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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 03 October 1998 Issue : 04/30
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Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS
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NATIONAL NEWS
+ Revenue target lowered by Rs52bn
+ New US terms for lifting sanctions
+ Ordinance for speedy trial of the corrupt
+ Observer report: Opposition stages walkout from NA
+ Govt halts Hubco probe: official
+ Pakistan elected to ICAO body
+ Loadshedding may lead to law, order problem in Karachi
+ Normality a precondition: Rangers to stay in Karachi
+ WAPDA owes Rs 2.53bn to NWFP
+ APC team to visit Tehran, Kabul
+ E-9 workshop concludes: Pakistan has to learn much from China
---------------------------------
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
+ Dollar bonds may be made bearer instrument
+ Govt borrows Rs27.48bn from banks in July-Aug
+ Govt making moves to avoid legal battle with IPPs
+ Dialogue with Turkish team for $100m loan resumes today
+ Rs13bn customs duty collected in 1st quarter
+ New tariff for mobile phone customers
+ New loan procedure: PM�s transport scheme being revived
+ GST at fixed rate for three years proposed by LCCI
+ Indonesian plan to export 1,200 cars to Pakistan
+ Stocks finish on optimistic note
---------------------------------------
EDITORIALS & FEATURES
+ Spurring strife Ardeshir Cowasjee
+ Sauce for the gander Irfan Husain
+ Kashmir in, CTBT out? M. Ziauddin
-----------
SPORTS
+ Pakistan's victory termed a landmark
+ Match-fixing: Imran critical of controversy
+ Australia overcome early shocks to make 237 for 4
+ Pakistan beat China in last match
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NATIONAL NEWS
981003
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Revenue target lowered by Rs52bn
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Ikram Hoti
ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: In view of a shortfall in collection of federal
taxes in July-September quarter 1998, the International Monetary
Fund has been informed that the CBR would be collecting Rs 300
billion as revenue in financial year 1998-99, and not Rs 352
billion, as estimated in the federal budget for the year.
Explaining the reasons for cut in revenue target Chairman, Central
Board of Revenue, Moinudin Khan said, "I cannot correct the market.
The way imports and production/marketing are faring, you cannot
expect revenue collection according to the budgetary estimates."
Moin, however, did not give out the figures or confirm that the
revised downward figure was Rs 300 billion. He simply said: "The
estimates have been revised downward and the IMF has been informed
accordingly."
The Rs 59 billion collection is short of the slashed target of Rs
65 billion set on Sept 25 for the first quarter�s collection.
Moin Khan said he could not improve the collection of revenue under
the prevailing circumstances. "I know that they are going to yell
at me at the end of the first quarter. But nothing works in these
conditions. How can I be responsible for the slump that is not
allowing any hope of improvement? How can I offer estimates which
are not realistic. That is why we told the IMF that the collection
cannot be according to the budgeted estimates."
Moin Khan said he did not agree that the shortfall in collection in
these circumstances could in any way be attributed to leakage in
the collection channels. "You cannot say the shortfall could be
prevented if the staff had not been corrupt." He added that the
better collection recorded by the tax staff in the past has not
been due to their turning virtuous temporarily but due to the
market offering better chances of collection.
"Under the present slump, poor imports and diminutive
production/marketing, you cannot expect improvement", he said. The
CBR officials said since the first quarter of a financial year is
lean one, the collection in the second, third and fourth quarters
will gradually improve.
One senior CBR official said: "I cannot say that it would be Rs 70
or 80 billion in the next quarter (October-December), but there
would be substantial improvement, which has been a trend in the
past."
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981002
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New US terms for lifting sanctions
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Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON, Oct 1: The US on Wednesday laid down the road map for
Pakistan and India, if they wanted lifting of nuclear sanctions and
the list includes at least two new items - a moratorium on fissile
material production and a bilateral nuclear restraint accord.
Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth spoke about the
progress achieved in Pakistan-US and Indo-US talks so far and what
remains to be done, at a special briefing for South Asian
journalists at the State Department, shortly after the postponement
of President Clinton�s scheduled trip to the region.
But he was quick to clarify that Washington "was not moving the
goal post" after both India and Pakistan had indicated at the UN
General Assembly that they would be willing to adhere to the CTBT
once the atmosphere of coercion was removed.
"We are absolutely not moving the goal post. There is nothing that
we are asking today from India (and Pakistan) to consider that we
were not asking in June. Goal posts are the same. The secretary of
state made a statement in New York and it is consistent. She did
say "do not overstate or understate it (the progress in talks)."
She is very pleased with the direction and she is as hopeful as we
all are that we will make the president trip to go ahead as soon as
possible," he said.
He continued: "It is our view that the issues that we are
discussing are complex, they are fundamental, we believe they will
require more time to resolve to our mutual, and I stress mutual,
satisfaction."
Elaborating what was still to be accomplished, the US official
said: "As many of you know, until more progress is achieved, we
will not be able to fully lift sanctions and strengthen cooperation
with India and Pakistan as we had hoped."
Before Inderfurth gave out what he did not want to be called a
"laundry list", he enumerated the progress that has been achieved
in the talks between Strobe Talbott, Jaswant Singh and Shamshad
Ahmed, so far.
"We believe that India and Pakistan are moving towards adherence to
CTBT. We very much welcome the fact that both countries have
announced unilateral moratoria on further nuclear testing.
"They have both removed obstacles to fissile material negotiations
starting in Geneva, a goal I should add which has been long sought
by the international community, for several years.
"They have both promised to control the export of sensitive
technologies and materials, and that is truly the issue that in
terms of proliferation beyond national boundaries is absolutely
essential.
"And they have settled on a modus vivendi for bilateral talks on
their disputes including Kashmir. We think that the joint statement
(of PMs Nawaz Sharif and Vajpayee) issued in New York was very
significant and it has our full support. Of course we would do
whatever we could to assist at the request of both parties," he
said.
Then came the list of what remains to be done. The first thing, he
said, was "clearly actually signing and ratifying the CTBT. Also
finding a formula for a moratorium on fissile material production,
pending conclusion of the Geneva talks. We believe that there
should be a suspension, indeed a multilateral suspension...We
believe that this is an important step to take because negotiations
in Geneva may take several years and it would be very important to
cease any further production now while those negotiations are
moving forward.
"We also believe that both countries should structure a restraint
regime covering both nuclear weapons and their means of delivery in
line with their statements of minimal deterrence. And we hope that
they will move in a direction to better define minimal deterrence.
These are their decisions to make but we hope they will better
define what that concept means and also discuss it with each other
because clearly restraint must be a two-way street. And indeed for
India, a three-way street," Inderfurth said.
"We believe that the positive steps taken by both governments
deserve a response by us. I think you have seen a very positive
development which saw the House and Senate conferees agreeing to
the Brownback Amendment which provides waiver authority to the
president, largely in the economic field. It is a limited waiver
authority for only one year duration," he said.
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981001
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Ordinance for speedy trial of the corrupt
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Ikram Hoti
ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has agreed to issue
an Ordinance for speedy trial of officials nominated for
involvement in corrupt practices, confiscation of the unlawfully
acquired property and arrest/sentence of such officials, says
Moinuddin Khan, Chairman Central Board of Revenue.
In an interview with Dawn at his office on Wednesday, the CBR
chairman said the procedure of punishing the corrupt practices and
the officials was lengthy and faulty. "This system does not punish
the culprit, nor does it allow the cases to be decided within a
reasonable space of time. Having gone through an exercise of
removing from certain posts the officials reported for corrupt
practices, we have concluded that it is not enough to let the
ousted officials remain without being tried and in possession of
the unlawfully acquired property and assets.
He said issuing of an Ordinance will coincide with certain other
steps by the government to allow a quantum of autonomy to the CBR
for enabling it to become Pakistan Revenue Service (or, Revenue
Service of Pakistan-RSP).
On this count, he said: There are rumours that I want powers to
fire people and play a king here. None of this is intended. I only
want powers to move my staff around, to employ their services
effectively, to ensure that no place is short of services which
cause erosion of revenues. I should be given to these powers under
the existing rules of efficiency, discipline, and the right of the
staff to the legal cover against arbitrary removal/dismissal from
service. This cover will remain there for all the CBR officials and
staff under the PRS."
There are reports of demoralization on the part of the officials,
but there are reports and evidence too of the caution and the
corrupt practices becoming less common. I have not accepted the
pressure from any side after I ordered making these officials OSDs.
I told each of the parliamentarian and the bigwig that I was
supposed to carry out reform and that is the way it should be
carried out."
To a question why he did not want to continue the practice of
striking out the corrupt elements from the CBR and its field
offices, he said "I do not want to be bogged down with this single
issue. The entire tax collecting apparatus will come to a
standstill if I concentrate only on this issue. And there are
people who are extremely powerful. It is not possible to carry out
an unbridled thrashing of the corrupt. I have been advised by many
to observe caution (haath halka rakho)."
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981002
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Observer report: Opposition stages walkout from NA
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ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: The opposition members in the National Assembly
staged a walkout from the house on Thursday when they were refused
to raise the issue of The Observer report which levelled
allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Deputy opposition leader, Khurshid Shah, after the question hour,
rose on a point of order and said the issue was serious and the
government must agree to a debate on it.
Chaudhry Jafar Iqbal, deputy speaker, who was presiding over the
session, handled the issue intelligently and said the matter was
disposed of yesterday and could not be raised again on point of
order.
He said if the opposition wanted to highlight the issue again, they
have other means to raise the issue in the house. He pointed out
that this issue was being debated in the house for the last three
days which had no basis.
Syed Khurshid Shah said that by giving charge-sheet to former
additional director general of FIA, the government had proved that
it was involved in money laundering.
Khwaja Mohammad Asif, chairman, Privatization Commission, said that
the matter should not have been voted out yesterday as the
government was in a position to respond to the objections of the
opposition and the point raised in the Observers report.
He was not happy with some of his colleagues on the treasury
benches who favoured the disposing of the matter yesterday.
The opposition not satisfied over refusal to further discuss the
Observer report staged a walkout.
Later the house continued discussion on the constitutional 15th
Amendment bill. It looked as if members were not as keen to speak
on it. Only four members took part in the discussion.
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981003
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Govt halts Hubco probe: official
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KARACHI, Oct 2: The government has stopped investigations of
alleged corruption and over-pricing by Hub Power Company (Hubco), a
major irritant in relations with donor states, officials said on
Friday.
They said an act empowering the government�s Ehtesab
(Accountability) Bureau to probe the internationally backed company
had lapsed, and the two sides would hold top level talks on October
6.
"As the ordinance under which we were investigating Hubco has
lapsed, the inquiry against Hubco has been stopped," an official in
the Ehtesab Bureau told Reuters.
"As the bureau cannot do anything else, they are now seeking a
respectable way out of the situation which could only be a
negotiated deal with Hubco and that is why the meeting has been
called," the official said.
The standoff between the government and Hubco was seen as a key
cause of the loss of investor confidence in Pakistan this year and
a sharp drop in the key Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) index.
The negotiations will coincide with talks in Washington between the
Pakistan government and the International Monetary Fund on a $1.56
billion credit. The credit has been hit by international sanctions
imposed on Pakistan after it conducted nuclear tests in May.
The government team for the Hubco talks will comprise the Minister
for Water and Power, Gohar Ayub Khan, the Minister for Law and
Justice, Khalid Anwar, and the head of the Ehtesab Bureau, senator
Saiful Rehman, the officials said.
Hubco backers, including the World Bank and the IMF, and donor
countries have expressed concern over the standoff between Hubco
and other Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in recent months.
The October 6 talks will be the first between the two sides after
months of standoff and allegations by Hubco that it was being
harassed by the Ehtesab Bureau.
Hubco�s Pakistan representative was barred from leaving the country
last month and the company said its bank accounts had been frozen
because of non-payment of taxes it did not owe.
An FIA official said "we have received instructions from the
Interior Ministry to halt the probe.Reuters
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981002
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Pakistan elected to ICAO body
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Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Pakistan was elected to the prestigious Council
of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the
ninth time at its 32nd general assembly session.
The 33-member council is a permanent body of the ICAO, which
supervizes the administrative work of the organization and the
general assembly meets every three years.
Pakistan secured 115 votes out of a possible 143.
The Pakistani delegation was headed by Defence Secretary Lt Gen
(retd) Iftikhar Ali Khan. Other members were CAA chief Aminullah
Chaudhry, High Commissioner to Canada, Mr Rafat Mehdi, and the
country�s permanent representative in ICAO, Mr Shahid Nazir.
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981002
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Loadshedding may lead to law, order problem in Karachi
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By Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Minister for Water and Power Gohar Ayub Khan,
accusing the industries of power theft in collusion with WAPDA
officials, admitted in the National Assembly on Thursday that there
was serious financial crisis in both KESC and WAPDA which had
hampered urgent repairs that was estimated to cost Rs11 billion.
Gohar Ayub expressed apprehension that loadshedding in Karachi
might turn serious which may even create law and order problem. He,
however, held out an assurance that the government would not allow
a total collapse of power system in Karachi. He said that the
government was making concerted efforts to resolve the problem of
power theft by industrial units, commercial plazas and big housing
complexes in order to cut down losses.
Despite surplus power generation capacity of WAPDA, there has been
frequent power breakdowns, he admitted and said the situation would
not improve unless repairs of the faulty grid stations and
generators were carried out which was not possible due to the
existing financial crunch.
Responding to supplementaries, the minister said that six IPPs had
been given notices for termination of agreement while negotiations
were in progress with others. He said that the government wanted
the small IPPs to charge 5 cents per unit and big companies to
reduce their tariff to 4.8 cents per unit. Twenty IPPs, he said,
had achieved financial close. The minister said that the ministries
of finance, commerce, petroleum and natural resources and
industries would discuss and chalk out a common strategy to help
WAPDA and KESC overcome the financial problems.
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981003
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Normality a precondition: Rangers to stay in Karachi
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Ihtasham ul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Interior minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said
here on Friday that rangers will not be withdrawn from Karachi
unless peace was restored there.
Making a categorical statement in an interview with Dawn he said:
"How can we accept the demand of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to
withdraw rangers from Karachi when the law and order situation is
becoming more and more serious there every day."
He said that rangers were contributing in a big way to help the
civilian administration to maintain law and order in Karachi.
"Their presence in Karachi is vital and important and that is why
we have no plan to withdraw them from city," he added.
He said if the Sindh government wanted the withdrawal of rangers
then "it should give in writing to the federal government and we
would look into it".
When his attention was drawn to the MQM accusation of the rangers
in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Shujaat said: "Accusing
anybody would not serve the purpose and the need of the hour is
that all the political parties and groups should join hands to help
restore peace in the city of Quaid".
He said if rangers were involved in killings, action will be taken
against them. "But I believe they are doing a good job and if they
are removed from there, then the situation will further
deteriorate," Shujaat added.
Responding to a question about the agreement between the government
and the MQM, the interior minister said he did not know about it.
"My main concern is about the law and order problem in Karachi and
I hope that MQM would cooperate with the provincial government in
this behalf."
He referred to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif�s statement in which he
had said that the government needed MQM cooperation to restore
peace in Karachi where four to five people were killed daily.
"I am not against any agreement or cooperation with the MQM," he
said and added "If there is no peace in Karachi, no local and
foreign investor would undertake any business there and the people
of the city will suffer."
Answering a question, he said orders have been issued to Islamabad
police to check the incidents of killing and dacoities in the
capital. "We are taking the matter very seriously," he said adding
that lives and properties of the citizens must be protected at all
cost.
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980930
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WAPDA owes Rs 2.53bn to NWFP
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Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Sept 29: A working group set up by the federal government
for resolving differences between the provincial governments and
the Water and Power Development Authority regarding overbilling,
has come up with a finding that the authority owes Rs 2,534.402
million to the NWFP government.
According to an official handout of the provincial government, the
NWFP working group submitted a report to Chief Minister Sardar
Mahtab Ahmed Abbasi here on Tuesday at his office.
After increasing complaints from the four provincial governments of
inflated deductions at source by WAPDA from their share in the
federal divisible pool, the federal government had formed four
working groups _ one for every province _ through a finance
division notification of March 2.
Each group consisted of three members. The WAPDA and the provincial
government concerned had one representative each and a third
member, a nominee of the federal government, acted as chairman.
The NWFP group�s chairman, Mr M.A.Jabbar, a retired additional
secretary of the finance division, and Mr Zia-ur-Rehman, an
additional secretary in the finance department, represented the
province in the working group. They presented a copy of the report
to the chief minister on Tuesday.
However, WAPDA�s representative to the group, Hazrat Amin Khan,
stayed away from Tuesday�s meeting,
The official handout said "WAPDA has to pay Rs 2,534.402 million to
the NWFP government on account of excess deductions at source of
electricity charges from the province�s share in the federal
divisible pool, arrears payable on account of electricity duty as
well as four per cent return on the assets transferred for the
period from 1993-94 to 1996-97."
Quoting from the report, the provincial government handout said the
NWFP government could ask the WAPDA for payment of the Rs 2,534.402
million owed to it.
It said "the report also reveals that the province has the right to
get back the amount which was incorrectly deducted due to excessive
billing by WAPDA and further suggest that a system should be
evolved through which effective check on the correctness of the
electricity bills and its timely payment is ensured."
Officials said WAPDA had deducted Rs 2,037.240 million on account
of electricity duty alone in 1997-98. But a review by the working
group found that the provincial government owed Rs 1,094.229
million only.
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980929
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APC team to visit Tehran, Kabul
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: A delegation, representing all the political
parties of the country, will soon visit Iran and Afghanistan to
help ease tension between the two countries.
This was decided at an All Parties Conference held under the
auspices of Pakistan Awami Ittehad here on Monday.
The conference, attended by 30 political parties, including the
Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan People�s Party, appealed to
Tehran and Kabul to resolve their differences peacefully.
Through a resolution, the parties expressed grave concern over
mounting tension on the western border of Pakistan and called for
immediate measures to avert an armed clash between Iran and
Afghanistan, said Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, briefing reporters on
the deliberations of the meeting.
He said the meeting observed that restoration of peace to the
region and establishment of cordial relations between Iran and
Afghanistan were in the larger interest of Pakistan.
The resolution said that both Iran and Afghanistan were brotherly
Islamic countries and that Pakistan had centuries-old religious,
cultural and historical ties with them, the Nawabzada told the
newsmen.
The resolution , he said, maintained that Iran had always helped
Pakistan. The revolution , led by Ayotollah Khomeini, had been
hailed by the people of Pakistan as a beginning of an Islamic
renaissance , the resolution said, according to the Nawabzada.
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981001
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E-9 workshop concludes: Pakistan has to learn much from China
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Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: The chairman, prime minister�s literacy
commission(PMLC), Dr Mahar Liaquat Ali, has said Pakistan needs to
learn from China and Indonesia if it really wants to promote
literacy in the country.
"It is pity to note that Pakistan, China and Indonesia got
independence in the late 40s and their literacy ratio was almost
the same at that time. But, after a lapse of 50 years, today
Pakistan is far behind these two countries as far as the the
literacy ratio is concerned, as both China and Indonesia have
demonstrated brilliant results in this important and basic social
sector", he added.
He was addressing a press conference here on Wednesday after the
conclusion of the three-day second regional workshop of E-9
countries, titled, "Planning and management of literacy campaigns",
organized by the PMLC in collaboration with UNESCO.
The representative from UNESCO, Mr Vollman, and the representatives
from the visiting Asian member-states of the E-9 countries, ie,
China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, were also present
at the press conference and they explained their success in the
field of literacy.
Earlier, Dr Liaquat regretted that since the independence a total
of eight programmes aimed at the spread of basic education had been
launched but due to lack of required political will and financial
allocation, all those programmes had failed to click, one by one.
Therefore, the country was still struggling to spread basic
education.
He said: "We should be ashamed of ourselves as, among the E-9
countries, Pakistan occupies the ninth position as regards the
literacy rate and, regrettably, among the five Asian member-states
of E-9 countries we were again at no. 5."
However, he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had realized the
importance of basic education and, therefore, when the national
agenda was announced, he had vowed to sound measures to spread
literacy to enable the people .
Dr Liaquat said it was not an easy task to spread literacy within a
couple of years as it required perpetual efforts.
"The government alone cannot achieve this gigantic goal of
universal literacy unless the other segments of society come
forward and help the government in its efforts to spread
education", he added.
He thought social mobilization, motivation, availability of
resources, political will and commitment on the part of both
society and the government were the inevitable ingredients for
achieving the universal literacy programme.
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
981003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dollar bonds may be made bearer instrument
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By Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, Oct 2: Banks, particularly the state-run, are trying to
persuade the government to make the special dollar bonds a bearer
instrument to increase their sale.
Senior bankers told Dawn that state-run banks in particular and
some local banks in general told Commerce Minister Ishaq Dar on
Thursday that one way of attracting more buyers for the bonds could
be making them a bearer instrument.
They said the proposal was well received by the minister and he
told the bankers that he would discuss this issue with Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif on his arrival from Washington.
Sources privy to the meeting between the commerce minister and the
representatives of local and foreign banks on Thursday quoted him
as saying that the proposal was worth considering.
They said a voice of dissent was raised from a senior executive of
a foreign bank who felt that if the dollar bonds were allowed to be
made a bearer instrument it would pave the way for whitening of
black money.
But the head of a state-run bank quickly disagreed with him and
said since these bonds would be purchased only out of frozen
foreign currency deposits which already enjoyed immunity against
disclosure of the source of income the fear was rather unfounded.
Banks sold only around $27.5 million worth of the dollar bonds by
the end of last month. The bankers told the minister that one of
the reasons for the poor response towards these bonds was their
long-term maturity with very low returns.
LIBOR - London Inter-bank offered rates currently hover around 5.25
per cent on six months and as such the rates of return are
seemingly unattractive for the holders of frozen foreign currency
deposits.
If the bonds are made a bearer instrument it would mean that people
who purchase them out of their frozen foreign currency deposits
would be able to sell them in the market and the ones holding them
at the time of maturity would encash them or earn profits.
Currently these bonds can be encashed or profits on them can be
earned only by those who buy them out of their deposits.
Bankers say the rates of return on these bonds also need to be
revised upwards besides making them a bearer instrument if the
government really wants to shift its short term liabilities in the
form of foreign currency deposits to long term liabilities.
Some senior bankers say the government may allow conversion of
frozen foreign currency deposits into foreign currency bearer
certificates as well to meet this objective. But in doing so the
government will have to give a return much higher than what it is
offering on dollar bonds.
The rates of return on FCBCs used to be determined periodically by
the State Bank but on an average they stood around 8.5 per cent on
a five-year paper whereas under the dollar bonds scheme the
government is going to pay a floating rate linked to LIBOR which
many bankers say will not average out to be even closer to 8.5 per
cent.
Under the rules six-month LIBOR on the day preceding the date of
payment would be taken into account for the purpose of profit
payment.
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981002
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt borrows Rs27.48bn from banks in July-Aug
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: The government borrowed from the banks Rs27.48
billion during the first two months of 1998-99, registering an
increase of 226.73 per cent over the comparative period of last
year, according to the monthly report on Economic Situation
released by the economic adviser to the ministry of finance here on
Thursday.
The 1998-99 budget has set a target of Rs43.0 billion for the whole
year. The fact that 63.9% of the limit for the whole year has been
exhausted in two months only is attributed by the report mainly to
the suspension of external inflows that were projected in the
budget to finance the fiscal deficit. "In other words, bank
borrowing for budgetary support has taken the brunt of the
adjustments on account of economic sanctions," remarked the
economic adviser.
During July-August 1998, total money supply (M2) declined by 1.21%,
while this had increased by 0.28% during the same period last year.
The target of monetary expansion for 1998-99 was fixed at Rs164
billion or 13.6% higher than last year.
Significantly, the domestic credit also showed a decline of 0.04%
or by Rs0.55 billion; the same period last year had registered a
contraction of Rs5.54 billion. The 1998-99 budget had envisaged
Rs164 billion as the total domestic credit.
A decline of Rs14.01 billion in net foreign assets has been
registered during July-August, 1998, compared with an increase of
Rs8.52 billion in the same period last year.
Taxes: The situation as regards tax collection might have been
comparatively better but for the fact that the government had to
pay as refund/rebate a hefty amount of Rs10.7 billion during the
first two months of current financial year. This compares with
Rs6.8 billion paid on the same account during the corresponding
period of last year.
According to the report, tax collection on gross basis amounted to
Rs42.9 billion which is 7.2% higher than last year. After payment
of refund/rebate, however, the net collection was reduced to Rs32.1
billion, down 3.0 per cent from Rs33.1 billion as the net
collection during the period July-August, 1997. Even the gross
collection is short of the annual target of Rs354.6 billion for two
months by over 28%.
The period under report recorded an increase of 18.3% in collection
of direct taxes; but the indirect taxes declined by 17.2% over the
corresponding period of last year.
On gross basis, sales tax increased by 26.9%; the total collection
under this head was Rs11.635 billion; during July-August of last
year, it was Rs9.169 billion. After an increase of 177% in
refund/rebate, the first two months of current fiscal year ended
with a decline of net collection of 17.2%. The central excise and
custom duties registered a decline of 4.8% and 8.4%, respectively.
The decline in custom duty is attributable to a substantial fall in
imports during these two months.
Prices: Inflation, as measured by changes in the consumer price
index, during the two months under report was recorded as 6.9%. In
other words, it remained within the target of 8.0% for the current
financial year. During the corresponding period of last year,
inflation rate was 11.2%.
Both food and non-food inflation remained close to the overall
inflation rate. The report finds this low inflation rate as
reassuring, particularly, in view of the current economic
situation. "Improved supply situation as a result of good
performance of agriculture and large-scale manufacturing, prudent
fiscal management and tight monetary policy are responsible for low
inflation in Pakistan," it remarks.
External sector: Exports during July-August 1998 declined by 11.5%
as against the comparable months of last year, falling from $1354.0
million to $1197.8 million. The breakdown of decline in exports in
terms of price and quantity effects suggests that 73.4% decline in
exports was due to price effect and 26.6% to quantitative fall.
Imports during July-August, 1998, totalled $1403.4 million, down
17.2% from the corresponding period of last year. During the latter
period, Pakistan�s import bill was $1692 million. The drop in
imports was accounted for by decline in import of wheat and sugar
and the machinery group, as well as crude oil. The latter was
attributable to the fall in world oil prices. However, agro-
chemicals were the only group whose imports increased (by 20.5%).
This was due to a substantial increase in the imports of
fertilizer.
Balance of trade: The balance of trade during July-August 1998
stood at $204.6 million as against $340.0 million in the same
period last year. This works out to a drop of 39.8% in the trade
balance.
Workers� remittances: The fear that the workers� remittances would
slow down after the freeze in foreign currency accounts has
materialized, as evident from the report. In July-August 1997,
these had amounted to $301.17 million. These dropped by 23.7% to
$229.69 million during first two months of 1998-99.
Further desegregation of workers� remittances suggests that cash
inflow amounted to $171.88 million in July-August 1998 as against
$221.01 million during the same period in 1997. This means a
decrease of 22.2%. The remaining $57.81 million in July-August 1998
came from encashment and profit of Foreign Exchange Bearer
Certificates (FEBCs) and Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates
(FCBCs) as against $80.16 million in the first two months of 1997-
98.
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981003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt making moves to avoid legal battle with IPPs
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: An official source indicated here on Friday the
government would try to resolve its long-standing dispute with the
independent power projects (IPPs) before the international
arbitration clause of agreements with them took effect.
Already the AES, a private company which has established two
independent power projects (AES Pak-Gen and AES Lalpir) and is
generating about 700mw of electricity, has requested the
international chamber of commerce to appoint an arbitrator to
resolve its dispute with the government.
So far, the source explained, the companies had refrained from
taking that course because the procedure of international
arbitration was very expensive for both sides. Once, however, the
process initiated by AES got apace, other companies might form a
beeline for arbitration and compensation for what they saw as
"violation of sovereign agreements".
To avoid penalties that may run into billions of dollars, the
government might well take the position that these agreements were
based on corrupt practices. Indeed, the cases of some of the IPPS
have been taken out of the jurisdiction of the Private Power
Investment Board (PPIB) and transferred to the Ehtesab Bureau (EB)
for "investigation".
This, however, might well be a gesture only meant for domestic
consumption. It would be almost impossible for the bureau to prove
wrongdoing by these internationally based companies.
Given the dismal performance of the EB so far, the possibility of
any such feat on its part seems remote, particularly where the task
of convincing an international arbitrator is concerned.
The basic problem was the corruption and inefficiency which have
brought WAPDA to the brink of collapse, the source said. It has
failed utterly to reduce even by one per cent the theft of
electricity and other distribution losses over the past two
decades.
On the contrary, it has escalated with every bout of increase in
tariffs. And its top brass are unable to guarantee that a
substantial part of the nearly 6,000mw of power to be supplied by
21 IPPs will not be stolen.
As regards the rates which WAPDA has contracted to pay to IPPS, the
source said only two IPPs had agreed to reduce their charges from
6.1 cents to 5 cents on an average. But these are very small IPPs
producing a total of 22 to 23 mw of power.
The rest have expressed inability to reduce their rates because in
that case they would be left with hardly any return on their
investment.
In this regard, the source told Dawn, the rates had already been
reduced from 6.5 cents to 6.1 cents as a result of the termination
of FERI (Foreign Exchange Risk Insurance).
The remaining 6.1 cents per unit includes 2.7 cents to be paid as
debt servicing, 2.1 cents on account of fuel cost and 1.3 cents on
account of return on equity, administrative and other costs.
When the rate of 6.5 cents was fixed in 1994, the government
charged Rs 2,800 per ton for fuel. Subsequently, it raised the
price to Rs 5,500 per ton. The additional cost, IPPs contended,
should be recovered through tariffs.
The government, added the source, had been advised that the
agreements were comprehensive and very favourable to the IPPs. It
might, therefore, find itself on a very weak wicket in any
international adjudication/arbitration in vindicating its position
and avoiding penalties.
The country after all does need additional electricity to avoid
loadshedding. Moreover, the electricity to be provided by IPPs
forms only a fraction of overall supply. So the argument that the
cost is unsustainable by WAPDA is unlikely to cut much ice with any
arbitrator.
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980930
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dialogue with Turkish team for $100m loan resumes today
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: Negotiations for $100 million loan agreement
with the Exim Bank of Turkey for the construction of Peshawar-
Islamabad motorway will resume on Wednesday.
A four-member team of the Exim Bank is already here to start the
second round of talks on the loan agreement with the Pakistan
authorities.
The team of Pakistani officials, headed by the National Highway
Authority chairman, which visited Turkey in August, had returned
without signing the accord as the conditions laid down by the bank
were not acceptable to it.
The Exim Bank has offered 100 million dollars loan for the
construction of Islamabad-Peshawar motorway. According to sources
the interest rate the Turkish bank is demanding is high. The bank
is also not ready to provide any grace period for the repayment of
loan.
According to sources, the bank had also informed the Pakistan team
which visited Turkey that it would release $48 million to the
contractor as mobilization advance and the remaining amount would
be paid when Pakistan would make matching payments to the
contractor.
Under the agreement, the Pakistan government would be paying 60 per
cent of the project while 40 per cent would be arranged by the
contractor for which the government of Pakistan would have to
extend sovereign guarantees.
When the contract was revived it was agreed between Pakistan
government and the Bayinder, the contractor, that the former would
not be asked to make any payment for two years. After the revival
of contract the government has so far made payment of Rs2.5 billion
to the Bayinder in the form of promissory notes which could be
cashed in July 1999.
According to sources in Bayinder, the loan agreement with the Exim
Bank is likely to be finalized in this round of negotiations. The
contractor is not expecting any major problem in signing the loan
accord and hopes the project would be completed according to
schedule.
The Pakistan government has already paid $23 million as
mobilization advance to the Bayinder in 1993. The contract was
terminated by PPP government in 1994 owning to various economic
priorities and financial stringencies.
When the contract was revived by the Nawaz government the company
was again paid Rs2.5 billion in the promissory notes which could be
encashed in July 99.
The cost of 154-kilometre-long road has increased from Rs16 billion
to over Rs24 billion and is likely to go further up due to cost
escalation.
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980929
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rs13bn customs duty collected in 1st quarter
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The Central Board of Revenue is expected to
collect Rs13 billion as customs duty in the first quarter of fiscal
1998-99, with a shortfall of Rs2 billion in comparison to last
year�s collection of Rs15 billion.
CBR officials said the slump in duty is mainly due to the sharp
fall in imports of raw materials/machinery and consumer items.
The quarterly target set for the current financial year is
"impossible" to be achieved, said CBR officials, pointing to the
"depressing downswing in imports", and argued that the customs duty
"collection is not supposed to improve as against the figures for
the financial year 1997-98."
In current fiscal, the first two months� collection was Rs8.6
billion. The officials said they have already collected about Rs3.7
billion by September 28 and would be able to raise the figure
to about Rs4.4 billion for the whole of September. This would mean
a total collection for the quarter of Rs 13 billion. The customs
duty target set for the current financial year is Rs92 billion.
Though the CBR officials are insisting that the shortfall for the
July-September quarter should be considered not more than Rs5
billion, as the first quarter is the leanest in a financial year,
they agree that there is no cause for optimism either that the
situation would be improve radically in the rest of the three
quarters.
"We do not see that the collection in the next (October-December)
quarter would be any better than what it had been. There have been
no major expansions in the industrial or agriculture-based
industrial sectors during 1997-98. Nor were these witnessed in the
first quarter of the current financial year. This indicates that
there would be a long period over which the imports of raw
materials and machinery would be at the same low pace", they said.
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981001
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New tariff for mobile phone customers
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 30: Mobilink has announced new features for its
mobile phone customers, enabling them to receive free Ansacall,
call line identification (CLI), connection (as a launch offer) and
50 per cent off on the cost of late night calls.
The mobile phone company says that the new tariff structure has
been divided into five simple tariffs GSM saver, GSM Budget, GSM
Regular, GSM Frequent and GSM Premium. All customers can choose
another Mobilink number while calls from customer�s Mobilink to the
chosen Mobilink number will be free.
This was stated by David Smith, Marketing Director for Mobilink in
Pakistan while addressing a press conference on Mobilink GSM
Brand Re-Launch and launch of International Roaming service. He was
flanked by General Manager Ejaz Wassay and Chief Executive Junaid
Khan.
Smith said Pakistan is now linked to the worldwide international
roaming network with the availability of company�s exclusive GSM
International Roaming service (IRS) to its valued customers.
The IRS enhances the communicating power, enabling customers to use
their same 0300 mobile number almost anywhere in the world, he
said. He added that the service is being offered in the UK and the
UAE shortly and customers will be empowered to roam in over 50
countries by end of this year.
Smith said that his company invites international roaming customers
to simply send a PostCard after travelling a country before
December 31, 1998 and win many attractive prizes.
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980929
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New loan procedure: PM�s transport scheme being revived
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Aamir Shafaat Khan
KARACHI, Sept 28: Prime Minister�s Public Transport Scheme is
expected to be revised with new loaning procedures, auto industry
sources told Dawn on Monday.
The government has received various suggestions from local
assemblers and banks in this regard and the final decision will be
taken next month.
Assemblers are of the view that the equity by borrowers may be
fixed minimum at 30 per cent of sale invoice value of the vehicles.
It would mean that borrowers would be entitled to loans up to 70
per cent of the purchase price.
Auto sources said that the local banks were ready to finance the 70
per cent of the cost of the vehicle.
In the last scheme introduced in 1993, the banks extended loans up
to 90 per cent of the cost of the vehicle.
But an auto assembler said that it would be a difficult task for
the cash starved government to come up with the new scheme as the
recovery loans against 18,575 yellow cabs since 1993 out of
registered 19,500 units was yet to be made.
Sources said that the banks have now asked the government to
empower them by making categorical and special provisions in the
law so that they could directly take actions against vehicle
defaulters like taking vehicle in their custody instead of lengthy
current practice to lodge FIR and wait for the court to settle the
issue.
The local assemblers said that it is an encouraging feature that
the government intends to confine the scheme to local industry
rather than for import of vehicles which it did in 1993.
They said that the government should ensure that it would not make
any changes once the actual size of vehicles to be assembled
locally was fixed.
They added that price structure between private production and
production confined to the scheme may be settled before finalizing
the scheme otherwise it would create confusions among the
customers.
Assemblers have however, rejected the proposal of ministry of
communication to participate in financing owing to liquidity crunch
and recession in the market as they needed payment to arrange local
inputs.
Officials in heavy vehicle industry are of the view that the basic
security for loan should be Cab/vehicle itself and the borrower
must be a licensed driver.
They said that they have also rejected proposals of ministry of
communication that dealers/agents give guarantee to the financiers,
assemblers give guarantee to the financiers against dealers/agents
deposit with them and to encourage dealers/agents to help assist
the borrowers.
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981002
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GST at fixed rate for three years proposed by LCCI
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporter
LAHORE, Oct 1: The new President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (LCCI), Pervaiz Hanif, said here on Wednesday that the
federal government should lower the power tariff, lower tax rates
and should widen the tax net. He also said that the government
should impose general sales tax at a fixed rate for 3 years.
Talking to journalists at the Lahore Press Club�s �Meet the Press�
programme, the chamber president said the economic situation was
pretty bad in the country and had become worse after May 28. Hanif
said economic policymakers, implying bureaucrats, had "misled" the
government and this had led to freezing of the foreign currency
accounts which was a major setback for many people and hence they
lost whatever trust they had in government policies.
Hanif said the crisis was so bad that foreign banks did not accept
letters of credit from Pakistan. In some cases guarantees by
foreign banks did not even prove helpful in such a situation.
The LCCI chief said that banks should lower the interest rates they
charged their clients because this would make financing of new
industry more attractive. Hanif said that the government should
take back its law restricting dinners at marriages because it had
hit workers in many different industries at the same time. He also
said that the government should provide some sort of incentives to
the construction industry which was not doing too well.
US DIPLOMAT: The acting US Consul General in Lahore, John Eliot,
met the new LCCI chief and discussed with him issues relating to
child labour in Pakistan.
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980930
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Indonesian plan to export 1,200 cars to Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
JAKARTA, Sept 29: PT Indomobil, a national car manufacturer, plans
to export 1,200 units of 1,600-CC Suzuki �Baleno� sedans to
Pakistan following the domestic sluggish market due to the current
economic and monetary crisis.
�We are going to finalize the car export procedures as its
preparations have been 90 per cent completed,� the company�s
president director, Subronto Laras, told newsmen Monday while
attending the inauguration of the Indonesian Association of
Lubricant Exporters and Distributors (Perdipi).
Without giving any detail on the export value of the cars, Laras
said the sedans to be exported to Pakistan will be completely
knocked down (CKD). The cars would have some 15 to 20 per cent of
local components, he added.
�The upcoming export of the sedan cars is only a test for the
company in exploring the overseas market.APP
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981003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Stocks finish on optimistic note
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 2: Stocks finished the weekend session on an
optimistic note as investors rolled positions from one counter to
the other amid a judicious blend of both positive and negative news
but the broader market fared exceptionally well despite profit-
taking in blue chips.
The underlying sentiment remained uppishly inclined as investors
entertain bullish ideas owing to some positive developments on the
foreign aid front.
�The worst might not be over but developing situation both on the
political and economic fronts tells that the market has reasons to
be buoyed anticipating a sustained bull-run possibly by the next
week,� said a leading dealer.
A heavy fresh buying in Hub-Power on market talks that the
government has withdrawn corruption charges against its management
featured the trading where optimism about the IMF bail-out package
was at the high pitch. Unfreezing of its accounts by the Central
Board of Revenue on alleged tax default after a court order was
another bullish factor.
KSE 100-share index shed another 3.13 points but managed to stay
above the psychological barrier of 1,100 at 1,101.55 points as
compared to 1,104.68 points a day earlier, reflecting the weakness
of PTCL and some other pivotals. Analysts said the tariff cut issue
and charges of kickbacks to the highups of the Bhutto regime for
fixing higher selling rates at which it sells power to bulk
consumers has pulled its price down from the peak level of over Rs
60.00 to Rs 8.00 at one stage. It has already paid an interim
dividend of 70% and the final could have been identical but not
now.
�It accounted for more than 61 million shares on Thursday and an
volume a day earlier after some leading investors found cue to
positive news trickling in from the official sources�, they added.
�It is a big news if it is correct and will certainly boost
investor confidence in the official policies�, said a member of KSE
adding �but foreign investors might take quite some time to be back
in the rings as their badly shaken confidence is still leading to
pessimism�.
Japan Power, another foreign sponsored shares followed Hub-Power on
the the same news as it was also facing an identical charges, up
one rupee on 2m shares. Its share is ruling around a half of its
face value at Rs 5.60.
All other energy shares also rose in unison on strong covering
purchases at the lower levels and aided the market to maintain a
steady posture. Leading bank shares followed them, finishing with
an extended gains under the lead of Al-Faysal, Bank of Punjab,
Askari Bank and Faysal Bank.
Floor brokers said the market should have emitted bullish sparks
but for weekend considerations and lack of news from the Washington
IMF final meeting to approve the bail-out package of $5 billion.
While most of the blue chips showed fractional gains, some of the
second-liners came in for active short-covering and finished
sharply higher under the lead of Metro Life Insurance and Cherat
Paper, which rose by Rs 2.40 and 2.90 at Rs 6.40 and Rs 30.95.
Other good gainers included Japan Power, Kohinoor Energy, General
Tyre, and some others. Lever Brothers and Shifa International were
leading among the losers, falling by Rs 10.00 and Rs 3.50 at Rs
730.00 and 1.00, while most of the active bank shares fell
fractionally barring Kohinoor Weaving, PSO, Al-Ghazi Tractors and
Fauji Fertiliser, which suffered fall ranging from one rupee to Rs
1.50.
Trading volume showed a further contraction owing partly to a short
Friday session, falling to 64m shares from the previous 96m shares,
bulk of which was confined to half a dozen current favourites.
Hub-Power again led the list of most actives, unchanged at Rs 15.35
after hitting the highest for the day Rs 15.75 on 27m shares
followed by PTCL, easy 10 paisa at Rs 27.50 on 21m shares, FFC-
Jordan Fertiliser, lower five paisa at Rs 15.25 on 2.235m shares,
Japan Power, up one rupee at Rs 5.60 on 1.740m shares and Dewan
Salman, off 80 paisa at Rs 19.50 on 1.659m shares.
ICI Pakistan topped the list of most other actives, easy 10 paisa
on 1.377m shares followed by MCB, off 65 paisa on 1.327m shares.
Bank of Punjab, up 20 paisa on 0.796m shares, Kohinoor Energy,
higher Rs 1.15 on 0.740m shares, Fauji Fertiliser, off Rs 1.25 on
0.872m shares, Southern Electric, up 90 paisa on 0.405m shares and
Sui Southern, firm 30 paisa on 0.432m shares.
DEFAULTING COMPANIES: Shares of four companies came in for trading,
out of which one rose by 25 paisa while the other fell 50 paisa,
with the other two remaining unchanged. Khyber Textiles was the
leading losers, falling by 50 paisa on 500 shares. Bolan and Asia
Board accounted for 1,000 and 2,000 shares.
Back to the top
===================================================================
EDITORIALS & FEATURES
980927
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Spurring strife
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
THAT our leaders do not know that they are out of unison with
reality until the day after they fall is manifested time and time
again. That Nawaz Sharif does not realize that he is destroying
what little is left of the ethos of this country is glaring.
Spurring on sectarian and ethnic strife only breeds terrorism.
On September 2, an Urdu daily newspaper carried a news item
informing the public that Engineer Roland de Souza of the NGO,
SHEHRI, a God-fearing Christian, had written to the Karachi
Building Control Authority (KBCA) advocating that the construction
of two mosques be halted, that they were unauthorized constructions
causing sectarian strife.
Impossible, said those who know Roland. He is not a brainless
idiot. I checked with Roland and the Chief Controller of the KBCA.
Such a letter had neither been written nor received. The CC of the
KBCA informed the newspaper accordingly. The mischief was obviously
the doing of the builders� mafia that is protected by many in the
Sindh government.
I walked down Karachi�s �Fleet Street� to call on the concerned
editor. As a fellow journalist, I asked him why he felt the need to
propagate strife. He produced a photocopy of a badly typed letter,
written in wonky English on an obviously forged SHEHRI letterhead
with an obviously forged signature.
Running to form, the editor attacked, called me a blackmailer and
asked why I, in league with SHEHRI, was harassing the poor innocent
Memon builders who were merely trying to build cheap housing for
the poor. Many of my respected friends are Memons, I told him, and
no builder, Memon or otherwise, is either poor or innocent.
Builders are too often mere financiers who, to make a quick non-
taxable buck, build what should not be built where it is built.
A couple of days later, the same newspaper printed a news item with
photographs of members of a �Jamaat� holding banners in front of
the Press Club demanding my arrest and Roland�s punishment. I
warned Roland that the next thing to expect was posters and
banners. They duly arrived, stuck and strung up purportedly by
another Jamaat: "SHEHRI organization or Jewish agents, Ardeshir
Cowasjee and Roland de Souza;" "Exile them from Pakistan;" "Worst
enemy of Muslims;" "Traitor of country and nation, American spy,
brother of Clinton, Ardeshir Cowasjee." The responsible press did
not react.
Luckily, Roland is staunch and true. Had he been a runner, he would
have left the country long ago. Though we get pathetic, or
negligible, timely help from the courts, SHEHRI and the citizens
who file the various petitions against illegal, dangerous buildings
and the degradation of the environment have no other recourse but
to rely on the law of the land and press on.
Then, came a fax on a completely unrelated matter, a copy of a
letter sent by Mushtaq Moeeni of the Pakistan National Council of
the Arts in Islamabad to Ghiasuddin Afsar, Incharge NPAG, Karachi,
asking him to investigate the "musical group Junoon" who, after
their successful tour of India and interviews on Zee TV, are
accused of "belittling the concept of the ideology of Pakistan,"
disagreeing with "national opinion," talking of "cultural
similarities," and hoping for "the reunification of India and
Pakistan."
I rang Moeeni in Islamabad and asked why a copy had been sent to
me. He had no answer, but confessed to have written as �directed�
by his ministry (Secretary, Roshan Zamir; Minister, the Prime
Minister). Knowing Roshan, a balanced man, I presumed a frightened
underling had over-reacted.
Talking to the joyous Junoons, the brothers Shahryar (manager), and
Salman (composer and guitarist) was great fun.
Salman of Lahore is an old friend of Imran Khan with whom he has
played cricket, as he has played with the great scorer Nawaz
Sharif. Imran was the man who, in September 1996, after the
corruption scandals had exploded, started the Ehtesab movement and
Salman, inspired by him, recognizing the rot and corruption, wrote
his famous song, spurring the people on to demanding a long overdue
�Ehtesab�.
Benazir Bhutto�s government was dismissed, and Leghari and his
caretakers propagated the culture of �Ehtesab�. Junoon, presuming
that the caretakers would be overjoyed to project their Ehtesab
video on PTV, approached Information Minister Irshad Haqqani, his
secretary Abu Shamim Arif, and the PTV MD. No go.
The BBC at that time was making its documentary �The Princess and
the Playboy�, and Junoon�s �Ehtesab� was included. The producer,
during an interview with Leghari, enquired why his government had
refused to release the song on PTV. �Send Salman to me�, said
Leghari, �and I will have it run.� Salman duly appeared at the
Aiwan, was given the runaround by Leghari�s press secretary, and
heard no more. Leghari�s cry for Ehtesab was hollow. He had decided
to stay with honest or dishonest Nawaz Sharif.
Come Nawaz Sharif and his government and the Junoons were asked to
compose a song to promote the �Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sanwaro� scheme.
They declined, not wishing to be politically identified. On August
14, 1997, a video of their recording of Iqbal�s �Khudi� was shown
on PTV. The usual accusations were levelled an insult to Iqbal
and so forth. Funnily enough, Salman was rung up by a teacher who
told him that she had been attempting to teach her class the words
of �Khudi� for months without any success, but after his video had
run nine times the children could now recite it fluently.
In September 1997, PTV televised live a pop concert from Karachi,
with Junoon and two other groups performing. This resulted in Nawaz
Sharif making his famous announcement that henceforth youngsters in
jeans, and with long hair, would not be tolerated on the nation�s
channel. Ridiculous. We are forced to see bald heads, bewigged
heads, toupeed heads, dyed heads, so why can we not run the whole
gamut and see long-haired heads?
Then came their video of �Sayonee�, shot in Multan, aired on PTV,
again arousing allegations of �belittling religious places�,
�offensive to mysticism�, and all the usual obscurantist phrases
that are trotted out each day by the guardians of our undefined
ideology.
In March 1997, Junoon was invited to India to perform at the Zee TV
Cine Awards ceremony. They were a success, and in May were again
invited to perform in India, this time sponsored by EMI.
The redundant ministry of culture which should not exist should at
least try to get its act together. Pop groups all over the world
preach the unity of mankind, that music has no frontiers, that
there should be peace and brotherhood on earth. Pop groups can be
anti-war, or anti-nuclear, pro-environment, or espouse any cause
that appeals to them. The Junoons are not political animals, but
pop animals, and when they talk about a common culture it relates
to music, when they condemned India�s nuclear test, it is because
like millions all over the world they do not believe in the
annihilation of mankind. When they talk of breaking borders, they
talk of cultural exchanges, of musical, not political, borders.
The group is now off on a tour of the US, to collect funds for
Imran�s cancer hospital. May I suggest that the Pakistanis in the
US who ask me over the Internet how they can help, go to the
concerts and contribute to one of the few worthy causes we have.
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981003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sauce for the gander
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Irfan Husain
AS denials from government spokesmen fly thick and fast, there is
an eerie feeling of deja vu about the allegations made in the
recent Observer report about Mr Nawaz Sharif�s business practices.
Both the beleaguered law minister and the prime minister�s son are
reported to have threatened libel suits against the British
newspaper. While this is the right way to establish Mr Sharif�s
innocence, I remember all too well similar threats made by Benazir
Bhutto and Asif Zardari when the Sunday Express broke the story
about their Rock wood estate in Surrey. Ultimately, of course, no
cases were filed and the story turned out to be accurate, eroding
the ex-prime minister�s moral authority to govern.
We tend to place far more credence in what appears in the Western
press than what is printed in our newspapers. There is a very good
reason for this. In Pakistan, all kinds of slander can (and does)
appear regularly about public figures, and because no newspaper has
been successfully sued in Pakistan, editors and publishers are not
generally in the habit of cross-checking and verifying their
stories. Thus, we tend to take what appears in the local press with
a pinch of salt.
In the West, however (and in the United Kingdom in particular),
there are very tough libel; laws that serve as an effective
deterrent to irresponsible journalism. A number of newspapers have
been ordered by courts to pay very large sums as compensation, and
this has made reporters, editors and publishers very careful when
deciding to run investigative stories. While criticism of policies
and personalities is often fierce, allegations of financial
irregularity or personal misconduct are usually substantially
accurate and verifiable.
Apart from these factors, another reason politicians do not enjoy
suing a major publication is that the trial itself becomes a story,
and the original allegations receive further publicity as a result.
Thus, public figures seeking a quick end to embarrassing and
hurtful accusations just keep mum, and make do with a "no comment"
defence. But these tactics carry the risk of the mud sticking, as
Surreygate has clung to BB despite strenuous and repeated denials.
Nawaz Sharif�s spin doctors have tried to discredit the Observer
report by questioning Rehman Malik�s motives and alleging that the
newspaper has based its story solely on the ex-DG, FIA�s
investigations. This is highly unlikely. In British courts, a
publisher cannot defend himself by saying he merely based his story
on somebody else�s allegations and is therefore not accountable.
For a responsible mainstream paper like the Observer to publish
such serious accusations on its front page against a sitting prime
minister, we can be sure that the reporting team would have done a
lot of leg work and cross-checking.
A government spokesman has tried to question the story�s
credibility by stating that the PM has "two brothers and not six as
the Observer has written." This is scarcely the stuff a paper can
be sued over. Far more serious is the mountain of details about
loan defaults, money-laundering and acquisition of property abroad.
And while there have been partial denials and contradictions from a
host of official spokesman, there has been no coherent, convincing
point-by-point rebuttal.
Unfortunately, the Observer story contains many allegations that
are not generally considered beyond the moral compass of the prime
minister and his family of industrialists. The charge that over the
years, he has used his official position first as the Punjab
finance minister, then chief minister and finally as prime minister
to acquire an enormous portfolio of loans from government-
controlled banks cannot, and has not, been denied. This form of
crony capitalism permitted the Sharif family to rise rapidly to the
top of the industrial heap in a short period of time.
Then we have the murky saga of the cooperative banks in which a
large number of citizens, particularly in Punjab, were deprived of
their life-savings. Several leading lights of the Muslim League
were allegedly involved in this scam, and to this day, the
unfortunate victims have not been compensated. Next, as is the
custom of businessmen and feudals, the tax returns of the Sharifs,
as published from time to time, bear no relationship to their
reported wealth and observable lifestyle. Indeed, having just filed
my own income tax return, I can be excused for feeling envious of
the immunity the rich and powerful enjoy in Pakistan.
So just as we were inclined to believe the Surreygate story when it
first appeared in the Sunday Express, we tend to accept the latest
allegations of financial misconduct in high places reported by the
Observer. And just as BB claimed that the allegations against her
were baseless, so too have Nawaz Sharif and his spin doctors. Both
leaders have accused each other of orchestrating the media, as if
papers like the Observer would lend themselves to such campaigns.
Given their track records, I would rather believe the Express and
the Observer than BB and Nawaz Sharif.
This latest round in our unending corruption saga is replete with
delicious ironies that BB, in particular, must be enjoying
thoroughly. When the Express broke the Surreygate story, Nawaz
Sharif led his party in the National Assembly in denouncing the PPP
leader. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, BB must be
regretting not being in Pakistan to rub her bitter rival�s nose in
the dirt.
But on a more serious note, it seems that we are not fated to
cleanse our system of corruption. Although none of the allegations
in the Observer story have come as a surprise, the cumulative
effect has been devastating, and deserving of an impartial inquiry.
Unfortunately, given the polarization and the partisanship that now
obtain at the highest level of the bureaucracy and the judiciary,
it is not possible to expect any objectivity from any probe into
the recent allegations. Indeed, Senator Saifur Rehman, head of the
Ehtesab Bureau, has himself been accused of involvement in a number
of highly questionable deals.
While I do not agree with the Observer that these revelations might
trigger an army coup, the fact remains that Nawaz Sharif has been
seriously weakened and much like BB after the Surreygate scandal,
is likely to continue as a lame-duck prime minister.
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980928
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Kashmir in, CTBT out?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
M. Ziauddin
Are we back to square one on CTBT? This question is being
increasingly asked here since the US secretary of state Ms Albright
said that Pakistan and India will have to do more than simply
express their intention to sign the treaty to have the sanctions
lifted. This statement has come following the statements made by
the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in the UN general assembly
that they were willing to sign the CTBT by September 1999 and also
amidst reports that US congress before it adjourns for elections in
the next two weeks or so would give president Bill Clinton the
authority to waive the sanctions for one year. This means that in
order for India and Pakistan to get a one year benefit from the
expected waiver powers of president Clinton, the two countries will
have to sign the CTBT rather immediately. The more they delay the
signing of the treaty the shorter will get the period of benefit.
Moreover considering Pakistan�s current economic plight Islamabad
may not have even one month to waste on taking a second look at the
treaty.
In retrospect it appears as if the chief of the army staff, general
Jehangir Karamat had pre-empted prime minister Nawaz Sharif who had
told president Clinton in his meeting a day before (if US national
security chief Sandy Berger is to be believed) that he would make a
positive statement on the CTBT in his speech to be delivered at the
UN general assembly. It seems that Ms Albright does not think that
PM�s announcement that Pakistan intended to adhere to the treaty
was a positive enough statement for the US to consider lifting of
the sanctions. The general told journalists at a diplomatic
reception on Monday evening that Pakistan should not sign the CTBT
in haste. He said we should wait until Pakistan�s security and
economic concerns are properly addressed. Though he qualified his
statement by maintaining that the army and political leadership
were unanimous on the CTBT issue and that there was no difference
of opinion between the two, the timing of the statement (which came
at least about ten hours after the prime minister had talked to
president Clinton and about eight hours before the prime minister
was to address the UN General Assembly) created an impression in
the concerned circles in Islamabad that the armed forces were
distancing themselves from any possible political decision to sign
the CTBT without waiting for iron-clad guarantees from the US with
regard to our security and economic concerns. It seems now that
Pakistan and the US are back to the chicken and egg debate. The US
loses nothing if this debate continues until September 1999. But
Pakistan loses a lot, especially on the economic front if it fails
to get the benefit of the expected waiver in the hands of the US
president even by one month. But then perhaps those who take final
decisions in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on these issues know better.
Diplomats in the capital were asking why Pakistani press did not
give due coverage to the decision by the prime ministers of India
and Pakistan in their meeting in New York to open the Wagah border
and also start a bus service between Lahore and New Delhi. They
were also asking why no decision was taken to open the Khokarapar
border. These diplomats appeared to be relieved at the prospect of
resumption of talks between the two south Asian nuclear powers
which had positioned themselves in an eyeball-to-eyeball
confrontation since May 13, 1998. The talks will resume on October
15-18 on peace and security, on what is called confidence-building
measures (CBMs) and on Janmmu and Kashmir. The details about these
so-called CBMs are not yet available, but if the two countries are
going to start talking on economic and commercial cooperation,
promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields, and on the
contentious issues like Siachen, Wullar barrage/Tulbul Navigation
projects, Sir creek, terrorism and drug trafficking we can only
welcome the development with an open mind, said these diplomats.
The foreign secretaries will discuss the issues of peace and
security, CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir, while secretaries of defence,
commerce, culture and water and power will talk to their
counterparts on other issues on dates to be determined mutually.
Who lost and who gained by the agreement to address all items on
the agreed agenda of June 23, 1997 " in a purposeful and composite
manner" in October and November? Well, these diplomats did not want
to answer this question, but some of them recalled that the Indians
had muddied the waters by going back on the Male agreement which
had envisaged formation of several discussion groups, including one
on Kashmir. The Indian had insisted that they would only talk about
Kashmir if the issue is clubbed with some of the other issues. Now
Pakistan has agreed to discuss the entire gamut of Indo-Pakistan
issues in a composite manner and Indians seem to have given up
their insistence to club the core issue of Kashmir with the other
peripheral issues. These diplomats said that Pakistan should now
prepare a negotiable strategy for Kashmir talks. Pakistan must
understand that India is not going to hand over Jammu and Kashmir
to Islamabad at the conference table. On the other hand, India
should not think that it can maintain peace in Kashmir for long by
turning it into a military state.
Earlier New Delhi had convinced world opinion that once an election
is held in the troubled valley everything would go back to normal
in due course of time. But this has not happened. So, according to
these diplomats it is in the interest of the two countries to enter
the Kashmir talks in a spirit of give and take. Something on the
lines of Palestinian-Israeli talks which are based on peace for
land. Pakistan�s demand for holding a plebiscite in Jammu and
Kashmir is not likely to be accepted by India. On the other hand,
Pakistan is not likely to accept New Delhi�s position that Kashmir
was an integral part of India. A middle of the road solution is to
be found with the full consent of the people of Kashmir. This is
going to be a very difficult exercise for all the three contenders
India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris. And it is going to take
months, probably even years to come up with a solution acceptable
to all the three. After some broad outlines are agreed upon, a
third party, preferably the UN, could be inducted into the talks to
play the role of an honest broker.
===================================================================
SPORTS
980928
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan�s victory termed a landmark
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
LAHORE, Sept 27: Pakistan tennis team�s victory over Thailand in
Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group II Final on Sunday was described as "a
landmark for which Pakistan has been questing for the last nine
years", by it�s manager and coach.
Pakistan beat Thailand by three matches to two at the Lahore
Gymkhana Grass courts and qualified for the Group I.
Commenting on the final after Pakistan Muhammad Khaliq defeated the
Thailand rival Narathorn Srichapan in the decisive fifth match (3-
1), manager Ali Akbar was all praise for both Khaliq and Aisam-ul-
Haq who, he said, they were simply outstanding against a strong
opposition.
Ali Akbar, who is also secretary of the Pakistan Tennis Federation
(PTF), said that it was a turning point in the country�s tennis
history that Pakistan also won the doubles event after many years.
He also noticed great understanding between Khaliq and Aisam and
suggested them to play together in the international circuit.
He said that Pakistan�s joining the Group I had thrown a
challenging task ahead of maintaining a position in this 12-nation
group which also includes powerful tennis contenders like India and
England.
Coach Fazle Subhan said that the Pakistan�s decision of choosing
the grass courts for the final paid rich dividends. He said that
though visitors lacked experience of playing on grass courts, the
way they fought, showed that they could upset Pakistan on clay or
hard courts easily.
Mr Subhan praised the Pakistani duo but also appreciated the game
of Thailand�s Paradon Srichapan who remained unbeaten in the final.
Paradon was very talented player and despite of grass court
handicap, he managed to defeat both Aisam and Khaliq to alive up
Thailand hopes in the competition, he said.
Muhammad Khaliq said he lost the first set in the crucial fifth
match because he was feeling himself under some pressure. "I was
expecting victory from Aisam-ul-Haq in the first reserve singles
against Paradon. But when Aisam lost, that built up a pressure
because now all depended on me", Khaliq said.
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980928
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Match-fixing: Imran critical of controversy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
HYDERABAD, Sept 27: Former Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan, now
a politician, has said that confusion and controversy surrounding
the Pakistan cricketers with regard to betting and match-fixing
allegations had caused great damage to the game, the country and
the players.
In an exclusive interview to Dawn here on Sunday, Imran observed,
"this controversy must be brought to an end as soon as possible in
the larger interest of the country and the team.
"This controversy has been surrounding the team for the last four
years but the people concerned have virtually failed to fix the
responsibility upon the players, who were accused of such
allegations.
Imran called for setting up of a high-powered commission to probe
these charges and people from the CBR and FIA must be inducted in
the commission.
"Had I been at the helm of affairs, I would have decided the matter
within six months with the help of CBR and FIA personnel. Those
players found guilty should have been sacked from the team since it
is a very sensitive and serious matter which had caused irreparable
damage to our country and the national spirit," he maintained.
He emphasised that the controversy pertaining to Salim Malik and
Wasim Akram, in the wake of betting charges, should also end and
these players must get themselves cleared from the allegations so
that their confidence is restored.
Referring to similar allegations against the members of a soccer
club in England, Imran explained that the players of the said club,
who were found guilty, were penalised by the authorities and the
matter was decided swiftly once and for all.
On the appointment of legendary Javed Miandad as coach-cum-player,
Imran observed that it was a pretty good move for the team and
added that he would like to see Miandad continue as the coach since
both Miandad and Amir have clicked as a combination to the benefit
of the team.
To a query as to how did he see the team�s performance after he
left cricket, Imran claimed that it was his considered opinion that
no other cricket team was powerful around the world than
Pakistan�s. "No one can defeat us provided the team spirit and the
team-work receive top priority. We have the best bowling line-up in
years which we lacked in the past."
About the forthcoming series against Australia, Imran said the
absence of spin wizard Shane Warne gives Pakistan a clear edge. He
noted that earlier this year India outclassed Australia despite
Warne�s presence.
Regarding the affairs of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Imran
stressed the need for a democratic set-up to run the cricket
affairs rather than a presidential rule.
He was of the opinion that presently talent of only four cities of
the country was taking part in cricket and had he been in a
position he would have built up a regional type structure in which
players from at least 30 cities must be getting their due share.
"We are not lacking in talent but there was a need to expose the
latent talent of the country. I hold out an assurance to you that
if real talent was exposed from all over Pakistan then our team
would become unbeatable in the world," he stressed.
Imran expressed his dismay at PCB�s decision to stop three players,
Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Azhar Mahmood, and said that it
had committed a blunder since playing in England could have
improved the all-round game of the trio before next year�s World
Cup (England).
Giving his views on the style of cricket Shahid Afridi plays, the
Imran noted, "Shahid has great potential and he should not only be
restricted to one-day matches but given opportunities to play Tests
otherwise he would lose his confidence." and cited the prime
example of Saeed Anwar, who, he said was a one-day specialist but
when he was included in the Test team he became a regular player.
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981003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Australia overcome early shocks to make 237 for 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Fahana Ayaz
RAWALPINDI, Oct 2: Australia staged a great fight back after having
lost three quick wickets for 28 to end the day�s play with a
respectable 237 for four in reply to Pakistan�s 269 all out, thanks
to a determined 198 runs fourth wicket partnership between opener
Micheal Slater (108) and Steve Waugh, not out at 104, on the second
day of the first Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Australia are just 32 runs behind when they resume their first
innings on the morning of third day with Steve Waugh and left-
handed Darren Lehmann (4).
With the wicket taking very slow turn, the Pakistani bowlers were
seen toiling on better part of the day on Friday when a sizable
crowd had turned up to watch the absorbing game.
The highlights of the second day�s play, however, were centuries by
the New South Wales pair, Slater and Steve Waugh which not only
steered Australia out of the trouble from a precarious 3 for 28 but
will be the pivotal elements in building up a possible lead over
the hosts.
Michael Slater, 28, playing in his 39th Test completed his 8th ton
of the career off 205 balls laced with 14 attractive strokes to the
fence and a lofty six. It was also his second century against
Pakistan. His first hundred (110) came in the record breaking 176
runs opening wicket partnership with Mark Taylor (69) scored on
this very ground on the last Australian tour.
Slater, who plays for New South Wales like his six other fellow
teammates including Taylor, the Waugh brothers, McGrath, MacGill
and Gavin Robertson, enjoys a batting average of 46.29 with the
highest 219 scored against Sri Lanka at Perth during 1995-96.
His otherwise determined innings had one blemish when dropped by
Mohammad Wasim at forward shot leg off Saqlain when at 66.
Steve Waugh who is the most prolific batsmen in Australian side
with an average of nearly 49 galvanised his unbeaten innings with 9
boundaries and a mighty six off Saqlain over mid-on. Steve reached
the 100 mark in 220 balls in 256 minutes. It was also Steve�s
second hundred against Pakistan, he scored the first (112) in 1995-
96 at Brisbane. With this ton Steve has 15 Test hundreds, 38
fifties and 86 wickets in 104 games. His highest is 200 vs the West
Indies at Kingston during 1994-95.
The start of Australian innings was very similar to that of
Pakistan. An early collapse was wrought by left arm pacer Wasim
Akram struck twice on the last two balls of his fourth over to
remove skipper Mark Taylor (3 off 12 balls) and Justin Langer, both
left-handed batsmen, for a nought.
Run drought continued for Taylor on Pakistan soil when keeper Moin
Khan gratefully accepted a simple deflection after the Australian
skipper failed in his effort to push forward a ball pitched just
outside the off stump. Taylor had picked up just 106 runs during
the last tour featuring three tests. He got a pair at Karachi in
the first Test four years ago to start off his captaincy for
Australia.
Wasim also got rid of Justin Langer, 27, who had clicked an instant
rhythm at the tour opener to set apart KCCA bowling with emphatic
221, his first class best, on the last ball of his fourth over.
Langer completely failed to judge the line of the ball and was
caught plumb in front for a duck.
At the total of 11, Australia had lost 2 wickets and Wasim was on a
hat trick in just under one hour of tourists first innings.
Pakistan couldn�t have struck back in a better way.
For the hat trick ball with packed close-in fielders, Slater was
lucky that his inside edge flew through the gully for a four.
Aamir Sohail introduced leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed in the 10th over
when Azhar Mehmood who started the opening spell with Wasim, was
taken off after four overs in which he gave away 4 runs. With in
the second hour some of the balls started to keep low.
Slater and new batsman Mark Waugh had added just 17 runs for the
third wicket when Mushtaq struck another blow in the Aussie camp by
getting Waugh leg before. Waugh who stayed at the wicket for 21
minutes and faced 12 balls failed to open his account.
Steve Waugh joined Slater and both carried the score to 55 for 3 in
28 overs at lunch adding 27 runs for the fourth-wicket. Wasim was
hit for 12 runs in his 8th over, before he was taken off.
Slater and Steve played through the second session without losing
their concentration posting Australia�s 100 in 37.1 overs in 144
minutes. They added 95 runs in 25 overs in post lunch session to
carry Australia to 150 for 3 in 53 overs at tea with Slater batting
on 72 and Steve on 66.
Pakistani bowlers toiling to break the partnership looking very
dangerous could only succeed after Slater had completed his
hundred. Sohail tried different combinations of spin attack,
swapped them from one end to other but remained luckless. The
partnership was finally broken when left-arm spinner Mohammad
Hussain had Slater, trying to glide down mistimed his stroke and
was caught at short extra cover off Mohammad Wasim at the score of
108. Slater faced 236 balls in 298 minutes. The fourth-wicket
partnership produced 198 runs. The second highest against
Pakistan. The highest 217 was recorded by G.S Chappell and G.N
Yallop at Faisalabad in 1979-80, the pair also hold the record of
171 runs for the fifth wicket for Australia against Pakistan,
although it was equalled by Allan Border and Greg Chappell at
Brisbane in 1983-84.
Australia�s total was 226 and Steve was batting on 98. Steve went
on to complete his hundred off 220 balls consuming 256 minutes. At
close left-handed Darren Lehmann who is playing in his second Test
after making debut against India at Bangalore last year was batting
on 4 while Steve was not out at 104.
Wasim Akram who was seen over stepping and not called on at least
three occasions, shared 7 no-balls in his 16 overs giving away 54
for 2 wickets, Mushtaq took 1 for 60 in 23 overs while Hussain got
1 for 24 in 8 overs.
Earlier, Pakistan could add a mere 16 runs to their overnight total
of 253 for 8, as Australia wrapped up the innings in 48 minutes off
12 overs. Taylor dropped Saeed for the second time in the innings
when the ball popped out of his hands off McGrath. Saeed was on
135. And Steve dropped Mushtaq also off McGrath, however, Mushie
was run out without adding a run to his overnight total of 26.
Prior to that the enterprising innings of Saeed Anwar came to an
end when he was caught by Langer at forward short leg off Stuart
MacGill at the total of 145 (275 balls, 386 minutes).
The partnership of 120 in 45.1 overs between Saeed and Mushtaq is a
new series record for the ninth-wicket for Pakistan, eclipsing the
previous record of 56 between Intikhab Alam and Afaq Hussain at
Melbourne in 1964-65.
Leg spinner MacGill playing only in his second Test improved his
best bowling figures by claiming 5 wickets for 65 runs in 25 overs.
The rookie leg spinner had captured five wickets in debut match
against South Africa with best figures of 3-22.
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981003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan beat China in last match
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Pakistan junior spikers gave a thrilling account
of themselves when the overpowered China, the defending Asian
Junior Volleyball Champions, 3-1 in the last of the three matches
series here at the Liaquat Gymnasium hall on Friday evening.
China won the series 2-1 as they scored 3-1 and 3-0 triumphs over
the hosts in the first two games played at Islamabad and Wah
respectively. Chinese took a flight from Islamabad to Tehran via
Karachi on Friday evening.
Pakistan preparing for the next week Asian Junior Championship to
played at Tehran from Oct 8, on Friday scored at 15-13, 15-13, 5-
15, 15-11 victory over China.
Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) on Friday also finalised its
final team for the Asian Junior event. Mohammad Shahbaz will lead
the side. Other members of the team are Asghar Ali, Mohammad
Zubair, Faisal Hayat, Zufliqar Ali, Mohammad Asad, Zafar Iqbal Sr.,
Mohammad Sajjad, Muzaffar Khan, Ali Aslam, Zafar Iqbal Jr. Fahad
Dad.
C.D Khokhar will be the manager of the team, Yong Hanyan (China)
head coach, Qazi Mushtaq (assistant coach) and Najamul Hussenin
Sajjad (international referee) will be the official squad. Pakistan
team leaves for Tehran on 6th.
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