------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 8 August 1998 Issue : 04/31 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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CONTENTS NATIONAL NEWS + Sartaj new FM: Federal cabinet reshuffled + Nation has potential to face crisis, says Nawaz + Lull in shelling along LoC + Traders end strike: Demand for fixed tax accepted + Sanctions law being softened: Senators + Nawaz briefs Tarar on Kashmir situation + Govt�s loan recovery campaign stalls + Anti-dam rally to save federation: Benazir + International travel fares to rise by 15 per cent + Nawaz gives land to landless + PM offers to restore �73 Constitution --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Withdrawal of export tax demanded + Hubco makes net profit of Rs10.8bn + Dollar touches new peak in inter-bank market + Banks asked to issue temporary receipts for $-bonds + IDB hopeful of raising $1.5bn for Pakistan + KPT Golden Handshake Scheme extended up to 31st + Rs1bn expansion plan approved by PTCL board + Instaphone plans to take over Paktel + Stocks recover 52 points on positive news --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Brazen-faced corruption Ardeshir Cowasjee + Perpetuating the system Irfan Husain + Senate, democracy and federation Nazeer Ahmad Mahar ----------- SPORTS + Ali Yar Beg regains National badminton title + Pakistan revamps hockey squad + Commonwealth Games: Pakistan cricket team announced + Selectors include Malik but leave out Younis =================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
NATIONAL NEWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sartaj new FM: Federal cabinet reshuffled ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Raja Zulfikar ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday re- allocated portfolios to three federal ministers, dropped one from the cabinet and withdrew additional charge from two ministers in what appeared to be the first phase of cabinet reshuffle. A notification to the effect said Raja Nadir Pervaiz would now take charge of the ministry for communications, Gohar Ayub would look after the ministry of water and power while Sartaj Aziz would have the portfolio of foreign affairs. These ministers earlier held portfolios of water and power, foreign affairs and finance respectively. Dr Hafiz Pasha has been made adviser to the prime minister on finance with the status of a federal minister. He will continue to be the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. His appointment as adviser to the prime minister was made by President Rafiq Tarar on the advice of the prime minister. Sardar Yaqub Nasir, who was the federal minister for railways, has been removed from the cabinet. No one has so far been named for the ministry of railways. Minister of State for Water and Power Captain (retd) Haleem Siddiqui who held the additional charge of minister of state for communications would now cease to hold the portfolio of minister of state for communications. Similarly, the notification says that the portfolios of tourism, sports and culture which had been entrusted to Sheikh Rashid stand withdrawn. He, however, will continue to hold the charge of the ministry of labour, manpower and overseas Pakistanis. The long overdue reshuffle in the federal cabinet was officially notified late in the evening. It had been approved by the prime minister earlier in the day. Sources said that Thursday�s re-allocation of portfolios was the first phase of the planned reshuffle which was to be originally effected soon after the budget. "More changes are likely to be made in the next few days," officials said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980808 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nation has potential to face crisis, says Nawaz ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif on Friday said preservation of political independence and territorial integrity took priority over everything else. "The country would never compromise over its sovereignty. Liberty has a price which we must be prepared to pay", he observed. The prime minister was talking to a delegation of the ministry of communications and its attached departments. The delegation called on him at the prime minister�s house on Friday to present a cheque for Rs 24.62 million as a contribution to the National Self- Reliance Fund (NSRF). The delegation was headed by the Minister of State, Capt (retd) Haleem Siddiqui. The secretary to the ministry of communications and heads of attached departments were also present on the occasion. The prime minister said the nation had a potential to face challenges and withstand crisis and it would soon tide over its economic difficulties. He expressed a hope that the nation would emerge stronger from the crisis and "there is no room for despair". "Ups and downs are a normal phenomenon in the history of nations which always test their mettle during crisis. Things are improving gradually and we will Inshallah overcome all difficulties", he added. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Lull in shelling along LoC ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 6: There was a lull in shelling from the Indian side on Thursday after seven days of incessant mortar and artillery fire, official sources here said. However, in some sectors Indian troops continued to fire with small arms, they added. Indian troops had resorted to mortar, field guns and artillery fire in the wee hours of July 30 (Thursday) and continued shelling till Aug 5, killing more than 70 people in different villages along the Line of Control in Azad Kashmir. More than 130 people suffered injuries. On Wednesday, 10 people were killed in Chakothi sector in Muzaffarabad and Kahuta and Bagh sectors in district Bagh. One of them died in Dhulli, two kilometres from Bagh city. Of the other four in Bagh district, two were killed in Phal Ban village and two in Chanjal village of Kahuta sector. Four were killed in Kuchha and one in Chamb Doba villages of Chakothi sector in the south of Muzaffarabad. Although there was calm along the LoC on Thursday, the people, displaced from the firing affected areas, were scared. "We cannot return to our homes as the enemy can resume firing any time,"Muzaffar, a resident of Mera Bakot village in Chakothi sector who fled the area and was later rehabilitated at Saran with at least 1,000 other displaced people, told this correspondent. According to the Azad Kashmir Senior Minister, Sahibzada Ishaque Zafar, more than 50,000 persons, living along the line of control were displaced due to heavy shelling between July 30 and Aug 5. APP ADDS: The exchange of heavy fire continued at Keiren and Uri sectors on the Line of Control on the eighth successive day. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Traders end strike: Demand for fixed tax accepted ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: The government here on Thursday acceded to the demand of the traders to receive "fixed tax"instead of moving towards income based General Sales Tax (GST) regime as was promised by the business community last year. A 20-day long strike by the traders and the jewellers came to an end on Thursday after traders� "successful talks"with Minister for Commerce Ishaq Dar. The representatives of the traders also decided to call off their threatened three day strike. According to the details of the agreement, confirmed officially by the ministry of commerce, the government would not insist on the registration of those traders whose annual sale was Rs.5 million or above to pay Rs.50,000 as part of their GST. "Those with annual turnover of Rs.5 million who have already been registered with the department will remain subject to the GST regime but there would not be any compulsion for the new assesses to join this net,"an official said. In other words, the government has decided to give up the idea of recovery of GST from those whose sale is Rs.5 million or more per year. Insiders said that the prime minister in fact intervened and directed the CBR to stop insisting on income based GST regime to avoid political problems for the government. They said the government feared that the traders might join hands with the Pakistan Peoples Party and Awami National Party and therefore it was decided to accept a fixed tax regime, an issue which was likely to be opposed by the IMF. Under the agreement, those who are not Income Tax (I.T.) assesses would pay only Rs.1,000 per annum as fixed sales tax. Other traders who are income tax assesses would pay fixed sales tax (GST) on the basis of their sales as follows: -Those whose sale is up to Rs.300,000 per annum would pay Rs.3,000 annually. -Rs.5,000 as GST by those whose sales are more than Rs.300,000 and less than Rs.1 million. -Rs.10,000 as GST by those whose sales is Rs.1 million but does not exceeds Rs.2 million. -Rs.15,000 by those whose sale is between Rs.2 million and Rs.3 million. -Rs.50,000 by those whose sale is between Rs.3 million and Rs.4 million. According to the agreement those who had been subjected to one per cent more sales tax in the budget have been exempted from the fixed tax regime. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980804 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sanctions law being softened: Senators ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: Two US Senators, Mr Richard Shelby and Mr Tim Hutchinson, on Monday called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and told him that the US would do everything to encourage a dialogue between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir dispute. The US senators, who are here on a three-day visit, also met Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan and Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan. They also attended a briefing at the GHQ. Officials said the US senators, accompanied by the US ambassador, informed the prime minister about steps being taken in the US senate to introduce flexibility in the imposition of the Glenn amendment. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appreciated efforts being made in the US senate to soften the US law on sanctions. A handout issued after the meeting said the prime minister also informed the US senators about his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Colombo, but regretted that it did not produce a positive outcome because of Indian attitude. GOHAR AYUB: Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan also urged the United States on Monday to play its role in the resolution of Kashmir dispute, APP adds. He said this while talking to the two-member US senators� delegation who called on him here. He emphasised that Kashmir problem has led to tensions in the region and it is important that the international community, particularly the US should help in promoting resolution of the dispute. "The foreign minister briefed the two senators on the security situation created in the region, following the nuclear tests by India,"a Foreign Office statement said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980804 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nawaz briefs Tarar on Kashmir situation ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called on President Rafiq Tarar here on Monday and discussed with him issues relating to security arising out of the continued firing by the Indian army on the Line of Control (LoC) which had so far killed more than 70 people. Informed sources said that the two discussed the preparedness of the troops stationed on the LoC and expressed satisfaction over their performance. The prime minister told the president that he would be meeting the army chief in a day or so to discuss with him the unprovoked firing by the Indian army on the LoC. He also hinted at the possibility of convening the meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) on Friday. Sources said that the president and the prime minister also discussed a number of other important issues including prime minister�s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Mr. Vajpayee at Colombo. He told the president that India was not willing to undertake meaningful talks with Pakistan to resolve long outstanding issues between the countries. Mr Sharif said that he had rejected an Indian proposal to first have discussion on other issues, including the bilateral trade before the resolution of the Kashmir problem. The prime minister said that he had also invited the attention of his Indian counterpart of the presence of over half a million Indian military troops in Kashmir who were committing human rights violations there. He said he has made it amply clear to his Indian counterpart that without the resolution of the Kashmir problem, there could not be any peace in the region. Sources said both the president and the prime minister discussed internal situation with special reference to new PPP-ANP alliance against the construction of Kalabagh dam. The prime minister said that he had already said that this dam will be built only after forging consensus among the provinces. He said he had also directed his cabinet colleagues to meet all the political parties and groups to have their point of view over the issue. They further discussed reshuffle in the cabinet. The prime minister said he may announce the expansion and reshuffle in the cabinet by Friday next. They also discussed the economic situation with prime minister hoping to conclude soon a new agreement with the IMF. However, sources said, he assured the president that there would not be any default and that Pakistan�s economic problems were being looked after by her friends in the Middle East. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980805 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt�s loan recovery campaign stalls ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: Government�s loan recovery campaign has been stalled owing to the reluctance of banks and development finance institutions to provide names of their officers who had been involved in extending irregular loans, Dawn reliably learnt. In line with the prime minister�s directive to expedite the recovery campaign, a decision to arrest and interrogate bankers was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of State Bank Governor, Dr Yaqoob, in Lahore last week. The banks, as per the decision taken in Lahore, had to provide the names of their officers within two days to the FIA but no name had been received as yet, said a source. All the nationalized commercial banks and development finance institution in the first phase of the recovery campaign had referred only 26 cases of loan defaulters to the FIA. The agency, out of the total 26 cases in a countrywide swoop, arrested 15 defaulters, including a sitting Senator of the ruling party. Some of the defaulters had more than one case against them. In view of the very small number of cases identified by the banks, the decision to extend the scope of investigation to the bank officers had been taken. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980805 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Anti-dam rally to save federation: Benazir ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Aug 4: Leader of the Opposition Benazir Bhutto has said that her party�s decision to participate in the anti-Kalabagh dam rally is aimed at saving the federation and not against any one province. Ms Bhutto will lead the rally from Ghotki to Obaro on August 10. Addressing the meeting of Sindh Council of the Pakistan People�s Party on Monday (partly reported on Tuesday), Ms Bhutto said that while the rulers accused the PPP of using the "Sarhad card"by forming an alliance with the ANP and the "Sindh card"for anti-dam posture, the PPP had called it a "save Pakistan card". She said that the planned rally against the Kalabagh dam would also be joined by the people of Punjab despite attempts by the government to create obstacles. She asked the government to explain what happened to Ghazi Barotha and Ketti Bundar projects, Rohri Hydel project and development schemes which were initiated during her government. The PPP chairperson also flayed the census figures, the sacking of people, soaring prices and spending the national wealth on the development of "personal jagirs"and projects like motorway at the cost of other projects. She claimed that Mian Nawaz Sharif was a security risk and maintained that despite nuclear explosions Pakistan had become weaker as compared to what it was in 1988. It called for the repeal of Ehtesab Act with retrospective effect and called for a bipartisan committee with equal representation to government and opposition members to conduct a fair accountability. The PPP also demanded that the president and the prime minister should resign because it was of the view that they had "pitted Pakistan against the United States, West, Japan, India simultaneously at a time when Pakistan lacked adequate air cover, and its lines of supply were limited due to the foreign exchange crisis". The Sindh Council also flayed the increase in petrol price, growing unemployment and called upon the regime to "stop sucking the blood" of shopkeepers, peasants, government servants, workers and teachers. "If the people don�t have the money to pay for their bread, then from where they will pay the General Sales Tax and utility bills," it asked. The council called for postponing the imposition of General Sales Tax for one year, writing off the electricity debt of all those who were defaulters of Rs50,000 or less, since it was the default of WAPDA/KESC for not collecting the bills on time and in monthly instalments. It also demanded arrest of all Nawaz cronies who allegedly withdrew million of dollars before the freezing of Foreign Currency Accounts, improvement in the law and order situation in Karachi and other parts of the country. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- International travel fares to rise by 15 per cent ------------------------------------------------------------------- Omar Quraishi LAHORE, Aug 5: Travel fares on all airlines flying out of Pakistan including the domestic carrier PIA will rise by 15 per cent. A senior PIA official said on Wednesday that the federal government had approved the increase which will take effect from September 1 or a week before that. He also said that fares could go up by 10 per cent by the end of the year. The official said the last such increase took place on Dec 16, 1996 and this one is necessitated largely by the two devaluations the first of 8.7 per cent in October 1997 and the second of around 4.4 per cent last month. The federal government through the Ministry of Defence and the Civil Aviation Authority gave approval to the request for the increase in international air fares on July 29. PIA and foreign airlines flying to Pakistan wanted to implement this from August 1, official said, but the approval came too late for that date. The official said PIA had written back to the Ministry of Defence asking for the effective date to be advanced by a week from September 1. He said the airlines had actually asked for a larger increase, of around 25 per cent, but this was not allowed by the government. The government did not approve the whole increase that had been requested because of adverse public reaction, the official said. It is likely that international fares will increase by another 10 per cent in another 3 to 4 months, the official said. The published round-trip fare on an economy class seat for travel on PIA from Karachi to New York and back is currently Rs 79,860 and after the fare hike will rise to Rs 91,840. The discounted fare for this journey will rise by around Rs 10,000 from Rs 63,900 to Rs 73,500. A Lahore travel agent on Tuesday quoted a price of Rs 58,000 for a round-trip economy ticket to New York and back and this should rise to around Rs 66,700 after the fare hike. Similarly, the popular Karachi-London-Karachi and Karachi-Bombay- Karachi routes which currently cost Rs 43,150 and Rs 8,630 respectively for a round-trip economy ticket will cost approximately Rs 50,000 and Rs 9,920. DOMESTIC FARES: The official said that there was no plan right now to increase domestic fares on PIA flights. He said the tariff rates might be put under a process of review but any fare hike on domestic routes was not on the agenda. FOREIGN AIRLINES LEAVING: After Lufthansa�s recent announcement that it was planning to pull out of Pakistan, citing heavy landing costs, other charges and other factors (like the availability of cheaper and better equipped airports like Dubai), Air Lanka has given a notice of its intent to wind up its operations in Pakistan. The airline flies twice a week (Monday and Thursday) to Karachi from Colombo. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nawaz gives land to landless ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent DERA GHAZI KHAN, Aug 5: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif launched the second phase of his campaign of land distribution among landless tenants by handing over allotment orders among "haris"of Rojhan on Wednesday evening. The prime minister awarded ownership rights of 12 acres each among 100 of the 2,210 haris of Rojhan, Rajanpur district. In his address the PM pledged to carry on his dream of making poor haris� lives respectable by awarding them lands so that they could at least make both ends meet. He directed the departments concerned to provide every possible facility to the new land owners so that they could cultivate their lands. He said he wanted to provide more facilities to farmers, eg subsidized power, tubewells, tractors and other farm machinery, at reduced prices. He said the government had allocated 40 billion rupees for agricultural loans. He expressed a hope that the country would soon become self- sufficient in food. In his welcome address, the parliamentary secretary in Punjab Assembly, Sardar Farhat Aziz Mazari, an MPA from PP-206 (Rojhan), thanked Mr Nawaz Sharif for visiting the area in scorching heat and presented a long list of various development projects vital to the area. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PM offers to restore �73 Constitution ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday offered to set up a joint parliamentary committee to look into the issue of restoration of the 1973 Constitution if the opposition so desired. Speaking in the Senate on the occasion of the silver jubilee of the upper house, Mr Sharif expressed his government�s willingness to amend the Constitution with the consent of all political parties represented in parliament and said the Constitution should be amended with consensus evolved at the joint parliamentary committee meeting. NUCLEAR TESTS: Dwelling on the nuclear tests and its consequences, he disclosed that a lucrative package had been offered to Pakistan to prevent it from carrying out nuclear tests. Had the offer been accepted, the country would have been disintegrated, he claimed. In an obvious reference to the United States, he said Islamabad was offered restoration of economic and military aid, repeal of Symington and Pressler amendments, rectification of disparity in conventional weapons with India and writing-off of debts to the tune of billions of dollars. Pakistan, Mr Sharif said, was given security guarantees, "but we refused to accept those keeping in view the track record of such assurances in the past." He said that despite being aware of the economic hardships that would follow, his government carried out nuclear tests and made the country�s defence impregnable. Pakistan, the prime minister said, was the 7th nuclear power in the world today having the capability to defend its borders. He pointed out that the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan had revived the Kashmir issue at the international level. Justifying the detonation of nuclear devices by Pakistan, the prime minister said Pakistan had no option but to go nuclear in view of threats to its security after India carried out tests and its leaders started issuing provocative statements. Pakistan, he said, had exercised great restraints and had gone for the tests after minutely analysing the consequences. Defending the government�s decision to freeze the foreign currency accounts, he said, it had been done to prevent the flight of capital from the country. He said 80 per cent of those foreign currency accounts had been utilized by the successive governments in the past. Responding to the criticism by the press over the freezing of foreign currency accounts, he said the decision had been taken in the larger national interest. The prime minister called upon all political parties to respect the massive mandate given by the people to his party. Referring to the debacle of East Pakistan, he said, had the political leaders respected each other�s mandate the situation would have been different and East and West Pakistan would have been intact. It was a great national tragedy but certain elements were happy over the dismemberment of the country, he deplored. He regretted that the mandate given to smaller provinces had never been respected and no lesson was learnt from the tragedy of East Pakistan. Balochs, he said, had been branded as traitors and forced to take positions on the mountains. "We respected the mandate of Balochs," he said, adding that his government had not repeated the mistake of the past. Recalling the dismissal of Muslim League government in the NWFP, he said, it had the mandate in 1993 but it had never been respected. TALKS WITH VAJPAYEE: Mr Sharif informed the Senate about his recent talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He said he had reiterated Pakistan�s stand on the Kashmir issue during his talks with Mr Vajpayee in Colombo earlier this month.
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Withdrawal of export tax demanded ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent RAWALPINDI, Aug 6: The Rawalpindi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has asked the government of Punjab to immediately withdraw the increase in export tax as it would lead to worsening of the law and order situation. In a statement on Thursday, the RCCI chief, Sohail Altaf expressed dismay over the unilateral increase of the export tax and said it would cast a negative impact on inter-district trade and the consumer prices. "People are already hard hit by the sky rocketing prices, this abrupt increase will make the prices shoot up further and will in turn adversely effect the commodities� sale leading to economic stagnation of a higher degree," he said. He suggested that the authorities should take into confidence leaders of the business community, before taking such decisions that have direct bearing on the trade and business. �In this way, the fears of businessmen and people at large can be allayed and the backlash of consumers in general can be averted, after the implementation of such decisions", he concluded. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hubco makes net profit of Rs10.8bn ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dilawar Hussain KARACHI, Aug 6: The Hub Power Company Limited (Hubco) announced better-than-expected financial results for the year to end-June 1998, which sent the price of its stock up three per cent from Rs13.20 to Rs 13.60 by the close of the trading session on Thursday. The company unveiled net profit at Rs10.8 billion, equivalent to earning per share (EPS) at Rs9.34, reflecting growth of 47.9 per cent over the 1996 net profit at Rs7.3 billion and EPS at Rs6.34. The earnings generally turned out to be better by 10 to 15 per cent over the projections of most energy stock analysts at major brokerage houses. "We had estimated EPS at Rs8.3 and the actual outcome has been one of pleasant surprise", admitted Mudassir Malik of BMA Capital Management. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dollar touches new peak in inter-bank market ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Aug 6: The price of the dollar rose further in inter-bank market touching a new peak at Rs 54.20 on Thursday against Rs 53.50 on Wednesday. Official rates remained intact at Rs 46 and Rs 46.23 per dollar for buying and selling. This pushed up the State Bank composite rates to Rs 49.67 and Rs 50.05 for buying and selling from Rs 49.49 and Rs 49.86 on Wednesday. The SBP composite rates are based on weighted average of buying and selling rates of some 16 banks. The composite rates of individual banks also crossed Rs 50 per dollar for selling. Senior bankers said the most immediate reason for the increase in dollar rates was about $10 million worth of buying by a state- run and a foreign bank. They said after the buying was over the inter- bank rate fell to Rs 53.80 per dollar. But they say much would depend on whether the State Bank makes more purchases of dollar from the banks. During July 29-August 4 it bought some $31.8 million which caused the price of the dollar to shoot up. KERB MARKET: The rupee ended 10 paisa lower against the dollar in the kerb market on Thursday to close at 56.50 and 56.60 for spot buying and selling against the Wednesday close of 56.40 and 56.50. Money changers said there was a buying pressure on the greenback which, they said, might remain intact for some days. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Banks asked to issue temporary receipts for $-bonds ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Aug 5: The State Bank asked all banks on Wednesday to start issuing temporary receipts in place of dollar-bonds to the holders of frozen foreign currency deposits. A SBP circular (SD no 06) said issuance of receipts would be a stop-gap arrangement "till printing and supply of these bonds." The State Bank announced on July 21 that holders of foreign currency accounts frozen on May 28 1998 could either withdraw their balance deposits in rupees or invest them in the dollar-bonds. It took the SBP a full fortnight to announce the procedure for the issuance of the bondstemporary receipts to be precise. The proposed bonds are of 5-year, 7-year and 10-year maturity and carry an annual return equal to six-month Libor, six-month Libor plus 1 per cent and six-month Libor plus 2 per cent. Libor stands for London inter-bank offer rates. At present six-month Libor is around 5.75 per cent. The bonds are being issued in the denominations of US$100, US$1000, US$10,000 and US$100,000. The circular advises all banks to contact SBP chief managers in Karachi and Lahore to procure the required amount of the bonds. It further advises them to indicate on each bond the name of the bank branch from where it is being sold and the date of issue. The circular says that for issuing the US dollar-bonds the Deutsche Mark, Japanese Yen and Pound sterling amount of the foreign currency deposits will be converted into US dollar by crossing the State Bank�s spot buying rate for the dollar with the rates of these currencies published by the foreign exchange rates committee. The forward cover fee for unexpired period of the contract, if any will be refunded to the bank concerned by Karachi and Lahore offices of SBP. The circular says the banks will report the issue of dollar- bonds to SBP chief managers in Karachi and Lahore on daily basis. It says the necessary working procedure regarding payment of interest and encashment of the bonds maturity will be issued separately. Bankers reached by Dawn said the very fact that the procedure for payment of interest and encashment of bonds is yet to be notified would dampen the spirit of potential buyers as well as the banks. "Why on earth a buyer would show any interest in the bond until he does not know about how the banks will pay them and how he will encash these bonds,"wondered a bank treasurer. He also said that the issuance of temporary receipts in place of the bonds would not work for "hardly any potential buyer would accept this arrangement." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IDB hopeful of raising $1.5bn for Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Syed Rashid Husain RIYADH, Aug 5: In an extraordinary meeting of Islamic banks and the financial institutions operating in the region, convened by the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on August 8, a consortium of Islamic banks is likely to be set up to bail Pakistan out of its current economic and financial imbroglio. Invitations have been sent to some 13 Islamic banks and institutions to participate in the meeting whose basic objective is to strengthen Pakistan�s balance of payments situation and hence its bargaining power with other international multilateral donor agencies. The way things are moving, there are indications that up to $1 billion could be raised in cash as a result of the meeting and about another $500 million as rollover of swaps could be agreed upon during the meeting. Sources within the IDB is hopeful of raising something between $1 billion to $1.5 billion during the meeting in Jeddah. In another related move, IDB has increased Pakistan�s drawing rights from $250 million to $400 million to overcome the current cash crunch. Another $400 million have been earmarked as Pakistan�s specific credit limit for other Islamic countries to finance their imports from Pakistan, the Pakistani envoy in Riyadh, Khalid Mahmood, told Dawn. Ambassador Khalid Mahmood said that Saudi Arabia has encouraged the IDB and other Islamic financial institutions to help Pakistan out of the current situation. In fact there has been a nod from a person no less eminent than the Crown Prince Abdallah for Pakistan to organize a fund raising campaign in Saudi Arabia. As a result, steering committees have been established in major town and cities of the Kingdom to mobilize funds into the National Self Reliance Funds from both expatriate Pakistanis and non- Pakistanis including the Saudis. The Embassy of Pakistan expects a very encouraging response soon after the holidays season is over in mid-September. The Pakistani envoy is of the opinion that despite all the cash crunch faced by Saudi Arabia, because of the low oil prices and the stress on Saudization of the manpower, the import of Pakistani manpower would still be significant and may even increase. "This is one of the ways in which the Saudis can help us and I expect it to increase because of the all out support they have extended to us during this crisis period."he stated. Meanwhile, in another related development the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has already sent out to all its member countries the Pakistani request to convene an extraordinary session of the OIC to discuss the situation arising out of the nuclear blasts of India followed by that of Pakistan. The OIC secretariat is awaiting the response of the member countries and as per the procedure if the two-third majority speaks in favour of holding the extraordinary session it would be held soon. Once a mechanism is set up and the expatriate Pakistani population is convinced that their lifelong savings would stay safe, raising another $1 billion to $1.5 billion should not be a major problem. Would someone back in Pakistan try and evolve a mechanism to restore the shattered confidence of the overseas Pakistanis. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- KPT Golden Handshake Scheme extended up to 31st ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Aug 5: The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) has extended the validity of its golden handshake scheme (GHS) up to August 31, 1998 after having a poor response from its employees on this score, sources in the KPT told Dawn on Wednesday. The KPT offered the scheme on June 8, 1998 for more than 12,000 employees and officers and the last date for the receipt of option was August 2, 1998, the sources said. They added that an estimated 200-250 employees, which came to hardly 2 to 2.5 per cent of the total staff strength, chose to fill the GHS forms. Despite the fact that the Trust has offered a number of incentives under the scheme, the employees interviewed by Dawn feel that the package is not so attractive as the ones offered by the various local banks and development financial institution (DFIs). The sources added that employees were reluctant to go in for GHS and they did not particularly like KPT�s decision to deduct the income tax as per Income Tax Rules. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rs1bn expansion plan approved by PTCL board ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtashamul Haq ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: The Board of the Directors of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) approved here on Wednesday a new expansion programme including the setting up of its three new subsidiaries with an investment of over Rs1 billion. The meeting, which was presided over by the PTCL Chairman, Nasim Mirza approved the establishment of Pak Telecom Mobile Co, Pak Telecom Pay Phone Service and Pak Internet Limited. "All these three subsidiaries will be 100 per cent owned by the PTCL and will open a new chapter for providing a lot more services to the people", said PTCL Chairman Nasim Mirza. In an interview to Dawn he said that although the PTCL was providing Internet services to its subscribers, a decision has been taken to set up a separate company to further facilitate the people. Similarly, he said that Pak Telephone Mobile Co, would be set up to provide inexpensive mobile services, compared to other three foreign companies currently operating in Pakistan. He said Rs1 billion will be spent to set up these three subsidiaries, while Rs2 billion was needed for providing 750,000 new telephone lines during the next 18 months period. Mirza said that new connections will be offered both in urban and rural areas. "Then lot of money will be spent for replacing old telephone exchanges", he said adding that the PTCL was being made a highly competitive organization to facilitate its privatization. Responding to a question he said that the PTCL has been successful in reducing additional cost per line. "We are squeezing our suppliers inspite of the devaluation of the rupee to provide needed items on comparatively less charges". He disclosed that the PTCL was further reducing charges for international calls. "Every year we will be reducing 15 per cent tariff on international calls", he said. Mirza regretted that the Standard and Poor, a New York-based credit rating agency has downgraded the rating of the PTCL without any justification. "Our rating has been linked to the country rating and in this behalf we were told that since Pakistan went for freezing the Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs), Standard and Poor was forced to down grade the credit rating for the PTCL as well", he said adding that he had argued with the agency but in vain. He said PTCL needed to borrow Rs2 to 3 billion during the current financial year for its expansion programme. "Our equity is more than Rs51 billion and as such borrowing this amount both from the local and foreign sources is not some thing very big". Asked about the Central Excise Duty (CED) on telephone bills, he conceded it was far too high and needed to be reduced. He said this CED should be brought down from 25 to 15 per cent which has already been reduced from 40 to 25 per cent. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980804 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Instaphone plans to take over Paktel ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter LAHORE, Aug 3: Competition in the cellular phone market might shrink if Instaphone�s plans to buy out Paktel go through. An informed source told Dawn that talks were in their final stages between US-based Millicom which has a controling stake in Instaphone and UK-based telecommunications giant Cable and Wireless which has majority shares in Paktel. There are an estimated 150,000 cellular phone users in Pakistan out of which Paktel has roughly a 50 per cent share. Mobilink has around 30 per cent with the rest going to Instaphone. Cable and Wireless wants to disinvest from Paktel because of certain strategic changes in its development direction and because Pakistan does not figure so prominently in its investment programme, the source said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980808 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Stocks recover 52 points on positive news ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Aug 7: The KSE 100-share index surged by six per cent, a hefty single-session gain, as the strength of leading base shares spilled over to the broader market followed by some positive news from the economic front and perception of change in the current bearish cycle. "There are more good news than the market could digest just in one go but the major boost came from the news of economic bail-out plan initiated by the Islamic Development Bank,"analysts said. "The fear of a possible default on foreign debt repayments are now fading as forex reserves will attain a viable level after IDB package,"he added. The KSE 100-share index recovered another 52 points at 972.96 as compared to 921.02 a day earlier, lifting market capitalization by another Rs 12.376 billion to Rs 282.727 billion. "The index is certainly heading to achieve its base level of 1,000 points and could stay well above it as the developing economic scenario points,"analysts said. The change of the finance minister, whose post-nuclear test policies could not get general approval, was also a supporting positive factor as the new economic managers are expected to initiate fresh salvage plans, they added. Hub-Power again came in for strong support at the lower level as the news of a record profit of Rs 11 billion for the financial year ended June 30, 1998, could ensure an increased final. The management has already paid an interim of 70%. The market advance was, however, led by PTCL, which came in for massive short-covering at the current lows and finished with an extended gain of Rs 1.95, which in turn boosted the index by about 6% owing to its 34% weightage in it. Big gainers were again led by PSO and Shell Pakistan, despite disruption of supplies to its retail outlets owing to oil tankers strike, Engro Chemical, Fauji Fertilizer, Adamjee Insurance and Lever Brothers, which showed fresh gains ranging from Rs 1.60 to Rs 25. Prime Bank and Crescent Bank were leading among the losers, falling by one rupee to Rs 2.75. Trading volume fell to 83 million shares owing to a short Friday session as compared to 110 million shares a day earlier. Out of the 112 actives, 57 shares rose, 18 fell with 37 holding on to the last levels. PTCL led the list of most actives, up Rs 1.95 at Rs 21.45 on 44.240 million shares, followed by Hub-Power, higher one rupee at Rs 14.60 on 28.476 million shares, ICI Pakistan, up 70 paisa at Rs 12.90 on 4.126 million shares, PSO, sharply higher Rs 3.75 at Rs 87.25 on 1.077 million shares, and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, firm 45 paisa at Rs 13.65 on 0.818 million shares. Other actively traded shares included Fauji Fertilizer, up Rs 3.60 on 0.814 million shares, Southern Electric, firm 20 paisa on 0.650 million shares, Ibrahim Fibre, steady 10 paisa on 0.269 million shares, Sui Southern, up 35 paisa on 0.217 million shares, Sui Northern, higher 55 paisa on 0.216 million shares, and MCB, up 60 paisa on 0.205 million shares.
EDITORIALS & FEATURES 980802 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brazen-faced corruption ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee IF THE corruption of our rulers stopped at taking bribes and kickbacks, and at merely defaulting on loans, we would not be as bankrupt as we are today. Having destroyed every institution in the the country the legislature, the executive, the judiciary they have firmly institutionalized corruption in the meanest sense of the word. Sindh has been particularly unfortunate. Most of its chief ministers have been exceedingly corrupt and to further their purposes have appointed corrupt ministers. In the ministry of housing & town planning much money is made with great facility, and what each minister leaves behind is an increasingly unhealthy and decaying environment. Abdullah Shah, chief minister of Sindh in our last government, the second Benazir government, went into hiding the day she fell in 1996, and chooses to remain a proclaimed absconder. Anticipating corruption, Section 4-B of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance was inserted as early as 1979 specifically providing for the appointment of a Public Committee to oversee the functioning of the Karachi Building Control Authority. Despite the legislation, and despite the efforts of the citizens, no committee was appointed for eighteen years. The reason was patently obvious. Successive governments wanted no fetters on their natural propensity to rob. The law was brazenly flouted. In 1996, caretaker minister of H&TP Maqbool Habib Ibrahim Rahimtoola (obviously not corrupt ) allowed himself to be persuaded by the citizens to constitute an eighteen-member watch- dog committee. It was composed of architects, engineers, town- planners, lawyers, builders and ministry representatives. Barrister Faez Isa volunteered to do all the legal work. Engineer Roland de Souza represented the NGO, Shehri, and I represented the weakest constituency, the voiceless people. All gave freely of their time. During the seventeen months of the committee�s life we met seventeen times. Though we were not able to control the rot, we managed to stem it. Credit for what we managed to achieve is also due in some part to the then director-general of the KDA and the chief executive officer of the KBCA, Shah Mohammad Misbah, an architect well-versed in his profession. That the committee was effective is manifested by the fact that early this July, for no valid reason, Misbah was peremptorily transferred and the committee disbanded. All we saw was a notification issued on July 4 announcing the supersession of the December 1996 notification appointing our committee, and "in exercise of the powers conferred....... the Government of Sindh is pleased to reconstitute a committee to oversee the functioning of KBCA."The reconstituted nine-member committee is to be chaired by the secretary of the ministry who will be assisted by six minor, obedient and controllable government functionaries; two members of the ruling coalition spoilers (one PML and one MQM MPA); and one solitary non-governmental man, Citizen Ardeshir Cowasjee (described by the insulting adjective �notable�). Why, I asked MQM minister Waseem Akhtar, has this been suddenly done? We were appointed to function for two years. All he could say was that whatever he did was well within his powers, and that since I had been made a member why was I complaining? To argue with him would have been a waste of time. The secretary of the ministry who issued the notification, Syed Faisal Saud, has also since been transferred. The new secretary, Mahmud Ali Khan, a former KDA official, professed ignorance. Chief secretary Zubair Kidwai resisted this bad move but was overridden by the decision taken jointly by MQM minister Waseem Akhtar and PML chief minister Liaquat Jatoi, each as devious as the other. To those who may ask what did our committee of eighteen do and what did we achieve, kindly read the comprehensive report published in Dawn, on page 5, on July 31. To those who gleefully and sheepishly ask what I myself have achieved after writing so much on the subject, and ask why the two monstrous commercial buildings still continue to rise on residential plots on the main Clifton Road, my answer is to ask them in return what they have done to help matters, in or out of the courts, here and in Islamabad. What have they contributed in terms of time and money over the years of struggle? Have they any idea of the apathy and lethargy that prevails within the ranks of the executive and the judiciary? Do they know how far the money and the tentacles of the building mafia extend? To those who ask what I and the few that work with me are doing, I ask them what they are doing to see that the authorities act as they should. I also ask the authorities the government of Sindh and the Clifton Cantonment Board what exactly it is that stops them from doing their duty in terms of the law. On to another equally serious, debilitating (and ludicrous) type of fraud, academic fraud. We read in Dawn on July 28 an APP news item informing us that the Karachi University wishes to confer upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the honorary degree of LL.D. It seems that a batch of the mass of sycophants that operate in this country moved a proposal on July 25 at a meeting of the University Syndicate (the joint movers were Professors Pervez Siddiqui, Afzal Kazmi, and Dr. Haroon Rashid, Associate Professor Dr Rehana Ifzal, Assistant Professor Majid Mumtaz, Lecturer Ruhi Ahmed). They moved that the degree be conferred upon Mr Nawaz Sharif "in view of his bold decision regarding strategies of the country�s defence."The other syndicate members present acquiesced. If it is confirmed at the next meeting of the syndicate, the motion will be sent to the chancellor for his approval. On Friday afternoon, whilst talking to the chancellor, governor of Sindh and a decent human being Lt General Moinuddin Haider, I suggested that as the head of this academic institution he should protect its dignity and summarily sack the sycophantic movers and approvers for trying to make a monkey out of our prime minister. Special Adviser to the prime minister Anwar Zahid, who still seems to be a reasonable and well-adjusted man, whose advice Nawaz Sharif might still be tempted to take, should advise him correctly. He is senior enough to remember what Mohammad Ali Jinnah, a man who knew his own worth, wrote to the Vice- Chancellor of Aligarh University, Mohammad Ziauddin, on October 4 1942 : "While I appreciate very much indeed the spirit which has activated the Court to take this decision [conferment of an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws] , I have, most reluctantly, to say that I have lived as plain Mr Jinnah and I hope to die as plain Mr Jinnah. I am very much averse to any title or honours and I will be more happy if there was no prefix to my name." Zahid knows that Oxford refused to confer honorary doctorates upon Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Margaret Thatcher. He may also remember how, in 1987, sycophants and fraudsters of another age, without asking the court of that university, announced that the Thai University of Thammasat would confer upon the then visiting President of Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq, an honorary doctorate. When Thammasat was approached to lay down the red carpet, the chancellor flatly refused, as they had refused their Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanond. The Thai government was then constrained to bribe the relatively small and impoverished Chulalangkorn University to agree to confer the required degree. Very sheepishly it did so, in camera. In 1989, Benazir Bhutto also humiliated herself by accepting, in Karachi, an honorary degree of Doctor of Science Honoris Causa from the yet to be formed Zoroastrian University of Bombay. That conferment gave the conferrer and cost the nation a cool Rs.100 crores in bank loans. The caterer-conferrer remains to this day a defaulter. To those who ask whether we can survive as a nation, the answer is �Yes�. Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, all do. Whether we can carry weight in the world? Again, �Yes�. Fifteen years of sustained hard labour may help, but only if we are consistently led by educated men, strong enough to know how weak we are. Charlatans and thieves cannot deliver. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980808 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Perpetuating the system ------------------------------------------------------------------- Irfan Husain ONE of the most rewarding things about writing this column is that I am often asked to look at projects or problems so that I can bring them to public attention. Frankly, I have no illusions about the power of the press to right the many wrongs that afflict us, but many of us keep trying anyway, probably to salve our own conscience. Recently, Hamid Maker, one of the moving spirits behind the Helpline Trust, asked me to see what he and his colleagues were doing to try and improve the conditions prevailing in government schools. In the last year or so, the Trust has launched an "Adopt a School" scheme through which individuals or institutions can make donations to specific schools in Karachi controlled by the Sindh government. The idea is to improve the infrastructure, raise teaching skills, and generally make things a little less appalling for students and teachers. The Sindh Educational Foundation is playing a similar role in the rest of the province. Helpline has got sponsorship to adopt 30 schools, and its volunteers took me to see what they had done with Canadian government assistance at Sharfabad School. What I saw was heartbreaking. Located in the middle of the solidly middle class area of Bahadurabad, the school has been transformed into a wasteland by Bhutto�s mindless nationalization policy and subsequent official neglect. Established in the sixties by the Pakistan Bihari Association, the large three-storeyed building is open and airy and has substantial playing fields. For non-payment of its electricity bills, the school had no power when I went to visit it. All payments, including the pitiful salaries, are made directly by the education department, and the administration does not even control the meagre tuition fees of 55 rupees per year per student. The derelict structure speaks of years of malign neglect: many windowpanes are broken; there has been no paint applied to the walls in a long time; and much of the furniture should have been scrapped long ago. The laboratory is a mockery, with a few rusting pieces of equipment and a handful of test tubes. No funds have been released in years for the most essential repair and maintenance. And if any money was allocated, it has certainly not reached the school. This institution is a stark indictment of the priority the Pakistani state and society have accorded to education. Here is a school that started out as a perfectly sound centre for learning, with enlightened sponsors who raised a substantial amount of money to create a spacious, well-equipped facility. By all accounts, standards were high in this English-medium school, and graduates went on to excel in various fields. Students were largely drawn from the neighbouring areas of Bahadurabad and PECHS, and got excellent results. Then came the disastrous nationalization of 1972, and control of the school passed into the hands of the Sindh education department. Steadily, standards fell and more and more parents moved their children to private institutions, until by the early eighties, Sharfabad school had been dragged down to the level of other government-run schools. Now, local children go to distant private schools, while poor, working-class parents send their kids to Sharfabad School, where 750 of them study in two shifts. Teachers are paid an average of Rs 3,000 per month, and not a penny is spent on maintenance. The Helpline initiative, praiseworthy as it is, is only a drop in the ocean. Out of the Rs 100,000 donated by the Canadian government, 10% was retained by the Trust to pay for a medical check-up for students and a refresher course for teachers, and the balance was spent on the school. In a building of this size, the money was barely enough to repair the bathrooms and some of the desks. I was informed that the provincial government was due to release some funds that could be spent on the school by the Parent- Teacher Association. But given the fact that very few of the parents who send their children to the school are literate, it is questionable if the PTA will be effective in establishing priorities and controlling the money. Indeed, there is a genuine concern that this scheme will turn into yet another scam. Awful as the conditions at the Sharfabad School are, the sad fact is that they pale into insignificance when compared to those prevailing at most government schools. The teachers are dedicated despite their ridiculous salaries and the miserable working conditions, and the students are motivated despite their background. So without funding or proper facilities, classes are held and against all odds, a semblance of normality prevails. But obviously, graduates from this and other government-controlled institutions are at a huge disadvantage while competing with the products of private schools and colleges. This is the tragedy of education in Pakistan: we have deliberately created a two-track system that perpetuates and reinforces the class divide. While private schools the world over generally give their students an edge, nowhere is it as pronounced as it is here because the public sector schools are so terrible. Needless to say, this contrast works to the advantage of the elite because it ensures that their children will be able to get the top positions in the country, while the educated underclass from the government system will have to fight for underpaid clerical and mental jobs. Seen in this context, the apathy of successive governments towards education is perfectly understandable, if not excusable. What Bhutto�s nationalization policy did was to pull private schools down to the abysmal level of government schools, and education in Pakistan has yet to recover from that devastating blow. Indeed, as products of this rotten system teach the next generation, there has been steady deterioration. The one thing that is keeping us afloat is the private education system. And as the state retreats from its obligation to provide all its citizens a decent education, individuals and NGOs are stepping in to fill the vacuum with creative initiatives. But the dead hand of the provincial and federal education departments ensures that the public sector institutions stagnate and deteriorate until they are thoroughly discredited and marginalized. So when there is brave talk about the new millennium, the information revolution and the tiger economies, rest assured that it does not strike a responsive chord in Sharfabad School. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980806 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Senate, democracy and federation ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nazeer Ahmad Mahar AUGUST 6, 1973, is a memorable day in the political history of the country, when for the first time the second chamber of parliament, the Senate, started functioning. Now that the Senate completes its 25 years, there is a need to assess the relevance and effects of Pakistan�s experience with the second chamber. The world is undergoing sweeping changes at a galloping rate. It has increasingly become a difficult task to comprehend, relate and analyze the fast-changing landscape of politics in juxtaposition with socio-economic dynamics of a modern state, which has become more susceptible to global pressures. These developments have brought democratic governance and parliament to the centre of debate. The close of this century and that of the millennium has witnessed the triumphant march of democracy through the length and breadth of the world. Today, 179 out of 193 countries of the world have parliaments. According to The New York Times, 3.1 billion people live in democracies, 2.66 billion do not. There have also been elections galore in recent years. Yet cynicism on account of electoral democracy�s failure to deliver abounds. Democracy, with all its concomitants and fruits is, by and large, a phenomenon specific to the countries of North Atlantic littoral states, whereas most Third World countries and new democracies in eastern and central Europe are still far from reaching the level of genuine democratic polity and society. However, three developments in the global arena would seem to have a positive effect on the democratization process in Third World countries. Firstly, the contemporary times are witnessing unprecedented globalization which has exposed the malleability of nation-states; a sort of transnational government is in the making transcending the existing state system. The trimming of enlarged state would strengthen civil society and hence democracy itself. Secondly, concurrently with the above trend, emphasis on less government and devolution has been accentuated for achieving rapid economic development. This augurs well for democracy, because decentralization envisages participatory democracy and empowerment of the parliament in order to fill the gap left behind by overly stretched government. Harvard academic Samuel P. Huntington has recently pointed out that a correlationship exists between the level of democracy and that of economic development. In his view, all wealthy countries, with the exception of oil-rich states, are democratic, and almost all of the poor countries in the world are not democratic. Thirdly, with the increasing emphasis on decentralization and devolution of power in contemporary times, not only the power equations are fast changing and parliament is becoming more relevant, but bicameralism and federalism have also moved to the centre of political discourse. Devolution of power to the lower rungs of authority presupposes the strengthening of the second chamber, since it reflects the diversity of the state and gives space to the constituent units to ventilate their aspirations and grievances. The example of contemporary Britain is very instructive in this regard. There with the ascension of Labour Party into power last year, the devolution of power to Scotland and Northern Ireland is taking place simultaneously with drastic reforms in the House of Lords to change the hereditary character of its composition, and hence giving it a representative character which, eventually, empowers the house. There are 63 second chambers in the parliaments of the world today. Though the increasing number of unitary states are also adopting bicameral parliament to have a multiple check on hasty and unbridled legislation, and on the government itself. Indeed, there is a definite link between bicameralism and federalism, because none of the federal states have defied the bicameral legislature, hence the federal chamber has become the popular chamber. In a federal state, the parliament should be broadly representative of the nation as a whole, and not subject to excessive domination by more populous states. This is the reason that the national parliament in federal states inevitably needs to have two chambers, the first providing proportional representation and the second equal representation in the constituent units. Rather, the second chamber, and its position in the legislative process is of pivotal importance in a federal state. This is imperative for reasons of balance and harmony. One of the distinctive features of the US constitution is that it also provides for a second chamber, which is equal in powers with the first chamber, legislative as well as financial, and even, in certain respects, more powerful. Hence, it provides the best example of a political system combining federal system with the bicameral parliament. The introduction of the second chamber in the 1973 Constitution was a new development in the constitutional history of Pakistan. Two earlier constitutions, i.e. 1956 and 1962, did not provide for a second chamber. The reason for this apparent lapse was patent. After the adoption of parity between eastern and western wings of the country, and the merger of the western wing into a single administrative unit in 1955, a second chamber would have been an unnecessary appendage. Because the second chamber generally ensures equal representation of the constituent units, that was already there in popular chamber. The second chamber was provided in the 1973 Constitution, and rightly so, because there were wide differences in the populations of the four constituent units after the abolition of the One Unit in 1970, and a popular chamber alone would not have provided sufficient safeguards to smaller provinces. Though there was an interregnum of eight years (1977-85), when the Senate did not function because of the suspension of the Constitution, since 1985 onwards, it has been in place without a break, thus becoming the longest surviving political institution in the country. In an environment of despair and pessimism that has marked the history of this hapless nation, it can be said that the Senate is one of the institutions that the country should rightly take pride in. Almost all second chambers are either indirectly elected or nominated barring a few exceptions, the US being prominent amongst them. Out of sixty-three second chambers existing in the world today, thirty made up of unelected members drawn either through appointments or having ex-officio membership. Even leading bicameral parliaments with the exception of America, Australia and France, do not have fully elected upper houses. All the members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the governor- general on advice of the prime minister, while the second chambers in India, Belgium and Italy are partly elected and partly nominated. Second, the Senate of Pakistan provides for equal representation to the provinces. As against this, many second chambers around the world do not provide equal representation to all constituent units. India stands out amongst them; there the Rajya Sabha membership varies according to the population status of various constituent states. A comparison of federal structures of India and Pakistan reveals the fact that the federal structure of Pakistan is superior, more reflective of the diversity of its society than the Indian federalism, primarily because of the uneven composition of the latter�s second chamber. Hence the parliament in India is overwhelmingly dominated by the Hindi-belt provinces because of their demographic preponderance, whereas the case in Pakistan is one of equality of representation. Another aspect, that cannot be glossed over is that of the credentials of the Senators. A comparative look into the educational and professional backgrounds of the members of the legislative bodies of Pakistan makes it abundantly clear that the Senate has got among its members highly educated people with good professional backgrounds. The obligatory inclusion of 20 seats, reserved for technocrats, has also contributed to this. Thus, the Senate is not just a house of elders; to an extent, it represents the educated and professional cream of society. The Senate in Pakistan has certainly provided a forum to smaller provinces to ventilate their grievances and seek accommodation of their aspirations. One of the explanations for the secession of the eastern wing in 1971 is that the institutional mechanism provided in two earlier constitutions was inadequate to provide true representation to the constituent units, particularly Bengal. The post-1971 Pakistan, through its bicameral system has achieved a degree of balance between different provinces. The issues which are contentious between the provinces, or between the federation and the provinces, are thoroughly debated in the Senate and its committees as well. Many times, the opinion of minority provinces has prevailed in the second chamber, which is not possible in a popular chamber. And it has been proved that a single unit, on the basis of its demographic preponderance, cannot influence the legislation to the detriment of the smaller constituents. The Senate has also successfully provided the dual check on hasty legislation of a controversial nature.
SPORTS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ali Yar Beg regains National badminton title ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Muhammad Yaqoob LAHORE, Aug 6: Using vast experience and better stamina, Ali Yar Beg of Allied Bank (ABL) overpowered the spirited team-mate Wajid Ali to win the closely-contested men�s singles final of the 43rd National Badminton Championship by two games to one at the Iqbal Parks Sports Complex, gymnasium hall on Thursday. Ali Yar won the 80-minute gruelling final 7-15, 15-14, 15-9. Ladies singles champion Asma Butt (PIA) earned the double crown. She defeated Aysha Akram (NBP) by two games to one to retain the ladies singles title for the consecutive fourth time with a scoreline of 9-11, 11-8, 11-3. Earlier, Asma, pairing with her sister Uzma Butt, toppled Aysha Akram and Afshan Shakeel (NBP) in the doubles final 18-16, 15-6. Defending champions Haroon Kaleem with Tahir Ishaque (WAPDA) retained the men�s doubles title, defeating the pair of Asadullah Aleem and Tariq Mahmood of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 5-15, 15-8, 15- 12. Ali Yar Beg, 28, who won the men�s singles after two years, displayed fine anticipation and hit sizzling shots after losing the opener 7-15. It was 7-all in the first game. But the last year junior champion Wajid Ali, 18, grabbed point after point and won convincingly 15-7. One-down, Ali Yar Beg built up a 6-1 lead in the second game. The lanky left-hander Wajid Ali showed great potential and it was 7-7. With powerful smashing and excellent services Wajid came near to victory when he led 11-6. From there onwards, Ali Yar Beg had well read Wajid�s weak back hand. He started to exert pressure and neutralised the crunch game at 12-12. Later it was 13-13 and 14-14 before Ali Yar won. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980807 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan revamps hockey squad ------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter Fernandez KARACHI, Aug 6: The Selection Committee of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Thursday announced a 16-man revamped Pakistan Senior hockey squad for the XVI Commonwealth Games to be staged at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from Sept 10 to 20. In addition, the selectors also named 12 stand-byes for the team. The names were read out by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Secretary, Col. Syed Mudassar Asghar, on behalf of the PHF President, former Olympian Akhtar Rasool Chowdhry, at a jointly- held Press conference. The Pakistan squad is as follows: GOALKEEPERS: Mohammad Qasim and Ahmed Alam. BACKS: Danish Kalim, Tariq Imran and Ali Raza. MIDFIELDERS: Mohammad Usman, Irfan Yousaf, Waseem Ahmed and Irfan Mahmood. FORWARDS: Haider Hussain, Mohammad Sarwar, Atif Bashir, Mohammad Farooq, Anis Ahmed, Mohammad Khalid and Babar Abdullah. The 12 stand-byes are: Hamid Ali, Saleem Aamir, Ziauddin, Sohail Abbas, Asad Ali Qureshi, Mubashir Hussain, Fraz Haider, Mohammad Irfan, Naveed Asim, Naveed Iqbal, Ejaz Rasul and Ejaz Ahmed. The Pakistan World Cup star sohail Abbas has been dropped from the main squad as his utility as a penalty corner specialist after the change of the substitution rule has been minimised and the other aspects of his game need considerable improvement. The Pakistan squad and reserves were picked after two days of trials by a four-member Selection Committee, chaired by Senator Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. The three other selectors are former Olympians Dr.Khawaja Tariq Aziz, Hanif Khan and Col. Mudassar Asghar (co-opted). DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980804 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Commonwealth Games: Pakistan cricket team announced ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ilyas Beg LAHORE, Aug 3: A 14-member Pakistan team, comprising a handful of Test players and mostly youngsters, was announced on Monday for the cricket event of the 16th Commonwealth Games to be organised at Kuala Lumpur from Sept 11 to 21. Somewhat experienced players include dashing batsman Basit Ali (re- inducted in the side and made captain of Pakistan team in the Super Eight Tournament), good opener Saleem Elahi, a forceful stroke- player and left-arm spinner Muhammad Husain, Test off-spinner Arshad Khan, left-hand batsman Akhtar Sarfaraz and pacemen Shahid Nazir and Shoaib Akhtar. Youngsters Muhammad Javed, Kashif Ahmad, Taimur Khan, Salman Huda, Asif Mahmood and Azhar Shafiq have been included in the side at the expense of many better performers during the domestic cricket season. Javed Qadeer is the only wicketkeeper included in the team. Incidentally, he had also accompanied Basit Ali� team to Kuala Lumpur like Taimur Khan, Saleem Elahi and Muhammad Husain to play in the Super Eight Tournament a few weeks ago. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) public relations director Lt.-Col. (retd.) Rafi Nasim announced the names of the boys. However, the announcement of captain and manager of the team has been withheld. The re-constituted national selection committee had finalised the team in its first meeting under former wicketkeeper Wasim Bari at Karachi on July 28 but the names of the players have been made public after seeking approval from the PCB council members on telephone. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 980805 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Selectors include Malik but leave out Younis ------------------------------------------------------------------- Samiul Hasan KARACHI, Aug 4: The national selection committee included discarded Test batsman Salim Malik but have omitted speedster Waqar Younis from the provisional 18-man team for next month�s Sahara Cup, it is learnt. According to sources in the PCB secretariat, the selectors would finalize the 14-man team for the Canadian series around Aug 22 from the tentative team they prepared on July 28 the day they finalized the Commonwealth Games side. Informed sources said Malik and Younis received contrasting favours from the selectors purely on their performance. Malik, who has scored 6,884 runs in 268 one-dayers, proved that he was not a spent force yet when he accumulated 395 runs from seven National One-day Championship innings. On the first-class scene, he scored 414 runs at 34.50 with a top score of 124. On the contrary, Younis received harsh treatment in the one-dayers on African safari. He conceded more than run-a-ball in six matches which saw him concede 347 runs (from 336 balls) and take seven wickets. In the last season, Younis played 15 matches in which he picked up 16 wickets at 45.87. His economy rate was 5.47. However, he is the second most successful Pakistan bowler in one- dayers after Wasim Akram. He has taken 281 wickets in 171 matches. Malik�s last Test innings was against Sri Lanka in which he scored 155 to engineer a draw for Pakistan. Sahara Cup was his last one- day tournament in which he scored 132 runs but was later dropped because of `attitude problem.� Malik�s return to the national team would largely depend on the interim report of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) probe committee which is investigating the charges of match-fixing and betting. The committee is expected to hold a final meeting on Aug 15 to record the statements of Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmad and Inzamamul Haq who failed to reach Quetta on Aug 2 after missing the flight. In the light of that report, the cricket board would direct the selectors which of the players were not available for selection. As the situation stood on July 28, the authorities had told the selectors to consider every player. The three-member selection committee have also retained both the frontline wicketkeepers Rashid Latif and Moin Khan but have minced no words in saying that only one would go to Canada. The selection of a wicketkeeper, nevertheless, would be decided before the selection committee meeting on Aug 16 when the executive council meets in Lahore to appoint the captain and coach of the senior string. If Latif is retained as captain, Moin Khan will have to face the anomaly of being relegated as No 2 wicketkeeper. However, the status would take a U-turn if the executive council decides to replace Rashid Latif as captain. Informed sources said Aamir Sohail was the frontline candidate for the job. Moin Khan was being considered as his deputy. There was a strong possibility that the Commonwealth Games team might be changed if Wasim Akram is not available. If Akram is unfit, Shoaib Akhtar would be pulled out from the Commonwealth Games and included in the Sahara Cup side. No replacement would be made in the Commonwealth Games side which will be reduced to 13 players. The selectors have picked two specialist spinners viz Mushtaq Ahmad and Saqlain Mushtaq but their availabily remains unconfirmed. ------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe or unsubscribe to this mailing list, please fill the form located at: http://dawn.com/fixed/subs/dwssub.htm If you don't have Internet access, you can subscribe to DINA by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
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