.
Big gainers were led by Pakistan Refinery and Packages, which rose
by Rs 8 and Rs 4, while losers were led by Adamjee Insurance and
Pak-Suzuki Motors, falling by Rs 6.50 and Rs 5 respectively.
Hub-Power again topped the list of most actives on 20 million shares
followed by PTCL, on 10 million shares, Sui Northern Gas, on 5.347
million shares, ICI Pakistan, on 5 million shares, and Southern
Electric, on 1.166 million shares.
DIVIDEND: Dilon, cash 25 per cent, Habib Bank Modaraba, cash 15 per
cent, and Lease Pakistan, 10 per cent interim.
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971109
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dishonesty � from Day One
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
FOR the purposes of this column which deals with the judiciary and
the liberty of the individual, 'Day One' is August 14, 1973, the day
on which Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's ill-conceived Constitution was
promulgated. Within four hours of this promulgation, as pre-planned,
he himself vitiated his own Constitution.
A notification was issued, and the president was made to sign it,
suspending all fundamental rights as guaranteed under the
Constitution. His political opponents were immediately arrested and
jailed and not released until General Zia-ul-Haq took over four
years later, on July 5, 1977.
During the four years between 1973 and 1977 Bhutto amended his
Constitution seven times, rushing all the amendments through his
assembly after suspending all rules of procedure and debate.
The First Amendment (May 8, 1974) redefined the territory of the
Islamic Republic, it having taken three years to recognize the fact
that East Pakistan was lost in 1971.
The Second Amendment (September 21, 1994) infringed upon the rights
of an entire community � the Ahmadis � which was shorn of its
majority rights and reduced to a minority after having existed as a
part of the majority since the inception of the country in 1947.
The Third Amendment (February 18, 1975), inter alia, empowered the
government to detain a person without trial for three months, and
enlarged the grounds for detention to include anything and
everything that in the opinion of the government was tantamount to
anti-national activities or was prejudicial to security, defence,
etc etc. activities, including the alleged theft of a buffalo to the
voicing of dissent.
The Fourth Amendment (November 25, 1975), inter alia, enlarged the
scope of preventive laws and further restricted what little freedom
of association had been allowed.
The Fifth Amendment (September 15, 1976) fixed the tenure of five
years and four years respectively for the Chief Justices of the
Supreme and High Courts. This enabled Bhutto to get rid of the Chief
Justice of the Lahore High Court, Sardar Iqbal, and the Chief
Justice of the Peshawar High Court, Safdar Shah, and appoint Aslam
Riaz, who stood eighth in the order of seniority, as CJ of the LHC.
The Sixth Amendment (January 4, 1977) allowed the Chief Justices of
the Supreme and High Courts to hold office for tenures of five and
four years respectively even though they had attained the retirement
age of 65 and 62. This was done solely to retain Bhutto's favourite
judge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Yakub Ali, who soon
thereafter would have had his 65th birthday. On December 8, 1976,
Yakub Ali publicly stated: "I can say from personal knowledge that
the prime minister, by conviction, has great respect for the
judiciary from the lowest to the highest rung." (Dawn Dec 9, 1976).
The Seventh Amendment (May 16, 1977), inter alia, prohibited the
High Courts from exercising jurisdiction over people and property of
an area where the armed forces had been brought in to aid the civil
authorities.
Martial law followed and with it the various presidential orders and
the famous convoluted Eighth Amendment which, for better or for
worse, changed, added to, or subtracted from, many provisions of the
Second to Seventh Amendments.
For instance, now our law decrees that an Ahamdi can be sent to jail
merely for intoning Kalima Tayyaba. And our society being as
educated and tolerant as it is, has accepted this.
Many Pakistanis have come to accept subservience and corruption as
virtues. Corruption grows, as more and more people join the ranks of
the corrupt on the easy-to-understand maxim: 'If you can't lick 'em
join 'em'. The same approach brought in periods of non-governance by
martial law despots and by fascists posing as democrats. Martial Law
is no law � it is brute force which brooks no reason, but the
excesses of our 'fascocrats' have, to a certain extent and before a
total breakdown of the country could be achieved, been stemmed by
our good, bad, or indifferent judiciary.
Since 1973, each 'fascocrat' has declared that he or she will abide
by the constitutional dictates and fulfil the requirement that the
judiciary will be independent. This, after the passage of almost a
quarter of a century, has still not come about.
During this time, let us recall how certain members of our
judiciary, men of independent minds, have been 'dealt with', or
'fixed', particularly in Sindh.
First was Justice Tufailally Abdul Rahman, Chief Justice of the
Sindh High Court. In the second half of 1973, District and Sessions
Judge of Sanghar, Mohammed Owais Murtaza, was hand-cuffed, arrested
in his court and jailed by provincial minister and Bhutto-minion Jam
Sadiq Ali for having granted bail to certain men he had had
arrested. The steadfast CJ stood his ground and protested. Why was
his judge humiliated? Why was he, the Chief Justice, not consulted?
He demanded that Prime Minister Bhutto meet him.
Bhutto carefully avoided him and wrote to Talented Cousin Chief
Minister of Sindh Mumtaz Ali Bhutto: "For heaven's sake, meet this
old woman and keep him happy, otherwise deal with him." Mumtaz
backed off, writing back that a meeting with the CJ "is usually not
an event to which I look forward. The Chief Justice is just
impossible." The arrested judge Murtaza moved the High Court for
bail and Bhutto had him released before the matter could be heard by
Tufail.
Tufail died in office on January 16, 1974, and for five days
thereafter the SHC was without a CJ, for Bhutto did not wish to
appoint the senior puisne judge, Nurul Arfin, as Acting Chief
Justice. Arfin's independence was not liked and he had never been
forgiven for having released Abdul Hamid Jatoi, whom Bhutto had
imprisoned. The prime Minister's machinations brought down from the
Supreme Court his friend Justice Abdul Kadir Sheikh and he was
appointed Chief Justice. The farcical Gazette Notification read:
"During the period Mr Justice Abdul Kadir Sheikh holds the office of
Chief Justice of the High Court of Sindh and Balochistan, he will
continue to retain his lien on the office of and seniority as a
judge of the Supreme Court." Nurul Arfin resigned. A useless
gesture, as a resignation on a matter of principle in our kind of
society is meaningless. Sindh merely lost a good judge.
A bad precedent was set, and in 1994, when daughter Benazir Bhutto
found Chief Justice of Sindh Nasir Aslam Zahid to be 'non-
cooperative', he was exiled to the Shariat Court and replaced by
Abdul Hafiz Memon, who had been a judge since the days of her
father. He holds the record of having been sworn in as a judge six
times, twice in Bhutto's time, once when he took the oath under
Zia's PCO, and three times during Benazir Bhutto's two terms.
Not to be left behind, Nawaz Sharif followed suit. To his credit,
this time around he has hurriedly pushed through Parliament two
constitutional amendments, the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth, the
democrat in him not allowing the rules of procedure to be followed
and not allowing debate. But he claims that Parliament is supreme.
Yet he could not sort out a difference with the Supreme Court Chief
Justice and managed to turn it into a crisis. Are the chief
protagonists capable of realizing the amount of harm they cause to
the country and its people by their obstinacy? When they fail or
fall, blame is immediately put upon their chosen 'advisers'. Could
this be but a result of ignorance fostered by lack of education?
Luckily the Sindh High Court has suffered no damage in the fall-out
of this last tangle between Nawaz Sharif and the judiciary. The
province has sent an honest judge, our former Chief Justice, Mamoon
Kazi to the Supreme Court and we have now as CJ, sworn in on
November 4, the very able unapproachable Wajihuddin Ahmad, son of
Justice Wahiduddin Ahmad.
The late Justice Wahiduddin was a handsome man with a booming voice,
widely respected for his integrity, his sagacity, and his
independence. In 1956 he was appointed to the Bench of the High
Court of West Pakistan, and in 1965 was moved to the Permanent
Karachi Bench as the senior puisne judge. In 1967 he sat as the
Chief Justice of the High Court of West Pakistan until elevated to
the Supreme Court in 1969. He retired in 1974 but was recalled in
1976 as an ad-hoc judge of the Supreme Court, staying on for a
further three years, until in 1979 he was disabled by a stroke and
another good judge was lost to us.
Now his son Wajihuddin sits, literally, in the very chair in which
his father sat over thirty year ago. He has time enough to
reorganize and re-energize our High Court. He has time enough to
groom the newly inducted judges. He should do his father proud.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*
971112
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The poor traffic cops!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hafizur Rahman
WHATEVER urban road-users in Karachi and Lahore may say, I am going
to set up the SPCTP, and whoever agrees with me and wants to become
a member of a public-spirited organisation is welcome to do so.
SPCTP is to stand for the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to the
Traffic Police. At the moment there is no membership fee, nor any
apparent benefit. However, it is hoped that after some time members
may become entitled to getting a certain number of traffic
violations waived every month.
Before I tell you more about this, let me first apologise to the
Traffic Police (TP) for ignoring their problems for so long. A much-
maligned body, the TP too are at fault, for they have never done
anything to let their grievances be known to the compassionate
public of Pakistan.
(It is so compassionate that it is ever ready to forgive its
national "leaders" for bringing the country to this pass; be they
General Yahya Khan or General "Tiger" Niazi manner.)
The credit for breaking the inside story about the TP goes to a
daily newspaper of Lahore which conducted a survey some time ago and
found out the facts. The survey tells us that the poor TP are more
sinned against than sinning, and sadly misunderstood. Actually they
are more of a social welfare body than a punitive branch of the
police. This is evident from the fact related by one TP man that
they invariably pay from their own pocket the fines imposed for
traffic violations on persons from their home towns. This is
generosity of a high order.
The survey said that members of the TP had a special grouse against
women car-drivers who break traffic rules. No, they don't throw
their weight about, for they never come out of their cars. The
grouse is that they try to intimidate the poor TP man by speaking
wrong English and threatening him with dire consequences. This is
patently unfair. If we want the Traffic boys to improve their
manners we shall have to ask our ladies to improve their English.
According to the survey, the TP are strongly in favour of booking
pedestrians and cyclists for traffic offences. They don't understand
why the government should be lenient with these two types which are
really very well off these days. Those who walk save valuable money
on transport while the cyclists spend nothing on maintenance except
for an occasional puncture.
It is a fact that if the two groups can be prosecuted for breaking
traffic rules the TP men will be able to make up for the loss in
personal income occasioned by motorists and motor-cyclists who are
mean enough not to stop and escape the TP exactions.
The traffic police also want the government to reduce the number of
VIPs. They say that every other law-breaker hauled up on the roads
turns out to be a close relation of one VIP or another and manages
to wriggle out of the TP's grip. The TP are thus obliged to
concentrate on that small section of the road-using public which is
not connected with persons of influence. How can this small section
meet the financial needs of such a large force whose domestic
expenses are going up every day?
The newspaper survey made out that the TP boys are overly exploited.
It is the unwritten law that they have to share their takings with
the higher-ups. If they cannot please their officers they are posted
at points where they can't take French leave or where the income is
a pittance. Who suffers because of this meanness? Only the small
children of the poor TP men who have to go without Swiss chocolates
and electronic toys. Imagine the psychological effect of this unjust
deprivation on the delicate minds of growing children.
The only way out of this is to convert the unwritten law into a code
in black and white, so that every TP man, from the highest officer
to the humblest foot constable, knows what he is going to take home
in the evening and plan life accordingly. In fact the whole system
of takings should be computerised so that human error and greed of
at the higher level should not create heart-burning.
There is also a rather sad aspect to the TP men's problems. Those
interviewed for the survey came out bitterly against students who
call the TP names that are insulting and derogatory to their self-
respect. What can one do about that? You can't go and change the
attitude of thousands upon thousands of irresponsible boys. They
never listen to anyone nowadays, not even their parents. I'm afraid
the TP men will have to bear this with a thicker skin than they
already have. They can wear it under the uniform so that it doesn't
show.
On the other hand, the students told the survey that bribery had
gone into the very blood of the TP, and unless their blood was
renewed en masse (this suggestion was actually made) a
transformation was not possible. The TP men will, of course, refuse
to have their blood touched. Probably they are ready (like all our
political leaders) to shed the last drop of their blood for the
country and the Kashmir cause, but are hardly likely to yield to a
whim of youthful law-breakers who themselves want to join the TP. An
impasse will thus be reached. You may call it a stalemate or a
deadlock; I have no objection.
So this was part of the case of the Traffic Police which has never
before been presented to the public in its correct perspective. Now
you will understand why I want to start the SPCTP, though I don't
know whether I am going to end up as their patron saint or they will
issue me a ticket involving a few days in the jug if they don't like
the tone and tenor of this piece. I think I should keep my car off
the road for some time.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*
971115
--------------------------------------------------------------------
For the sake of the party
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Irfan Husain
MS Benazir Bhutto was quoted recently as telling an audience at
Harvard University that she was no longer interested in politics,
but was soldiering on because "her party needed her."
Well, I have news for her: the PPP needs her as much as a fish needs
a bicycle. As more and more revelations about her Swiss accounts
come to light, even the most gung-ho supporter is hard pressed to
defend her and her husband. Despite the occasional pro forma denial
issued from Bilawal House, nobody seriously believes that all the
many overseas accounts held by her and her immediate family contain
nothing but legally gained income. And her protestations about
immense inherited wealth notwithstanding, Benazir Bhutto's role in
her husband's seemingly incontrovertible shady deals is now an
undeniable fact.
Earlier, her supporters had tended to give her the benefit of
doubt, arguing that she was kept in the dark by the insatiable Asif
Zardari. But with the flood of documents about the ex-first couple's
dummy companies and their assets now a matter of public record, it
is no longer possible for even her closest associates to deny her
direct involvement.
As long as the PPP chairperson continues to dominate the party, it
cannot emerge from its current state of demoralization that set in
following the hammering it took in the last election. In fact, the
party's current woes stem directly from the perception of rampant
and unchecked corruption that have clung to its leader and her
controversial husband.
Twice turfed out of office on identical charges of bribery and
mismanagement, it is high time for Benazir Bhutto to give up her
apparently hereditary position in the party. Actually, any leader
with an iota of conscience and sensitivity would have resigned after
a defeat as humiliating as the one suffered by the PPP last
February. But after being convinced that she was indispensable, she
has clung on, much to the party's embarrassment.
I would not have cared very much who led the PPP had it not been for
the fact that I have supported it for nearly twenty years. It was
only in February that I voted against it because I could no longer
stomach the previous government's inept and crooked ways. The fact
is that no democracy can thrive without the presence of at least two
viable political parties in the arena. Their presence gives voters a
clear choice on election day, and a strong opposition keeps the
ruling party on its toes.
But the last lopsided electoral results have unbalanced the system
by virtually eliminating the opposition, and giving the ruling party
a bulldozer of a mandate. And apart from the numbers in Parliament,
the opposition has no leg to stand on when it comes to accusing the
government of any improper behaviour. It can only regain the high
moral ground when it parts company with its leader who stands
accused of skimming off millions of dollars together with her
husband.
The need for this break has assumed greater urgency now that Benazir
Bhutto is in real danger of being disqualified from sitting in the
National Assembly because she did not file details of her many bank
accounts abroad. She has been quoted as telling her audience at
Harvard University that she is making more money on the lecture
circuit than she did as prime minister of Pakistan. This may well be
true, but as she cares so much about her suddenly revealed wealth,
she may well consider other career options. With her sizable
fortune and major investments in real estate abroad, surely she can
use her considerable talents in ventures other than fooling the
Pakistani public.
The fact is that over the years, the PPP has come to stand for a
number of things to a number of people. It may not have delivered on
the promises its founders made, but for the dispossessed and the
marginalized, the PPP was a beacon of hope. For leftists and
liberals, the PPP was the only viable party they could support. And
the party's exemplary role in spearheading the anti-dictatorship
movement during Zia's rule brought in more supporters and admirers
for the young Benazir Bhutto.
During her first stint, we were able and willing to overlook many of
her faults and errors, ascribing them to inexperience, a hostile
establishment and a husband of dubious antecedents. We were
disappointed that she did not even attempt the kind of reforms that
were so badly needed. The Hudood Ordinance, and similar regressive
pieces of legislation should, we felt, have been thrown out, but we
forgave BB much when her government was dismissed by a vindictive
Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The election of 1990 was widely perceived as
having been rigged, and the PPP vote bank remained more or less
intact.
But the second time around there were no excuses. With everything
going her way, it was greed, pure and simple, that brought down her
government. Although PPP voters stayed away in droves last February
to show their anger and disapproval, we need a two-party system if
democracy is to survive. But as long as Benazir Bhutto and Asif
Zardari are associated with the party, there is no way its
supporters will return to the fold.
Basically, the ex-first couple need the umbrella of the PPP to
escape the possible consequences of their actions. But the party
leadership has a larger responsibility to their rank and file, as
well as the democratic dispensation they struggled to restore. It
used to be unthinkable to imagine the PPP without a Bhutto. It has
now become unthinkable to imagine the PPP with a Bhutto. Ultimately,
the PPP is not a jagir that the Bhuttos can use at will. Many men
and women have made immense sacrifices for the party, and it is high
time they asserted their rights over it.
It is the tradition in most democracies for the party leader to
resign after he or she has presided over an electoral defeat. In our
case, we have a situation where the country's biggest political
party is virtually wiped out, and yet its leader continues to hang
on. And not only does she hang on, but she goes on heaping further
disgrace on the party by her laughable defence of her seeming
complicity in her husband's dubious business dealings.
I think it was Cromwell who said: "In the name of God, go!"
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*
971109
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Why hasn't the PM responded?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Eqbal Ahmad
IN an initiative to which I recall no precedence in Pakistan, three
former Chiefs of Pakistan Air Force wrote to the Prime Minister
urging him to enact a law aimed against a seemingly widespread
practice of kickbacks in the purchase of armaments. "The kickback
takers", they wrote, "rob the armed forces of the most advantageous
purchasing terms in their weapons acquisitions. They act as frontmen
for those who siphon off millions of dollars from the nation's
scarce defence resources. They also bring the armed forces into
disrepute, mostly quite undeservedly, and lower the servicemen's
morale and fighting spirit." These strange, declarative phrases were
written by men who led our air force at crucial junctures, and who
are remembered in the services for their integrity and leadership.
The remedy which the Air Chiefs � M. Asghar Khan, Zulfikar Ali Khan,
and Jamal A Khan propose was sent to the Prime Minister in the form
of a carefully drawn draft legislation entitled "The Defence Agents
Prohibition Act, 1997". Its effects could be far reaching though its
formulation is simple: eliminate the intermediary agent from the
defence purchasing process, contractually and routinely obligate the
foreign supplier to refrain from using agents and peddling favours.
No law can end kickbacks totally; this one is not an exception. But
keeping in view the worldwide history of kickbacks, a close reading
of their proposed legislation suggests that if enacted this simple
measure will drastically reduce the incidence of the grand larceny
which harms national security in multiple ways. It is a cancer not
only costly to national treasuries. It also destroys the integrity
of the officers, spreads cynicism and discontent in its ranks, and
undermines morale. Most analysts agree, for example, that kickbacks
contributed to the demoralization and collapse of the Shah's armed
forces and Mobutu's army.
Given Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's overt commitment to fighting
corruption, given also the impeccable source of this proposal, one
had expected that within months if not weeks this legislation will
be on the parliamentary agenda. On my return from the United States
a few weeks ago I asked two of the three Air Marshals if the Prime
Minister had replied to their letter of which the contents had been
reported in Dawn. "We have not heard a word from any one", was their
depressing reply. Their response conveyed a certain awe and sadness
over the power of the kickback lobby. It is but one reflection of
the venality which afflicts the third world that while most of the
supplier countries have enacted anti-kickback laws, only a handful
of the third world's arms buyers have done anything to control the
termites that erode the foundations of national security and the
economy. It is treason we are refusing to arrest.
"Payment for collaboration" is how The Concise Oxford Dictionary
defines 'kickback'. Kickback is so common a form of corruption in
our time that what began as a colloquialism to describe deviation
from the norm has now made its way into literary English. As for
collaboration, do not confuse it for creative partnership. In the
dictionary's definition above, it means "cooperating traitorously
with an enemy". The phenomenon came into full view of the world in
the seventies when such corporate giants as Lockheed, Northrop and
Gulf oil were exposed for giving extravagant bribes in their bid to
obtain favourable contracts from governments. A Japanese government
of Takeo Miki, collapsed under the weight of such scandals and many
a leaders were disgraced. Many supplier governments enacted laws
prohibiting pay-offs. In the United States, the biggest supplier
country, the Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a
law replete with ambiguities and loopholes. Several others passed
similar laws.
One effect of these laws � their clearest feature is a prohibition
on outright bribery to obtain a contract � was to put the agent at
the centre of the bribery nexus. The agents � who as employees of
duly constituted firms are mostly former military officers, senior
bureaucrats, or relatives and friends of people in power � are
supposed to serve as the link between buyer and seller. They claim
to help the seller understand the needs and requirements of the
buyer, and assist the buyer in selecting the best quality products
at the most competitive prices. Ask an agent, he will treat you to a
most glowing description of the national service he performs by
facilitating the purchase of best weapons at most reasonable prices.
In fact, they are mere deal makers between sellers and the
purchasing officials. The best deal is made when a bad product is
sold at high price and the difference is split among the three
parties which are always an institution � the foreign corporation
and the corrupt native officials and agents.
Like all salesmen the arms agents are a smooth lot, and unlike most
they are totally superfluous. Which respecting army, air force, or
navy would need an outsider to advise it on what weapons it should
buy. The capabilities and relative advantages of every weapons
system is thoroughly documented, comparative data are available,
performance profiles can be had on video, and all these can be
checked against analyses of a given weapon system by independents no
less than competitors. More importantly, arms is a most competitive
market, hence sellers tend to be solicitous of buyers. "They
cooperate to the greatest extent", says Air Marshal Jamal Khan, and
recounts the inspections and field tests which a German radar
producer provided the Pakistani air force officers. "The equipment",
he concluded "we bought was the best one could and at very
competitive price."
Kickbacks were not yet a problem in Air Marshal Asghar Khan's
tenure. The Air Force was purchasing but little and the menace of
corruption and its agents had not yet infected it. Air Marshals
Zulfikar Ali Khan and Jamal Khan documented at some length their
efforts to bar the agents from air force transactions, and showed
how willing the sellers were to certify that they had not used an
agent or otherwise engaged in influence peddling. "We also forbade
the entry of agents into Air Force Bases. But our writ did not go
beyond the Air Force. In the absence of law we had no recourse
against the intrepid violators. Our experience tells us that a
service chief can not do much to stop this disease. It is a
political problem, and its solution requires political will."
During their tenures, the two air force chiefs took their pleadings
to the chief executive and the defence secretary. "We received
strong verbal support, then nothing was done", say Air Marshal
Zulfikar Khan. Neither Z.A. Bhutto nor General Ziaul Haq acted on
their recommendations. Their aides behaved as though this was not
their business to interfere. After all, the law allowed the agents
to operate. When one defence secretary was approached to do
something to stop the rot that hurts the armed forces, he
categorically said that we do not need legislation as we have a fool
proof system of honest defence acquisition.' At the time rumours of
big kickbacks in naval purchases were taking the round. When he
would not identify the "fool proof system", Air Marshal Asghar Khan
spoke to him harshly.
During all these years there were scandals galore, from mirages to
submarines. Each scandal, proven or not, affects morale in the armed
forces, affects also the crucial trust between officers and Jawans.
"There is talk of corruption in the barracks too", says an army
officer I meet by chance, "jawans are losing faith in us. They live
on a diet of daal-roti, and hear about luxurious wealth in high
places. This is not good situation." I had heard these lines before
and again wondered why no one speaks of this, perhaps the greatest
threat to national security at all those seminars in which so much
derivative bromide is spouted about Pakistan's security
requirements.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would do well to act on the Air
Marshals' appeal. His government needs to build a new, a positive
image of itself. Look at newspapers, in English or Urdu. Talk to
people in the street. One impression overrides all others. The
honeymoon is over. The Teflon has worn off Nawaz Sharif's
government. Its early achievements � a recoiling from VIPism, the
regulation of marriage parties, the principled settlement of a
lingering controversy over privatizing the Quaid-i-Azam University's
land have been all but forgotten. The broad-based goodwill he had
enjoyed in the first months after assuming office is being displaced
by cribbing about all that afflicted this country before he came
into office � economic stagnation, inflation, crime and sectarian
violence.
To these old causes of complaints have been added new ones �
downsizing which is essential but necessarily hurts in this
environment of low employment and rising prices, laws such as the
anti-terrorist legislation which unduly lengthens the already long,
repressive, and corrupt arm of the police, a backward looking
cultural policy, a tendency to appease the most retrograde and
sectarian sections of society, and failure to demonstrate a sense of
commitment to such low cost but essential tasks as the Air Marshals
have proposed. If they wish to govern effectively, Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and his colleagues must reverse this trend. As a rule
discontent and disillusion grows if it is allowed to persist.
When authority responds positively to constructive initiatives from
citizens, it promotes trust and interdependence between government
and society. The converse is also true, when they ignore citizens'
initiative high officials encourage cynicism, disillusion, and
distrust of government. The distance between state and civil society
widens.
===================================================================
971109
--------------------------------------------------------------------
President decorates Pakistani captains
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Reporter
LAHORE, Nov 8: President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari decorated 21
captains of the past and present Pakistan cricket team with gold
medals in recognisation of their services to the game on the
occasion of the Pakistan Golden Jubilee celebrations.
The medals were awarded at the conclusion of the final of the Four-
Nation Pakistan Golden Jubilee One Day International Cricket
Tournament which was played between the world Champions Sri Lanka
and South Africa at the Qadhafi stadium on Saturday night.
The three cricket stalwarts each in one buggle entered in the
stadium and after receiving their medals from the President took a
round of the stadium amid thunderous applause of the stadium.
Imran Khan, the most successful captain of the Pakistan team could
not attend the ceremony due to his political engagements.
The medals of two late captains, namely Mian Muhammad Saeed and
Abdul Hafeez Kardar were received by their grandsons Taimur Saeed
and Hamza Kardar, respectively.
Besides Mian Muhammad Saeed and Abdul Hafeez Kardar, the others who
received the medals were: Fazal Mahmood, Imtiaz Ahmad, Javed Burki,
Hanif Muhammad, Saeed Ahmad, Intikhab Alam, Majid Khan, Mushtaq
Muhammad, Wasim Bari, Asif Iqbal, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim
Akram, Saleem Malik, Waqar Younis, Rameez Raja, Saeed Anwar and
Abdul Qadir.
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Cricket stadium to be built at Bhurban
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Our Correspondent
RAWALPINDI, Nov 10: A stadium of international standard with all
facilities would be constructed at Bhurban, Murree. Bids would be
invited soon for the construction of the stadium as the initial
designing and development works have been completed.
This was decided at a meeting held here on Monday to finalise the
consultants whose services would be acquired to build the stadium
and the related facilities at the picturesque hilly station.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had directed the district and
divisional administrations for providing maximum recreational
facilities, included cricket stadium, gymnasium with squash, tennis
courts, basketball, badminton and volleyball, to the people of
Murree.
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All-rounders were our main asset, says Bacher
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Shamim-ur-Rahman
The recent victory of South African cricket team in the test series
against Pakistan was the reflection of the characteristics of the
new South Africa nation under President Nelson Mandela - that of
pride, determination and guts," said Dr Ali Bacher managing director
United Cricket Board of South Africa in a telephonic interview
Sunday.
"Since 1980 only three visiting teams have achieved victory in
Pakistan; a feat which attests to the tenacity of the South African
team," he said.
It was their single-mindedness of purpose that saved the day for
them because by their own admission they did not perform
consistently. However, when they apply themselves they are arguably
among the best in world cricket, said Dr Bacher.
The South African team's strength lies in its outstanding all
rounders; McMillan, Pollock, Klusener, Kallis, Symcox, Richardson
and Captain, Hansie Cronje.
"These all rounders are the envy of many cricketing nations and the
team is rapidly reaching the all-round proportions of the team that
I was fortunate enough to captain in 1970," said the UCBSA managing
director.
That team included cricketing legends, Trevor Goddard, Eddie Barlow,
Tiger Lance, Mike Procter, Lee Irvine and wicket-keeper/ batsman
Denis Lindsay," said Bacher.
The present South African squad also has some impressive youngsters
coming through. Players such as Jacques Kallis, Adam Bacher, Shaun
Pollock, Lance Klusener, Herschelle Gibbs and Paul Adams can look
forward to contributing to the success of our international fixtures
in the future.
The South African cricket board chief was amazed at the number of
young international players coming through in Pakistan "on a
seemingly endless conveyor belt - without a single cricketing
factory in sight."
There are no discernible grassroots coaching structures or elite
academies as is the case in South Africa and Australia. The answer,
he said, may very well lie in the fact that cricket is deeply
embedded in the fabric of the Pakistan nation where playing the game
has become second nature - much like football in African countries.
"I believe that Pakistan will take cricket into a new era if formal
developmental structures are introduced to harness the natural flair
and love for the game that is so clearly evident among the youth of
that country," the UCBSA chief said.
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Wasim to lead team against West Indies
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Samiul Hasan
KARACHI, Nov 12: Wasim Akram will lead the Pakistan cricket team in
the three-Test series against the West Indies, Majid Khan, the PCB
Chief Executive, said from his Lahore residence.
The selectors will, however, deliberate upon the first Test squad on
Thursday but the announcement will be made on Friday, Majid Khan
added.
"We will try to keep it (number of players) low but all depends on
the selectors. I think it should be a 13-member squad," added the
PCB official.
Majid Khan said Wasim Akram was initially appointed captain till the
series against the West Indies. "For the tour of Sharjah, the
consent and approval of the Executive Council will be taken before
the decision is announced."
Akram is presently in Mumbai and is expected to return on Thursday.
It was, however, not confirmed if he will sit in the selection
committee meeting which will be held under the chairmanship of an
ailing Salim Altaf who is down with flu.
Majid Khan's confirmation on Wasim Akram's status lays rest to
speculations about change in captaincy in the background of an
embarrassing performance in the quadrangular tournament.
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Waqar Younis dropped from first Test squad
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Ilyas Beg
LAHORE, Nov 14: In a surprise move, toe-crusher Waqar Younis was
dropped along with in-form fast-medium bowler Aqib Javed in the 13-
member Pakistan cricket team that was announced on Friday for the
first Test against the West Indies, which will begin at Peshawar on
Nov 17.
Wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has also been axed from the side which
finished third in the quadrangular tournament. However, young
middle-order batsman Muhammad Wasim has been brought back into the
side and is likely to play in the team.
While talking to this reporter soon after finishing his track work
at the Qadhafi Stadium, Wasim Akram said that he had been consulted
by the selectors on Thursday about the combination of the team.
"All the team-members will be flying to Peshawar on Saturday
morning. We will have a good look at the pitch and thereafter
finalise the eleven for the Test on morning of the game. Having
suffered a shock-defeat at Faisalabad in the third Test against
South Africa and performed badly during the Golden Jubilee
Quadrangular Cricket Tournament at Lahore, chips are down and boys
are under psychologically under pressure. Still, we will try our
best to beat the West Indies side at Peshawar and in the following
matches", said the serene and calm-looking Wasim Akram.
While replying to a question from this reporter, the experienced
all-rounder Wasim Akram said that a five-day Test is a totally
different game from the limited-over matches. Of course, the West
Indies side was also having a bad patch these days just like the
Pakistan team.
"No one should forget that the West Indies team consists of world-
class bowlers like Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop, who have the
capability to change the complexion of the game at any stage. One
can play them when bowling in limited-over matches. But they can be
lethal in Tests. The West Indies side has world-class batsmen like
Brian Lara and Carl Hooper. The fielding of the team has always been
good. Whenever the Caribbean side will click, it will be very
difficult proposition to beat. However, my assertions should not be
misunderstood or misconstrued. We will give away our best and leave
the result to Allah!" said Wasim Akram.
Wasim Akram looked satisfied with the composition of the team. He
said that the team will play with three pacemen and three spinners.
All-round ability of Aamir Sohail and Azhar Mahmood would be an
advantage with the Pakistan team.
The 13 players announced for the Peshawar Test have three openers
Aamir Sohail, Saeed Anwar and Ali Naqvi. Besides Wasim Akram and
Azhar Mahmood, young paceman Shahid Nazir has been included in the
team. The match-winning right-arm leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmad, who had
opted to take rest during the Golden Jubilee Quadrangular Cricket
Tournament, has come back into the side to make it more balanced.
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PCB earns Rs 9.1m from one-dayers against India
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Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 12: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earned a revenue
of Rs 9,100,000 from the turnstiles during the three One-day
Internationals against India.
This was disclosed by the PCB Treasurer, Waqar Hasan, while
addressing the gathering at the prize-giving ceremony of the
Veterans Cup cricket tournament here on Wednesday.
Waqar, a former Test batsman of yesteryear, said that the recent
one-day series against India proved to be a great success for the
PCB as the proceeds from the sale of tickets for the matches yielded
1,200,000 at Hyderabad and Rs 4,200,000 at Karachi and 3,700,000
from the day/night encounter at Lahore.
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Era of Jahangir & Jansher sustains Pakistan's supremacy
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A. Majid Khan
The man - rather the boy - destined to end the Australian
stranglehold on world squash and re-assert Pakistan's supremacy was
the incomparable Jahangir Khan who cut through the intervening reign
of Geoff Hunt in a sensational encounter to become the youngest
international title-holder (14-year-old) in 1979.
Air Marshal (Rtd) Nur Khan, the Chairman of the Pakistan
International Airlines, fully backed up the country's second era of
progress to the hilt and introduced the PIA open as well as team
championship besides building a modern squash complex in Karachi.
These developments in the late seventies gave tremendous boost to
the game in Pakistan � a wave that is still continuing in the shape
of Jansher Khan.
The Karachi team event brought a new revolution in international
squash and the World Squash Federation later abolished the
discrimination between amateur and professional categories and its
1981 team championship was as such an open team event.
It was the beginning of the new golden age of Pakistan in the world
squash as Jahangir Khan re-established Pakistan's dominance in the
prestigious British Open winning the 1982 final against Hidyat
Jahan, in an all-Pakistan affair after a lapse of seven years when
Qamar defeated Gogi Alauddin in the 1975 final in London.
Jahangir proceeded to post another milestone in the international
squash with ten wins in the British Open (1982-1991) surpassing
Hunt's record of eight victories. Needless to say this record also
remains unchallenged.
Jahangir Khan also ruled the World Open for five years in a row
(1981-1985) before tasting his first defeat in international squash
by New Zealand's Ross Norman in the 1996 World Open final in France.
He showed his mastery and skill in the hardball game, a different
version of squash played in USA and Canada, and became the only
player in the world to hold number one ranking both in the
internationally recognised softball and hard ball game
simultaneously.
He toured all over the world winning countless championships but
persistent back problem compelled him to skip a good number of
international tournaments as well as losing quite a few matches
against the new emerging champion Jansher Khan � another titan to
rise from the soil of Pakistan.
Under Jahangir's stewardship Pakistan won the world team title four
times and the last time he captained the national team to victory
was in the 1993 World Teams Championship in Karachi after which he
announced his retirement.
Pakistan had fortunately found a new champion in Jansher Khan, and
today he is the torch-bearer of our squash ascendancy in the
international field.
Jansher Khan, trained and coached by his elder brother Mohibullah
Khan in Peshawar, was in the Pakistan Air Force which extended all
help and support in his build-up as a world champion. In 1987 he
beat Australia's Chris Dittmar.
The great Jansher added a new chapter in squash history by
surpassing Jahangir's record of six wins to set a new one of eight
wins in the World Open (1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 193, 1994, 1995,
1996). However, Jansher had to skip the 1997 World Open in Kuala
Lumpur for personal reasons.
Jansher's withdrawal from the world open has resulted in weakening
the Pakistan team competing in the World Team Championship, also in
Kuala Lumpur due to start after the conclusion of World Open.
Nevertheless, Jansher Khan still holds number one rank in world
squash and is expected to dominate the international squash for
another few years. He is 29.
Jansher Khan has also crossed the half-way stage in the prestigious
British Open, winning the title six years in a row from (1992-1997)
setting his eye to enter the 21st century with a new determination
and will to maintain Pakistan's hold in the championship as also to
surpass Jahangir's record of ten wins (1982-1991).
So in this golden Jubilee year Pakistan can look back with pride on
the glorious achievements by our world renowned players � Hashim
Khan, Roshan Khan, Azam Khan, late Mohibullah Khan, Qamar Zaman,
Janangir Khan and our present world beater, Jansher Khan. As far as
looking forward to an equally illustrious era is concerned, we have
to keep our fingers crossed.
(Concluded)
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