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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 14 August 1999 Issue : 05/33
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Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from
Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS
offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the
Pakistani Community on the Internet.
Extracts, not exceeding 50 lines, can be used provided that this
entire header is included at the beginning of each extract.
We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at:
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mail DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Please send all Editorials and Letters to the Editor at
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(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 1999
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CONTENTS
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NATIONAL NEWS
+ PM vows to defend country's frontiers
+ Independence Day being celebrated today
+ India downs PN plane: 16 killed
+ Islamabad warns Delhi against hostile acts
+ American commandos' landing report denied
+ Land will be a gift from govt: Nawaz
+ PN chief denies any spy mission
+ Benazir opposes govt-controlled press council
+ New Delhi 'sabotaged' back-channel diplomacy
+ Gas prices raised; GST imposed on oil & power
+ Karachiites witness total solar eclipse
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
+ Hubco ready to cut profit
+ Exemption allowed from 10% tax on reserves
+ Ginneries in Sindh to go on strike from today
+ No relief to forex depositors: Forward cover fee cut to 8pc on $
+ Sindh BoR's plea to inspect banks' documents declined
+ Rs 5-8 billion needed for revival of sick units
+ Gas, power hike to reduce farm, industrial output
+ Machinery import drops by 27.64%
+ Survey for NTN planned
+ ICI Pakistan posts Rs2465m in pretax loss
+ Wapda not to give tariff concession to any industry
+ Stocks finish weekend session on easy note
+ IMF mission due on 14th to review reforms
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EDITORIALS & FEATURES
+ A matter of honour? Ardeshir Cowasjee
+ Battered pride and imperial confusion Ayaz Amir
+ The cost of Kargil Irfan Husain
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SPORTS
+ Wasim Raja appointed coach of Pakistan team
+ Scotland down Pakistan in World Cup squash
+ Indian board awaits decision on Toronto series
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NATIONAL NEWS
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990813
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PM vows to defend country's frontiers
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Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 12: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that
the shooting down of Pakistan Navy's reconnaissance plane by the
Indian jet fighters was an aggression that would complicate things
and cast shadow over normalization of ties between the two
countries.
"It was a naked aggression as the Indian authorities knew that the
plane was on a routine training mission", said Mr Sharif while
talking to newsmen at PNS Mehran after attending the funeral
ceremony of the martyrs of the downed plane, Atlantic.
The prime minister and civilian and military officials attended the
funeral of the five navy officers and 11 sailors who were killed on
Tuesday when their plane was shot down by Indian fighters inside
Pakistan airspace in the Rann of Kutch area.
The prime minister declared that "Pakistan will adopt all available
measures to ensure its security because this is part of our faith".
Mr Sharif reiterated Pakistan's resolve for peace, but said "such
unwarranted and cowardly acts will not be tolerated and his
government will do everything to defend the national interest."
Asked to comment on the fallout of the Atlantique episode on the
Lahore Declaration, premier Sharif said: "India has violated the
international norms and bilateral agreements by shooting down our
surveillance plane", adding that "it will further complicate things
and cast shadow over the peace process between the two countries."
He said the unprovoked attack on an unarmed plane had also exposed
the lack of Indian interest in the normalization of relations and
regional peace.
India shot down the plane which had "no capability of doing
anything aggressive", Mr Sharif said, added that the Indian
helicopters had collected parts of the wreckage of the plane to
cover up its "barbaric and cowardly act."
Refuting the Indian claim that the plane was not on a training
mission, he said: "if the plane had any other design it would not
have gone in such a way."
Mr Sharif said: "India has done everything to hide its aggressive
action inside Pakistan airspace. They took away parts of the
wreckage, displaying it on television and telling false stories to
other countries.
Indian claim that the plane was shot down within Indian territory
was exposed when Indian television showed their soldiers "running
away with the wreckage stolen from Pakistani territory", he said.
The prime minister said: "it is crystal clear that our plane did
not violate the Indian airspace. On the contrary India has violated
all the international norms and bilateral accords by shooting down
a surveillance plan, resulting in cold-blooded murder of 16
personnel of the Pakistan Navy.
Chief of the Naval staff, Admiral Fasih Bukhari, described the
unprovoked shooting down of the plane as "barbaric" and warned
India that Pakistan Navy was fully prepared to safeguard its sea
territory.
The naval chief said the Indians again violated Pakistani territory
on Wednesday when Pakistani helicopters were busy in collecting the
remains of those killed in the incident.
He said the Indians were trying to collect more debris of the
downed plane so that New Delhi could produce it before the
international media in support of its claim that the plane was shot
down in its territory.
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990814
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Independence Day being celebrated today
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ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: The nation will celebrate the 53rd Independence
Day on Saturday with renewed pledge to steer the country into the
next century as a strong and prosperous nation.
The day will dawn with special prayers at the mosques for the
country's stability and prosperity and success of the independence
movement in Kashmir followed by 31 gun salute at the federal
capital and 21 gun salutes at the provincial capitals. Sirens will
be sounded throughout the country at 7:58am to halt the traffic at
ground and sea for one minute.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will hoist national flag at a ceremony
before the parliament house at 8am before delivering his message
for the day. The flag hoisting ceremonies will be performed by
chief ministers at the provincial capitals.
Educational institutions will organize Qirat and Naat competitions,
debates, national songs and tableaus. The radio and TV will
broadcast and telecast special programmes while the print media
will bring out special editions highlighting the independence
struggle.-NNI
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990811
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India downs PN plane: 16 killed
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By Sarfaraz Ahmed
KARACHI, Aug 10: All the 16 officers and sailors on board were
killed on Tuesday when a Pakistan Navy training aircraft was shot
down by two Indian fighter planes. The wreckage of the plane has
been located 2km inside Pakistan territory in marshy areas, Badin
district, around 100 nautical miles off Karachi.
Those who were killed during their instrument flying training
flight were identified as Lt Comdr Mehboob Alam, Comdr Farasat, Lt
Rizwan Masood, Lt Azhar, Lt Zarrar, Sailor Mohammad Tariq, Sailor
Nawazish, Sailor Mohammad Husain, Sailor Mohammad Sarwar, Sailor
Aftab Ahmed, Sailor Mohammad Riaz, Sailor Wahid Iqbal, Sailor
Mohammad Yasin, Sailor Mohammad Hafeez, Sailor S. Mehmood and
Sailor M.N. Masood.
The plane - French-made Breguet Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft -
had left PNS Mehran airbase in the city at 9.15am for a routine
training flight to the coastal areas of southern Sindh. It was
scheduled to return to its base after four hours.
The plane went missing at 11am after it made its last contact with
the Karachi Airport Air Traffic Control at 10.50am. The helicopters
sent out to search for the plane sighted its wreckage on the ground
near Badin.
Pakistan authorities had in the day noticed the take-off of two
Indian fighter planes over the marshy areas, but since it was a
normal routine flight during peacetime none of those monitoring the
ground radar had any inkling that the training plane would be
intercepted, attacked or shot down.
The rescue teams that went to the area following the disappearance
of the plane found the Atlantic debris strewn in an area of around
one kilometre. The plane wreckage had created at least three big
craters in the marshy area, and the helicopter that took the
photographers of world media, including BBC and Reuters, found a
sizable part full of red water, believed to be the blood of those
killed in the plane.
According to one of the Naval officials who was first to reach the
spot in the afternoon, the debris at some places was still burning.
He said blood had turned the colour of water into red. His account
was later corroborated by a photographer who reached the spot with
five other cameramen.
The naval officials, however, said they had been able to retrieve
some highly mutilated pieces of flesh from the site of the
wreckage.
One of the photographers who had visited the spot told Dawn that
they had been able to land at a relatively soft patch of land in
the otherwise waterlogged area. "The wreckage reminded me of the
1988 crash in which Gen Ziaul Haq was killed," he said.
Earlier, Rear Admiral Gul Zaman Malik quoting a fisherman told
newsmen that the fishermen who were near that area had seen a big
ball of fire coming from the sky.
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990812
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Islamabad warns Delhi against hostile acts
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) which
met here on Wednesday directed the armed forces to take all
necessary measures in self-defence and, at the same time, warned
India that all provocations and violations
of Pakistan's airspace would be considered as hostile acts and
given a befitting response.
The DCC reiterated the sense of indignation of the entire nation
voiced earlier by the Federal Cabinet during its meeting this
morning and affirmed that the nation was fully united in its
resolve to face the Indian aggression.
The DCC called upon the international community to take public
cognizance of this most deplorable incident and condemn this
military aggression against an unarmed aircraft which has raised
tensions and posed a threat to the peace and stability of the
region.
The meeting further noted that the foreign minister had brought
this act of aggression to the attention of the president of the
security council and the secretary general of the United Nations
and OIC. "Pakistan has always favoured peaceful resolution of all
disputes".
According to informed sources, the DCC which was presided over by
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, discussed threadbare what it termed
"serious threat perceptions" in the region and directed the armed
forces to strike back if the situation warranted so against the
enemy.
The DCC considered the situation resulting from the latest act of
Indian military aggression by shooting down the unarmed Pakistan
Navy aircraft on Tuesday and the cold blooded murder in peace time
of the 16 naval personnel including trainees who were on board the
aircraft. The chief of Naval Staff briefed the DCC on the details
of the gory incident of this naked aggression.
The DCC noted that India blatantly violated the recognized
international norms as well as the specific bilateral Pakistan-
India agreement on the prevention of airspace violations signed on
6th April, 1991.
The meeting was told that perhaps the BJP government wanted to keep
fuelling war hysteria in India in order to improve its position in
the forthcoming elections.
The DCC also reviewed the latest situation in Afghanistan and
reiterated Pakistan's policy of promoting durable peace in the
country through dialogue and negotiations.
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990811
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American commandos' landing report denied
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ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: A United States official and the Pakistan
Foreign Office spokesman on Tuesday denied in separate contacts the
foreign media reports claiming that an American commando force had
landed in Pakistan on Monday to launch a 'get-bin-Laden' operation
in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden is accused by the United States
of having masterminded terrorist attacks on two of its embassies in
East Africa on Aug 7, 1998. He has been reportedly provided asylum
by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The US navy had fired a
number of cruise missiles aimed at the alleged bin Laden base and
training camps late last year across Pakistani airspace, and there
have been frequent media reports for quite some time of another
operation by the US military to capture bin Laden and his
accomplices.
Lee Ames Irvin, country chief of the US Information Service, told
Dawn here on Tuesday that as already stated in Washington, there
was absolutely no truth in the media reports about the US commandos
being sent to Pakistan in an attempt to strike against Osama based
somewhere in Afghanistan. A Qatari satellite television stations
stated that two planes landed at the same time at two airports in
Islamabad on Monday, bringing dozens of battle-ready commandos.
The foreign office spokesman Tariq Altaf, when asked for comment,
said the report had already been denied by the foreign ministry. -
H.A.
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990813
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Land will be a gift from govt: Nawaz
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Reporter
LAHORE, Aug 12: Launching the first project of the Prime Minister's
Housing programme in Lahore on Thursday Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
said cost of land would not be charged from the persons who would
be sold the houses.
The prime minister unveiled the plaque to inaugurate the project
here on Thursday after opening similar projects in Karachi, Quetta
and Peshawar. He was accompanied by Senator Saifur Rahman, who is
the chairman of the housing programme, Punjab Governor Shahid Hamid
and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
Speaking on the occasion, the premier said the land worth billions
of rupees all over the country would be a free gift from the
government to the poor and the needy people. However, only the
construction cost of the houses would be charged in easy
instalments over a period of 15 to 20 years.
He said the government could earn billions of rupees by selling the
land but it decided to give it free to the poor and the needy
persons of the lower and the middle classes as they could not
afford to pay for the heavy cost of the land.
Mr Sharif said his housing programme would generate employment for
millions of jobless people besides helping to set up a network of
new industries and boost the national economy. The GDP would also
go up. He said the housing projects had been launched at all the
four provincial capitals and soon more would be launched in
Islamabad, Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir.
He said his housing programme would benefit a large number of
shelterless, the poor and the needy persons throughout the country.
He said it was one of the biggest projects of the country which
would provide shelter to the shelterless.
He said slogans of providing "roti, kapra aur makan" had been
raised by a politician in the past who had also raised the slogan
of fighting a war for a thousand years against the enemy but he had
taken no concrete steps. He said his government was the first to
take concrete steps for providing shelter to the millions of the
shelterless people by launching the housing programme.
He said over 300 sites had been selected for the programme
throughout the country. Work on Karachi and other cities' projects
would begin on Friday.
He said a large number of architects, building designers and
contractors were being engaged for the housing projects. He feared
there would be shortage of architects and building planners and
designers.
Earlier, the architect of the project Nayyar Ali Dada briefed the
prime minister with the details of the housing project at the
Shabbir Town on Raiwind Road neat Thokar Niaz Baig. He said five
more sites had been selected for housing projects near Nisar Town
on Raiwind Road, Misri Shah, Moghalpura, University of Engineering
and Technology and Jallo Park.
He said the present housing project at Shabbir Town would be on an
area of 128 acres and 2,420 flats would be built. Four storey flats
would be constructed in blocks. Provision has been made for a
commercial area, mosque, playgrounds and other civic amenities in
each project. The project is estimated to cost Rs 1,500 million.
The housing programme envisages the construction of half a million
houses and flats. As many as 100,000 flats would be built during
the first phase started on Thursday. They include 30,000 flats in
the Punjab, 40,000 in Sindh, 10,000 each in the NWFP and Islamabad,
5,000 in Balochistan, 2,000 in Northern Areas and 3,000 in Azad
Kashmir. In the Punjab, the programme includes construction of
10,000 houses at Lahore, 5,000 each at Multan and Faisalabad, 3,000
at Sialkot, 2,000 each at Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, 500 at
Rahim Yar Khan and 2,500 at other places.
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990813
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PN chief denies any spy mission
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Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 12: Pakistan Navy chief Admiral Fasih Bokhari
categorically stated on Thursday that the PN plane which was downed
by Indian fighter jets on Aug 10, was neither on a reconnaissance
mission nor in the Indian territory.
Talking to newsmen at the PNS Mehran air base, the naval chief said
had the plane been on any such mission it should not have been
flying on an altitude of 7,000 feet when it came under attack.
He said the plane was in Pakistan territory. Had it been carrying
out any reconnaissance mission it should have "most possibly" been
in the Indian territory, he argued.
Giving details of the French-made Atlantic, he said it was an
unarmed training plane operating in an area designated for
training. He elaborated that training aircraft had to be under
civilian radar and air traffic control, and a training flight could
not be operated at an altitude of 7,000 feet in an area where
civilian traffic was around.
He said that Atlantic had been on Indian radar for well over 90
minutes before it was shot down and a little later, Indian
helicopters landed at the site of wreckage and picked up some of
the pieces of the plane.
Referring to the alleged delay in the search operation, Admiral
Bokhari said that in the disappearance case of a reconnaissance
plane a margin of time had to be given before reaching a decision
to launch a search mission.
As the search for the plane took some time, he said, Indian
helicopters managed to steal some of the debris in the meantime.
Terming the downing of the plane a "cowardly act," he said it was
an unwarranted act which could cause a setback to the process of
Lahore Declaration.
He said there was no need on the part of Indian leaders to give
statements after the Kargil crisis that they could have blockaded
Pakistan at sea as that had no relevance to the Kargil situation.
Indians had now dragged the PN into this conflict, he added.
The admiral said that the PN was fully prepared to safeguard the
maritime territories and India would not be allowed to violate the
territory.
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990809
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Benazir opposes govt-controlled press council
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Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto condemned the
Nawaz regime for its bid to form a government-controlled press
council and described it yet another attack on the independent
press in Pakistan.
In a statement issued here by PPP media cell the chairperson
rejected any press council which would be under the control of the
government. Ms Bhutto demands that such a council should be formed
only with the consent of various representative bodies of
journalists who should also be responsible for running it without
the government controls.
"I urge the people of Pakistan to hold Mr Sharif and his party
accountable for these heavy-handed tactics, and to continue
pressing for freedom of the press, an independent judiciary, and a
return to a democratic government that respects and upholds the
rights of the citizens", she added.
"The reports that the regime has decided to form the so-called
press council even without the consent of the representative bodies
of the press are most disturbing for the freedom of the press in
the country", Ms Bhutto said.
"This is another clear violation of human rights by a dictatorial
regime determined to stamp out any and all voices of potential
opposition to it", the opposition leader said.
The former premier claimed that Nawaz and his cronies had already
taken control of the presidency, the judiciary and the military.
They were seeking to eliminate the opposition through special laws
with retrospective application, she added.
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990814
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New Delhi 'sabotaged' back-channel diplomacy
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Faraz Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: The back-channel diplomacy adopted by the
government during the Kargil operation had come close to an
agreement by June 25, but Indians were not ready for time-bound
negotiations on Kashmir, revealed Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz on
Friday.
Winding up debate on the Kargil operation in the Senate, he said
the proposal for the prime minister's visit to Washington had been
under discussion since mid-June.
The PM did not rush to Washington in haste. Since President Clinton
was on a visit to Europe, he (the PM) could not undertake the visit
earlier, said Mr Aziz.
The foreign minister emphasized that India must vacate Qamar,
Chorbutla and Siachen it had occupied in violation of the Simla
Accord.
"India must withdraw from those areas to restore the sanctity of
the Line of Control," he told the house, adding that the LoC had to
be respected by both sides as it was a mutual obligation.
Pakistan cannot, in the name of peace and restraint, accept the
Indian hegemonic designs, aggressive postures and implicit policy
of "might is right". Indian hegemony would not stop at the LoC, it
would go beyond that, he said.
The minister expressed the hope that the time would vindicate the
Washington accord. "Only time will tell.. it will bear fruit," he
said.
Rebutting criticism of the Washington accord by the opposition, he
said the involvement of international community in the Kashmir
issue "greatly" favoured the position of Pakistan.
Mr Aziz said it would be considered a positive outcome of the
Kargil operation if Kashmir issue continued to get attention of
world community in the coming 18/20 months.
Quoting a Times report, he said it had termed the Kargil episode a
turning point in the 50-year history of the Kashmir issue.
To a question repeatedly raised by the opposition senators as to
what was the objective of the Kargil operation, he said firstly the
Mujahideen had wanted interdiction of Highway A-1 which links
Kargil with Siachen via Leh. The Mujahideen had successfully done
that and inflicted huge losses on the enemy in men and material for
over two months.
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990812
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Gas prices raised; GST imposed on oil & power
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: The federal cabinet approved here on Wednesday
upward revision in gas prices and at the same time also approved a
mechanism to pass on to the consumers, in future, the
increases/decreases in world oil prices
while fixing the quantum of petroleum surcharge at its present
level.
The cabinet, which was chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, also
approved a levy of 15 per cent GST on POL products, electricity and
fertilizers.
As a result of the cabinet decision on Wednesday the gas tariff for
domestic consumers has gone up by 3.5 per cent while for other
consumers by 7.75 per cent.
However, there will not be any increase of gas prices for feed
stock of the new fertilizer plants.
According to the details of the mechanism approved for fixing the
POL prices, a quarterly adjustment of retail prices will be made in
accordance with the changes in the international prices/ import
parity prices while the petroleum surcharge will remain fixed at
the present level.
Prior to this cabinet decision the quantum of petroleum surcharge
(the difference between the world POL prices and the domestic
market prices) used to be adjusted every time the world POL prices
went up or down in order to protect the interests of the consumer.
But from now on the increases and decreases will be passed on to
the consumer to protect the budgeted petroleum surcharge from the
vagaries of the fluctuations in the world oil prices.
Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar who briefed the meeting about the
latest economic situation claimed that as a consequence of this
change in the mechanism, there shall not be any immediate increase
in the petroleum prices.
The petroleum prices are, however, expected to be reviewed next in
December 1999 but any change that would entail in the consumer
prices following this review would not affect the budgetary income
from petroleum surcharge.
Mr Dar explained to the cabinet that the incidence of GST on POL
will be absorbed within the existing levy of Petroleum Development
Surcharge and as such there will be no price increase of POL
products on this account.
The incidence of GST on electricity will be adjusted by reducing
the existing levy of additional surcharge on electricity. In case
of domestic, agricultural and commercial consumers with consumption
of 500 kwh per month there will thus be no increase in the
electricity tariff.
However, the industrial and commercial consumers with consumption
of about 500 kwh per month will have to pay GST at 15 per cent but
they will be entitled to claim refund as their output.
The fertilizer producers will be eligible for adjustment of GST on
gas and other inputs against output.
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990812
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Karachiites witness total solar eclipse
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Dawn Report
KARACHI, Aug 11: Millions of Karachiites witnessed the rare
phenomenon of the turning of a day into 'night' hours before sunset
when the moon completely eclipsed the sun on Wednesday.
The spectacle was also seen by the people at Thatta, Jati, Lasbela,
Turbat and Panjgor.
The total solar eclipse lasted for more than one minute, from
5:25:56pm to 5:27:09pm. The partial eclipsing of the sun was
observed almost all over the country. In Karachi - the prime
viewing area for the last solar eclipse of the millennium - the
process started at 4:18pm and ended at 6:27pm.
It was the third total solar eclipse witnessed so far in Pakistan.
The previous solar eclipses were witnessed on June 30, 1954, and
Oct 24, 1995, according to the Meteorological department officials.
The Karachiites witnessed the uncommon terrestrial event with a mix
of caution and enthusiasm. Hundreds of thousands of them remained
indoors during the eclipse. They preferred to watch the spectacle
on their TV sets.
However, a select group of enthusiasts did visit the scientific and
educational organizations which had made special arrangements for
watching the process on closed-circuit TV sets. A number of
enthusiasts monitored it with the help of websites that had been
developed specially for the event.
Islamabad: People switched on lights in their homes and automatic
street lights lit up. Birds perplexed with the natural phenomenon
as they could not reach their homes before sun-set.
The soggy and cloudy weather marred the spectacle of the long-
awaited solar eclipse in Islamabad, but its occurrence was felt by
the scary darkness in the skies at 5:30pm.
Lahore: Clouds prevented people from watching the last solar
eclipse the millennium. According to the Punjab University's space
sciences department, 75 per cent of the sun was blocked by the moon
at 5:18pm Lahore time.
The sky was cloudy for much of the day, and it also rained, though
for a short period, between 1pm and 2pm in some parts of Lahore.
Most people were not too moved by the eclipse. Many people waiting
for wagons and other public transport, sensing the fading light,
tried to get a look at the sun
Rawalpindi: Thick clouds and rain deprived the Pindiites from
watching the solar eclipse at 5:30pm in the city.
Though the weather was clear, suddenly the dark grey clouds covered
the sun just before the start of the eclipse.
Most of the people had thronged parks, playgrounds and multi-storey
buildings to watch the eclipse but the heavy rains swept away their
all preparations and hopes.
Hyderabad: Partial darkness was witnessed in Hyderabad during the
solar eclipse.
The assistant meteorologist, Tayyab Arain said that 92 to 95 per
cent eclipse was observed. The eclipse process started at 4:25pm
and continued till 6:28pm while total eclipse was observed from
5:28pm to 5:29pm.
Quetta: People watched the eclipse here, with hundreds reporting to
private clinics and family doctors complaining pain in their eyes
after they watched it with naked eyes. There was a partial darkness
in the city. Met office claimed 80 per cent eclipse was observed in
this city.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
990814
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Hubco ready to cut profit
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: The Hub Power Company (Hubco) on Friday offered
to reduce the profit of its shareholders from 18 per cent to 15.6
per cent to help Wapda to overcome some of its pressing financial
problems.
Informed sources said that the fourth round of talks between
Pakistan and Hubco ended on a positive note here on Friday when
both sides decided to give up their respective hard stands with a
view to end their two-year-old dispute over tariff.
Wapda is expected to give its response to Hubco's proposal within
the next two weeks when Chief Executive of Hubco Sheikh Mohammad
Alireza and Chief Executive National Power Company Peter Windsor
will return to Pakistan for further talks.
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990813
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Exemption allowed from 10% tax on reserves
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: All limited companies paying at least 40 per
cent of the current year's post tax profit to their shareholders
have been exempted from the payment of 10 per cent tax on their
reserves.
This was decided at a meeting held here on Thursday to review and
streamline the procedure on taxing the "excessive reserves" of the
limited companies.
The meeting was presided over by Minister for Finance and Commerce
Ishaq Dar.
The new provision will apply from Assessment Year 1999-2000. The
reserves will not include capital reserves, share premium reserves
and statutory reserves.
A provision was made through Finance Act to tax excessive reserves
maintained by the limited companies which did not distribute
profits to the shareholders. This step was taken to encourage the
distribution of dividend by the companies and protect the interests
of small shareholders.
During the implementation of this provision, certain difficulties
arose and some apprehensions have also been expressed by some
sections of corporate sector.
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990812
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ginneries in Sindh to go on strike from today
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
MULTAN, Aug 11: Ginneries in Sindh will join hands with the
already-on-strike units in the Punjab on Thursday in their struggle
against "exploitation" by spinners, claimed the Pakistan Cotton
Ginners Association (PCGA) here on Wednesday.
A PCGA spokesman informed Dawn that presently only eight ginneries
were working in lower Sindh area which would also stop their
operations from Thursday.
He said a team of ginners from the Punjab successfully convinced
them (ginners of Sindh) to launch a joint struggle for a common
cause.
In Punjab, ginneries remained non-operative on the third
consecutive day of their strike to press the government and APTMA
(All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association) to envisage a plan for the
disposal of all the indigenous unsold cotton stock. According to
PCGA figures, it is .35 million bales.
Before strike call by the PCGA, only 16 out of 850 ginneries were
working in the Punjab after the arrival of phutti from Sindh.
The PCGA alleged that spinners had so far imported .670 million
lint bales while the local ones were still lying unsold at various
ginneries of the country.
However, cotton brokers have expressed scepticism over the PCGA
claim about joining of strike by Sindh ginners.
"They can't do that as they have given advance money to traders to
buy phutti for them and traders have credited it to growers," a
broker asserted. But he agreed that ginners in the Punjab were on a
complete strike. However, their unity and determination would be
tested on the start of ginning season in the province as currently
only a few ginneries are operative.
When contacted a leading cotton grower, Saddiq Akbar Bokhari, said
ultimate sufferer of the standoff between the PCGA and APTMA was
the grower community as all others shifted their losses to them.
Keeping in view the present situation in cotton market, one could
forecast that growers might receive even a low price on phutti as
compared to the price they got last year.
He said instead of sometime begging and sometime crying before the
sole buyer (APTMA) of their produce, the ginners should find some
other buyers also by forming a body that might work on the pattern
of defunct Cotton Export Corporation (CEC).
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990810
-------------------------------------------------------------------
No relief to forex depositors: Forward cover fee cut to 8pc on $
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, Aug 9: The State Bank on Monday cut the forward cover fee
from 10 to 8 per cent on US dollar and from 9.75 to 8.15 per cent
on pound sterling.
It also lowered the fee from 12 to 10.60 per cent on Deutsche mark
and from 14.80 to 13.50 per cent on the Japanese yen.
The SBP said in a letter issued to all banks that the fee had been
lowered "with the move towards market-based exchange rate system
and anticipated relative stability in the exchange rate."
It said the decision which would be effective from August 9 would
not apply on the foreign currency deposits raised under F.E. 45-the
scheme under which foreign currency swap funds are raised by the
banks from abroad.
The letter explained that the gradual increase in forward cover
rates were made in the past to contain the rising level of losses
to the SBP due to forward cover on rapid depreciation of exchange
rate. SBP had last raised the forward cover fees on March 4, 1999.
In 1997-98, SBP had incurred a loss of around Rs 13.8 billion on
the forward exchange risk cover it had provided on foreign currency
accounts. This had wiped off about a one third of its total earning
of Rs 42.12 billion during the same year. Figures for fiscal 1998-
99 are not available but top bankers close to SBP say the SBP may
have either suffered a minimal loss or made a little profit instead
on its forward cover business in the last fiscal year.
SBP provides exchange risk cover on foreign currency accounts on a
pre-determined rate for a specific period. Suffering loss in this
business means that the SBP realized lesser amounts through forward
cover fee than the losses it booked due to exchange rate
depreciation.
Senior bankers reached by Dawn said the recent cut in forward cover
fee would help them reduce their cost of foreign currency deposits
by about 2 per cent.
They said their cost of frozen foreign currency deposits might fall
from 11-11.5 to 9-9.5 per cent on dollar and pound sterling
deposits and from 13.5.0-15.50 to 11.5-13.50 on Deutsche mark and
Japanese yen deposits.
"But still the cost would not be low enough to allow us to pay any
return to the depositors," said treasurer of a leading foreign
bank.
He said the inter-bank money market was wallowing in excess
liquidity with treasury bills rates down to 7 per cent and as such
it was not possible for the banks to earn sufficient spread on
employing the rupee equivalent of such costly deposits into the
market.
With a 2 per cent increase in forward cover fee on US dollar
deposits on March 4, most banks zeroed the interest rate on foreign
currency deposits and some foreign banks even imposed a service
charge where they anticipated making losses on keeping these
deposits.
Senior bankers say since the cut in forward cover fee may not
immediately lead the banks to offer any return on frozen foreign
currency deposits the pace of conversion of these deposits into
rupees or dollar bonds may remain intact.
They say that out of $11 billion worth of FCDs frozen on May 28,
1998, $6.717 billion have so far been converted into rupees or
dollar bonds-$5.327 billion into rupees and $1.390 billion into
special dollar bonds.
Whether the reduction in forward cover fee would result in
withdrawal of the service charge some foreign banks have imposed on
old foreign currency accounts is also not clear. Treasurers of
these banks say even after the lowering of the forward cover fee
their cost of foreign currency deposits would not fall to a level
where the service charge could be withdrawn.
Senior bankers say that the cut in the fee would also have no
impact on fresh foreign currency deposits because the State Bank
does not provide cover on these deposits.
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990812
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sindh BoR's plea to inspect banks' documents declined
-------------------------------------------------------------------
KARACHI, Aug 11: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has given cold
shoulder to Sindh Board of Revenue's (BoR) request to give access
to financing documents in custody of banks to net cases of evasion
of stamp duty.
In response to BoR's letter to banks, the SBP said in terms of
provisions contained in Section 33-A(1) of the Banking Companies
Ordinance, 1962 and Section 12(1) of the Banks (Nationalisation)
ACT 1974 relating to secrecy, financial institutions are unable to
divulge any information rela-ting to the affairs of their
customers.
The Central Bank said banks would not be able to accede to the
request of BoR. It, however, said that it would instruct the
banks/NBFIs to ensure recovery of prescribed stamp duty and
execution of loan documents on proper stamp papers, the SBP letter
dated August 6 said.
The officials of BoR when contacted said that they have not
received any letter from SBP.
The BoR had in a recent letter to banks and SBP requested for
cooperation in a campaign to net all the cases where the stamp duty
had been evaded.
Sindh BoR said its inspecting officers required access to the
financing documents lying in custody of banks for proper
verification of stamp duty paid and ensure recovery of duty on
fresh documents under the Sindh Government notification of March
31, 1998.
As back as 1985, the stamp duty on mortgage was 3 per cent.
However, on the directives of Federal Government the rate was
brought down to 1 per cent by all provincial governments.
The Sindh Government had increased the rate to 1.5 per cent on
1994. But due to lack of response from borrowers as well as banking
authorities, the provincial government was not receiving any amount
of stamp duty.
Again in consultation with the financial institutions, the rate of
stamp duty on loan on mark-up basis was reduced from 1.5 per cent
to 1 per cent upto Rs 1 million.
The stamp duty is to be assessed on the amount of the basic loan
only, excluding the mark-up.
An official of BoR said that in the fiscal 1998-99, the Board had
recovered Rs 1,650 million as stamp duty on various accounts.
He did not give break-up of the stamp duty recovered on bank
credit.
Referring to the response of SBP, he said in that case they would
definitely seek solution of the problem in consultation with the
SBP and other banks as well.
"Our recoveries on account of bank financing is poor," he said.-APP
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990813
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rs 5-8 billion needed for revival of sick units
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sabihuddin Ghausi
KARACHI, Aug 12: The revival of sick industrial units will need an
injection of fresh funds - from Rs 5 to Rs 8 billion - in at least
half a dozen banks and financial institutions in addition to
relaxation in the prudential regulations and the criteria set for
loan and mark-up write-offs by the State Bank of Pakistan.
"We are in touch with the State Bank to sort out these issues,"
Shaukat Tareen, President of the Habib Bank and Chairman of the
Bankers Committee informed this correspondent on telephone.
The Bankers Committee has been given 45 days to process over 400
cases identified as 'revivable sick units'.
Tareen, however, refused to discuss these issues in detail
maintaining that it was still too early. When insisted, he said
that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is the sole spokesman on this
matter.
Inquiries made in the financial circles revealed that a few of the
institutions have complained of having inadequate resources which
inhibit them to make suitable provisions in their balance sheets so
as to absorb the inevitable write-offs and sanction of fresh funds
resulting from the financial restructuring.
A rehabilitation plan for sick industrial units, after the Bankers
Committee had processed their cases, will be prepared by a Task
Force formed under section 296 of the Companies Ordinance. This
Task Force operates under the supervision of Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Mockingly called the club of 'G-8 ',(a reference to the group of
eight most affluent countries of the world) in the banking circles,
the Bankers Committee includes the presidents of the five top banks
(HBL, NBP, UBL, ABL and the MCB) and the two leading DFIs which are
PICIC and the NDFC and also the President of All Pakistan Textile
Mills Association. But there are eight other banks and DFIs
involved in the revival programme of sick industrial units who have
not been given any representations on the committee.
Senior executives of many of the banks and DFIs grudge that the
government had been more generous towards the HBL and UBL who were
offered almost Rs 30 billion as equity support and for meeting
other requirements but is showing no concern to other institutions
which are also exposed to defaults and stuck-up loans, financial
and administrative problems.
Before the Bankers Committee started processing the cases of
revivable sick units, another committee-the State Bank of Pakistan
Coordination Committee for revival of sick units-headed by a
corporate leader Shaukat Mirza had identified 448 sick units with
stuck-up loan portfolio of Rs 43 billion as 'revivable'.
The other 544 sick industrial units having Rs 40 billion stuck-up
loans are considered 'non-revivable' and have virtually been
written off for all practical purposes.
According to the banking circles, the government is considering to
constitute another Committee for working out a strategy to dispose
of the assets of the non-revivable sick industrial units.
Determination of a reference price for each of this dead industrial
units, tackling the legal and administrative issues involved in
sale and auction and finally the distribution of proceeds among the
loaning banks and institutions is expected to be worked out by the
proposed Committee.
Bankers have no idea how long this Committee will take to do all
this exercise and ensure return of at least a quarter of Rs 40
billion to the loaning banks and the DFIs.
For the 448 revivable sick industrial units, the SBP Coordination
Committee had laid down four criteria as well as over a dozen
possible methods to be adopted.
The four criteria on the basis of which the sick units were
considered revivable are (i) Total erosion of paid-up capital and
reserves (ii) Persistent losses for two years (iii) Closure of unit
for one year and (iv) Non-performing loans cases having overdues
for 365 days or more.
The Coordination Committee made it clear that the cases where
criminality is proved and liquidators have been appointed, shall
not be considered for revival. In fact the Committee suggested
immediate action for liquidation of all such industrial units which
are declared as dead.
Methods suggested for revival of sick units are (i) Excess Debt
Recovery (ii) Debt-Equity Swap, (iii) Warehouse Receipt Financing
(iv) Application of Section 295 and 296 of the Companies Ordinance
(v) Change of Management, (vi) Working Capital (vii) Relief of
Mark-up for shut down period (viii) Freezing of mark-up (ix)
Reduction in the Mark-up rate (x) Participation Term Certificates
(xi) BMR Financing, (xii) Additional equity injection and the
(xiii) Sale of excess land.
Many bankers perceive that excess debt taken by the sponsors and
sanctioned by the executives of the banks and DFIs show the element
of criminality. It indicates that the sponsors had inflated the
cost of the project and obtained loan much over and above the
actual cost and had spent or invested the excess amount somewhere
else rendering the project sick right from the beginning.
Under the Excess Debt Recovery plan, the bankers are being asked to
split it into sustainable debt on which the sponsors would be asked
to service it according to his convenience and the remaining amount
be considered as unsustainable debt. The borrowers may be given the
option to settle the adjustment of this unsustainable debt by
paying straightaway 25 per cent or work out instalments after
making a generous provision of waiver and write off.
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990813
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Gas, power hike to reduce farm, industrial output
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
RAWALPINDI, Aug 12: Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry
President, Ashfaq Mahmud Khan, on Thursday feared that increase in
gas, electricity and fertiliser prices would not only affect the
consumers but also reduce agricultural and industrial output.
In a press statement, he said the adjustment in 15 per cent GST in
industrial power tariff, offered by the government on below 500
units, was a joke as more than 500 units were consumed usually in
residential use.
Though price of petrol had been linked with international rate, 15
per cent GST imposed on petroleum products would obviously
createadverse impact on industrial, agricultural production and
business activities of the country, he added.
The business community of Rawalpindi has decided to observe
complete shutter down strike shortly against increase in gas,
electricity and fertilisers' price and imposition of 15 general
sales tax on utilities.
The convener GST Action Committee, Raja Tariq Kiyani termed the
imposition of 15 per cent GST along with increase in price of gas,
electricity and fertilisers as a 'double edge' weapon and said both
these steps would add to the miseries of the people.
He said why the prices of petrol was not equalised with the
international rates when its cost was Rs 9 per litre
internationally. That time Rs 74 billion went to the pockets of
rulers, he claimed.
Our Staff Reporter from Lahore adds: The Lahore Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has opposed increase in gas rates and
levy of 15% sales tax on power and POL products.
In a statement on Thursday, LCCI president Pervez Hanif said the
decision would increase the cost of production and deal a blow to
the steel and textile industries. He said imposition of Rs1,000 as
withholding tax on industrial gas consumers would add to the woes
of commercial consumers.
He said the government decision would limit industrial production
in the country and hit exports hard.
Our Correspondent from Gujranwala adds: The local Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, traders, manufacturers and the business
community in general have strongly protested against the levy of
general sales tax on petroleum products, electricity, gas and
fertilizers and demanded that this decision should be withdrawn
immediately.
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990812
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Machinery import drops by 27.64%
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: Export of textile manufactures fell by 2.90 per
cent in July 1999 as compared to July 1998, while import of
machinery dropped by 27.64 per cent.
Statistics Division figures on external trade issued here
onWednesday show that export of textile manufactures in July 1999
were valued at $393.936 million against $405.690 million in July
last year. Simultaneously, the import of machinery has decreased to
$125.503 million from $173.454 million.
In the comparable months, the export of cotton fabrics fell by
0.46% from $78.143 million to $77.921 million; ready made garments
by 2.60% ($67.045 million) to $65.304 million; sports goods by
33.33% ($20.149 million to $3.433 million); leather manufactures by
43% ($28.292 million to $10.083 million); surgical and medical
instruments by 39.26% ($8.395 million to $5.099 million); cutlery
by 68.60 per cent ($1.121 million to 0.352 million); leather by
13.65% ($14.355 million to $12.396 million); and raw wool by 82%
($0.422 million to $US$ 0.157 million).
The export of rice and fish/fish preparations, however, increased
by 31.76% and 10.67% respectively. The rice consignments brought
$27.417 million (last year $20.808 million, while the fish/fish
products' exports valued at $4.210 million (last year $3.804
million).
A good news for exporter this year is that the export of tulle,
lace embroidery increased by 325% ($0.424 million to $1.407
million).
On the imports side, milk and cream import increased by 13.61%
($88.869 to $100.968 million); tea went down by 16.97% ($20.980
million to $17.420 million); soyabean oil increased by 16.20%
($7.918 million to $12.764 million); palm oil decreased by 28.95%
($39.292 million to 27.917 million); power generating machines by
48.78% ($17.633 million to $9.032 million); textile machinery by
27.02% ($14.876 million to 10.857 million); road motor vehicles by
44.11% ($ 26.844 million to 15.003 million); petroleum group
(products, crude) increased by 52.82% ($102.406 million to $156.492
million); plastic materials dropped by 25% ($26.776 million to
20.002 million).
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990813
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Survey for NTN planned
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: The Income Tax department has planned a
countrywide door-to-door survey for listing businessmen who have
not obtained the National Tax Number.
Dawn learned from CBR officials Thursday that the survey would be
conducted through private firms from whom an expression of interest
has been obtained. These firms, numbering more than 70, are being
short-listed for award of survey contract, said officials.
The CBR is launching the campaign for discovery the non-NTN holders
in a couple of months, during which business premises would be
visited by the surveyors. Those who already hod NTNs, will be asked
to display them during the survey period while not having them
would be penalised and asked to obtain them within a specified
period after which, in case of failure, harsher penalties will be
imposed, said officials.
The NTNs, which would be the basis of issue of Common Tax
identifiers, would be scrapped at the time of issuance of CTIs. The
survey will be completed before the CTIs are issued to the IT
assessees.
CBR has already distributed among the sales tax collectorates and
Income Tax commissionerates the new ST/IT returns carrying the
specification for CTI number by each filer of the tax return.
The specification has been created in view of the CTI scheme which
would be operative with the filing of Income Tax and Sales Tax
returns in the month of October '99. For the time being, the IT/ST
return forms would carry the specifications of both the
registration and the CTI numbers. Allocation of IT NTN and ST
registration numbers would be stopped after issuance of the CTIs to
a majority of IT/ST filers.
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990811
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ICI Pakistan posts Rs2465m in pretax loss
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dilawar Hussain
KARACHI, Aug 10: The Board of Directors of ICI Pakistan Ltd, which
met in Karachi on Tuesday, announced that the company had posted Rs
2,465m in pretax loss for the first six months (Jan-June 1999).
This replaced profit of Rs 333m earned in the corresponding period
of the previous year. The board also announced that an interim
dividend for the current year was being skipped.
Following the announcement, the 10-rupee share in the company shed
30 paisa to close at Rs 9.70 from the overnight value of Rs 10.00,
with trading seen in 9.9m shares.
In nearly five decades of operation in Pakistan, ICI does not
appear to have ever been in a worst predicament as now. The pretax
loss of Rs2,469m that the company posted for the year ended Dec 31,
'98 perhaps stood out as the only loss to have ever been made by
the company. And the financial figures for the first half of the
current year, unveiled by the Board on Tuesday, suggests that
things may yet get worst before they get better.
Net sales and Commission Income for the half year under review
showed a robust growth of 51% to Rs5,718m, from Rs 3,792m in the
similar six months period of '98. A statement by the company said
that the turnover for the non-PTA portfolio of Businesses of the
company had risen 14% over the previous similar period, in spite of
the fluid economic conditions prevailing in the country.
The Soda Ash Business was reported to have recorded an increase in
operating profit on the back of higher sales and improvement in
conversion efficiencies and the Paint Business also improved its
operating performance through strong brand promotion and increased
customer focus. The company's Polyester arm also returned operating
profit as demand strengthened and enabled fibre manufacturers to
operate at higher occupancies.
What is more the pharmaceutical and chemicals businesses too
contributed higher operating profit. It is thus, observed that all
businesses combined, except the PTA, contributed operating profit
in the sum of Rs 526m, which was 34% higher than the earnings in
the same period of 1998. But like last year, all of the operating
profit earned by the non-PTA businesses was offset 'by the severe
depression in the PTA business'.
For investment analysts following ICI, the half term deficit does
not come as a surprise since the directors had already warned last
year that the depressed business cycle in PTA business was feared
to continue all through the year 1999.
The $490m PTA Pure Terephthalic Acid (PTA) project plant was
successfully commissioned in June '98, by virtue of which it had
completed one full year at the end of the review period. ICI was
said to have been able to wrest a market share of over 50% in PTA
by Dec 31, '98. But the PTA arm had posted an operating loss in the
whooping sum of Rs1,867.6m for all of 1998. For the Jan-June '99,
PTA added another sum of Rs 970m in operating loss. And to deepen
the red of the profit and loss accounts, financial and other
charges shot up to Rs1,635m for the half year under review, from Rs
281m.
The company had earlier planned to separate the PTA arm into an
independent company but since the negotiations with DuPont for
50/50 venture stood terminated, the company decided to drop the
plans and retain the PTA business within ICI Pakistan. Shareholders
may now wonder if it would not have been for the best, if the plans
had gone through. To fund the PTA losses, the company proposes to
raise Rs4,731m through the issue of right shares at 60%.
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990810
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wapda not to give tariff concession to any industry
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporter
LAHORE, Aug 9: Water and Power Development Authority will not give
tariff concession to any particular industry nor it is considering
any such proposal at present, official sources told Dawn on Monday.
"There are already many concessions which Wapda gives to different
industries in regard to re-connection fee or paying outstanding
power bills in instalments. But no industry gets tariff concession
as such", Wapda officials said.
The issue came to the limelight when flour mills from the Punjab
and Sindh wrote to Wapda last month for a compromised power tariff.
The millers contended that power charges cost them Rs 4.7 per unit
on the average which contributed substantially in increasing their
overall cost of production.
They worked out that their cost of production would come down by
around 15 per cent if they get power through their own diesel
generators.
They also lamented that the Punjab government was not allowing them
to increase the wheat flour price and off set impact of the costly
power consumed by the mills.
Last month some industrialists tried to enhance the ex-mill price
of wheat flour from Rs151.65 per 20 kg to Rs157 but the provincial
government moved quickly and warned them that their wheat supply
from food department godowns would be suspended in case the flour
price was increased.
"The millers may be facing problems on account of high cost of
inputs but as far Wapda is concerned it has told them that there is
no provision to offer tariff concession to them", Wapda officials
said.
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990814
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Stocks finish weekend session on easy note
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 13: Stocks finished the weekend session on an easy
note as investors played on both sides of the fence ahead of
reports of joint statement to be issued officially on the tariff
issue after the conclusion of a week-long talks between the highups
of WAPDA and Hubco.
The market should have reacted bullishly to reports of withdrawal
of 10% tax on the reserves of the companies which are paying
dividend to their shareholders above 40% as it will mean more
liquidity for the share business but it went without creating the
needed enthusiasm in the rings.
'Investors have involved themselves so much with the Hubco issue
that no one among them is inclined to look beyond it, perhaps
because of a big stake they have acquired in it", analysts said.
It seems to have assumed the role of a trend-setter relegating the
mega issue to the secondary position because of the fact that they
have purchased its shares at much higher rates before the
protracted bearish spell, they added.
The KSE 100-share index fell by 6.81 points at 1,883.43 as compared
to 1,190.24 a week earlier, reflecting the weakness of leading base
shares.
The market capitalization also fell to Rs318.017bn from Rs319.317bn
owing to the weakness of Hub-Power and some other leading heavily-
capitalized shares.
Opinions about the outcome of week-long talks between the Hubco
team led by its chairman Sheikh Alireza differed from broker to
broker as some were optimistic but others were pessimistic, dealers
said.
'Bears fully exploited the rumour-dominated market after indulging
in massive selling, pushing the share value of Hub-Power at one
stage to Rs18.70 but later covering by them allowed it finish
recovered', they added.
The share of the Hubco responded to counter-rumours, rising and
falling, keeping the entire market unsettled all through the
session.
An idea of alternate bouts of buying and selling in Hub-Power may
well have from the fact that it alone accounted for 105m shares,
out of the total volume of 180m shares.
CPC Rafhan Maize was top gainer, rising by Rs27.00 on active
support aided by news of higher interim earnings but there was no
matching floating stock.
KASB & CO, Millat Tractors, Dreamworld, Shafi Chemicals, Prudential
Bank, Ibrahim Textiles, Mirpurkhas Sugar, Bolan Castings, Fauji
Fertiliser and Ghani Glass were others among the leading gainers,
rising by one rupee to Rs4.00.
Losers were led by Nestle Milkpak, which fell by Rs10.00, followed
by Packages, Glaxo-Welcome, Knoll, Hub-Power, Bank al-Habib, Gatron
Industries, Al-Ghazi Tractors, General Tyre and BOC Pakistan, which
suffered fall ranging from one rupee to Rs2.50.
The trading volume rose to 180m shares from the previous 161m
shares but losers maintained a strong lead over the gainers at 71
to 55, with 44 shares holding on to the last levels.
BOARD MEETINGS: MFMY Industries on Aug 16, Gillette Pakistan Aug
20, and Knoll Pharmaceutical Aug 30.
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990811
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IMF mission due on 14th to review reforms
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: A four-member IMF mission is arriving on Aug 14
for a post-budget review of the on-going structural reforms and
talks on release of the fourth tranche of $280 million under
ESAF/EFF programme.
The fourth tranche has been held up because of disagreement between
the Fund and the government over the revenue estimates for the
current year's budget and the timing set for meeting the reform
targets.
The IMF executive board is likely to disburse the $280 million by
the end of September if it found the report of the review mission
satisfactory, sources in the multilateral agency said on Tuesday.
They said the government had been informed that the IMF mission,
headed by Ms Sena Eken, would stay in the capital for about one
week during which it would review the economy, especially the
revenue collection position.
The IMF has maintained that there existed a Rs45 billion revenue
gap in the budget estimates for the year 1999-2000.
Back to the top
===================================================================
EDITORIALS & FEATURES
990808
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A matter of honour?
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Ardeshir Cowasjee
TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, a woman of Pakistan, a qualified
gynaecologist of Peshawar, conceived a child which grew within her
until, nine months later, Samia was born. She grew, was married to
a relative, was unhappy, and four and a half years ago the couple
separated.
Samia wished to divorce her husband, which angered her family. She
sought the aid and protection of those well-known lawyers, sisters
Hina Jilani and Asma Jehangir of Lahore, valiant supporters of
human rights whose untiring efforts deserve nothing but gratitude
and praise.
On April 6, 1999, whilst Samia was in Hina's office, her mother
arrived accompanied by a man who shot Samia dead. On their way out
the murderer fired at the police guard provided by the government.
The policeman fired back, the murderer was killed. Asma, on her way
to the airport to fly off to participate in a Human Rights
Conference at Geneva, heard the news and turned back. An FIR was
filed against Samia's mother, father (Chairman of the Sarhad
Chamber of Commerce and Industry), uncle and brother, all of whom
Samia had stated were a threat to her life.
So far, no case has been filed in court in Lahore as the police
claim they are still investigating. In Peshawar, Samia's family
retaliated, and engaged Barrister Baacha, the frequent 'one-line
quotation' correspondent to our press who has been known in the
past to speak up for human rights. Baacha filed an FIR against the
two sisters accusing them of having abducted Samia.
Subsequently, Senator Iqbal 'Groovy' Haider of the PPP, supported
by nineteen fellow Senators, framed a resolution condemning the
horrific practice termed in this country, on the eve of the 21st
century, as 'honour killings.' Iqbal had to amend the wording of
the resolution four times, as the supporting Senators' feet grew
cold and the majority of the honourable Upper House vehemently
opposed the resolution, Senator Ajmal Khattak claiming that when it
is a question of 'honour,' there is no room even for discussion.
Chairman Rhodes Scholar Seasoned Flip-Flop Waseem Sajjad
unhesitatingly ruled that there could be no discussion on the
matter. The resolution was not tabled. Thus has the honourable
Senate impliedly legalised murder by invoking honour. The question
is, whose honour?
Now we proceed to the depths of the Lower House. On April 13, 1998,
MNA Khwaja Asif moved a privilege motion alleging that on March 25
I had used "abusive language" and "threatened him with dire
consequences," claiming that his privilege had thus been breached.
The Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Rules of
Procedure and Privileges then summoned me to appear before it.
I questioned myself. There are some 200 so-called 'honourable'
members of the assembly, each capable of making a similar
unsubstantiated allegation. If they were all to do so, can hundreds
of citizens of Pakistan be summoned to appear at their own cost and
waste of time? Is this legal? I consulted my lawyers. A letter was
drafted raising queries and questions on a number of issues, and
was sent off to the committee secretariat. As I received no reply,
it was obvious the committee had no answers. But it persisted in
summoning me on succeeding occasions.
On July 31 I was honoured by a visit from Ilahi Bakhsh Soomro,
Speaker of the National Assembly. Why can't the committee answer my
questions? I asked. They will remain unanswered, he responded. He
invoked the bonds of a sixty-year-old friendship and requested that
I appear before the committee.
On August 2, I received a notice summoning me to appear on August
6. That same evening the Commissioner of Karachi called to tell me
that the committee chairman had issued a warrant ordering that the
Sindh government arrest me and produce me before the committee. I
informed a relieved Commissioner that I had already decided to
attend.
Honouring the request of my old friend, I asked Barristers Makhdoom
Ali Khan and Khalid Jawed to draft for me a statement to be
presented to the committee. They did so, and it was then settled
and approved by Grandmaster Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada.
On August 6, before the committee's proceedings began, I handed
over this statement to the chairman requesting that it be placed on
record, which he graciously did:
"1) Had I been summoned by a Standing Committee of the National
Assembly on an issue of national interest aimed at benefiting the
public at large I would have deemed it a matter of great privilege.
But, whilst the people remain stricken with poverty, hunger and
disease, I am here today solely because of your concern as to
whether Khwaja Asif has been abused and threatened by me, as he
alleges in his frivolous privilege motion.
"2) Have you taken into account that Khwaja Asif is a director
of the defaulting Sialkot Dairies which is liable to return huge
loans to many banks, including the ADBP, to which it owes many
millions of rupees (last reported figure, some 60 million)? Have
you taken into account the fact that Khwaja Asif is a man certainly
not known for the modesty of his verbal language, but renowned for
his proficiency in expressing himself through his body language
which is unmatched even by his peers? Have you taken into account
that, to his eternal shame, he has to his discredit a share in the
storming of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on November 28, 1997?
Have you taken into account that he has to his everlasting
discredit the committing of a physical assault upon the former
president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Advocate Muhammad
Akram Shaikh, within the premises of the Supreme Court on November
17, 1997, an assault which caused his victim bodily harm? Before
enquiring into his privileges you might care to enquire into the
above incidents and also as to how it is that a director of a
defaulting company was elected to the National Assembly of
Pakistan.
"3) Insofar as the allegation of the breach of his privilege is
concerned, it is not only manifestly untrue but far too
preposterous to merit a serious rebuttal.
"4) In my letter dated December 5 1998 (copy attached hereto),
written in response to your notice, I raised the following issues
and gave detailed reasons for each:
"(i) Whether the privilege claimed by the member and allegedly
breached by a citizen legally exists?
"If the answer to (i) is in the affirmative:
"(ii) Whether the conduct amounting to an alleged breach of
privilege is protected by the constitutionally guaranteed
fundamental rights, such as the freedom of speech and expression,
or by some other law.
"If the answer to (ii) is in the negative:
"(iii) Whether there is prima facie evidence that such conduct
which is otherwise not protected by any law was indeed committed.
"If the answer to (iii) is in the affirmative:
"(iv) Whether the committee has the power to summon a person for an
alleged breach of privilege for which no prima facie evidence
exists?
"If the answer to (iv) is in the affirmative:
"(v) Is it still desirable to summon the person to appear before
the committee, keeping in view our democratic aspirations and the
desire to be a tolerant society governed by the rule of law?
"5) My conclusion was that no such privilege of a
parliamentarian which confers immunity from public criticism and
scrutiny was known to law. As for the committee's power to summon
me, I have not been made aware of any law which empowers it to so
do.
"6) The only response to my detailed reasons was a letter dated
July 8, 1999, from the Secretariat which baldly stated that the
points raised by me do not have any force. No reason for this
assertion was given. This clearly proves that no good reason
exists.
"7) If your claim that you are a civil court is accepted merely
because a resolution of the single house which adopted the Rules of
Procedure so declares, then what is there to prevent it from also
declaring the committee to be a criminal court? What then is left
for the courts to do if you confer upon yourselves the power of the
courts by means of simple resolutions and thus tamper with the
liberty and rights of the people? Surely you cannot encroach on the
judicial power.
"8) Let me categorically state that I am not here today because
of any misconception about the validity of your summons or the
legality of the privilege claimed. I am here because freedom of
expression is a fundamental right, guaranteed by the Constitution,
which must be defended by me and which, I am sure, will be upheld
by you."
The proceedings commenced, the chairman announcing they would be
held 'in camera' (so they were, a PTV camera man was present). A
puzzling decision, considering that matters of public interest were
involved. When all was over, I was informed that the committee
would consider whether Khwaja Asif's privilege had been breached or
not. One member, jumping the gun, suggested that a date be fixed
for the next hearing. This, the chairman declined to do.
A matter of honour? Whose honour?
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990813
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Battered pride and imperial confusion
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Ayaz Amir
FOR many people in Pakistan the downing of a naval plane by Indian
fighters is not one of those regrettable but understandable
accidents which can happen between two testy and hostile
neighbours. It is the latest blow to what remains of our national
pride.
As backdrop to this thinking looms the shadow of Kargil. Humiliated
in that crisis and subsequently humbled in Washington, our
circumstances are now so reduced that India thinks it can push us
around and get away with anything. So not only does it shoot down
our aircraft, it also has the gall to send in helicopters and steal
the wreckage. It is a measure of our helplessness that we cannot
completely stop this theft.
If this is a morbid strain of thought the people of Pakistan are
hardly to blame for it. Their paranoia has been fed by the
government's handling of the Kargil disaster. They feel humiliated
and, not surprisingly, blame the dispensation presiding over their
sad destiny as the architect of this humiliation.
Official drum-beaters, who have a job to do, of course dispute this
conclusion. They say that since there have been no mass protests
and no Zulfikar Ali Bhutto looming on the national skyline (who
decamped from Field Marshal Ayub Khan's cabinet and led the protest
against his patriarchal rule), dissatisfaction with the wisdom of
the heavy mandate is not as deep as some sections of the press make
it out to be.
This is a blinkered approach to take. Our own history tells us that
in the life of every Pakistani government there comes a time when
its husk or outward form remains while its kernel or substance is
gone. So constant is this development that it can almost be taken
as an iron law of Pakistani politics.
Ayub Khan lasted in power till March 1969. But much of his moral
authority was eroded after the 1965 war. General Yahya Khan was a
considerable figure, looked up to by all sides, till the 1970
elections. When he ordered the crackdown in East Pakistan his moral
authority was gone. Bhutto was a vibrant figure in the first three
years of his rule. But as he put on weight and arrogance and became
less tolerant of dissent, his earlier lustre was lost. Zia, the
longest serving ruler in the country's history, may have thought of
himself as a divine warrior but very few of his countrymen shared
the same conviction. He came in the night and for the next eleven
and a half years ruled by a mixture of stealth and deviousness.
When he departed into the clouds he left a bigger mystery behind
him.
These examples from the past should provide some perspective for
the present. The people may not be protesting, something which may
have more to do with their weariness and cynicism than their love
for anyone, but the process of de-mystification (the iron law of
Pakistani politics) has happened sooner in the case of Nawaz Sharif
than even his detractors might have expected.
Just six months ago all the talk in the country was of how powerful
Nawaz Sharif had become. Today he looks a figure with feet of clay.
While this image had already started to form in the public mind
because of his government's poor performance--all promise and no
delivery-- what completed it was the Kargil adventure. If the
government's drum-beaters do not realize this, they are living in a
world of their own.
It is not as if in Pakistan's history there have not been
governments before which have groped in the dark and erected
monuments to confusion. But seldom has this process gone as far as
with this one which was billed, if the heady atmosphere of February
1997 is recalled, as the harbinger of a new dawn. It is not just
its record in office or U-turns over Kargil which are responsible
for this perception. At the heart of the problem is a total absence
of direction.
Indeed compared to it on this score Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari
stand as models of clarity. They may have gone about filling their
pockets and plundering the exchequer but at least they were clear
in their minds about what they wanted. In contrast Nawaz Sharif and
his homespun brigade present a picture of confusion. While wanting
to do good by the country, they are torn between their public and
private interests. Talking loudly of financial probity, they are
unable to honestly face the fact that the knights of their round
table are the country's biggest loan defaulters. While they have
amassed power and disposed of all competitors in the process, they
have no sense of the uses of power beyond shaping a dispensation
whose dominant characteristics are its regal overtones.
Small wonder then that in the absence of definable goals or policy
objectives, the preoccupation should be with mega-projects such as
the Lahore airport terminal and the motorways which the country can
do without at this stage or with gimmicks such as self-employment
loans, transport schemes and, the latest in this bag of miracles,
the prime minister's housing project.
A cursory examination would reveal that this last scheme does not
make any economic sense and will about as much kick-start the
economy, or provide mass employment, as the Lahore-Islamabad
motorway. Nor does it make political sense because even if
everything goes according to plan, five lakh houses for middle-
income groups will not put a roof over everyone's head. But who is
to quarrel with Pakistan's variant on Kubla Khan?
As with every other big decision in the kingdom of the heavy
mandate, this scheme too has neither been debated nor put through
the wringer of institutional scrutiny. Having caught the imperial
fancy it has been handed over, like so much else, to the
indispensable Senator Saifur Rehman. While it is the prime
minister's privilege to rely on whom he pleases, a question yet to
be answered is about the valuable public land -- railways, PIA, etc
-- which is being seized for this project without compensation.
With what authority?
At issue is not the government's survival or its longevity. Most
people, tired of political experiments, are past caring about who
stays in or comes to power. Of greater importance is the direction
the country is taking. Where are we headed? Countries with greater
riches and potential than us are on the path to ruin because of
mismanagement and governmental corruption. Is this the fate staring
us in the face?
Even when the sky was overcast Pakistanis never lost hope in the
country's future. This optimism is giving way to a feeling of
hopelessness largely because of the cluelessness to be seen in all
the places where the good and great of this country congregate.
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990814
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The cost of Kargil
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Irfan Husain
ACCORDING to an old adage, victory has many fathers while defeat is
an orphan. But curiously, very few people on either side of the
great divide are claiming total victory in the Kargil battle.
After the initial euphoria had died down in India, serious analysts
have pointed out that although the conflict ended with the
withdrawal of the 'intruders', the weaknesses that it exposed in
the Indian military machine as well as the heavy losses suffered by
the army made it difficult to claim outright success. Also, the
international attention focused on the issue as well as the US
involvement in obtaining a Pakistani pullout have been seen as
unfavourable developments in New Delhi. Finally, the 'sanctity'
ascribed to the Line of Control in the US-Pakistan joint
declaration issued in Washington weakens the Indian claim to all of
Jammu and Kashmir.
Strangely, this last element is also seen as a setback by Pakistani
critics of Nawaz Sharif's retreat. These people viewed the LoC as a
temporary line that would be erased as soon as Pakistan got all of
Kashmir. Indeed, the tacit acceptance of the legal status of the
LoC in Washington, Islamabad and New Delhi is the first step in
converting it into the international border between India and
Pakistan, and, hopefully, the end of the Kashmir dispute. Then, and
only then, would all the blood spilled on the mountain fastness of
Kargil have been for some worthwhile purpose.
In order to put a positive spin on the Kargil debacle, Mushahid
Hussain, the information minister, wastes no opportunity to claim
that the bitter fighting has 'internationalized' Kashmir, and hence
was worth the loss of life suffered by the Pakistan army as well as
the Kashmiri freedom fighters involved. According to Senator Aitzaz
Ahsan, speaking on the floor of the Senate, at least 300 Pakistani
officers and jawans were killed. The information minister should
realize that our soldiers are not pawns to be sacrificed to
'internationalise' a political and diplomatic cause: their duty is
to defend our borders and not to be butchered at the altar of
expediency.
As it is, there is great anger in the army against the political
leadership as well as the military high command for having first
put officers and men in an untenable position, and then not
supplying them adequately. Finally, they consider that the
sacrifices these brave men made were degraded when the survivors
were pulled back after the Washington agreement. Again, according
to Aitzaz Ahsan in the Senate, autopsies of officers killed in
Kargil indicate that they had kept going by chewing whatever
foliage they could scavenge at those heights because they were not
being supplied. Many of the soldiers just ran out of ammunition.
But what made our military and political leadership place our men
in this no-win situation to start with? What possible gain did they
hope to achieve? As it is, the world now sees us as an
irresponsible rogue state that launches military adventures without
regard to its responsibility as a nuclear power. India, on the
other hand, is seen as a mature, responsible nation that showed
restraint under grave provocation. Now, when an unarmed naval
aircraft is shot down by Indian fighters apparently over our
territory, there is scant support for us and no condemnation of the
unprovoked Indian action.
It seems that the Kargil plan was presented to the prime minister
at a highly restricted briefing without spelling out the
implications. Given Nawaz Sharif's notoriously short attention
span, he did not ask any questions and went along, thinking this
was just another minor cross-border incursion. I fear he may be
labouring under the delusion that Pakistan's atom bombs are just
bigger conventional bombs without being aware of the short-term and
long-term effects of radiation and fallout. Indeed, the more I
think about the itchy finger on the nuclear trigger, the more
nervous I get.
Contrary to expectation, the public reaction to the whole Kargil
misadventure has been a muted unease. Most people, even in Punjab,
have been largely indifferent. Sensibly, they know full well that
we cannot wrest Kashmir from India by force. When the Jamat-i-
Islami called for a 'million-man march' to protest against Nawaz
Sharif's capitulation in Washington, barely 20,000 turned out.
Hardly anybody was for the incursion when it was launched, and even
fewer were against the cessation of hostilities.
When the fallout from Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests had
settled last summer, analysts here and abroad assumed that the fact
that both sides possessed atomic weapons would act as a mutual
deterrent. The assumption was that just as a nuclear balance had
prevented war between the two superpowers during the cold war, so
too would the subcontinental balance prevent conventional war
between India and Pakistan. However, on the basis of the evidence
emerging from the Kargil conflict, it would appear that Pakistani
planners now feel that their nuclear capability has won them
immunity from Indian conventional forces.
If this is indeed a new element in our military planning, then
clearly, the acquisition of nuclear weapons is potentially
destabilizing. What would have happened had the fighting in Kargil
continued and India had opened another front along the LoC? The
entire operation reminds me of our 1965 adventure when we sent
soldiers in civvies across the cease-fire line into Indian Kashmir.
That blundering operation rapidly escalated into a full-fledged
war. Can we afford another one now that the stakes have been raised
enormously by the nuclear capability acquired by both?
The Indians cannot be absolved of their share of the blame for our
present impasse. First, by being so obdurate over the Kashmir
problem, they have ensured that relations between the two countries
have been virtually at war footing for five decades; then by
carrying out their nuclear tests last May, they effectively pushed
the Pakistanis into following suit. Being the stronger and
therefore the more self-confident nation, they could have shown
more flexibility and generosity of spirit in solving this problem.
But allocating blame is usually a fruitless exercise. We need to
look ahead and try to resolve the festering Kashmir issue before it
plunges us into another round of bloodletting. Already, the
fighting in Indian Kashmir is getting fiercer, and the recent
downing of an unarmed naval plane near the border has made the
situation even more tense. One can only hope that after the
uncertainty caused by the Indian elections is over, the next
government will turn its attention to the need for sorting out the
Kashmir problem once and for all.
===================================================================
SPORTS
990812
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wasim Raja appointed coach of Pakistan team
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
LAHORE, Aug 11: Former Test all- rounder Wasim Hasan Raja has been
appointed as coach of the Pakistan cricket team on a long term
basis on Wednesday. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) office secretary
Waqar Ahmad said that Wasim Raja will join his duty shortly.
The term of Wasim Hasan Raja as coach, however, was not specified,
Waqar said.
Raja is the veteran of 57 Tests and 54 One-Day Internationals.
The PCB secretary said that the newly appointed coach was fully
equipped with latest coaching techniques including use of computers
and audio visual aids. He was a qualified England and Wales Cricket
Board Staff Coach.
Raja, the elder brother of Test cricketer Ramiz Hassan Raja, who
recently appointed as member of the PCB selection committee, passed
M.A Political Science from Government College, Lahore and Masters
in Education from England.
outlines his priorities: The newly appointed Pakistan cricket team
coach Wasim Hassan Raja said on Wednesday that mental approach,
self respect, self discipline and the country's respect are his top
priorities to rebuild the Pakistan team.
Talking to journalists at the Gaddafi Stadium after appointed as
coach, the veteran of 57 Test matches, Wasim Hassan Raja said that
he had signed one-year contact with the Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) and would do his level best to achieve his target.
Raja said that emphasised would be laid on to improve the fielding
standard of the team as 30 to 40 runs could be saved by displaying
excellent fielding.
He said that he had passed five different cricket coaching
examinations.
The national coach said that team was also lacking in physical
fitness and extra efforts were required to remove this shortcoming.
He said that the days had gone when three or four batsmen were
enough to bring win for a team. Now a team, studded with maximum
all-rounder could be a strong one, he said.
He said he had already offered this post in past, but could not
accept because his school, where he was teacher, did not relieve
him.
Commenting on World Cup final which Pakistan lost tamely to
Australia, Wasim Hasan Raja denied that the Pakistan team threw it
away deliberately.
"Ifyou are a professional you can not do anything deliberately", he
said.
Raja left for England tonight and will back shortly.
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990813
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland down Pakistan in World Cup squash
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: Pakistan lost to Scotland despite Amjad Khan's
surprise victory over Martin Heath on the second day of the World
Cup Squash Tournament at Hotrogenbosch in Holland on Wednesday.
World No 13 Amjad Khan upset world No 5 Martin Heath in a four-game
clash but Pakistan's two other players Zarak Jahan Khan and Bushra
Haider went down to John White and Pamela Nimmo respectively,
according to reports available hereon Thursday.
Pakistan had scored 2-1 victory over Denmark on Tuesday on the
opening day of the tournament which is a team championship
featuring two males and a female player from each country.
Pakistan play their last preliminary Pool B match against Belgium
on Friday.
Amjad dispatched Heath 9-4, 6-9, 10-8, 9-4 to raise hopes of a
second successive Pakistan victory in the tournament.
But White evened out for Scotland when he beat Zarak Jahan, the
world No 47, 9-5, 9-6, 2-9, 9-5.
Nimmo dropped just a single point in beating Bushra 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
and bringing victory to Scotland.
Pakistan can still make it to the semi-finals if they beat
Belgium.-APP
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990808
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Indian board awaits decision on Toronto series
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BARODA (India), Aug 7: The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI)
was awaiting guidelines from the Indian government about sending
its national team for the annual one-day series against Pakistan at
Toronto in September, the board secretary Jaywant Lele told
reporters on Friday.
Lele said: We are awaiting the government guidelines and then will
decide."
"Not necessarily," he said when asked whether the board would
decide to send the team for the five-match series in Canada if it
gets the green signal from the government.-Dawn/KT Service
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